History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 6

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840

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Before the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, the In- dians of the Five Nations had become the allies of the English. In 1689, they had met the represen- tatives of the English colonies, the Governors of New York and Virginia, in council at Albany, and had formally pledged to them peace and alliance. Although the French, from this time forward, made the most strenuous efforts, through diplomacy and religion, to gain the Five Nations over to their in- terest, and failing in that, had employed the best military resources of New France for their subjuga- tion, yet they steadily adhered to their friendship for the English, who gradually gained the ascend- ancy over them and in due time became their mas- ters.

The earliest and strongest influence of the Eng- lish was exerted over the Mohawks, who lived in immediate proximity to their settlements on the Hudson ; hence the Mohawks were most hostile to the French and were often in open war upon their frontiers while the more western tribes were quietly listening to the Jesuit Fathers within the sound of Niagara, in the forests of Cayuga and the villages of Onondaga. Many a conflict between the Mo- hawks and the other tribes of the Five Nations originated in the partiality of the latter for the French. At length the English, penetrating farther into the country, extending trade and commerce to the different tribes, and assisting them against their common enemies, gradually gained an ascendancy over them, and an alliance was formed with the United Five Nations which remained an indissolu- ble bond of union through all the conflicts and wars which followed, not only till the downfall of French power in Canada, but till England herself surren- dered her possessions in America to her colonies. The English gained their ascendancy over the Iro- quois, not by levying war, but by commerce and assistance, in the first place, and then by negotia- tion and the arts of peace. From this time the Five Nations recognized themselves as subjects of Great Britain and were at war or peace, as suited the policy of the governing nation.

Among the earliest English travelers in the Iro- quois country was Wentworth Greenhalgh, who commenced a journey westward from Albany on the 28th of May, 1677 .* He visited the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, and describes minutely in his journal the situation and

* Clark's Onondaga, p. 283.

* Chambers' Political Annals of the United Colonies, London, 1780

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

strength of each nation. The Onondagas he found " situated on a hill that is very large, the bank on each side extending itself at least two miles, all cleared land whereon the corn is planted." This traveler furnishes the following census of the " fight- ing men " of the respective nations : Mohawks 300 ; Oneidas, 200 ; Onondagas, 350: Cayugas, 300 ; Senecas, 1,000 ; total, 2,150.

In the manuscripts of Sir William Johnson there is a census of the northern and western Indians from the Hudson to the Mississippi, taken in 1763. in which the Five Nations appear numerically as follows. Mohawks, 160 ; Oneidas, 250 ; Onondagas, 150; Cayugas, 200; Senecas, 1,050 ; total, 1,610 warriors

In 1700, Robert Livingston, Secretary of Indian attairs, visited Onondaga, and reported to the Earl of Belmont upon the proper policy for the English to adopt in regard to the Five Nations. He ad- vised that missionaries should be sent among them, and that forts should be constructed and garrisoned for their protection against the French. He pro- posed to locate a fort at the confluence of the Oneida and Seneca Rivers. In June of that year, Dekan- nissora, at the head of an embassy. visited Albany complaining that the French " will not take the hatchet from their hands" unless the Five Nations submit to them. And he said, " All of us here are resolved to have a Protestant minister at Onondaga, the centre of the Five Nations, as soon as one can be sent to us." The Governor promised the mis- sionary, and that the bible should be translated for their use, and proposed that they should send two or three of their sons to be educated at the expense of the King. The Indians replied that they loved the King and were determined to continue firm to him and his religion, adding that they had refused to receive the Jesuit priests. " As to the offer to educate the boys," said the chief, " that is a sub- ject not under our control ; it belongs to the women entirely."

At this council the Earl of Belmont promised the Onondagas to build a fort in their country. Col. Romer was selected as the engineer to explore the country and fix upon a site for the fort. The Indians agreed to furnish two hundred men to work upon it, and to furnish corn, venison, and other pro. visions for the workmen. Four young Onondagas were selected to accompany Colonel Romer in his exploring expedition. Colonel Romer explored the Onondaga country, and passed down till he came to the Oneida River, but tound no sintable place to locate a fort They finally decided upon the ledge called Kagnewageage, near the mouth of the Oswe-

go River, as the most suitable site. The King of England, in 1701, had given five hundred pounds towards erecting a fort in the country of the Onon- dagas. The fort was not built till 1;27. A trading house, however, was erected at Oswego in 1722, under the administration of Governor William Bur nét. The design of the occupancy of this position was to frustrate the purpose of the French to con- fine the English colonies to narrow limits along the sea coast by a chain of forts extending from Canada to Louisiana ; and it would also give the English command of Lake Ontario and the route of the French by the Oswego River into the heart of the Iroquois country. No establishment could be of greater importance to the interest of the English. When, therefore, the trading house was erected at Oswego it highly exasperated the Canadian authori- ties, and they immediately inaugurated a counter movement in erecting a trading house at Niagara. The Baron De Longueil visited the canton of the Onondagas in person to secure the consent of the chiefs, and by misrepresentation partially succeeded. But the other Iroquois nations declared the action of the Onondagas void, as the country in which the French were at work belonged solely to the Senc- cas. The French, however, persisted, and through the influence of the Jesuit. Joucaire, who succeeded in keeping the Indians quiet, completed their work at Niagara. Governor Burnet, unable to accom- plish anything else, erected the fort at Oswego in 1727 He built it almost wholly at his own private expense The Governor of Canada was so incensed that he sent a written order to the officer in com- mand to evacuate the fort at once. The English officer did not, however, comply.

In the war which followed between the French and the English, the defence of the fort at Oswego was entrusted to the Onondagas. When Sir Wil- liam Johnson called for them they were ready and assisted in winning the glory he acquired. At Ni- agara. Montreal and Quebec, they participated in the great engagements which decided the question of empire between the French and English ; and on the 21st of July, 176t, after the war had closed and all the French possessions east of the Missis- sippi had fallen into the hands of the English, up- wards of forty of the sachems and warriors of the Onondaga nation met Sir William Johnson at Os- wego, to receive the medals sent to all their chiefs, by General Amherst. The chiefs, in a formal ad- dress, took that occasion to remonstrate against the ill treatment many of their people had received from the traders and soldiers at the posts during the war, and the exhorbitant prices of goods charged

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

by the traders. Sir William promised to reform abuses and furnish them plenty of powder and ball, which proved very agreeable to the chiefs.

In the war of the Revolution these Indians steadi- ly adhered to the friendship which had been so long cemented between them and the English, and were the faithful allies of Great Britain throughout that memorable struggle. Mr. Clinton says that in the war of the Revolution the Five Nations contributed to the aid of the British 1,580 men. "They hung like the scythe of death in the rear of our settle- ments, and their deeds are inscribed with the scalp- ing knife and the tomahawk, in characters of blood, on the fields of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, and on the banks of the Mohawk."*

The chastisement we inflicted upon the Five Nations was as terrible as their own cruelties had invoked. On the 21st of April, 1779, Colonel Van Schaick surprised the Onondagas and destroyed their village, provisions and munitions of war, kill- ing twelve and taking thirty or forty prisoners. The destruction of their property was complete. The same year the campaigns of Sullivan carried war and famine to the Cayugas and Senecas, effectually breaking the power of the Iroquois. The Mohawks fled to Canada with Sir William Johnson.

The treaty of peace with England gave us the chain of the great lakes as our northern boundary. No stipulation whatever was made respecting these tribes. They consequently found themselves in the condition of a conquered people in the hands of their enemies who had become highly exasperated at their dreadful cruelties. The Legislature of New York evinced a disposition to expel them all from their territory, but wiser and more humane counsels prevailed. Through the influence of Generals Washington and Schuyler they were saved from total ruin. The treaty made at Fort Stanwix in 1784, by commissioners of the government and the Indians, secured sufficient reservations of land to all the tribes, except the Mohawks who had gone to Canada. But this treaty appeared hard to the Indians, who had gone into the war at the command of a government they felt bound to obey, and that had so shamefully neglected them in the final set- tlement. After this their prowess was gone, and their martial spirit entirely broken. Some of them assisted the Western Indians in the wars under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, being led by Brant, the great captain of the Five Nations ; and when the gallant Wayne turned the victory in favor of the Americans, Ohekungh and Oundiaga, chiefs of

the Onondagas, were there : the latter left his bones to bleach on the plains of the Miamis.

After this noted victory, the Onondagas clearly saw the folly of cherishing any longer a hostile dis- position towards their immediate neighbors. They settled down in quiet, determined to submit with fortitude to their fate.

During the war of 1812, when our Niagara fron- tier had become a scene in which the tomahawk and scalping knife were playing their part, General Peter D. Porter called on the remnant of this people for a force that might be successfully opposed to the Canadian Indians. A council was held to which all the tribes were invited. and all came except the Mohawks. It was resolved to aid the United States with all their force. By the ancient usage of the Five Nations, the Mohawks were to furnish the Commander-in-Chief, but, as they had left the con- federacy, it was necessary to depart from the usage and elect one in general council. Debate ran high, until the celebrated SA-GOY-A-WAT-HA (Red Jacket) settled the matter by proposing HOG-A-HOA-QUA (La Fort,) an Onondaga chieftain. He accepted the post, and died at Chippewa, having received his death wound while bravely leading his people. His dying words were expressive of his gratification at having been placed at the head of his nation and having done his duty there. The braves of the of the Onondagas gathered around the prostrate hero, and exclaimed in their own language, "Alas, the great chief ! the brave ! the brave !"*

It remains now to consider the English and other later missions among these people.

The Jesuit missions began sensibly to decline after the year 1700. About this time the English began to interest themselves in planting Protestant Christianity among the Five Nations. The Earl of Belmont, then Governor of New York, proposed a fort and a chapel at Onondaga, and King William sent over a set of plate for communion service and furniture for the proposed chapel. But this plan was interrupted by the death of the King in 1702, and was renewed by Queen Anne, who became a zealous patron of missions among the Five Nations. This good queen ordered the erection of a chapel among the Mohawks and contemplated a similar work among all the Five Nations. The Mohawk chapel was built of stone, and was erected at Fort Hunter in 1710. The queen presented the chapel with a solid silver communion set, bearing the follow- ing inscription : "The gift of Her Majesty, ANNE, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ire-

* Clark's Onondaga.

* Webster received his last words while acting as aid to Gen. Brown, to carry orders to the Indians, he understanding their language.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

land, Qures, to her Indian Chapel of the Mohawks." A similar service was engraved for the Onondagas, but, from some cause, it seems never to have reached its destination. On the plate presented to the Mo- hawks was the date 1712. Portions of the same service are still in use at the Mohawk mission in Canada.

Among the Onondagas, missions were established by the Moravians or United Brethren, in 1750. Heckwalder, the Indian historian, says : " The most remarkable occurrence of 1750 was the journey of Bishop Cammerhoff and Brother David Zeisberger to Onondaga, the chief town of the Iroquois. They set out from Bethlehem " (Pennsylvania, where they had founded a mission in 1740, "on the 14th of May, having obtained a passport from the Governor of Pennsylvania, requesting all the subjects of the British Government to forward their undertaking. . On the 19th of June, they reached Onon- daga, situated in a very pleasant and beautiful country and consisting of five small towns or vil- lages " The account goes on to say that the Bishop and his associate were received at the great council as the deputies of the Church of the U'nited Breth- ren. l'ermission was granted them to keep their missionaries at Onondaga one or two years to learn the language of the people. The Brethren returned to spend the winter in Bethlehem, and the year fol- lowing appeared again among the Onondagas, by whom they were very cordially received and lodged in the chief's house. All things went prosperously for about a year, when, on account of trouble and war, acting upon the advice of the council, they returned to their homes.

In 1754, Zeisberger returned to his post with a brother named Charles Frederick. The chief, CAN- NAS-S1 -T1-GO, adopted him as his son, and he had great influence with the Onondagas. He became an eminent Onondaga scholar. In 1768, he wrote and completed two grammars, one in English, the other in German, adapted to the Indian language, a copious dictionary of German and Indian, contain- ing seven quarto manuscript volumes of more than seventeen hundred and seventy pages of writing, and in 1776 he published a spelling book, other pri- mary books for learners, and juvenile devotional books. We find no permanent fruits of this mission or that it was ever re-established, although feebly continued for several years.

The mission of Rev. Samuel Kirkland among the Oneidas began in August, 1766. Mr. Kirkland re- mained among them for over forty years. During this time his influence spread all over the Iroquois country, and many of all the different tribes learned

from him the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel. At the commencement of the Revolution he re- moved his family to Stockbridge, Mass, for safety, while he continued his mission among the Onei- das. Ilis influence over them contributed materi- ally to secure their neutrality, and in several instances, their friendship and service, during the Revolutionary struggle. In 1779. he was Brigade Chaplain with General Sullivan in his Indian cam- paign, and was chaplain to the garrison at Fort Schuyler and other posts. Messrs Phelps and Gorham, large purchasers of land in Western New York, deeded him two thousand acres of land for his valuable services, situated in township No. ", Ontario county. Mr. Kirkland was a native of Nor- wich, Conn, in which town he was born December 1, 1741. lle was one of the most widely useful and influential among his class of devoted and self-sac- rificing pioneer missionaries. Out of his " l'lan of Education for the Indians," projected in 1792, grew the Hamilton Oneida !Academy, which was incor- porated early in 1793, and in 1810 became Hamilton College. Mr. Kirkland endowed the Academy with valuable donations of land. He was a man of un- bounded benevolence and hospitality. He loved the Indians and was loved by them most sincerely in return. He died in the ;Sth year of his age, Feb- ruary 28, 18os, and was buried in a private ground near his residence in Clinton.

The first person connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church who called the attention of the Onondagas to the subject of religion, was Mr. Eleazer Williams, lay reader, catechist and school- master among the Oneidas. By the request of several of the Onondaga chiefs, he visited that nation first, on the 3ist of March, 1816. He says in his journal : " They gave me no time to refresh myself, but hurried me off to their council house, to hear, as they said, ' The words of Him who dicells in Heaven!" These visits were followed by Rev. Timothy Clowes, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, who on the 18th of July, 1816, preached and administered the sacrament. He baptized cleven children of the Onondagas. In July, 1817, they were visited by Mr. Eleazer Williams, Rev. W'm. A. Clark and Rev. Ezekiel G Gear. Baptism was administered by Rev. Mr. Clark to fifteen, and by Rev. Mr. Gear to four or five. Mr. Gear con- tinued to preach frequently among the Onondagas so long as he lived at " the Hill" Indians fre- quently came there for public worship and brought their children to be baptized in presence of the congregation. Several couples were also married publicly in the church. Others, among whom was

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

one principal chief, were publicly baptized, and these were all confirmed at Oneida, on some occa- sion when the church there was visted by Bishop Hobart.

It was at the instance of Mr. Gear that a school was opened at Onondaga by one of their own people -Mary Doxtator, who had been educated by the Quakers at Philadelphia, and had opened an indus- trial school at Oneida, in which she taught the Indian women how to sew and spin and to weave blankets and coverlets. This lady was induced by Mr. Gear to attempt the same among the Onon- dagas, which she did with considerable success in 1820. She died two or three years after the open- ing of her school, among the Onondagas, her own people.

This Episcopal missionary work ceased among the Onondagas with the retirement of Rev. Mr. Gear, and they were without religious instruction till the Methodists founded a Mission at Oneida in 1829. Occasional services were from this time held among the Onondagas with but little success, on account of the influence of the "Pagan Party." The head men of the nation were opposed to the establishment of schools and churches among them, and it was not until the year 1841, that anything like a regular organization was formed. At this time nine members joined a class formed by Rev. Ros- man Ingals, who had been appointed a missionary to the Oneidas and Onondagas. The communion was administered at Onondaga Castle after the form of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and from the 1 st of August, 1842, the Onondagas had preach- ing every third Sunday. In 1842, the natives pro- cured and fitted up a building in which services were held till 1846, when the new school house was built and became also the sanctuary of religion. Rev. Daniel Fancher officiated, preaching three Sundays each month. After the commencement of Mr. Fancher's ministry, the number of com- municants increased rapidly. In 1848, at which time a new and commodious church was erected, costing over a thousand dollars, there was not less than sixty who received regularly the bread of life.

In 1845, a very respectable lady, Miss Mary Hitchcock, was induced to open a school on the Reservation exclusively for Indian children. Her efforts were unwearied, and attended with measur- able success, the school being supported mainly by contributions of benevolent white patrons. She boarded herself and kept the school in the church building. In April, 1846, an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the Indian Agent to cause to be built and furnished a suitable and sufficient

school house on the Onondaga Reservation, at an expense not exceeding three hundred dollars. The sum of two hundred and fifty dollars was annually appropriated for a term of five years, for the pay- ment of teachers' wages and other expenses. The following year a school house was completed and school opened under favorable auspices by Mr. L. B. Whitcomb. In 1849, Rev. Rosman Ingals had charge of the school. The district officers were of the Indians, assisted by the Agent, Town Super- intendent and Teacher, who managed the school with benefit to themselves and credit to the nation.

The Indian children are bright, and in many branches show as much aptitude to learn as Ameri- cans ; but the chief hindrance to their education lies in their unwillingness to attend school. Not more than half the number of suitable age are found in attendance.

The Onondagas made the following treaties with the people of the State of New York :

First-The treaty of Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix) made by the commissioners on behalf of the State, His Excellency, George Clinton, Governor, William Floyd, Ezra L. Hommedien, Richard Varick, Samuel Jones, Egbert Benson, and Peter Gansevoort, Jr.,-wherein the Onondaga nation ceded to the State of New York all their lands in said State, except the Reservation bounded as follows : Beginning at the southerly end of the salt lake, at the place where the river or stream, on which the Onondagas now have their village, empties into the said lake, and running from the said place of beginning east three miles ; thence southerly according to the general curve of said river until it shall intersect a line running east and west at the distance of three miles south from said village ; thence from the said point of intersection west nine miles ; thence northerly parallel to the second course above mentioned, until an east line will strike the place of beginning ; and thence east to the said place of beginning.

The cession in this treaty was made in considera- tion of one thousand French crowns in money and two hundred pounds in clothing at the price which the same cost the people of New York.

Second-A treaty made at Onondaga by John Cantine and Simeon DeWitt, November 18, 1793, wherein the Onondagas ceded to the State a por- tion of their Reservation comprised in two tracts described in the treaty (Clark's Onondaga, vol. I, p. 353.) The State paid the Indians four hundred and ten dollars as a perpetual annuity for this por- tion of their Reservation.

Third-A treaty held at Cayuga Ferry, by Phillip

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Schuyler, John Cantine, David Brooks and John Richardson, July 28, 1795, wherein the above annuity was changed to a perpetual annuity of eight hundred dollars, and the Onondagas also ceded their right in the Salt Springs and one mile of land around the same, together with a half mile tract of land between the northern boundary of the Reserva- tion and the Salt Springs. In this transaction the State paid the Indians five hundred dollars for their right in the Salt Springs, and two hundred dollars for the half mile of land, with an annuity of one hundred bushels of salt to be delivered annually on the first day of June in each year forever.

Fourth-At a treaty made at Albany, February 25, 1817, the Onondagas sold and conveyed the following described lands, viz : "All that certain tract of land reserved for them in former reserva- tions known as the Onondaga Residence Reservation." This land lies cast of the present Reservation con- sisting of twenty-seven lots of from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty acres each, amounting in all to about four thousand acres. One thousand dollars was paid down, with an annuity of four hundred and thirty dollars and fifty bushels of salt.

Fifth-On the 11th of February, 1822, at a treaty held at Albany, they sold eight hundred acres more of their land, from the south end of the Onondaga Residence Reservation, for the sum of seventeen hundred dollars.

CHAPTER VIL.

MIGKATIONS OF THE ONONDAGAS-LOCATION OF THEIR VARIOUS TOWN SITES- PERIOD OF THEIR RESIDENCE IN EACH LOCALITY.

G I

EN. JOHN S. CLARK, of Auburn, who has devoted much time to antiquarian research respecting the aborigines of this county, has shown conclusively that the Onondagas were a migratory people, and that they occupied different portions of our territory at different periods. Beginning with their most easterly settlement, just prior to the be- ginning of the historic period, or about the year 1620, we shall follow General Clark in the inverse order of his argument, and note the points at which he locates the homes of the Onondagas at different periods.

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 6

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 840

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840