In the private and social life of Tecumseh there were many things worthy of notice.  He was opposed, on principle, to polygamy, a practice almost universal among his countrymen.  He was married but once; and this union, which took place at the age of twenty-eight, is said to have been more in compliance with the wishes of others than in obedience to the unbiassed impulse of his feelings or the dictates of his judgment.  Mamate, his wife, was older than himself, and possessed few personal or mental qualities calculated to excite admiration.  A son, called Pugeshashenwa, (a panther in the act of seizing its prey,) was the only fruit of this union.  The mother died soon after his birth, and he was left to the care of his aunt, Tecumapease.[A] This son is now residing with the Shawanoes west of the Mississippi, but is not distinguished for talents, or renowned as a warrior.  The British government, however, since the death of Tecumseh, has recognized its obligations to the father by the extension of an annual stipend to the son.

[Footnote A:  Recollections of John Johnston, and Anthony Shane.]

From his boyhood, Tecumseh was remarkable for temperance and the strictest integrity.  He was hospitable, generous and humane; and these traits were acknowledged in his character long before he rose to distinction, or had conceived the project of that union of the tribes, on which the energies of his manhood were fruitlessly expended.  He was, says an intelligent Shawanoe, who had known him from childhood, kind and attentive to the aged and infirm, looking personally to their comfort, repairing their frail wigwams when winter approached, giving them skins for moccasins and clothing, and sharing with them the choicest game which the woods and the seasons afforded.  Nor were these acts of kindness bestowed exclusively on those of rank or reputation.  On the contrary, he made it his business to search out the humblest objects of charity, and in a quick, unostentatious manner, relieve their wants.

The moral and intellectual qualities of Tecumseh place him above the age and the race in which his lot was cast.  “From the earliest period of his life,” says Mr. Johnston, the late Indian agent at Piqua, “Tecumseh was distinguished for virtue, for a strict adherence to truth, honor, and integrity.  He was sober[A] and abstemious, never indulging in the use of liquor nor eating to excess.”  Another respectable individual,[B] who resided for near twenty years as a prisoner among the Shawanoes, and part of that time in the family of Tecumseh, writes to us, “I know of no peculiarity about him that gained him popularity.  His talents, rectitude of deportment, and friendly disposition, commanded the respect and regard of all about him.  In short, I consider him a very great as well as a very good man, who, had he enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, would have done honor to any age or any nation.”

[Footnote A:  Major James Galloway, of Xenia, states, that on one occasion, while Tecumseh was quite young, he saw him intoxicated.  This is the only aberration of the kind, which we have heard charged upon him.]