USA > New York > Fulton County > The border warfare of New York, during the revolution; or, The annals of Tryon county > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
" What is the strength of the neighboring Indians ?"
" The Indians north of this province near Montreal, with those living on the river St. Lawrence, near the 45th degree of northern latitude, form a body of about three thousand five hundred. They are in alli- ance with, and held in great esteem by the rest; are good warriors, and have behaved well since they became allies to the English previ- ous to the reduction of Canada.
" The tribes of Indians within the province of Massachusetts Bay, and the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, &c. are under similar circumstances with those denominated River Indians; and the Stock-
25
ยท INTRODUCTION.
Major General William Johnson* rendered very important services during this war ; his complete vic- tory over Baron Dieskau, Sept. 1757, at the head of Lake George, and the capture of Fort Niagara by him, had aided materially in bringing the war to a successful termination. He was created a baronet, and Parliament voted him five thousand pounds ster- ling ; he was also appointed general superintendent of Indian affairs : he had settled upon the Mohawk in 1734, having emigrated there from Ireland, and thus rose to rank and affluence. Stern, determined in purpose, at times even arbitrary, sagacious and
bridge Indians, living on the eastern borders of New York, may be con- sidered as within it, as they formerly claimed the lands near Albany, and still hold up some claim in that vicinity. They served as a corps during the late war, and are in number about three hundred.
"Of the Susquehanna tribes many have retired further westward, among which are some not well affected to the British government. They are all dependents and allies of the Six Nations.
" Within the department of Sir William Johnson, His Majesty's Superintendent of Indian affairs, there are twenty-five thousand four hundred and twenty fighting men, and may be about one hundred and thirty thousand Indians in the whole, extending westward to the Mississippi."
It is thus seen that the Indian warriors of the Six Nations were as numerous as the able-bodied men of Tryon County, while the warriors under the superintendence of Sir William Johnson, and afterwards under that of- Col. Guy Johnson, were equal nearly to the militia of the whole province. The whole body of warriors could be called out if necessary. Being under the pay of England, and having no domes- tic labors, and war being their delight, it was evident that it would be a fearful event to the Colonies if the Indians took part in the con- troversy.
* See Appendix-Note B.
2*
26
INTRODUCTION.
penetrating, but when necessary, urbane and concil- iatory in his manners, he was eminently qualified for the station to which he was appointed. No person has ever exerted an equal influence over those unlet- tered children of the forest. He lived at Johnstown, where he had a beautiful residence, and was sur- rounded by the Mohawks. The Indians looked up to him as their father, paying the utmost deference to his advice, and consulting him on all occasions. Out of compliment to them, he frequently wore in winter their dress ; he received them cordially at his house, where sometimes hundreds of them assembled. So great was the respect they had for him, that though the house contained many valuables, nothing was purloined from it, even in their carousals. Being a widower, he received into his family an Indian maid- en, a sister of the celebrated sachem Joseph Thayen- danegea, called the Brant.
The influence of Sir William continued until his death, about the commencement of the revolutionary war, when the principal events took place, which I design hereafter to relate.
CHAPTER I.
"* Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, Who danced our infancy upon their knee, And told our marvelling boyhood legend's store Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea ; How they are blotted from the things that be ! How few, all weak, and withered of their force, Wait on the verge of dark eternity, Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse,
To sweep them from our sight ; Time rolls his ceaseless course."
IT is always a pleasing task to rescue from oblivion the names, and to record the deeds, of those individ- uals, however humble, who were the pioneers of our country, who purchased the wilderness from the savage, and afterward disputed the dominion over it with the wolf and the bear.
The pleasure is increased, and a deep and thrilling interest is awakened, as we trace out those individu- als ardently engaged on the side of their country in that revolution which terminated in our entire inde- pendence ; in the planting of that tree of liberty, whose beautiful foliage and wide-spreading branches have excited universal admiration, and a scion from which may yet be engrafted into all the nations of the east.
This is the object of the following imperfect sketch, which, if it add little to the materials for the future history of our State, may be a source of some pleasure and satisfaction to those connected with the actors
28
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
themselves ; and to the survivors, those venerable relics of other times, a few of whom have come down to us, but who, one by one, are daily dropping into eternity.
In 1738 a patent for 8000 acres of land, lying about ten miles south of the Mohawk River, and fifty-two west from Albany, was granted by George Clark, then lieutenant governor, with the consent of the council of the then province of New York, to John Lindesay, Jacob Roseboom, Lendert Gansevoort, and Sybrant Van Schaick. This patent is situated in the extreme north-eastern part of the now county of Otsego, em- bracing a part of the town and village of Cherry Val- ley. The face of the country generally, in this county, is uneven ; a great number of valleys run nearly north and south, in which are Otsego and Schuyler Lakes, and through which flow several streams, forming the eastern branch of the Susquehanna. These valleys are bounded on the north by a ridge of table land, in which many of the smaller streams take their rise, and from whose northern declivity flow several unimpor- tant tributaries of the Mohawk; there are indenta- tions or passes at the northern extremities of all these valleys ; differing, however, in their elevations and in the distances between the sources of the tributary waters of the two rivers. None of these valleys are very extensive, but the soil is fertile, and the rolling land between them produces all kinds of grain, and furnishes excellent pasturage in great abundance. The valley, through which runs Cherry Valley Creek, is about sixteen miles in length, and varies from one quarter to a mile in breadth ; at the village it is 1335
-
29
ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.
feet, and where it terminates in its pass about a mile north, 1418 feet, above tide water. Chains of high- land stretch along both sides of this valley ; that on the east may properly be considered a spur of the Catskill. It terminates abruptly about three miles north-east of the village, in Mount Independence, from whose top the land slopes gradually to the north ; its summit is more than 2000 feet above tide water, and 1700 above the valley of the Mohawk; from hence a beautiful prospect opens in some directions nearly one hundred miles in extent. The Mohawk valley, with a large portion of the northern part of the State, is spread out as a map; while far in the north-east are dimly seen the tops of the Green Mountains, as they mingle with the horizon .*
Early in the eighteenth century, nearly three thou- sand German Palatinates emigrated to this country under the patronage of Queen Anne; most of them settled in Pennsylvania; a few made their way, in 1713, from Albany, over the Helleberg, to Schoharie Creek, and under the most discouraging circumstan- ces succeeded in effecting a settlement upon the rich alluvial lands bordering upon that stream. Small colonies from here, and from Albany and Schenec- tady, established themselves in various places along the Mohawk ; and in 1722 had extended as far up as the German Flats, near where stands the village of Herkimer ; but all the inhabitants were found in the
* Upon this northern slope, and about three miles from Mount In- dependence, is built the famous "Pavilion " at Sharon Springs, from the piazza of which the prospect is both beautiful and grand.
30
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
neighborhood of these streams; none had ventured out in that unbroken wilderness which lay to the south and west of these settlements.
Mr. Lindesay, having obtained an assignment from the three other patentees to himself and Governor Clark, in 1739 caused the patent to be surveyed and subdivided into lots, and chose for himself the farm afterward successively owned by Mr. John Wells and Judge Hudson, and gave to it the name of Lindesay's Bush. In the following summer he left New York with his family, consisting of his wife, and father-in- law, Mr. Congreve, a lieutenant in the British army, and a few domestics, and settled upon his farm. He was a Scotch gentleman of some fortune and distinc- tion, having held several offices under government, and anticipated much pleasure from a residence in this high and rolling country, whose valleys, and hills, and lakes, would constantly remind him of the wild and romantic scenery of his native land. A luxuri- ant growth of beach and maple, interspersed with the wild cherry, covered the valley, and extended along up the sides of the hills, whose tops were crowned with clusters of evergreen ; elk and deer were found here in great numbers, as were bears, wolves, beavers, and foxes ; it was a favorite hunting-ground of the Mohawks, who erected their cabins near some little spring, and hunted their game upon the mountains. Mr. Lindesay, as well as all the early settlers, found it important to cultivate their friendship ; he received them into his house, and treated them with such hos- pitality as circumstances would permit ; this kindness was not lost upon the high-minded savages, one of
31
ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.
whom gave proof of no ordinary friendship during the first winter after his removal to Lindesay's Bush. Whatever of happiness and independence Mr. Linde- say may have looked forward to, he knew little of the privations of the settlers of a new country, espe- cially such a country as he had selected; his farm was fifteen miles from any settlement, difficult of access from that settlement which was on the Mohawk River, by reason of its elevation above it; and the intervening country was traversed only by an Indian footpath.
In. the winter of 1740, the snow fell to a great depth ; the paths were filled up; all communication with the settlers upon the Mohawk was stopped ; Mr. Lindesay had not made sufficient preparation for such a winter ; he had but a scanty supply of provisions ; these were almost consumed long before spring ; a wretched and lingering death was in prospect for him and his family .. At this critical time an Indian came to his house, having travelled upon the snow with snow-shoes; when informed of their situation, he readily undertook to relieve them; he went to the settlements upon the Mohawk, and having procured provisions, returned with them upon his back, and during the remainder of the winter, this faithful child of the forest thus continued to relieve them, and thus preserved the lives of the first inhabitants of our town and county.
In New York, Mr. Lindesay became acquainted with the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, and prevailed upon him to visit his patent, offering him a tract of land of several hundred acres, on condition that he would
32
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
settle upon it, and would use his influence with his his friends, and persuade them to accompany him. Pleased with the situation, and the generous proprie- tor of the patent, he accepted of the proposal. He was an Irishman by birth, but had been educated in Edin- burgh ; had spent several years in the provinces, hav- ing travelled over most of those at the south ; and at the time of his first acquaintance with Mr. Lindesay, was on a tour through those at the north. He went to Londonderry in New Hampshire, where several of his countrymen were settled, whom he persuaded to remove, and in 1741 David Ramsay, William Gallt, James Campbell, William Dickson, and one or two others, with their families, in all about thirty persons, came and purchased farms, and immediately com- menced making improvements upon them. They had emigrated from the north of Ireland several years an- terior to their removal here; some of them were ori- ginally from Scotland; they were called Scotch Irish- a general name given to the inhabitants of the north of Ireland, many of whom are of Scotch descent ; hardy and industrious, inured to toil from their infan- cy, they were well calculated to sustain the labors necessary in clearing the forest, and fitting it for the abode of civilized man.
The following circumstance gave rise to its name : Mr. Dunlop, engaged in writing some letters, inquired of Mr. Lindesay where he should date them, who pro- posed the name of a town in Scotland ; Mr. Dunlop, pointing to some fine wild cherry-trees, and to the valley, replied, " let us give our place an appropriate name, and call it Cherry Valley," which was readily
33
ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.
agreed to ; it was for a long time the distinguishing name of a large section of country, south and west. Soon after the arrival of these settlers, measures were taken for the erection of a grist-mill and saw-mill, and a building for a school-house and church. Mr. Dunlop left Ireland under an engagement of marriage with a young lady of that country; and having made the necessary arrangements for his future residence in Cherry Valley, returned to fulfill it. This engage- ment was conditional ; if he did not return in seven years from the time of his departure, it should be op- tional with her to abide by or put an end to the con- tract; the time had almost expired ; she had heard nothing from him for some time, and supposed him either dead or unfaithful ; another offered, was ac- cepted, and the day appointed for the marriage. In the mean time Mr. Dunlop had been driven off the coast of Scotland by a storm : after a detention of several days, he finally made port in Ireland, and hastening on his journey, arrived the day previous ; his arrival was as joyful as it was unexpected; he was married, and returned immediately with his wife to Cherry Valley, and entered upon his duties as the first pastor of its little church. A log-house had been erected to the north of Mr. Lindesay's, on the decli- vity of the little hill upon which his house was situ- ated ; where, though possessing little of this world's wealth, they offered up the homage of devout and grateful hearts. Most of the adult inhabitants were members of the church ; the clergyman was to receive ten shillings on the hundred acres of land ; a mere pittance, by reason of the small number of inhabitants ;
34
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
but he lived frugally ; they made presents to him of the productions of their farms, which, with the avails of his own, afforded him a competent support. In these early days, an excellent state of feeling toward each other prevailed ; common danger and common inte- rest united them. In their worship and observances they were very strict. During the ten subsequent years, not more than three or four families had come into the settlement. Among them was Mr. John Wells, grandfather of the late John Wells of New York City. He also was an Irishman, and became a resident in 1743, and in '44 purchased the farm which Mr. Lindesay had selected for himself, and upon which he resided.
Mr. Lindesay was unacquainted with pratical farm- ing, and his property had been expended to little ad- vantage ; after struggling several years, he was com- pelled to abandon his enterprise. The war between France and Great Britain had been, in part, transfer- red to America, and in 1744 our northern frontier was threatened with an attack by the French and Indians. Reinforcements ,were ordered to Oswego, and among them, the company of Independent Greens, in which Mr. Congreve was a lieutenant; he resigned his commission in favor of his son-in-law, Mr. Lindesay, who, having spent several years in the service, died in New York, leaving no children. Mr. Wells, a man of amiable disposition, and of great integrity, before there was any officer of justice, was frequently appeal- ed to as the arbiter of any little difference ; he was afterwards appointed the first justice of the peace for the town, and one of the judges of Tryon County,
35
TRYON COUNTY.
ANNALS
which offices he continued to exercise until the time of his death, a little before the breaking out of the Rev- olution.
Mr. Dunlop, having received a classical education, opened a school for the instruction of boys, who came from the settlements upon the Mohawk, and from Schenectady and Albany. It is worthy of remark, that this was the first grammar-school in the State west of Albany. The boys were received into his house, and constituted a part of his family. The ex- treme simplicity of the times may be learned from the fact, that they often went into the fields, and there recited their lessons as they followed their instructor about, while engaged in his usual avocations upon his farm; several individuals along the Mohawk, who were afterwards conspicuous in the Revolution, thus received the first rudiments of their education.
The tranquillity which had hitherto prevailed in the settlement was not always to continue ; the French by their intrigues had succeeded in alienating the affec- tions of the Indians, who instead of regarding the inhabitants as friends, in many cases looked upon them as intruders. A war colony had been sent out by the Six Nations, which had settled at a place called Oquago, in the now county of Broome, situated on the eastern branch of the Susquehanna. During the Rev- olution this was a place of general rendezvous for the Six Nations. In the French wars it was composed principally of Mohawks, who remained attached to the English, and who paid their annual visits to Sir William Johnson, to receive their presents. Those who violated the laws were not permitted to share
1136754
36
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
with the others; a few such, fearing to present them- selves before Sir William, stayed behind and concert- ed a plan for destroying this infant settlement. They were to make an attack upon it while the inhabitants were at church on the Sabbath. They were discovered on Sabbath morning, before their arrival at the settle- ment. The inhabitants, fearing some hostile inten- tion, prepared themselves for defense, taking care to exhibit their arms to the Indians as they approached, who, not wishing to hazard an attack upon them armed, withdrew. But during the last French war, the danger of Indian incursions having become great from the defection of the four western of the Six Na- tions, and from threatenings of the more distant tribes, a body of eight hundred rangers (so called from their being chiefly employed in ranging the woods) was or- dered to be raised for the defense of the county of Tryon, and a company of them, under the command of Capt. M'Kean, stationed at Cherry Valley ; some rude fortifications were erected, and during their con- tinuance the settlement was comparatively secure. But previous, and indeed during all the French wars, the inhabitants of this, as of all the other settlements, were frequently called out to repel the French and In- dians upon our northern frontier. This service was not only extremely hazardous but burdensome, as they were obliged oftentimes to furnish in addition means of transportation for their own baggage, and also for that of the English. In accordance with the will of the government, they entered upon this service cheer- fully. The militia from the northern and western part of the province, lay under Sir William Johnson
37
ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.
at Fort Edward, when Fort William Henry was be sieged by the French General Montcalm in 1757. The whole force of General Webb, who was commander at Fort Edward, was about 4000; 3000 were in Fort William Henry under Col. Monro, while the force of Montcalm was little over 8000 French and Indians. -The troops of the former were more efficient, and bet- ter disciplined than the French and Indians under Montcalm. During the siege and bombardment of Fort William Henry, the provincials at Fort Edward, a distance of only fifteen miles, earnestly demanded to be led to its relief. Gen. Webb after having given permission to Sir William Johnson to lead the men in case they would volunteer, on seeing them all express their willingness and ready to march, broke his prom- ise and ordered them to return to the fort. Indig- nation was depicted upon every countenance, but indignation and remonstrance were alike unavailing. Fort William Henry, after a vigorous defense by Col. Monro, was surrendered, he having in vain expected that some movement would be made in his favor by Gen. Webb. The terms of surrender were, that the garrison should march out with their arms, but without ammunition, and that a body of the French should guard them to Fort Edward. Montcalm, contrary to stipulation, neglected to send the guard, and thus suf- fered the Indians to fall upon the garrison, many of whom were barbarously killed, while others stripped of their arms and clothes fled to Fort Edward. Their sufferings deepened that feeling of indignation which the cowardly or treacherous conduct of Webb had cre- ated. The interest excited by the subsequent revolu-
38
BORDER WARFARE OF NEW YORK; OR,
tion absorbed for a time their thoughts and feelings ; but there were individuals in that army under Sir William Johnson, from the little settlement of Cherry Valley, who, when age had furrowed their cheeks and whitened their locks, could scarcely repress their feel- ings as they recounted the events of that siege.
`Col. Monro died soon after very suddenly at Al- bany, not without suspicions however that unfair means had been used to prevent his preferring a com- plaint against Gen. Webb to the English govern- ment.
During these harassing wars the population of the western part of the province continued to increase. Small settlements had been made in various directions around Cherry Valley. A family of Harpers, who were afterwards distinguished for their courage and ardent attachment to the cause of American liberty, removed from Cherry Valley some years before the Revolution, and established themselves at Harpersfield in the now county of Delaware. The Rev. William Johnstone had succeeded in planting a flourishing lit- tle colony on the east side of the Susquehanna, a short distance below the forks of the Unadilla ; and several families were scattered through Springfield, Middle- field, then called Newtown-Martin, and Laurens and Otego, called Old England district. The population of Cherry Valley was short of three hundred, and that of the whole county of Tryon but a few thousand, when the Revolution commenced .* This county was taken
* In 1756 the whole population of the province of New York was 96,775. In 1771 it had increased to 168,007; and in 1774 to 182,251.
39
1
ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.
from Albany County in 1772, and named in honor of William Tryon, then governor of the province. In 1784 it was changed to that of Montgomery. When formed, it embraced all that part of the State lying west of a line running north and south nearly through the centre of the present county of Schoharie. It was divided into five districts, which were again subdi- vided into smaller districts or precincts. The first, beginning at the east, was the Mohawk district, em- bracing Fort Hunter, Caughnawaga, Johnstown, and Kingsborough; Canajoharie district, embracing the present town of that name, with all the country south, including Cherry Valley and Harpersfield ; Palatine district, north of the river, and including the country known by the same name, with Stone Arabia, &c .; and German Flats and Kingsland districts, being then the most western settlements, and the former now known by the same name. The county buildings were at Johnstown, where, as before mentioned, was the resi- dencc of Sir William Johnson.
In 1771, the population of the county of Albany was 38,829; and as the county of Albany embraced all the northern and western part of the State, reaching from the city of Albany to Niagara, and the east- ern part of the county was by far the most populous, it is not probable that the county of Tryon contained more than 10,000 inhabitants. It was estimated in 1774 that the population of the province of New York doubled by natural increase in 20 years. With a population of 182,251, there was estimated a militia force of 32,000; and this was probably a fair estimate of the able-bodied men of New York at the commence- ment of the Revolution.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.