A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 31

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 31

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).

Joseph Sluman died peacefully and quietly in 1776 at East Haddam, about eighteen miles south-west of Norwich, where Charles Miner was born four years later.

Digitized by Google

771

in the Susquehanna Purchase, located and laid out for them the town- ship of "Newport," west of and adjoining Hanover, and about eight miles south-west of Wilkes-Barre. January 17, 1774, this township was formally granted by the Company to those proprietors who had applied for it.

May 12, 1773, Nathanial Wales and Ebenezer Gray, Jr., a com- mittee duly appointed, made report to "the Committee of Settlers on the Susquehanna River in Connecticut" that, "in consequence of the liberty granted" to them April 30th, they had laid out two townships-the first, "Salem" (on the west bank of the North Branch of the Susque- hanna River, below the mouth of Shickshinny Creek, and about eight miles below the valley of Wyoming), and the second, "Westminster" (on the West Branch of the River, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek-men- tioned on page 737, ante). On the same day, at Wilkes-Barre, Zebulon Butler, Ezekiel Peirce, Stephen Fuller and Obadiah Gore, Jr., of the Committee of Settlers, manifested and signified their "acceptance of the doings of N. Wales and E. Gray, Jr." Among the original proprietors of Salem were Robert Jameson, Nathan Beach and Jeremiah Ross. (For the location of Salem with relation to Wilkes-Barre, see the map facing page 468, Vol. I.)

Early in May the township of "Parkbury" was laid out within the bounds of The Delaware Company's Purchase (see page 293), and about the 20th of May the lands of the township were allotted to the propri- etors thereof. Reference is here made to this matter for the reason that when, in 1774, the town of Westmoreland was erected, the settlement at Parkbury was included within its limits. Parkbury was located in what is now Palmyra Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania, and by May 21, 1773, a small stockaded fort and five houses had been built "on ye side of an hill facing toward ye north-west," about half a mile from Wallenpaupack Creek. There were at that time "about thirty men and lads and five women" in the settlement. Among the original drawers of lots in Parkbury were the following-named: Capt. Silas Park*, Abel N. Kimball, Benjamin Lothrop, Gilbert Denton, Daniel Denton, Ephraim Killam, Jephthah Killam, Jonathan Haskell, John Ainsley, Capt. Zebulon Parrish, Isaac Parrish, Stephen Parrish, Elijah Witter, Nathaniel Gates, David Gates, Ezekiel Yarington, Hezekiah Bingham, John Hurlbut, John Pellet, William Pellet, Walter Kimball, Eliab Farnam, Uriah Chapman, Jacob Kimball, Zadock Killam and Obadiah Gore, Jr.

Contiguous to, or within a short distance from, Parkbury the town of "Huntington" was laid out (in the Delaware Purchase) early in May, 1773, and in the following August a drawing of lots by the proprietors took place. (See F. C. Johnson's Historical Record, I: 213, 214, and II : 78.)

At Windham, Connecticut, July 7, 1773, the Standing Committee of The Susquehanna Company, "in consideration of sundry beneficial Services done by Samuel Huntington of Norwich for said Company",

*Capt. SILAS PARK was, undoubtedly, the man for whom Parkbury was named. He was in Wyo- ming as early as June, 1769 (see pages 667 and 677), and was one of the original proprietors of New Provi- dence. During and after May, 1778, he was located at Parkbury-at least until July, 1778, when, after the battle of Wyoming, all the settlers at Parkbury fled to New York and New Jersey. Miner says ("History of Wyoming." page 467) that Silas Park never returned to the settlement after the Revolution. He had two sons : Silas, a fifer in Capt. Dethick Hewitt's company, who was killed in the battle of Wyo- ming, and Moses, who at a later period was a clergyman in New Jersey.

Digitized by Google

772

granted and conveyed to him "one whole Share in the Lands in said Susquehanna Purchase, in equal proportion with the other Proprietors." Samuel Huntington, who was the elder brother of the Rev. Enoch Huntington-the first of that name mentioned in the note on page 293-was, at the time the aforementioned grant was made, a member of the General Assembly of Connecticut. In 1774 he was appointed an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, and in 1775 was sent as a Delegate from Connecticut to the Continental Congress. From 1779 till 1781 he was President of Congress; in 1784 he was appointed Chief Justice of Connecticut ; in the same year he was elected Lieuten- ant Governor of the State, and in 1786 was elected Governor-holding this office, by successive re-elections, until his death in January, 1796. February 13, 1796, Samuel and Fanny Huntington of Norwich, "de- visees and residuary legatees of His Excellency Samuel Huntington, Esq., late of Norwich," sold and transferred to Elisha Hyde and Elisha Tracy of Norwich the original right in the Susquehanna Purchase which had been donated as hereinbefore described.

Upon page 767 mention is made of the fact that at the meeting of The Susquehanna Company held June 2, 1773, directions were given "for locating and laying out" a tract of land for Gov. Jonathan Trum- bull. In the latter part of July, 1773, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., and David Trumbull, sons of Governor Trumbull (see page 471, Vol. I), arrived at Wilkes-Barre from Lebanon, Connecticut, bearing from the Governor a letter reading as follows : *

"LEBANON 19TH JULY, 1773.

"Sir-My two sons bring with them, The Vote of the Susquahannah Company, and the Order of the Committee to locate, Survey and lay out to me five hundred acres of Land within said Susquahannah purchase. They likewise bring with them a Certificate of my payment of all Taxes due on my Right to the present time. These are to ask your, and the rest of the Committee for directing the Settlement of the Lands, favour to assist in looking out and finding some good and convenient place to lay the five hundred acres ; -I am also told that this grant doth not prevent my having my first proportion of a Settler's Right-that the same may be laid adjoyning to this Grant, or otherwise as is judged best. This Favour and assistance will be very acceptable, and all Trouble and Expences satisfied. The copies of my two last letters from Mr. Agent Lifet are enclosed, whereby it appears that the Opinion of Counsel of the first consequence is fully in Favour of the Title of the Colony to the Lands lying Westward of the Province of New York. Wishing you good order and Prosperity, I am with great Respect, Gentlemen, "Your obedient

"Capt. Zebulon Butler, and the Rest "humble servant,

of the Comtee at Susquahannah. "JONTH TRUMBULL."

Relative to the business which brought Jonathan and David Trum- bull to Wilkes-Barre we find the following recorded on pages 32 and 92 of Book "F" of the original records of The Susquehanna Company- referred to on page 28, Vol. I.

"Whereas the Committee of The Susquehanna Company, pursuant to a vote of the said Company, did authorize and empower Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., and David Trumbull, Esquires, to locate, survey and lay out to the Hon. Jon. Trumbull 500 acres of land within the Susquehanna Purchase ; and whereas the said Jonathan Trumbull, Esq., is a propri- etor of one whole share in said Purchase, and has not had any share laid out to him in any township already laid out ; and whereas the said Company by their vote the 2d June, 1773, ordered and directed that Maj. John Durkee, Messrs. Vine Elderkin, Ebenezer Gray, Jr., Andrew French and Capt. Ebenezer Backus should, for the losses sustained, be provided for and each made equal to a right in the township of Kingston, according to the present value thereof ; and that Capt. Zebulon Butler, Isaac Tripp, Esq., and Nathan Denison should be a committee to determine the quantity of land each of the

* The original letter is now in the possession of the present writer.

t THOMAS LIFE, Esq., a London solicitor of high character, established at Basinghall Street, who was the agent or attorney for Connecticut in England. In 1767, and earlier, he was solicitor for John Wilkes, during the latter's troublous times at home and abroad.

Digitized by Google

773

abovenamed should have, &c .; and whereas said five persons, by their agents, Capt. Z. Butler and Ebenezer Gray, Jr., have agreed with said Jonathan and David Trumbull, in behalf of the Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, that said 500 acres and said right as a proprietor, of 600 acres, and the rights to be laid to said five other persons, should be laid on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and should be held in common and undivided, according to the quantities of them granted and located. * * * We have, therefore, laid out 3,200 acres of land to the said Hon. Jonathan Trumbull and said five persons, sufferers, as aforesaid-viz. : 1,100 acres for Trumbull, and 425 acres for each of the others-at Warriour's Run .*.

"Dated-August 14, 1778. [Signed] "JON. TRUMBULL, JR., Agents for the

"DAVID TRUMBULL, Hon. Jon. Trumbull.

"ZEBN BUTLER, { Agents for Major

"EBENR GRAY, JR., ( Durkee and others."

"We the subscribers do hereby approve the above survey as described, &c. Wilks- barre, August 14, 1773. [Signed] "ZEBN BUTLER, Comtee for

"OBADIAH GORE, JR., "ISAAC TRIPP, laying out lands."

In February, 1796, David Trumbull, Executor of the will of former Governor Trumbull, deceased, gave to Ezekiel Hyde (then of Norwich, Connecticut, but later of Wilkes-Barre) a Power of Attorney authorizing him to examine as to the rights in the Susquehanna Purchase belong- ing to the estates of Jonathan and Joseph Trumbull, and to David Trumbull himself, and to locate said rights if the same had not already been done. March 1, 1796, Simon Spalding, John Jenkins and John Franklin, Commissioners of The Susquehanna Company, granted unto David Trumbull, the estates of Jonathan and Joseph Trumbull, Ezekiel Hyde and others a township five miles square (containing 16,000 acres of land), to be located on the East Branch of the Susquehanna, and to be named "Trumbull".

The present writer has been unable to find copies of the two letters from Thomas Life to Governor Trumbull, referred to in the latter's letter hereinbefore printed. The letters in question were written at London in April and May, 1773, and contained among other matters the opinions of the eminent counsel who had been employed to answer the queries propounded in behalf of the Colony of Connecticut relative to the Colony's claim to the lands westward of New York. (See pages 651 and 732.) Copies of these letters were sent by Governor Trumbull to Col. Elizur Talcott June 29, 1773. However, among the "Trumbull Papers" (referred to on page 29) there is an original letter from Thomas Life to Governor Trumbull, under the date of July 7, 1773, in which he states that March 19, 1773, he had written to the solicitor of the Penn family, at Bloomsbury Square, London, as follows :

"I find by letters from America that two Acts have been lately passed in the Province of Pennsylvania for erecting a part of the counties of Lancaster, Cumberland, Berks, Northampton and Bedford into a separate county ; and the other for preventing riots, &c. It is very probable that the execution of these two laws-at least of the last of them, which makes it felony for twelve persons to assemble together-may create a great deal of bloodshed, and perhaps many persons may be condemned to death for keep- ing possession of land which they may have good reason to think themselves intitled to. The Colony of Connecticut have had it under their consideration for near two years past whether they should support the inhabitants of the country in question by claiming the same against the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania. It appears to me that their determin- ation will depend on the opinion of the several counsel of the first eminence before whom I have laid the case, by the Colony's direction. * *

"Under the date of May 10, 1773, Mr. Penn's solicitor replied as follows: * * 'I have consulted the Proprietors of Pennsilvania upon it, and I am directed by them to acquaint you that your clients, the settlers in the Province of Pennsilvania, have chosen to support themselves by an armed force, and have refused every overture (many of which were made to them) to bring the matter to a legal and constitutional decision, choosing, in opposition to all constitutional overtures, to rely upon their arms. The

* In the northern part of the present county of Northumberland.

Digitized by Google

774

Colony of Connecticut, too, once disavowed supporting or giving any incouragement to these unlawful Intruders. I am desired to acquaint you that the Proprietaries of Penn- silvania never will decline any legal and constitutional decision of the point in question.' I have wrote to Dr. [William Samuel] Johnson by this packet on this subject. Some- thing must be done in this matter. You'll please therefore to send me proper authority from the Colony to act by petition to the King, or otherwise, as I shall be advised, for terminating the matters in dispute between Pennsylvania and the Colony of Connecticut on account of The Susquehanna Company."

At a town-meeting held at Wilkes-Barre August 23, 1773, with Jacob Sill acting as Moderator and Joseph Sluman as Clerk, the follow- ing was voted :

"That a call or invitation shall be given to the Rev. Jacob Johnson, late of Groton, in the Colony of Connecticut, who for some time past has been preaching in this place, to continue a settler with us as our gospel minister. That Mr. Johnson shall be paid £60 the year ensuing, on the present list," and his salary shall rise annually, as our list rises, till it amounts to £100."

At a meeting of "the Proprietors of the settling towns on the East Branch of the Susquehanna River at the fort in Wilks Barra, Septem- ber 14, 1773," Capt. Zebulon Butler was chosen Moderator, and Christo- pher Avery, Clerk. The following business was transacted : t

"Voted, That the Directors of the several towns be ordered to call on all the inhabit- ants within each of the towns to sign the agreement, ; and to make returns of the names of all those that refuse or neglect to sign, to the Committee of Settlers, and that the same be done by the 1st October next.

"Voted, That Mr. John Jenkins be appointed a Director for the town of Exeter.

"Voted, That this Company will send a committee, or agents, two in number, to the General Assembly in October next.

"Voted, That Mr. Halstead, Augustin Hunt, Parshall Terry, Anderson Dana, Thomas Heath, John Grant, John Jenkins, Jr., Roasel Franklin, John Jameson and Philip Goes be a committee jointly and severally to examine the several persons supposed to be Penn- amites who are taking possession of any place on The Susquehanna Company's land, or any persons that are now taking up land in the settling towns, and make report to the next meeting of this Company in October."

The meeting then adjourned till September 25th, at the same place, at which time-the Committee of Settlers having been desired to be present "to inspect the taking of the votes for Agents to attend the General Assembly at New Haven in October"-an election was held, and Joseph Sluman (then in Connecticut) and Capt. Timothy Smith were duly elected Agents. It was then voted :

"That Mr. Parshall Terry has kept the ferry on both sides of the river against the fort, during the pleasure of the Company of settlers, under the present regulations of the ferry by this Company. Voted, That Mr. Timothy Rose of Kingstown have liberty to keep a ferry opposite the Forty Fort, during the pleasure of this Company, and on the same regulations."

The above is the first mention made in the minutes of the town- meetings of the "Forty Fort," which stood in the upper end of Kings- ton Township, at the bend of the river about two miles below Monoca- nock Island, and about two and a-third miles (in a bee-line) north of Fort Wyoming on the river bank in Wilkes-Barre. The Forty Fort -thus named, of course, because it stood in, and was erected by the proprietors of, the township originally known as the "Forty Town- ship"-was a rudely-built stockaded fort, the erection of which was begun in the latter part of November, or early in December, 1772. Some chroniclers of Wyoming history have stated that this fort was built in 1769 by the "First Forty" (see page 472), while others-the majority-have fixed upon 1770 as the year of its erection. However, the two extracts from "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre" reproduced

* The tax-list, or rate-bill, of the settlement.

t See page 1,165 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre."

Į See page 765.

Digitized by Google

VIEW UP THE SUSQUEHANNA FROM THE SITE OF FORTY FORT. (From a Photograph taken in June, 1903.)

Google

Digitized by

Google

775

on pages 735 and 755, taken in connection with other evidence, show, conclusively, that as late as November 18, 1772, there was no fortified structure in Kingston Township.

In September or October, 1773, the block-house at Mill Creek was abandoned, nearly all the settlers who had occupied quarters there hav- ing erected houses in Wilkes-Barre town-plot or elsewhere and moved into them.

At a general meeting of the proprietors of the settling towns held at "Wilksbarra" October 19, 1773, with Capt. Stephen Fuller as Mod- erator and Capt. Obadiah Gore, Sr., as Clerk, the following was adopted :

"Whereas, there is yet a number of inhabitants that has not yet signed our Articles of Agreement, and still neglect the same, it is now Voted, That the Directors of each town set up a notification to call upon all who has neglected or refused; and that if they do not sign by the next adjourned meeting they shall be esteemed as common enemies to our cause, and will be dealt with as such by this Company."

At an adjourned meeting of the settlers held at "Wilksbarre Fort" October 26, 1773, the following report was received and read, and the votes mentioned hereinafter were passed.

"A Report of the Comtee of Settlers at Wyoming to the company of settlers now convened-upon a complaint of a Comtee against ASA BROWN for being an enemy to our Company by publicly declaring himself such an one. We have heard the above evidence to the abovementioned complaint, and judge him to be guilty in manner and form as set forth in said complaint, and have considered he is an unwholesome inhabitant, and agreeably to the votes of The Susquehanna Company must not be suffered to continue amongst us. All which we recommend to your serious consideration.

[Signed] "ZEBN BUTLER, "OBADIAH GORE,

"STEPHEN FULLER, "NATHAN DENISON."

"Voted, That Mr. John Perkins' excuse for not signing our Articles of Agreement are insufficient.

"Voted, That Peter Harris shall have a hearing at the next meeting, respecting signing the Articles of Agreement.

"Voted, That Timothy Keyes be a Collector of the Road Tax in the room of Solomon Johnson."

The General Assembly of Connecticut convened, for its regular semi-annual session, at New Haven, October 14, 1773. Some time previously to that date Timothy Smith set out from his home in Kings- ton for Connecticut. Going to East Haddam he acquainted Joseph Sluman with the desires of the Wyoming settlers, and then the two men journeyed to New Haven. There they worked assiduously to bring about the establishment of a regular and permanent form of government for the persistent petitioners on the banks of the Susque- hanna. The personal efforts of these Agents were supplemented by a number of petitions which came to the Assembly from various quarters in Connecticut signed by citizens of the Colony who were not connected with The Susquehanna Company, and who prayed that the Assembly would take action in regard to the jurisdiction, title, etc., of the Susquehanna lands. The Assembly continued in session until near the close of October, and before adjourning referred the case of the Susque- hanna settlers to a joint-committee of both Houses of the Assembly, with directions to report thereon at an adjourned session of the Assem- bly to be held at Hartford in January, 1774. At the beginning of the same session the Assembly, having received a favorable opinion from "counsel of the first eminence in Great Britain, who had been consulted* on the Right and Title of the Governor and Company of the Colony of

*See page 778.

Digitized by Google

776

Connecticut to the lands within the limits of its Patent, lying westward of the Province of New York," passed the following resolutions, in pursuance of a report made by Dr. William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman, Esq., a committee of the Upper House.

"Resolved, That the Assembly, at this time, will assert, and in some proper way support, their claim to those lands contained within the limits and boundaries of their Charter which are westward of the Province of New York.

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to treat with Governor Penn respecting an amicable agreement between the two Colonies concerning boundaries, either to settle by mutual agreement, or join in an application to His Majesty for commissioners to settle said line."

At New Haven, under the date of November 4, 1773, Joseph Slu- man wrote to Zebulon Butler at Wilkes-Barré as follows :

"Was acquainted by Mr. Timothy Smith, the Monday evening following the sitting of the Assembly, that I was chose Agent to prefer a petition to said Assembly in behalf of the settlers at Susquehannah. * * The next morning proceeded to New Haven with Mr. Smith and found that the question relative to the lands westward of Delaware River belonging to the Colony had been taken up the week before, and that the Assembly had resolved to assert and support their right thereto. * * Upon our memorial or petition a committee was chosen from both Houses to erect a Jurisdiction. The report was to make a County, with every kind of officers necessary-both civil and military. The report was laid over to the second Wednesday of January, 1774-to which time the Assembly stands adjourned. * * Mr. Smith is waiting for this letter. * * His Honor, the Governor, in opening the Assembly, urgently pressed our distressed situation at the Susquehannah. * * I hold it best for me not to return to the Susquehannah until after January."

Under the date of November 8, 1773, Col. Elizur Talcott wrote from Glastonbury, Connecticut, to Zebulon Butler :

"You will have all the news of what our Assembly has done for us, by Mr. Timothy Smith, your agent for the settlers, who is better able to tell you than I am, for I left New Haven some time before he did."

News of the action of the Connecticut Assembly reached Phila- delphia very shortly thereafter, and almost immediately considerable activity was manifested on the part of a large number of Pennsyl- vanians to whom the Provincial Land Office had previously issued land- warrants, under which the holders desired to have surveys of land made for them within the territory claimed by The Susquehanna Company. In the latter part of October and early in November, 1773, the follow- ing Pennsylvania surveys-among a large number-were made within the bounds of the Susquehanna Purchase, and within thirty miles of Wilkes-Barré. The "Manor of Dundee," containing 3,520 acres, sur- veyed by Charles Stewart, Deputy Surveyor, on Wyalusing Creek ; 311 acres surveyed to John Fourman, on the south side of Nescopeck Creek ; 327 acres to Edward Thatcher, on Nescopeck Creek ; "Antigua," con- taining 322 acres, surveyed to Isaac Coxe, Jr., on Nescopeck Creek, "two miles east of the Indian path leading from the mouth of Nesco- peck Creek to Fort Allen" (see page 237, Vol. I) ; "Ballyrean," contain- ing 335 acres, surveyed to John Maxwell Nesbitt on Nescopeck Creek, two and a-half miles eastward of the Indian path abovementioned ; "Inniskilling," containing 352 acres, surveyed to Jonathan Nesbitt on Nescopeck Creek, three miles eastward of the Indian path abovemen- tioned ; . "Venison Market," containing 327 acres, surveyed to John Emley "on and adjoining the Indian path from Nescopeck to Fort Allen," and 310 acres to Samuel Rogers on Nescopeck Creek, "about one mile west" of the abovementioned path.

At a meeting of the Wyoming inhabitants held at Wilkes-Barre December 8, 1773, with John Jenkins, Sr., presiding as Moderator and

Digitized by Google

777

Maj. Ezekiel Peirce acting as Clerk, the following business was trans- acted :

"Voted, That Mr. Sluman, Timothy Smith and John Jenkins be Agents to attend the General Assembly at Hartford in January, [1774].

"l'oted, That Christopher Avery, Samuel Slaughter, Capt. [Lazarus] Stewart, Mr. Solomon Strong and Esquire [Isaac] Tripp be a committee to advise and consult with our Agents to draw up a plan, in order to transmit [it] by our Agents, to be laid before the General Assembly in January-the committee to meet in Kingstown, at the house of Thomas Bennet, Friday, December 18th, at 10 A. M.

"l'oted, That Kingstown and Plymouth are willing to dismiss ye Rev. Mr. Johnson from his former agreement in dividing his labor in preaching ye gospel amongst us .*

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 31

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