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 15
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
"By the inclosed you will observe what the Yankes are about, and the advice of Mr. Thompson to me is very good, but it is not in my power to raise more from this place to oppose them, agreeable to his advice. * * I am afraid that matters will not go well at Wyoming, as I have reason to think those people [the Yankees] have friends on the ground. It may be depended on that there are great matters in hand with the Yankes. as there are almost every day dispatches from Isaiah Van Campen down to Mr. [Benjamin] Shoemaker, as I suppose for him to transmit back to the [Connecticut] party how mat- ters stand amongst us. I am afraid those people will be masters of the ground, if they make their push soon, as they have a great many friends to help carry on their schemes."
On July 5th John Thompson, previously mentioned, wrote from "Nominack" to Charles Stewart, as follows :
"I had intelligence of their [the Yankees] coming before they were at Goshen, and after writing to Mr. Van Campen I went to the upper part [of the Minisinks] and was there before any of them came ; and whilst there Squire Smith* and sixteen more came, and told me that 500 more were over at Owens', commanded by Captain Butler and Mr. Stewart. But I don't believe there is so many. The whole is commanded by Major [Ezekiel] Peirce. They could be easily prevented in crossing the river here."
On July 5th Squire Van Campen also wrote to Charles Stewart, as follows :
"The bearer can give you a full account of the situation of affairs. After a great deal of trouble I have transmitted the full account to the people at Wyoming. As Ogden is not there I am afraid the next news [will be] that the people have abandoned the block-house. My advice for them is to drive all the cattle down the river, and if they could do no better, drive them down to Fort Allen."
At Kingwood, on July 8th, Charles Stewart wrote to James Tilgh- man, transmitting the letters of Thompson and Van Campen, and stating : "This instant the bearer delivered me the enclosed. He came directly from over the [Blue] Mountain, and saw Captain Ogden near Aaron De Pui's, t who told him he would set off directly for Wioming and take possession of the block-houset with such a party as he could get to support him. I fear the number will be small. The bearer bas also seen and knows several of the advance party [of the Yankees]-Squire Smith in par- ticular, he being one of them who signed the Terms of Agreement. § The great scarcity of bread corn along the river will certainly occasion some delay to so great a number as they are reported to be, viz .. 500 men-but suppose them to be only half that number. If they are not repelled before they get to Wioming they will certainly carry their point and dispossess our people. I need not write you what the bearer can relate. He is a young man of truth, and has been engaged in Wioming affairs from the first time I went there until this day, and hath always behaved with spirit. I have prevailed on him, tho fatigued, to wait on you with this disagreeable intelligence, which affects me more than any former news relating to Wioming has done. I hope that the Government of Penn- sylvania will exert itself, and that these heroes will be met at Delaware River by the Sheriff of Northampton County and conducted to Wioming via Philadelphia. I hear they expect a supply of provisions up Susquehanna River."
In the Spring of 1771, when the Pennamite settlers seemed to be in a fair way to become securely established in Wyoming Valley, they
*JOHN SMITH, mentioned on page 410, etc.
t In Lower Smithfield Township. Ogden had not gone to Philadelphia, as Van Campen had presumed. # Fort Wyoming. ¿ See page 628.
Digitized by Google
693
erected near the m. 1th of Mill Creek a small saw-mill, and not far from it-orathe ground where the New England pioneers of 1762-'63 had built their blackhouse, and where subsequently (see page 460, Vol. I) Captain Ogden had established his trading-house-they erected a small block- house, to be occupied by a detail of settlers who would guard the mill. As soon as the mill was in running order planks, boards, etc., were sawed, and a number of small dwelling-houses were erected at various points in the valley. By the middle of June, or first of July, 1771, these houses were in the occupancy, chiefly, of the married men of the settlement and their families, while the unmarried men occupied Fort Wyoming and the Mill Creek block-house. In the absence from the settlement of Charles Stewart and Capt. Aaron Ogden, at the beginning of July, Col. Asher Clayton, previously mentioned, seems to have been the chief man on the ground. At Philadelphia, August 22, 1771, Colonel Clay- ton made a deposition before James Biddle, a Justice of the Peace, which reads, in part, as follows* :
"ASHER CLAYTON, of Philadelphia, Gentleman, deposes that on July 6, 1771, he was at Wyoming, improving his farm there, when he received notice of the approach of the armed men commanded by Stewart and Butler; * * and thereupon he and the other inhabitants, with their families, making in all eighty-two men, women and children, retired into a block-house, t taking with them the principal part of their effects. Deponent sent out two men to reconnoiter, and one of them returned about one o'clock the next morning, saying that his companion, James Bertroug, had been taken prisoner by the Yankees at the Lackawannack.# About eleven o'clock the same day [Monday, July 8, 1771] Bertroug returned and said he had been taken prisoner the preceding night by a party of fifty or sixty men under Stewart and Butler, who told him they were come by authority of the Government of Connecticut to take possession of that country, and were determined to do it, or would perish in the attempt ; and that while he [Bertroug] was with them they took possession of a house at the mouth of Mill Creek, and a mill on the same creek. Bertroug further informed, that by stating that he had no concern in the land he was released, and was sent with a message from Butler to Clayton asking for a conference at any place he would appoint.
"In consequence he [Clayton] met Butler the next day, [July 9th], at about one- half mile distance from the block-house-Butler being accompanied by Ezekiel Peirce and Clayton by Daniel Meade. Butler told what they [the Yankees] were there for, viz .: that they came under authority and protection of the Government of Connecticut to take possession of the lands there, and were determined to obtain and keep possession of them at the risk of their lives ; and, pointing to about thirty of his party who were advanced within a small distance, said he wished the right could be determined by their engage- ment with an equal number.§ To all which the deponent (Clayton) answered that he should not dispute with him about the right to the lands, as it was a matter neither of them could determine ; but that the inhabitants having settled there under the Propri- etaries of this Province, he and they would endeavor to maintain their possession until they could have orders from the Government. That deponent suggested that Butler should draw off his party to the opposite side of the River, and that neither party should molest the other until Clayton should receive advices from the Government. This was rejected, and they parted without reaching terms. That from that time he (Clayton),
*See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," IX : 767.
t Fort Wyoming, on the river bank near the present Northampton Street.
The Lackawanna River, along which, for some distance-as previously explained-ran the "Upper Road to the Delaware," over which Captain Butler and his command marched to Wyoming.
§ Gordon, in his "History of Pennsylvania," refers to this incident, and asserts that Captain Butler proposed to Colonel Clayton that "the rights of the respective claimants should be determined by com- bat, between thirty men to be chosen from each side. But the proposition was rejected." Trial by battle, or "wager of battel"-a combat decisive of the merits of a cause turning on disputed matters of fact-was immemorially in use among the northern nations of Europe up to the sixteenth century ; and, even as late as the latter part of the seventeenth century, it was resorted to on one occasion in Zebulon Butler's own town of Lyme, in Connecticut. Of course that was before his time, but he, just as all other Lymeites, was familiar with the story of the incident. For years there had existed between the people of Lyme and the adjoining town of New London a controversy over a strip of land. It was finally agreed, since the tract was not worth the expense of further litigation, to settle the question-not by committees, courts or legislative enactments, but by a trial of skill and strength between champions selected for the purpose ; which was regarded as leaving it to the Lord to decide !"Dr. Dwight, in his "Travels," refers to the matter in these words : "New London selected two men, of the names of Picket and Lattimer ; Lyme committed its cause to two others, named [Matthew] Griswold and [William] Ely. On a day mutually appointed, the champions appeared in the field and fought with their fists till victory was declared in favor of each of the Lyme combatants. Lyme then quietly took possession of the controverted tract, and has held it undisputed to the present day." This, it is presumed, is the only instance in which a public controversy was ever decided in New England pugnis et calcibus.
Digitized by Google
694
with the rest of the inhabitants in the block-house, kept on their guard to prevent a sur- prise, and laid in what provisions they could, apprehending that Butler and his party would endeavor to put their threats in execution.'
From an original unpublished document entitled "List of Settlers, 1771-from 15 July to August 19th," partly in the handwriting of Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, and partly in that of Captain Butler, and now preserved in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, we learn the names of the Yankee adventurers and their associates who arrived here on July 8th. They numbered sixty-five, and were as follows : Gore, Daniel
Atherton, Asahel
Reynolds, Christopher
Atherton, James
Gore, Asa
Stewart, Capt. Lazarus -
Butler, Capt. Zebulon
Gore, Silas
Stewart, William
Biggers, James
Harris, Peter
Stewart, Lazarus-Jr.
Buck, Lieut. William
Jolley, Capt. John
Smith, Capt. John§
Buck, Aholiab
Jones, Crocker
Smith, Abel
Bellene, Reuben*
Johnson, Edward
Smith, Timothy
Brokaw, John
Lyon, Asa
Staples, John
Chase, John
McClure, Thomas
Stanton, Abraham
Comstock, John
McCoy, Ephraim
Speedy, William
Cook, Richardt
Manvil, Nicholas
Terry, Parshall
Dean, Ezra
Marvin, Capt. David
Terry, Parshall-Jr.
Durkee, Johnt
Marvin, Matthew
Utter, Moses
Dorrance, John
Marvin, Uriah Minard, George
Van Orman, Brink
Fish, Jabez
Vincent, Isaac
Franklin, Roasel
Parke, William
Whittlesey, Capt. Eliphalet
Follett, Capt. Benjamin
Parkes, Josiah
Williams, Peter
Fish, Elisha
Peirce, Maj. Ezekiel
Wilder, Aaron
French, Thomas
Pelton, Paul
Woodward, Richard
Gardner, Peregrine
Pettebone, Noah-Sr.
Yale, Oziaş
Goss, Philip
Post, Stephen
Yale, Enos
Gore, Obadiah
Young, William
Having failed to accomplish anything by his interview with Colonel Clayton, Captain Butler returned with his men to the block-house at Mill Creek, where they settled down to await, not only the arrival of a number of men who, having enlisted for the expedition, had remained behind to attend to their harvests, but also the coming of additional volunteers who were to be hurried forward by the Standing Committee of the Company.
The Hon. Richard Penn, one of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, having died, his son John, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, em- barked for England at Philadelphia, May 4, 1771, and two days later the Hon. James Hamilton (see page 386, Vol. I), as the oldest member of the Provincial Council, assumed, in conformity with the law, the office of "President," and began to exercise the duties of the Lieutenant Governor. July 10, 1771, having received information from James Tilghman of the crossing of the Delaware by Zebulon Butler and his armed band of "about 500 Connecticut people," and their march Wyo- ming-ward, President Hamilton issued a proclamation in which he referred to the previous attempts of the Connecticut people to settle at Wyoming, and then declared :
"Whereas, We have received intelligence that a number of people of the said Colony of Connecticut are now again assembled in arms, and proceeding on their way to this Province in a hostile and warlike manner, in order violently and forcibly to take posses- sion of the said lands on the Susquehanna ; And Whereas, By an Act of the General Assembly of this Province made in the present year, it is enacted that if any persons, to the number of twelve or more, being unlawfully, riotously and tumultuously assembled together, * * and being required or commanded * * by proclamation in the King's
*Marked, "Deserted August 14th." t Marked, "Dead 80th."
# Eldest son of Maj. John Durkee. See page 486, Vol. I.
¿ JOHN SMITH, Esq., mentioned on page 692, and the father of Abel and Timothy Smith, whose names follow his in the list here printed.
Digitized by Google .
695
name to disperse, *
* and not dispersing, but continuing together, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy, and the offenders shall be adjudged felons, and shall suffer death as in case of felony, without benefit of clergy."
In conclusion, all persons were forbidden "to intrude upon, settle or possess any of the aforesaid land, without express permission of the Government." This proclamation was printed, and copies of it were sent to the Sheriffs of the counties of Northampton, Berks and Lancaster, "to be disseminated." Of course-as we have previously narrated-be- fore this proclamation reached the public Captain Butler and his "in- truders" had reached Wyoming.
Captain Ogden arrived in Wyoming almost as soon as the Yankees, and at Fort Wyoming he found the inmates in a state of confusion and indecision. To convey immediate intelligence of the situation to head- quarters at Philadelphia seemed to be absolutely necessary, and Ogden himself determined to be the messenger. Leaving the fort on July 12th, in the night-time, he reached Philadelphia three days later, and the next morning (July 16th) appeared before the Provincial Council. He stated* that there were about forty men of the Pennsylvanians at Wyoming "(many others being absent taking care of their harvests on the Dela- ware), and about 150 women and children, who, on the approach of the Connecticut intruders, were obliged to take refuge in a block-house, where they had but a small quantity of provisions, which could not last them longer than about ten days; that unless some relief and assistance were immediately sent to them they would be obliged to abandon their settlements and leave the Connecticut trespassers in possession of their lands and all their fields of wheat and Indian corn ; that they had, there- fore, requested him to come down with all the dispatch in his power and make application to the Government to grant them assistance."
"The Board, taking this matter into their serious consideration, were of opinion that, in order to bring to Justice that dangerous villain, Lazarus Stewart, and his daring accomplices, to preserve the Public Peace and prevent such tumults and riots as have heretofore been committed by them, in conjunction with the Connecticut people, it would be expedient and necessary to order the Sheriff and one or more Justices of the Peace of the County of Northampton to proceed without delay to Wyoming, taking with them about 100 men as a posse comitatus, in order to enforce the Riot Act lately passed in this Province. * * It was therefore agreed that 100 men should be hired to accompany the Sheriff to Wyoming, and that a quantity of provisions should be immediately provided in town [Philadelphia] and sent up to Northampton for their subsistence, and for the relief of the settlers at Wyoming ; and that James Tilghman and Joseph Shippent should proceed without delay to Easton to meet the magistrates of Northampton County, and consult with them upon the proper steps to be taken for the speedy raising of the men needed."
Within a day or two Messrs. Tilghman and Shippen proceeded to Easton, and thence to Bethlehem, where, on July 23d, they wrote to President Hamilton as followst :
"Upon our arrival at Easton we found there every magistrate in the county, who entered very warmly into the matter of raising a number of men to go over to Wyoming ; but, as the harvest is still on hand, and the service not very agreeable, we fear not much is to be done very speedily. The rendezvous is to be on Wednesday evening [July 24th] beyond the mountain, in order to see if an effectual corps can be made up. For if that cannot be immediately done, our opinion is to suspend the attempt somewhat longer till the harvest is secured, and in the meantime to send the people over a small supply of flour. We have seen two persons from the block-house who do not make the situation of the people anything like so distressful as Ogden represented ; for instead of 150 women and children (which always seemed to us very extraordinary), we cannot find that the num- ber amounts to more than thirty.
* See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," IX : 748.
t The one Secretary of the Provincial Land Office and a member of the Council, and the other Secre- tary of the Council, and both then present.
See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, IV : 419.
Digitized by Google
1 1 1
696
"A letter has been received from [Colonel] Clayton, dated on Sunday morning [July 21st], wherein he says they are all in good spirits ; and the express told us they could very well hold out for a fortnight from that time. If our people had staid on the ground after they heard of the approach of the New Englanders, we think it past a doubt they might have done what they pleased with them-being near double their number ; but there certainly has been bad management some how or other, of which we shall en- deavor to get at the bottom. The number of the Yankees, as they are called, is reported to be increased to 160, but as this comes from themselves it is not to be depended on. The last express does not think their number is so great. They [the Yankees] have col- lected all the cattle and horses together, and we doubt not but their scheme is to send them off to Jersey, and then to follow them if they find they cannot keep the ground."
At the Pennamite rendezvous "beyond the mountain" on July 24th, "notwithstanding the endeavors used by the magistrates, and by others who were employed in New Jersey to raise men, there assembled not more than about forty men instead of 100 expected to be raised ; * * whereupon it was adjudged most advisable to suspend the attempt till the harvest was over, when there would be a greater probability of pro- curing a sufficient force."* It was decided, however, that in the mean- time a party of about twenty men, under the command of Capt. John Dick, with Capt. Joseph Morris second in command, should be sent off with a supply of flour for the inmates of Fort Wyoming. Messrs. Tilgh- man and Shippen then set out for Bethlehem, leaving instructions with the magistrates, the Sheriff and Charles Stewart-who were present at the rendezvous-that another attempt should be made to raise about sixty men, to meet at Heller's, at the foot of the mountain, t on Monday, August 12th ; which number, with the party to be sent with the flour, and the men then in Fort Wyoming, were judged "sufficient to assist the Sheriff in executing the Riot Act."
Retracing our steps to Wyoming, now, we find that between July 9th and Sunday, July 21st, Captain Butler's force had been increased to ninety-eight effective men by the arrival-in squads of two, four and more, on different days-of the following-named (thirty-three in number)} :
Anguish, Jacob
Feezler, Henry
Redman, Michael
Baker, John
Feezler, John J.
Rood, Michael
Beach, Amos
Fuller, Stephen
Vincent, Cornelius
Belding, Ezra
Farnum, Levi
Wallworth, Thomas
Bennet, Isaac
Hopson, Jordan
Warner, William
Carey, Eleazar
Hibbard, Ebenezer
Weeks, Bartholomew
Carey, Barnabas
Kintnor. George
Weeks, Jesse
Drake, Nathaniel
North, John
Weeks, John
Davis, Reuben
Osburn, Jacob
Weeks, Thomas
Dougherty, John
Osburn, John
Willcox, Joseph
Fenton, William
Ricketts, Thomas
Williams, William
On Sunday, July 21st, Captain Butler decided that the time had arrived for offensive action on the part of the Yankees, and that night, about twelve o'clock, he mustered all his men and marched them in silence to the vicinity of Fort Wyoming, where, before daylight appeared, they threw up two small redoubts, or intrenchments. One of these was located on the river bank near the junction of the present West River and South Streets (about where the residence of William L. Conyngham stands), and the other on the plain opposite the fort, near the intersec- tion of the present Northampton and Main Streets. Fort Wyoming was within musket-shot of both these intrenchments, which also com-
* See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," IX : 750.
t A few miles south-east of the Wind Gap, in what is now Plainfield Township, Northampton County. See in Chapter XXIII "Map of North-eastern Pennsylvania."
# See the original list mentioned on page 694.
Digitized by Google
697
manded the approaches to the "Pennamites' Path" and the old "War- rior Path," previously described. During Monday these intrenchments were occupied by details from the Yankee force, and thus the invest- ment of Fort Wyoming was begun in earnest. Monday night the Yankees erected two other redoubts, one being located on the north- western shore of the river immediately opposite the Pennamite fort, and the other on the brow of a hill quite near the south-eastern margin of the river and 800 yards north-east of the fort.
At that period a rocky ridge-a spur of the hills which lie south of Mill Creek, within the bounds of what are now the First and the Sixteenth Wards of the city of Wilkes-Barre-extended unbrokenly in a south-westerly direction from that locality, and terminated some- what abruptly on the river bank a few rods north-east of the junction of the present Union and River Streets.
The line of this ridge* is still distinguishable as far as Jackson Street, although Courtright Avenue, North Street and other streets and lanes have been cut through it. Below Jackson Street the ridge has been entirely removed within recent years. First, in 1833, its southern extremity was shaved off when the chan- nel of the North Branch Canal was excavated, and next, in the Summer of 1851, a roadwayt was cut through it-being the ex- tension of River Street northward to connect with The Wilkes-Barre and Providence Plank Road, then about to be construct- ed. The opening of this street, or road, left a dome- shaped mass of rock, some "THE REDOUBT" IN MARCH, 1865. Viewed from near the corner of Union and River Streets .; twenty-five or thirty feet in height, standing between the road and the canal basin, isolated from the main part of the ridge-along whose north- western base, from the canal to North Street, the road ran. Early in the Spring of 1886 this dome-shaped hill was removed, with the exception of a very small section, a few feet in height (shown in the lower illustra- tion on the next page), left standing at the edge of the canal bank. In the Summer of 1886 West Jackson Street was cut through the main part of the ridge to connect with River Street, and two years later the remaining portion of the ridge south-west of Jackson Street was removed.
* A general view of this ridge north-east of North Street, as it was in 1901, is shown in the picture facing the next page.
t This roadway was excavated under the supervision of Dr. Charles F. Ingham, Capt. Eleazar B. Collings and Mr. Peter McC. Gilchrist, in pursuance of a resolution passed by the Town Council of the borough of Wilkes-Barre. According to the specifications the roadway was constructed "twenty-four feet wide, and on a line and level with the towing-path bridge"-which is shown in the upper illustration on the next page. The cost of cutting the road through the ridge was $540.
¿ Reproduced from a photograph taken at the time of the great freshet of 1865, described in Chapter XI.VI. The people represented in the picture were watching the rising waters of the Susquehanna.
Digitized by
: 1
698
It was upon the southernmost brow of this ridge that the Yankees constructed in July, 1771, their largest redoubt, which they named "Fort Defiance." Its re- mains were "still visi- ble" in 1830,* and the hill had then, for many years, been call- ed "Redoubt Hill." Later it was known simply as "The Re- doubt,"and under this name it is frequently referred to in the fol- lowing pages. After theextension of North River Street through Redoubt Hill the dome-shaped, isolated A VIEW OF "THE REDOUBT" IN 1878. Looking south-east from the south-western bank of the Canal Basin. portion of the hill, previously described, was called "The Re- doubt" (or, as the name was most generally pronounced, and sometimes spelled-even in our local newspapers-"The Red'-out"), and this name it bore till its demolition.
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.