A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 73

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 73

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· At Fort Niagara, under the date of October 30, 1780, Col. Guy Johnson wrote to Governor Haldi- mand that the intemperate habits of Capt. John Johnston would necessitate his leaving the corps of offi- cers attached to the Indian Department. At Montreal, under the date of October 10, 1781, Captain Johnston wrote to Governor Haldimand that he was ready to go out "on a scout or an expedition." Captain Johnston's name appears again in subsequent pages.

t Among the "Haldimand Papers" (B. M. 21,765-CV : 58-78) is a "Pav-list of the Several Com- panies of Butler's Rangers, from December 24, 1777, to October 24, 1778." This covers, of course, the period within which the Wyoming incursion occurred and the battle of July 3, 1778, was fought; and it extends beyond the last-mentioned date nearly three months, during which time Walter N. Butler and other officers of the corps who had not been at Wyoming joined the main body with a considerable num- ber of new recruits. The "Pay-list" in question contains the names of the commissioned officers, non- commissioned officers and privates of six companies (the full number of companies in October, 1778, as well as in the following December-as noted on page 943, ante). The 1st, or "the Major's", Con- pany, was commanded by Maj. John Butler, the commander of the corps, and the 2d. 3d, 4th and 5th Companies were commanded, respectively. by Captains Walter N. Butler, John McDonnel, Peter Ten Broeck and William Caldwell. The 6th Company, which was composed of only twenty-seven privates, had no officers. The other five companies comprised, each, one Captain, one First Lieutenant, one Second Lieutenant, three Sergeants, three Corporals, fifty privates and three "contingent men"-mak- ing the total strength of the corps, at that time, 310 men.

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cellaneous " Indians, including a few squaws from the villages at and near Tioga Point-making a total of about 700.

To convey all these people down the Susquehanna many boats and canoes were required; and, as the flotilla sailed along on the placid bosom of the river, in a quiet and orderly manner, the sight must have been a remarkable one. In the evening of Monday, June 29th, the flo- tilla arrived without any mishap at the mouth of Bowman's Creek, eighteen miles north of Wilkes-Barre "as the crow flies," but twenty- nine miles by way of the winding river. There the expedition encamped for the night. The next morning (June 30th) the boats of the flotilla were left at Bowman's Creek, while the late occupants of them marched down the river along either bank, and the remaining members of the expedition floated down stream in their canoes. Thus they proceeded for about two miles to the " Three Islands," near the present village of LaGrange, when the canoes were beached on the west shore of the river, and the whole expedition assembled there. A division of the forces was then made, and shortly afterwards a considerable body of Indians, accompanied by four or five " Rangers," marched southward along the right bank of the river, while the main part of the forces, with Major Butler and Sayenqueraghta at their head, marched back of the mountain (which skirts the river at that point) and proceeded south ward.

NEAR THE MOUTH OF SUTTON'S CREEK, EXETER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY. From a photograph taken in 1903 by the writer.

/ On June 26th Capt. Dethick Hewitt, in command of a small scout- ing party, went up the river from Wyoming, whither he returned in the afternoon of the 30th with the news that a large party of the enemy was slowly advancing towards the Valley. In the morning of the 30th, be- fore the return of Captain Hewitt and his party, and therefore before the

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inhabitants of the Valley were aware of the proximity of the enemy, a party of twelve men and boys went from Jenkins' Fort in the lower end of Exeter to that part of the township adjacent to the mouth of Sutton's Creek, distant about five miles. The party was composed of Benjamin Harding, Stukely Harding, Stephen Harding, Jr., John Gard- ner,* a boy named Rogers (about eleven years of age), James Hadsall and his sons James and John (the latter a boy), Ebenezer Reynolds and Daniel Carr (sons-in-law of James Hadsall), Daniel Wallen, and a negro named Quocko, a servant of William Martin. Benjamin and Stukely Harding carried their guns with them. Arriving at their destination the Hard- ings, together with John Gardner and the boy Rogers, went to work in the corn-field of Stephen Harding, Jr., on the flats about three-quarters of a mile up the river from the mouth of Sutton's Creek, while the Had- salls and the remainder of the party went to work, some in Hadsall's corn-field on an island just above the mouth of Sutton's Creek, and others in Hadsall's tan-yard on the mainland, near by.

Toward the close of the afternoon Michael Showerst and Frederick Ankert came to the field where the Hardings were at work. These two men were inhabitants of Westmoreland, and had formerly resided in the North, or "Up the River," District of the town, but were then numbered among the occupants of Wintermute's Fort, and were suspected by the inhabitants generally of being Tories. When these men approached the field one of the Hardings was standing on guard as a sentinel, while the rest of the party were endeavoring to finish the hoeing of the corn before sunset. Showers and Anker suggested to the sentinel that if he wanted to turn in and help with the hoeing they would take his place as sentinel. This was assented to, but after a short time Showers and Anker disappeared. Suspecting them of treachery, Stephen Harding, Jr., went to get the horses of his party (which were at some little distance), preparatory to starting for Jenkins' Fort. When he returned to where he had left his companions he found that they had quit work, and were slowly passing southward to a deer-lick which they had resolved to visit-their path lying through a deep, narrow ravine, along the bottom of which a small brook ran to the river. In this ravine were concealed some of the Indians and Tories who had marched down from the vicinity of " Three Islands ;" and, hav- ing been joined by Showers and Anker, they awaited the coming of the Harding party. When the latter appeared they were fired upon, and

* See foot-note on page 254, Vol. I.

t MICHAEL SHOWERS was, as noted on page 945, regularly enlisted in Butler's Rangers. In August, 1787, he was living at Niagara, when and where he presented, under oath, to the British Commissioners (referred to in the third paragraph of the note on page 931) a claim for losses which he had sustained on account of his loyalty to the Crown during the Revolutionary War. The original affidavit of Show- ers is preserved in the British archives, and therein it is set forth that he was a native of America; that he lived on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, in Northumberland County, when the war opened; that he occupied a tract of 300 acres of the "disputed lands", which he had taken up in 1772; that he had cleared thirty acres and built a house; that he had settled on this land under a "right" from Con- necticut, but had got a promise to have his title "confirmed" under Pennsylvania; that in 1778 he escaped to the British army with Frederick Anker, and served to the close of the war in Butler's Ran- gers; that he lost at Wyoming "stock, oxen, cows, sheep and hogs", the value of which, in connection with that of his land lost, amounted to £377 in New York currency. The records show that the Com- missioners rated Showers' loss at £86, and allowed him that amount December 7, 1787.

# FREDERICK ANKER, Or ANGER, as his surname was sometimes written, was, as noted on page 944, regularly enlisted in Butler's Rangers. In 1787 he was living with his family at Niagara, and in August of that year he filed with the British Commissioners (previously mentioned) a claim setting forth, under oath: That he was a native of Germany, and had come to America in 1757; that when the Revolutionary War broke out he was living on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, in Northumber- land County, where he had "one-half a proprietor's right on the disputed lands", for which he had paid seventy-two dollars; that he first went to the Susquehanna region in 1772, cleared twenty acres of land, and built a house, barn, etc .; that, with Michael Showers, he escaped to the British army in 1778, and "he (Anker) and his two sons served in Butler's Rangers to the close of the war"; that he lost his land and all he had-three horses, seven cows, etc., valued at £372, 18sh. The Commissioners determined his loss at £77, which amount was allowed him December 7. 1787.

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Benjamin and Stukely Harding were wounded. They promptly re- turned the fire, and then a bloody melee ensued. The Indians, with their spears and tomahawks, rushed upon the Hardings, while the latter clubbed their guns and fought furiously and bravely, resisting until, pierced through with spears, they fell, and then were hacked and cut to pieces with tomahawks, and scalped. John Gardner, having no weapons,

THE SCENE OF THE MASSACRE OF THE HARDINGS. (The ravine mentioned was just beyond the thicket in the foreground.) From a photograph taken by the writer in 1903.

took no part in the fight, but was taken prisoner. Stephen Harding, Jr., and the boy Rogers escaped without wounds and ran into the thick woods near by.

In the meantime another party of this same band of Indians and Tories had sneaked down to Hadsall's tan-yard, near the mouth of Sut- ton's Creek (which was just fourteen miles from Fort Wilkes-Barre, and less than twelve miles from Forty Fort, by the winding course of the river), where they captured James Hadsall, Sr., his son-in-law Daniel Carr, and the negro Quocko. They then lay in wait for the men who were at work on the island, who, a little later, as they were landing from their canoes, were fired upon. James Hadsall, Jr., was killed, Ebenezer Rey- nolds was wounded, but, with Daniel Wallen, managed to flee to the woods. Young John Hadsall, who had remained behind the rest of the party in order to make fast the canoe, plunged into a thicket of willows and drift, that overhung the water close by, as soon as he heard the firing. The Indians, missing one from the party which had landed from the canoe, went to the river's margin to search for him, and one of them walked out on a log just over where Hadsall was lying, but did not dis- cover him.

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VIEW FROM MOUNT LOOKOUT, LOOKING SOUTH.

The figure in the foreground is pointing in the direction of the battlefield of Wyoming. In the middle-distance, directly above the pointing hand of the figure, is the site of Forty Fort, while Wilkes-Barre lies in the background in line with the head of the figure. From a photograph taken in June, 1902.

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The elder Hadsall, John Gardner, Daniel Carr and Quocko were taken by their captors (the two bands of the war-party which had come down the river from "Three Islands" having reunited) some three miles up Sutton's Creek, to about a mile east of where the village of Orange, in Franklin Township, Luzerne County, is now located, and there they bivouacked that night (June 30th). During the night James Hadsall* and Quocko the negrot were subjected by the Indians to excruciating and protracted tortures, culminating in the death of both men.

Meanwhile the main body of the invaders, under Major Butler and Sayenqueraghta, had marched from the river at " Three Islands " in a direct course, south-south-east, through the uninhabited and unbroken country back of the mountains which skirt the right, or west, bank of the Susquehanna. A somewhat difficult march of twelve miles-in the course of which the locality east of the present village of Orange, abovementioned, was passed throught-the little army arrived at a point just back of Mount Lookout (described on page 48, Vol. I), and there they bivouacked§ early in the evening of June 30th. A large extent of Wyoming Valley lies spread out before the eyes of the beholder stand- ing upon the summit of Mount Lookout (see the illustrations facing page 989 and page 990), and from that eminence Forty Fort, Jenkins' Fort, Wintermute's Fort and Pittston Fort were distinctly visible to Major Butler and his officers. In the morning of July 1st Major Butler was joined at his Mount Lookout encampment by the detachment of his command which had wrought destruction in upper Exeter and then bivouacked near Orange.

Young John Hadsall, who had secreted himself in a thicket, as pre- viously narrated, ventured out of his hiding-place after nightfall, and made his way down to Jenkins' Fort, where he arrived safely and made known the circumstances of the capture and death of his companions to their waiting and anxious friends and relatives. Stephen Harding, Jr., Ebenezer Reynolds, David Wallen and the boy Rogers fled through the woods, and, after wandering all night, succeeded in reaching Jenkins' Fort early the next morning. Intelligence of the unexpected calamity which had occurred was at once (in the morning of Wednesday, July 1st) sent to all parts of the Valley, and the utmost alarm and consternation

* JAMES HADSALL, SR., came to Wyoming from Stonington, Connecticut, where all his children were born. He was a proprietor in The Susquehanna Company as early, at least, as June, 1770 (see page 658), at which time he was probably in Wyoming Valley. He was certainly here in October, 1771, and in May and July, 1772-in the last-mentioned month being joined by his son James. They were both here in October, 1772. (See page 752.) James Hadsall, Sr., was an early settler in the township of Exeter, which was laid out by The Susquehanna Company in November, 1772, as narrated on page 467, Vol. I. He owned considerable land near the mouth of Sutton's Creek, where he carried on farm- ing and conducted a small tannery. In 1776, in partnership with James Sutton, he built and operated the first grist-mill and saw-mill in Exeter Township, on Sutton's Creek, a short distance from the river. These mills were destroyed by the Tories and Indians, either just before or soon after the battle of Wyoming. The mill irons were carried away, with the exception of the crank, which is now preserved in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, as a relic of one of the earliest mills in the Wyoming region.

James Hadsall, Sr., and his wife (who died prior to 1778) were the parents of several children, some of whom were: James (killed at Sutton's Creek June 80, 1778), Stephen (born in April, 1766), Edward, John, Joseph and William Hadsall. The last four were all residents of and taxpayers in Exeter Township in 1796. In 1805 Edward Hadsall removed with some of his family from Exeter to Martinsville, Ohio, where a number of his descendants now reside. His son James (born March 20, 1786) remained in Exeter, but later removed to the adjoining township of Franklin, in Luzerne County, where he was living in 1880 at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Daniel Carr, the son- in-law of James Hadsall, Sr., who was carried away a prisoner by the Indians, is said to have been held in captivity several years. Stephen Hadsall, who was in his thirteenth year at the time of the battle of Wyoming, fled to Stonington soon thereafter, and did not return to Wyoming until he had grown to manhood. About 1800 he settled in what is now Monroe Township, Wyoming County, where he married, and where he died January 17, 1847.

t See Vol. I, pages 149 and 166, relative to the aversion of the Indians of early days to negroes.

# See the map facing page 790, and the "Map of North-eastern Pennsylvania" in Chapter XXIII. { Near where are now located the grounds of the Wyoming Camp-meeting Association.

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prevailed. The people of Wyoming well knew that it was no picnic- or excursion-party which had come down from the North and was now lurking somewhere near their borders. The Westmoreland militia, therefore, were has- tily ordered to assemble. Old men and youths quit their employments, seized their muskets, and hurried to the places of rendezvous. Retire- ment or flight was deemed impossible. It seemed that there could be no security except in victory !

These brave men were not soldiers by profession, bred to arms, but were men from the everyday walks of life-mechanics, husbandmen, peaceful cultivators of the soil. Nor were they the vassals of a proud chieftain, rousing them, in barbarous times, by the blind impulse of at- tachment to his family, or engaging them to espouse his quarrels by the music and entertainments of his ancestral castle. These men were themselves the chieftains of their own cause, highly instructed in the nature of it, and, from the best principles of patriotism, resolute in its defense. They were not unacquainted with the circumstances of their situation, and their unpreparedness for battle with a superior force. It was alone the pure love of freedom and of right, burning bright in their souls, that could engage them to embark in the bold and perilous un- dertaking which then faced them. Well might they have chanted the war-song of the Tyrolese of earlier days :

"We have sworn by that God, Who can keep us and save us,

To fight for the land Which our forefathers gave us.

" We have sworn by our love, By that spell which hath bound us, To fight for the maids And the mountains around us."

Nearly 400 of the men of Wyoming Valley, fully armed and equip- ped for fighting, gathered in the course of the morning of July 1st at Forty Fort. Colonel Denison, as the chief officer of the Westmoreland militia, was there, naturally and properly in command; but as Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler of the Continental army was then at his home in Wilkes-Barre, as previously mentioned, and as he was a soldier of many campaigns, and an officer of much wider experience than Colonel Deni- son, the latter sent for him to come to Forty Fort and take actual com- mand of the expedition, which he himself would accompany as the vir- tual commander. In the circumstances this plan met with the approval of all the officers of the 24th Regiment on the ground, and Lieutenant Colonel Butler accepted the proffered post without hesitation.

Everything being in readiness the Westmorelanders set out from Forty Fort, led by Colonels Denison and Butler. Sternly and silently they marched, without banners and without music. It was their design, and they fully expected, to meet the invaders and attack them before they could reach the settlements in the Valley ; but they marched up along the west bank of the river to Sutton's Creek-a distance of about ten miles-without meeting a single hostile. At the creek they halted, and a squad of men, under the command of Lieut. Roasel Franklin, was

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VIEW OF WYOMING VALLEY FROM MOUNT LOOKOUT. Mount Lookout Colliery is shown in the middle-distance, near the center of the picture, and to the left of that lies the battlefield of Wyoming. From a photograph taken in 1902.

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sent forward to the scene of the murder of the Hardings. The mutilated bodies of the two men were found where they had fallen the previous evening, and near them were seated two Indians, evidently with the expectation that, should the friends of the dead men come for their remains, they (the Indians) might obtain other victims. Lieutenant Franklin's party came upon the Indians without warning, and, fir- ing upon them, one was shot dead where he sat, while the other, only slightly wounded, ran to the river and attempted to escape by swimming. However, he was pursued in a canoe by Lieutenant Franklin and one of his men, who despatched him with setting-poles .* The bodies of the Hardings were brought down to Jenkins' Fort, and the next day were interred in the Jenkins' burial-ground-at the junction of Linden and Wyoming Avenues, within the present limits of the borough of West. Pittston.

After a tiresome march of twenty miles and more, and without having effected any results of consequence, the Westmorelanders returned to Forty Fort in the early evening of July 1st. Almost immediately thereafter those men of the expedition whose families were neither in Forty Fort, nor in any one of the other forts or stockades in the Valley, hastened to their respective homes to look after the welfare of their families, and, if thought necessary, to remove them to one of the several places of refuge and security. At this time Wintermute's Fort was occu- pied by the following-named persons and their families: Philip Win- termute, Christopher Wintermute, John Wintermute, Daniel Ingersoll, David Smith, James Gorduce, Stephen Gardner, Joseph Baker, Jesse Lee, Peter Harris, Michael Showers, Frederick Anker and Elisha Sco- vell. Several of these men were believed to be Tories by the authori- ties of Westmoreland, but as yet the latter had not secured any positive evidence in support of their belief. Elisha Scovell, as Lieutenant of the 7th (Exeter) Company of the 24th Regiment, was, by the choice of the people occupying Wintermute's Fort, in command of the same.

At that period a marsh, or morass, thick with timber and brush- wood, extended for some distance in the Valley near the base of Mount Lookout, beyond which Abraham's Plains stretched to the river, as described on page 50, Vol. I. A large portion of the surface of these plains-particularly in the upper part of Kingston Township and in the lower part of Exeter Township-was then, and is now, elevated about ten or twelve feet above the remaining portion, being divided from it by a sharp offset, or declivity. The depressed portion of the plains-lying between the abovementioned declivity and the margin of the river- comprises the rich alluvial bottom-lands, or " flats," which were culti- vated in a small way by the Indians, and have been extensively culti- vated by the whites ever since the Valley first came into their posses- sion. Wintermute's Fort stood on the edge of the declivity described above, and between it and the morass previously mentioned the gravelly plain was sparsely covered with a growth of yellow- and pitch-pine trees and oak shrubs, forming what Major Butler described as "a fine, open wood."

About the time that the expedition to upper Exeter had set forth from Forty Fort, two of the Wintermutes had left their fort and gone

* It has been stated, by more than one writer, that one of these two Indians was a son of Queen Esther, previously mentioned.

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over to Mount Lookout (which was directly north-west, a mile and a-half distant), ostensibly to scout, but actually-as the people learned later- to communicate with Major Butler, and to conduct him and his forces down into the Valley by way of the gap lying north-east of Mount Look- out (as seen in the illustration facing this page). This treacherous busi- ness was completed early in the evening of July 1st, shortly after Col- onels Butler and Denison and their men had returned to Forty Fort. With quietness the enemy bivouacked in the woods about three-quarters of a mile distant from Wintermute's Fort, to which place the two Win- termutes then repaired, accompanied by Lieut. John Turney, Sr. (see page 965), of the " Rangers." Calling for admission, the gate of the fort was opened to them, and immediately upon their entrance Lieuten- ant Turney demanded, in behalf of Major Butler, and in the name of King George, the surrender of the fort. Daniel Ingersoll, who was present, on learning of the perfidy that had been practised, began to prepare for resistance, and his wife seized a pitchfork to aid him; but the Wintermutes soon gave them and the other occupants of the fort to understand that Major Butler would be welcomed there. In the circum- stances there was nothing to do but to surrender, and so Lieutenant Scovell executed with Lieutenant Turney "Articles of Capitulation for Wintermoot's Fort," dated July 1, 1778, and reading as follows *:

"Article 1st. That Lieut. Elisha Scovell surrender the Fort, with all the stores, arms and ammunition, that are in said fort, as well public as private, to Major John Butler. "2d. That the garrison shall not bear arms during the present contest; and Major Butler promises that the men, women and children shall not be hurt, either by Indians or Rangers."

Later in the evening, accompanied by a detachment of " Rangers," Major Butler entered the fort and took up his quarters there-all the prior occupants (except the Tories) being detained there under guard. The next morning (July 2d), toward noon, Major Butler despatched Capt. William Caldwell (see pages 940 and 944) of the "Rangers," with a white flag, to Jenkins' Fort, to demand its surrender. Caldwell was ac- companied by a squad of his men, among whom were Parshall Terry, Jr., Elijah Phelpst and Thomas Hill, formerly of Westmoreland. (See pages 902 and 903.) The occupants of this fort were, at that time, few in number, consisting mostly of women and children, while several of the men were wounded and sick (as for instance, Joel Phelps and Eben- ezer Reynolds), and others were incapacitated for fighting by either age or physical disability. Miner Robbins, James Hadsall, Jr., Benjamin and Stukely Harding, John Gardner and Daniel Carr had been inmates of the fort, but they had been either killed or captured by the enemy, as previously related. Stephen Harding, # Sr., Captain of the 7th (Exeter)

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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 73

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