History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 12

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Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
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"They also believed that this king had a brother, less powerful than himself, and who was his opposite in every particular; that he made and sent them diseases, bad weather and bad crops, and made and supported witches; that he owned a large country adjoining his brother's, with whom he was continually at variance. His fields were unproductive, the weather cloudy, destructive frosts frequent, game scarce and not easily taken, streams muddy and unpeopled with fish, ravenous beasts numerous, reptiles of poisonous teeth lay in the traveler's path, and hunger, nakedness and general misery were felt by those who unfortunately became his tenants. He took great pleasure in afflicting Indians here, and after their death received all those into his dreary dominions who in their lifetime had been so vile as to be rejected by Nau- wah-ne-u, under whose eyes some of them continued in an uncomfortable state forever. To this source of evil they offered oblations, to abate his vengeance and render him propitious. · In each year they had five feasts [six according to Morgan; the third was the strawberry festival], or stated times for assembling in their tribes and giving thanks to Nau-wah-ne-u for the blessings they had received from his kind, liberal and provident hand, and to solicit a

continuance of such favors. · When the green corn became fit for use they held their third or green corn feast, which was usually attended with great interest, and at which a good portion of the time was spent in singing and dancing and otherwise manifesting their joy, and express- ing their thankfulness for the addition to their diet of an article of food which is to-day held in such high estimation by the whole civilized world of mankind."

A gentleman residing at Caneadea, in Allegany county, who once witnessed a green corn dance or feast at the up- per Caneadea village, in which several hundred Indians from the Buffalo, Tonawanda, Cattaraugus and Big Tree reservations participated, says: "The succotash was made in six five-pail brass kettles, and the whole once full served for one meal. Twelve or fourteen deer were killed, and the venison, cut up in pieces of a pound or more in weight, was thrown in with the green corn and beans, and without a par- ticle of salt all boiled together; and when sufficiently cooked the kettles were surrounded and each one helped him or herself, eating out of the kettles with wooden spoons, some with iron ones and some, provided with bowls or other dishes, would take out their portions and then retire, giving others, not so well provided, a chance immediately about the kettles. This feast passed off without any disturbance, no quarrel or unpleasantness marring the general good feel- ing and high degree of enjoyment of all who participated in it. The next year the Caneadea Indians visited some other tribe upon the occurrence of this feast, and thus it passed around."

The fourth feast was celebrated after corn harvest, and the fifth at the time of the old moon in the last of January or first of February. For the last mentioned two white dogs were slaughtered and fantastically painted and deco. rated for sacrifice. The masters of ceremonies, who were hideously gotten up in masks and smeared with dirt, going about among the cabins, collected and concentrated in themselves the last year's sins and guilt of the tribe. On the eighth or ninth day of the proceedings they transferred the accumulation of iniquity to one of their number, and he by a peculiar sleight of hand or magic worked it out of himself into the bodies of the white dogs. The dogs were then burnt, and in the smoke of the sacrificial fire, flavored with the offerings of tobacco, passed away the year's sins of the tribe. The meeting was made the occasion of delibera- tions on the administration of tribal affairs, and was closed with a feast of succotash and a peace dance.

It was said by pioneers who had been present at the cere- mony of burning the dog at what was formerly called by the settlers " Indian Town," but which was afterward known as the lower Caneadea village, or Wiscoy, in Allegany county: "The settlers used to collect in large numbers on such occasions, coming, some of them, many miles to wit- ness it. ar.d when well behaved were kindly received and well treated. But their solemnities having been, upon some occasions, made the subject of considerable levity, they be- came quite wary when whites were present, and sometimes even refused to proceed with their customary observances and rites until they had withdrawn. All who were present and witnessed the ceremony were expected to contribute something in the way of tobacco or trinkets, and in case of refusal their situation would be made quite uncomfortable by showering upon them live coals and ashes."

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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Judge A. B. Rose, of Castile, in this county, gives the fol- lowing account of their ceremonies at a funeral:

"About the year 1818, and when the Indians lived at Gar- dow and along the Genesee river above and below there, I was present at one of their funerals, that of a boy about fourteen or fifteen years of age. The dead body in its In- dian dress was laid on an elevation in one of their houses, where were seated a circle of Indian females, including the mother and female relatives, all silent; when one of their circle raised her head and delivered a short address of two or three minutes, reciting the expectations and hopes of the deceased boy's parents and relations that he would become a brave and successful warrior and bring joy and gladness to his parents; but, alas, their hopes were now blasted. Then she (the speaker), followed by all the circle, would drop their heads and cover their faces with their blankets, and all unite in a loud, shrill, mournful, ringing, plaintive moan for one or two minutes, when they would cease and raise their heads, and another one would recite the boy's agility in the race, his skill with the bow, and his promising traits, when all as before would unite in the moan. And thus the time was occupied until some Indians came in with a rude box, and while putting in the boy and his trinkets I no- ticed some things that excited my curiosity; an opening was cut near the head in the side of the box, and near the lid, of about seven inches in length and one and one-quarter in width. I inquired of one with whom I was acquainted what it meant, and he said the opening was for the spirit of the boy to escape, and the cakes which they put in the box were for the spirit to subsist on during its long journey to the spirit land of his fathers; and that they would build fires over his grave at night to give light to the spirit during its long, dark voyage. When the body was thus prepared they carried it to the grave, and the Indian females followed in single file, keeping up their plaintive moan until the burial was completed."

CHAPTER III.

"THE WHITE WOMAN," DEHEWAMIS OR MARY JEMISON- HER FAMILY AND POSSESSIONS.

DEHEWAMIS, or Mary Jemison, who was com- monly known as "the white woman," was a resident of the Genesee valley during seventy- two years, fifty-two of which she passed at Gardeau Flats, in the town of Castile, Wyoming county.

In 1824 her biography, dictated by herself, was first published. In 1877 Hon. William P. Letchworth, of Glen Iris, republished the work, which had long been out of print. From this, by his kind permission, and from the rec- ollections of those who knew her, the following sketch of her life is gleaned:

She was the third of a family of five children, and was born during the voyage of her parents from Ireland to Phil- adelphia. Her father was Thomas Jemison, and her moth- er's maiden name was Jane Irwin. After their arrival in

this country they settled at Marsh Creek, on the then fron- tier of Pennsylvania, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. There they were prosperous and happy, till, in the spring of 1755, the entire family, with another consisting of a wo- man and three children, were captured by a party of six Shawnese Indians and four Frenchmen. They were taken two days' travel into the wilderness, when Mary and a boy of the other family were separated from the rest, who she afterward learned were inhumanly murdered. They jour- neyed westward till they came to Fort Du Quesne (Pitts- burg), where she was given to two Seneca women, who adopted her in place of a lost brother, according to their custom, which required that either a prisoner or a scalp should be given to the nearest relative of the one lost.

She was taken some eighty miles down the Ohio river to a Seneca town, in the vicinity of which she remained with her adopted sisters four years, during which time she was married to a Delaware Indian named Sheninjee, and gave birth to two children; a girl, that died soon after its birth, and a son, which she named after her father, Thomas Jemi- son. She was treated with uniform kindness by the Indians, and was as happy as the recollection of her separation from her family would permit. She was young, her spirit was elastic, and she readily learned to adapt herself to her changed circumstances, and to love her friends, by whom she was kindly treated. Her husband and her infant son were additional ties which bound.her to the wild life into which she had been adopted, and at that time her desire to leave the forest and return to civilized life was nearly ex- tinguished. She did not look upon the life of an Indian woman as that of a drudge. She said: " Notwithstanding the Indian women have all the fuel and bread to procure, and the cooking to perform, their task is probably not harder than that of white women, who have those articles provided for them; and their cares certainly are not half as numer- ous nor as great." She always spoke in high terms of the Indian character, when uncontaminated by intercourse or contact with the whites. She stated:

"The use of ardent spirits among the Indians, and a ma- jority of the attempts which have been made to civilize them by the white people, have constantly made them worse and worse; increased their vices and robbed them of many of their virtues; and will ultimately produce their extermi- nation. I have seen, in a number of instances, the effects of education upon some of our Indians, who were taken when young from their families and placed at school before they had opportunities to contract many Indian habits, and there kept till they arrived to manhood; but I have never seen one of these but was an Indian in every respect after he re- turned. Indians must and will be Indians, in spite of all the means that can be used to instruct them in the arts and sciences.

"Notwithstanding all that has been said against the In- dians in consequence of their cruelties to their enemies- cruelties that I have witnessed and had abundant proof of- it is a fact that they are naturally kind, tender, and peaceable toward their friends, and strictly honest; and that those cruel- ties have been practiced only upon their enemies according to their idea of justice."

In the autumn of 1759, she, with her two Indian brothers, came to Genisneyo, where it was arranged that her husband, Sheninjee, should join her the next spring. She made the

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"THE WHITE WOMAN" AT GARDEAU FLATS.

journey on foot, bringing her infant, then nine months old, on her back. They halted a day for rest at Caneadea, and came to Little Beard's Town, then a large Seneca village, near where Cuylerville is now located. There she met her Indian mother and sisters and took up her abode. Shenin- jee did not join her the next spring, and during the summer she learned that he died in Ohio soon after she left.

At the time of her arrival the French and Indian war was still in progress, and the Senecas, who were the allies of the former, were constantly on the war path. She remembered the ambush and dispersion of the detachment of English that went to attack Fort Schlosser, and the return to Little Beard's Town of the Indians with two white captives, whom they tortured to death. She also remembered the massacre at Devil's Hole, in which the Senecas from Little Beard's Town participated. After the close of the war she had her option to remain with the Indians or return to the whites; but she uniformly chose the former. At one time her abduction and delivery to the whites was attempted, in or- der to secure a bounty that had been offered for the return of white captives ; but she eluded capture and kept herself secreted till the danger passed.

About the year 1763 she was again married, to a Seneca warrior named Hiokatoo. She bore him four daughters and two sons, whom she named, after her relatives, John, Jesse, Jane, Nancy, Betsey, and Polly. Of the daughters, Jane died in 1795 or 1796, aged about fifteen years. The others married and reared families, and many of their de- scendants still reside on the Indian reservations.

Dehewamis continued to reside at Little Beard's Town till 1779. Of the condition of the Senecas during the inter- val between the close of the French and Indian war and the breaking out of the Revolution, she spoke in the highest terms. It must be remembered that this was long before any settlements had been made by the whites. She said of them: " No people can live more happy than the Indians did in times of peace, before the introduction of spirituous liquors among them. Their lives were a continual round of pleasures. Their wants were few, and easily satisfied, and their cares were only for to-day, the bounds of their cal- culation for future comfort not extending to the incalcula- ble uncertainties of to-morrow. If peace ever dwelt with men it was in former times in the recess from war among what are termed barbarians. The moral character of the In- dians was (if I may be allowed the expression) uncontami- nated. Their fidelity was perfect, and became proverbial. They were strictly honest, they despised deception and false- hood, and chastity was held in high veneration; and a viola- tion of it was considered sacrilege. They were temperate in their desires, moderate in their passions, and candid and honorable in the expression of their sentiments on every subject of importance."

The Seneca Indians during the war of the Revolution were the allies of the English, as is well known. After the massacres at Cherry Valley and Wyoming, in which it was believed they bore a conspicuous part, the well known expe- dition of General Sullivan was sent against them to destroy their towns and devastate their country. On the approach of the army toward Little Beard's Town some of the Indians fled to the neighboring woods, and others, with the women and children, went across Wyoming county to Catawba creek, which empties into Tonawanda creek at Varysburg

On their return to their village they found everything de- stroyed. Resolved to care for herself, Dehewamis, with her five children, went up the river till she arrived at Gar- deau Flats, where she hired to two negroes, fugitive slaves, who had a cabin and a field of corn there, to husk corn on shares.

The name of these flats is usually spelt Gardeau; but it is pronounced Gardow. It is given by Morgan Ga-da-o, and is defined by him "bank in front." An old settler in Perry, Mr. Otis, says he was informed by the Indians that it means a " cross hill," or a hill projecting from another; and that it was given to these flats because a spur, evidently an old slide, projects across the valley at the northern boundary of the flats. Mrs. Jemison said of it: "My land derived its name-Gardeau-from a hill that is within its limits, which is called in the Seneca language Kautam. Kautam, when interpreted, signifies up and down, or down and up, and is applied to a hill that you ascend and descend in passing, or to a valley." The valley where these flats lie is entered from the north by ascending and descending the spur of a hill spoken of, hence the appropriateness of the name. The fact, however, that the Seneca language has no labials ren- ders it doubtful whether she was correctly understood in the pronunciation of this word.

By her labor she succeeded in procuring sufficient corn to sustain her family during the severe winter which fol- lowed, and she continued to reside on these flats during fifty-two of the fifty-four remaining years of her . life. The negroes with whom she found refuge left the flats two or three years later.

Not long after the close of the Revolution her brother proposed that if it was her choice she should abandon her Indian life and return to the whites. Her eldest son, Thomas, urged her to do this, and offered to accompany her and assist her on the journey; but the chiefs refused to let him go because he gave promise of becoming an eminent warrior or counsellor. To quote her own language: "The chiefs refusing to let him go was one reason for my resolv- ing to stay; but another, more powerful, if possible, was that I had a large family of Indian children, and that if I should be so fortunate as to find my relations they would despise them, if not myself, and treat them as enemies, or at least with a degree of cold indifference, which I thought I could not endure.

"Accordingly, after I had duly considered the matter, I told my brother that it was my choice to stay and spend.the remainder of my days with my Indian friends, and live with my family as I had hitherto done. He appeared well pleased with my resolution, and informed me that as that was my choice I should have a piece of land that I could call my own, where I could live unmolested, and have some- thing at my decease to leave for the benefit of my chil- dren."

She heard no more concerning the land till the time of the council of Big Tree, in 1797, when Farmer's Brother sent for her to attend the council, informed her that her brother had spoken to him concerning the land, and re- quested her to choose and describe it. Said she: "I ac- cordingly told him of the place of beginning, and then went round a tract that I judged would be sufficient for my pur- pose (knowing that it would include the Gardeau Flats), by stating certain bounds with which I was acquainted."

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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.

A survey was made of this tract in 1798 by Augustus Porter. and the following is a copy of his field notes, re- corded on the back of a map belonging to Michael Brooks, and now in the possession of Norman Seymour, of Mount Morris:

" Beginn at the point of high rocks; thence east one mile 79.48 to an oak post in the old path marked N. E. C. of R .; a white oak tree 24 inch diamet. s. 14 e. 49 links; another white oak tree 14 inch diameter n. 72 e. 29 links; a white oak 14 inch marked with a blaze 3 noches n. 87 w. 19 links; thence south 372.04 to a white ash post marked S. E. C. of R .; a s. maple 24 inch a blaze 3 noches n. 87 w. 38 links; a beach 12 inches a blaze 3 noches n. 30 e. 34 links; thence west 481.88 (at 355.32 it intercepts with steep rock w. side Gen. River); thence north 372 chains 4 links; thence east 322.40 to place of beginning; containing 17,929 acres and 137 rods. "By A. PORTER, Sept. 14, 1798."

The grant of this reservation was violently opposed by the Indian demagogue Red Jacket but was made notwith- standing this opposition. After the white woman became the owner of these flats she adopted the practice of letting her land to be tilled on shares by white people, and thus she was enabled to live in what she termed comparative ease. When, however, it is known, as is stated on the authority of old residents, that one of her easy tasks was to carry from a saw-mill in Perry, five miles distant, sufficient boards for a house; and that she accomplished this by lashing together a few at a time with bark strings and suspending them across her back with a strap of the same material, passed over the top of her head after the. Indian fashion, her easy life will be appreciated.

On this reservation she lived in quietness which was sel- dom broken except by domestic afflictions, which were se- vere. Of her three sons, Thomas, John and Jesse, John became the murderer first of Thomas, and afterward of Jesse; and he was afterward killed by other Indians at Squawkie hill. Thomas, it will be remembered, was the son of her first husband, Sheninjee; and he was the one she brought on her back from Ohio. He was of a mild, peace- ble disposition except when under the influence of liquor; then of course reason was disenthroned in him, and, in her words, he conducted himself " like a wild or crazy man, with- out regard to relatives, decency or propriety."

On the first of July, 1811, in a fit of intoxication, he en- gaged, as he had frequently done before, in a quarrel with John, at the house of their mother, in the course of which the latter seized him by his hair, dragged him out at the door, and killed him with a blow of his tomahawk. The matter was investigated by the chiefs of his tribe, and John was acquitted, Thomas having been regarded as the first aggressor. Thomas was fifty-two years old at the time of his murder. He left a family, of whom one, a son named Jacob Jemison, was educated in part at Dartmouth College. He afterward passed through a regular course of medical studies and became an assistant surgeon in the United States Navy. He died on board his ship in the Mediterra- nean squadron about 1850, when about forty years old. In November of the same year Dehewamis's last husband, Hiokatoo, died of consumption.

The bad character which the murder of Thomas gave John caused him to be shunned, and this soured his dispo-

sition. In the month of May, 1812, while both, with George Shongo, their brother-in-law, were at work for Robert Whaley, of Castile, a drunken quarrel occurred, in which John killed Jesse by stabbing him. He was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age when killed.

John was killed, as before stated, at Squawkie hill by two Indians, named Doctor and Jack. He was fifty-four years of age when killed, and left two wives and nine children. After the lapse of a few weeks Jack, one of the murderers, poisoned himself by eating muskrat root. Doctor, the other assassin, died of consumption in 1819.

In 1811 negotiations commenced between Jellis Clute and Micha Brooks and Dehewamis, for the purchase of a part of her reservation. A special act of naturalization was passed by the Legislature in 1817 to enable her to convey this land, and the transaction was finally consummated in the winter of 1822 and 1823. By this she conveyed all her reservation, except two miles square and a lot for Thomas Clute. The following is a description of that which she retained:

"The tract which I reserved for myself begins at the great slide, thence running west one mile, thence north two miles, thence east about a mile to the river, and thence run- ning southerly up the river, and bounding on the west bank to the place of beginning. In consideration of the before mentioned sale to Messrs. Gibson, Brooks and Clute, among other things they bound themselves, their heirs, assigns, etc., to pay to me, my heirs or successors, three hundred dollars a year forever."

She finally determined to leave Gardeau Flats and join the Indians of the tribe on the reservation at Buffalo. She therefore received a commutation of her annuity. sold her remaining two square miles, and, with her daughters, their husbands and children, removed from Gardeau in 1831. She made her residence on Buffalo Flats, where she resided till her death, September 9th, 1833, at the age of about ninety-one years. She was buried at the cemetery near the Seneca mission church, and a marble slab, with an appro- priate inscription, erected at her grave.

Forty years passed after her burial at that place, and the stone that marked her grave had been almost entirely chipped away to furnish mementoes of the woman who had figured so strangely in the early history of the region. Through the cemetery had also been surveyed a street, which, when opened, would pass over this grave. It was therefore determined to remove her remains from the grave that had thus been desecrated, and which was likely soon to be obliterated, and deposit them where such desecrations would not be likely to occur. This determination on the part of some of her descendants was seconded and sup- ported by some philanthropic and benevolent citizens of Buffalo, who were deeply interested in all that pertained to pioneer and Indian history. In March, 1874, these remains were carefully disinterred by an undertaker, under the direction of her grandson Dr. James Shongo, and placed in a tasteful black walnut coffin. It is noteworthy that "near the center of the grave was found a peculiarly shaped porce- lain dish, containing what may have been when placed there articles of food. In the dish was a wooden spoon greatly decayed. * These were doubtless provided by her Indian relatives to supply her with food while journeying to the Indians' happy hunting grounds."

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History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 12

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co. Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: