Well, here we are again. The days are colder and shorter, and for many that means crossbows and camouflage, the Rocky Boots and the Remingtons, the deer stands and doe scent. Yes folks, there is a dedicated group that know this time of year by only one name–hunting season.
Next to the actual physical act, there is nothing more a hunter enjoys than good hunting folklore. There are the success stories, nightmare scenarios, and more tales of ‘the one that got away’ than are statistically possible. Nonetheless, these sagas are spread, passed down for generations and slightly modified along the way.
I am not a hunter. And yet, when a whopper comes my way, especially one from days gone by, I can’t help but pass it along. Which reminds me–have you heard the one about Huntsburg’s greatest gamesman? You say you haven’t? Well, go grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and I’ll share with you the story of Elijah Pomeroy–master marksman!
Elijah came to the wilderness way back in 1808, at age ten. His family was first to settle here in Huntsburg. Their tales of arrival and early life are shared in past articles like ‘The Pioneers of Huntsburg: The Big Move‘ and ‘The Pioneers of Huntsburg: The Arrival‘. But don’t go surfing away just yet! This epic yarn is just beginning to be spun!
Elijah’s first close encounter with the local wildlife came in 1812. A war was raging with Britain, and the natives that roamed the area moved west to join Tecumseh and the British forces. When Fort Detroit fell after American surrender, native Americans pillaged the countryside, attacking small settlements throughout the region and driving out the pioneers. Hearing the reports, Huntsburgers feared attack from the usually friendly ‘Indians’ upon their return.
One night, the Pomeroy family awoke to matriarch Lydia hollering that the natives had in fact come back. Elijah and his dad did not take long to find that the commotion was actually a black bear attempting to devour one of their pigs! With no gun in the house, the men grabbed their axes and charged the beast. But all told, it managed to ingest three forty-pound hogs before running into the darkness. Realizing the vulnerability of the family, Elijah vowed to give the bears a fight. He purchased a rifle and trained a dog, and set out to become the best bear hunter in town.
Soon after, Elijah’s younger sister Melinda was out in search of blackberries when she stumbled on a berry-gorging bruin. The bear was not scared at all, and slowly strolled toward the startled sister. Her screams were heard by Elijah, who grabbed his rifle and ran. As he crested the nearby hill he drew aim, fired over Melinda’s head and dropped the bear with one shot!
At this point, I will let Elijah take over in his own words:
“When the dog was seven months old I had killed seven bears; by the time the dog was four years old I had killed 33 bears. He was good for all other game. He never got hurt but once by a bear. One night I was out with brother Horace hunting coons in our neighbor’s corn field with the dog. I left my rifle at home and had only an axe with me. The dog killed a coon in Abner Clark’s field. The dog left us and soon routed a large bear that had feasted well on corn. I told Horace to go to Abner Clark’s and get his rifle and I would follow after the bear until the bear would tree. I followed up the bear for about one and one-half miles in the dark until the dog finally treed the bear. Horace soon returned with Abner Clark with his gun, J. M. P. Clark with an axe, Jared Clark with a torch of fire. I was by council left to manage in the killing of the bear. I waited until the moon rose high enough so I could see the bear. I shot the bear in the head, but the ball did not kill him. He fell to the ground, but got up and made for the dog and managed to get him in his hug; to save the dog, Abner Clark got on one side of the bear and I on the other and we soon killed him with our axes and liberated the dog. The dog lay in the woods four days not to be found. He finally recovered and not a bear could ever get a hold of him after that.”
Elijah hunted until 1827. His final tally was 42 bears, 5 wolves, 18 ‘wild cats’ and numerous other game. What different times those were! He hunted more bears than most of us will see in our lifetimes!
And there were others. Elijah mentions a man by the name of John Johnson that managed to kill off 70 wolves! Sylvester Clapp, a nephew of Elijah, mentions his Uncle Horace Pomeroy, William Starkey, Isaac Springer, and Philander Kyle as expert hunters as well. And who could forget Huntsburg’s man of mystery, that nationally famous longhunter, John Finley?
Even Isaac Thompson, first settler of Middlefield, had a reputation as a pretty good shot and went down in the books with one of the funnier fables. When Elnathan Wilcox, Huntsburg’s third settler, moved to town, he made an agreement with Thompson to hunt a deer for his family. Isaac offered up two prices to Wilcox–he would kill the deer and leave it lie for pick-up at one penny per pound, or drop then deliver for a penny and one-half per pound. Elnathan chose the latter. The very next morning, Thompson made good on his end of the bargain and felled a nice deer–within a few yards of Wilcox’s cabin!
Now it is time for your stories! I want all you Huntsburg hunters to take a minute and share some of your tall tales! Email them to huntsburghistory@gmail.com and if we get enough we will publish a follow-up article! Then off to the woods!
Author: Ty Pilarczyk
Ty is the president of the Huntsburg Historical Society, and has lived in Huntsburg most of his life. When he is not designing, installing, and maintaining landscapes for the family construction business, Ty enjoys vegetable gardening, restoring and collecting old pressure lanterns, and spending time with his family.