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 early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 16
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
The Chippewas, or Ojibways (of the Algonkian family), had migrated from the East to the banks of the Mississippi River late in the sixteenth or early in the seventeenth century. Later they ranged over the territory now comprehended in the States of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and became very numerous and powerful. At various periods remnants of other tribes merged into the Chippewa tribe. and it is very probable that some of Chief Not-to-way's ancestors had belonged to the disrupted and dis- persed Nottoway tribe of Virginia and North Carolina.
116
massacring 130 in a single day, and a fierce war ensued. In the Autumn of 1712 all the white inhabitants south and south-west of Chowan River were obliged to live in forts. In their warfare the Tuscaroras expected assistance from the Five Nations; but this could not have been given without involving the Confederacy in a war with the English-and so the Tuscaroras were left to their own resources. A force, consisting chiefly of "Southern" Indians, was sent by the Government of South Carolina to assist in the overthrow of the Tuscaroras, which was effect- ually accomplished. More than 600 Tuscarora prisoners were taken, who were given into the hands of the "Southern" Indians, carried to South Carolina and sold as slaves. The eastern Tuscaroras-dwelling chiefly along the Taw-immediately sued for peace, and about the year 1714 the great body of the Tuscarora nation who were free removed to the territory of the Five Nations in the Province of New York. There, having been granted by the Oneidas land and the right of settlement within the bounds of the Oneida canton, they were admitted about the year 1715* into the Iroquois Confederacy, as the sixth nation.
They were admitted on the ground of a common generic origin ; retaining their own hereditary chiefs, but without enlarging the original framework of the Confederacy. They were never received into an equal alliance with the other nations, although they had authority to be rep- resented and enjoy nominal equality in the Council of Sachems of the Confederacy. "The accession of the Tuscaroras," wrote Schoolcraft, "however it might have pleased the cantonal government, could have added but little to the efficiency of a people who had, from the earliest times, been the terror of the Indian tribes."
For some years following the admission of the Tuscaroras to their League the Iroquois continued to be commonly called the "Five Nations,"t but in the course of time they began to refer to themselves as, and to be called by others, the "SIX NATIONS."
"The uncertainty and doubt surrounding most North American Indian history are partially removed from the Six Nations. They, of all American Indians, have best preserved their traditions. Besides, their system was so complete, and their government so unique and so well fitted to the people, that from the earliest European arrival they have been constantly written about. Their small numbers, compared with the enormous country they occupied and the government they originated, with their deeds of daring, will always excite surprise. Their League, tribal and individual characteristics and personal strength of will, together with their great courage and prowess, account for their success in war and the methods which brought comfort and peace."- Thomas Donaldson, in "Report on Indians at the Eleventh Census," page 447.
The Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas were looked upon by the Six Nations as the "elder brothers" of their Confederacy, and were addressed as "fathers" by the Oneidas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras, who were styled the "younger brothers" and were addressed as "children." The historic center of the Confederacy was in what is now Onondaga County, New York-although not always in the same locality, it being
* See "Documentary History of the State of New York," I : 26; Morgan's "League of the Iroquois;" Larned's "History for Ready Reference," I : 92, and "Report on Indians at the Eleventh Census," page 461.
+ In evidence of this see the Indian deed of July, 1754, in Chapter IV.
117
moved from place to place as necessity or convenience required. It was known as Onondaga Castle, and from 1756 to 1779, at least, was located half a mile south of the present village of Onondaga Valley, distant only a few miles from the present city of Syracuse, and six miles south of Onondaga Lake. This particular Onondaga Castle was a stockade, 150 feet square, with block-houses on two corners, built in 1756 by Sir William Johnson for the Onondagas. It was destroyed in April, 1779, by a force of American soldiers under command of Colonel Van Schaick -the Indians occupying it having first been killed or put to fliglit.
Highways running south, east and west led from Onondaga-one of the principal ones leading south to Tioga Point (see page 34). Also, upon the banks of the Susquehanna and its branches in New York, and upon the banks of the Chemung and its tributaries, which have their sources near the Genesee, were trails which converged upon Tioga Point. There all these became gathered into one trail, which, descending the North Branch of the Susquehanna for a short distance, branched into two great trails which led southward through Pennsylvania into Maryland and Virginia. "For centuries upon centuries," says Morgan, "and by race after race, these old and deeply worn trails had been trod by the red man."
At Onondaga was located the Council-house, "Long House"* or what might be called the "Federal Capitol" of the Six Nations. In 1764 the "Long House" was a building nearly eighty feet long, and contained four fire-places .; Here the "Great Council-fire" burned, and here general congresses were held and the policy of the Confederacy was agreed upon. According to Morgan ("League of the Iroquois") when the League was instituted fifty permanent, or hereditary, sachemships were created, with appropriate names, or titles.} In the sachems who held these titles were vested the supreme powers of the Confederacy ; and, united, these sachems formed the Great Council of the League, the ruling body, in which resided the legislative, executive and judicial authority. As a safeguard against contention and fraud, each sachem was "raised up" and invested with his title by the Great Council, with suitable forms and ceremonies. Nine of the sachemships were assigned to the Mohawk nation, nine to the Oneida, fourteen to the Onondaga, ten to the Cayuga and eight to the Seneca. This same system and form of government still prevails in the League of the Six Nations as it exists to-day, the Tuscaroras never having been granted any sachemships.
The union in one council of the cantons, or nations, each possess- ing equal powers, was the cause of their triumph over hostile tribes, who acknowledged no government but that of opinion, and followed no policy but that actuated by revenge or undefinable impulse. All the weighty concerns of the Six Nations were the subject of full delibera- tion, in open council ; and their diplomatic negotiations were managed with consummate skill. When the question of peace or war was decided, the councillors united in chanting hymns of praise, or warlike choruses, which gave expression to the public feeling and, at the same time, im- parted a kind of natural sanctity to the act.
* See note (¿) page 81 ; also page 108.
+ See "Life of Samuel Kirkland," in Sparks' "American Biography," XV : 163.
¿ Some of the whimsical names which the founders of the Confederacy bestowed upon the sachen- ships were (translated into English) : "War-Club-on-the-Ground," "At-the-Great-River," "Falling-Day," "Dragging-His-Horns," "A-Man-with-the-Headache," "On-the-Watch" and "Wearing-a-Hatchet-in-His- Belt."-"Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1885," P. II, p. 180.
118
Colden wrote that he was at a loss which most to admire in the Iroquois, "their military ardor, their political policy or their eloquence in council." De Witt Clinton, in an address' on the "Eloquence of the Six Nations," delivered before the New York Historical Society in 1811,* said :
"The Confederates [Six Nations] were as celebrated for their eloquence as for their
military skill and political wisdom, * * % and there is little doubt but that oratory was studied with as much care and application among the Confederates as it was in the stormy democracies of the Eastern Hemisphere. * * * The most remarkable differ- ence existed between the Confederates and the other Indian nations with respect to eloquence. You may search in vain in the records and writings of the past, or in events of the present times, for a single model of eloquence among the Algonkins, the Abenaquis, the Delawares, the Shawanese or any other nation of Indians except the Iroquois. The few scintillations of intellectual light-the faint glimmerings of genius-which are some- times to be found in their speeches, are evidently derivative, and borrowed from the Confederates. Considering the interpreters who have undertaken to give the meaning of Indian speeches, it is not a little surprising that some of them should approach so near perfection. The major part of the interpreters were illiterate persons, sent among them to conciliate their favor by making [presents of] useful or ornamental implements ; or they were prisoners who learned the Indian language during their captivity."
The Six Nations appreciated the worth of their women, and the matrons were given a high place in their councils and possessed a sub- stantial veto as to peace or war. In 1789, at Albany, "Good Peter," in his speech for the Cayugas and Senecas to the Governor of New York and the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, said : "Our ancestors considered it a great transgression to reject the counsel of their women, particularly of the governesses. Our ancestors considered them mistresses of the soil. Our ancestors said : 'Who bring us forth ? Who cultivate our lands ? Who kindle our fires and boil our pots but the women ?'
* *
* The women say : 'Let not the traditions of the fathers with respect to women be disregarded; let them not be despised ; God is their maker ! ' *
* * The governesses beg leave to speak with that freedom allowable to woman and agreeable to the spirit of our ancestors. They exhort the great chief to put forth his strength and preserve their peace, for they are the life of the nation." When the Senecas at Big Tree, in 1797, refused to negotiate with Thomas Morris, and "Red Jacket," with undue haste, had declared the council-fire covered up, the women and the warriors interposed and consummated a treaty.
In the military department chiefs were elected for special causes, nor did they hesitate in extreme cases to depose the civil sachem to give greater force to battle action. The military service was not conscriptive, but voluntary, although every man was subject to military duty, and to shirk it brought disgrace.}
"The Iroquois were universally lighter in complexion than any other American Indians, and the Mohawks and Oneidas were the lightest of all. So marked was this peculiarity, taken together with their superior civilization, that some of the early writers-mainly Jesuit Fathers-considered them a different race from the common aborigines. A noted student of Indian life and character, Professor Donaldson, explains it on purely physical grounds, which is doubtless the true view. He says that for generations-even before the white man was known on these shores-the Iroquois had lived in comfortable habitations, tilled the soil, raised grain and fruits, and, generally speaking, had much
* See "Library of American Literature," IV : 254.
t "Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1885," Part II, page 190.
# "Report on Indians at the Eleventh Census," page 463.
11
better shelter, better cookery, better sanitary arrangements, and alto- gether more of the good things of life than any other Indians. This mode of living had tended to 'bleach out' their complexions and endow them with other physical advantages."*
"It would be a gross error to suppose the Six Nations-who had conquered, and held in vassalage, so extensive an empire-were a rude rabble of ignorant Indians. Letters and the arts of civilized life they had not ; nor had Attila or Ghengis Khan. But they were profoundly versed in all the wiles of diplomacy, the subtlest stratagems of war, and all the arts of savage government, which they made subservient to the gratification of an ambition as lofty and insatiable as that of the greatest conquerors, civilized or barbarian, we read of in story."t
The following paragraphs-relating more particularly to the Six Nations-are from a letter written in February, 1771, by Sir William Johnsont to Dr. Arthur Lee of Virginia, "on the customs, manners and languages of the Indians."§ * "The Mohocks [Mohawks], who have long lived within our settlements,
* though greatly reduced in number are still the acknowledged Head of that alliance [the "Confederacy of the Six Nations"] ; but in their present state they have less inter- course with the Indians and more with us than formerly-besides which they are at present members of the Church of England. Most of them read, and several write, very well. When, therefore, they subscribe an ordinary deed they frequently make use of a cross- after the example of the illiterate amongst us-and sometimes their names. But in things of much consequence they usually delineate a steel, such as is used to strike fire out of flint ; which, being the symbol of their nation, this steel they call 'Canniah' and them- selves 'Canniungaes.'|| But from hence little can be deduced, as they had not the use of any instrument in that form before their commerce with the whites.
"The Oneidas inhabit the country a little beyond the settlements. Some efforts have been made to civilize and Christianize them-but a great part are still in the primitive way. Being also reduced in numbers, and their political system much changed, their intercourse with the more remote Indians is lessened, and their knowledge of ancient usages decayed. They have in use as a symbol a tree, by which they would express stability. But their true symbol is a stone, called 'Onoya' ; and they call them- selves 'Onoyuts'.
"The Onondagas, whose residences are forty miles farther, are somewhat better versed in the customs of their ancestors. They call themselves 'People of the Great Mountain."[ * * * The Cayugas have for their symbol a pipe. The Senecas are the most numerous and most distant of the Six Nations. They have several towns and sym- bols, from which, however, little can be understood. * *
"There is in every nation a sachem, or chief, who appears to have some authority over the rest ; and it is greatest among the most distant nations. But in most of those bordering on our settlements his authority is scarcely discernible-he seldom assuming any power before his people. And indeed this humility is judged the best policy, for, want- ing coercive power, their commands would perhaps occasion assassination, which some- times happens. The sachems of each tribe are usually chosen in a public assembly of the chiefs and warriors, whenever a vacancy happens by death or otherwise. They are generally chosen for their sense and bravery, from among the oldest warriors, and are approved of by all the tribe-on which they are saluted sachems. There are, however, several exceptions, for some families have a kind of inheritance in the office, and are called to this station in their infancy.
"The Chief Sachem-by some called the King-is so either by inheritance or by a kind of tacit consent, the consequence of his superior abilities and influence. The dura- tion of his authority depends much on his own wisdom, the number and consequence of his relations, and the strength of his particular tribe. Military services are the chief recommendations to this rank. It appears pretty clearly that heretofore the chief of a nation had, in some small degree, the authority of a sovereign. This is now the fact among the most remote Indians. But as, since the introduction of fire-arms, they no longer fight in close bodies, but every man is his own general, I am inclined to think this has lessened the power of a chief. The chief of a whole nation has the custody of the
* Augustus C. Buell's "Sir William Johnson," page 50.
+ Miner's "History of Wyoming," page 35.
# See Chapter IV for portrait and sketch of his life.
¿ See "Documentary History of the State of New York," IV : 270, 271.
| See page 110. T See page 108.
120
belts of wampum, &c., which are as records of public transactions. He prompts the speakers at all treaties, and proposes affairs of consequence. * * *
"All their deliberations are conducted with extraordinary regularity and decorum. They never interrupt him who is speaking, nor use harsh language-whatever may be
their thoughts. *** * On their hunts, as on all other occasions, they are strict observers of meum and tuum ; and this from principle-holding theft in contempt, so that they are rarely guilty of it, though tempted by articles of much value. Neither do the strong attempt to seize the prey of the weak. And I must do them the justice to say that unless heated by liquor, or influenced by revenge, their ideas of right and wrong, and their practices in consequence of them, would, if more known, do them much honor. It is true that, having been often deceived by us in the purchase of lands, in trade and other transactions, many of them begin now to act the same part. But this reflects most on those who set them the example. * * *
* "Their language, though not very wordy, is extremely emphatical, and their style adorned with noble images and strong metaphors and equal in allegory to many of the eastern nations. * * It is curious to observe that they have various modes of speech and phrases peculiar to each age and sex, which they strictly observe. For instance, a man says, when he is hungry, 'Cadagcariax,' which is expressive both of his want and of the animal food he requires to supply it; whilst a child says, in the same circum- stances, 'Cautsore,' that is, 'I require spoon-meat.' * * *
"The figures which they affix to deeds* have led some to imagine that they had characters or an alphabet. The case is this: Every nation is divided into a certain number of tribes, of which some have three, as the Turtle, Bear and Wolf ; to which others add the Snake, Deer, &c. Each of these tribes forms a little community within the nation, and as the nation has its peculiar symbol, so each tribe has the peculiar badge from whence it is denominated ; and a sachem of each tribe being a necessary party to a fair conveyance, such sachem affixes the mark of the tribe thereto-which is not that of a particular family (unless the whole tribe is so deemed), but rather as the public seal of a corporation."
Concerning the Mohawks Zinzendorf wrote as follows, in his "Account of his Experience among the Indians", in 1742+: "The Maquas are most part of them Christians so called, having been con- verted by the English missionaries, and have lost all their credit with the others because they have guzzled away all their land to the Christ- ians. And with this nation we have not hitherto so much as spoken, since we fear nothing so much as when such sort of people do endeavor to belong to us. And we have esteemed it a very great Grace of our Savior that, although these are as it were the next neighbors of the heathen to our congregations [at Shecomeco, New York, and its dependencies], yet we have had no manner of fellowship with them."
The Mohawks were the keepers of the eastern door of the "Long House," and their business was to transmit messages from without to the Grand Council of the League, and also to guard against the encroach- ments and invasions of enemies along the eastern bounds of the Con- federacy. The title of the hereditary sachem of the Mohawks who "watched the door" was "Dogaeoga."
"'A Mohawk ! a Mohawk !' was a cry of heart-withering terror ; and when, in Queen Anne's reign, there arose a band of ruthless and bloody ruffians in London, who seized and wantonly maimed their victims, to designate them as supremely savage they were called 'Mo- hawks '!"±
* See photo-illustration of deed in Chapter IV.
t See Reichel's "Memorials of the Moravian Church," I : 120.
Hayden's "The Massacre of Wyoming," page 32.
One of the "new inventions" of the London "Mohawks" was to roll persons down Snow Hill in a
tub ; another was to overturn coaches on rubbish heaps. A vivid picture of the misdoings in the streets of London by these and other brawlers is given in The Spectator, No. 324. The following lines are from "Plot Upon Plot," published in London about 1713.
"You sent your Mohocks next abroad, With razors armed, and knives ;
Who on night-walkers made inroad, And scared our maids and wives ;
They scared the watch, and windows broke."
* *
121
Relative to the Senecas Zinzendorf stated, in his "Account" pre- viously referred to : "The third nation are the Senekas, who have been converted by the French missionaries some time ago, when they had to do with them; and of these I have observed that their Christian knowledge is nothing more than this, that they believe that our dear Savior was born at Bethlehem in France, and that the English have crucified him. Upon which account they are very much offended with the English ; and one sees them make crosses, and such like ceremonies. This is all I could find among them ; and when any of them comes to Philadelphia, they go to the Popish Chapel to Mass."
"The very name of Seneca had a terror with Indians of other nations. At the South and West, and among the nations of Canada, the Seneca war-whoop would almost conquer of itself. Even as late as the War of 1812 the Indians of Canada were struck with terror when they learned that they must encounter the Senecas in battle. * * The Senecas were a very martial and warlike nation. £ They were sternly independent, and sometimes took up arms when the other tribes sat smoking in quiet on their mats. The Senecas adhered with dogged obstinacy to the French in the rapid decline of their ascendancy on this continent."*
The Senecas were the keepers of the western door of the "Long House," and they performed duties similar to those of the Mohawks at the eastern door. The title of the Seneca sachem whose particular duty it was to watch the western door was Donehogaweh ("Open Door"). t
In 1763 the Senecas, alone of the Six Nations, were in alliance with Pontiac, and played a conspicuous part with the great Ottawa in his plan of surprising a cordon of posts in the Lake country, and extirpa- ting "the dogs in red clothing" that guarded them. Gen. Sir Jeffrey Amherst was bitterly incensed at this conduct of the Senecas, and pro- posed to take a large force of regular and Provincial troops and "wipe forever from the face of the earth that faithless, cruel tribe, who have [had] already too long debauched the good name of the Iroquois Con- federacy by pretending to belong to it." General Amherst objected to any further negotiation with the Senecas. "They were, he said, desti- tute of honor, faithless, treacherous, and a race of natural-born criminals and murderers. They cumbered the ground. He could make no use of them but exterminate them as a warning example to all other Indians.
* No male Seneca capable of bearing arms should be spared.
* The women and children should be taken prisoners and afterwards dis- tributed among other tribes. The Seneca nation as an organized tribe must disappear."
Sir William Johnson vigorously opposed this policy. "The Senecas, on their part, hearing of General Amherst's project, sued in the most abject manner for peace. * * Upon this, Amherst relented. They gave up to him nineteen of the 'instigators,' and after hanging two of the worst of them at Onondaga Castle, by way of an 'object-lesson,' the General abandoned his declared intention of 'exterminating the tribe.'
The hanging of the two sub-chiefs of the Senecas by General Amherst was the first exhibition the Indians had seen of the Anglo- Saxon mode of punishing murderers. In order to make the spectacle
* Turner's "History of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase" (Rochester, 1852).
+ See pages 123 and 135.
122
more impressive, the General ordered the bodies of the culprits to be sunk in Onondaga Lake with stones tied about their necks, as food for the fishes. And he forbade any mourning or funeral rites for them in the tribe."*
"The Second Nation" [of the Confederacy], wrote Zinzendorf in 1742, "and which properly governs the rest, is the nation of the Onon- dagoes. Those are Philosophers, and such as among us are called Deists. They are brave, honest people who keep their word ; and their general weakness is that they deliglit in Heroick Deeds. * * Their government is very equitable and fatherlike, but whoever will not stoop to them they are ready to root out. On the other hand, they carry themselves very civil and orderly towards the Europeans." In the latter part of the eighteenth century the Onondagas had become, according to a statement made by DeWitt Clinton in 1811, "the most drunken and profligate of the Six Nations"; but early in the next century, through the efforts of " Handsome Lake," the Seneca "prophet," they had been led "to abstain entirely from spirituous liquors, and to observe the laws of morality in other respects."
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.