USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 37
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
belonging to the Middle fort. The wounded were properly at- tended by Doct. John King, the settled physician at that place, who acted as surgeon during the war.
Nicholas Sloughter, who acquired the reputation of a good sol- dier, had a very sick child in the fort, and as he was leaving it, with a party of volunteers under Murphy, was told that his child appeared to be dying, and he had better remain. " I can do the child no good," was his reply ; " my duty is to protect the living as well as the dying." Before his return, he and Murphy took a prisoner, dressed in a green uniform ; who gave his name as Ben- jamin Butts. He was a New England man, who had been made prisoner some time before, and while in Canada, had enlisted into the British service as a ranger, to embrace an opportunity to de- sert. He returned home soon after .- Mrs. Van Slyck.
During the seige of the Middle fort, a scout under Lieut. Mar- tinus Zielie, captured a French Indian while stealing a horse owned by Harmanus Bouck. Lewis Denny, a French Indian, nearly white, (mentioned as having scalped a squaw and after- wards married her,) joined the Americans in the Revolution, and remained at Middleburgh. Being in the fort when Lieut. Zielie returned with his prisoner, the latter was so saucy, that Lewis, who could understand his insolent gibberish, instantly knocked him down. This prisoner is said to have been an Indian interpre- ter .- George Richtmyer.
Elerson had command of a few rangers during the day ; one of whom, John Wilbur, fell in with a tory, catching a horse, near the present residence of Peter Swart, and asked him to what par- ty he belonged ? He replied, " the Indian party ;" and instantly received a bullet from Wilbur's rifle. He took off his scalp, and as he entered the fort with it in his hand, Maj. Woolsey told him he ought to have his own scalp taken off. This man and another, shot during the day, were supposed to be Indians at the time, but proved to be tories from the vicinity of Albany .- David Elerson, Mrs. Van Slyck and George Richtmyer.
While Elerson was out with his party, he saw an Indian ap- proaching the stacks at the barn near the fort, at whom he fired.
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The warrior ran off towards the woods east of the barn. In the following spring, a dead Indian was discovered in that direction, by Bill, a slave owned by John Becker, while getting fire-wood. He was found sitting with his back against a tree, having his gun between his knees and resting in his arms. His eyes had been dug out, as supposed, by birds. This Indian was presumed to have been the one fired on by Elerson .- Elerson, Mrs. Van Slyck and Judge Hager.
We have seen that Murphy did not spare his rifle balls when the Middle fort was invested. Needing an additional supply, An- gelica Vrooman, as she informed the author, took Murphy's bullet mould, lead, and an iron spoon, went to her father's tent, and there moulded a quantity of bullets for that fearless ranger, amidst the roar of cannon and musketry.
Jacob Winne, of Albany, was commissary at the Schoharie forts; occupying a part of the Becker house, two rooms in which are said to have accommodated five families each. Samuel Van Vechten, of Albany, was press-master, and Douw Fonda, forest- er, all of whom, it is believed, were in the Middle fort when be- sieged by the troops under Johnson. The commissary was a lit- tle corned during the action, and finding Maj. Woolsey stowed away in one of the small family huts, bored him not a little. Not only the commissary, but many others, some of whom were fe- males, made themselves merry at the coward's expense, jeering and teasing him with perfect impunity .- Mrs. Van Slyck and Andrew Loucks.
Col. Johnson remained with the regular troops near the Middle fort, until his destructives had effectually demolished every species of property they possibly could in that vicinity, when he moved down the valley about 3 o'clock, P. M. After the enemy were out of sight, Maj. Woolsey ordered several apple trees near to be cut down and brought around the fort, fearing the enemy might return and attempt to storm the works. He left Schoharie the next day, and was never seen again leaping fences on horseback, in that delightful valley .- Andrew Loucks and others.
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
As may be supposed, the most intense anxiety was felt at the Upper, while the firing continued at the Middle fort ; and soon af- ter it began, Capt. Hager gave orders that in case the enemy ap- peared before that fort, the women and children should go into a long cellar under the Feeck house. While preparations were in progress to resist an attack should it be made, Mary Haggidorn, a buxom lass of goodly proportions, who partook of the spirit which animated her brothers, and who had heard the cellar order with other feelings than those inspired by fear, stepped up to the com- mandant and thus addressed him : " Captain, I shall not go into that cellar! Should the enemy come I will take a spear, which I can use as well as any man, and help defend the fort." Capt. Hager was gratified to find a soldier where he little expected one, and admiring her fearless spirit, he replied, " Then take a spear, Mary, and be ready at the pickets to repel an attack !" She did take a spear, nor was it discarded until the danger was past. As soon as the firing ceased the second time at the fort below, Capt. Hager dispatched Ensign Peter Swart, William Zimmer, and Jo- seph Evans to learn whether their worst fears were to be realized -whether the British cross had taken the place of Freedom's stars. On their return with the report that all was safe, the wel- kin rang with huzzas for the American flag .- Manuscript of Judge Hager.
What loss the besiegers sustained in their attack on the Middle fort is uncertain, but it is supposed to have been several times greater than that of the Americans. Where had formerly stood the barn of Judge Borst, charred bones were found, supposed to have been those of several of their number which they had pur- posely burned. What induced Sir John to abandon further at- tempts to take the fort is uncertain, but it is conjectured that from the firing on the flag he was led to suppose the troops were con- scious of being able to defend it. The enemy succeeded, during the day, in burning part of the grain which had been stacked near the fort for safety .- Mrs. Van Slyck.
Maj. Becker had at his command at the Lower fort, on the ar- rival of Sir John Johnson in its vicinity, Capt. Stubrach with his
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company of militia, a part of the associate exempts under Captain Peter Snyder, (who succeeded Capt. Vrooman at his death,) and a body of Norman's-kill militia ; making his effective force, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men .- Peter Vrooman*
Early in the morning, Jacob Van Dyck, Anthony Brontner and Barney Cadugney were dispatched by Maj. Becker to ascertain the cause of the firing at the forts above. Arriving at the house of Jacob J. Lawyer, they found his wife and a wench at home preparing to bake. At the house of Hendrick Shafer, the females were also at home, where they saw food upon a table. The wo- men of those families chose to brave the dangers of the day, to save their dwellings from the general conflagration, while the men were in the fort below. The scout proceeded as far as Bel- linger's, and saw the British troops about a mile distant. Near this place, they met the advance of the enemy, and were pursued by seven Indians led by Seth's Henry. They were fired upon, and the balls struck near them. A ball striking the fence by Ca- dugney's side, threw a splinter into his arm. He called to his companions that he was wounded ; and near the present residence of Peter Richtmyer, Van Dyck drew the splinter from his arm, telling him he was not hurt much : which he would hardly believe. Gaining upon the Indians, who had halted to reload their pieces, Cadugney took occasion, as the latter were out of sight, to con- ceal himself in a hollow stump-near which they passed without discovering him.
When the firing ceased in the Middle fort for the flag to ad- vance, the inmates of the fort below were apprehensive it had been taken, and Major Becker dispatched another scout, consisting of George Snyder, Jacob Enders, John Van Wart and John Hutt, to ascertain whether the fort had been captured. The second scout met the first near where Storm Becker resides, and joined it in flight. They were hotly pursued, and were obliged to scatter. Enders and Snyder were together, and as the enemy were level- ing a volley of balls at them, they sprang behind a rock, against
* He was a major of militia after the war. He married Angelica, daugh- ter of Col. Peter Vrooman.
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which several of the leaden messengers spent their force. End- ers, who was fleet as an antelope, often took trees to favor the flight of his less speedy companions, which always treed the ene- my. Van Dyck struck off into the woods east of the residence of Jacob H. Shafer, again struck the flats below, and regained the fort in safety. Enders and Snyder also arrived there before the enemy. Van Wart (who is said to have put on his go-to-meet- ing hat before he left the fort,) had observed on his way up, sev- eral apple-pics just taken from the oven at Lawyer's, and not having had any breakfast, declared his intention of having some of the pie on his return. He was warned not to stop; but disre- garding the caution of his companions, as the enemy were not then in sight, he halted. . While he was eating, Westhoft, a Ger- man school teacher, who had been teaching school the preceding summer in Ingold's barn near by, opened the door and exclaimed : " Here they come !" as a party of Indians arrived at the house. In the act of jumping from a back window, he was fired upon in front and rear, the enemy having already surrounded the house. He was instantly dispatched, and his body much mutilated. He was a Low Dutchman, born near Albany ; was a cooper by trade, and had resided nine years in the Ingold family, near where he was shot.
As the Indians entered Lawyer's dwelling, one of them raised a tomahawk to strike the schoolmaster, but Mrs. Lawyer seized his arm and arrested the fatal blow. She pleaded for his life and it was spared, adding another evidence to the influence of woman. Brett, an old female slave, was considered a lawful prize, and was taken along a little distance, but was finally permitted to return. -Anna Eve, widow of Jacob J. Lawyer .*
John Ingold, who dwelt where his son and namesake now re- sides, was in the fort that day with all his family except Anthony Witner, his step-father. As a hostile invasion was expected, the
· Mrs. Lawyer stated to the writer, in 1835, that while her husband and a hired man were harvesting grain during the war, they were fired upon by the enemy, and the laborer killed ; the former fled across the river and escaped. Mrs. Lawyer was a daughter of Philip and Christina Berg. She had two children, a son and daughter. The latter is now the wife of Ex-Gov. Bouck
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
present John Ingold, then a lad fourteen years old, went the eve- ning before with a wagon to take old Mr. Witner to the fort, but he declined going, and said he chose to stay and defend his house. He had given his grandson an old gun which was then at the fort ; this he requested to have sent to him in the morning. The Ingold dwelling was burned, and as a part of two skeletons were found in its ruins, it was conjectured that a plunderer had been killed by Mr. Witner, before his death. The remains of the latter were identified by his silver knee-buckles. A barrack filled with peas, standing scarcely three yards distant from Ingold's barn, was set on fire and the enemy supposed from its proximity it would burn the latter ; but as the former stood west of the build- ing and the wind blew a gale from the northeast, the fire was for- tunately not communicated to it. A fence on fire and slowly burn- ing to the windward, which would have carried the flame to the barn, was extinguished after the enemy left. The dwelling of Hendrick Shafer was not burned, that of Tunis Shafer, which stood where David Shafer lives, was burnt with its out buildings; and that of Lawyer, below Ingold's, shared the same fate the night following .- John Ingold, Mattice Ball, and others.
The firing at Middleburgh was heard in Cobelskill, ten miles distant, and Lawrence Lawyer and Henry Shafer proceeded to- wards Schoharie, to learn the cause. Arriving on the hills near, they caught a view of the general conflagration ; and they un- expectedly fell in with a party of Indians, but escaped their no- tice by the timely movement of several cattle in the woods close by, which directed the enemy from their concealment. The two friends remained secreted until the Indians had retired, when they hastened back to Cobelskill, to warn the citizens of their danger .- Lawrence Lawyer.
Johnson's troops had been so long in the valley, that ample time was gained to get every thing in readiness at the Lower fort, for its defence. Several barrels of water were provided to extinguish the church, which contained the women and children, should it be set on fire. The magazine which was thus liberally replenished, was kept beneath the pulpit in the church, and was
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under the charge of Dr. George Werth, a physician, settled in the vicinity, who acted as surgeon. In the tower of the church were stationed, under Ensign Jacob Lawyer, jr., fifteen or twenty good marksmen, who could command considerable territory. Quite a number of fearless women at the Lower fort are said to have stood ready at the pickets, when the enemy appeared in sight, armed with spears, pitchforks, poles, &c.,* to repel an at- tack .- Maj. Peter Vrooman, Col. Dietz, of Beaver Dam, Jacob Becker, Judge Brown and others.
The enemy approached the Lower fort in a body, about four o'clock P. M., and were saluted with a small mounted cannon without the pallisades, (the one formerly owned by John Law- yer,) charged with grape and cannister shot. Col. Johnson rais- ed a spy-glass as the swivel was drawn out, and suddenly lower- ing it, said to his men, It is only a grass-hopper, march on! It was supposed to have done fearful execution, as many of the enemy fell, but to the surprise of the Americans, they arose and advanced ; having only fallen to let the shot pass over them. A grape shot entered the knapsack of a soldier, and lodged against a pair of shoes. He was more frightened than hurt, and carried the shot to Canada. The American soldiers were hardly able to obtain shoes, and this Canadian had an extra new pair, which saved his life .- Becker, Van Dyck, Vrooman and Dietz.
Jacob Van Dyck, Nicholas Warner, Jacob Becker, John Ingold, Sen., and John Kneiskern, were among the men stationed with
· Judge Brown, who was accounted a genuine whig, was suspected, though unjustly I believe, of disaffection on the day Schoharie was burnt. He stated to the writer, that he was at the Lower fort on the morning of that day, and nided in the early preparations for its defence ; and had intended to volunteer his services in case of a hostile attack. His wife was deter- mined to go to Livingston's manor, where she had relatives; and to set out that day. She went out and seated herself in the wagon, outside the pick- ets; and declared her intention to remain there and be shot rather than again enter the fort, where she had already been over two years. Brown probably knew, that " If a woman will, she will," and he might "depend on't;" said he felt ashamed to be seen quarreling with his wife-reluctantly yielded to her wishes-entered the wagon and drove off. The smoke of burning buildings was then visible up the valley. This I consider another specimen of female influence.
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Lawyer in the church tower. When Capt. Stubrach and others were firing the " grass-hopper," Peter, a brother of Ensign Law- yer, who had command of the men on the church, was seen to ap- proach the fort from the direction of the river, in advance of the enemy. He proceeded to the tower, and held a secret conference with his brother, soon after which they both left the fort together, and did not return until the invaders were out of sight. The con- duct of the ensign subjected him to some censure at the time-in- deed, it needs an explanation at the present day.
Hearing that his ensign had deserted his station, which was too commanding not to be properly occupied, Capt. Snyder immedi- ately took charge of the men, who rendered good services by their skill as marksmen .- Becker, Van Dyck, and Warner.
The enemy, when fired upon, filed off, the regulars, under John- son, to the west, and the Indians, under Brant, to the east. The former crossed the flats, between the fort and the river, and did not halt until after they had passed Foxes creek, below the old saw- mill. They were several times fired upon from a block-house, upon that side, which mounted a six-pounder, charged with grape and canister, but with what effect is unknown. Most of the In- dians crossed Foxes creek in a body, but a few stragglers lingered to burn buildings. The wood-work of Tunis Swart's tavern, the present residence of Lodowick Fries, was burned. The parson- age, which stood some twenty rods east of the present one, was not consumed. A house now standing on a knoll some thirty rods southeast of the church, was occupied in 1780 by the widow of Domine Schuyler, and one of her sons. It was erected one and a half stories, with a gambrel roof, but was altered to its pre- sent form after the war. About the time Swart's dwelling was fired, an Indian was seen approaching this house with a fire-brand. Several rifles were instantly discharged at him from the tower, and he sprang behind the trunk of an apple-tree, which is still to be seen. Five balls struck the tree as he sprang behind it. No more was seen of the Indian, who abandoned the attempt to burn the house .- Nicholas Warner and Jacob Becker. This apple-tree has an antiquated look, stands alone, and I really hope that the " Woodman" will " spare that tree !"
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
I have said Col. Johnson halted after crossing Foxes creek. Preparations were now made to give the Americans a passing sa- lute-the gun carriage was screwed together, and the gun placed upon it. At this time it was supposed by the men in the tower, from the case with which the gun was carried and the manner of its transportation in a wagon, to be a " peeled log," placed with the design of frightening its inmates to surrender the fort. On applying the linstock it twice flashed, and the Americans were the more confirmed in their opinion that the foe was "playing possum"-but the third application of the match was followed by a peal of war's thunder, which sent a ball through one side of the roof of the church, and lodged it in a heavy rafter on the op- posite side. The shock jarred the whole building. A second discharge of the enemy's gun lodged a ball in the purlin-plate ; and the hole made by its entrance is visible at the present day .- Jacob Becker, and Cyrus Clark, corroborated by others .*
While the enemy were discharging their cannon, rum sweeten- ed with gun-powder was carried round in a pail to the soldiers, by Mrs. Snyder, to divest them of fear. This was a common beverage in former times, when hostile armies were about to con- flict. The liquor was thought to embolden, while the powder maddened the warrior. As she presented the glass to the soldiers at the pickets, the hands of some trembled so as scarcely to hold it .- Peter M. Snyder.
While the enemy were firing on the church, an Indian crept behind an elm tree on the bank of the creek northwest of it, and lodged three rifle balls in the tower. They struck nearly in the same spot over head, but the first two were not buried sufficiently deep to remain, and fell upon the deck, one of which was taken up by John Kneiskern, but found it too hot to be retained. By re- moving part of the paling, a rifle was brought to bear on the
· Not many years ago, a new covering was put upon the church by Mr. Clark, who states that the cannon shot lodged in the western plate in 1780, was then taken out and presented to John Gebhard, Esq. of Schoharie; and the one from the rafter to P. M. Snyder, in consequence of the intrepidity of Snyder's mother when the balls were lodged. This relic was presented the writer by Mr. Snyder in 1837. It weighs a little over six pounds.
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presumptuous foe. As he showed part of his face, to try a fourth shot, a marksman planted a bullet in the tree near his head, when he decamped in hot haste .- Jacob Becker, and Jacob Van Dyck.
The enemy made but a short stay near the Lower fort. Brant, after burning the tavern and out building of Jacob Snyder, and those of some other citizens along Foxes creek, came into the river road a few rods north west of the Brick House of Capt. Mann. This house was two stories in the Revolution, but was razed a story some time after. Brant was joined on the rise of ground above Mann's, by the regulars under Johnson, who made a little show of giving another salute ; but a shower of rifle balls from the church tower, with several successive and well directed discharges of grape-shot, from the block-house in the north east corner of the inclosure, caused him to move down the valley. A dwelling and grist mill standing near the fort, (where those of Griggs now are,) were set on fire, but extinguished after the ene- my left. The barn and other out buildings were consumed .- P. M. Snyder, Maj. P. Vrooman and Jacob Becker.
Whether the enemy sustained any loss in their attack on the Lower fort is unknown. If any had been killed, their bodies were no doubt consumed in some of the burning buildings in Kneiskern's dorf.
At an interview with Jacob Enders, the soldier previously mentioned, he related the following incident. After the enemy began to move down the valley, he left the fort to hang upon his rear. Discovering an Indian, he followed him along the creek toward the river, until he got a shot at him. He had on a large pack, and over one shoulder hung a goose, he had recently killed. When Enders fired, the Indian fell upon his knees, and dropped his pack and goose ; then springing upon his feet, he set off on a moderate trot toward the river. Enders pursued until the Indian turned and raised his rifle on him, when he halted to load, and the Indian without firing, again ran off. After pursu- ing until he was exposed to the fire of others of the enemy, En- ders gave over the chase. On arriving where he had left the pack and goose, he found that John Rickard, a fellow soldier, who had
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seen the spoils abandoned from his position in the block-house, had been there and taken them to the fort. Enders claimed them, but Rickard would not give them up, or any part of them. The pack contained eight pairs of new mocasons.
On the day Schoharie was burned, three soldiers, Abraham Bergh, Jacob Kneiskern, and one Grenadare, with several other persons, were returning to the Lower fort with three head of fat cattle for that garrison ; and on arriving near the present residence of Daniel Larkin, they discovered the advance of the enemy, and
drove the cattle into the adjoining woods. The citizens made good their retreat, and the soldiers secreted themselves to watch the motions of the enemy. They observed a small party of In- dians approach Mercle's place, on the Ferry road. The trio suc- ceeded in getting within gun shot of the party, and as the latter were at a pump, fired upon them, killing one of their number with a buckshot. The Americans then made good their retreat, and reached the fort in safety .- David, a son of Abr. Bergh.
Having executed his mission in Schoharie so far as he found it practicable, Sir John Johnson encamped for the night near Harman Sidney's, the present residence of John C. Van Vechten, nearly six miles north of the Lower fort. A noble deer confined in a pen at Sidney's, which he was fatting with no little care for his own use, was killed and feasted on by the enemy. Some soldiers at work for its owner a few days before, wanted to kill the animal then, but he chose to reserve it for another occasion. In the morning, Col. Johnson sank his mortar and shells in a morass, and directed his course to Fort Hunter. One of the shells was recovered some weeks open in mud knee deep; and on being broken open it was found to contain dry powder, which was divided among the vic- tors .- Col. Deitz, William Becker, and Jacob Enders.
After Sir John Johnson passed the Lower fort, George Meri- ness was despatched to Albany by Maj. Becker, with intelligence of his invasion, and success in Schoharie .- William Snyder.
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