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 44
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Simon Huntington, another of the grantees, and a descendant of the original Simon previously mentioned, was born at Norwich Septem- ber 12, 1719, the second child and only son of Ebenezer and Saralı (Leffingwell ) Huntington. He was graduated at Yale College in 1741, after which he studied theology and was licensed to preach, but aban- doned his profession on account of ill health and engaged in business in Norwich. He held various town offices. His death occurred at Nor- wich December 27, 1801.
Phineas Lyman, the fourth grantee named in the deed, was born at Durham, Connecticut, in 1716. He was graduated at Yale College in 1738, and from 1739 to '41 was a tutor in the College-at the same time studying law. About 1749 he settled in Suffield, then believed to be within the bounds of Massachusetts, but later determined to be in Con- necticut. In 1750, '51 and '52 he was a Representative from Suffield in the General Assembly of Connecticut, and then for seven years served as an Assistant. In 1750-'51 he was charged on the part of Connecti- cut with the task of assisting to settle the Connecticut-Massachusetts boundary-line. In March, 1755, he was appointed by the Connecticut Assembly Major General and Commander-in-chief of the Connecticut forces sent against Crown Point, and, "relinquishing the most extensive law practice in the Colony, he undertook this office."+
Franklin B. Dexter, in his Yale College Biographies, states (I : 604):
"In the important battle fought at the head of Lake George September 8, 1755, the command devolved on General Lyman almost at the beginning-Lieutenant General (afterwards Sir) William Johnson, his superior officer, having been wounded and obliged to retire. During the whole fight for five and a-half hours Lyman behaved with dis- tinguished bravery, repeatedly showing himself in front of the defenses to encourage his men. Johnson, however, was not generous enough even to mention Lyman's name in his official report of the battle, so that he alone reaped the rewards for the victory."
In the Summer of 1755 a fort was built under General Lyman's direction on the east bank of the Hudson and called Fort Lyman, in his
* See page 248.
t See notes, pages 264 and 269.
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honor, but afterwards its name was changed to Fort Edward. In the campaigns of 1756, '57, '58, '59, '60 and '61 he held important com- mands in the Provincial military service, and in 1762 was in chief command of all the Provincial forces engaged in the expedition against Havana. He died near Natchez, Mississippi, September 10, 1774. For further interesting details concerning his life see Dexter's Yale Biographies previously referred to.
Daniel Edwards, named fifth in the list of grantees, was born at Hartford, Connecticut, April 11, 1701, and was graduated at Yale College in 1720. From 1725 to 1728 he was a tutor in the College, and then, for six years, Steward. From 1729 to 1753 he was Clerk of the Super- ior Court of Connecticut, and in the meantime-in November, 1734- was admitted to the Bar. In 1742 he removed from New Haven to Hartford, where he continued to practise his profession until his death. In 1755 he was chosen an Assistant, and thereafter was annually re- chosen until his death. In October, 1753, he was appointed an Assist- ant Judge of the Superior Court to fill an unexpired term, but in May, 1756, he was appointed to a position on the Bench which he held until his death. He was also Probate Judge of the Hartford District for somne four and a-half years from March, 1761. He died at New Haven Sep- tember 6, 1765.
Samuel Talcott, sixth in the list of grantees, was born at Hartford in 1711, the fourth son of the Hon. Joseph Talcott who was Governor of Connecticut from 1725 till his death in 1741, and who had previ- ously held various other important public offices. Samuel Talcott was graduated at Yale College in 1733. He inherited a large estate from his father and made his home in Hartford, where he was intrusted with various public offices by his fellow citizens. He was never engaged in any profession. In May, 1746, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of a regiment raised for the projected expedition against Canada, and in August, 1755, he was placed in command of one of the regiments raised for the Crown Point expedition-referred to on page 281. He was Sheriff of Hartford County for many years, and after 1759 represented Hartford in the General Assembly for a number of years. He was married in May, 1739, to Mabel, youngest daughter of the Hon. Heze- kiah Wyllys of Hartford.
George Wyllys, seventh in the list of grantees, was born at Hart- ford, Connecticut, October 6, 1710, fifth child of the Hon. Hezekiah Wyllys, mentioned above, and great-grandson of the Hon. George Wyllys, an Englishman of means and rank who became one of the original planters of Hartford and in 1642-'43 served as Governor of Connecticut. George Wyllys, first mentioned, was graduated at Yale College in 1729. In May, 1730, he was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Colony, pro tem., on account of the illness of his father, who had been the incumbent of the office since 1712. In that capacity George Wyllys served until May, 1734, when, his father having died, · he was regularly appointed to the office, and, by successive annual re- appointments, performed the duties of the same until his death. He was also Town Clerk from 1732 till his death-having likewise succeeded his father in that office, after the latter had held it for twenty-six years. George Wyllys was Captain in the Connecticut Militia as early as 1738 ; and in 1756-'57, during the French and Indian War, he held a commis-
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sion of Lieutenant Colonel. During the Revolutionary War he was in active sympathy with the Loyalist, or Tory, element of the country. He was married to Mary, only daughter of his cousin the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge of Simsbury, Connecticut-a relative of "Deacon" Timothy Woodbridge of Stockbridge. Colonel Wyllys' eldest child was Samuel, born January 7, 1739 ; graduated at Yale in 1758 ; appointed Secretary of State upon the death of his father-April 24, 1796-and holding the office until 1810. It will be noticed that this office remained in the Wyllys family continuously for the unusually long period of ninety- eight years. This record was never outdone in Connecticut.
Capt. Thomas Wells, the grantee named next in the list, was a well-known resident of Hartford, and in 1754, '55 and later years was an Assistant. Another of the grantees was William Pitkin, Jr., a son of the Hon. William Pitkin who was Lieutenant Governor of Connecti- cut in 1765 and Governor in 1766-'69, and who "distinguished himself during the excitement attending the passage of the Stamp Act by his bold, uncompromising advocacy of the cause of the Colonies." William Pitkin, Sr., was one of the Representatives from Connecticut in the Albany Congress of 1754.
William Williams, another of the grantees, was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, April 8, 1731, the son of the Rev. Solomon Williams, who was a descendant of Robert Williams mentioned in the note on page 269. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1751, and in 1755 enlisted in the regiment commanded by Col. Ephraim Williams, Jr. (mentioned on page 269), for the invasion of Canada. In 1756 William Williams was chosen Town Clerk of Lebanon and held the office forty-five years. In May, 1776, the General Assembly of Connecticut appointed William Williams, Eliphalet Dyer, Jedidiah Elderkin and Nathaniel Wales, Jr. (all of them early and active members of the Susquehanna Company), in connection with three or four other gentlemen named, "to be a Council or Committee of Safety* to assist his Honor the Governor [Jonathan Trumbull]t when the Assembly is not sitting, with full power and authority to order and direct the militia and the navy of the Colony." William Williams was a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, and as such signed on the 4th of July the Declaration of Independence.
* The work of this Council was carried on at Lebanon, in a small building, still carefully preserved, which became known as the "Lebanon War Office." Sonie 1,200 meetings of the Council were held dur- ing the years 1776-'81 within the walls of this building, and its oaken floors were trodden by Washington, Lafayette, Rochambeau and many other leaders of renown. The following paragraphs are from an oration delivered June 17, 1896, by the Rev. R. H. Nelson of Norwich, Connecticut, upon the occasion of the unveiling at the Lebanon War Office of a tablet indicating the historic character of the building :
"This quiet town of Lebanon, which lies so remote from the centers of life that historians have fol- lowed the example of railroads and have passed it by, has nevertheless played such a part in the fortunes of the country as to have well deserved the name given to it by Lossing- The focus of Connecticut patriot- ism and vigilance during the Revolution ' The most eloquent defense of this title lies before you to-day in the tablet which is erected to declare that this building was the home and meeting-place of that little band of immortals known to history as the 'Connecticut Council of Safety.' * *
"To the school-boy and to the superficial reader of history the Revolution is seen on battlefields and in camps, in dashing expeditions and patient endurance and adventure of war. But let the thoughtful lover of his country read the record of the men who worked behind the scenes ; let him peruse through hundreds of pages the minutes of their meetings, and read there how the men whose memories we honor were contented to supply strength for the fight and to die in the consciousness that, whether known or unknown, they had labored with giant strength for their country's good.
"Read in those records the letters from the heroes in the field, and picture the little band of patriots gathered in this house to consider what might be done in Boston, at Newport, at Crown Point and Ticon- deroga, on Long Island or along the Hudson. There see the provision-trains moving out from every Connecticut town ; note how companies were mustered on every village green and went marching forth to bear their part in the struggle ; read in the hearts of great commanders the new courage brought by wise counsels and by the knowledge of loyal support-and know that the center from which this vast machinery of helpfulness went forth was this very War Office at Lebanon, and the men who operated it were these very members of the Council of Safety, working under one [Gov. Jonathan Trumbull] whose title to a high place on the roll of honor was proclaimed by the Father of his Country, and has been endorsed by a grateful people."
+ He, also, was a member of the Susquehanna Company, although not an original member. For his portrait and a sketch of his life, see a subsequent chapter.
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He was a member of the General Assembly of Connecticut for over fifty years, being an Assistant, or Councillor, from 1780 to 1804. He was Probate Judge of the Windham District, and also Judge of the Windham County Court, for about forty years. Mary, daughter of Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, was the wife of William Williams. He died at Lebanon August 2, 1811.
Ezra Stiles, another grantee in the Indian deed to the Susquehanna Company, was born at North Haven, Connecticut, November 29, 1727, son of the Rev. Isaac Stiles. He was graduated at Yale College in 1746 at the age of nineteen years, and three years later was appointed a tutor in the College. This position he held until 1755, in the mean- time studying law, and in November, 1753, being admitted to the Bar at New Haven. "Besides acquainting himself with the law practice of Connecticut, he aimed to learn the course of judicial proceedings in all the British Provinces. To facilitate the acquisition of this knowledge, he visited several of the other Colonies and sought interviews with the principal legal practitioners."
In 1755, having decided to enter the Christian ministry, Mr. Stiles resigned his Yale tutorship, and in October of that year was ordained pastor of the Second Congregational Church at Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1765 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh. July 8, 1778, he was inducted into the office of President of Yale College, and there he served until his death, May 12, 1795. Chancellor Kent said of President Stiles in 1831: "Take him all in all, this extraordinary man was undoubtedly one of the purest and best-gifted men of his age"; and, at a later date, Dr. J. L. Kingsley wrote: "Among the scholars of New England who, in the eighteenth century, were so distinguished by their talents and acquisi- tions as to deserve the remembrance of posterity, was President Stiles of Yale College."
Noah Webster of West Hartford, Connecticut, whose name appears in the list of grantees, was the father of the famous lexicographer of the same name-who was not born until about four years after the ex- ecution of the Indian deed, but who, it was foreordained, was to lend a helping hand,* many years later, to those settlers from New England who were then attempting to maintain their legal right to the Wyo- ming lands which had been taken possession of and settled by them under the Indian title of 1754.
Benedict Arnold, one of the grantees named in the deed, was Capt. Benedict Arnold of Norwich, Connecticut, who became a proprietor in the Company May 14, 1754, by subscribing for one share. Later he purchased a second share. He was the father of the notorious American traitor, Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold. November 4, 1763, the latter (then in the twenty-third year of his life) and his sister Hannah, "only surviv- ing heirs of Benedict Arnold and his wife Hannah of Norwich, deceased," conveyed to Christopher Avery of Norwich "said two rights in the Sus- * * for a competent sum of lawful money."+
quehanna Company
Roger Wolcott, Jr., Alexander Wolcott and Oliver Wolcott, three more of the grantees, were brothers. Of the first-named, as well as of his father, Gov. Roger Wolcott, Sr., mention has already been made on
* See Chapter XXV.
+ See Book "B," page 30, of the records of the Susquehanna Company, mentioned on page 28.
THE HON. OLIVER WOLCOTT.
A photo-reproduction of an original portrait in oils in the State Capitol at Hartford, Connecticut. By courtesy of The Connecticut Magazine.
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pages 257, 259 and 263. Alexander Wolcott, who was graduated at Yale College in 1731, studied medicine and became one of the most celebrated practitioners of his day. He died in 1795. Oliver Wolcott, the fourteenth child of Gov. Roger Wolcott, Sr., was born in Windsor, Connecticut, November 26, 1726. He was graduated at Yale College in 1747, and almost immediately afterwards, having received a commis- sion as Captain in the Connecticut forces, he recruited a company, marched to the northern frontier and took an active part in the French and Indian War then in progress.
In 1751 the county of Litchfield, Connecticut, was erected from the territory in the north-western corner of the Colony, and Oliver Wolcott having settled in the town of Goshen, within the bounds of the new County, was appointed Sheriff of the same. This office he held for twenty-one consecutive years. From 1772 to 1795 he was Judge of the Court of Probate for the District of Litchfield, and from 1773 to 1786 Chief Judge of the Inferior Court of the County of Litchfield. From 1771 to 1786 he was an Assistant in the General Assembly. In Octo- ber, 1774, he was Colonel of the 17th Regiment, Connecticut Militia. There were then eighteen regiments in the Colony. January 17, 1777, having been appointed Brigadier General of the 6th Brigade of the State of Connecticut by the General Assembly, he was commissioned by the Governor. Colonel Wolcott having been appointed by the General Assembly a Representative to the Continental Congress in October, 1775, was thenceforward until 1784 a member of that body, and as such signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
At the breaking out of the Revolution there stood on the Bowling Green, at the lower end of Broadway, New York City, a leaden eques- trian statue of King George III. Just one week after the Declaration of Independence had been signed this statue was pulled down, broken into fragments and secretly conveyed to the home of Oliver Wolcott on South Street, in the village of Litchfield, where he had then been resid- ing for some years. There the lead was moulded into bullets, and these were converted by some of the patriotic ladies of Litchfield into 42,088 cartridges for the use of the American army-8,378 of which cartridges were made by Mrs. Laura, or Lorraine, (Collins) Wolcott, the wife of Colonel Wolcott .*
In July, 1775, the Continental Congress resolved, "That the secur- ing and preserving the friendship of the Indian nations appears to be a subject of the utmost moment to these Colonies," and thereupon created three Departments of Indian Affairs. The Northern Department was placed in charge of Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler and Volckert P. Douw, Esq., of New York, Col. Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, Col. Turbott Francis of Pennsylvania and Timothy Edwards, Esq., as Commissioners. In the following Autumn and Winter these Commissioners held some important conferences and treaties at Albany with the Six Nation Indians, which will be referred to hereinafter. In October, 1784, an important treaty was held with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, New York, at which Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee were the Commissioners on the part of the United States. Further mention will be made of this treaty in a subsequent chapter.
* See relative to this matter an original memorandum in the handwriting of Oliver Wolcott, among his unpublished papers in possession of the Connecticut Historical Society.
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In 1786 General Wolcott was elected Lieutenant Governor of Con- necticut, and was annually re-elected to that office until 1796, when he was chosen Governor of the State. He served in that capacity one year and was then re-elected. He died in office December 1, 1797.
Oliver Wolcott, Jr., born January 11, 1760, son of Governor Oliver Wolcott, was graduated at Yale College in 1778, in the same class with Noah Webster, Jr., previously mentioned. He held various public offices until, in 1795, he was appointed to succeed Alexander Hamilton as Secre- tary of the Treasury of the United States. Later he was a Judge of the United States Circuit Court, and from 1817 to 1827 Governor of Con- necticut. He died in the city of New York June 1, 1833.
We have gone into the personnel of the Susquehanna Company thus fully in order to impress upon the reader the indisputable fact that the original members-and particularly the leaders and managers-of the Company were neither irresponsible adventurers nor ignorant nobodies !
The sale of the Wyoming lands to the Susquehanna Company by the Six Nation Indians led to a long train of difficulties extending through many years. From the beginning to the end of those difficul- ties the opponents of the Company made vehement assertions as to the spuriousness of the deed alleged to have been executed in favor of the Company, and the consequent invalidity of the latter's title to the valu- able and extensive territory claimed. Although the questions raised by these assertions are fully discussed hereinafter (in Chapter XX), yet, in order that the reader may more readily understand various matters referred to in some of the intervening pages, it is deemed desirable to insert at this point a few of the most important statements publicly made for and against the Susquehanna Company's Indian deed at an early day, by men who were presumed at that time to have some per- sonal knowledge of the transactions concerning which they spoke.
When Commissioners Penn and Peters returned to Philadelphia from the Albany Congress they made a full report* to Governor Hamil- ton and the Provincial Council of their doings-particularly with ref- erence to their conferences with the Indians and the securing of the deed from the latter to the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania. They also stated that "Timothy Woodbridge of Stockbridge and two Connecticut gentlemen were in town [Albany] with intent to negotiate a purchase, and had 1,000 Pieces of Eight,t and were busy conferring with the Indians on this subject at Lydius' house. This Lydius is an inhabitant of Albany, known to have abjured the Protestant religion in Canada, and to be concerned in a clandestine trade with the Caughnawaga and French 'Praying Indians,' and suspected of carrying on a secret corres- pondence with the Government of Canada." The Commissioners inti- mated that "the Rev. Mr. Hawleyt at Onecquago" had been made use of by the Connecticut people to induce the Indians to sell the Susque- hanna lands; and they stated, also, that they (the Commissioners) had exhibited to Mr. Woodbridge at Albany the Indian deeds and titles held by the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania for lands within the Province-in- cluding the Susquehanna region-and that Mr. Woodbridge said he was perfectly satisfied, and would, in behalf of Connecticut, cause no further trouble !
* See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VI : 111.
+ See note, page 252.
Į See foot-note on page 257.
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The Rev. Richard Peters-Provincial Secretary, and Commissioner to the Albany Congress, as previously mentioned-wrote in May, 1774, to Henry Wilmot, Esq., the Proprietaries' London solicitor, as follows* :
"The Connecticut attempt was likewise made known by the Indians to us, and they in their speeches declared their absolute refusal to make any grant to theni of any lands they were soliciting for. And indeed, in their public. treaty, they over and over declared that they would sell none of the Wyomink country either to thein or to us, it being what they had reserved for their own use, and for the reception of such other Indians as would want to come and reside amongst them. * * This will serve to show that at that time there was no Indian deed made to the Connecticut people by the Onondaga Council, and that if any deed is set up it must have been obtained in a clandestine manner from private Indians. Indeed, it was then currently reported that one Lydius of the city of Albany had undertaken the matter for the Connecticut people, and as he lived (and I think kept a public-house ) at Albany, he made it his business to get the Indians (as they came to trade there) into his house, and by liquor or private bribes, by twos or threes as he could find opportunity, to prevail with them to execute a deed which was lodged with him for
this infamous purpose. * * I have further to observe, that the persons to whom this pretended Indian deed was made were private people, and acting in direct opposition to their own laws and in violation of the right, if any, of the Colony of Connecticut to these lands."
In September, 1754, Daniel Claus,t at Albany, wrote as follows to Governor Hamilton at Philadelphia concerning what he denominated "the villainous scheme of John Lydius of Albany, *
* to serve the Connecticut people in buying the lands at Susquehanna the said Prov- ince [of Pennsylvania] was contriving to buy of the Six Nations the year past." * * "After the sum of 1,500 dollars being put in his [Lydius'] hands, he went in the following clandestine manner to work, and, with tempting the Indians he could pre- vail upon with the plenty of dollars, got the following subscriptions to his deed, viz. : Gahikdote, alias Grote Young, the head of ye Senekers, Atsinoughiata, alias ye Bunt,} and Canatsiagaye, two Onontagas-those he got after the Treaty was over and the Com- missioners gone ; suppose when they were drunk. Afterwards he [Lydius], under a vain pretense, took a ride to Canajochery, as he told me himself, * that he had been there to buy a span of horses ; and by laying down the bag of dollars had Abraham and Nickas (Hendrick's brothers) and Tarraghioris to sign. Then he passed in his way home the Lower Mohawk Castle, and invited four of the sachems to his house about some business he had to propose to them ; and when they came there he called one after another into a room by himself and laid the Deed before them and showed them the subscriptions of the other nations and by many false persuasions, with the offer of 20 dollars each, brought them to sign their names-which are : Tsistarare, Canadagaye, Sotskiowano and Gaweghnog.
"He also gave a call to the Oneidoes, and accordingly a good many of them who were absent at the treaty came down, when Lydius treated them plentifully with victuals and drink, and then laid 300 dollars before them, saying that with this he only would acquaint them with his intent, and that if they would consent to his proposals he would deliver them £400 more. When afterwards they went off, and, as they in their return told Colonel Johnson, without signing, but that they would first consider about it. He [Johnson ] then asked them if they did not think this a very dishonest and dirty action of Lydius. * * They seemed to be concerned about it, but had nothing else to reply but that the subscription of the other nations and the temptation of the money brouglit them to consent.
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