During Ohio's settlement it was a much more wild and different place than it is today. The early pioneers in the area had to deal with dense woods, bears, cougars, and attacks from hostile Native Americans
The War of 1812 started as a battle between the United States and the UK. At that time there was heightened tensions between the U.S. settlers and the Native Americans as well. The settlers were essentially taking over the land where the Natives had roamed freely for many centuries before the Europeans arrived. Because of this the Native Americans were naturally distrustful of the settlers. Some of the Native Americans sided with, and helped the UK during the war, while a few other tribes remained aligned with, but still distrustful of the pioneers
In this area, Reverend James Copus, and other settlers had spoken with and become relatively friendly with the local native tribes. In September of 1812, a U.S. military commander approached Copus for assistance. He wanted Copus to speak with the natives, and encourage them to leave the area "until tensions died down." This was presented to Copus as a way to protect the Native Americans. Copus knew well that the tribes would not trouble the U.S. troops, and tried to convince the commander. The commander would not listen. So Copus left to speak with the natives.
Naturally the Native Americans were upset, but they trusted Copus and began to leave. Shortly after the troops ransacked the native village. They stole everything they thought might be of value and set fire to the rest. Since the Native Americans had just left, they were still close enough to see the smoke billowing over their village. Copus was upset because he had been lied to, and had been made to look like a liar. He knew nothing of the commander's plans. The Native Americans were upset at Copus because they thought he was in on it and had deceived them.
Early in the morning of September 10, a neighbor of Copus, by the name of Ruffner, noticed a party of Native Americans in the woods. They were headed toward another neighbor's house, the Zimmers. Mr. Ruffner headed off to the Zimmer's to alert them. When Ruffner arrived at the Zimmer's house, Ruffner stood guard at the Zimmer's. The Zimmers were an older couple, so he wanted to help protect them. Believing that there were only 5 Native Americans, they sent Phillip Zimmer, the younger son, to go get more help. It turned out there were closer to fifty natives. They entered the Zimmer's home killing Ruffner, the elder Zimmers and their daughter Kate.
Shortly after, Phillip returned with Copus and others. Copus noticed the house was dark and quiet, and realized something wasn't right. They looked inside and saw the bodies of the Zimmers and Ruffner lying on the floor. At this point Copus knew he needed to go back to protect his family. They soon left the area and went to a nearby blockhouse for protection. They stayed there several days, and were told by the military that the natives were gone. He didn't believe it, but they returned home anyhow.
When the Copus family arrived back at the cabin they found it untouched. They were surprised, but they felt better about what they were told. They were also accompanied by several soldiers and were promised more soldiers would arrive the next day. Copus tried to convince the soldiers to stay at his home, but they refused. The next morning, on the 15th, the soldiers visited Copus. He explained that he still didn't feel right about the situation, but the soldiers once again insisted everything was fine. The soldiers left again to clean up at a nearby creek. Copus told them to take their rifles with them, but they didn't.
As soon as the soldiers reached the creek they were ambushed. All five of them were killed, and the Native Americans surrounded the Copus home. James opened the door to fire his rifle but he himself was shot. While he lay dying he told the soldiers who were in the house to continue to fight to protect his family. The battle continued for the next five hours. Finally the Native Americans retreated around 11am.
Knowing that the natives would likely return at dark, the remaining Copus' and soldiers decided they needed to get help soon. They sent Sarah Copus out.
About 1pm one of the soldiers in the house saw what he thought were natives crawling through the bushes near the house. Just before shooting at the natives, he realized the men had white skin and called out to them. It turns out it was the follow up group of soldiers that were promised to arrive. Not knowing of the situation, the arriving soldiers thought it would be funny to sneak up, dressed as natives, to scare the soldiers already at the cabin.
It is said that Sarah Copus, who ran for help, ran into Johnny Appleseed. Appleseed picked Sarah up (she was a young teen at the time) and took her to the blockhouse, alerting other neighbors along the way. A party was sent from the blockhouse back to the Copus home to lead them to safety at the blockhouse as well.
The memorial which stands at the former Copus homestead was dedicated on September 10, 1882. It was placed in memory of those who died, and in honor of the bravery displayed by those who lived. Sarah, who was then 83, was at the dedication ceremony. The monument has the names of those who died, as well as information commemorating Johnny Appleseed. It is believed that this is the earliest monument erected in Appleseed's memory.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Ashland County Historical Society