A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 100

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 100

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In the Spring of 1791 Brig. Gen. Charles Scott organized a brigade of mounted riflemen in Kentucky, crossed the Ohio River, and surprised and destroyed several Indian villages on the Wabash and Eel Rivers, in what is now Indiana, laid waste their corn-fields, and returned in June with fifty-eight prisoners. In the following August a similar raid was made by Col. James Wilkinson against the villages on the northern tributaries of the Wabash. In the Autumn of 1791 another expedition was sent against the Indians of the North-west, this time under the com- mand of Brig. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, who marched from Fort Washing- ton (Cincinnati) on October 3d in command of 2,900 men. A month later, on one of the branches of the Wabash, this army was terribly defeated-600 men being killed and wounded. During the fight British officers in full uniform were seen on the field, they having come from Detroit (where there was a British garrison) to witness the exploits of their savage friends.

Before making another use of force, various efforts were made by the United States Government to win over the Indians; but those Indians who were willing to listen to the peace-messengers of the Gov- ernment would hear of no terms of peace that did not promise the removal of the whites from the northern side of the Ohio River. The British urged the tribes to make this extreme demand. Spain also sent mischief- makers into the camps of the exultant red men, while Simon Girty, a noted renegade from Pennsylvania, who had great influence with the savages, declared that he would "raise all hell to prevent a peace." The only remedy for all this was vigorous war, and, in the judgment of those in authority, the most vigorous man to prosecute it was Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania-"Mad Anthony", the dashing soldier of the Revolution. Accordingly, in 1792, he was commissioned Major Gen- eral and appointed to the supreme command in the West.

In October, 1793, General Wayne led his army forth from Fort Washington, marched eighty miles, built Fort Greenville (the present Greenville, Ohio), and went into Winter quarters. August 20, 1794, Wayne's army came upon the united tribes of Indians encamped on the north bank of the Maumee, and there, near the rapids of the Maumee, the Indians were forced to face the most alert and vigorous enemy they had yet encountered. Encouraging and marshaling the Indians were painted Canadian white men, bearing British arms. Many of these men fell on the field, and others were captured. Wayne's victory was com- plete, the slaughter of the Indians being very great. After destroying the Indian crops and possessions in sight of the British Fort Maumee, Wayne fell back to Fort Defiance, laying waste the country as he went. Then he continued his march to the Miami village, Ke-ki-ong-a (previ- ously mentioned), where he erected Fort Wayne-the beginning of the present city bearing this name. This campaign ended the Indian reign of terror in the North-west, and rendered the name of Wayne a bête noire to the savages. Later, Wayne fell back to Fort Greenville, and there,

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in August, 1795, made the celebrated treaty by which the Indians ceded a large tract of land (two-thirds of the present State of Ohio) to the United States, and at the same time came to a permanent peace with the white inhabitants of the country.

In 1837 Frances Slocum stated that she well remembered " a battle and a defeat of the Americans at Fort Washington." This was the defeat of St. Clair, previously mentioned. She also said : "I remem- ber how Wayne drove the Indians away and built the fort at Ke-ki-ong-a. The Indians then scattered all over the country, and lived upon game, which was very abundant. After this they encamped all along on Eel River. After peace was made [in August, 1795] we all returned to Fort Wayne and received provisions from the Americans ; and there I lived a long time."

Throughout the troublous times which prevailed during the years 1790-'94 in the territory now lying within the bounds of the States of Ohio and Indiana, and of which we have just given a brief account, Frances Slocum and her foster-parents, and perhaps her husband, " Little Turtle," were almost constantly on the move. Her foster-father made chairs, which he sold ; he also played on the violin, and frequently went to the frontiers and played, for which he was paid. The old squaw made baskets and brooms, which they sold. Frances said her foster- father could speak English ; and so could she, until he died, when she lost her mother-tongue because she never heard it spoken. About 1793 or '94 her husband " Little Turtle " left her and went west of the Missis- sippi. It was a tradition among the Miamis, years later, that the foster- parents of Frances drove " Little Turtle " off because he did not treat his wife well. She said, however, that he went west when the Dela- wares removed thither, and she refused to accompany him, preferring to remain with the old man and woman who had adopted and reared her. She was now about twenty-one years of age.

Some time in the latter part of 1794, or early in 1795, while the foster-parents of Frances were floating in a canoe on a river in north- western Ohio, and she was riding a horse along the bank, she discovered an Indian lying in the path, suffering from wounds which he had probably received in some skirmish with the whites. She dismounted and dressed his wounds, and when her parents came up they took him into their canoe and carried him to the point of their destination, where they cared for him until his wounds were healed. He remained with them some time and kept them well supplied with game, as he was a good hunter. At last he purposed to leave them and pass on, but they would not hear to his departure. The old people insisted on his remain- ing with them, proposing, as an inducement, that they would give him their adopted daughter in marriage. This plan seemed to be satisfactory to all concerned, and so Frances became the wife of this brave, who was She-po-con-ah, a chief of the Miami* tribe. He was very much older than she, and is reputed to have been a great warrior until he lost his hearing. As a hunter, too, he is said to have been very successful.

* The Miami tribe of Indians belonged to the Algonkin family, described on page 100, Volume I. It was the oldest and at one time the most powerful tribe in the North-west, and originally occupied the country lying along the Wabash River and its branches. At an early day the Miamis were known as the "Twightwees" and as the "Naked Indians." (See pages 205, 890 and 400, Vol. I.) Though never subjugated, as were the Lenni Lenapes, yet the Miamis were reduced to the last extremity by the repeated attacks of the Five Nations, and the members of the tribe were dispersed over a wide extent of territory. In the first quarter of the eighteenth century there was quite a large number of them located at the western end of Lake Erie. The first treaty ever held by the English with the

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Soon after the marriage of Frances her foster-parents died in Ohio, and then Frances and her husband made their way to Fort Wayne-the treaty of peace of August, 1795, having been consummated a short time previ- ously. About 1801 or 1802 Frances and her husband and their chil- dren (two boys and a girl) removed from Fort Wayne to what was known as the Osage village, on the Mississineva River, about one mile from its confluence with the Wabash. This village, located in the present county of Miami, Indiana, was inhabited by Miami Indians, and She-po-con-ah was chosen their war-chief. About the same time his wife, Frances, was formally admitted to membership in the Miami tribe, and received the name Mac-on-a-quah, signifying "A Young Bear."*

At the Osage village She-po-con-ah and Mac-on-a-quah remained until the former, owing to his deafness and other infirmities, became unable to perform his duties as war-chief. He then resigned his office (being succeeded therein by Francis Godfroy, who served until 1840) and, in 1815, removed with his family four miles farther up the Missis- sineva River, to a location in what is now Wabash County, just across the Miami County line. There the former chief built a log house, and the settlement that grew up around it became known as "Deaf Man's Village," while She-po-con-ah himself was commonly called "The Deaf Man." At that time his family consisted of his wife and two daughters -Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah (" Cut Finger "), born in 1800, and O-zah-shin-quah (" Yellow Leaf "), born in 1815. His two sons had died in early youth. She-po-con-ah died in 1832 or '33 at " Deaf Man's Village." His wife and daughters continued to reside there-and there we will leave them, while we set forth certain incidents which occurred in Pennsylvania and New York within a period of thirty years following the seizing and car- rying away of Frances Slocum.

An account is given elsewhere (see page 1111) of the murder of Jonathan Slocum and the wounding of William Slocum (father and

Miamis was at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1748, when three of the noted Miami chiefs from the Wabash country were present. Previous to this the Miamis had concentrated on their ancient hunting-grounds, and had united with certain small neighboring tribes in a defensive league known as the "Great Miami Confederacy," with headquarters at Ke-ki-ong-a, previously mentioned.

By a treaty between the United States and the Miamis, held at St. Mary's, Ohio, October 6, 1818, a reservation was erected for the Miamis, consisting of about 980,000 acres of land on the Wabash and Eel Rivers, in Indiana. This was commonly known as the "Thirty Mile Reservation." By a treaty held at Paradise Springs in October, 1826, the Miamis ceded to the United States all their claim to lands in the State of Indiana north and west of the Wabash and Miami Rivers; and in addition, in 1884, the Government purchased of the Miamis 177,000 acres of their reservation. Finally the chiefs of the tribe accepted a proposition to hold a treaty for the purpose of disposing of the balance of their reservation. This treaty was held at the Forks of the Wabash, November 6, 1888, and, with the exception of some sixty small reservations, or sections, of land granted to some of the Miami chiefs and to the descendants of others, the tribe ceded to the United States nearly all its lands in Indiana. In return for this the Government agreed to pay the Miamis $385,680., and to deliver into their possession, and guarantee to them forever, "a country west of the Mississippi River, to remove to and settle on, when the said tribe may be disposed to emigrate from their present coun- try." At that time the Miamis numbered only about 1,100 souls. The last treaty with the Miamis was held November 28, 1840, at which time the tribe ceded to the United States all that tract of land on the south side of the Wabash not theretofore ceded, and commonly known as the residue of the "Big Reserve." It was also agreed that the time for removing the Indians to the West should be extended five years from that date, in order to give them time to select a location.

In 1845 and 1846, in pursuance of the foregoing treaties, a large number of the Miamis removed from their old homes in Indiana to Johnson County, Kansas. In 1867 their number had dwindled to 187. The remnant of this number removed in 1875 to Indian Territory, where they were settled with the Peoria Indians on the Peoria Reservation. In 1890 there were only thirty men and thirty- seven women of the Miamis on this reservation. They held their lands by allotment-200 acres to each Indian-and in the year mentioned they cultivated 5,000 acres. Some of the farms were large, and in a good state of cultivation. The members of the tribe received an annuity, which they used for improving their farms and stock. They had entirely dropped all the traditions of their ancestors. They still had their chiefs-not hereditary, but elected by the people each year. Polygamy had been abandoned, divorces were unknown, and the tribe had no dances. Fifty of the sixty-seven of these Indians spoke good English. A few spoke Indian in their families, and seemed loath to give up the language of their forefathers. In the year 1900 the Miamis on the Peoria Reservation numbered 110 souls, while the Miamis in the State of Indiana numbered 248 souls-all civilized and self supporting.

* In the language of the Chippewas, and also in the languages, or dialects, of other tribes of the Algonkin family (see pages 100 and 101, Vol. I), the word "'bear" was expressed by mack-quak. In the Mohegan tongue it was represented by m'quoh, and in the Shawanese, by manquak.

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brother of Frances) by Indians some six weeks subsequently to the cap- ture of Frances. After that occurrence-particularly during the pro- gress of the Sullivan Expedition-efforts were made by various inter- ested persons living in Wyoming to get clues as to the whereabouts of Frances Slocum, but without success. Finally, peace having been con- cluded with Great Britain, efforts were at once made by the United States Government to conciliate the Indian tribes of the North and North-west ; and to this end agents were despatched to various local- ities to negotiate treaties and to restore confidence. While these nego- tiations were going on Giles and William Slocum conceived the idea of making a journey north to search for their lost sister. Accordingly, in 1784, they journeyed as far as Fort Niagara, which, as explained in previous pages, had been an important point during the Revolutionary War. Arriving there the brothers offered a reward of one hundred guineas for the recovery of their sister, or intelligence regarding her whereabouts; but they were unable to gain a single item of satisfactory information.

As years passed by, and the country became more settled and quiet, Giles and William Slocum, agreeably to the desire of their mother (who had never ceased to yearn for her lost child), again visited the Indian country. This time they traveled westward, and penetrated the wilder- ness of Ohio. They were absent for several months, and enlisted the sympathy and interest of Indian agents and traders, who aided them to the best of their abilities. The brothers offered a reward of $500. for any information with regard to their sister's whereabouts, but to no pur- pose. Some time in the year 1789, in pursuance of arrangements made by representatives of the Government, a large number of Indians assembled at Tioga Point (previously mentioned in these pages), bring- ing with them a considerable number of white children who had been captured by them during the Revolutionary War. This gathering was planned for the purpose of giving the relatives and friends of children who had been captured an opportunity to identify and reclaim them. Mrs. Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, accompanied by some of her sons, jour- neyed from Wilkes-Barre to Tioga Point ; but after days of careful search among the captives she could find no one who bore any resem- blance to her lost Frances. Nevertheless she still clung to the belief that her daughter was yet alive, and would ultimately be found. (At that time Frances was with her foster-parents at Ke-ki-ong-a-later Fort Wayne.)

In the year 1790 Indian affairs in the United States were in a very unsatisfactory condition. A savage war was raging along the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, while the confederated tribes (including the Miamis) of the North-west were determined that the Ohio River should form the boundary between the United States and the Indian country, and, to enforce that determination, had gone on the war-path-as narrated on page 1123. The sympathies of nearly all the chief men of the Senecas-who had never been quite satisfied with the provisions of the Fort Stanwix treaty of October, 1784 (see page 164)- were with their brethren of the West; although "Cornplanter" (see page 164, Vol. I), then the principal chief of the nation, remained unshaken in his friendship for the United States. Just at this crisis the Senecas found fresh cause of exasperation in the murder of two of their nation by some of the white border-men of Pennsylvania; but the Federal

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Government lost not a moment in disavowing the act, and in adopting measures to bring the murderers to punishment.

About the same time President Washington commissioned Col. Timothy Pickering of Wilkes-Barré (see a subsequent chapter for his portrait and a sketch of his life) to hold a conference, or treaty, at Tioga Point with the Senecas. The council-fire was kindled November 16, 1790, and kept burning until the 23d. A large number of the chiefs, sachems and warriors of the Seneca nation were present-"Red Jacket" (see a subsequent chapter for his portrait and a sketch of his life), “ Big Tree", and "Farmer's Brother " being the principal representatives of the nation. "Cornplanter " was not in attendance. A . considerable number of the chiefs and warriors of other nations were present, includ- ing "Good Peter," " Little Billy," " Fish Carrier " (a very old and dis- tinguished warrior of the Cayugas) and "Captain Hendrick," chief of the Stockbridge Indians (see page 193, Vol. I), and a faithful friend of the United States. Representatives of the Oneida, Onondaga and Chip- pewa nations completed the Indian assemblage. The Mohawks and Tuscaroras of the Six Nations were not represented at the conference.

This was the first time that any of the Six Nations were met in council by the General Government after the adoption of the Federal

COLONEL PICKERING AT TIOGA POINT, November, 1790.

Constitution. Colonel Pickering informed the Indians that the " Thir- teen Fires" were now but "One Fire"; that they (the Indians) were now all under the care of the great chief, General Washington, who would redress their wrongs. By the prudent policy pursued by Colonel Picker- ing the black cloud that hung over the deliberations of the council for days was finally driven away.

William Slocum went up to Tioga Point from Wilkes-Barré during the holding of this conference, in the hope that he might learn something from the Indians concerning his lost sister; and after careful inquiry he became satisfied that she was living among the Mohawks. Thereupon he laid the matter before Colonel Pickering, who prepared the following doc- ument-the original draft of which, in the handwriting of Colonel Pick- ering, is now to be found among the " Pickering Papers " (LXI : 104),

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mentioned on page 29, Vol. I. This paper, endorsed " Power to Joseph Smith, Interpreter, to demand of the Six Nations the release of Frances Slocum," is now printed for the first time. It reads as follows:

"WHEREAS, in the treaty of Peace made at Fort Stanwix between the United States of America of one part, and the Six Nations of Indians of the other part, it was stipulated by the said Six Nations that all citizens of the United States prisoners among them should be given up; And Whereas the President of the United States authorized me to hold the present conference at this place with the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation-a part of the Six Nations-on a matter of difference between them and the United States, which has now been amicably settled; And Whereas WILLIAM SLO- CUM of Wyoming, in the State of Pennsylvania, has represented to me, as Commissioner on behalf of the United States, that he had a sister, by the name of FRANCES, who was made a prisoner at Wyoming and carried away by some of the said Six Nations, in the year 1778-his said sister being then near six years old; that afterwards he frequently heard of her continuing a prisoner among the said Six Nations, and has satisfactory information that she is still living among them (the Mohawks), and has therefore requested me to take the steps necessary to obtain her release; and his request appearing to me reasonable and just, I do now, in the name and by the authority of the said United States, require that the said FRANCES be delivered up to Joseph Smith, Indian Inter- preter at the present conference, or to such person as he shall depute to enquire for, demand and receive her-pursuant to the aforesaid treaty of peace.

L. S.

"Given under my hand and seal at the Council Fire at Tioga, in the State of Pennsylvania, the 23d day of November, 1790, and in the 15th year of the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States of America. "In Behalf of the United States-

[Signed] "TIMOTHY PICKERING, Commissioner."

Of course nothing came of this order, for Frances Slocum was not, and had not been at any time, in the custody of Six Nation Indians. Neither the Slocums nor their friends in Wyoming, however, had any means of knowing this at that time.

Early in 1791 Secretary of War Knox commissioned Col. Thomas Procter* to visit the several Indian tribes inhabiting the country bor- dering on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and also the Miamis of the Wabash, for the purpose of making peace and establishing friendly rela- tions. This was only a few months subsequently to the defeat of Gen- eral Harmar's expedition, mentioned on page 1123. According to the journalt of Colonel Procter he started from Philadelphia March 12, 1791, and journeyed by way of Catawissa and Berwick to Wilkes-Barre, where he arrived on March 19th. Here he met and consulted with Colonels Zebulon Butler and Timothy Pickering-particularly with the latter, who, only a few weeks later, was commissioned by the Secretary of War to hold a treaty with the Six Nations in June, 1791, at Painted Post, in what is now Steuben County, New York. Continuing his journey up the river Colonel Procter arrived at Tioga Point March 26th. On the 27th he reached Newtown (now Elmira), New York. On the 28th he entered in his journal :

"We proceeded to the Painted Post, or Cohocton, in the Indian language ; dined and refreshed our horses, it being the last house we should meet with ere we should reach the Genesee River. Here I was joined by a Mr. George Slocum, who followed us from Wyo- ming, to place himself under our protection and assistance, until we should reach ' Cornplanter's ' settlement on the head-waters of the Allegheny, to the redeeming of his sister from an unpleasing captivity of twelve years, to which end he begged our imme- diate interposition."

The "George Slocum" mentioned by Colonel Procter was Giles Slocum, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, and he accompanied Colonel Procter's party to the then village of "Cornplanter " in Catteraugus County, New York. There, in accordance with arrangements which had previ-

* See Chapter XVIII for a sketch of his life.

t See "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, IV : 555, 560.

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ously been made with him, "Cornplanter" joined Colonel Procter's party and proceeded with it to the Seneca villages at Buffalo Creek, where the city of Buffalo is now located. It is doubtful if Giles Slocum accompa- nied Procter any farther than to the village of "Cornplanter." In the lat- ter part of April Procter was at Buffalo Creek, and under the date of April 22d he made this entry in his journal : "To cash paid Francis Slocum, a white prisoner, 7s. 6d." Meginness, in his " Biography of Frances Slocum " (Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1891), takes the ground that this "white prisoner " was Frances Slocum, the "Lost Sister of Wyoming." He says : "It is passing strange that Colonel Procter should, in a few brief words, name the girl [?] and the amount he paid her, and at once enter into details about another prisoner. * The * simple error in the spelling of her first name amounts to nothing. She was beyond peradventure the lost child of Wyoming, for whom the fam- ily had so persistently searched for over thirteen years! *

* Was it indifference or stupidity that caused Colonel Procter to treat her case so lightly ? He must have known who she was when he named her, after paying her a small sum of money."

It is not at all probable that the " Francis Slocum " to whom Col- onel Procter paid money at Buffalo Creek in April, 1791, was Frances Slocum the Wyoming captive. According to the statement of the latter, made in 1837, her home was at Fort Wayne at the time of Harmar's defeat (October, 1790), and when the battle was fought "the Indian women and children were all made to run north." Buffalo Creek is north-east of Fort Wayne, and, by the shortest route, is distant some 340 miles. It is hardly probable that the Miami women and children found it necessary to " run " so far from their villages. To Mr. Meginness' suggestion that Colonel Procter was either indifferent or stupid because he treated so lightly the incident of his meeting a " Francis Slocum " at Buffalo Creek, we would reply : Colonel Procter was an intelligent, warm-hearted Irishman, who had seen very considerable service as an artillery officer during the Revolutionary War-in 1779 taking part in the Sullivan Expedition. He was stationed at Wilkes-Barre for some time prior to the setting out of that Expedition, and, in common with all the officers here, was familiar with the story of the disasters which had befallen the Slocum family only a few months previously. With his recollection refreshed in March, 1791, by his association and talk with Giles Slocum while journeying to "Cornplanter's" village, it can- not be believed that the name Francis, or Frances, Slocum failed to excite more than passing comment on his part when the bearer of the name applied to him for pecuniary aid. It may be confidently stated that, if the applicant was a young woman (as suggested by Meginness), Colonel Procter made careful inquiry as to her antecedents.

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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. II, Part 100

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