A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683

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. II > Part 10

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).

* See "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 615.

Digitized by Google

664

known, on the 30th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1770, at Wyoming, in the County aforesaid, did unlawfully, riotously and routously assemble and gather together to disturb the Peace of our said Lord the King ; and so being then and there assembled and gathered together, in and upon one JOHN MURPHY, in the peace of God and our said Lord the King then and there being, unlawfully, riotously and routously did make an assault, and him the said JOHN MURPHY unlawfully, riotously and routously did beat, wound and ill treat, so that of his life it was greatly despaired ; * * and with- out legal warrant or justifiable cause did imprison and detain for the space of six- teen days."

The records of the Court show that Major Durkee subsequently ap- peared, pleaded "not guilty," and put "himself upon the County."

At Philadelphia, June 28, 1770, the day before the Wilkes-Barre lands were distributed by lottery, Gov. John Penn issued the following proclamation,* which was printed, not only in the newspapers of Phila- delphia, but in the form of a broadside, copies of which were duly dis- tributed throughout eastern Pennsylvania.

"WHEREAS, a number of Persons, chiefly of the Colony of Connecticut, have lately, as well as at different Times heretofore, without any License or Grant from the Honor- able the Proprietaries of this Province, or authority from this Government, made At- tempts to possess themselves of and settle upon a large Tract of Land within the known Limits of this Province, lying at and between Wyoming, on the River Susquehanna, and Cushietunk on the River Delaware.

"AND WHEREAS, I have lately received intelligence that divers People of the said Colony of Connecticut have persuaded and enveigled many of the Inhabitants of this Province to join them, and with their Assistance have, with Force and Arms, in the most hostile and warlike manner, not only possessed themselves of the lands at and near Wyo- ming, but have also, in the same hostile and warlike manner, driven and expelled from their lawful Settlements and Possessions divers Persons there settled by lawful Authority under the said Proprietaries, burned their Houses, killed their Cattle and other stock, destroyed their other Effects, and imprisoned the persons of many of them, in open Defiance of all Law and Justice.

"WHEREFORE, as well to assert the just Rights of the Proprietaries of this Province to the said Lands, as to warn and prevent any of the Inhabitants of this Province from being unwarily drawn in to join the said Intruders in prosecuting their illegal settlements, I have, by and with the advice of the Council, judged it proper to issue this my Procla- mation, hereby strictly enjoining and requiring, in His Majesty's Name, all and every Person and persons already settled and residing on the said lands without the license of the Proprietaries or authority from this Government, immediately to evacuate their settle- ments and to depart and remove themselves off and from the said lands without delay. And I do hereby forbid all His Majesty's subjects of this or any other Province * * to intrude upon, settle or possess any of the aforesaid lands or any other lands within the limits of this Province, without the express permission of this Government-as they will answer the contrary at their peril. * *

"AND I DO HEREBY DECLARE, that all and every person or persons who have joined or shall join the said intruders in supporting or holding their present illegal and unjust possessions, or in making further settlements within this Province, shall not only be deprived of the benefit of taking up any lands within this Province, but shall be treated with the utmost strictness in respect to any lands they have heretofore taken up, or do possess under the said Proprietaries, which have not been fully paid for. And I do hereby strictly charge, enjoin and require all Magistrates, Sheriffs and other officers, as well as all other His Majesty's liege subjects within this Province, to exert themselves and use their utmost endeavors to prosecute and bring to Justice all offenders in the premises."

At the same time the Governor issued special commissions to Col. Turbutt Francist and Capt. Samuel Huntert-both residing at Fort Augusta, then within the bounds of the county of Berks-appointing them Justices of the Peace in and for said county.

*See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," IX : 679.

t Mentioned on page 489, Vol. I. According to a statement made by Tench Coze, Esq., in 1800 (see "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 740), Colonel Francis died in 1777.

# SAMUEL HUNTER, mentioned on page 419, Vol. I, was born in county Donegal, Ireland, in 1782. He was commissioned Captain in the Pennsylvania service November 10, 1768, and served in the Bouquet campaign of 1764. He resided at or near Fort Augusta (now Sunbury), Pennsylvania, from 1763, at least, until his death in April, 1781. February 8, 1776, he was commissioned Colonel of the 1st Battalion, Northumberland Associators (Pennsylvania Militia), and from March 21, 1777, till his death he held the office of County Lieutenant of Northumberland County, with the rank of Colonel. He made his head- quarters at Fort Augusta (he owned the land upon which it was built), and was in command of the military department of the West Branch. He was a brave and generous mau.

Digitized by Google

665

The following is a copy of the original minutes* (in the handwrit- ing of Ebenezer Gray, Jr., mentioned on page 292, Vol. I) of a meeting held at Fort Durkee. These minutes are now printed for the first time. "Att a meeting of the Committee of Settlers on the Susquah: Lands July 19th 1770 at WILKESBARRE.

"Present-Maj. John Durkee, President ; Capt. Zebr Butler, Isaac Tripp, Esqr., Capt. David Marvin, John Jenkins, Timothy Hopkins, Benje Follett, William Buck, Steph" Fuller, Thomas Dyer, Eben! Gray, Jun., Committee of Settlers.

"Voted that Nath! Walest hath not any right in the Forty Township on account or by reason his Laying out sd Township.

"Voted that Nathan Walsworth on Benajah Pendleton's right in the Forty Town- ship be precluded any right in said Township, because sd Pendleton hath not performed the service & condition of the Grant of sd Township to sd settlers, but hath been absent since the Two Hundred first settlers came on the Land, until this June.

"Voted that Allen Whitman's right in said Forty Township be vacant & forfeit ac- cording to the vote of the settlers on sd land last Octob!'

"Voted that Doct! Andrew Metcalf'st right in sd Forty Township be vacant & for- feit in sd Township on the same account that Wales was excluded.§

"it appeared to this Committee that Douglass Woodworth refused to pay 13 Dollars, according to the vote of the settlers, on account of Allen Whitman's right, and said that if he must Purchase he would purchase on his [own] account.

"Meeting per adjournment, July 20th, [1770].

"It is the opinion of this Committee that Ozias Yale on Benjn Yale's Right & John Jolly on Job Yale's right, on supposition that the vote of the Proprietors relative to their right in the Forty Township at their meeting at Hartford in June last had never been, are not Intitled by anything that they have done to any right in the Forty Township. ||

"Voted that John Holley be admitted [and] John Holley be accepted on Zeruble Jearum's right in the 40 Township. T

"Voted that Maj. John Durkee, Mr. John McDole [McDowel] and Eben! Gray, Junr., be and they are hereby placed & put into the Forty Township and be Intitled to their equale rights & Shares in sd Township as fully as any others in sd Township, being on the vacant rights of the Forty." **

In London, July 13, 1770, Lord Hillsborough and others, compos- ing the Board of Trade, reported to the Right Honorable the Lords of the Committee of the Council for Plantation Affairs that, pursuant to their Lordships' orders of May 25, 1770, they had taken into considera- tion the petition of Thomas and Richard Penn, Esquires. They stated furthertt :

"The request contained in the Proprietaries' petition that the Governor and Com- pany of Connecticut be ordered to set forth their claim (if they have any) to the lands in question appears to us to be a very proper one, and to contain the only matters neces- sary for His Majesty's consideration in the case to which their petition refers. * * We are clearly of the opinion that the forcible intrusion alleged by the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania is a matter entirely within the jurisdiction of this Province, and that it would be both unnecessary and improper for His Majesty to interpose his authority in a case where there is not the least colour of a plea that the Charter of the Province of Penn- sylvania does not contain the powers necessary to the decision of any suits which may be brought into the Courts there, in cases where the title to lands may be in question ; nor that the state of the Province does not afford the means to support the execution of the laws, preserve the public peace and enforce the legal process of the magistrates and Courts of judicature."

A copy of this report was sent to Henry Wilmot, Esq., Bloomsbury Square, London, the solicitor of Thomas and Richard Penn, and after a consultation with his clients he forwarded the copy in question to the

* In the possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.

t NATHANIEL WALES, 8d, mentioned in a note on page 640, ante.

Į See F. C. Johnson's "Historical Record" (Wilkes-Barre, 1887), I: 70.

¿ On this resolution Messrs. Butler, Follett, Tripp, Jenkins, Buck and Dyer voted " Yea," and Messrs. Hopkins and Gray voted "Nay."

I On this "opinion," or declaration, Messrs. Jenkins, Butler, Buck, Fuller, Follett, Tripp, Dyer, Dur- kee and Gray voted "Yea"; Marvin voted "Nay" and Hopkins "said nothing."

[ On this resolution Messrs. Dyer, Gray, Marvin, Fuller, Hopkins, Follett, Butler and Durkee voted "Yea," and Messrs. Buck, Jenkins and Tripp voted "Nay."

** On this resolution Messrs. Fuller, Gray, Dyer, Hopkins, Buck and Follett voted "Yea"; Durkee voted "Nay" and Tripp "said nothing."

tt See an original contemporaneous copy-never heretofore printed-among the collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Digitized by

Google

666

. agents of the Proprietaries at Philadelphia, together with a letter dated August 13, 1770, in which he wrote, among other things, the following* :

"The Lords of the Council have made no further report, and the Lord President is out of town, so that nothing further will be done by their Lordships till the Winter. There is not the least doubt but that their report to His Majesty will be conformable to this of the Board of Trade, and the dispute not being between Colony and Colony the Pro- prietaries will be left to get rid of these intruders as they can. The Proprietaries, there- fore, must get rid of them as they can, at any expence ! They are settled in Pennsyl- vania, and the laws of that Province must remove 'em ! Will the Assembly, upon an ap- plication to them, do nothing to assist ? May not the publication of the report of the Lords of Trade, shewing that Connecticut disavows any right, and that no assistance can be expected from them, be of use with some of the most rational of the intruders? Will it be of use to offer them the lands they have at the usual rents, or even at less ? In short, you who are upon the spot are the best judges what steps are to be taken." * * *

At London, August 20, 1770, Dr. Samuel William Johnson wrote to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut as follows :

* * * "We are, I trust, happily delivered from any apprehension of further trouble from Mr. Penn's petition to the Crown relative to the Susquehanna lands. * * We received a summons to attend the Board of Trade. I attended with our solicitor, Mr. [Thomas] Life, and their Lordships were pleased to give me an opportunity to state to them at large the claim of The Susquehanna Company, their proceedings from the begin- ning, the ground of their title, the part the Colony had taken in the affair, etc."

During June and July the settlers at Wyoming made and stacked a large crop of hay; early in August they began to harvest a bountiful crop of wheat from the sowing of the previous Autumn (see page 628); the corn which had been planted in May was growing finely, and health, happiness and feelings of gratification and of comparative safety pre- vailed among the settlers. About the middle of August Major Durkee, accompanied by Elisha Avery,t a surveyor, and two or three members of the Committee of Settlers, left Fort Durkee on horseback for the West Branch of the Susquehanna-in what is now northern North- umberland County. There, as is shown by the following extracts from original records, rights were disposed of, and lands were surveyed within the bounds of, the Susquehanna Purchase. The following is a copy of a receipt recorded on page 176, Book "B," of The Susquehanna Com- pany's records (mentioned on page 28, Vol. I):

"West Branch Susgh August 27, 1770. Received of WILLIAM SPEEDY £6 Lawful money, which intitles him to one half-right or -share of land in the Susquehannah Purchase so called.

"Teste, JOHN DURKEE."

August 29, 1770, Major Durkee received from Daniel and Isaiah Old their note for £6, in return for one half-right. The following para- graphs are extracts from page 1,288 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre," described in the third paragraph on page 27, Vol. I.

"28th August, 1770. These certifie that as Mr. MARK HULING, JR., has in times past done signal services to ye Susquehannah Company, do give unto ye sd Mark one- quarter of a Right or Shair of Land in ye Susquehannah Purchase so called. By order of sd Company. [Signed] "JOHN DURKEE, President of setlers."

"A survey of a tract of land lying on ye River & up Lime Stone Run,§ known by that Name. Done by order of Maj. John Durkee for MARCUS HULING. Sd tract con- tains 374 acres & 87 Perches-which survey was made ye 22d Day of Septr., 1770. [Signed] "ELISHA AVERY, Surveyor."

About the last of August Capt. Lazarus Stewart and a number of the Lancastrians left Fort Durkee for Lancaster County, intending to return with their families in November. A few days later Major Dur- kee and some of his companions returned from the West Branch.

* The original letter, heretofore unprinted, is now in the possession of The Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, and appended to it is the following memorandum made by the Proprietaries : "We do approve of the contents of this letter, and desire all legal means may be used for the removal of these Intruders."

t Undoubtedly a member of the Avery family of New London County, Connecticut. See note, page 082. ¿ See, farther on in this Chapter, the "Map of a Part of Pennsylvania as it is to-day." ¿ Limestone Run is in what is now Turbutt Township, Northumberland County.

Digitized by Google

667

Although the Colony of Connecticut did not at that time claim jurisdiction over the Wyoming region, yet a large majority of the settlers then at Fort Durkee were citizens of Connecticut and familiar with the laws of that Colony and the methods of their enforcement. It is not surprising to learn, therefore, that at an early date in the history of the settlement certain Connecticut laws were introduced here for the good of the community, and were duly enforced by officers of the law who had been appointed by the General Assembly and commissioned by the Governor of Connecticut to exercise their respective offices in their several home towns. One of the earliest evidences of this fact now in existence-so far as the present writer can learn-is an original writ in the possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and reading, in part, as follows :

"To WILKS BARRE COUNTY Sheriff, His Deputy or the Constable of said Wilksbarre -Greeting : In His Majesty's name you are hereby commanded to summon JOHN HENRY VANDEGOR of said Wilksbarre to appear before JOHN DURKEE, Esqr., one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for sd county at his dwelling-house at Wilksbarre within sd county on the 14th day of Sept! inst. * to answer unto ELEAZAR CARY of sd Wilksbarre in an action of the case. * *

* Dated at Wilksbarre the 7th day of Sept! 1770. [Signed] "SILAS PARK, Justice of the Peace."

It seems (according to the testimony adduced in this case) that Eleazar Carey, who was a proprietor in The Susquehanna Company, had in his house in Wilkes-Barre in September, 1769, "six bushels of Indian corn worth 24 shillings ; 50 feet of split plank of oak, well secured and laid for the use of a floor overhead in his said house, for his own use-worth 12 shillings." Sometime in the month of January or Feb- ruary, 1770 (while Fort Durkee-of which Carey's "house" formed a part -was in the possession of the Pennamites), "said corn and plank, by means to him [the said Carey] unknown, came into possession of the Defendant, who converted the same to his own use." The defendant, Vandegor, was either a New Jerseyman or a Pennsylvanian, who, prior to June, 1770, had been admitted as a settler by the New Englanders. From the journals* of the missionaries at Friedenshütten (Wyalu- sing) we glean, under the date of September 8, 1770 :

"The English clergyman residing at Anohochquage, t with his interpreter-a lock- smith by trade- called on his way to Wyoming and spent a day with us. His name is Mosell .; October 1st he returned, and stated that he had been at Bethlehem."

The first note of discord among the Yankee settlers at Fort Durkee -so far as we can learn-was sounded in a petition§ to The Susque- hanna Company, dated "at Fort Durkee in Wilkesbarre, September 10, 1770", and signed by Richard Brockway, Samuel Gaylord, Oliver Smith, Asahel Atherton, Elias Roberts, Thomas Bennet, Elijah Buck, Elijah Harris, || Peter Harris, Ezra Belding and Reuben Davis. These petitioners set forth that they had been admitted, by the committee ap- pointed for the purpose, "settlers in the first five townships according to the vote at a meeting in December, 1768, and thereby, by virtue of the aforesaid vote, intitled each to the sum of £5 bounty given by said Com- pany to each of the forty first settlers." Continuing, the petition recites :'

* See "Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society," I : 208.

t Oghwaga, mentioned in the note on page 257, Vol. I.

[Perhaps the Rev. Richard Moseley, a missionary employed about that time by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, located at Litchfield, Connecticut.

¿ See the original among the unpublished papers of Dr. William Samuel Johnson, in the possession of The Connecticut Historical Society.

[ ELIJAH HARRIS was not one of the "First Forty" (see Vol. I, page 478), but prior to June 28, 1770, had been "accepted on Peter Harris' right."

Digitized by Google

668

"That the Committee appointed to regulate and manage the affairs of said settle- ment was to receive and pay to each of said Forty the said bounty money, and did receive the same for that purpose ; but until this time have neglected and refused to pay the same to us the subscribers, or in any manner to settle the same, although we have repeatedly requested them to do the same. And whereas there was more than forty shillings granted to bear the expenses of some of us that was bound over to Easton Court, and paid to the aforesaid Committee, which money hath never been paid to those of us for whose use it was granted. We have great reason to believe that some of the Com- mittee of said Forty have imbezzled the Company's money Intrusted with them, and con- verted the same to their own use ; and we have sufficient evidence and can fully prove that some of the aforesaid Committee have admitted sundry persons into said number of Forty Settlers on condition that they would not require the bounty of £5 granted, and would permit said Committee to retain the same in their hands, and would not admit them without."

The petitioners also declared, further, that the committee had required payments of money from some men for the privilege of being admitted as settlers. In conclusion they (the petitioners) asked "to have said committee of the Forty render an account, and order the pay- ments due to be made."

At the Northampton County Court of Quarter Sessions, held at Easton about the middle of September, 1770, the Grand Jury made a presentment* setting forth that Daniel Angell, Christopher Avery, Conrad Baker, Conrad Baker, Jr., Nathan Beach, Thomas Bennet, Asa Buck, William Buck, Ezra Buell, Zebulon Butler, Jonathan Car- rington, Aaron Clawson, John Collins, John De Long, John Donnel, Valentine Doran, John Dorrance, Ichabod Downing, Oliver Durkee, George Espy, Joseph Espy, Roasel Franklin, Jabez Fish, Thomas French, Benjamin Follett, Stephen Fuller, John Gardner, Peregrine Gardner, Samuel Gaylord, Daniel Gore, Obadiah Gore, Silas Gore, James Grimes, Daniel Haines, Ebenezer Hibbard, William Hibbard, Ichabod Hyde, Matthew Holliboy [Matthias Hollenback], John Jenkins, Palmer Jenkins, Solomon Johnson, John Jolley, Crocker Jones, Jesse Kenney, Peter Kidd, Robert Kidd, John Laird, Asa Ludington, John Lyons, Thomas McClure, David Marvin, Samuel Marvin, Uriah Mar- vin, Darius Mead, David Mead, Eli Mead, Joseph Morse, Silas Park, Abel Peirce, John Peirce, Gideon Pelton, Nicholas Philipson, James Ray, William Ray, Robert Ross, Andrew Seiffers, John Skeels, Lazarus Stew- art, Lazarus Stewart, Jr., William Stewart, John Simpson, Oliver Smith, Timothy Smith, Nathaniel Solomon, Parshall Terry, Isaac Tripp, Samuel Uplinger, Ebenezer Vernon,t Levi Vernon, t Reuben Vernon, t Cornelius Vincent, Isaac Warner, Philip Weeks, Thomas Weeks, Peter Welker, Thomas Williams, Zophar Williams, Douglass Woodworth, David Young, Robert Young and William Young (ninety-one in number), "and divers other persons as yet to this Inquest unknown, on the second day of May, 1770, at Wyoming, in the County aforesaid, with force and arms, and with an intention the peace of the King to disturb, * the close and dwelling-house of Amos Ogden, Esq., then and there did break and enter" and carry away goods and merchandise of the value of £100, current money of Pennsylvania.

Forthwith the Hon. George Taylor, Judge of the Court, issued a warrant containing all the names set forth in the foregoing presentment, with the exception of those printed herein in italics. The warrant was made returnable "to the next Court of Sessions of the Peace, to be held March 19, 1771," and was directed to the Sheriff of Northampton

* See a fragment of the original document in the collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. t Intended, without doubt, for FARNUM.

Digitized by Google

669

County, who was commanded to arrest all the persons named in the writ. The Sheriff immediately endorsed the warrant* as follows :

"I deputize and appoint NATHAN OGDEN, JAMES LAWSON and JOHN SEELY to ex- ecute this Process or Writt (with such others as they call to their assistance ) upon all or any of the persons within named. [Signed] "PETER KACHLEIN, t Sheriff."

The warrant is endorsed also as follows : "First plea issued, return- able June, 1771"; and so on thereafter, from time to time, till the "eigh- teenth plea" was issued, returnable in September, 1775.

With this warrant in his hands, and his authority strengthened and his intended mission to Wyoming popularized by the Governor's procla- mation of June 28th (see page 664), Nathan Ogden, aided by his Lieu- tenants Lawson and Seely, and by his brother Amos, Alexander Patter- son, Capt. Thomas Craig and Capt. John Dick, raised without much difficulty a force of about 140 armed men in Northampton County, and on the 19th of September set out for Wyoming. The expedition began its march at Fort Allen, on the Lehigh (see page 339, Vol. I), and took the old and then little-used "Warrior Path" described on page 237.

Theretofore the Pennamites from New Jersey and southern North- ampton County had always traveled to and from Wyoming over the "Pennamites' Path" (described on page 646), and therefore, to guard against a surprise by hostile invaders, that path alone was being watched by the Yankee sentinels. Ogden, doubting that his strength was suffic- ient to permit him to attack the Yankees openly and boldly, determined to overcome them by strategy. Having arrived in sight of Wyoming Mountain the Pennamites left the path for greater safety, and in the evening of September 21st encamped on the head-waters of Solomon's Creek. Kindling no fires, creating no smoke, giving no alarm, the ex- pedition spent the night there. Early the next morning Ogden and a few of his companions ascended to the top of the mountain, whence, by the aid of a telescope, they observed the settlers leave Fort Durkee in detached parties to pursue their various occupations on the flats and up- lands throughout the valley. It was decided to attack the settlers in that situation, and accordingly Ogden divided his force into several detachments, each being placed in charge of one of his trusty aids-Craig, Patterson, Dick and others. They were directed to make their way into the valley quickly, quietly and simultaneously, by different routes, and, as nearly as possible at the same time, to pounce upon the Yankees in the fields and hurry off with them to a designated place of rendezvous in Solomon's Gap. This plan worked admirably, and many men were taken prisoners; a number, however, succeeded in eluding the Penna- mites and reaching Fort Durkee. Among the first of the Yankees to be captured was Maj. John Durkee, who, only a few days previously, had returned from his trip to the West Branch.

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.

A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press] Number of Pages: 683

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683