A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 103

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 103

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).

"In Memory of FRANCES SLOCUM-Ma-con-a-quah-'the Lost Sister of Wyoming.' Captured by Delaware Indians when five years old, November 2, 1778, near the south- west corner of North Pennsylvania Avenue and East North Street, Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania. She was the daughter of Jonathan and Ruth ( Tripp ) Slocum, and was discov- ered living near Peru, Indiana, by her relatives September 22, 1837, and died March 9, 1847. Erected by members of the Slocum family November 2, 1906." .

In the Summer of 1907 George Slocum Bennett of Wilkes-Barre, a grand-nephew of Frances Slocum, presented to his native city, for a children's public play-ground, a lot of land containing an acre, or more, at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Scott Street. This lot, which lies within a stone's throw of the site of the old home of Jonathan Slocum, formed at one time a part of his estate, and in conse- quence it has been named by the Wilkes-Barre Park Commission "The Frances Slocum Play-ground."

A considerable amount, both of prose and poetry, has been written and published during the last seventy years relative to the eventful life of Frances Slocum. The first detailed account of her capture and recovery appeared in Stone's " Poetry and History of Wyoming," pub- lished late in the year 1840. This was followed two years later by the Rev. John Todd's " The Lost Sister of Wyoming," previously referred to herein. Miner, in his " History of Wyoming " (published in 1845), gives a brief account of the capture and recovery of "the lost sister," while Dr. Peck, in his "Wyoming" (published in 1858), devotes one chapter of fifty pages to " The Captive Girl, Frances Slocum." In 1891 the " Biography of Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyoming," by John F. Meginness of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was published.

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This is an 8vo book of 250 pages, prepared with great care and at con- siderable expense, and it is the most complete and authentic account of the life of Frances Slocum heretofore published. Next to this publica- tion, in the matter of elaborateness and authenticity, but surpassing it in general "make-up," is " Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyoming," by Mrs. Martha ( Bennett) Phelps of Wilkes-Barré. This is a 12mo volume of 167 pages, and was published in 1905. Mrs. Phelps is a grand-daughter of Judge Joseph Slocum, and therefore a grand-niece of Frances Slocum.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

THE SULLIVAN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SIX NATIONS-A CONTINEN- TAL MILITARY POST ESTABLISHED AT WILKES-BARRE -CAPT. JOHN FRANKLIN'S COMPANY OF WESTMORELAND MILITIA.

"Strike the lyre in warning strain ! Wake the hearts of daring men ! Bid them for their country stand, Guard their homes and cherished land ! Tyrants trampling on their rights, Savage hordes whose presence blights, March their homes to desolate- Bid them rise ere yet too late ! Strike the lyre in martial strain ! Rouse to action valiant men !" -Steuben Jenkins, 1878.

The frequent incursions of bands of Indians into Wyoming Valley during the Autumn and early part of the Winter of 1778-attended as they always were with murder and rapine-began to awaken attention and demand serious consideration on the part of the military authorities of the General Government and the civil and military authorities of Pennsylvania ; as well as to excite general alarm in the minds of the people living along the frontiers in the south-eastern part of Penn- sylvania. The Government of Connecticut, however (if we may judge by the best evidence now at hand), took little interest at this time in the affairs of Wyoming. And this condition of disregard. and inatten- tion existed notwithstanding the fact that Connecticut claimed and exer- cised jurisdiction over the Wyoming region and demanded and received tribute from its inhabitants ; and in spite of the fact that appeals from Wyoming for aid and protection had been made to the General Assem- bly of the State in the Autumn of 1778 (as narrated on page 1104), and were made again in January, 1779, when Colonel Denison and Lieut. Asahel Buck were present at the Assembly as Representatives from Westmoreland.

For some time it had been the judgment of Washington that the war should be carried into the country of the inimical Indians ; it being argued that the surest way to protect the border settlements of New

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York and Pennsylvania was to weaken the power of the principal adver- saries. "It was known that in the fertile valleys of the Genesee and along the lakes of central New York large crops of corn and other vege- tables were raised, not for the support of the Indians alone, but as sup- plies for the British army. It was thought that if these crops should be destroyed, and the Indians driven back upon the British garrisons which were maintained at Niagara and Oswego, it would largely increase the expense of the British Government in carrying on the war, embarrass their operations through the failure of their expected supplies, place a greater distance between the Indians and the frontiers, and teach them wholesome lessons of the power of the Colonies to visit upon them the vengeance which their cruelties deserved. The territory it was pro- posed to lay waste was that occupied by the Senecas and the Cayugas, the two most powerful nations of the Iroquois, and the most haughty and implacable in their enmity to the people of the States.".

As early as August, 1778, Gen. John Armstrong of Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, had suggested to the Pennsylvania authorities (as noted on page 1081) that a formidable military expedition should be sent into the Indian country. At Poughkeepsie, New York, under the date of October 15, 1778, George Clinton, Governor of New York, wrote to General Washington in part as follows* : " I find it impossible to secure the frontier settlements [of New York] against the depredations of the enemy by the utmost exertions I am able to make with the militia." He then suggested that offensive operations should be set on foot against the enemy at Oghwagat-" a considerable Indian settlement not far dis- tant from the New York frontier settlements, and the principal place of rendezvous for the enemy." Some time later Governor Clinton addressed a communication to the New York Delegates in Congress relative to the frequent depredations of the enemy on the frontiers, and said : "To defend the inhabitants by a militia harassed as ours are, will be impos- sible. * * In this situation I can only apply to you to know whether Congress mean to pursue any offensive measures against the savages."

At Sunbury, Pennsylvania, under the date of December 13, 1778, Col. Samuel Hunter, Lieutenant of the County of Northumberland, wrote to Vice President Reed of Pennsylvania in part as followst :

"I am sorry at Col. [Thomas] Hartley leaving this County : for to do him justice he made the best use possible, of what troops was under his command, for the protection of the frontiers. Last month we were alarmed by an express from Wyoming, * * but when Colonel Hartley and myself issued orders to the inhabitants to assemble at such and such places, I never see them turn out more spirited than they did on this occasion. * * Several of them that had lately come back to the County told me they would rather die fighting than leave their homes again, as their families suffered for want of the necessaries of life while they were absent from this County ; and I believe this to be the case, for the generality of the people that has not suffered by this cruel, savage war that is carried on by the Indians and worse than Indians, turn their backs upon the poor peo- ple that was obliged to fly and leave their all behind them."

At Wilkes-Barre, on January 4, 1779, Col. Zebulon Butler received the following letter§ :

" MINISINK, 17th Decr. 1778.

"The business on which I address you will, I trust, excuse the liberty I take with

a gentleman to whom I am an utter stranger. His Excellency General Washington has

* See "Public Papers of George Clinton," IV : 163.

t Frequently mentioned hereinbefore.

# See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VII : 117.

See "Proceedings and Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," VII:148.

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been pleased to order me to the com- mand of a body of troops assembled here for the defence of this frontier, with the general direction of the troops on the Susquehannah-if any mode of co-operation can be fallen on. As this place is within seventy miles of Wio- ming, I could easily march the troops on this station to join those on Susque- hannah. at that place, if an expedi- tion against the Indian settlements be practicable at this season-on which I beg your opinion and advice. And also request to know if any provision, forage, and pack-horses can be de- pended on at Wioming ; how far it is to Chemung; how the roads, and what depth of snow usually falls at this sea- son; if the rivers and creeks are gener- ally frozen so as to pass them on the ice ; and if snow-shoes be necessary, how many pair can be procured in your neighborhood. I beg your answer by return of this express, and am, Sir,

"Your obedient H'mble Servant," [Signed]

Edw Land

BRIG. GEN. EDWARD HAND .*

At Wilkes-Barre, under the date of January 10, 1779, Col. Zebulon Butler wrote to General Hand, at Minisink, as followst :

"Honord Sir .- Rec'd yours of ye 17. Decr. 1778 on the 4th Jan! 1779. I immediately sent an Express to Sunsbury who returned this Day with the enclosed letter from Capt. Stoddard who commands there in Col. Hartleys absence. Sir, I am very Happy to find that A Gentleman of your Charactor is appointed to the command on these Fronteers. Shall allways be happy in receiving and obeying your Orders. Inclosed I send you the Returns of the strength of this Place as to men Ammunition, &c.

" The distance from this to Chemung is about 100 miles, the rode impossabel to pass any other way in the Summer season than by Pack Horses or boats and I think it not Possabel to pass either way at this season with any sufficient quantity of Provision for an army sufficient to go against such an enemy as we probably shall meet with. The Ice in the River is such that we cannot pass by water, and the cricks are Numerous and uncer- tain passing. At this season the depth of the Snow is usually from 15 inches to two feet deep. Snow shoes will be necessary and can be had hear if men can be procured to make them, as the Commesary has a number of raw hides.

" If from these representations your Honour should think a Winter expedition not practicabel I would propose whether (after your knowing the quantity of provision &c. )

. EDWARD HAND was born in Kings County, Ireland, December 31, 1744. In 1774 he accompan- ied the 18th Royal Irish Regiment to this country as Surgeon's Mate, but shortly after his arrival he resigned and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the practise of medicine. His home was on the banks of the Conestoga, near the town of Lancaster. He was commissioned June 25, 1775, Lieutenant Colonel of Thompson's Battalion of Pennsylvania Riflemen. This battalion became the 2d Regiment "of the army of the United Colonies, commanded by His Excellency, Gen. George Washing- ton, Commander-in-Chief," and before the middle of August, 1775, had joined the American forces assembled near Boston. Edward Burd and Jesse Lukens, mentioned hereinbefore, were "independent volunteers" in Thompson's battalion, and took part with it in the siege of Boston. Early in Novem- ber, 1775, Lieut. Colonel Hand was with his regiment in camp on Prospect Hill, near Boston (see "Pennsylvania in the Revolution," I : 11 and 12, for letters written by him at that time), and shortly afterwards he went home on leave of absence. The new army organization commenced January 1, 1776, and Thompson's Battalion became the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line. In February and March, 1776, Lieut. Colonel Hand was in command of the regiment, Colonel Thompson being at his home in Pennsylvania. Colonel Thompson having been promoted Brigadier General, Lieut. Colonel Hand was commissioned Colonel March 7, 1776. One week later the 1st Regiment and five other regiments were placed under the command of Maj. Gen. John Sullivan by order of Washington and detached to New York, where they arrived March 28th. About two weeks later Colonel Hand and his regiment were stationed at New Utrecht, Long Island.

The 1st Pennsylvania Regiment began its new term of service July 1, 1776, in camp on Long Island-the term of enlistment being two years. The battle of Long Island took place August 27, 1776, and the retreat of the Continental army from the Island followed. For the services of Colonel Hand and his regiment on that occasion, see "Pennsylvania in the Revolution," I : 805, et seq .; also Sparks' "American Biography," VIII : 325. Colonel Hand and his regiment participated in the battle of Trenton, fought December 26, 1776, as mentioned on page 485, Vol. I. March 25, 1777, the fol- lowing advertisement appeared in the Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia) over the name of Colonel Hand. "Many of the soldiers of my regiment having strayed from the hospitals into the country, on

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your Honour would not think it best to send 100 or 150 more men here for Winter quarters. Barracks can be had for them. The last letter I had from Col. Hartley he informed me that a regt. was comeing to this Post, and the Bord of War had directed him to make the following Arangement-that is if a reinforcement of Troops came to this Post that the detachment from his regt. at this post and at Fort Jinkings joyn the regt. at Sunsbury. (Fort Jinkins is a Post kept with about 50 men on this River about 38 miles down from this Post ) and that the troops that came here should garrison this Post and Fort Jinkins. But your Honnour can order these affairs as you think propper.

"The Express I send you I have ordered to return to me as soon as Possibel after you dismiss him. .

"I am with Esteem Your Honnors Most Obdt Humbel Servt, [Signed] "ZEBN BUTLER L! Colonel."

"N. B. If you should think best I will be prepairing for boats, desireing your directions. And I think it my duty to let you know that letters of consequence should not be intrusted to the care of Colonel Stroud. Wheather through Inattention to Publick Business, or Design, or multiplicity of privet business I cannot say, but the letters from your Honor to Col. Hartley and myself lay at his House till the 1st Jan! 1779-and that is not the first time he has done the like.

"Your H. Sevt, [Signed] "Z. BUTLER."

In reply to this letter General Hand wrote to Colonel Butler under the date of January 13, 1779, at Minisink, as follows :

"Your favour of the 10th inst. now lies before me. I am much obliged to you for the diligence you have used, and the candour with which you give your information and advice on so important a subject. Your sentiments and those of Captain Stoddert justify His Excellency, General Washington's, apprehensions of the impracticability, or at best the doubtful success, of an expedition at this season, insomuch that I am persuaded the intelligence I now receive from the Susquehanna-which he has desired me to transmit to him-will determine him to give over all thought of it."

Early in 1779 the British authorities at Fort Niagara became con- vinced that preparations were being made by the Americans for a mili- tary expedition into the Indian country of western New York, and thereupon reliable scouts were sent out from Niagara to various points to watch and report upon the movements of the Americans. Under the date of February 2, 1779, Maj. John Butler wrote from Niagara to General Haldimand : "Mr. Secord is sent to Chemung for the purpose of keeping a constant watch upon the rebels towards Wyoming, from whence I daily expect intelligence, as parties have been out that way for some time."" The " parties" thus referred to by Major Butler were the bands of Indians and Tories which had been harassing the inhabitants of Wyoming during the Winter of 1778-'79, as previously narrated. According to an official return§ made at Fort Niagara Janu- ary 26, 1779, by Lieut. Col. Mason Bolton, relative to the arrivals and departures (since December 30, 1778) of the several parties of Indians

various pretenses, and have not yet returned; they are thus publicly called on to join the regiment or send proper certificates that they are not yet able, within one month from the date hereof; otherwise they will be treated as deserters." One week later Colonel Hand was promoted Brigadier General, and soon thereafter he was ordered on command to Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), Pennsylvania. In 1778 he succeeded General Stark in command at Albany, New York. In November, 1778 (at the time of the Cherry Valley massacre), and for some time previously, he had his headquarters at Schenectady. General Hand was appointed Adjutant General of the army January 8, 1781, and was promoted Major General September 80, 1783.

"Although he was of daring disposition, General Hand won the affection of his troops by bis amiability and gentleness." General Hand was a member of Congress in 1784 and '85; in October, 1788, he was chosen a Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania, and in 1700 he was a member of the convention which framed a new constitution for Pennsylvania. Charles Miner states ("History of Wyoming," page 275) that General Hand stood "high in the confidence of Washington; so much so, that when, in 1798-'9, he consented to take command of the army being raised to resist the aggressions of France, that great and good man desired the appointment of General Hand as Adjutant General. He [Hand] was extremely beloved by his men, and served with great usefulness and honor. The old Wyoming soldiers speak of his noble horsemanship." General Hand was a Free Mason, and in 1781 was Master of Military Lodge No. 19, mentioned hereinafter. He died of cholera morbus at Rock- land, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1802, after a few hours' illness, and was buried in the Episcopal church-yard in the city of Lancaster.

t The original draft of this letter, in the handwriting of Colonel Butler, is now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. See, also, F. C. Johnson's "Historical Record," IV : 50.

# See Miner's "History of Wyoming," page 260, note.

" See the "Haldimand Papers"-B. M. 21,765, B. CV : 90.

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VIEW OF THE KINGSTON SHORE OF THE SUSQUEHANNA. South of the Market Street bridge, Wilkes-Barre. From a photograph taken in 1901.

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belonging to the different nations gathered at Fort Niagara, there were then present there 1,581 warriors, and absent on the war-path, 1,042; making a total of 2,623 Indian warriors of various nations who made their headquarters at and near Fort Niagara .*

For a number of years about 1779 the principal road in the lower part of Kingston Township ran lengthways of the Flatst (through the present borough of Dorranceton), bisecting, at the Kingston-Plymouth boundary-line, the road running from the margin of the river (opposite Northampton Street, Wilkes-Barre) to a point west of the main branch of Toby's Creek-as described on page 1090. Crossing the Kingston- Plymouth boundary-line, the first-mentioned road ran straight across the Upper Plymouth Flats to the river, where, at the upper end of Wilkes- Barré, or Fish's, Island, there was a ford which led over to the Wilkes- Barré Flats. (See page 50, Vol. I.) Thenceforward the road continued in a south-westerly direction to Hanover-and this portion of the road is still in existence ; one section being called "Old River Road," and the other section, "Carey Avenue." (See the map of Wilkes-Barre in Chapter XXVIII.)

In Kingston Township, near the crossing of the two roads just described, the inhabitants of Westmoreland erected in the Winter of 1778-'79 a small log block-house, which, upon its completion, was occu- pied by a detail of soldiers from Fort Wyoming, chief- ly for the purpose of guard- ing the approaches, on the west side of the river, to the Wilkes-Barré ferry.

On February 18, 1779,: Lieut. Asahel Buck (see pages 977 and 1145), Fred- erick Follett (see page 467), Elihu Williams, Sr., § and Stephen Pettebone, || who had gone from Fort Wyo- ming to the upper end of Kingston on a scouting ex- pedition, were returning to THE "TWIN SISTERS." Wilkes-Barre, in broad daylight, by way of the Kingston Flats road. When opposite Center (now Market) Street, Wilkes-Barre, near two

* At Niagara, under the date of April 8, 1779, Maj. John Butler wrote to General Haldimand: "The Senecas, Delawares, and others have been very active during the Winter, and have had various successful skirmishes along the frontiers. There are now between 400 and 500 out in different places."

t It followed almost exactly the course of the old Indian "path to Wyalusing," noted on the "Plot of the Manor of Sunbury," on page 454, Vol. I.

t Not February 28, 1779, as printed on page 468.

{ ELIHU WILLIAMS, SR., accompanied by his wife, Desire, and two sons and four daughters, removed in 1778 from Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut, to the valley of Wyoming, and settled on a tract of land in Plymouth Township, lying between Toby's Eddy and the Kingston-Ply- mouth boundary-line. Upon the organization of the town of Westmoreland in March, 1774, Elihu Williams, Sr., was chosen one of the seven Tything-men for the town. In the Westmoreland tax- list for 1776 the names of Elihu Williams, Sr., and his eldest son Rufus appear, and in the lists for 1777 and 1778 their names and the name of Elihu Williams, Jr., appear, as inhabitants of Plymouth. All three men were members of the 8d Company (Asaph Whittlesey, Captain), 24th Regiment, Con- necticut Militia, and they took part in the battle of July 3, 1778. The two sons were slain, but the father escaped to Forty Fort, whither his wife and younger children had previously repaired. After the capitulation of Forty Fort Mr. Williams fled from the Valley with his family (his youngest child was then only two years of age), going over the mountains and through the swamps to Fort Penn. From there the mother and children made their way to their old home in Canterbury, but Mr. Wil- liams returned to Wilkes-Barre in August in the detachment of militia commanded by Col. Zebulon Butler. (See page 1096.) Mrs. Desire Williams, accompanied by her children, returned to Plymouth

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Township from Connecticut in the Summer of 1782, and in the following November letters of admin- istration upon the estate of her deceased husband were granted to her by the Probate Court of West- moreland-John Dorrance becoming her surety on a bond for £300. The children of Elihu and Desire Williams-other than the sons named above-were: Esther, Desire, Martha, Lucy (born in 1768; became the wife of - Ives), and Darius.

The last-named was born in Plymouth Township in 1776. Col. H. B. Wright, referring to him in his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth" (1873), says: "Darius Williams was for many years a local Methodist Episcopal preacher, and a man of strong mind and peculiar powers of eloquence. The writer has often heard him preach. He had great earnestness of manner, and his language was strong and well chosen. He earned, and very justly, too, the reputation of not only being a good and exemplary man, but also of possessing a high order of talents. He died at the old homestead, probably about thirty years ago." " Cynthia Williams, a daughter of Darius Williams, was married at Kingston, June 18, 1829, to Reuben Jones, for many years thereafter a well-known resident of Kingston.

" STEPHEN PETTEBONE, Or PETTIBONE, was born at Simsbury, Connecticut, in September, 1755, fifth child of Noah and Huldah (Williams) Pettibone, and great-grandson of John Pettibone, the founder of the family in this country. (Originally the surname of this family was spelled "Petti- bone," and it was so spelled for many years by the Wyoming Valley branch of the family.) John, the founder, was a French Huguenot, who came to America from England about 1650, and was a proprietor and freeman at Windsor, Connecticut, as early as 1658. In the latter part of 1669 he became one of the first settlers at Simsbury. He was married at Windsor February 16, 1664, to Sarah, daughter of Begat Eggleston. John Pettibone died at Simsbury July 15, 1718, his wife having died one week previously. 'They were the parents of nine children-three born in Windsor and six in Simsbury-the third of whom was Stephen Pettibone, born October 3, 1669. He was married (1st) to Deborah, daughter of Samuel Bissell, and their third child was Noah Pettibone, born at Simsbury April 16, 1714.

Noah Pettibone was married (1st) to Huldah Williams, about 1745, and they settled in Simsbury, where the following-named children were born to them: (i) Esther, born in June, 1747; married to William Allsworth of Dutchess County, New York, and later of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; died May 1, 1833. (ii) Huldah, born in August, 1749; became the wife of Benjamin Atwater. (iii) Noah, born in November, 1751; killed at the battle of Wyoming, July 8, 1778. (iv) Hannah, born October 18, 1753; became the wife of Joseph Shaw. (v) Stephen, born in September, 1755; killed by Indians (as related above) February 18, 1779. (vi) Dolly, born June 9, 1767; married in 1777 to Timothy Stevens. (vii) Lydia, born in December, 1759; became the wife of John Vaughn. (viii) Oliver, born May 13, 1762; died March 17, 1832. (See below.)

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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 103

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