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Henry Lott was, in reality, a typical frontier "fringe" pioneer, sharing many of qualities and attitudes of others of his ilk who helped to open and settle America through the preceding decades. Although in my article I played down as much as I could the reputation he had acquired in later years, I really didn't go far enough. Here's why...
Henry Lott was not of the totally "common folk." He was far from being the hillbilly-style character we often picture when speaking of those inhabiting the furthest reaches of civilization. When his father (also Henry) died, he had an estate that was probated for several years beginning in 1829. Also minor children that were dealt with through the courts. Not an extremely common process for low-life settlers. Our Henry married Sally white, apparently of a rather prosperous pioneer family of the area. She had married, as at least the 2nd wife of, the son of a recent governor of the new state of Ohio. So, our Henry certainly wasn't born into abject poverty...and, married rather well. If he was like most males of his class, he could read, write and cipher as well as anyone. But, the area around Cleveland, Ohio was still pretty much frontier when our Henry came of age. Indians were as common as whites (and generally viewed as pestilence). When our Henry left the area with his wife and step-son, he was leaving one rather primitive country and entering another. Times were hard. EVERYONE had to have a 'survivor' approach to life or they could not have made it. When Henry arrived in Gentry County in the late 1830s, it was only a bit more uncivilized than from whence he had come. He did what every other person did at the time to survive. In Ohio, Indians were looked down upon. History is full of what we would consider today to be gross mistreatment of the Indians. As with slavery, the white's treatment of the Indians was considered 'right' by those who had to deal with it day in and day out. The later idea of Manifest Destiny had a very simple meaning to those pioneers. Whites would rule from sea to sea. That attitude was identical in Missouri. Indians had absolutely no civil, or human, rights. To take advantage of them commercially or otherwise was considered good business. It seems that, perhaps, Henry was criticized by his white neighbors because they considered him to be responsible for the loss of THEIR livestock. Indians be damned. Did he steal from either Indian or white? No evidence has been shown to support ANY claim. He was "different" from most of those around him. Mankind does have a tendency to distrust/fear/accuse anyone who is different. Regardless, he was there but a short time then migrated north to near the Iowa border. It is quite likely he wasn't driven from lower Gentry County by his notoriety, but was simply following his own wanderlust and searching for better opportunities. When he moved to the Red Rock area, it was probably for the same reasons. The Indians represented a means of prospering, much as the gold fields did for the miners. He was doing what came naturally. And, what half the people on the frontier were doing. The difference that I have found between him and others was that circumstance brought his name to the forefront. His son freezing to death, his wife dying, etc., helped to make him far better known for years to come. From there, events escalated beyond his control, leaving Henry Lott a household name. Very little can be found of contemporary nature concerning Henry. Nearly EVERYTHING was written 20-25 years later, mainly for the new-fangled county histories that were so popular during the 1880s. That is from a completely 'civilized' perspective relative to just a few years earlier. So, was Henry a rogue? A butcherer of innocent Indians? An itinerant thief? The answer has to be a resounding NO. He was a man of his time. Nothing more and nothing less. He was one of those who preferred to live on the fringe of civilization, and his presence had a necessary civilizing effect. The thousands of others like him on the fringes of the entire nation had a like civilizing effect on their own areas. Any descendant would have every reason to consider himself honored by Henry's life. He was indeed a trailblazer for the rest of us. Much information on the Lott and White families can be found through research in Geauga County and Lake County, Ohio. A Baker |