USA > New York > The Pennsylvania and New York frontier : history of from 1720 to the close of the Revolution > Part 5
USA > Pennsylvania > The Pennsylvania and New York frontier : history of from 1720 to the close of the Revolution > Part 5
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when they released him, but fearing pursuit by the hostile Indians, they walked rapidly with little rest all night and the next day.
The Allegheny river was high and full of floating ice and to cross it, they made a poor sort of a raft. It became jammed with ice in midstream and Washington put his setting pole in the river to stop the raft, so that the ice might pass, but the current being swift he was hurled into the deep and icy water. Surrounded by the floating ice, his situation was perilous. Gist could not help him. The raft swerved toward him and, fortunately, one of the logs projected, within his reach. He seized it and saved himself. The raft, fast going to pieces, drifted toward the shore and when the water was not too deep, they waded to an island from which they could not escape. It was severely cold and they nearly perished through the long and bitter night. In the morning, the river was frozen and on the ice, they crossed to the eastern shore and made their way to Frazer's trading house, where they recuperated.
Washington arrived at Williamsburg, January 16, 1754 and delivered St. Pierre's answer to Dinwiddie. It regretted that Washington could not go with his message to Canada, but stated that it would be forwarded to Duquesne and also said: "As to the summons you sent me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it. Whatever are your intentions, I am here by virtue of the order of my general; and I entreat you Sir, not to doubt one moment, but I am determined to conform myself to them with all the Exactness and Resolution which can be expected from the best officer.'8
In the fall of 1753, Dinwiddie sent workmen to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio; and to further this design, in February 1754, he com- missioned Captain William Trent9 to raise a company of one hundred men. When seventy men had been enlisted, Trent began the erection of a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. This was in March 1754.
The English government was cognizant of the deplorable state of Indian affairs and directed the governor of New York to call a conference of the northern colonies with the Six Nations. This conference convened in the Court House at Albany, June 19, 1754. There were present dele- gates from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.10 The minutes of the first session designated the meeting as "this Congress," the name by which it has ever since been called. Conrad Weiser was present as interprter for Pennsyl- vania and Virginia and Joseph Kellogg appeared as interpreter for Mass- achusetts. Governor James De Lancey of New York was chairman and Peter Wraxall was elected secretary. The attendance of Indians was dis- appointing, only one hundred and forty five from the various nations being present.1'1
The congress met in a local atmosphere surcharged with deception and downright dishonesty. The New York land hogs had already stolen the choice lands of the Mohawks and almost alienated that friendly and loyal nation. The Albany merchants were, then, carrying on the clandestine
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business of supplying the Canadian traders, at Montreal, with guns, powder and lead, which a little later were used by the hostile Indians in the destruc- tion of the Pennsylvania and New York frontier.
Hendrick Peters, in his able reply, to De Lancey's opening address, denied that any French forts had been built by consent of his people; but reminded the congress, that Virginia and Pennsylvania had made paths through their country and built houses therein without even asking the Indian's permission. He also charged, that the Indian Commissioners at Albany had never invited them to a conference, although the' Indians of Canada come frequently and smoke here, which is for the sake of the beaver.
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Continuing he said : "Tis your fault Brethren, that we are not strength- ened by conquest, for we would have gone and taken Crown Point, but you hindered us. We concluded to go and take it, but we were told it was too late and the ice would not bear us. Instead of this you burnt your own fort at Saraghtoga, which was a shame and scandal to you. Look about your country and see, you have no fortifications about you, and not even to this city, tis but a step from Canada and the French may easily come and turn you out of doors. Look about you and see all these houses full of beaver, and the money all gone to Canada, likewise powder, lead and guns, which the French now, makes use of at Ohio. The goods which go from hence to Oswego, go from thence to Ohio, which further enables the French to carry on their designs at Ohio. Look at the French, they are men, they are fortifying everywhere-but we are ashamed to say it, you are all like women, bare and open without any fortifications."
Hendrick, who had a special liking for William Johnson, reiterated the Mohawks' desire, that Johnson be reinstated in the mangement of Indian affairs and reminded them of the request, "about Johnson, which Governor Clinton promised to carry to the king, our common father, is drowned in the sea."
He concluded by saying: "The fire is burnt out," and turning his face to the New York Commissioners of Indian affairs, who were present, directed them to take notice of what he said.
To this galling, truthful and very able speech, DeLancey, in behalf of the delegates, made a tame reply and transferred the defense to an abler Indian negotiator, in these words: "It is fortunate that Mr. Weiser, who transacts the public business of Virginia and Pennsylvania with your nations and is one of your Council and knows these matters well, is now present. Hear the account he gives and this will set the matter in a true light." Conrad Weiser skillfully and ably explained the situation, apparently to the satisfaction of the Indians.
Thenceforth, the conduct of the congress, with the Indians, was one of excuse, explanation and placation, which together with a liberal dona- tion of presents, seems to have been tolerably successful with the limited number of Indians of the Six Nations present. A conference was also held with the River Indians.
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For some time, the busy mind of Benjamin Franklin had been cogit- ating a plan for the union of the colonies ; and shortly before the congress, there appeared, in the Pennsylvania Gazette, evidently written by him, an article urging such a union. In connection with it was the figure of a snake divided into parts, with the motto, "Join or Die."
Franklin's conclusions were embodied in what he called, "Short Hints Towards a Scheme for Uniting the Northern Colonies." This he submitted to James Alexander, the eminent lawyer of New York and Cadwallader Colden for further emendation.12
Franklin submitted his plan to the congress, which contained many members of the same opinion. Moreover, Massachusetts had instructed her delegates to enter into articles of union. A committee was appointed and a plan of union was adopted, mainly following Franklin's "Hints," but somewhat enlarged and more specific. It provided for a President General appointed and supported by the crown, and a grand council of forty eight members chosen by the respective colonies. General powers were given to regulate Indian trade and new settlements, raise and pay soldiers, build forts, equip vessels to guard the coasts and to protect trade ; and to make laws and levy imposts or taxes for these purposes.
This plan of union was rejected by the colonies, because they judged it favored prerogative; and the British authorities gave it no considera- tion because of a suspicion that it aimed at independence. Its real signifi- cance, in the evolution of the American state, is that it was the genesis of the later Articles of Confederation.
In furtherance of the purpose for which it was called, the adhesion of the Indians and the protection of the frontier, the Albany Congress accomplished little. The dominance of the great Indian Confederacy, now torn by internal dissension was over. Tested by the law of evolution, the integration of the League of the Iroquois was ended, it was in a state of equilibration and its dissolution came with the Revolution.
Two private land grabs, consummated at Albany at the time, were more important in future results than all the doings of the congress. They were engineered by two men, renowned for their piety, the Rev. Richard Peters, an Episcopal clergyman and Timothy Woodbridge, a Puritan deacon.
Peters and John Penn were more interested in securing an Indian land grant, than in the proceedings of the congress. They secured a grant, from twenty three Iroquois chiefs, of all the land on the west side of the Susequehanna, north of the Kittatinny mountains to the mouth of Penn's creek, and thence northerly and westerly (as the Indians understood not to include the West Branch and its tributaries) to the western boundary of the province. This was done contrary to the admonitions of the crown authorities and outside the proceedings of the congress, and at the private lodgings of the Pennsylvania delegates. To accomplish this, Conrad Weiser found it necessary to bribe Gachradoda, an Oneida chief; or in Peters' mild terms of clerical cunning, "to engage him by a reward."13 In order to forestall the Connecticut purchase, Peters and Penn exhibited the old
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deed of preemption of 1736 and secured an endorsement thereon, signed by Hendrick and Abraham Peters and six other Indians. This concluded the Pennsylvania business with the Indians.
The other land transaction made at Albany, is entitled to more lengthy consideration, because of its initiation of the great western move- ment of settlement, its influence on future political affairs and the blood and anguish it entailed. It is comprehended in a deed made by the Indians to over six hundred individuals, residents of the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, of a vast area, comprising a great part of what is now northern Pennsylvania. It is known as the "Susquehanna Purchase," and its inception goes far back in English history.
Connecticut claimed the western lands by virtue of two grants, the first, the "Old Patent," which was based on the charter of 1606 of the Plymouth Company, containing a grant of all the land between the 41st and 45th degrees of latitude and from sea to sea. This company was rechartered in 1620, and the Earl of Warwick, its president, in 1631, granted to Lord Say and Sele and others, the territory "from Narragansett river to the southward 40 leagues to keep the breadth to the south sea." Under it, the settlement at Saybrook was founded, and which was sold, in 1644, to the colony of Connecticut.
This title may be of doubtful validity ; but of the second grant, there can be no doubt, as the Connecticut charter of April 20, 1662, ratified the first grant in these words, "granting and confirming to them (the mem- bers of the Connecticut colony) all that part of New England, bounded on the east by Narragansett river, on the north by line of Massachusetts, on the south by the sea, and from; Narragansett bay on the east to the south sea on the west.14 The north and south boundaries of it are nearly coincident with the 42nd and 41st degrees of latitude and it extended westward to the Pacific Ocean.
The 41st degree of latitude crosses the Delaware river two or three miles above the Delaware Water Gap, the North Branch of the Susquehanna near Bloomsburg, the West Branch at Milton, and again near Clearfield, and the Shenango river at New Castle. The 42nd degree is the southern boundary of New York; and consequently all that part of the present state of Pennsylvania was comprehended in this grant.
Due to the overcrowded population of Connecticut, numerous peti- tions were presented, about 1750, to the assembly of that colony praying for grants of land within these limits, but no action was taken.
In Colchester Connecticut, near the Great Pond, one Stephen Gardner had, in 1753, a farm and kept a tavern; and presumably under his leader- ship, the neighboring farmers gathered at his tavern and organized the Colchester Association, formed for the purpose of settling on these western lands, at a place called "Quiwomick (Wyoming). Subsequently, this organization was merged in the Susquehanna Company formed at Wind- ham, July 18, 1753, for the same purpose. This company, into which the Colchester Association was already merged, in October 1753, sent Stephen
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Gardner with two others as a journeying committee to view these Wyoming lands. They sold shares in the company, on their way, to residents of Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. In 1755, Stephen Gardner made another trip to the Susquehanna valley. He was accompanied by a sur- veyor named Young, and Mr. Gardner carefully noted, in his journal, his observations of the land, Indian villages and latitude and longitude of the places visited. It thus appears that Stephen Gardner was the first explorer of the western lands and the forerunner of the future great migrations from New England.15
As a result of Stephen Gardner's investigation and the great enlist- ment of shareholders, the Susquehanna Company engaged Timothy Wood- bridge, as agent to attend the Albany Congress and purchase from the Indians gathered there, the Wyoming lands. Deacon Woodbridge went about his agency in a business and not religious way, enlisting the services of Colonel Ephraim Williams, Joseph Kellogg, the great interpreter and above all Colonel John H. Lydius, all of them adepts in Indian bamboozle- ment. Lydius, although disparaged and maligned by Pennsylvanians, was a man of consequence. He was born at Albany, in 1704, the son of Dominie Johannes Lydius, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. He early engaged in the business of an Indian trader and achieved success, being at the time the leading trader of the town. He collaborated, for a time with Colonel William Johnson in the conduct of Indian affairs; and Johnson recommended him, as his successor as Indian Superintendent, but in 1754, they were no longer friends. The connection of Lydius with the Susque- hanna business may have engendered much of Johnson's opposition to the purchase. Be that as it may, the two most influential New York men, among the Iroquois, in 1754, were William Johnson and John H. Lydius.
Lydius understood Indians. Like Conrad Weiser, he probably bribed a chief or two; and kept the Indians cross-grained with Penn and Peters, the Pennsylvania agents. He may have incited King Hendrick's opposi- tion to the Penn purchase. Lydius, undoubtedly, got the Indians drunk, and kept them so, as long as he could, that being the usual and most effectual means in making land purchases. He conducted his business with them at his residence, just as Penn and Peters had done at their lodgings.
At his old brick mansion, at the corner of Pearl and State Streets, Lydius secured the signatures of the Indians to the Susquehanna Purchase deed, which is dated July 11, 1754. The consideration named is £2000 current New York money, which it is said the Indians took in a blanket out in the yard and divided among themselves. Witnesses to the deed were, Colonel Ephraim Williams, Joseph Kellogg and several prominent citizens of Albany.16
There were 534 whole share grantees, who each took two twelve hundred twenty fourth parts of the tract; and 136 half share grantees, who each took one twelve hundred twenty fourth parts. All took as tenants in common of their respective parts. The land conveyed is described as follows: "Beginning from the one and fortieth degree of north latitude at ten miles distance East of the Susquehanna river; and thence with a
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northward line ten miles East of the river to the forty second or beginning of the forty third degree of north latitude and so to extend west two degrees of longitude one hundred and twenty miles; and from thence south to the beginning of the forty second degree; and from thence to the aforementioned bounds which is ten miles east of the Susquehanna river." This tract comprises the present Pennsylvania counties : the larger part of Bradford, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Clear- field, Elk, andMcKean ; smaller portions of Susquehanna, Northumberland, Union and Center ; and all of Sullivan, Lycoming, Tioga, Potter and Cameron.
In all eighteen prominent chiefs and sachems of the Iroquois signed the deed.17 Susquehanna Company adversaries have repeatedly asserted, that it was only signed by insignificant Indians, but the list as set forth in the note is sufficient answer to the assertion. Various writers have also designated it as a sale by the Mohawks, but as a matter of fact the deed was signed by two Senecas, seven Mohawks, two Onondagas, six Oneidas and one Cayuga, a fair representation of each of the five nations composing the governing power of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The English colonists, in 1754, only occupied a narrow strip of rather sterile land skirting the Atlantic coast. It was a territory without great natural resources, but with the advantage of proximity to the sea, which afforded rich returns from fisheries and commerce. The unyielding hills of New England produced little wheat and scant crops of corn. There was fertility in the narrow valley of the Hudson; but the soil of New Jersey was indifferent and that of the south thin and sandy. Only, the Pennsylvania counties of Lancaster, Chester, Bucks, Berks and Northamp- ton produced great annual harvests of rye, wheat and corn, the rich ever- lasting soil of which has made the region the garden spot of the east. In this narrow colonized section, there were few minerals and the timber was of meager value and much of it gone.
The fine hardwood, hemlock, spruce and pine forests of Maine, the White Mountains, the Adirondacks and the hills and mountains of Pennsyl- vania and Virginia were occupied by the Indians and covered the vast area disputed with the French. The future fertile grain fields of the western prairies were undreamed of; and the great deposits of oil, coal and iron were undiscovered and far beyond the settlements. The only great natural resource, east of the Alleghenies, was the coal of the anthracite region and the richest portion of this was in the territory of the Susquehanna Purchase.
NOTES-CHAPTER FIVE
1. Col. Recs. 5, 470 to 480. (Weiser's Journal)
2. Ibid, 440 to 449. (Richard Peters' Report)
3. Ibid, 410; also Sir William Johnson Papers 1, page 514.
4. Col. Recs. 5, 514, 515.
5. Ibid, 517 to 526.
6. Ibid, 599, 600.
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7. Christopher Gist was born in Maryland in 1706. His father was a surveyor and one of the commissioners, who plotted Baltimore. Christopher was probably a surveyor and his writings indicate he was well schooled. In 1750, he was living on the Yadkin river in North Carolina, a neighbor of Daniel Boone. He was engaged by the Ohio Company and explored the Ohio valley, as far south as the Scioto river, in 1750. From thence he crossed the Ohio into Kentucky. He took possession of the Ohio lands for the company in 1752; and located his plantation at what is now Mt. Braddock, Fayette County, Pa. He guided Washington on his mission and was guide of Braddock's army. In 1756, he went to East Tennessee and attempted to enlist a company of Cherokees as scouts. He died of smallpox in South Carolina or Georgia, in 1759. His wife was Sarah Howard. Gist was a man of intelligence and integrity.
8. As to Washington's journey, see: Diary of George Washington, Vol. 1, pages 43 to 67; Diary of Christopher Gist, Massachusetts Historical Society Col- lections, Series 3, V, 103-104. For St. Pierre's reply see Col. Recs. 5, 715.
9. William Trent was a Pennsylvania Indian trader in the Ohio region, in close association with George Groghan. His name appears frequently in the colonial records and he was employed on important business by the Pennsylvania government. He lived at Carlisle in 1756.
10. List of Delegates: New York, James De Lancey, Joseph Murray, William Johnson, John Chambers, and William Smith; New Hampshire, Theodore Atkinson, Richard Wilbird, and Henry Sherburn Jr .; Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, Samuel Welles, John Chandler, Oliver Partridge and John Worthington; Connecti- cut, William Pitkin, Roger Wolcott and Elisha Williams; Rhode Island, Stephen Hopkins and Martin Howard Jr .; Pennsylvania, John Penn, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris and Benjamin Franklin; Maryland, Benjamin Tasker and Abraham Barnes.
11. Documentary History of New York Vol. 2, 553; Col. Recs. 6, 57.
12. Bigelow's Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 3 beginning at page 12.
13. Col. Recs. 6, 111 Peters' Report.
14. Hoyt's Brief of Title, 9, 10, 11; also Miner's History which states, the king renewed and confirmed the charter, distinctly recognizing the territory as part of the Plymouth grant; also Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 3, 356; Andrew's Colonial Period of American History Vol. 2, 130 and 140.
15. See extract from diary of Ezra Stiles and Journal of Stephen Gardner in Susquehanna Company Papers, Vol. 1, 43 to 51.
16. The original deed is with the Historical Society of Pa .; reproductions are contained in Harvey's History of Wilkes-Barre Vol. 1, 271; and in Susque- hanna Company Papers Vol. 1, 101, varying slightly due to errors in copying ..
17. Chiefs and Sachems of the Iroquois who signed the deed: Khitoton, chief of the Senekas ; Abraham Peters, Sachem of Canajoharie, brother of King Hendrick ; William Tharigioris, Sachem of Canajoharie; Brant Conwignoge, Sachem of Mo- hawks; Gagswigstione, Rodhad, an Onondaga Sachem; Canagegaie, an Onondaga Sachem; Seth Jestarie of the Mohawks; Johanis of the Mohawks; Senosies, an Oneida Sachem; Johanis Candegair, head of delegation from Lower Castle of Mohawks; Nikes Carigiagtatie, who was Nicholas Peters, half brother of Hendrick; Canaggajese, and Oneida ; Johns Tegnagerat, an Oneida; Akweiota, an Oneida; Caristago, Oneida; Scaronage, the Half King, known as Scarooyady, an Oneida chief ; Scaneradie, a Cayuga chief; Tagigeadont Dronkerd, who was head of the Senecas.
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CHAPTER SIX
THE FRONTIER IN 1754
West of the Susquehanna, in 1754, there were only two Pennsylvania counties, York erected in 1749, and Cumberland organized in 1750. The other frontier counties were Berks and Northampton both organized in 1752, and the northern part of Lancaster, now forming Dauphin county.
Virginia claimed the Ohio region and the first settlement, west of the Alleghenies, was made by Christopher Gist, agent of the Ohio Company, at what is now Mt. Braddock, Fayette countv. However, the real outposts west of the Susquehanna and all in Cumberland county were: the Conollo- way and Great Cove settlements in what is now Fulton county ; Raystown, now Bedford; Aughwick, the present Shirleysville ; along the upper Juniata at the mouth of Shavers' creek, where Peter Shaver settled in 1754; and at the mouth of Penn's creek, which flows into the Susquehanna below Selinsgrove.
All the territory, within this semi-circle of outposts and east to the Susquehanna, was a desolate frontier. Cumberland county was a vast wilderness ; and Carlisle, the county seat was a border town, a mere hamlet with log court house and jail and five miserable dwellings.1 Raystown, a collection of a few hovels, was settled by a man named Ray, who gave his name to it and the branch of the Juniata upon which it was situated.2 Aughwick was the residence of George Croghan; and, according to a letter of Conrad Weiser, was a considerable frontier community. In addition to Mr. Croghan's house, there were about twenty cabins, with some two hundred Indians lodged in them and a great many more scattered there- abouts. On this plantation were some thirty acres of the best Indian corn he ever saw; and the place was well supplied with butter, milk and other necessities.3 The squatters, removed from their settlements in 1750, had mostly returned and were now occupying their places along the Juniata and in Sherman's valley and the Tuscarora valley.
The first settlers in Cumberland county were mainly Scotch Irish. They were impetuous, daring, given to brawling and too much addicted to whiskey. When aroused, they were vindictive and brutal in their treat- ment of their Indian neighbors. They were strong Presbyterians and among them were many sturdy characters. Among their notable leaders were: George Croghan, John Armstrong, Benjamin Chambers, the celebrated
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Brady family and others. When the war came, the Scotch Irish valiantly bore the brunt of the fighting on the frontier.
East of the Susquehanna, most of the advanced settlements were located at the foot of the southern slope of the Kittatinny mountains, which range may be considered the northwestern line of the frontier. Near the river were Harris' Ferry and the adjacent Scotch Irish settlements at Paxton, Derry and Hanover. Andrew Lycan had located in what is now known as the Lykens Valley, and Simon Girty, father of the notorious Tory renegade, had a trading post near Halifax. John Harris, a native of York- shire, England, an enterprising trader settled at what is now Harrisburg. In 1718 or 19, drunken Indians tied him to a tree near his store and nearly burned him to death.4 He was buried at the foot of this tree, within the present limits of the city, in 1758. His son John, the founder of Harris- burg, was licensed to keep a ferry in 1753, and thereafter, the place was called Harris' Ferry. About 1726, James, Robert, Joseph and Benjamin Chambers established mills at the mouth of Fishing creek.5 As old Derry church was built and the Paxtang congregation organized in 1729, the influx of Scotch Irish to this region must have been a little earlier.6
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