USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 5
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The next year, 1759, Wolf assailed Quebec, the strongest of all the French strongholds, and almost at the same time General Prideaux, with two thousand British and Provincials, accompanied by Sir William Johnson with one thousand of his faithful Iroquois, sailed up Lake On- tario and laid siege to Fort Niagara. This post was defended by only six hundred men and its capture was certain unless relief could be ob- tained. But its commander was not idle, and away through the forest sped his lithe redskin messengers to summon the allies of France. D'Aubrey responded with his most zealous endeavors, and at once set forth to the relief of Niagara. The siege was scarcely begun when General Prideaux was slain, upon which Johnson assumed command and continued until the 24th of July, when a large body of French and Indians attempted to raise siege. A. sharp conflict followed and the effort was defeated, whereupon the garrison surrendered the next day.
In the latter part of July, 1759, while the English army was still camped around the walls of Quebec, while Wolfe and Montcalm were approaching that common grave to which the path of glory was so soon to lead them, a stirring scene took place in the western part of old Ontario county. The largest European force which had yet been seen in the region at any one time were marching to the relief of dis- tressed Niagara. On the one side were soldiers, trained to obey every command of their leader, while on the other were only wild savages who knew no other law than their own fierce will.
History has preserved but a slight record of this last struggle of the French for dominion in this region of the State, but it has rescued from
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THE FRENCH, THE ENGLISH, AND THE IROQUOIS.
oblivion the name of D'Aubrey, the commander, and Delignery, his second ; of Marin, the leader of the Indians, and of Captains De Villiers, Repertini, Martini, and Basone. The Senecas, snuffing the battle from their homes in the region, were roaming restlessly about, uncertain how to act, more friendly to the French than the English, and yet unwill- ing to engage in conflict with their brethren of the Six Nations.
Following Johnson's victory over the French at Niagara, there came the life-bought victory of Wolfe at Quebec, which gave the latter to the triumphant Britons. Still the French clung to their colonies with desperate but failing grasp, and it was not until September, 1760, that the governor-general of Canada surrendered Montreal, and with it Detroit, Venango, and all the other posts within his jurisdiction. This surrender was ratified by the treaty of peace between England and France in February, 1763, which ceded Canada to the former power.
It has already been stated that a stockade fortification and block- houses had been erected by Sir William Johnson in 1756, at Kana- desaga, for the Senecas in the war then pending. At this time the Senecas seemed to have been divided into two branches or sections, those in the western part of the State under the leadership of Farmer's Brother, Cornplanter and other influential chiefs. This branch of the tribe were in fact the " Door-keepers." Those gathered at Kanadesaga, or the eastern section, became the capital of the nation and were under the domination of the great Turtle clan, with Tagechsadon as the head chief, who was succeeded upon his death by Sayenqueraghta, or Gui- yah- gwaah-dol, as his name was in the Seneca dialect, with various differ- ent or dialectical variations, the signification of the name being, “ dis- appearing smoke," or the " the smoke has disappeared." The inter- pretation thus given, conveys the idea of a glimpse of a flying runner bearing a smoking brand, hurrying and soon lost in the obscurity of the wilderness-one moment the banner of smoke is seen and then lost. It is an exclamation put into the mouth of the beholder. The word is idiomatic, but wonderfully picturesque, and is very applicable to an official position of smoke-bearer or fire-kindler. He was more famil- iarly known by the white people as Old Smoke or Old King, and also as the King of Kanadesega.
While the official position held by Old Smoke gave him great prom- inence, his greater popularity and influence resulted from his individual
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
personal merit. He was a valiant warrior ; his bravery and sagacity in war won for him the trust and confidence of his people. He was a wise and judicious counsellor, and this secured for him the respect and es- teem of the Indians. Red Jacket testified of him that he was "a man of great understanding." His superior talents, together with his good and sterling qualities, gained for him the regard and veneration of the Indians, and secured for him a greater prominence and a more commanding influence than that possessed by any other of the chiefs or sachems of his time. He was, indeed, one of the most distinguished men of the Iroquois, the most popular and prominent of the Senecas, always a firm friend where he pledged fidelity, possessing a warm and generous heart; he had the respect of enemies and the love of friends ; was brave, sagacious and wise. While he was opposed to the Indians taking any part in the War of the Revolution, yet it having been de- cided against him, he yielded obedience to the decision and became one of the most untiresome and active and ferocious on the war path, and under his leadership more daring and savage incursions on our frontier settlements were made than under any other leader.
The object of Sir William Johnson in erecting the fortification at Kanadesaga was in a great measure accomplished. The eastern Sen- ecas either became neutral, or else aided their brethren of the league in their assistance to the English, and it is now an acknowledged fact that in the evenly balanced and stubborn contest between France and Eng- land for the supremacy of the country the friendship and aid thus ren- dered finally turned the scale in England's favor, and hence the result is that we to-day are an English instead of a French speaking people.
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
CHAPTER VI.
Pontiac's War - Devil's Hole and Black Rock - Sir William Johnson Concludes a Peace with the Senecas - Treaty at Fort Niagara - Events Preceding the Revolution - Outbreak of the War - The Senecas Serve the King - Kanadesaga becomes Head- quarters for Tories - Butler's Buildings - Indian Outrages on the Frontier - The Principal Actors - Sullivan Ordered to Invade the Indian Country - Destruction of the Villages and Crops- The Senecas Flee to Fort Niagara - Details of the Invasion in Ontario County - Close of the Revolution.
F TOR a period of fifteen years following the final overthrow of French power in America, the eastern country was in a condition of com- parative peace, and the English, Dutch, and French settlers were per- mitted to develop their lands and advance the outposts of civilization in almost every direction ; but for some time there was no attempt at effecting settlement in the Genesee country other than that limited to the immediate vicinity of Oswego and Niagara. The Seneca Indians gave little encouragement to colonization in their territory. They had become aware of various frauds practiced upon their eastern brethren of the confederacy by English and Dutch land speculators, and were not disposed to enter into any negotiations for the disposition of any part of their choice domain, notwithstanding the fact that theirs was the richest region of all that was inhabited by the Six Nations.
Although the French authorities and troops were withdrawn from the country after the close of the late war, the western Indians remembered them with affection and were still disposed to wage war upon the Eng- lish. The celebrated Pontiac united nearly all of these tribes in a league against the red-coats immediately after the advent of the latter, and as no such confederation had been formed against the French during all their long years of possession, his action must be assigned to some cause other than mere hatred of all civilized intruders. In May, 1763, the league surprised nine out of twelve English posts, and massacred their garrison. Detroit, Pittsburg, and Niagara alone escaped surprise, and each successfully resisted a siege, in which branch of war the Indians
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
,
were almost certain to fail. There is little doubt that the Senecas, especially those located in the western part of the State, were involved in Pontiac's league, and were active in the attack on Fort Niagara. They had been unwilling to fight their brethren of the Long House, but had no scruples about killing the English when left alone, as was soon made terribly manifest.
In September following occurred the awful tragedy of the Devil's Hole, when a band of the western Senecas, of whom Honayewas, afterward celebrated as Farmer's Brother, was one, and Cornplanter, probably, another, ambushed a train of English army-wagons with an escort of soldiers, the whole numbering ninety-six men, three and a half miles below the falls, and massacred all except four of the troop. On the 19th of October following a party of British soldiers were suddenly fired upon by a band of Senecas at Black Rock, and thirteen men were killed. The British turned upon their assailants and in the battle that followed three more of the soldiers were killed and twelve others badly wounded, including two commissioned officers. This was the last seri- ous attack by the Senecas upon the English. Being at length con- vinced that the French had really yielded, and that Pontiac's scheme had failed as to its purpose, they sullenly agreed to abandon their Gallic friends, and be at peace with the British.
In April, 1764, Sir William Johnson concluded peace with eight chiefs of the Senecas at Johnson Hall. At that time, among other agree- ments, they formally conveyed to the King of England a tract of land fourteen miles long and four wide, for a carrying place around Niagara Falls, lying on both sides of the river from Schlosser to Lake Ontario. This treaty was to be more fully ratified at a council to be held at Fort Niagara in the summer of 1764. A copy of this paper is to be found in N. Y. Col. Doc. VII, p 621, at the end of which it is said, the " Marks of the tribes " were affixed opposite the signatures, but no such marks being found, a tracing of the same was procured from the original in the Record office, London. It is a very valuable and important addi- tion to our fund of knowledge on the subject.
Events in the west, where Pontiac still maintained active hostility to the British, determined the English commander-in-chief to send a force up the lakes sufficient to overcome all opposition. This action became
Fac Simile of the Signatures to the Preliminary Articles of Peace with the Senecas. N. Y. Col. Doc. VII, 621-3. Engraved from a tracing, procured by Mr. Berthold Fnerow for Geo. S. Conover, from the original document in the Public Record Office, London, in " America and West Indies, No. 121, Military, 1763 to 1765," being an enclosure to a letter of Maj. Gen'l Thos. Gage, dated New York, April 14, 1754. The signature of Savenqueraghta is that of Old Smoke or Old King, the " smoke bearer " or head chief who resided at Kanadesaga, the Capital of the Senecas. His totem is conclusive evidence that he was of the great Turtle clan.
Given under my Hand at Johnson Hall, the thing Day of April 2 6 Am
Jagaanadie
Kaanired Chonedagaw X
Jayenqueraghta Wanughoifsae Jaganoondee
umJohnson
Aughnawawia
Jaanjaqua
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
necessary from the fact that the hostile attitude of the western tribes had a damaging effect upon the Senecas, and made negotiations with them extremely difficult. Accordingly in the summer of 1764, General Bradstreet with 1200 British and Americans came by water to Fort Niagara, accompanied by Sir William Johnson and a body of his faith- ful Iroquois. A grand council of friendly Indians was held at the fort, among whom Sir William exercised his customary skill, and satisfactory treaties were made with them. But the Senecas, though repeatedly promising attendance in answer to Johnson's messages, still held aloof, and were said to be contemplating a renewal of the war. At length General Bradstreet ordered their immediate attendance, under penalty of the destruction of their settlements, upon which they came, ratified the treaty, and thereafter adhered to it reasonably well, nothwithstand- ing the peremptory manner in which it was obtained. In the mean time a fort had been erected on the site of Fort Erie. In August Bradstreet's army had increased to nearly 3,000 men, and among them were 300 Senecas, who seemed to have been taken along partly as host- ages. This force succeeded in bringing the western Indians to terms, a task which was accomplished without bloodshed.
While these events were in progress in the western part of the prov- ince of New York, the inhabitants of the eastern region of the country were in a state of great excitement, growing out of the arbitrary and oppressive action of the British parliament toward the American colo- nies. One of the results of the late French wars was to involve the mother country in a large indebtedness, which parliament sought to have paid by the colonies, and that notwithstanding the very large ex- tent of territory which was ceded to the government at the end of the French dominion. In fact, almost before the smoke of the late battles had cleared away, the English ministry began devising plans to tax the colonies for a revenue without their consent. In March, 1765, the ob- noxious stamp act was passed, to oppose which was organized in New York the "Sons of Liberty." So great, indeed, was the opposition to this odious act that it was repealed in March, 1766, but in 1767 a bill was passed by parliament imposing a duty on tea, glass, and other ma- terial imported into the colonies. The imposition of a tax on tea led to the organization of that impromptu body known as the " Boston Tea-
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Party." Other acts of oppression imposed by the British government were met by retaliatory measures on the part of the American colonies, and at length the countries were in an attitude of open hostility. The public attention was drawn to certain mutterings in the political sky, low at first, but growing more and more angry, until at length there burst upon this country that long and desolating storm known as the Revolutionary War.
In 1775 the struggle for independence was begun, but as the early years of that war furnished no interesting events in connection with the annals of this particular region of country, we may pass lightly over them and confine our narrative to occurrences within the Genesee country. There were British posts at Niagara and Oswego, and the Senecas made frequent complaints of depredations committed by whites on some of their number, chiefly from the inhabitants of settlements on the headwaters of the Susquehanna and Ohio. Added to this, and during the same period, "Cressap's war," in which the celebrated Logan was an actor, likewise contributed to make the Senecas uneasy, but they did not break out in open hostilities. Like the rest of the Six Nations, they had by this time learned to place every confidence in Sir William Johnson, and through him all their complaints were made. He did his best to redress their grievances, and sought to have them withdraw their villages from frontier and isolated localities that they might be more completely under his protection. However, before this could be accomplished Sir William died, and his authority as super- intendent of Indian affairs was transferred to his son, Sir John Johnson, and to his nephew, Col. Guy Johnson, the latter, however, being in fact the superintendent, while the former was the controlling spirit among the Indians in after events.
The new superintendent persuaded the Mohawks to move westward with him, and made good his influence over all the Six Nations, except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, though it was almost two years from the breaking out of the war before they committed any serious depreda- tions. John Butler, who appears to have held a colonel's commission, or at least that title in the British service, established himself at Fort Niagara, and organized a regiment of tories known as " Butler's Rangers." About the same time Colonel Butler erected a barracks and
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
temporary place of residence at Kanadesaga, which was used chiefly as a rendezvous and rallying place for the Rangers and Indians preparatory to a raid on the interior of the country. Butler's buildings were also a depot for supplies, at which large quantities of corn were stored for the use of assembled troops and horses.
We may here state, in justice to the Seneca Indians, that they did not readily become the allies of the Johnsons and Butlers, as they for a time resisted English importunities, but the prospect of both blood and gold was too much for them to withstand, and in 1777 they, in common with the Cayugas, Onondagas and Mohawks, made a treaty with the British at Oswego, agreeing to serve the king throughout the war. Mary Jemison, the celebrated "White Woman," then living among the Senecas on the Genesee, declared that at the treaty the British agents, after giving the Indians numerous presents, promised a bounty on every scalp that should be brought in. However, there is a serious question whether a price was actually promised or paid for scalps, there being no positive evidence to sustain the assertion, and the probabilities are that it was not. Mary Jemison was considered a truthful woman and had good means of knowing what the Indians understood, and the latter were very ready to understand that they would be paid for taking scalps.
The Senecas, as formerly, hesitated about attacking their brethren of the Long House, so now the Oneidas, who were friendly to the Americans, did not go out to battle against the other Iroquois until the latter years of the war, but at the battle of Stone Arabia, in the Mohawk Valley, it was an Oneida Indian, fighting with the Americans, who pursued and slew the infamous Captain Walter Butler, a com- mander of a tory company, the son of Col. John Butler and the asso- ciate of the notorious Joseph Brant.
One of the most active and the most celebrated of the Iroquois chiefs in the Revolution was Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, a Mohawk who had received a moderate English education under the patronage of Sir William Johnson, and whose sister, Molly Brant, was the housekeeper and natural wife of the baronet. Brant was frequently intrusted with the command of detached parties by the British officers, but it does not appear that he had any authority over all the tribes, and it is quite
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
certain that the haughty Senecas, to whom by ancient custom belonged both the principal war chiefs of the league, would not have submitted to the authority of a Mohawk.
The three chiefs of the Senecas, who during the Revolution became exceedingly well known, were Farmer's Brother, Cornplanter and Gov- ernor Blacksnake. William L. Stone, author of the "Life of Brant," says that at the massacre of Wyoming, in 1778, the leader of the Senecas, who formed the main part of the Indian force on that occasion, was Guiengwahtoh, supposed to be the same as Guiyahgwahdoh, " the smoke bearer." That was the official title of the Seneca afterward known as "Young King," he being a kind of hereditary ambassador and the bearer of the smoking brand to light the council fire of the Senecas. He was too young to have been at Wyoming, but his predecessor in office (probably his maternal uncle) was the actual leader. It is certain also that Brant was not present at that battle.
The Seneca chief familiarly known to the whites as Old Smoke, or Old King, but whose Indian name was Sayenqueraghta (Mohawk dialect), otherwise Guiyahgwahdoh (Seneca dialect), has been con- clusively shown by recent investigation to have been not only the in- stigator but the actual leader of the expedition that committed the terrible outrages at Wyoming.
It is learned also from the "Anecdotes of Captain Joseph Brant," that the head chief of the Senecas was Sakoyengwaraghton (a dialectical variation of Old King's name), who was descended from a brave and loyal family distinguished by their attachment to the crown and to Brit- ish interests as early as the reign of Queen Anne, and who was pre- sented by the queen with a coronet, the only mark of distinction of the kind ever bestowed upon an Indian. He was in command of the Senecas at the battle of Oriskany, where seventeen of his nation were killed at the first onset. The Senecas were greatly exasperated by this loss, although they avenged it by killing many more of their enemy. They were not satisfied, however, and it was arranged at a council held at Kanadesaga that the chief just mentioned, and Brant, would open a campaign in the early spring, the former to attack the Wyoming settlement, and Brant those of Schoharie, Mohawk and Cherry Valley. Sakoyengwaraghton "assembled his men without
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
calling upon any white man," but Butler, being taunted with inactivity, was induced to offer his aid. The Seneca chief stipulated that his men be kept separate from the whites, and that they should be under his sole command. Without discussing at further length the life and acts of this somewhat noted chief, we may say that he has been commonly known as the king of the Senecas. The foregoing names are only varia- tions in spelling the Indian name of Old King or Old Smoke.
Not only were the Senecas engaged in the terrible outrage at Wyom- ing, but as well were they present in force at Cherry Valley, together with a body of Mohawks under Brant, and of tories under Captain Walter Butler, son of. Col. John Butler, and there was another un- doubted massacre, in which nearly thirty women and children were killed, besides many men surprised helpless in their homes. These events, and other similar ones of less prominence nearly all concocted and starting from Kanadesaga, induced Congress and General Wash- ington to set on foot an expedition in the spring of 1779, which had a very strong relation to the early history of Ontario county, as it was the only important invasion of the immediate territory by an Amer- ican army during the period of the war. The invasion, too, had a .strong bearing on the county's history, inasmuch as it brought to the knowledge of the troops, representing a number of the colonies, an understanding of the fertility and productiveness and salubrity of the climate of the Genesee country. The fact was disclosed to Sullivan's men that this region would produce large returns of grain, and in ad - dition that it was a fruit-growing region unsurpassed in any of the colonies.
As has already been mentioned, the year 1778 was made memorable by the many horrible massacres and devastations committed upon the frontier settlements by the tories and Indians. By this time the latter had made considerable progress in civilization, were less migratory in their manner of living, had numerous villages about which were large cultivated fields, apple and peach orchards. They even made gardens in which a good variety of vegetables were grown. But notwithstand- ing the advances made in this respect and their association with whites and the adoption of the customs of the latter, they lost none of the natural Indian ferocity, and plundered and burned and murdered with all of the old time wantonness of the race.
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
The expedition against the Indians, planned and carried out during the summer of 1779, was placed in command of Major-General John Sullivan This officer established his headquarters at Easton, Penna , on the 7th of May, 1779, and on the 18th of June, had his army com- pletely organized and supplied with all things necessary for the cam- paign. On the 11th of August the troops encamped at Tioga Point, at which place, while awaiting the arrival of Clinton's brigade, a fortifica- tion was erected, to which the soldiers gave the name of Fort Sullivan. On the 26th of August, Sullivan's command broke camp at Tioga Point and took up the march toward the Indian country. As they proceeded the men destroyed all the small Indian villages and cultivated fields, and on the 29th they arrived at Newtown, five miles below the present city of Elmira, where they found the enemy in force and strongly in- trenched, the British and tories commanded by John Butler, his son Walter Butler, and Captain McDonald, while the Indians were under Thayendanegea, more commonly known as Captain Joseph Brant. A battle followed, which has always been known in history as the battle of Newtown. After a severe conflict of several hours the British, tories and Indians were defeated, and finding themselves on the point of being surrounded and captured, they fled precipitately and found refuge in the woods. Indeed, so great was Sullivan's victory at Newtown that not- withstanding all the art of Butler and Brant, the now discouraged In- dians could not be rallied together ; and thereafter throughout the extent of Sullivan's devastating expedition neither the Senecas nor any other of the opposing tribes could muster courage to oppose the in- vasion.
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