A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I, Part 74

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909-1930
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 734

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I > Part 74

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About the first of September, 1767, fifty-seven Nanticokes arrived in Wyoming Valley f and set up their wigwams on the island of Menachningk, mentioned above. They were the remnants of the last of their tribe who had left Maryland about 1750, and since then had been living on or near the Juniata River in southern Pennsylvania.+ They were on their way to Otsiningo, and they sojourned at Menach- ningk nearly three weeks-sending, in the meantime, two of their number to Friedenshütten to beg for corn, and to request "the loan of canoes in which to bring up their aged and infirmn."

In September, 1767, The Susquehanna Company held a meeting -the first since May, 1765-but no business of interest or importance was transacted. Another meeting was held on November 11th, when it was "Voted, That Joseph Galloway, Esq.,§ and Mr. Peletiah Web- ster, of the city of Philadelphia, be each entitled to one whole right in The Susquehanna Company in testimony of the grateful sense this Company has of their kind services for the said Company." What those services were we have been unable to ascertain. The next meet- ing of the Company was held at Windham January 6, 1768, when Col. Eliphalet Dyer was directed to proceed to London immediately "to appear before the King's most excellent inajesty and obtain his confir- mation of the Company's project and proceedings with respect to estab- lishing a new Colony in the Wyoming region. In order to raise sufficient funds "to be used in prosecuting the cause in England," a committee was appointed to collect one dollar and a-half on each right in the Coin- pany. It was also voted to raise, at the same time, "one-half dollar on

* See "Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society," I : 198. + See ibid., 199.

# See the last two paragraphs on page 219, and the last paragraph on page 239.

§ A Pennsylvanian of prominence, to whom fuller reference will be made in a subsequent chapter.

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each share, to be paid to John Henry Lydius towards the balance of his account against the Company, as also a gratuity to said Lydius for his services in making said purchase for said Company."

The committee thus referred to consisted of the following-named -all of Connecticut, except where otherwise indicated : "Elizur Tal- cott, Glastonbury ; Daniel Lyman, New Haven ; Benjamin Stevens, Canaan ; Josiah Lindal, Newport [Rhode Island]; Joseph Eaton, Plain- field ; Jolin Jenkins, Colchester; Ezra Dean, East Greenwich [Rhode Island]; Job Randall, Scituate [Rhode Island]; Capt. Robert Dixson, Voluntown ; Capt. Jonathan Pettebone, Simsbury ; Capt. James Bird, Salisbury ; Benjamin Giles, Groton ; Isaac Tracy, Norwich ; Benjamin Kinyon, Dutchess County [New York]; Richard Goldsmith, Bethle- hem ; Benjamin Vale, Farmington ; William Buck, Amenia Precinct [New York]; Samuel Gray, Windham ; Simeon Draper, Beekman's Precinct [ New York]; Increase Moseley, Woodbury ; Elihu Marsh, New Fairfield."

Notwithstanding the surrender to the Six Nations by the Proprie- taries of Pennsylvania, in September, 1758, of "all the territory lying to the northward and westward of the Allegheny Mountains" (as mentioned on page 381), white settlers continued to encroach on the hunting- grounds of the Indians, particularly after the close of Pontiac's War. Proclamations were fulminated against them, and finally, February 3, 1768, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed an Act on the subject. After the preamble, which was in these words-"Whereas, many disorderly people, in violation of His Majesty's proclamation, have presumed to settle upon lands not yet purchased from the Indians (to their damage and great dissatisfacton), which may be attended with dangerous and fatal consequences to the peace and safety of this Province"-it was enacted that if any persons, already settled on the unpurchased lands, neglected or refused to remove from the same within thirty days after they were required so to do by the Governor, or if any persons, contrary to due notice or warning, should subsequently settle and reside 011 such lands, every person so neglecting or refusing to remove, or settling after notice prohibiting occupancy as aforesaid, being legally convicted, was to be punished with death without benefit of clergy. And if any person or persons, singly or in companies, presumed to enter on such unpurchased lands for the purpose of making surveys thereof, or to mark or cut down trees thereon, and should be convicted thereof, was, or were, to be punished by a fine of £50 and three months' imprison- ment. This Act was limited to one year, and was not to apply to persons who, like Captain Amos Ogden and his associates at Wyoming, were located on the unpurchased lands under special permission for specific purposes.

Three weeks after the enactment of the forgoing law Governor Penn issued a proclamation, "giving notice to all and every such person or persons settled upon any lands within the boundaries of the Province. not purchased of the Indians by the Proprietaries thereof, to remove themselves and their families off and from the said lands on or before the first day of May next ensuing."

But proclamations, edicts and Acts seemed to be of no avail, and the disputes between the whites and Indians as to the proper boundaries or limits between them became frequent. The Indians did not hesitate

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to show by words and actions that they "disliked the white man's inor- dinate 'thirst for land.'" At length, in the Summer of 1768, Sir William Johnson determined to hold a great council with the Indians, not only for the purpose of renewing "the ancient covenant chain between the Indians and the English, but to establish a scientific frontier." Francis W. Halsey (in "The Old New York Frontier," page 99) says :

"In preparation for this council some twenty large bateaux, laden with presents best suited to propitiate the Indians, had been conveyed to Fort Stanwix .* From his agent at Albany Sir William ordered sixty barrels of flour, fifty barrels of pork, six barrels of rice and seventy barrels of other provisions. When the Congress opened 3,200 Indians were present, 'each of whom,' wrote Johnson, 'consumes daily more than two ordinary men amongst us ; and would be extremely dissatisfied if stinted when convened for business.' ">

The Indians invited to the council, or congress, began to assemble at Fort Stanwix early in October, 1768, and by the middle of the month Sir William Johnson and the various officials expected to be present were on the ground. From Pennsylvania came the Rev. Richard Peters, Benjamin Franklin, James Tilghman and Gov. John Penn-the last- named, however, being present during the preliminary negotiations only, as before the formal opening of the council occurred he was obliged by the affairs of his Province to set off for Philadelphia. Messrs. Peters and Tilghman, therefore, represented Pennsylvania as Commissioners. Capt. Amos Ogden was there from Wyoming,t although not in an official capacity. Gov. William Franklin and Chief Justice Frederick Smith of New Jersey represented that Province, and Thomas Walker was a Commissioner froin Virginia. Col. Eleazar Fitch,¿ of Windham, Connecticut, was there; but whether as a Commissioner to represent Connecticut, or as an agent or attorney for private parties, we are unable to state. It is not probable, however, that he appeared in behalf of The

* FORT STANWIX was built under the supervision of, and named for, Brig. Gen. John Stanwix, men " tioned in the note on page 346, and stood within the present limits of the city of Rome, Oneida County, New York-on the Mohawk River, ninety-four miles north-west of Albany in a bee-line. It is said to have been "the largest and strongest fort ever erected in the Province of New York, except Crown Point and Ticonderoga." Under orders from General Abercrombie its construction was begun in August, 1758, and completed in the following November at a cost of £60,000. It occupied about one-half an acre of ground, and would accommodate 1,000 persons.

At the beginning of the American Revolution Fort Stanwix was repaired and named Fort Schuyler, in honor of Gen. Philip Schuyler of New York. August 2, 1777, the fort was garrisoned by 750 men com- manded by Col. Peter Gansevoort, with Lieut. Col. Marinus Willett second in command ; and on that day the investment of the fort was begun by an advance party of the enemy composed in part of a band of Indians led by Joseph Brant (mentioned on page 299). Within a few days the investing force had been increased to 1,000 Indians and 700 British regulars, Hessians, Canadians and Tories-Col. Barry St. Leger being in command. General Herkimer came to the rescue, and the battle of Oriskany was fought on the 6th of August. Benedict Arnold marched to the relief of the garrison on the 22nd of Angust, and the siege was raised.

At Philadelphia, June 14, 1777, the American Congress established by its resolution a national flag, as follows : "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white ; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." Although the reso- lution establishing the flag was not officially promulgated until September 3, 1777, yet news of the Resolve of Congress reached Fort Schuyler just prior to its investment, and the officers of the garrison determined to improvise a flag. "Shirts were cut up," says the historian Lossing, "to form the white stripes ; bits of scarlet cloth were joined for the red, and the blue ground for the stars was composed of a cloth cloak belonging to Capt. Abraham Swartwout of Dutchess County, who was then in the fort." This flag was hoisted at Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix) at sunrise on the day that the battle of Oriskany was fought-August 6, 1777-and was, undoubtedly, the first American flag (of the "Stars and Stripes" pattern) to be not only raised above a fort, but unfurled in the face of the enemy.

About 1785 a settlement was begun near Fort Stanwix-which, after the close of the Revolution, had received back its original name. The population slowly increased, and eleven years later the town of Rome, with au area of 46,000 acres, was incorporated. About 1799 a general Indian war was feared, and Fort Stanwix was repaired and garrisoned. The war did not happen, however, and soon afterwards the fort was abandoned and fell into decay.

¡ See "Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society," I : 202.

# See his name as one of the grantees in the Indian deed of 1754, page 271, ante; also, see page 402. Miner says ("Wyoming," page 98) that Fitch was at Fort Stanwix "in the Penn interest."

ELEAZAR FITCH, abovementioned, was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, August 27, 1726, the son of Joseph and Anne ( Whiting) Fitch. He was graduated at Vale College in 1743. He inherited a con- siderable estate from his father, and some years after leaving college became a merchant in Lebanon. Later he removed to Windham. April 4, 1746, he was married to Amy Bowen of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1750 he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Connecticut Militia, and in 1755 served as Major in the Connecticut regiment sent against Crown Point. In a similar expedition sent out in 1756 he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1758 he was promoted Colonel of the 4th Connecticut Regiment, of which, in 1759 and '60, Israel Putnam was Lieutenant Colonel. In 1753 Colonel Fitch was appointed Sheriff of Wind- ham County, and in that office was continued, by successive appointments, until 1776, when, on account

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Susquehanna Company, although he was at that time, or, at least, had been, a member of the Company. Eight Indian tribes-including the Delawares, the Shawanese and all the tribes of the Six Nations-were present in large numbers, while other tribes were represented by small delegations.

Among the large number of private citizens attracted to Fort Stan- wix, either through curiosity or by reason of some personal interest in the proceedings, were the Rev. Jacob Johnson, referred to on page 82, and the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, mentioned on page 290. At that time both these 111e11 were engaged in missionary labors among the Oneida Indians, and the former resided at the "Upper Castle" of the nation, in what is now Oneida County, New York, and at no great distance from Fort Stanwix. Mr. Kirkland, who had previously spent over a year as a missionary at the Seneca town of Kanadesaga, heretofore mentioned, was thien located at Kanoalohale (now known as Oneida Castle), the prin- cipal town of the Oneidas, situated in the present Madison County, New York, about twelve miles south-east of the eastern end of Oneida Lake.

It seems that Sir William Jolinson, the Commissioners and the other gentlemen in attendance at Fort Stanwix, dined together in com- pany each day during the progress of the council ; and, in the course of or after the meal, formally drank various toasts-as was usual in those times. At dinner on October 19th the Rev. Jacob Johnson, in proposing a toast to the King's health, inade use of some language which, apparently, gave offense to certain of the King's officers at the table. Whereupon Mr. Johnson wrote the following letter,* which was read at dinner the next day.

"To Sir William Johnson, Gov. Franklin, Rev. Mr. Peters, Chief Justice Smyth, Col. Johnson and the other respectable gentlemen of this table, Health and prosperity to you all !

"In as much as I am a minister of Christ, & my Work principally to preach the Gospel to the lower rank of people, I have not used iny self much to the company, & converse of Gentu of the Civil & Military order especially in the pleasure and practice of drinking Healthis, Loyal Toasts &c wherefore I may easily offend in this respect, witlı no ill meaning. And in as much as in drinking the Kings health yesterday, I used such terms as to offend Col Johnson Mr Chief Justice & it may be some others, in saying I drink the King of New Engd Health, the Health of the King that hears our Prayers, &c. I do hereby honestly, and before him that knoweth all things, protest I had no other meaning then, or now, but what is express'd or imply'd in these words-I drink the Health of King George iii of Great Britain &c., comprehending New Engd & all the British Colonies & provinces in North America. And I mean to drink such a Healtlı to his British Majesty when occasion serves, so long as his Royal Majesty shall govern his British & American subjects according to Magna Charta, or the great charter of English Liberties, and hears the prayers of his American subjects, when properly laid before Him.

"But in case British Majesty (which God in great mercy prevent) should superseed & proceed contrary to charter riglits & privileges, & Govern us with a Rod of Iron, & the mouth of Cannons, and make his Little Finger thicker than his Father's loyns, and utterly refuse to hear or consider our Humble prayers ; then, & in that case I should think it my indispensable Duty to seek a retreat else where, or joyn with my Countrymen in Forming a New Empire in America, distinct from & independent of the British Empire -agreeable to a projected, & predicted Plan in a late essay (Intitled the Power & Genduret of Great Britain, Founded on the Liberties of the Colonies, &c.), which in substance agrees with my mind in these things, & if I am not mistaken, with every true 'SON OF LIBERTY.'

"Your Excellencies most Obedt Humble servt. [Signed] "JACOB WS. JOHNSON."

of his loyalty to the King, he was superseded. His removal was asked for in a petition to the General Assembly signed by more than 100 of his fellow-citizens. Shortly after this Colonel Fitch removed to the city of New York, where he remained until September, 1783, when he removed with his family to Nova Scotia-the objective point of many Loyalists after the close of the Revolution.

Colonel Fitch was a man of distinguished appearance-being six feet and four inches in height, and weighing 300 pounds-and is said to have been "the best looking officer in the American army." He was noted, also, for his general accomplishments-inusical taste and acquirements and appreciation of art and literature. He died near Montreal, Canada, June 23, 1796.

* See "Documentary History of the State of New York," IV : 246.

+ Grandenr ( ? ).

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These were bold words to use on such an occasion and in the pres- ence of such a company as was gathered there-especially so in view of the political state of the Colonies at that particular time, brought about, largely, by the extraordinary and energetic doings of the wide-extended organization known as the "Sons of Liberty." (See Chapter VIII.) It may readily be believed that Sir William Johnson was not only some- what upset by this post-prandial bomb-shell, but was incensed by it ; the more so as he was just then encountering opposition from some of the missionaries among the Indians with reference to certain features of the treaty he was endeavoring to negotiate .* In consequence, the Baronet, as the general manager and boss of the Fort Stanwix council and all proceedings connected with it, determined to exclude, and did exclude, the Rev. Jacob Johnson from certain conferences which were held by and with the Indians during the progress of the work in hand-as will be more fully shown hereinafter.

Two days after Sir William had been discomposed by the Reverend Jacob, as just narrated, the one Johnson received from the other John- son a communication of which the following is a copy, in part. t

"It is with some apprehension of Concern I write. I am sensible of the great pro- priety of Your Excellency's forbidding the Indns intoxicating Spirits (at this Time). * * It may be observed the Senecas, who have been a great while in coming, come arm'd, while we at the Fort & round about are naked and defenceless. They have also (it is said) their Romish Priests among them, who hold it meritorious to kill Hereticks (as they call us), and our sins and provocations may incense Heaven to let them loose at unawares upon us, if the utmost care & precaution be not taken-which your Excellency in his superior Wisdom will doubtless well consider, & give orders accordingly. As the Scitua- tion of affairs wears a most threatening aspect (at this juncture) so I can't but think it a time to be serious, if there be any such Time. And in this Spirit I write to your Excel- lency. If my apprehensions are groundless, I shou'd be glad, and ask your Excellencies forgiveness. * * P. S. As I am a seer, I may be knowing to some things your Excel- * * lency possibly may not-which occasions me thus to write."

Eight days later Mr. Johnson addressed a communication to Sir William Johnson, Governor Franklin and "others interested and con- cerned in the congress," in which he stated that he was there in behalf of the Rev. Dr. Wheelockt relative to propagating the gospel among the Indians. "We ask," he said, "that a door may be kept open to them where the gospel has been preached and schools set up, that we may know where to find them, and not have to ramble all over the world after them." He also mentioned, in a "speech intended to be delivered to the Six Confederated Nations, at Fort Stanwix, October 31, 1768," that Dr. Wheelock was about "to set up a college, or great school for the benefit of the Indians," and that a proper location was then being sought. In conclusion he asked the Six Nations to appropriate a tract of land on or near the Mohawk River, or elsewhere if deemed more convenient, for the use of Dr. Wheelock's school.

Halsey says the full report of the proceedings connected with the Fort Stanwix treaty shows the sagacity and firmness with which Sir William Johnson carried his points.

After Sir William had told the Indians that "the King was resolved to terminate the grievances from which they suffered for want of a boundary, and that the King had ordered presents proportionate to the

* Sir William Johnson subsequently charged that the missionaries did all in their power to prevent the Oneidas (whose property part of the Susquehanna was) from agreeing to any line that might be reason- able. He said that they (the missionaries) had publicly declared that they "had taken infinite pains with the Indians to obstruct the line, and would continue so to do. * * The New Englanders had mission- aries for some time amongst the Oneidas and Oghwagas, and I [he] was not ignorant that their old pre- tension to the Susquehanna lands was their real, though religion was their assumed, object."

+ See "Documentary History of the State of New York," IV : 247. Į See page 409.

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nature and extent of the interests involved, the Indians retired, and for several days were in private council." The new frontier, or boundary- line, had already been practically agreed upon at a treaty held in 1765 -its course being diagonally through Pennsylvania to a point then and later called Oswegy, still later Owegy and now Owego .* Beyond that point, through New York, the direction in which the line should be run seems to have occasioned the greatest discussion. The question, how- ever, was finally satisfactorily settled, and a deed was made and signed November 5, 1768, by a representative from each tribe of the Six Nations, fixing and describing the boundary-line and granting the land east of it to the King of England.

"From a point on the Allegheny River several iniles above Pitts- burg, this historic line of property ran in a northi-easterly direction to the head of Towanda Creek, proceeding down that stream to the Sus- quehanna. Thence it went northward along the river to Tioga Point, eastward to Owego, and from this place crossed the country to the Del- aware, reaching it at a point a few miles below Hancock. From here it went up the Delaware to a point 'opposite to where Tianderhat falls into the Susquehanna,' which point is now Deposit [Broome County, New York]. Thence the line went directly across the hillst to the Unadilla, and up that stream 'to the west branch, to the head thereof.'"'§ The course of the "Fort Stanwix Treaty Line" through north-eastern Pennsylvania is approximately shown on the "Map of a Part of Pennsyl- vania" in Chapter XI, post. Augustus C. Buell, in his "Sir William Johnson" (page 244), quoting from a narrative written by Ezra Buell, who assisted in surveying the "Treaty Line," says :

" 'The easterly jog in the line was never observed by the whites or insisted on by the Indians.' As to purchase of lands, and actual settlement, he says the Susquehanna River formed the real boundary, from the mouth of the Unadilla to the mouth of Towanda Creek. 'The purpose of the easterly jog in the line was to include the Oghiwagall and Tuscarora villages on the Susquehanna, between Cunahunta (now Oneonta) and ChugnutT (now Choconut), within the Indian domain. But many whites were already there, a good part of them married to or living with Indian women, and the Oghwagas and Tus- caroras freely sold their lands to these whites. By 1774 there were almost as many whites and half-breeds in this valley as full-blood Indians.' "

Halsey says (in "The Old New York Frontier," pages 100 and 101):

"The Indians declared that the deed had been executed 'to prevent those intrusions and encroachments of which we have so long and loudly complained, and to put a stop to many fraudulent advantages which have been so often taken of us in land affairs.' The Indians made certain reservations that 'lands occupied by the Mohawks around their villages, as well as by any other nation affected by this our cession, may effectually * * [The remain to them and their posterity.' Out of this grew prolonged trouble. deed] conveyed to the English a vast territory out of which States have since been made. On that deed rests the title by purchase from the Indians, not only to large parts of New York but of Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. * * Among those who witnessed its execution were Benjamin Franklin and William Franklin, his natural son, at that time Governor of New Jersey. It transferred the land with 'all the hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging * unto our Sovereign Lord King George III, his heirs and successors, to and for his and their own proper use and belioof forever.' The actual sum paid in money for this imperial territory was about $50,600."

During the progress of the conferences with the Indians at Fort Stanwix the agents of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania-who were on

* See note, page 421.

+ The Rev. W. M. Beauchamp states that Yonondala, later Unadilla, was an Indian village located where the Unadilla River reaches the Susquehanna. "L" is not found in all Iroquois dialects, and, there- fore, "one early form of this word was Tianderha."

# The present boundary-line between the counties of Broome and Chenango on the one hand and Delaware on the other, in the State of New York, follows very nearly, if not exactly, the course of the 'Fort Stanwix Treaty Line" between Deposit and the mouth of the Unadilla.

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A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I, Part 74

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray Publication date: 1909-1930 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press Number of Pages: 734

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909-1930
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 734