USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 4
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In his Centennial History, published in the county press in 1876, William Fiske Warner says the Tuscarora Indians, the Sixth Nation of the Iroquois, were the occupants of the valley of the Susquehanna after their adoption into the confederacy. The fol- lowing extracts from Mr. Warner's work will be found of interest :
" At the time of the founding of the French, Dutch and Eng- lish colonies in America, there were five powerful tribes of Indians inhabiting the middle and western parts of the State of New York. These were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Sen- ecas. Subsequently a tribe of Tuscaroras, driven from the Poto- mac (other writers say from the Carolinas), took possession of the territory along the Susquehanna having their principal village at Tioga Point, now Athens, and became the sixth tribe which was added to what is known as the confederacy of the Six Nations."
In explanation of seeming inconsistencies of statement by vari- ous Indianologists, we may say that some authorities assert that the Tuscaroras were originally a northern tribe, descendants of the ancestors of the Iroquois, to whom tradition gave the name of Mengwe, while others state that they were a branch of the Lenni Lenapes. The correct theory the present writer will not attempt to determine, yet the fact that the Tuscaroras were so readily received by the Iroquois and adopted as the sixth nation of their famous confederacy would seem to give color to the claim that they were of Mengwe origin. Again, history records the fact that the Tuscaroras gave material aid to the Iroquois when the latter were making war against the southern Indians, and their
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adoption into the confederacy was merely an act of gratitude on the part of the Five Nations.
Be the truth as it may, the Tuscaroras of the Susquehanna val- ley were a peaceable tribe, and during the half century following the year of their adoption (1712) by the Iroquois, they increased in number and their villages were scattered along the valley from Tioga Point to the eastern border of the present county of Broomc. Here they were found by a detachment of Sullivan's army during the late summer of 1779, the events of which period will be found narrated in a later chapter of this work.
CHAPTER III.
The Jesuits among the Indians-Other Missionary Laborers-The Early Wars-French and English Rivalry-Opeu Hostilities-Ineffective Peace Treaties-Final Struggle between the English and French-Iroquois Generally Neutral-Mohawks Fight with the English-Overthrow of French Power in America.
W HEN Champlain opened the way for French dominion in America the task of planting Christianity among the In- dians was assigned to the Jesuits, a name derived from the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1539. But while their primary object was to spread the gospel, their secondary and scarcely less important purpose was to extend the French domin- ion. In 1736 Canada was restored to France, and within three years from that date there were fifteen Jesuits in the province. They increased rapidly and extended their influence to a large number of Indian nations in the far west, while the Moravian missionaries, who established the little village called Friedenshut- ten, a few miles below Wyalusing, in what is now Bradford coun- ty, Pennsylvania, were engaged in the landable work of attempt- ing to civilize and christianize the Indian occupants of the Susque- hanna valley. However, through the sale of the lands in that
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part of the province, the Moravians were compelled to abandon their field.
In 1700 the provincial authorities of New York passed an un- justifiable law which, were it strictly enforced, inflicted the death penalty upon every Jesuit missionary who should thenceforth come voluntarily into the province, on the ground that their teachings unsettled the savage mind and alienated the Indians from British influence. This harsh measure had not the effect to entirely stop the Jesuit labors, although they were greatly re- tarded by it. These faithful missionaries left the province with- in the next ten years following the overthrow of the French power in America, and were followed by such noble workers as Talbot, Henry Barclay, John Ogilvie, Spencer, Timothy Wood- bridge, Gideon Hawley, Eleazer Wheelock, Samuel Kirkland, Bishop Hobart, Eleazer Williams, Dan. Barnes (Methodist), and others of less distinction, all of whom labored faithfully, but with varied perseverance, for the conversion of the Indians. All, how- ever, were forced to admit that their efforts as a whole were un- satisfactory and discouraging ; and even subsequent attempts to establish education and christianity among the Indians, while yielding perhaps sufficient results to justify their prosecution, have constantly met with discouraging obstacles.
The advent of European nations was the forerunner of the downfall of the Iroquois league, and doubtless will lead to the ul- timate extinction of the race. The French invasion of 1693, to- gether with that of three years later, cost the confederacy half its warriors. Their allegiance to the British (with the exception of the Oneidas) in the revolutionary war proved to be an alliance with a falling power, and this, in connection with the relentless vengeance of the American colonists, broke up the once powerful league and scattered its members to a large extent upon the friendly soil of Canada, or left them at the mercy of the state or general government, which consigned them to reservations with very imperfect provisions for their maintenance.
The causes which led to the protracted contentions between the French and the Iroquois Indians are clear and distinct. They be- gan with the unwarranted invasion by Champlain and his allied
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savages, and engendered an hostility that eventually cost hun- dreds of lives in battle, together with the ruthless slaughter of an equal number of persons who were guiltless of warlike intent. The real struggle of the period known in history as the French and Indian war began soon after the conquest of the New Nether- lands by the English, and ended only with the extinction of the French power in America. The events of this long series of in- vasions and counter-invasions have little relation to the Indian history of Tioga county, or even to this part of the State, and it was not until about the beginning of the eighteenth century that the English colonists became concerned for the welfare of their own interests, and at last awakened to the conviction that they must thoroughly unite against the French.
To this end, in 1690, a convention of delegates of English colo- nists determined to raise a military force and subjugate Canada, but, after some years of strife with varying results, the treaty of Ryswick put an end to hostilities. The treaty was concluded in September, 1697, but while it established a peace between the French and the English, it practically left unsettled the status of the Iroquois. The French insisted on the protection of their own Indian allies, but were unwilling to include the Iroquois, and even made preparations to attack them with their whole force. The English, on the other hand, as strenuously claimed the same terms for their allies, and Earl Belmont informed Count de Fron- tenac that he would resist any attack on the Iroquois with the entire force of his government. This terminated the threats of the enemy.
Peace being thus established, the English left nothing undone to maintain the friendship between themselves and the Iroquois, and soon succeeded in obtaining from them a deed of a vast tract of their hunting territory. However, on the accession of Queen Anne to the British throne as the successor to King William, in March, 1702, what has been known as Queen Anne's war was soon begun. It continued until the treaty of Utrecht, April 11, 1713, but, though felt in the colonies, New York fortunately escaped its bloody consequences.
While the French were in possession of New France their influ-
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
ence over all the Indians within its limits was paramount, and they even disputed with the English the alliance of the latter with the Iroquois; but whatever may have been the foundation of French claims to even a portion of the territory of New York, they could hardly be recognized as holding any part of orig- inal Tioga county, although in 1663 four of the Iroquois na- tions had concluded a treaty with De Tracy by which they placed themselves under the protection of the French king. If the terri- tory of original Tioga was not a part of the Mohawk country, and a portion of it certainly was not, the treaty may have affected that portion beyond the Mohawks' domain, yet none of the French maps show that any surveys were made in its southern locality.
On the other hand, the English early secured a firm and lasting allegiance with the Mohawks, a friendship more closely cemented in later years through the influence of Sir Williani Johnson. Further, the original charter of Virginia carried the English pos- sessions to the forty-fifth parallel, and later grants extended hier sovereignty to the St. Lawrence river.
The treaty of Ryswick (1697) declared that the belligerents should return to their possessions, as each occupied them at the beginning of hostilities, and England put forth the unconditional claim that, at the period referred to in the treaty, their Iroquois allies were in the occupation by conquest of Montreal and the shores of the St. Lawrence. The French government at the time seenis to have acknowledged that the Iroquois were embraced in the treaty.
Thus the two European powers wrangled over the country which was but a little time previously the undisputed domain of the Iroquois, and was still occupied by them. When France dis- puted the claims of England and appealed to the council at Onon- daga, a stern, savage orator exclaimed : "We have ceded our [ands to no one ; we hold them of heaven alone." (Bancroft.)
Whether so much importance should attach to the treaties in which these untutored savages were pitted against the intelligent Europeans, either French or English, is questionable ; especially when we consider the methods often adopted in later years to in- duce the Indians to sign away their domain. Be this as it may,
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it is now generally believed that the intrusion of France upon the possessions of the Iroquois in the Champlain valley, "at the sac- rifice of so much blood and treasure, justice and the restraints and faith of the treaties were subordinate to the lust of power and ex- pediency." (Watson.)
In March, 1744, war was again declared between Great Britain and France, and the former power at once prosecuted measures for the conquest of the French possessions. The colonies of New York and New England united in an expedition to co-operate with the fleet under Commodore Warren in an attack upon Louisburg, which capitulated in June, 1745. Then followed the descent upon Hoosic village, and its surrender, leaving unprotected the frontier.
However, an important object of the contest from 1744 to 1748 was the possession of the valley of the Mississippi, which both nations claimed by discovery and occupancy. The French forts now extended from Canada to Louisiana, forming "a bow, of which the line of English colonies was the string." At this time the English colonies in America contained a million inhabitants, while the French had only about sixty thousand. The Iroquois would not engage in this strife until 1746, and were disappointed at its sudden termination, having compromised themselves with their old enemies (the Indian allies of the French) now more nu- merous and dangerous than ever. The question of Iroquois su- premacy was, therefore, renewed and intensified.
In April, 1748, was concluded the ineffective, if not actually shameful, treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, and while it was a virtual renewal of the treaties of Ryswick and Utrecht, it left unsettled the old questions in dispute, with others of equal importance to the colonies, and the fortresses of Louisburg and Crown Point were returned to the French without even a protest.
Opposed and embarrassed by political factions, Governor Clinton resigned his office in October, 1753, and was succeeded by Sir Danvers Osborne. The same distractions, aggravated by the loss of his wife, threw the latter into a state of melancholia, which ended in suicide. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor James De Lancey, who called the attention of the Assembly to recent French encroachments, and urged united action by the
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
English colonies to resist them. However, the old sectional differ- ences tended to prevent harmony in sentiment or action. The Iroquois were also to some extent becoming alienated from the English, whose apathy and failures they did not relish. The French, by reason of victories in Pennsylvania in 1754, were left in undisputed possession of the entire region west of the Alle- ghanies.
Under the advice of the British ministry a convention of dele- gates from all the colonial assemblies was held at Albany in June, 1754, the object of which was to secure a continued alliance with the Six Nations. Governor De Lancey presided, and opened the proceedings with a speech to the Indian chiefs and sachems who were present. Colonel, afterward Sir William Johnson, was also present and made many valuable suggestions to the delegates. He had by this time become well acquainted with the Indian char- acter ; had ingratiated himself in their affections, not only among the Mohawks, but as well among all of the Iroquois Confederation. He was made by the former one of their sachems, having author- ity in their councils, and likewise he was created war-chief, and as such frequently assumed the costume and habits of the Indians.
Meanwhile, at the suggestion of the Massachusetts delegates, a plan for the union of the colonies was taken into consideration, and resulted in a committee of one from each colony to draw plans for the purpose, the fertile mind of Benjamin Franklin suggesting that which was adopted. It was the forerunner of our federal constitution ; but the colonial assemblies rejected it, deeming that it encroached on their liberties, while. the home government re- jected it, claiming that it granted too much power to the people.
Though England and France were nominally at peace for eight years following the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, each power was constantly engaged in strengthening its outposts and forming alli- ances with the Indians. The storm of war again broke upon the country in 1756, after two years of open hostilities. The Mohawks rallied to their commander, Colonel Johnson, and while the Sene- cas were friendly to the French they were reluctant to war against their brethren at the eastern extremity of the Long House. The Tuscaroras of the Susquehanna valley were close friends of the
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Mohawks, and a few of them fought under General (soon after- ward Sir William) Johnson, while others maintained a strict neu- trality.
A detail of this contest is not necessary in this work, as the great theatre of events was far beyond the boundaries of Tioga county. At first the French were everywhere victorious, but in 1758 William Pitt entered the councils of George II, as actual though not nominal chief of the ministry, and then England flung herself in deadly earnest into the contest. Forts Duquesne and Frontenac were captured by the British, and other victories pre- pared the way for the grand successes in 1759. The cordon was broken, but Fort Niagara still held out for France.
In 1759 Wolfe assailed Quebec, the strongest of all the French strongholds ; and at the same time Generals Prideaux and John- son laid seige to Fort Niagara. After a fierce battle the fort sur- rendered, and with the capitulation ended the French dominion over any portion of the province of New York. Soon the life- bought victory of Wolfe gave Quebec to the triumphant Britons ; but still the French clung to their colonies with desperate but fail- ing grasp, and it was not until September, 1760, that the Marquis de Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal, and with it Detroit, Venango, and all 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. On the 30th of July, 1760, Governor De Lancey, of New York, sud- denly died, and the government passed into the hands of Cadwal- lader Colden, who was commissioned lieutenant-governor in Au- gust, 1761. In October following General Robert Monkton was appointed governor of the province.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
CHAPTER IV.
Political Situation Previous to the Revolution-The Johnson Influence-Taxing the Colonies-The British make Allies of the Six Nations, exeept Oneidas and Tusea- roras-Joseph Brant, the Mohawk Chief-Wyoming-Cherry Valley-Sullivan's Campaign against the Indians-Clinton's Marel down the ,Susquehanna-The General Movement into the Iroquois Regions-Battle at Newtown-Subsequent Events of the Campaign-End of the War.
r THE political situation in the province of New York, and indeed throughout the American colonies, during the revo- lution, and for some years previous, was at once novel and interesting, since it included influences politically antagonistic, while socially there was no animosity among the pioneers, and. good will and friendship prevailed on every hand. The settle- ments founded by Sir William Johnson in the Mohawk valley were entirely under his control during his life, and their militia was subject to his command. His death, however, and the suc- cession of his son (so far as it was possible for the latter to succeed him) caused a marked change in political events ; one indeed which created not only a division of sentiment, but in many instances the rupture of friendship. Had Sir William lived a few years longer his love of America might have led him to espouse her cause, and many think his policy indicated such a purpose ; but Sir John, and his brothers-in-law, Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus, were creatures of the king, having no sentiment in common with the people, and were evidently imbued with aristocratic notions.
Continuing this inquiry into the condition of public affairs, we are led to examine the prevailing causes of the above mentioned division, both in sentiment and action, and it also occasions a review of those events which precipitated the war. A careful ex- amination of the province at the time leads to the conviction that the patriots were strongly in the majority. The taxation to which the colonies were subjected by the mother country really began almost as far back as the overthrow of the Dutch power in Amer-
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ica, for it seems to have been the crown's determination to make them self supporting, which was more than their own share toward national greatness. The burden of debt was then very heavy on Great Britain, but it was chiefly created by the wars in which she had engaged on her own side of the Atlantic. That portion, however, incurred by the wars on this continent she pro- posed to be paid by the colonies, notwithstanding the great increase of her domain through these wars.
The time, however, arrived when tame submission to such meas- ures could no longer be endured. The colonists themselves were heavily burdened with the expenses of the late French war, yet almost before the smoke of the battles had cleared away the min- istry began devising plans to tax them without asking their con- sent. In 1764 a proposition was submitted to the House of Com- mons for raising revenue in the colonies by the sale of stamps, and a bill to that effect was passed in March, 1765. It was bitterly denounced in the colonies, especially in New York, and the "Sons of Liberty " were organized to oppose the obnoxious law.
So great, indeed, was the popular indignation that parliament finally repealed the act, but this was done more to satisfy English tradesmen than to relieve a distressed people ; and in its place were enacted other oppressive laws, one of which required the provinces to pay for supporting the British soldiery in New York city. The colonial assembly refused to comply with the demand, and parliament in retaliation annulled its legislative powers.
In 1767 a bill was passed by parliament imposing a duty on tea, glass, lead, paper and painters' colors imported by the colonies. This renewed the opposition, and in the following year the Massa- chusetts assembly addressed a circular letter to the sister colonies asking assistance in defending the common liberties. More retali- ation followed, for the ministry was so enraged that a letter was sent to each of the colonial governors forbidding their assemblies to correspond with Massachusetts. This mandate was ignored, and the New York assembly accompanied its disobedience with declarations of inherent rights, together with denunciations of parliament, and the people sustained their representatives and returned most of them to the new assembly of 1769.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
In 1770 Lord Dunmore succeeded Colden as governor, and brought with him royal approval of the act authorizing the issne of the colonial bills of credit. The duties had meanwhile been re- moved from all articles except tea, and colonial affairs for a time moved more smoothly, but on July 18, 1771, William Tryon be- came governor, and soon afterward old difficulties were renewed. The East India Company, conscious of the injustice of placing a duty on tea, tried to have the latter removed, but in vain, for the ministry still adhered to its boasted right to tax the colonies. This was soon followed by the destruction of the tea shipped to Boston, an event which has ever been known as the "Boston Tea Party." The ministry, whose rage was still more excited by the bold defiance, again retaliated by closing the port of Boston against all commerce-an outrage which awoke national indignation. Public meetings were held for the consideration of the common grievances, and among the plans suggested for mutual protec- tion was the assembling of a Colonial Congress.
The Continental Congress, as it has ever been termed, was held at Philadelphia in September, 1774, and, having adopted a declara- tion of rights, it added a petition to the king and an appeal to the people of Great Britain and Canada. The New York assem- bly was the only one that did not sanction these proceedings ; in- stead of which it addressed a remonstrance to parliament, which was treated with disdain.
"On the 12th of January, 1775, at a cabinet council, it was de- clared that there was nothing in the proceedings of Congress that afforded any basis for an honorable reconciliation. It was there- fore resolved to break off all commerce with the Americans; to protect the loyalists in the colonies, and to declare all others to be traitors and rebels." (Lossing).
At this time Tryon county, within which the territory of Tioga was included, was a new creation, named in honor of the gover- nor, but young as it was it displayed a full degree of power; and its enormous extent led to its division into five provisional dis- tricts. Many of its people were earnest in the patriotic cause, and were open in their approval of the proceedings of the Continental Congress, but on the other hand Sir John Johnson, having snc-
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ceeded to his father's military title (though never to his popularity and influence), warmly supported the British interests. In carry- ing out this policy Sir John was seconded by Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus, whose efforts were directed to the complete aliena- tion of the Indians from the whig colonists. The Mohawks of course were friendly to the crown, for they loved the father too well to oppose his son. Prominent among them were the notori- ous leaders, John and Walter Butler, and also the chief, Joseph Brant, all of whom became infamous from their bloody deeds dur- ing the revolution ; and yet their pillage and slaughter were gener_ ally ascribed to the instigations of the Johnsons.
Sir John and his fellow loyalists did not limit their schemes to the Mohawks ; they sent emissaries to all the Six Nations, and to all other Indians within their reach, the object being to induce them to take up the hatchet against the Americans. In this effort they were too successful, for all except the Oneidas and the Tus- caroras, and a few other friendly Indians, joined the British. The Senecas held off for a time, but the prospect of both blood and gold was too much for them to withstand, and in 1777 they made a treaty with the British at Oswego, agreeing to serve the king throughout the war.
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