USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 15
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 15
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The French soldiers became impatient, and wasted their breath in curses and complaints at the hardships they suffered, but the Indians animated by a zeal which sustained them above the sense of hardships, remained steadfast in the midst of fatigue, which increased with the severity of their sufferings.
Their custom of travelling in the forest had qualified them for these hardships which elicited the curses and execrations of their not less brave, but more irritable companions.
Some time before the expedition arrived at its destination, the priest Nicolas, fell sick from over exertion. His feet were worn by the labor of traveling, and his face torn by the branches which he neglected to watch in his eagerness to follow the troops.
He felt that he waa engaged in a holy expedition, and recalling to mind the martyrdom of the saints, and the persecutions which they en- dured, he looked forward to the glory reserved for his reward for the sufferings which he miglit encounter in recovering the bell.
On the evening of February 20th, 1704, the expedition arrived within two miles of Deerfield without being discovered.
De Rouville here ordered his men to rest, and refresh themselves a short time, and he here issued his orders for attacking the town
The surface of the snow was frozen, and crushed under the feet, but De Rouville with a remarkable sagacity, adopted a stratagem to deceive the inhabitants and the garrison.
He gave orders that in advancing to the assault, his troops should make frequent pauses, and then rush forward with rapidity: thus imi- tating the noise made in the forest by the irregular blowing of the wind among branches laden with ice.
The alarm was at length given, and a severe combat ensued, which resulted in the capture of the town, and the slaughter or dispersion of the inhabitants, and the garrison.
This attack occurred in the night, and at daybreak the Indians who had been exhausted by the labors of the night, presented themselves before Father Nicolas in a body, and begged to be led to the bell, that they might by their homage prove their veneration for it. Their priest was greatly affected by this earnest request, and De Rouville and others
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of the French laughed immoderately at it, but the priest wished not to discourage them in their wishes, and he obtained of the French chief permission to send one of his soldiers to ring it in the hearing of the Indians.
The sound of the bell in the stillness of a cold morning, and in the midst of the calmness of the forest, echoed clear and far, and fell upon the ears of the simple Indians, like the voice of an oracle. They trem- bled, and were filled with fear and wonder.
The bell was taken from the belfry, and attached to a pole in such a manner that four men could carry it, and in this way it was borne off with their plunder in triumph, the Indians glorying in the deliverance of this miraculous wonder.
But they shortly perceived it was too heavy a burden for the rugged route they pursued, and the yieiding nature of the snows over which they traveled. Accordingly upon arriving at the point on the lake, where they had left it, they buried their cherished treasure, with many benedictions of Father Nicolas, until the period should arrive when they could transport it with more convenience.
As soon as the ice had disappeared, and the bland air of spring had returned, giving foliage to the trees, and the fragrance and beauty of flowers to the forests, father Nicolas again assembled at the church, his Indian converts, to select a certain number of the tribe, who with the assistance of a yoke of oxen, should go and bring in the dearly prized bell.
During this interval, all the women and children of the Indian village, having been informed of the wonderful qualities of the bell, awaited its arrival with eagerness and impatience, and regarded its advent, as one of those events which but rarely mark the progress of ages. As the time approached, when the curious object should arrive, they were as- sembled on the bank of the river, and discoursing upon the subject, when far off in the stillness of the twilight, there was heard from the depths of the forest, a sound, which from being feeble and scarcely audible, be- came every moment louder. Every one listened, when presently the cry arose, it is the bell! it is the bell !! and in a moment after, the oxen were seen emerging from the wood, surrounded by a group of Indians, and bearing the precious burden on a pole between them. They had hung upon the beam and around the bell, clusters of wild flowers and leaves, and the oxen were adorned with garlands of flowers. Thus marching in triumph, Father Nicolas entered his village, more proud of his success, and received with more heartfelt joy, than a Roman general returning in triumph from the conquest of nations.
From this triumphal march in the midst of the quiet of the evening, which was broken only by the murmur of the rapid, softened by the dis- tance arose the shouts of rejoicing, as the cortege entered the village, and the idol bell was deposited in the church. Every one gratified his eager curiosity by examining the strange and musical metal, and the crusade had been crowned with unqualified success.
In due time it was raised to its place in the belfry, and has ever since, at the accustomed hours, sent its clear tones over the broad bosom of the St. Lawrence, to announce the hour of prayer and lapse of time, and although its tones are shrill and feeble beside its modern companion, they possess a music, and call up an association, which will long give an interest to the church of the Saut St. Louis, at the Indian village of Caughnawaga."
Mrs. Sigourney, whose chaste and elegant poetry, is justly admired for
.
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the melody of its versification, as well as its delicacy of sentiment, has written a poetical account of this legend, which we will here take the liberty of quoting. It will be seen that it is in accordance with the erroneous belief of its being carried to the St. Regis, the inconsistency of which has been above stated.
THE BELL OF ST. REGIS.
" 'The red men came in their pride and wrath, Deep vengeance fired their eye, And the blood of the white was in their path, And the flame from his roof rose high.
Then down from the burning church they tore The bell of tuneful sound, And on with their captive train they bore, That wonderful thing toward their native shore, The rude Canadian bound.
But now and then with a fearful tone, It struck on their startled ear --- And sad it was 'mid the mountains lone, Or the ruined tempest's muttered moan, That terrible voice to hear.
It seemed like the question that stirs the soul, Of its secret good or ill; And they quaked as its stern and solemn toll, Reechoed from rock to hill.
And they started up in their broken dream, Mid the lonely forest shade, And thought that they heard the dying scream, And saw the blood of slaughter stream Afresh through the village glade.
Then they sat in council, those chieftains old, And a mighty pit was made, Where the lake with its silver waters rolled, They buried the bell 'neath the verdant mould, And crossed themselves and prayed.
And there till a stately powow came, It slept in its tomb forgot, With a mantle of fur, and a brow of flame, He stood on that burial spot.
They wheeled the dance with its mystic round At the stormy midnight hour, And a dead man's hand on his breast he bound, And invoked, ere he broke that awful ground, The demons of pride and power.
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Then he raised the bell with a nameless rite, Which none but himself might tell, In blanket and bear-skin he bound it tight, And it journeyed in silence both day and night, So strong was that magic spell.
It spake no more, till St. Regis's tower In northern skies appeared,
And their legends extol that powow's power Which lulled that knell like the poppy flower, As conscience now slumbereth a little hour In the cell of a heart that's seared."
The act of 1802, which will be hereafter given, empowered the trus- tees then created, to purchase a bell, and it is very probable that this may have been the one that was broken up, and recast a few years since. The earliest settlers of the country agree in this statement that a bell was in the church at a very early period, and that the village presents now very nearly the same aspect that it did half a century since; with the difference that it now is more decayed and neglected than then.
The capture of Deerfield, divested of romance and tradition, occurred under the following circumstances.
" In the evening of the 29th of February, 1704, Major Hertel de Rou- ville, with 200 French, and 142 Indians, after a tedious march of be- tween 2 and 300 miles through deep snows, arrived at an elevated pine forest about two miles north of the village, (now called Petty's plain,) bordering Deerfield meadow, where they lay concealed till after mid- night. Finding all quiet, and the snow being covered with a crust suffi- cient to support the men, Rouville left his snow shoes and packs at the foot of the elevation, and, crossing Deerfield river, began his march through an open meadow before daylight, with the utmost caution, which however, was unnecessary, for the guard had retired to rest, a little be- fore daylight. Arriving at the north west quarter of the fort, where the snow had drifted in many places nearly to the top of the palisades, the enemy entered the place, and found all in a profound sleep. Parties de- tached in various directions, broke into the houses, and dragged the as- tonished people from their beds, and whenever resistance was made they were generally killed. A party forced the door of the house of the Rev. Mr. John Williams, who awakened by the noise, seized a pistol from his bed tester and snapped it at one of the Indians who were entering the room. He was seized, bound, and kept standing in his shirt for nearly an hour. His house in the meantime was plundered, and two of his children, with a black female servant, were murdered before the door. They then permitted him and Mrs. Williams, with five other child- dren to put on their clothes.
The house of Capt. John Sheldon was attacked, but as the door at «which the Indians attempted to enter was firmly bolted, they found it difficult to penetrate. They then perforated it with their tomahawks, and thrusting through a musket, fired and killed the captain's wife, as she was rising from a bed in an adjoining room. The captain's son and wife, awakened by the assault, leaped from a chamber window at the
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east ead of the house. by which the latter strained her ancle, and was seized by the Indians, but the husband escaped to the woods and reached Hatfield. After gaining possession of the bouse, which was one of the largest in the place, the enemy reserved it as the depot for the pri- soners, as they were collected from other parts of the village. The whole number made prisoners was 112, and the number of killed was 47. Having collected the prisoners, plundered and set fire to the buildings, Rouville left the place when the sun was about an hour high. Every building within the fort was reduced to ashes, except the meeting house, and that of Captain Sheldon, which was the last one fired, and saved by the English, who assembled immediately after the enemy left the place. The night following the attack, the enemy encamped in the meadow, in what is now Greenfield, about four miles from Deerfield village, where by clearing away the snow, and constructing slight cabins of brush, the prisoners were as comfortably lodged as circumstances would admit. The second day of the journey, Mrs. Williams, who had been con- fined but a few weeks previous, became exhausted through fatigue, and proving burdensome, her Indian master sank his tomahawk into her head, and left her dead at the foot of a hill near Green river. The march of the captives, on the Connecticut river continued several days without any incident of note, except now and then murdering an ex- hausted captive, and taking off his scalp.
At the mouth of White river, Rouville divided his force into several parties; that which Mr. Williams accompanied proceeded down Onion river to Lake Champlain, and from thence into Canada. After his ar- rival there he was treated with civility and even humanity. In 1706, a flag ship was sent to Quebec, and Mr. Williams and fifty seven other captives was redeemed and brought to Boston. All the surviving child- ren of Mr. Williams were redeemed with the exception of his daughter Eunice, who was left behind, being about ten years old." *
She adopted the language, dress and religion of the Indians, and married one of the Caughnawagua tribe. She subsequently visited her New England relatives, but could not be induced to abandon her adopted people. Capt. Thomas Williams, at St. Regis, of whom we give a biographical notice, in this work, and whose name occurs on most of the treaties which the St. Regis Indians have held with the state, was a descendant of this daughter of the Rev. John Williams.
During the revolutionary war a considerable portion of the St. Regis and a part of the Caughnawaga Indians joined the British ; others led by Colonel Louis Cook, of whom we shall give a particular account in the following pages, joined the American cause.
Concerning the history of the village during this period we have been unable to obtain any knowledge.
At the opening of the revolutionary war, the continental cause re- ceived much injury from the influence of the Johnson families, in Tryon county, and especially from Sir John Johnson, a baronet, and son of Sir +
* See Histortcal Collections of Massachusetts, by John W. Barber, p. 250, 252 .Also a Bio- graphical Memoir of the Rev. John Williams, by Stephen Williams, Deerfield 1837.
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William, who secretly instigated the Indians to hostilities, and created much mischief on the frontier.
To prevent this calamity it was thought advisable by Gen. Schuyler, to arrest Sir John, and thus put it out of his power to do further inis- chief.
Accordingly in May, 1776, Col. Dayton, with a part of his regiment then on its way to Canada, was sent to prosecute this enterprise .*
Receiving timely notice of this, from his tory friends in Albany, he hastily assembled a large number of his tenants, and others, and pre- pared for retreat, which he successfully accomplished, taking to the woods and avoiding the route of lake Champlain, from fear of falling into the hands of the Continentals, supposed to be assembled in that direction, he struck deeper into the woods, by way of the head waters of the Hud- son, and descended the Raquette to Canada. Their provisions were soon gone, their feet became sore from traveling, and numbers were left to be picked up by the Indians, sent back for their relief. After nineteen days of hardships, which have had few parallels in our history, they reached Montreal. So hasty was their flight, that the family papers were buried in the garden, and nothing was taken, but such articles as were of prime necessity. His extensive family estates were confiscated, and he thenceforth became a most active loyalist, and the scourge of the Mohawk settlement during the remainder of the war.
Some historians have supposed that an expedition of Mohawk Indians was despatched from Montreal to meet Sir John; and Brant long after, in rehearsing the exploits of his tribe, during the Revolution, says: " We then went in a body to a town, then in possession of the enemy, and rescued Sir John Johnson, bringing him fearlessly through the streets. "}
When on a visit of historical inquiry, at the Indian village of St. Regis, in June 1852, the author obtained a tradition, that that people sent num- bers of their warriors to meet the fugitives, carrying parched corn and sugar to preserve them from perishing, until they could reach the Cana- dian settlements.
We will return to the history of Gordon, and briefly trace the progress of the catholic mission, and then present the series of events which have inarked the history of the village.
There is a tradition that a tract of land on the east side of the river, and extending up two miles, was granted to the priest as a support,
. * Life of Brant, by William L. Stone, vol. i. p. 143, 144, and Sparke's Life and Writings of Washington, note in vol. iv. p. 409,410.
f Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i., p. 144, note.
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but this claim has not been asserted, nor is it known that there is any written evidence of the fact.
Father Gordon's health failing, he went back to Caughnawaga, in 1775, where he died in 1777. The mission was then without a priest, five or six years. Father Denaut, Oct. 1784, from the Cedars, and Lebrun, a Jesuit from Caughnawaga, in January and September 1785, appear from the parish records, to have visited the place, to administer religious rites.
Denaut subsequently became Bishop of Quebec, and the mission at the Cedars was supplied by L'Archambault, who also occasionally visited St. Regis, in the absence of an established priest.
In December, 1785, Roderick McDonnell, a Scotch priest, succeeded, and remained till 1806, when he died. He is interred under the choir of the church. Being a part of the time sick, he was assisted by A. Van Felsen, of Quebec, who was here from May 5, 1800, till September 30, 1802.
During McDonnell's residence, the present church was erected in 1791 and 1792, at first without a belfry.
The frame church was then standing, but soon after demolished. The present church is a massive stone building, of ancient and venerable ap- pearance, the walls nearly four feet thick, the windows high, and a door in the middle of the sash, for ventilation, after a custom prevalent in Ca- nada. Across the end opposite the door is a railing, and beyond and ele- vated above the floor of the church, is an ample space for the altar, and the various fixtures of the catholic worship. The altar is unusually de- corated with gilding and ornaments, and the interior of the church is adorned with paintings and prints of religious subjects. The history of two of these paintings will be given elsewhere.
A gallery extends across the end of the church over the door, for the accommodation of strangers and others, and in the body of the church near the wall, are a few seats for the singers. The greater part of the Indians, during worship, kneel or sit upon the floor, and the appearance presented to a stranger by the striking uniformity of dress and attitude, which he notices on first visiting the church during service, is very im- pressive.
Preaching is performed in the Mohawk dialect of the Iroquois language every sabbath, and all the ritual of the catholic church is observed with scrupulous care.
McDonnell was immediately succeeded by Father Rinfret, a Canadian, who remained a year, when he removed to Caughnawaga, where he died a few years after. He was followed by Jean Baptiste Roupe, who arrived in the fall of 1807, and remained till the last of July, 1812. He was taken a prisoner in his house, at the affair which happened at St Regis, in the
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fall of 1812. He was succeeded by Joseph Marcoux, of Caughnawaga, who left in March, 1819, when Nicholas Dufresne, held the office of priest till 1825. He then removed to the Sulpician Seminary, at Montreal, and has been for ten or twelve years a missionary at Two Mountains, 36 miles northward from Montreal.
In 1825, Joseph Valle arrived, and continued in the office till the fall of 1832, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Francis Marcoux, the pre- sent missionary. Father Valle died in 1850, below Quebec.
The sovereignty of the soil of the northern part of the state, was an- ciently vested in the Mohawks, who, from the earliest period of authentic history, exercised jurisdiction over it. Upon the emigration of a part of this people to Canada, they claimed to carry with them the title from whence the villagers of St. Regis, asserted their claim to the northern part of the state, in common with the other Mohawk nations of Canada.
The Mohawks it is well known, espoused the royal cause in the revolu- tion, through the influence of the Johnson family, and emigrated to Grand river in Upper Canada, where they still reside on lands given them by government. Whatever title to the land remained with them, was sur- rendered by the following treaty, held at Albany, March 29, 1795.
" At a treaty, held under the authority of the United States, with the Mohawk nation of Indians, residing in the province of Upper Canada, within the dominions of the King of Great Britain. Present, the Hon. Isaac Smith, Commissioner appointed by the United States, to hold this treaty, Abram Ten Broeck, Egbert Benson and Ezra L'Hommedieu, agents for the State of New York, Captain Joseph Brant and Capt. John Deserontyon, two of the said Indians, and deputies to represent the said nation at this treaty.
The said agents having in the presence, and with the approbation of the said commissioners, proposed to, and adjusted with the said deputies, the compensation as hereinafter mentioned, to be made to the said nation for their claim to be extinguished by this treaty, to all lands within the said state. It is thereupon finally agreed and done, between the said na- tions and the said deputies, as follows, that is to say : The said agents do agree to pay to the said deputies, the sum of one thousand dollars for the use of the said nation, to be by the said deputies paid over to, and dis- tributed among the persons and families of the said nation, according to their usages, the sum of five hundred dollars, for the expenses of the said deputies, during the time they have attended this treaty, and the sum of one hundred dollars for their expenses in returning, and for carrying the said sum of one thousand dollars to where the said nation resides. And the said agents do accordingly for, and in the name of the People of the State of New York, pay the said three several sums to the deputies, in the presence of the said commissioners. And the said deputies do agree to cede and release, and these present witness that they accordingly do, for and in the name of the said nation, in consideration of the said compensation, cede and release to the people of the state of New York, forever, all the right or title of the said nation, to lands within the said state, and the claim of the said nation to lands within the said state, is hereby wholly and finally extinguished.
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In testimony whereof, the said commisssioner, the said agents, and the said deputies, have hereunto, and to two other acts of the same tenor and date, one to remain with the United States, one to remain with the said State, and one delivered to the said deputies, to remain with the said nation, set their hands and seals at the city of Albany, in the said State, the twenty-ninth day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five."
Signed, sealed, and acknowledged.
(Copied from a MSS. volume entitled " Indian Deeds, and Treaties, 17,12- 1810," in the office of Secretary of State, at Albany. Page 187.)
Treaties with the Indians for their lands, were'by a provision of the first constitution of the state, adopted April 20, 1777, reserved to the legislature. It was therein ordained,
" That no purchases or contracts for the sale of lands, made since the fourteenth day of October, 1775, or which may hereafter be made, with or of the said Indians, within the limits of this state, shall be binding on the said Indians, or deemed valid, unless made under the authority, and with the consent of the Legislature of the state." (Laws of New York, vol. i, p. 16, 1813.)
By an act passed April 4, 1801, it was provided :
"That if any person should without the authority and consent of the Legislature, in any manner or form, or on any terms whatsoever, purchase any lands within this state, of any Indian or Indians residing therein, or make any contract with any Indian or Indians, for the sale of any lands within this state, or shall in any manner, give, sell, demise, convey or otherwise dispose of any such lands or any interest therein, or offer to do so, or shall enter on, or take possession of, or to settle on any such lands by pretext or color of any right, or interest, in the same, in consequence of any such purchase, or contract, made since the 14th day of October, 1775, and not with the authority, and consent of the Legislature of this state, every such person shall in every such case, be deemed guilty of a public offence, and shall on conviction thereof, before any court having cognizance of the same, forfeit and pay to the people of this state, two hundred and fifty dollars, and be further punished by fine and imprison- ment, at the discretion of the court."
The state being accordingly the only party whom the Indians could recognize, to them they applied for the settlement of their claims, to lands in the northern part of the state.
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