On April 1, 1845, Thomas Hinde wrote a long letter to his daughter, Martha Constable, about her grandparents. Martha had asked her father to do this for quite a while, and he finally got around to it. Thomas told her stories of how he had met her mother and other tales he had heard about the grandparents’ life on the frontier. One of the stories was about a pet monkey(orangutan/baboon) that Martha’s grandfather, Captain James Bradford, had during his service in two wars.
Capt. Bradford served in the American Revolution and kept a huge “Our-ang-atang,” as Hinde called it, or a large monkey, as a kind of servant, which was said to be “quite well trained for the service.” Jacko, the monkey, would entertain spectators by attaching a chain up in a tree and dangle and swing down. Jacko also entertained the troops by dancing jigs, performing these activities in a uniform, and after the Revolution, was with Capt. Bradford at Fort Harmar in Marietta, Ohio, when Bradford reenlisted in the First American Artillery Regiment in the 1780s.
Bradford was later sent to Vincennes, Ind., where he married Martha’s grandmother. While stationed at Fort Knox for three years, the Bradfords had a baby boy in whom Jacko took great interest and would “dawdle” over the child. Jacko would periodically check the child’s scalp for vermin, seemingly very elated with being able to carry out motherly duties. One day, Jacko carried the baby up on top of a building, and after repeated coaxing, it was found that the only thing that would get Jacko to come down was a bowl of sugar, a delicacy on the frontier. The baby was safe, but Jacko received a harsh punishment and hopefully learned a lesson.
Jacko liked to watch the activities in camp. He was very interested in the soldiers who were sick and suffering in the garrison. He watched the doctors administer medicines to the sick. The monkey slept in the kitchen in the fort, where a sick soldier’s bunk was placed to separate him from the others at night. The ill soldier suffered from an abscess in his lungs. One night, the cook had a huge dinner and was asleep in the corner, making various noises. Jacko found a vinegar cask with a spigot and was able to remove it and use it as a type of syringe, forcefully injecting it into the sleeping cook to “help” him, as Jacko had seen done.
The cook woke up screaming, and the sick soldier had a “violent fit of laughter” and discharged matter from his lungs and “recovered and got well.” Jacko had cured a patient!
As Hinde’s letter reports, these events about Jacko did not happen at Fort Jefferson but earlier. When Fort Jefferson was built, Jacko, Bradford, and his artillery company were with St. Clair’s Army in October 1791. Jacko continued his antics when Bradford’s unit camped at present-day Fort Jefferson as they helped Construct Fort Jefferson. Jacko accompanied Bradford to the camp along Greenville Creek for less than a week before continuing to the disastrous defeat at Fort Recovery.
The Native Americans singled out the officers and artillery during the battle. Capt. Bradford was killed when a musket ball passed through him, as described by another surviving officer who helped Bradford write his will. It is presumed Jacko followed the retreating soldiers back to Fort Jefferson. Hinde wrote that since no one cared for Jacko during the retreat, he probably perished from cold and hunger after a long service in the Revolutionary War and Indian War.
This story was found in Thomas Hinde’s letters in the Draper Manuscripts at the University of Wisconsin. Can it be believed? After all, he wrote it 54 years later, on April 1st. Hinde was six years old when the events happened and was not with the army. He had only heard these stories.
The confirmation comes from a reference in a letter from John Hurt, Chaplain of St. Clair’s Army, dated January 1, 1792, two months after the battle. Hurt wrote to his close friend George Washinton, president of the United States. Hurt relayed information about some of the officers in the campaign. He told Washington about Captain Bradford’s death and stated he was unsure what had happened to his “Baboon.” Hunt is a respectable source of information.
**Editor’s note: We recently found H. R. McPherson’s notes concerning the excavation of Fort Jefferson in 1930. On August 16, he entered in his log. “Activity at point south of N.E. corner (of Fort), discovered on a semicircular test trench, is probed further. Full skeleton of dog?? is found in this with bricks above.”
It seems that, with double question marks, they were not sure if it was a dog. Also, it seems that it had a special burial plot under bricks. McPhearson probably had no way of knowing at that time that an Orangutan might be buried there. I wonder if the Ohio Historical Society kept those bones. They might just confirm what happened to Jacko.
Written by David Heckaman FOFJ historian
