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 51

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 720

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 51

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Loskiel states that "towards the end of 1754 the inhabitants of Gnadenhütten received the following very singular message, brought by Paxinous [Paxinosa], the old chief of the Shawanese, and Gideon Tadeuskund, who had proved unfaithful to their cause."

"The Great Head-that is, the Council of the Iroquois at Onondaga-speak the truth and lie not. They rejoice that some of the believing Indians have moved to Wyo- ming, but now they lift up the remaining Mahikans and Delawares and set them also down in Wyoming ; for there a fire is kindled for them, and there they may plant. But if they will not hear, the Great Council will come and clear their ears with a red-hot iron."

Loskiel records that Paxinosa then "turned to the missionaries, earnestly demanding of them not to hinder the Indians from removing to Wyoming. Some thought best to repair to Wyoming, while others refused to emigrate. Early in 1755 the Brethren at Bethlehem received authentic intelligence that the removal of the Gnadenhütten Indians to Wyoming did not originate in the Great Council of the Six Nations, but that only the Oneida tribe, with the Delawares and Mohegans, had formed this plan, and falsely ascribed it to the Iroquois in general. It had been likewise discovered that several persons of character in Phila- delphia joined them in endeavoring to remove the Christian Indians to Wyoming, hoping that the people of New England would thereby be prevented from taking possession of that place, to which they them- selves laid some claim."

February 11, 1755, Paxinosa, with thirteen Indians (including his wife) in his train, arrived at Bethlehem from Wyoming to demand an answer to the message he had brought on his last visit. Loskiel states that an answer was thereupon given, to this effect : "The Brethren would confer with the Iroquois themselves concerning the intended removal of the Indians at Gnadenhütten to Wyoming." The Shawa- nese King and his retinue prolonged their stay at Bethlehem for some

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days, and on the eve of their departure for home Paxinosa's wife (to whom he had been married for thirty-eight years, and who had just been converted to Christianity) was baptized by Bishop Spangenberg (men- tioned on page 217), receiving the name "Elizabeth." On the day fol- lowing the baptismal service the Indians set out for Wyoming, accom- panied by Christian Frederick Post (mentioned on page 216), who pro- posed to establish himself in the Valley to minister to the Indian con- verts here and entertain visiting missionaries.

April 4, 1755, Bishop Spangenberg wrote Governor Morris at Phila- delphia that an embassy of Susquehanna Indians was daily expected to arrive at Bethlehem from Wyoming on their way to Philadelphia. A few days later the Indians came, and on April 14th they were received in conference by the Provincial Council-Governor Morris being absent from the city. According to the official records* the Indians present were : "Paxinosa, King of the Shawanese," "Tateuscung, or Honest John, Sachem of the Delawares," "Mamalatasecung,; or Abraham, a Sachem of the Mohegans," "Maseecheinen, a Sachem of the Dela- wares,"# "Tepeschawaunk, a Sachem of the Delawares,"§ "Gootameek, a Sachem of the Mohegans," Scarooyady the "Half King," and several other Indians of lesser importance.

Teedyuscung, who, only a short time before this, had been chosen "Captain," or Chief, by the Delawares who had emigrated with him from Gnadenhütten to Wyoming and settled within the present limits of Wilkes-Barré, was the "speaker" for the embassy from Wyoming. He said, among other things :

"You sent us about a year ago by Conrad Weiser or his son a string of wampum to let us know that it was a long time since you had seen us, and that you were afraid our hearts were estranged or changed from you, and that the Chain of Friendship was grown rusty ; and to desire that when anything scared or troubled us we should make you acquainted with it ; and to assure us that you would be always glad to see us and to assist us. We are now come to acquaint you that our hearts and affections remain still the same towards you."

The members of this embassy remained in Philadelphia some twelve days, and during that time the Council held several conferences with them. The Indians presented the authorities with strings and belts of wampum, and with a package of deer, bear and raccoon skins, and "gave the most solemn and full assurances of their warmest affections towards the Government." Governor Morris and General Shirley having arrived in Philadelphia in the meantime another conference was held, when the Governor presented the Indians with a belt of wampum from Major General Johnson, with the request that the Wyoming Indians should not depart from their habitations, but should remain in the Valley to receive a message from their uncles, the Six Nations, and General John- son, at Onondaga, whither the latter had gone to consult with the Grand Council of the Confederacy. In his closing speech at this conference Teedyuscung referred to the fact that the uncles of the Delawares had made women of them ; and then he said :

"The Covenant of Friendship made by our fathers and grandfathers with the English is bound so fast by a chain about our arms that, let happen what will, we will not break loose, but will be united and stand firm to each other forever. As you are at

* See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VI : 360.

+ This, evidently, was his name in the Delaware tongue ; "Schabash" being his name in the Mohegan language.

Į It is probable that he was Chief of the Delawares occupying the village of Matchasaung, mentioned on page 213. It was either he, or his immediate successor, who was locally known as "Jacob."

§ "Tapescawen," later the private "counselor" of Teedyuscung.

T See page 307.

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one end of the road, our uncles the Six Nations at the other, and we ourselves are seated in the middle at Wyomink, if any mischief or disturbance should arise, whether before or behind, we shall all be ready to see it and join to assist and stand by each other."

A great drought prevailed in the valley of the Susquehanna from April till July, 1755, so that there was a general scarcity of food in all the Indian towns in and near Wyoming. In May, 1755, Conrad Weiser wrote to Secretary Peters that "the Indians on Susquehanna are starving and have almost nothing to eat, because the deers are scarse"; while the Bethlehem diarists inform us that in June of that year the Nesco- peck Indians came to Bethlehem for food, as they were "half starved." In the last-mentioned month Christian Frederick Post, at Wyoming, was so severely injured in one of his legs that an Indian runner was des- patched to Bethlehem for surgical aid. Dr. John Matthew Otto* responded, and spent about a week in Wyoming with his patient-being, without doubt, the first physician to visit, or at least to practise his pro- fession in, our valley.

In the latter part of this same month the Moravian missionaries Christian Seidel and David Zeisberger, who had returned from Onon- daga a short time before, set out on a tour of the Susquehanna Indian towns to preach to the christianized Indians. They reached Wyoming, via Shamokin, Nescopeck and Wapwallopen, about the same time that news was received here of Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela, as previously mentioned. The famine heretofore referred to was still pre- vailing in the Valley, and the first care of Seidel and Zeisberger was to relieve Post's wants and those of the Indians by going back to Shamokin for supplies. After a few days spent in the valleys of Wyoming and Lackawanna the Brethren set out for Bethlehem by way of the "War- rior's Path." Loskiel informs us that as they descended Nescopeck Mountain into Sugar Loaf Valley they wandered from the path, in con- sequence of many trees having been blown down by a recent storm. Owing to this circumstance they were preserved from certain death, for a number of Indians lay in ambush in a laurel swamp through which the path ran at the foot of the mountain, intending to tomahawk the missionaries ; but the latter, missing the path, were saved from death. They regained the path near where the borough of Conyngham now stands, and in due time reached Gnadenhütten in safety.

Chapman, in his history of Wyoming, states (page 63) :

"In the Summer of 1755 the [Susquehanna] Company having procured the consent of the Colony of Connecticut for the establishment of a settlement * * within the limits of their purchase, sent out a number of persons to Wyoming, accompanied by their sur- veyors and agents, to commence a settlement. On their arrival they found the Indians in a state of war with the English Colonies, and the news of the defeat of General Brad- dock having been received at Wyoming produced such an animating effect upon the Nanticoke tribe of Indians that the members of the new colony would probably have been detained as prisoners, had it not been for the interference of some of the principal chieftans of the Delaware Indians, and particularly of Teedyuscung. The members of the colony consequently returned to Connecticut. During the Summer the Nanticokes removed from Wyoming and united with their more powerful neighbors in persuading the Delaware Indians to unite in war against the Indians."

There are several glaring errors in this passage, mainly due, un- questionably, to the fact that Mr. Chapman obtained the greater part of his information concerning the Delawares, and the other Indians located in Wyoming at the period now under consideration, fromn Heckewelder,

* He was born at Meiningen in 1714, and studied medicine and surgery at Augsburg. He came to this country in the Spring of 1750 with the "Henry Jorde Colony," and settled at Bethlehem in June of the same year. For thirty years he was physician and surgeon of the Moravian settlements in Northampton County. He died at Bethlehem in August, 1786.

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who, as we have previously intimated, was strongly prejudiced in favor of the Delawares. In the first place, the Nanticokes were a peaceable people, and it was their boast that they had never warred against their white brethren .* Besides, as we have previously shown (on page 238), all the Nanticokes in Wyoming had removed to the Province of New York in April, 1753. As for Teedyuscung, as soon as he learned of the triumph of the French and Indians in the Ohio region, he became loud in his boastings and unrestrained in his vindictiveness, and was, as we shall show, one of the first Indians on the Susquehanna to break the peaceful conditions which had so long prevailed there.

Various writerst of Wyoming history, following Chapman in point of time, have stated that representatives of The Susquehanna Company repaired to Wyoming in the Summer of 1755, and, "after taking the latitude and longitude and making an examination of the country, returned home to await the issue of the pending hostilities before pro- ceeding with the project of the settlement." The records of The Sus- quehanna Company do not contain any information whatsoever on this subject ; in fact, for the period extending from May, 1755 (when the meeting mentioned on page 306, ante, was held), to February 25, 1761, there are neither minutes of meetings nor memoranda of any trans- actions recorded in the books of the Company. Judging by this fact one can say with reason, and some degree of certainty, that the affairs of the Company rested in statu quo during the time mentioned. However, it is quite certain that in the Spring or early Summer of 1755-before the defeat of General Braddock-a visit was made to Wyoming by some of the proprietors of the land company ; but it is not probable that they. did anything more than to look the country over, select available or desirable places for settlements and determine upon the shortest and best route by which to make the journey to and from the Valley.

Some local writers have stated that one of the Connecticut visitors to Wyoming in 1755 was a surveyor, who learned at that time, from observations then made with his surveying instruments, that the latitude of Wyoming was 41º 14' 17". These same writers have mentioned also certain other items of information concerning the Wyoming region, which it is alleged were originally gathered and noted down in 1755 by the surveyor referred to. It may be remarked here that those particular items, as well as the latitude of Wyoming-in the figures just given- were all set forth on Lewis Evans' map published early in 1755, and referred to in the note on page 191, ante. Evans gathered his data for that map in the years 1750-'53, prior to the settling of Teedyuscung and his Delawares in Wyoming-as is plainly evident from an inspection of the map (a copy of which is in The Philadelphia Library) and a reading of certain paragraphs on page 715 of Volume II of the "Documentary History of New York State." Therefore, the only village named "Wyoming" known to Evans and others in 1750-'53 was Paxinosa's village, mentioned on page 230, ante, and it was that Wyoming which is indicated on Evans' map, with the latitude correctly given as 41º 14' 17." It is extremely improbable that the Connecticut surveyor who visited the Valley in 1755 would-unless by mere chance-take his ob-

* See second paragraph of note on page 219.

t See Stone's "Poetry and History of Wyoming," page 139; Pearce's "Annals of Luzerne County," page 60; Egle's Historical Register, II : 5 (January, 1884); Munsell's "History of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties" (New York, 1880), page 33; F. C. Johnson's Historical Record (Wilkes-Barré), I : 121, 189, and III : 70.

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servations at exactly the same station that a previous observer had used, or at a station in precisely the same latitude. And yet if he did not do this how could he obtain the same results? The inference is plain, and it is that the particular information concerning the latitude, topography, etc., of Wyoming, obtained in 1755 by the surveyor or other represent- atives of The Susquehanna Company, was gleaned from Evans' map of Pennsylvania and not from personal surveys and observations made on the ground.

Notwithstanding the precarious state of affairs along the Susque- hanna in 1755 the Moravian missionary Mack came from Gnadenhütten to Wyoming in the latter part of August. From his diary* we learn that he made Paxinosa's village his headquarters. September 1st he told Paxinosa that he would go up to the Monsey village (Asserughney) to preach, to which the King "gave his consent." Thereupon Mack, Paxinosa and the latter's wife, Elizabeth-who carried along a basket of watermelons-set out for the village at the mouth of the Lackawanna. Arriving there they met Christian Frederick Post, who was spending some time in mission work in that locality. In the evening Mack preached "in a large cabin with three fire-places." The next day he preached again, and on the following day he "visited in different huts" -presumably at Asserughney. About the middle of the following October Mack journeyed again from Gnadenhütten to Wyoming and preached once more at Asserughney. He was so disturbed, however, by a great gathering of Indians, who had come there from all quarters to celebrate the "Feast of the Harvest"-which lasted for days, attended with dancing, carousing, etc .- that he soon left and returned to Gna- denhütten.

The defeat of Braddock was the signal for the uprising of the Dela- wares, whose affections had been gradually alienated from the English. Allured by the representations of French emissaries, and emboldened by the success of the French arms, the Delawares of eastern Pennsylvania met the Delawares and some of the Shawanese of the western sections of the Province in council on the banks of the Allegheny River, and prepared for war. But first, says Reichel, the Delawares rehearsed their wrongs, "dwelling on the loss of the lands on the Tulpehocken and on the Conodogwinet; but chiefly, and amid bitter denunciations, on the fraud of 1737 [the "Walking Purchase"],; perpetrated, as they main-' tained, to confirm the deedless purchase of all that tract of country which extended from Tohickon and the Hills of Lechauweki northward and westward as far as the great plains of Skahendowana, or Wyoming. Wherever the white man was settled within this disputed territory, there they resolved to strike him as best they could with the most approved weapons and appliances of their savage warfare. And that the blow might be effectually dealt, each warrior-chief was charged to scalp, kill and burn within the precincts of his birthright, and all simultaneously, from the frontiers down into the heart of the settlements, until the English should sue for peace and promise redress."

In September, 1756, John Shikellimy informed Conrad Weiser that some months previously the recalcitrant Shawanese and Delawares had employed Scarooyady, the "Half King," to give their "answer" to the

* See "Collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," VIII : 178.

+ See page 194.

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inquiry of the Six Nations as to why they warred against the inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; and this the "Half King" did in an open session of the Grand Council at Onondaga, in the presence of Sir William John- son, in these words :

"The reason why we struck our Brethren, the people of Pennsylvania-you know the first beginning of it better than we do. You and the French quarreled for the lands on the Ohio, and the French came there with a large body of men and beat yours off ; and so the Indians on the Ohio were in a manner obliged to come into their measures. They were persuaded to take up the hatchet against the English, and as they came in small parties to the Susquehanna River they prevailed on the Susquehanna Indians to go with them-they being related to one another. Many had their fathers, mothers, sons and daughters on the Ohio, and could not withstand their request. Being one people, they could not resist. * * But they now see their error, and would be directed by their uncles, the Six Nations."

A WAR-PARTY OF INDIANS RECONNOITERING.

In hostile preparations, and in strengthening their arms with alli- ances, the inimical Indians of Pennsylvania passed the Summer and early months of Autumn of the year 1755. "October came, and no sooner had the first biting frosts reddened the maples and hardened the yellow corn in the husk, than French Indians-chiefly Delawares and Shaw- anese-painted black for war, and in bands of two or four abreast, moved eastward with murderous intent. The line of the Blue Mountains, from the Delaware to the Susquehanna, became the scene of the carnival which the exasperated savages held with torch and tomahawk during the latter part of the Winter of 1755. The defenseless settlers were taken as in a snare. They were harassed by an unseen foe by day and by night. Some were shot down at the plow, some were butchered at the fireside ; men, women and children were promiscuously toma- hawked or scalped, or hurried away into distant captivity for torture or

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for coveted ransom. There was literally a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day going up along the horizon, marking the progress of the relentless invaders as they dealt out death and pillage and con- flagration, and drove before them, in mid-winter flight, hundreds of homeless wanderers, who scarce knew where to turn for safety or for succor in the swift destruction that was come upon them."

In a communication sent by Governor Morris to the Provincial Assembly December 29, 1755, relative to the Indian incursions and barbarities which had then been in progress in Pennsylvania for more than two months, there was this statement* :

"Such shocking descriptions are given, by those who have escaped, of the horrid cruelties and indecencies committed by the savages on the bodies of the unhappy wretches who fell into their barbarous hands-especially the women-as far exceeds those related of the most abandoned pirates. * * All our accounts agree in this, that the French, since the defeat of Braddock, have gained over to their interest the Delawares, Shaw- anese and many other Indian nations formerly in our alliance, and on whom, through fear and their large promises of rewards for scalps and assurances of reinstating them in the possession of the lands they have sold to the English, they have prevailed to take up arms against us."

The first blow struck by the savages, sufficiently near to be con- nected with Wyoming, was on October 18th, near the mouth of what is now known as Penn's Creek, t within the present limits of Snyder County. Here they killed and scalped thirteen men and elderly women, dangerously wounded one man who escaped, burnt and destroyed the buildings of the settlement and carried eleven women and children into captivity. Five days later, near the same locality, a number of the white inhabitants were attacked by a small band of Indians in ambush. Following this occurrence all the settlements along the Susquehanna between Shamokin and Hunter's Mill (some six miles up the river from the present city of Harrisburg)-a distance of fifty miles-were hopelessly deserted.

Within a day or two after the massacre at Penn's Creek Scarooyady, the "Half King," Andrew Montour, the interpreter (mentioned on page 206), and Jagrea, a Mohawk chief, were sent by Governor Morris as messengers to the Indians living along the North Branch of the Susque- hanna "to alarm them, and apprize them of the approach of very heavy storms." These messengers reached Paxinosa's village about the 22d of October, and immediately upon their departure northward Paxinosa and some other Wyoming chiefs hurried down the river to Shamokin. While sitting in consultation there with the Indians of that place on October 25th, there came to them forty-nine white people who told them that the "French" Indians were very near, on the other side of the river. The white men went over the river, and liad a fight with the invading Indians about six miles below Shamokin. Three or four days after- wards Paxinosa and his companions returned to Wyoming, where they found, at Paxinosa's village, the Moravian Brethren Christian Seidel and David Zeisberger (previously mentioned), who had arrived there on Sunday, October 25th, from Bethlehem. They had been sent for by the Indians to "come and preach the gospel," which they did-preaching twice at Asserughney.

At that time Christian Frederick Post was still in Wyoming, preaching to the Indians "lately removed there from Gnadenhütten and

* See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VI : 768.

+ See page 268, and the map facing this page.

Į See the last paragraph on page 147.

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other places, to whom the Brethren for many years had preached."* Without doubt Post made his headquarters either at Teedyuscung's town (within the limits of the present Tenth Ward of Wilkes-Barré) or at Matchasaung (mentioned on page 213)-presumably, however, at the former, as the majority of the Indians in that town had formerly lived at Gnadenhütten, under the care of the Moravians. The two towns men- tioned, together with Paxinosa's town, "Wyoming," and "Asserughney," "Lechaweke" or "Solocka"-as the Monsey town at the mouth of the Lackawanna was indiscriminately called-were the only towns, or vil- lages, in Wyoming Valley in 1755. With the exception of Teedyus- cung's town all these, as well as Wapwallopen and Nescopeck below the valley, are indicated on Kitchin's "Map of the Province of Pensilvania" published in London in 1756-a reduced photo-reproduction of which faces the preceding page.

Under date of November 3, 1755, Governor Morris sent a messaget to the Provincial Assembly informing that body (which was then com- posed almost wholly of Quakers) that a force of about 1,500 (sic) French and Indians had destroyed some of the settlements near the Susque- hanna, and were then about thirty miles above Harris' Ferry. This in- vasion, the Governor stated, was "the consequence of Braddock's defeat" ; "but," continued he, "had my hands been properly strengthened I should have put this Province into such a posture of defense as might have prevented the mischiefs that have since happened. * The French have gained to their interest the Delawares and Shawanese Indians, under the ensnaring pretense of restoring them to their country." At that time the Hon. Isaac Norris (mentioned on page 262) was still Speaker of the Assembly, and only a short time previously had declared in debate: "I had rather see Philadelphia sacked three times by the French than vote a single copper for the war."}

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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 early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I, Part 51

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press Number of Pages: 720

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 720