A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 66

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 66

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).

It is more than probable that these men were not "deserters from the American army," but formed a part of the body of Westmoreland Tories that, after the battle of Oriskany, had been sent to the Susquehanna region under the command of James Secord to plunder the Americans of their cattle. (See pages 935 and 939.)

In October, 1777, Lieut. Asa Stevens was detailed to go on a scout up the river with a squad of nine men from Wilkes-Barre. They were gone several days, and returned with five suspected persons as prisoners. In the latter part of November Lieut. John Jenkins, Jr., in command of a scouting party from the 24th Regiment, was captured by a band of Tories and Indians near Wyalusing and sent to Fort Niagara, as men- tioned on page 806. About the 20th of December Lieut. Col. George Dorrance, in command of a force of 111 officers and men of the 24th Regiment, went up the Susquehanna as far as Wysox, Towanda and Sheshequin to disperse or capture a settlement of Tories in that locality. They suffered considerably from cold and hunger and a severe snow storm, but succeeded in capturing twenty-eight men (see page 837, seventh paragraph), who were brought down to Wilkes-Barre.

The Connecticut Assembly convened in special session at Hartford January 8, 1778, and continued in session for several weeks. Near the close of the sitting the following memorialt was presented.

"The Memorial of NATHAN DENISON of Westmoreland in the County of Westmore- land Humbly sheweth that he Being Colonel of the 24th Regt of militia Belonging to this State and on the 20th Day of December last being Informed that a band of Tories ware forming on the westward of sd Town of Westmoreland in order to stur up the Indians of Tioga to Join sd Tories & Kill & Destroy the Inhabitants of this state upon which Inform- ation your memorialist ordered part of his Regt to be Immediately equipt and march to supress sd consperators and also sent an Express to the Tribe of Indians at Tioga sd Express being seven days in service which service & expences amounted to £5 : 9 : 6 and the offecers & men who march'd ware as follows (viz ) 1 Lt. Col. 1 Capt. 5 subalterns 7 sergeants 5 corporals & 93 rank & file who ware Nine Days in service, and also one sub- altern & eleven privates who ware four Days in service, and ware suplied with one Hun- dred wt of Powder & about Three Hundred wt of Ball which was Delivered out of the Town Stock & expended in sd expedetion.

tobacco-box in the waistcoat pocket of Zebulon Marcy, one of the scouting party, and knocked him down. One of Marcy's companions returned the fire of Wortman, and gave the latter a mortal wound. He begged for help, and asked that a physician should be sent for. A messenger was sent to Wilkes-Barre for Dr. William Hooker Smith who remarked, as he set off up the river, that if, when hearrived on the ground, Wortman should not be dead, he would not live long afterwards.

* Document "No. 83" in the volume "Susquehannah Settlers", described on page 29, Vol. I.

t JONATHAN HASKELL was an inhabitant and a taxpayer in Lackaway District, and was probably an officer of the local militia organization.

# See the original in the volume of MSS. entitled "Susquehannah Settlers," mentioned on page 29, Vol. I.

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" Which service & expences being all for the Defence of this & the Rest of the united States the memorialist therefore Humbly Prays your Honours to Grant the wages & expences of the officers & men (who marchd About eighty miles up the River and Took sundry Tories and happily contented the Tioga Indians and Intirely Disbanded the Consperators) and also alow the Town of Westmoreland the amminition expended as afore said and order the expences of sd Tories confined in Goal paid out of the Treasury of this state or in any other way Grant to your memorialist and men such a Reasonable Reward as your Honours in your Great Wisdom shall think Just & your memorialist as in duty Bound shall ever pray.

"Dated at Hartford the 26th Day of Jany : A D 1778. [Sigued] "NATHAN DENISON."

According to a memorandum accompanying this memorial it would appear that the party which went out December 20th had five pack-horses with them; and that the "one subaltern and eleven privates" who went out, as stated, were "sent up the Susquehanna River after Tories, Decem- ber 10, 1777."

The Assembly directed that the "Committee of Pay Table " should examine and adjust the account contained in the foregoing memorial.

Relative to some of the Tories who were captured by the Westmore- land authorities either at Lackaway or up the Susquehanna, as afore- mentioned, the following action was taken by the General Assembly in February, 1778 .*

"Resolved by this Assembly, That Richmond Berry, Philip Buck, Thomas Silk, Edward Hicks, Edward Hicks, Jr., John Young, Jacob Bowman, Adam Bowman, Jr .. Jacob Brenner, John Henry Short, Henry Hover, John Hover, Nicholas Phillips, Nicholas Phillips, Jr., John Phillips, Jacob Anguish, George Kentner and Frederick Frank, who were lately taken in arms against the inhabitants of the United States by the militia of Westmoreland and sent to the Deputy Commissary General of Prisoners in this State, as prisoners, ought to be received by said Commissary and treated as prisoners of- war. Provided, That nothing in this Resolve shall be understood to excuse them or any of them from any treasonable or other offences against the laws of any particular State, or from being dealt with accordingly."

Referring to the names of Butler's Rangers printed on page 944, it will be seen that of the abovenamed prisoners Philip Buck, Edward Hicks, John Young, Adam Bowman, Jacob Bowman, Henry Hover, Nicholas Phillips and Jacob Anguish were "Rangers."

At a meeting of the Connecticut Council of Safety, held at Leba- non, December 1, 1777, Elisha Scovell, of Exeter in Westmoreland, and Lieutenant of the 7th Company, 24th Regiment, was present, and received permission "to transport, from any part of the State, a four- horse load of salt, twenty yards of plain cloth, and twenty yards of flan- nel to Westmoreland, for the use of the inhabitants there."

At a " legally-warned " town-meeting of the freemen of Westmore- land held at Wilkes-Barre, December 9, 1777, Judge John Jenkins was " chosen Moderator for ye work of ye day." Various officers, to serve the town for the ensuing year, were then elected. Among them were the following : Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, Town Clerk ; Capt. William Wor- den, Ensign Daniel Downing, Lieut. Daniel Gore, Capt. Nathaniel Lan- don, Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard, Lieut. Aaron Gaylord, Silas Park, Isaac Tripp, Capt. Stephen Harding and Capt. John Franklin, Fence View- ers. The meeting was then adjourned to December 30th.

Nine days later (Thursday, December 18) a day of public thanks- giving was observed throughout the United States, in pursuance of a resolution adopted by Congress on November 1st recommending the Governors of the several States to formally appoint such a day. Gover-

*See "Records of the State of Connecticut." I : 589.

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nor Trumbull having issued a proclamation to the people of Connecti- cut, the day named was duly observed in Westmoreland.

On December 30th the town-meeting adjourned from December 9th was held at Wilkes-Barre, with Judge Jenkins as Moderator. Among the various matters of business transacted was the passing of a vote " to grant one penny on the pound as an addition to the two penny tax granted August 6th." It was also voted to loan the county of West- moreland £40. Then the following was passed : "Voted by this Town, That ye Committee of Inspection be empowered to supply the Sogers' wives and the Sogers' widows, and their families, with the necessaries of life."

The General Assembly of Connecticut convened at Hartford Jan- uary 8, 1778, and Isaac Tripp, Esq., was present as the only Represent- ative from the town of Westmoreland. Early in the session the fol- lowing resolution was adopted :

"Whereas it is recommended by Congress to cause subscriptions to be opened in each town for supplies for the war, on loan-office certificates, Resolved, That * * ISAAC TRIPP in Westmoreland * * be and is hereby appointed, impowered and directed to open [receive?] subscriptions."

James Bidlack, Jr., was appointed and commissioned Captain of the 1st (or Lower Wilkes-Barre) Company, of the 24th Regiment, in the room of John Garrett, promoted Major of the regiment in October, 1777.

At this session a report was made to and accepted by the Assembly relative to the " Polls and Rateable Estates and Assessments of West- moreland." The "sum total of the lists" amounted to £20,322 and 17sh., which was £3,326 and 4sh. greater than the total of the assess- ment lists for 1776. (See page 907.) These original lists for 1778 are now in existence *. They contain 515 names, including those of many of the men who are known to have been absent from Westmoreland at

* Copies of them are printed in "Proceedings and Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," V : 281-241. The names contained in the lists are as follows:

WILKES-BARRE DISTRICT. Elisha Fish,

Wm. Hooker Smith,

Aholiab Buck, William Buck,

Christopher Avery,

John Foster,

Obadiah Gore, Jr., .

Jonathan Slocum,

Asa Brown,

Daniel Gore,

Asa Stevens,

Thomas Bennet,

Cornelius Gale,

Josiah Stanburrough, Jabez Sill,

Richard Brockway,

Benjamin Bailey, Col. Zebulon Butler, Thomas Brown, John Brown,

Darius Hazen,

James Staples,

Samuel Cummings,

Isaac Bennet, Asa Bennet,

Samuel Hutchinson,

Gamaliel Truesdale, Job Tripp,

Peleg Comstock,

Justus Worden,

Elnathan Cary,

John Hageman,

Jonathan Weeks,

George Dorrance,

Enoch Judd,

Jonathan Weeks, Jr.,

John Dorrance,

Capt. William Judd,

Henry Decker,

Eleazar Carey, Nathan Carey, Dr. Jarib Dyer,

Col. Nathan Denison,

James Divine,

Flavius Waterman,

Esther Follett,

Eliphalet Follett,

Thomas Foxen, Peter Finch, Isaac Finch,

Daniel Finch,

Stephen Fuller, Jr.,

John C. Fox,

Gabriel Ferguson,

William Gallup,

Hallet Gallup,

Lemuel Gustin,

Samuel Gordon,

Azariah Ketcham, Benjamin Kelly, Solomon Lee, Thomas McClure, William Parker, Thomas Porter, Daniel Rosecrans, Ann Ross, William Rowley, David Reynolds, Isaac Rhodes, Darius Spafford, Joseph Shaw, Benjamin Shaw, William Stark, Aaron Stark, Elizabeth Stark, Josiah Smith,

William Warner, Elihu Waters.

KINGSTON DISTRICT.

Asahel Atherton, Tamea Atherton, James Atherton, J.r., Isaac Baldwin, Benjamin Budd,

Tohn Bass, Henry Bush,

Capt. Robert Durkee, Jabez Darling, David Darling, Anderson Dana, William . Dorton, Daniel Downing, William Dunn, Jr., Thomas Dunn, Dr. Shadrack Derby, Henry Elliot, Joseph Elliot, John Elliot, Stephen Fuller, Jabez Fish,

Jonathan Fitch,

John Smith,

Isaac Smith, Asahel Buck,

William Avery, Richardson Avery, Jonathan Avery, John Abbott,

William Baker,

James Green, John Garrett, Rezin Geer,

Joseph Staples,

David Bixby,

John Staples,

Robert Campbell,

Zeruiah Hazen,

Samuel Staples,

John Truesdale,

Amaziah Cleveland, Elias Church, John Comstock,

Gideon Baldwin, Elisha Blackman, Nathan Bullock, George Cooper, William Cooper, Joseph Crooker, Samuel Cole,

John Hollenback,

Samuel Hutchinson, Jr., Joseph Hubbard, John Hyde,

John White,

William Crooks,

Philip Weeks, Peter Wheeler, John Williams, Thaddeus Williams,

Joseph Disberry, Amos Draper, Isaac Downing,

David Whitney, James Wigton,

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KINGSTON DISTRICT (Concluded). Charles Gillett, Asa Gore, Obadiah Gore, Silas Gore, Peter Harris, Elijah Harris, Lebbeus Hammond, William Hammond, John Hammond, Oliver Hammond, Daniel Hewitt, Dethick Hewitt, Christopher Hurlbut, Daniel Ingersoll, Eldad Kellogg, Josiah Kellogg, Nathaniel Landon,

Peter Lowe, Jesse Lee, James Legget, Robert McIntire, Winchester Matthewson, Ezekiel Peirce,

Timothy Peirce, John Peirce, Noah Pettebone,

John Perkins,

Timothy Rose,

William Stephens, Joshua Stevens, Jedidiah Stevens, Luke Swetland, Ebenezer Skinner,

Constant Searle, William Searle,

Thomas Stoddart, Mary Ransom Swift, Lockwood Smith, Elijah Shoemaker, Parshall Terry, Uriah Terry,

Nathaniel Terry, Lebbeus Tubbs, Ichabod Tuttle,

Isaac Underwood,

Isaac Van Orman, Stephen Whiton, Ozias Yale.

PLYMOUTH DISTRICT.

Samuel Andrews, Samuel Ayres, Mary Baker,

James Bidlack,

Joshua Bennet,

Nathan Beach, Bull, Benjamin Cole,

James Cole, Jonathan Center, Joshua Coleman, John Coleman, Tesse Coleman, Jeremiah Coleman, Jeremiah Coleman, Jr., John Caldwell, William Churchill, Jonathan_Churchill, Thomas Carscadden, Richard Dodson, Thomas Dodson, James Dodson, John Dodson, Gilbert Denton, Joseph Dewey, Frederick Eveland, Hugh Foresman, Jehu Fish, Jonathan Forsythe, Tohn Franklin, Jr., Robert Frazer, Aaron Gaylord, Joseph Gaylord,

Justus Gaylord, Goodwin, Philip Goss, Philip Goss, Jr., Solomon Goss, Nathaniel Goss, David Goss, Tohn Heath,

Thomas Heath, James Hopkins, Timothy Hopkins,

Jonathan Hunlock, Andrew Herrega, George Herrega, William Hurlbut, Jacob Holdrin, Zachariah Hartsouf, Benjamin Harvey, Silas Harvey, Samuel Jackson, Samuel Jackson, Jr., Thomas Kitchen, Benjamin Kilbourn,

Stephen Lee, Zebulon Lee, William Landon, Rufus Lawrence, David Lindsey, Thomas Leavenworth, Gad Marshall, Nicholas Manvil, David Marvin, Samuel Marvin, Uriah Marvin, Ephraim McCoy, Phineas Nash, James Nesbitt, William Nelson,

Daniel Owen,

Jonathan Otis,

Peter Pugh,

Noah Pettebone, Jr., Elisha Parker, James Parker, Giles Permon,

Tunia Preston,

Nehemiah Parks, Peren Ross,

Hezekiah Roberts, James Roberts, Tames Roberts, 2d,

Daniel Roberts,

Mary Roberts,

Josiah Rogers, Jonah Rogers, Benjamin Reed,

David Reynolds, William Reynolds,

Elisha Richards, Samuel Ransom, William Stewart, Simon Spalding, Benedict Satterlee, Daniel Sherwood, Oliver Smith, Obadiah Scott, Solomon Squire,

Jacob Sly, Peter Stevens, Thomas Sawyer, Daniel Trask, Matthias Van Loon,

John Van Why, Elihu Williams,

Elihu Williams, Jr.,

Rufus Williams, Samuel Williams,

William White, Asaph Whittlesey, Nathan Wade, John Wilson,

Jesse Washburn.

HANOVER DISTRICT.

Prince Alden, Robert Alexander, William Armstrong, Peleg Burritt, Gideon Burritt. Stephen Burritt, Daman Beef, John Bony, Isaac Booth, Gideon Booth, Tames Brink, Isaac Bennet, Jr.

Teremiah Bickford, Henry Burney, Aaron Bowen, Stoddard Bowen, Tames Cook, James Corkindale, John Commer, Alexander Campbell, Isaac Campbell, Kingsley Comstock, Jonathan Corey,

Jenks Corey, Christopher Courtright, Elisha Courtright, John Carlisle. James Cochran, Charles Carrell, William Casson, Nathaniel Davenport, Samuel Davenport, Samuel Ensign, John Ewing, Isaac Fitchett, Andrew Freeman, James Forsythe, John Franklin, Roasel Franklin, Elias Green, Nathaniel Howard,'

Cyprian Hibbard, William Hibbard, Ebenezer Hebard, Titus Hinman, Nathan Howell, John Hutchins, Israel Inman, Richard Inman, Elijah Inman, Jr.,

Elijah Inman,

David Inman,

John Jacobs, Robert Jameson, John Jameson, William Jameson, George Liquors, Edward Lester,

Ebenezer Lane,

Conrad Lines, James Lasley, George Mack, Jacob Morris, William McKerachan,

Benjamin Potts, Josiah Pell,

William Randall, Capt. Lazarus Stewart, Lazarus Stewart, Jr.,

Edward Spencer, James Spencer,

Caleb Spencer, I.evi Spencer, William Smith, Jr.,

William Smith, James Stevenson,

John Sharar, John Tillbury,

Japhet Utley, John Walker, Adam White,

Robert Young.

PITTSTON DISTRICT.

Isaac Adams, Noah Adams,

David Allen, Daniel Allen,

Isaac Allen,

Thomas Angel, Increase Billings, Silas Benedict, William Benedict, Tames Bagley,

Isaac Baldwin, Rufus Baldwin, Caleb Bates, Esq., James Brown, Elihu Carey,

Barnabas Carey, Joseph Carey, Daniel Cash, John Carr, George Cooper, Thomas Christy, Isaac Finch, Isaiah Halstead, Richard Halstead, I.evi Hicks,

Abraham Harding, Thomas Harding, Timothy Howe, Eton Jones. Richard Jones, Timothy Keyes, Joseph Leonard, James I.ewis, Solomon Lee,

Samuel Miller, Tames Moore, James Moore, Jr., Ebenezer Marcy, Zebulon Marcy, Alexander Mackey, Francis Phillips, Timothy Pearce, Justus Pickett, Thomas Pickett, John Ryan, Elijah Silsby, Zachariah Squire, William Shay, John Scott, Joseph Sprague, Samuel Slater, Samuel Slater, Jr., Daniel St. John, David Sanford, Ephraim Sanford, John Stafford, Aaron Stark, William Stark, Isaac Tripp, Esq., Job Tripp, John Taylor, Preserved Taylor, Thomas Taylor, Joseph Thomas, Tohn White,

Nathaniel Williams, William Williams, - Whittaker, Esq.,

Eleazar West, Amy Wilcox, Justus Worden.

EXETER DISTRICT.

Joseph Baker, Nathan Bradley, Manasseh Cady, John Gardner, Stephen Gardner, Capt. Stephen Harding, Stephen Harding, Jr., Lemuel Harding, Peter Harris, Jr., James Hadsall, Justus Jones, Thomas Joslin, Tohn Jenkins, Esq., Benjamin Jones, James Linn,

Samuel Morgan, William Martin, James Newton, Elisha Scovell, David Smith,

John David Shoemaker, James Sutton, Richard Tozer, Samuel Tozer, Richard West, Christopher Wintermute,

John Wintermute, Philip Wintermute.

LACKAWAY DISTRICT.

Tohn Ainsley, Hezekiah Bingham,

Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard, Roger Clark,

Uriah Chapman, Esq., James Dye,

Jasper Edwards,

Capt. Eliab Farnam, David Gates, Nathaniel Gates, Jonathan Haskell, Jacob Kimball, Abel Kimball,

Walter Kimball, Zadock Killam, Moses Killam, Jephthah Killam, Ephraim Killam, John Killam,

Capt. Zebulon Parrish, Tohn Pellet, Jr., William Pellet, Amos Park, Silas Park, Esq., Toel Strong, Flijah Witter, Enos Woodward, Enos Woodward, Jr.

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that time serving as soldiers in the Continental army. On the other hand, however, the names of many soldiers who were property owners and heads of families are not to be found ; and the names of all the "Up the River" taxables which appear in the lists of 1776 and 1777 are, with only two or three exceptions, missing. As in the former lists, the names of the Reverends Jacob Johnson and Noah Wadhams, James Bidlack, Jr., and some others are missing. In the circumstances it may be reasonably stated that at the beginning of 1778 the inhabitants of Westmoreland, excluding those absent in the Continental army, num- bered at least 3,100 souls.

The township of Wilkes-Barre contained ninety-nine taxables, or a population of about 600, in 1778. From the best information at present obtainable, it would seem that these inhabitants lived chiefly in that part of the township which is now the township of Plains, and in that part lying between the present Northampton Street and the Wilkes- Barré-Hanover boundary-line. From the minutes of the commissioners under the Compromise Law of 1799 (see page 25, Vol. I) the present writer has compiled the following list of the owners of the various lots in the town-plot of Wilkes-Barre (see page 655) in the Spring of 1778- which list is now printed for the first time. Upon a number of these lots no structures of any sort had yet been erected.

OWNERS OF LOTS IN THE TOWN-PLOT (SECOND DIVISION ) OF WILKES-BARRE IN 1778.

Jabez Sill.

18. Solomon Johnson.

34. James Abbott.

2. Christopher Avery.

19. John Hollenback.

35. Rev. Jacob Johnson.

3. Col. Zebulon Butler.

20. Jonathan Fitch.

36. Col. Zebulon Butler.

4. Col. John Durkee.

21. Amasa Allen.

37. Joseph Heath.

5. Obadiah Gore, Jr.

22. John Garrett. 38. Jonathan Slocum.

6. Obadiah Gore, Jr.

7. Asa Stevens.

24.

William McKerachan.

40. Benjamin Bailey.

Harris Colt. 25. John Stevens. 41. Christopher Avery.

Rev. Jacob Johnson.

26. Elihu Waters.

42. Jabez Fish.

10.

Rev. Jacob Johnson.

27. Col. Zebulon Butler.

43. William Warner.

11. Obadiah Gore, Jr.

28. Benjamin Clark.

44. Thomas Park.

12. Rev. Jacob Johnson.

13. James Wigton.

30. James Stark. .

46. Caleb Spencer.

14. [ Solomon Cole.

Dr. Shadrack Derby.

47. Jonathan Haskell.

15. John Williams.

31. { Dr. Jarib Dyer. Elizabeth Judd.

48. Nathan Wade.

16. Stephen Fuller.

32. Eli Judd.

50. Jonathan Slocum.

Wilkes-Barre Island. Rev. Jacob Johnson.

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Samuel Cole.

29. John Hyde.

45. Public Grave-yard.

49. Benjamin Wheeler.

17. Abigail (Fuller) Bidlack. 33. Benjamin Bailey.

23. Estate of Jeremiah Ross. 39. Abraham Westbrook.

CHAPTER XV.

THE BATTLE OF WYOMING-WILKES-BARRE ALMOST WHOLLY DE- STROVED BY "BUTLER'S RANGERS" AND INDIANS-THE VALLEY OF WYOMING DESOLATED AND DESERTED-CAPT. SIMON SPALDING'S WESTMORELAND INDEPENDENT COM- PANY IN THE CONTINENTAL SERVICE.

"Lo! where the giant on the mountain stands, His blood-red tresses deep'ning in the sun, With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands, And eye that scorcheth all it looks upon; Restless it rolls-now fixed, and now anon Flashing afar-and at his iron feet Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done." -Lord Byron, in "The Battle of Talavera."

"Here of a truth raged battle, as though no combats beside Reigned elsewhere. * * * Here we beheld in his fury the war-god." -Virgil's "Æneid."

The year 1778 brought great distrust and fear to the frontiers gen- erally, but particularly to Wyoming. It was known early in the year that a large force was collecting at Fort Niagara, to be augmented by the Indians at Kanadesaga, Unadilla and Oghwaga, for the purpose of laying waste the frontiers of Pennsylvania and New York. As early as February General Schuyler wrote to Congress that from the best infor- mation he could obtain an attempt would certainly soon be made by the enemy to attack the frontiers. In a little while he wrote again to Congress, saying : "A number of Mohawks and many of the Ononda- gas, Cayugas and Senecas will commence hostilities against us as soon as they can. It would be prudent, therefore, early to take measures to carry the war into their country. It would require no greater body of troops to destroy their towns than to protect the frontier inhabitants." Unfortunately, Congress had not the troops to use for either purpose.

Halsey (in "The Old New York Frontier," page 205) says: "Some hope of securing Indian neutrality still remained. At a council held on March 9th, at Johnstown, and attended by more than 700 Indians, an attempt was made to quiet them. The Senecas alone failed to attend. With Oriskany so recent and bloody a memory, it was strange indeed that any Mohawks or Cayugas should have come. The Senecas sent a 954

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communication expressing their surprise (a surprise which is quite com- prehensible) that 'while our tomahawks were sticking in their heads, their wounds bleeding and their eyes streaming with tears for the loss of their friends at Oriskany, the Commissioners should think of inviting them to a treaty.'* Stone notes as the result of the council that the Commissioners were persuaded that from the Senecas, Cayugas, and nearly all the Mohawks, 'nothing but revenge for their lost friends and tarnished glory at Oriskany and Fort Schuyler was to be anticipated.'"

By those men who were well informed it was believed, without ques- tion, that the Wyoming settlements would be among the first to be attacked ; and this for several reasons. They were, in every sense of the word, frontier settlements; they could be easily and quickly reached from New York by way of the Susquehanna River ; they were exposed and unprotected, and neither Pennsylvania nor Connecticut could come to their aid, and the Congress had not yet taken them under its wing. If the Wyoming people should be driven from their possessions, the only important barrier between the enemy in western New York and the Pennsylvania settlements below the Blue Mountains would thus be removed, and all those settlements, from the Delaware Water Gap to Sunbury, would be exposed to slaughter, havoc and fire. Further, it was well known that the Wyoming settlements had furnished to the Conti- nental army an unduly large quota of their inhabitants (compared with other frontier settlements of the country), thus evincing their zeal and loyalty in and to the American cause. It was also well known that from the rich and fertile fields of Wyoming bountiful crops had been harvested each year during the progress of the War for Independence, and that in consequence Wyoming was able to furnish supplies of provisions as well as of men in order to keep up the contest for freedom.

These conditions aroused in the minds of those who were planning and managing the campaigns and forays of the enemy in western and central New York the firm belief that the Wyoming settlements ought to be exterminated. This belief was stimulated and strengthened by the violence of resentment, hatred and vindictiveness which the rough usage they had met with had aroused in the breasts of the Tories who had fled, or been driven, from the Susquehanna, and which they did not hesitate to manifest.

To Maj. John Butler at Niagara, especially, the destruction of the Wyoming settlements seemed to be positively necessary. In his corre- spondence with Sir Guy Carleton and others of the British military establishment, in the Spring of 1778, he frequently declared that it was his intention to march with his "Rangers" and their Indian confederates to the Pennsylvania frontiers, and thence to advance, as expeditiously as possible, to a union with the "southern army" under Sir Henry Clinton. t At that time this army was quartered in Philadelphia, the most direct routes to which, from southern-central New York, were by way of the rivers Susquehanna and Delaware. By the Susquehanna route Butler and his command could easily (provided they were not interfered with by the enemy) be conveyed in boats as far as Middletownt-between the New York-Pennsylvania boundary and which town the only settle- ments of consequence on the river were those at Wyoming and Sunbury.

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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 66

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