USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 4
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The Palatines received only about four hours' notice of this attack, which fact, in the opinion of Judge Benton, tends to substantiate his
of Each.
45
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
theory that the settlement was not properly warned of the attack in the previous year.1
The French and Indian war closed with the conquest of Canada in 1760, and a period of peace succeeded, which was most grateful to the harassed Palatines. Those who had been carried into captivity returned and again took up the cultivation of their farms and the improvement of their homes. There were at this time nearly five hundred houses in the Mohawk valley between East Canada Creek and Sir William John- son's residence, and there was rich promise of development of the lo- cality. Several important Indian councils were held in the valley, some of them upon the soil of Herkimer county, between the restoration of peace and the period immediately preceding the outbreak of the Revo- lution.
In 1763 Nova Scotia, Canada, Cape Breton and other dependencies were ceded by France under the treaty of Paris, to the British crown, and the two Floridas by Spain, thus giving Great Britain control of the entire North American continent. During the preceding three-quar- ters of a century, and in spite of the four destructive wars, the colonies had greatly developed and improved the country as far as the settle- ments extended, and were pushing with rapid strides their commercial interests. This latter advancement led the mother country into the imposition of restrictions that threatened to disturb trade, to the great injury of the colonies; this, with burdensome taxation without repre- sentation, finally led to the revolt that culminated in the Revolution. It is not the purpose of this work, nor is there space in its pages, to follow in detail the historic events that resulted in the final declaration of independence; but merely to briefly note the conditions that were imposed upon this immediate locality by the great struggle and the part taken in it by the inhabitants of the Mohawk valley.
I The old fort at German Flats was called Fort Herkimer : and in 1758 was commanded by Colonel Charles Clinton, father of General James and Governor George Clinton, and grandfather of De Witt Clinton, who was a son of General James Clinton. This officer marched from this fort in the summer of 1758, under General Bradstreet. to Oswego, and thence to the siege of Fort Frontenac [Kingston, Canada]. This expedition was completely successful ; the French were not apprised at their approach until they saw them before the walls of their fortress. Among the persons who were afterward distinguished, who accompanied General Bradstreet, were Horatio Gates [to whom Burgoyne surrendered], then a captain, and Nathaniel Woodhull, then a major, afterward first president of the New York Provisional Congress, and who in the Revolution was a general and sealed his attachment to the cause of his country with his blood.
45.
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
In the Revolutionary War, as far as it pertained to this part of New York, Sir William Johnson exercised a greater influence than any other one person. His power over the Indians was almost unbounded, while his clos . adherence to the cause of England made him one to be feared in the coming contest. But his influence was not felt among the Pala- tines as it was farther east in the valley and nearer his home. Sir William died on the 11th of July, 1774. just at the outbreak of the Revo- luition), but his mantle of partisanship against the colonists fell upon his son, Sir John Johnson, and his nephew, Guy Johnson, and they ex- erted all their powerful influence to hold the allegianceof the Indians to the cause of England. At the same time, it was only a natural result of such a tremendous overthrow of government and its established usages and institutions, that there should be partisans. The epithet of "tory" has come down to us of to-day surrounded with an atmosphere of obloquy and opprobrium which, perhaps, it scarcely deserves. The very principle of free speech, thought and action, which underlies the government that was established by the patriots in the Revolution, would seem to have given the individual of that trying period a certain right to choose as to the direction which his allegiance should take. This would surely be true, were it not that the provocation meted out to the colonists was unbearable. The tory was the patriot in the eyes of the mother country, while the patriot colonist was the rebel of that govern- ment. This is not advanced in mitigation of many barbarous deeds by tories and Indians against the suffering settlers in America; but because it may be better to forget, under the softening influence of time, the animosities and differences that could not fail to be stirred into life during such a struggle as our Revolution. But whatever the opinion enter- tained on this point, it can be truthfully recorded that very few of the Palatines are known to have abandoned their homes and followed the fortunes of the Johnsons. If promises were held out to them as induce- ment toward such a course, they were generally futile. They had not forgotten the scenes of November, 1757, and April, 1758, when they were left on an unprotected frontier, by those who, possibly, might have given them succor, to the destruction and bloodshed that followed in the wake of a savage foe. And they also had loftier motives to guide their actions and control them in the course they should pursue in the
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17
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
contest. They well knew the miseries of serfdom, a concomitant of regal power and the rule of one man. They appreciated the sentiment that man ought not to be burdened unjustly without his consent; and exposed as they were, and suffer as they undoubtedly knew they must in the coming struggle, they still embraced with zeal the cause of the colonies against the mother country and held out firmly to the end.
CHAPTER IV.
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
T T HROUGH the influence of Sir William Johnson, Tryon county was formed in 1772, with Johnstown, Fulton county, as the county seat, where a court-house and jail were soon erected. At the formation of the new county there were probably about 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom were settled along the Mohawk. The county embraced all of the State west of a line running due north from the Delaware River through what is now Schoharie county, and along the eastern limits of the present counties of Montgomery, Fulton and Hamilton, to the Ca- nadian line. Instead of townships, this large territory was divided into five districts, the easternmost one being named Mohawk ; this embraced the territory between the eastern line of the county and a line running parallel thereto crossing the Mohawk at the "Noses." The Stone Arabia district extended indefinitely northward from the river between the Mohawk district on the east and on the west from a line running north and south through the State crossing the river at Little Falls. With the same breadth, the Canajoharie district reached southward to the Pennsylvania line. North of the Mohawk River and west of the Stone Arabia district, as far as settlements extended, was the Kingsland district ; while south of the river, extending westward from the Canajo- harie district to the meridian of Fort Stanwix, and southerly to the Penn- sylvania line, was the German Flats district. One year after the for- mation of these districts, the name of Stone Arabia district was changed to Palatine. The inhabitants of the districts elected on the first Tues-
48
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
day in the year, a supervisor, two assessors and one collector for each district. Courts and civil officers were provided, and the first court in the county was held at Johnstown on Tuesday, September 8, 1772.
There was not, perhaps, in the whole country during the period just preceding the Revolution a section of the frontier where a deeper and more active interest was shown in the affairs and prospects of the colonies, than in the Mohawk valley. This was necessarily the case, on account of the intense partisanship of the Johnsons combined with their great power over the Indians on the one hand, and on the other the patriotic loyalty to the colonists of the Dutch in the lower valley and the Pala- tines farther west. Sir William Johnson had not been dead two months when a public meeting was held in the Palatine district at which a series of resolutions was adopted warmly commendatory of the blessings to be derived from the British government and extolling the duty of every person in submitting to whatever restrictions and burdens the crown saw fit to impose. Then followed the Declaration of Rights by the Conti- nental Congress in September, 1774, and the battle of Lexington, as it is termed, in the spring of 1775. The news of this event was received in Johnstown during a session of the court. The loyalists thereupon under- took a demonstration against the Colonial Congress by circulating a declaration disapproving of the proceedings of that body in the preced- ing autumn. After much altercation the signatures of a majority of the county officials were obtained to the declaration, which proceeding threw the Whigs into a fever of excitement and indignation. They called public meetings and appointed committees, and adopted an article of association endorsing the action of Congress and pledging the signers to its support.
It soon became apparent that the Johnsons and their allies were not only loyalists of the most determined character, but that they would attempt the suppression of all patriotic demonstration in the county. In view of this condition of affairs the Palatine committee met on the 19th of May, 1775, and addressed a letter to the committee at Albany, in which they represented their circumstances, stating that Johnson Hall was fortified and armed; that Colonel Johnson had stopped two New England men passing up the valley and searched them ; recom- mending that no ammunition be sent up the valley except under the
Robert Searl
49
THIE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
inspection of, and consigned to, the committee, to be given out to such shopkeepers as they should approve and concluding : " In a word, gentle- men, it is our fixed resolve to support and carry into execution every- thing recommended by the Continental Congress, and to be free or die." That expression bears the true ring of patriotism and shows clearly the attitude of the majority of the inhabitants of the valley.
In Campbell's " Annals of Tryon County " the date of the first united meeting of the county committee is given as June 2, 1775, with the following as the names of the committee :
From the Palatine district : Christopher P. Yates, John Frey, Andrew Fink, Andrew Reiber, Peter Waggoner, Daniel McDougal, Jacob Klock, George Ecker, Jun., Harma- nus Van Slyck, Christopher W. Fox, Anthony Van Veghten ; 11.
From the Canajoharie district : Nicholas Herkimer, Ebenezer Cox, William Seeber, John Moore, Samuel Campbell, Samuel Clyde, Thomas Henry, John Pickard; 8.
From the Kingsland and German Flats districts: Edward Wall, William Petry, John Petry, Augustine Hess, Frederick Orendorf, George Wentz, Michael Ittig, Frederick Fox, George Herkimer, Duncan McDougal, Frederick Helmer, and John Frink; 12.
From the Mohawk district: John Morlett, John Bliven, Abraham Van Horne, Adam Fonda, Frederick Fisher, Sampson Simmons, William Schuyler, Volkert Veeder, James McMaster and Daniel Lane; 10. In all, 41.
Previous to the above named meeting the Mohawk delegates had been influenced by the Johnsons against attending the committee gatherings. Such was the case on the 24th of May, when all the committees met, excepting Mohawk, and unanimously approved of the previous action of the Palatine committee, and voted that Daniel McDougall, for Pala- tine district, David Cox for Canajoharie, and Edward Wall and Duncan McDougall for German Flats and Kingsland, be sent to Schenectady and Albany to confer with the committees of those places upon the sit- uation, and to procure ammunition, etc. Meanwhile Guy Johnson was secretly active in inciting the Indians to keep alive their memory of Sir William and to hold themselves ready to protect himself and his property. He undoubtedly early saw his impending doom. At the meeting of June 2, above mentioned, a long letter, written in a spirit of patriotic and dignified protest against his disloyal acts and maintaining the position of the committees, was prepared and forwarded to Johnson. This drew from him a reply in which he mildly deprecated the unconstitutional means taken by the colonists to redress their wrongs; excusing the
7
50
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
fortification of his house by his fears of actual danger to himself ; deny- ing that he had stopped any travelers, and closing with the assurance that he should always be glad to promote their true interests. But his acts belied his words. He went first to Fort Stanwix and thence to Ontario and Oswego, where he held councils with the Indians and further secured their promised devotion to the king through gifts and rewards. He finally repaired to Montreal where he remained through the war, continuing the discharge of his duties as Indian agent and de- voting himself indirectly to the destruction of the people of whom he had written that he " should always be glad to promote their true in- erests."
In their alarming situation, especially as regarded the attitude of the Six Nations, the colonists made earnest efforts to dissuade them from joining in the approaching struggle. These efforts were successful only with a large part of the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras. The last council held before the war was convened at Albany August 23-31, 1775, and although some assurance was then obtained from the Indians that they would remain neutral, it was not many months before the great body of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas evinced their attachment to the royal cause. Following the flight of Guy John- son, the colonists found it necessary to keep a close watch upon the movements of Sir John. He was surrounded by a large body of tories and Indians and left no means untried to harass and annoy the settlers. As a last resort the Tryon county committee resolved to make him speak out his intentions and hold him responsible for his utterances. They accordingly addressed a letter to him, over the signature of Nicholas Herkimer, which contained the following paragraph :
We want to know whether you will allow that the inhabitants of Johnstown and Kingsborough may form themselves into compames according to the regulations of our Continental Congress, for the defense of our country's cause ; and whether your honor would be ready himself to give his personal assistance to the same purpose.
Sir John's reply left no doubt resting upon his sentiments, at least. It was thus reported to the committee by the messengers who conveyed their inquiries :
In regard of embodying his tenants into companies, he never did forbid them, neither should do it, as they may use their pleasure; but we might save ourselves the trouble, Le being sure they would not.
51
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Concerning himself, he said that before he would sign any association, or would lift his hand up against his king, he would rather suffer that his head shall be cut off.
Sir John continued his military preparations about Johnson Hall, and succeeded in keeping the inhabitants of the county in continual alarm. The activity and growing boldness of the tories led to the issuance of an order by Congress to General Schuyler in January, 1776, directing him to take steps to captur the materials of war reported as stored at Johns- town and disarm the tories. With about 700 men General Schuyler proceeded toward Johnstown. At Guy Park, some miles east of Johns- town, Sir John and a party of his followers were encountered. The baronet was at first disposed to assume a belligerent attitude, but he was soon convinced of a better course and asked for twenty-four hours for consideration. This was granted and he returned to the Hall. From Caughnawaga, whither General Schuyler had marched, and where he had met General Herkimer and the militia, an ultimatum was sent to Sir John. He was permitted to retain some family arms and allowed certain liberty in prescribed limits in the eastern part of the State. To this he agreed, but his continued violation of the compact and renewed evidences of his hostility to the cause led General Schuyler to the con- clusion that the only proper and safe course was to place him under arrest. An expedition was sent out in May for this purpose and to quell all disaffection about Johnstown. Sir John received information of this movement and he fled with his retainers to Canada, where he accepted a commission as colonel in the British army and formed two battalions of " Royal Greens " from the tories who had accompanied him. They became the bitterest enemies with whom the patriots had to contend.
After the departure of Sir John and his band, who were subsequently followed by other parties of tories, this class of persons made no further hostile demonstrations in the county.
Returning to the subject of military affairs in the county in 1775, the committee of safety organized the militia of the county into four battal- ions and on the 26th of August transmitted the return, through Nicho- las Herkimer, the chairman, to the general committee of safety, then in session in New York, by whom it was approved on the 6th of Septen- ber. Following is a list of field officers of the four battalions who were nominated in each district :
52
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
First battalion Canajoharie district .- Nicholas Herkheimer, colonel ; Ebenezer Cox, lieutenant-colonel ; Robert Wells, major ; Sanmel Clyde, adjutant.
Second battalion, Palatine district .- Jacob Clock, colonel; Peter Waggoner, lieuten- ant-colonel; Harmanns Van Slyck, major; V. Vechten, adjutant.
Third battalion, Mohawk district .- Frederick Fisher, colonel ; Adam Fonda, lieuten- ant-colonel ; John Bliven, major; Robert Yates, adjutant.
Fourth battalion, German Flats and Kingsland .- Hanyoost Herkheimer, colonel ; Peter Bellinger, lieutenant-colonel; llanyoost Shoemaker, major; John Demooth, ad- jutant.
The following are the names of the other officers of the fourth bat- talion :
Ist company .- John Eisenlord, captain ; John Keyser, Ist lieutenant; Adam Bellini- ger, 2d lieutenant ; John Smith, et.sign.
2d company .- John Petry, captain; Hanyoost Mx. Petry, Ist lieutenant; Hanyoost H. Petry, 2d lientenant ; William Empie, ensign.
3d company .- Daniel Petry, captain ; Peter Volts, 1st lieutenant ; Marx Raspach, 2d lieutenant ; George Helmer, ensign.
4th company .- Frederick Bellinger, captain; Henry Herter, Ist lieutenant; John Demooth, 2d lieutenant; Peter Ja. Weaver, ensign.
5th company .- Peter Bellinger, captain; Jacob Baschawn, Ist lieutenant ; Nicholas Staring, 2d lieutenant; John P. Bellinger, ensign.
6th company .- Hanyoost Herkheimer, captain ; Frederick Ahrendorf, Ist lieutenant ; Tinus Clapsaddle, 2d lieutenant.
7th company .- Rudolph Shoemaker, captain; Deiterick Stale, Ist lieutenant ; Freder ick Shoemaker, 2d lieutenant.
Sth company .- George Herkheimer, captain ; Frederick Fox, 1st lieutenant ; Archi bald Armstrong, 2d lieutenant ; llanyoost Tygert, ensign.
9th company .- William Tygert, captain ; Jacob Volts, Ist heutenant ; George Wents, 2d lieutenant ; Frederick Frank, ensign.
By a vote of the committee, Nicholas Herkimer was appointed "Chief Colonel, Commander for the County of Tryon."
The year 1777 produced a series of events of remarkable historical importance to the people of the Mohawk valley. In the spring an in- vasion was threatened by a large force of Indians under the famous Brant. He was met at Unadilla by General Herkimer, with whom he had been on friendly terms. The interview was beset with danger and a conflict was narrowly escaped ; but it closed without practical results, and Brant returned down the Susquehanna.
53
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
On the 3d of August ( 1777 ) Fort Schuyler was invested by Colonel St. Leger, with a force of 1,700 men. The approach of this attack was communicated to Colonel Gansevoort and the authorities of Tryon coun- ty by the friendly Oneida Indians. The American force at the fort was seven hundred and fifty men, and the supply of ammunition was deficient. The first news of the proposed siege of Fort Schuyler seems to have thrown the inhabitants of the valley into needless alarm which became almost a panic-a condition justified only by their unprotected situation and the probability that they could receive little assistance beyond their own efforts. On the 17th of July General Herkimer issued a proclama- tion announcing that 2,000 " Christians and savages " had assembled at Oswego for a descent upon the Mohawk valley, and warning the people to be ready at a moment's notice to take the field against the enemy, the men from sixteen to sixty for active service, and the aged and infirm to defend the women and children. Of the immediate subsequent opera- tions Judge Benton wrote as follows : " As soon as the approach of St. Leger to Fort Schuyler was known in Tryon county, General Herkimer ordered the militia of his brigade to rendezvous at Fort Dayton ( then called German Flats ). This defense was erected in the western part of Herkimer village, and the general soon found himself at the head of about nine hundred men, composed of the three militia regiments com- manded by Colonels Klock, Cox, Vischer and some others, with volun- teers of officers and men from various parts of the country. The pub- lished accounts of the forces collected under General Herkimer on this occasion do not designate the localities from which the several regiments were drawn; enough is known, however, to warrant the assertion that the militia of the German Flats and Kingsland district were attached to the regiment commanded by Colonel Peter Bellinger, whose lieutenant- colonel was Frederick Bellinger; major, Enos Klepsattle. The militia of these districts participated in the battle of Oriskany. The alacrity and zeal evinced on this occasion should have entirely eradicated all impressions unfavorable to the patriotic devotion of the inhabitants of the valley, growing out of the expression of despondency in the early part of the year. Surely after this no one could complain of German disloyalty to the cause of the colonists. General Herkimer left Fort Dayton on the 4th of August, and encamped near the Oriskany on the
54
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
5th, crossing the Mohawk river at old Fort Schuyler ( now Utica ) on the march up. At this point the general expressed his doubts of the ex- pediency of a forward movement, until reinforcements should arrive, or the prearranged signal should be given by Colonel Gansevoort from the fort. An express, Adam Helmer and two other men, had been dis- patched to the fort, informing the commandant of the general's approach, and to arrange matters of co-operation, The messengers did not reach the fort until ten or eleven o'clock in the morning of the 6th. Three successive discharges of heavy ordnance was the signal agreed on, an- nouncing the arrival of the express ; thereports of which, it was assumed, could be heard at Herkimer's encampment, eight miles distant from the fort. Recriminatory and insubordinate language was used on the occa- sion, and the general was denounced to his face as a tory and coward ; who replied, that their safety was in his hands, and he desired to avoid all difficulties that could not be surmounted by bravery and good con- duct. On this occasion the general told some of his subordinates, who had been noisy and liberal in their accusations of his fidelity and cour- age, that they would be the first to run on the approach of the enemy ; which was soon verified to the very letter.
" All previous accounts had fixed St. Leger's forces at 2,000 strong, nearly half of which were Indians led by Brant, a brave, active and artful Mohawk sachem. Herkimer knew this, and he no doubt believed, as well he might, that a force superior to his own could be sent against him, which would select its own battlefield, without in any way inter- fering with the investment of the fort. But noisy insubordination pre- vailed, and precipitated the little band of patriots into the jaws of death. Smarting under the repeated accusations heaped upon him, and irritated no doubt, the general gave orders to take up the line of march, which was received with cheers by the men, who proceeded rapidly on their way, two deep, having thrown out the usual advanced and flanking parties.
"At 10 o'clock on the 6th the main body of troops passed over a causeway on a marshy ravine, the advance having commenced an ascent of the westerly slope, when a well directed fire from the enemy, in front and on both flanks, accompanied with the dismal Indian war- whoop, unfolded to the American general that his division had become involved
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