A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 11

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 11

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).

As the day drew to a close Ogden and his men retired from the val- ley to Solomon's Gap, and thence, with their Yankee prisoners, to the spot on the mountain where they had bivouacked during the preceding night. There was gloom and confusion in Fort Durkee at nightfall on

* The original writ is now in the collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

t PETER KACHLEIN, mentioned on page 507. Vol. I. (His surname is indiscriminately spelled Küch- lein, Kuechlein, Kechlein and Kachlein on original documents and records in Northampton County.) Having previously been Sheriff of that County he had again been elected to the office, as the successor of John Jennings. May 22, 1776, he was commissioned Captain of the Easton company in the Pennsyl- vania Associators (Militia) ; July 17, 1776, he was promoted and commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Northampton County Battalion of Associators, and March 3, 1780, he was appointed and commissioned County Lieutenant of Northampton County.

Digitized by Google

670

Saturday, September 22d. The position and number of the invaders were unknown, while on the other hand it was certainly known that a considerable number of the most effective men of the settlement had been captured. A consultation of the principal men in the fort was held, and it was concluded that, as they had in hand provisions and ammunition sufficient to last some time, they would send messengers to the friendly settlement at Cushetunk* on the Delaware for assistance. Four men were thereupon selected for this purpose, and shortly before midnight they departed on their mission. Taking it for granted that the "Upper Road to the Delaware" and the "Pennamites' Path" would be guarded by Ogden's men, the messengers determined to travel over the old "Warrior Path." Scarcely had they ascended the mountain, however, when they found themselves prisoners in the hands of the men they had expected to elude. From these reluctant captives Ogden learned of the confused condition of affairs at Fort Durkee, where there were only a few men with a considerable number of women and children.

Ogden's whole force-with the exception of the men detailed to guard the prisoners-was immediately put in motion, and before day- light (on Sunday, September 23d) had noiselessly arrived within a short distance of Fort Durkee. A storming party, under the command of Captain Craig, t having been detailed to begin the attack on the fort, the Captain stepped lightly forward in advance of his men, and, speak- ing in a low tone, as a friend, to the sentinel at the gate of the stockade, threw him off his guard, knocked him down, and rushed into the en-

* See pages 886, 890 and 891, Vol. I.

t THOMAS CRAIG, (JR.), was born in 1740 in what is now East Allen Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. His father was Thomas Craig, Sr., who was born near the close of the seventeenth century- probably in Philadelphia-the son of a Scots-Irish immigrant from Antrim in the North of Ireland. In 1728 Thomas Craig, Sr., his brother William, their sister Jane and her husband John Boyd, accompanied by the father of the Craigs, went from Philadelphia to the Forks of the Delaware and settled at the springs of Caladaque Creek, about four miles from the present borough of Bath in East Allen Township, abovementioned. During the next few years they were joined by a number of other Scots-Irish families. At first this locality-extending from Menakasy Creek on the east to Hokendauqua Creek and the Lehigh River on the west-was known as "the Craig Settlement." Later it became known as "the Irish Settle- ment," and for many years Thomas Craig, Sr., William Craig and Hugh Wilson (a native of the North of Ireland) were the most influential men there.

When, in March, 1752, the Act of Assembly creating the county of Northampton was passed, Thomas Craig, Sr., was one of the four commissioners named in the Act to purchase a site and erect thereon a county court house and prison. He was also appointed a Justice of the Peace in and for the new county in May, 1752, and served in the office for a number of years. William Craig was also appointed a Justice of the Peace in May, 1752, but later in the year he was elected the first Sheriff of Northampton County. It was he who visited Wyoming Valley in December, 1758, as noted on page 256, Vol. I. In 1752, or earlier. a tract of land near Easton, containing 500 acres, was surveyed and laid out for Thomas Craig. In 1755 and '56, during the progress of the Indian hostilities in eastern Pennsylvania (as described in Chapter V, Vol. I), Thomas Craig, Sr., was Captain of one of the Northampton County military companies in the service of the Province. (See Egle's "History of Pennsylvania," page 988.)

The first connection of THOMAS CRAIG, JR., with Wyoming affairs occurred, perhaps, in 1769, when he was employed by Charles Stewart to summon men to go to Wyoming-as mentioned in the foot-note on page 514, Vol. I. In 1770 he was known as "Captain" Craig ; but we have been unable to learn how or whence he derived this title. In December, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the raising of the 2d Pennsylvania Battalion, to serve one year in the American army. January 5, 1776, Thomas Craig, Jr .. was commissioned Captain of a company enlisted principally in Northampton County and assigned to the 2d Pennsylvania Battalion, whose commander was Col. Arthur St. Clair. September 7, 1776, Captain Craig was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of this Battalion. In December, 1776. the 3d Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, was organized on the basis of the Second Battalion, aforementioned, and Thomas Craig was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. August 1, 1777, he was promoted Colonel of the regiment, and in that rank he served until January 1, 1783, when he was retired.

July 1, 1788. Colonel Craig was appointed County Lieutenant of Northampton County, and in that office he served until September, 1784, when, Montgomery County having been erected, he was appointed Prothonotary, Clerk of the Courts, Recorder of Deeds and an Associate Justice of the new county. There- upon he removed to Norristown, Montgomery County, where he performed the duties of the various offices mentioned until 1789. A few years later he was commissioned Major General of the 7th Division of the Pennsylvania Militia, and this office he held until the latter part of 1788, when he removed from Montgomery County to Iehigh Gap, at the junction of Aquanshicola Creek and the Lehigh River, in what was then Towamensing Township, Northampton County, and is now Lower Towamensing Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. April 17. 1800, he was commissioned Major General of the 8th Division of the Pennsylvania Militia-comprising the organizations in the counties of Northampton and Wayne- which office he held for a number of years.

General Craig died at Allentown, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1882, in his ninety-third year. He was married prior to 1770 to Catharine, daughter of John Hagenback, and they became the parents of several children who grew to maturity. A number of their descendants now reside in the counties of Carbon and Northampton.

Digitized by Google

671

closure closely followed by his men. Chapman, in his "History of Wyoming," states (pages 85 and 86) that the invaders "arrived at the door of the block-house [within the stockade] before the garrison received notice of the attack. Several of the latter were killed in at- tempting to make resistance in the block-house, and Captain Craig's men having forced a number into a small room where they were tramp- ling upon the women and children, knocked down Captain Butler and were about to pierce him with their bayonets, when Captain Craig him- self entered the apartment, drove the soldiers back and prevented further bloodshed." Charles Miner, writing of this occurrence, states ("History of Wyoming," page 123): "But the armed men did not yield without a short but severe struggle. Several lives were lost, and Captain Butler was only saved from a bayonet aimed at his breast by the noble humanity and timely interposition of Craig. Severely hurt, Captain Butler was taken into the hut of Mr. [Nathan] Beach and had his wounds dressed." Both these writers erred in stating that lives were lost on this occasion. Considerable blood was shed on both sides during the struggle, but it is certain that not a life was lost by either party.

Some time in July or August a number of the "First Forty" had repaired from Fort Durkee to the township which had been assigned to them, where (within the limits of the present borough of Forty Fort) they erected a small group of cabins which, in September, they were occupying while making further improvements. Having captured Fort Durkee Ogden sent a detachment of men across the river to these cabins, and, as is more fully explained hereinafter, demanded their surrender.

Leaving at Fort Durkee a garrison of about twenty Pennamites in command of Col. Asher Clayton (mentioned on page 428, Vol. I), Ogden set out for Easton with the remainder of his force and all the prisoners who had been captured. The women and children who were inmates of the fort were permitted to remain there. Easton was reached about the 26th of September, and the prisoners were crowded into the small and unwholesome jail of Northampton County .* After a confinement there of some three weeks all the prisoners were released, with the exception of Maj. John Durkee, Maj. Simeon Draper and Capt. Zebulon Butler, who were sent in irons to Philadelphia and committed to the City Jail, which stood near the corner of Market and Third Streets. During his stay in the Easton jail Major Durkee was taken before the Court of General Quarter Sessions, arraigned on the indict- ment mentioned on page 664, and required to plead thereto.

Relative to the capture of the Yankees at Wyoming in September, 1770, Messrs. Dyer, Gray, Elderkin and Wales, in their communication to Governor Trumbull referred to on page 514, Vol. I, made the follow- ing statement :

"September 22, 1770, Ogden, with 140 men, armed (in the night season), broke into our houses and, with unrelenting barbarity, beat, wounded and grievously abused our people, after they had surrendered ; and carried many of them to Easton, where some of them were put in irons and fed only with a small quantity of bread and water ; and without any form of law extorted from others of them great sums of money for their dis- mission-at the same time stealing and driving away our settlers' horses, oxen, cows, etc."

* Among the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is a note, or due-bill, given by Captain Butler while in the Easton jail to one of his fellow-prisoners from Wyoming-Capt. Harris Colt, formerly of Lyme, Connecticut. The due-bill having been subsequently paid by Captain Butler, passed into his possession. It reads as follows : "East Town Goal September 28, 1770. Received of Capt. Harris Colt 4 Dollars, which I promise to account with him for.

[Signed] "ZEB" BUTLER."

Digitized by Google

672

Capt. William Gallup, in his affidavit mentioned on page 630, ante, refers to the same event in the following words :

"Some time in the month of June, [1770], he [Gallup], with a number of Connecti- cut settlers, returned back to said Susquehanna, where he remained unmolested till some time in September then next following, when he and the Connecticut settlers, in the dead of the night, whilst in their houses asleep, was broke in upon by the Pennsilvania party and abused to a great degree by beating with swords, staves, and other enormities, and took from him his horse and saddle, and destroyed a large quantity of grain, and then carried under a strong guard and committed to prison at East-town, where he was kept -on coarse bread and water only-about twenty days, and then released without any tryal by Law."

Parshall Terry, in his very full and interesting affidavit mentioned on page 403, Vol. I, has the following to say with reference to Ogden's invasion of Wyoming in September, 1770 :

"The Ogdens and others having collected a large reinforcement from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as it was said, they made an attack upon our settlers in their houses at Wilkes-Barre, in the night season, and wounded a number of our people, and took the whole of them prisoners ; that the next morning following the Ogdens and their party appeared at Kingston, surrounded our people in their houses, and demanded a surrender of our possessions. This was complied with by the committee on the part of the settlers ; that among other things seventeen of the settlers were permitted to remain on the ground with their families-the deponent being one that was allowed this indulgence ; that all the settlers, except the seventeen aforesaid, were plundered* of all their property by the Pennsylvania party."

Thomas Bennet, one of the "First Forty" who at Fort Durkee, September 10, 1770, signed the petition mentioned on page 667, ante, left Wilkes-Barre a few days later to go to Orange County, New York, for the purpose of bringing his family and movable property to Wyo- ming. It was during his absence, of course, that Fort Durkee was cap- tured by the Pennamites ; but Mr. Bennet did not learn of this until he and his family had got as far as Shohola (in what is now Pike County, Pennsylvania) on their journey towards Wyoming. Leaving their chil- dren with friends at Shohola Mr. and Mrs. Bennet journeyed on to Wilkes-Barré, "to endeavor to get a settlement there," as Mr. Bennet later declared.t Having arrived about the middle of October, they were permitted by the Pennamites to remain and lodge in "one of the houses of the fort."

October 17, 1770, a lawfully-warned meeting of The Susquehanna Company Wa, held at Windham, Maj. Elizur Talcott acting as Moderator, and it was voted :

"That Elizur Talcott, Esq., Increase Moseley, Esq., Edward Mott and Samuel Gray, Esq., be a Committee to repair to New Haven and join our agent and Committee there to represent to the Honorable the General Assembly of this Colony, now Setting in New Haven, to represent to said Assembly the present distressed Case of our Settlers on the Susquehanna Purchase, and pray the interposition of said Assembly, and that the matter respecting the claim of this Colony to the extent of our Charter may be now determined by said Assembly ; and that said Assembly would invest our settlers, now on said Purchase, with powers of Government according to the original institution of said Colony, and their predecessors ; and that his Honor, the Governor of this Colony, be desired to write to his Honor Governor Penn to release our settlers that are imprisoned at Easton from their imprisonment."

The Company then adjourned, to meet at Hartford on Tuesday, November 27, 1770, at ten o'clock in the morning, at which time and

* Among the original manuscripts in the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is one in the handwriting of Col. Zebulon Butler, of which the following is a copy :

"LOSSES IN 1770. Oct. 1770. Mem. of part of Z. Butler's effects lost at Wyoming.

"1 yoke of oxen 5 years old ; 1 yoke and draft chain-yoke marked 'Z. B'; 1 cow about 5 years old ; 3 large swine ; a complete set of Horse tackling for 2 horses, & 1 plow ; a set of Blacksmith's tools left in the care of Daniel Gore, with about 200 bushels of coles [anthracite coal] & about 70 lbs. of iron and steel ; 2 axes ; 2 hoes ; 1 ox-cart ; sundry other small tools ; 8 stacks of hay-4 on the East side of Susquehanna River, opposite the upper end of the Island [now Fish's] in the River above the Island called Button- wood [sce note on page 645, ante], on the other side of the River, nearly opposite the Fort."

+See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, IV : 391.

Digitized by Google

673

place the following business was transacted-Ebenezer Gray, Jr., acting as Clerk.

"Voted, That the Committee of this Company do, as soon as may be, send £50, L. M., to Philadelphia & Easton for Major Durkee and the rest of the New England prison- ers in gaol, to maintain and support them. * *

"Voted, That the Rev. Mr. George Beckwith, Jun., of Lyme, be entitled to one , whole share* in the Susquehanna Purchase, in part for his service in the Ministry at Wyoming, for the benefit of the settlers there.

"Voted, That all the settlers at Wyoming that do again take possession of the land at Wyoming aforesaid by the 15th of May next, and continue thereon, holding under this Company according to the former votes respecting said settlement, shall still have their settling rights, notwithstanding all that has passed.

"Voted, That the 300 settlers on the West Branch that do, by the said 15th of May next take possession of the Susquehanna land and hold according to the vote relating thereto, shall be entitled according to the former votes respecting the settlement there. "Voted, That any proprietor, or man under a proprietor, that with the aforesaid settlers do again take possession of the Susquehanna lands, shall be entitled to the vacant settling rights-if any there be-until all the vacant rights are taken up. * *

"Voted, That Nathaniel Wales, Jun., Esq., with the assistance of the Committee, be desired to draw up an Historical account of the Colony's title to those lands west of New York, and this Company's title under this Colony to the Susquehanna lands ; as also the rise and history of this Company, and transactions of the Authority and Courts of Pennsylvania with our settlers on the lands on Susquehanna River. * *

"Voted, That the Committee be desired to use every prudent and proper method that there be a full and universal meeting of the proprietors at the next adjournment, by ad- vertising in the newspapers and otherwise, as they think proper." * * *

Reference is made on page 666 to the departure of Capt. Lazarus Stewart from Fort Durkee for Lancaster County. About the middle of September Captain Stewart was in the town of Lebanon, Lancaster (now Lebanon) County, on business, when he was placed under arrest. The story of the occurrence was told by John Philip de Haas, Esq. (then a Justice of the Peace of Lebanon, but a few years later a Colonel in the Continental Army), in a deposition made by him at Philadelplsia Sep- tember 26, 1770, as followst :

"That on the 15th September deponent delivered to the Constable [Henry Johnson, a carpenter] of Lebanon a warrant from one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the Province for apprehending Lazarus Stewart, Lazarus Young and Zebulon Butler, to answer the charge of burning houses, and other misdemeanors ; and the said Constable, about ten o'clock the same day, arrested the said Lazarus Stewart in Lebanon in depon- ent's presence. That the said deponent, understanding that Stewart was a dangerous, turbulent man, and apprehending a rescue might be attempted, employed three men to assist the Constable to convey him down the country, promising them a reward of £5 to each of them if they accomplished it. * *

"Word was brought deponent that Stewart had rescued himself with the assistance of one Matthias Mause, who gave Stewart the handle of an ax, with which he had knocked down the Constable and beat him in a cruel and unmerciful manner. That thereupon this deponent went to the place where the said Stewart was, and called to sundry of the inhabitants who were there standing, and had been witnesses to the aforesaid outrageous proceeding, charging them in His Majesty's name to assist him, the deponent, and the said Constable in retaking the said Stewart, at the same time acquainting them of the crimes of which he was charged. That none of the inhabitants would obey the deponent, some of them being friends and abettors of Stewart, and the rest afraid. That the said Stewart stepped forward with a club in his hand, and abused the deponent in the most opprobrious terms. That about an hour after the rescue a party of armed men, to the number of twenty or thereabouts, rode into the town of Lebanon and joined the said Stewart, who soon afterwards came towards the said deponent, then walking before his own door, and with much scurrility and abuse, with a pistol in one hand and a club in the other, threatened him for having procured him to be arrested. The deponent, finding it necessary to defend himself, retired into his house and got his pistols. That the said Stewart attempted to follow him into the house, but one of the family fastened the door and prevented him. That the said Stewart afterwards called on the deponent to come and take him, and said that there was long ago £200 offered for him (alluding, as this deponent understood, to the said Stewart's being one of the persons concerned in murdering the Indians in Lancaster gaol, for taking whom a reward was offered by this Government).

* At Litchfield, Connecticut, September 9, 1774, Mr. Beckwith sold and conveyed this right to -. t See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," IX : 682.

Digitized by Google

674

"That the said deponent was informed by Nicholas Hausaker, inn-keeper in Leb- anon aforesaid, that the said Stewart came to said Hausaker and threatened that if he ever should obey the orders of the deponent in taking, or assisting to take, the said Stewart or any of his company, he the said Stewart would cut him to pieces and make a breakfast of his heart !"

September 27, 1770, Governor Penn laid this deposition before the Pennsylvania Assembly, accompanied by a message giving an account of the arrest of the Yankees at Wyoming, and suggesting that a reward should be offered for the capture of Lazarus Stewart. The Assembly concurred in the Governor's opinion, and October 3, 1770, the Governor issued a proclamation* setting forth the facts relative to Captain Stew- art's arrest and escape, and commanding all officers of the Province, and all citizens, "to make diligent search and inquiry after said Stewart," and promising a reward of £50 for his apprehension.

Two weeks later six citizens of Lebanon who, through fear of or sympathy for Captain Stewart, had refused to assist in arresting the lat- ter when called upon to do so by Justice de Haas, as previously men- tioned, were arrested.

Towards the end of October Captain Stewart, with a team of horses, crossed the Susquehanna at Wright's Ferry on his way to York County on business. "He was," says Pearce (in "Annals of Luzerne County," page 113), "immediately arrested by the Sheriff of York and his posse, and thrown into the county prison. Fearful of a rescue, he was hurried away, pinioned and handcuffed, early the next morning, to be carried to Philadelphia to answer for his offense in acting against his native State in favor of the Connecticut settlers. He was in charge of the Sheriff, accompanied by three assistants. No sooner had the 'Paxtang Boys' heard of his arrest than they proceeded in great haste to York, but they arrived too late. The Sheriff was one day in advance of them with his charge.

"They-the prisoner and escort-tarried for the night at Finley's, many miles on the road towards the city. The night was cold, and the three guards, with Stewart, lay down before a large fire in the bar-room, the prisoner being fastened to one of the men to prevent his escape. The Sheriff slept in an adjoining room, dreaming, doubtless, of his suc- cess, and his reception at Philadelphia with a captive whom Governor Penn had declared to be the most dangerous man in the Province ! But Stewart was wide awake. At the dead of night he cautiously unloosed the rope which bound him to the snoring guard, and with noiseless tread made his way unobserved into the open air. Handcuffed, and without coat, hat or shoes, he traveled through the woods and unfre- quented thickets to Paxtang, where he arrived on the following day."

Among the original, unpublished manuscripts in the collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one reading as follows :

"Philadelphia, 8 November, 1770. Received of the Hon. John Penn, Esq., and Joseph Fox, Michael Hillegas, William Allen and Joseph Galloway, Esquires, an order on Mr. Owen Jones, Provincial Treasurer, for £50, being the public reward due to us for the apprehending a certain Lazarus Stewart and securing him in His Majesty's Goal in the County of York according to the Governor's Proclamation of the 4th of October last. [Signed] "DAVID JONES,

"JOHN MEGRAW."

Captain Stewart remained in hiding among his friends in Paxtang until arrangements had been completed for the return of the "Paxtang Boys" to Wyoming. Their departure from Lancaster County took place

* See "Pennsylvania Archives," Fourth Series, III : 430.

Digitized by Google

675

about December 10, 1770, and their arrival at Wilkes-Barré on December 17th is chronicled in a deposition* made by Asa Ludington before Chief Justice William Allen, at Philadelphia, January 30, 1771, as follows : "That while he [Ludington] resided at Goshen in New York, John Durkee and Zebulon Butler came into that part of the country and offered to him and others 300 acres of land each at Wyoming if they would go with them and settle there. * * He went, and took his wife, and remained there until about September 20, 1770, when the fort was taken, when, being dismissed by Captain Ogden and Charles Stewart, he went from thence to Hanover Township, Lancaster County. That about two months after this [viz., in November, 1770] one Robert Frazier came there from Wyoming, and said that he had seen Thomas Craig, t who had promised to join them with a number of others and assist them in turning off the Jersey people. That one Kidd who had lately come from North- ampton confirmed the account said Frazier had given them, particularly that said Thomas Craig and John Dick had collected a number of men who would be ready on a call to assist them in taking the fort at Wyoming and in turning off the Jersey people. That the son of the said Kidd and John Simpson informed this examinant, with many more that were there with him at Hanover, that Captain Bradyt of the West Branch would also collect a number of people and come to Wyoming to assist in taking the fort and turning off the Jerseymen.

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 11

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