2012 marks the 200th anniversary of America's "Forgotten War," the War of 1812 that took place over three years, 1812 to 1815.
In 1775, Gass' father moved over South Mountain into Maryland. From 1777 to 1780 the boy lived with his grandfather, and was supposed to go to school; but he says himself that he never learned to read, write, or cipher till he had come of age.
His next recorded move was in 1780 memorable for the severity of its winter and the deplorable state of the American army. In 1782 the family "went west" -- that is, across the Alleghenies.
In 1784 and the next year, they continued their movement westward, eventually reaching Catfish Camp, named after an Indian chief about half way between the Monongahela and Ohio rivers. Here Patrick seems to have developed some of his qualities, for he used to explore the vicinity, and has left his impressions of the site, as it was in 1790, of what is now Wellsburg, W. Va.
By 1792, having attained his majority, he was stationed as a soldier under Captain Caton at Yellow Creek, guarding the frontier against Indians. These had long been troublesome, and were just then elated at having defeated General Arthur St. Clair's army in November, 1791. General Anthony Wayne was sent against them, and the militia all along the frontier was drafted into service.
Patrick had been serving in his father's place and was soon pressed into military service himself and stationed at Bennett's fort, on Wheeling Creek, near Wheeling; but he seems not to have had any actual engagement. Indian hostilities were soon put down entirely and forever in the region by the defeat of the Redskins on the Miami by General Wayne in August 1792.
--Brock-Perry
This is located along the Ohio River in downtown Wellsburg, West Virginia.
And, I had never heard of this person before.
Inscription:
"Sergeant on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, he published the first account of the exploration in 1807.
Veteran of the War of 1812, he fought at the battle of Lundy's Lane and at Fort Erie.
Citizen of Wellsburg for more than a half century, he married and raised a family on Grog Run and Pierce's Run. He is now buried in Brooke County Cemetery.
The bust of Patrick Gass as a young man on the Lewis & Clark Expedition was sculpted by Agnes Vincen Talbot of Boise, Idaho and presented to the people of Wellsburg by members of the Lewis & Clark Trail heritage Foundation, assisted by the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program .
August 2, 2002."
--Brock-Perry
Not only is there a historical marker in Wellsburg, West Virginia for Patrick Gass, who lived there after the War of 1812, but there is another one about a Lewis & Clark connection for the town.
From the Historical Marker Project.
THE LEWIS & CLARK CONNECTION
The Corps of Discovery, under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, was the first official expedition through the interior of the continent sponsored by the United States.
Captain Meriwether Lewis passed Charles Town in Virginia (later renamed Welsburg) on September 7, 1803. Lewis brought the expedition's keelboat down the Ohio River to rendezvous with William Clark near Louisville, Kentucky.
He wrote in his journal:
"...passed Charles town on the E. shore above the mouth of the Buffaloe over which there is a hansome wooden bridge, this has the appearance of a handsome little village, containing about forty houses...."
Meriwether Lewis, September 7, 1803.
The expedition spent the winter of 1803-1804 at a camp located by what is today Wood River, Illinois, preparing for their arduous journey to the Pacific and back.
--Brock-Perry
From the June 12, 2021, WTRF "Wellsburg throws 250th birthday for historical figure Patrick Gass" by Aliah Keller.
It was the 250th birthday of Patrick Gass as well as the dedication of his military stone.
Gass, who once lived in Wellsburg, West Virginia, for over fifty years, was a sergeant in the Lewis & Clark Expedition and published the first account of it in the early 1800s. He is also a veteran of the War of 1812 and fought at the Battle of Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie.
The celebration on Saturday started off with a march and then a musket salute by the Tri-State Marine Corps. re-enactors were there as were Gass' great-great grandchildren and their children.
--Brock-Gass
After his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, Patrick Gass worked at many jobs, first in Ohio and then in what is now West Virginia.
Still a bachelor at age 60, he accepted a construction job from a man named Hamilton, at Wellsburg, and soon eloped with the man's 20-year-old daughter Maria. The couple settled in a rented cabin and Gass began farming.
They had seven children, six of whom survived into adulthood. When their last child was a baby, Maria died during a measles epidemic at age thirty-six.
Patrick was then seventy-five, but raised the children alone. Until nearly the end of his life, he walked four miles into Wellsburg to pick up his mail. He died at age ninety-nine, the last member of the expedition to die.
--Brock-Perry
From the May 27, 2021, Weirton (West Virginia) Daily Times "Ohio Valley preserving its history."
The Brooke County, West Virginia, commissioners have announced that a military marker will recognize a soldier who served in the early part of the 19th century.
Patrick Gass was a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition and fought in the War of 1812 before settling in Wellsburg. Gass, who lost an eye in the war; his wife, Maria, whom he married when he was sixty; and their family made their home in the Pierce Run area. They are buried in Brooke Cemetery.
His adventures and service will be recognized at noon on June 12 when a marker near the gazebo overlooking the Wellsburg Wharf is dedicated. It will be a special day , featuring war re-enactors and descendants of Gass. And, it will fall on the 250th anniversary of his birth.
There have been a few detours along the way to this latest recognition of Gass, whose bust and another marker are already located near the gazebo. The latest marker, which had been slated to have been placed at his grave, had been damaged during shipping, but officials at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs were able to provide a replica, which has been installed at the gazebo.
--Brock-Perry
