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 75
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"But in case British Majesty (which God in great mercy prevent) should superseed & proceed contrary to charter rights & privileges, & Govern us with a Rod of Iron, & the mouth of Cannons, and make his Little Finger thicker than his Father's loyns, and utterly refuse to hear or consider our Humble prayers ; then, & in that case I should think it my indispensable Duty to seek a retreat else where, or joyn with my Countrymen in Forming a New Empire in America, distinct from & independent of the British Empire -agreeable to a projected, & predicted Plan in a late essay (Intitled the Power & Genduret of Great Britain, Founded on the Liberties of the Colonies, &c.), which in substance agrees with my mind in these things, & if I am not mistaken, with every true 'SON OF LIBERTY.'
"Your Excellencies most Obedt Humble servt. [Signed] "JACOB WS. JOHNSON."
of his loyalty to the King, he was superseded. His removal was asked for in a petition to the General Assembly signed by more than 100 of his fellow-citizens. Shortly after this Colonel Fitch removed to the city of New York, where he remained until September, 1783, when he removed with his family to Nova Scotia-the objective point of many Loyalists after the close of the Revolution.
Colonel Fitch was a man of distinguished appearance-being six feet and four inches in height, and weighing 300 pounds-and is said to have been "the best looking officer in the American army." He was noted, also, for his general accomplishments-musical taste and acquirements and appreciation of art and literature. He died near Montreal, Canada, June 23, 1796.
* See "Documentary History of the State of New York," IV : 246.
+ Grandeur ( ?).
450
These were bold words to use on such an occasion and in the pres- ence of such a company as was gathered there-especially so in view of the political state of the Colonies at that particular time, brought about, largely, by the extraordinary and energetic doings of the wide-extended organization known as the "Sons of Liberty." (See Chapter VIII.) It may readily be believed that Sir William Johnson was not only some- what upset by this post-prandial bomb-shell, but was incensed by it; the more so as he was just then encountering opposition from some of the missionaries among the Indians with reference to certain features of the treaty he was endeavoring to negotiate .* In consequence, the Baronet, as the general manager and boss of the Fort Stanwix council and all proceedings connected with it, determined to exclude, and did exclude, the Rev. Jacob Johnson from certain conferences which were held by and with the Indians during the progress of the work in hand-as will be more fully shown hereinafter.
Two days after Sir William had been discomposed by the Reverend Jacob, as just narrated, the one Johnson received from the other John- son a communication of which the following is a copy, in part.t
"It is with some apprehension of Concern I write. I am sensible of the great pro- priety of Your Excellency's forbidding the Indns intoxicating Spirits (at this Time). * * It may be observed the Senecas, who have been a great while in coming, come arm'd, while we at the Fort & round about are naked and defenceless. They have also (it is said) their Romish Priests among them, who hold it meritorious to kill Hereticks (as they call us), and our sins and provocations may incense Heaven to let them loose at unawares upon us, if the utmost care & precaution be not taken-which your Excellency in his superior Wisdom will doubtless well consider, & give orders accordingly. As the Scitua- tion of affairs wears a most threatening aspect (at this juncture) so I can't but think it a time to be serious, if there be any such Time. And in this Spirit I write to your Excel- lency. If my apprehensions are groundless, I shou'd be glad, and ask your Excellencies forgiveness. * * P. S. As I am a seer, I may be knowing to some things your Excel- lency possibly may not-which occasions me thus to write." *
Eight days later Mr. Johnson addressed a communication to Sir William Johnson, Governor Franklin and "others interested and con- cerned in the congress," in which he stated that he was there in behalf of the Rev. Dr. Wheelockt relative to propagating the gospel among the Indians. "We ask," he said, "that a door may be kept open to them where the gospel has been preached and schools set up, that we may know where to find them, and not have to ramble all over the world after them." He also mentioned, in a "speech intended to be delivered to the Six Confederated Nations, at Fort Stanwix, October 31, 1768," that Dr. Wheelock was about "to set up a college, or great school for the benefit of the Indians," and that a proper location was then being sought. In conclusion he asked the Six Nations to appropriate a tract of land on or near the Mohawk River, or elsewhere if deemed more convenient, for the use of Dr. Wheelock's school.
Halsey says the full report of the proceedings connected with the Fort Stanwix treaty shows the sagacity and firmness with which Sir William Johnson carried his points.
After Sir William had told the Indians that "the King was resolved to terminate the grievances from which they suffered for want of a boundary, and that the King had ordered presents proportionate to the
* Sir William Johnson subsequently charged that the missionaries did all in their power to prevent the Oneidas (whose property part of the Susquehanna was) from agreeing to any line that might be reason- able. He said that they (the missionaries) had publicly declared that they "had taken infinite pains with the Indians to obstruct the line, and would continue so to do. * * The New Englanders had mission- aries for some time amongst the Oneidas and Oghwagas, and I [he] was not ignorant that their old pre- tension to the Susquehanna lands was their real, though religion was their assumed, object."
See "Documentary History of the State of New York," IV : 247. Į See page 409.
451
nature and extent of the interests involved, the Indians retired, and for several days were in private council." The new frontier, or boundary- line, had already been practically agreed upon at a treaty held in 1765 -its course being diagonally through Pennsylvania to a point then and later called Oswegy, still later Owegy and now Owego .* Beyond that point, through New York, the direction in which the line should be run seems to have occasioned the greatest discussion. The question, how- ever, was finally satisfactorily settled, and a deed was made and signed November 5, 1768, by a representative from each tribe of the Six Nations, fixing and describing the boundary-line and granting the land east of it to the King of England.
"From a point on the Allegheny River several miles above Pitts- burg, this historic line of property ran in a north-easterly direction to the head of Towanda Creek, proceeding down that stream to the Sus- quehanna. Thence it went northward along the river to Tioga Point, eastward to Owego, and from this place crossed the country to the Del- aware, reaching it at a point a few miles below Hancock. From here it went up the Delaware to a point 'opposite to where Tianderhat falls into the Susquehanna,' which point is now Deposit [Broome County, New York]. Thence the line went directly across the hillst to the Unadilla, and up that stream 'to the west branch, to the head thereof.' "§ The course of the "Fort Stanwix Treaty Line" through north-eastern Pennsylvania is approximately shown on the "Map of a Part of Pennsyl- vania" in Chapter XI, post. Augustus C. Buell, in his "Sir William Johnson" (page 244), quoting from a narrative written by Ezra Buell, who assisted in surveying the "Treaty Line," says :
" "The easterly jog in the line was never observed by the whites or insisted on by the Indians.' As to purchase of lands, and actual settlement, he says the Susquehanna River formed the real boundary, from the mouth of the Unadilla to the mouth of Towanda Creek. 'The purpose of the easterly jog in the line was to include the Oghwaga|| and Tuscarora villages on the Susquehanna, between Cunahunta (now Oneonta) and ChugnutT (now Choconut), within the Indian domain. But many whites were already there, a good part of them married to or living with Indian women, and the Oghwagas and Tus- caroras freely sold their lands to these whites. By 1774 there were almost as many whites and half-breeds in this valley as full-blood Indians.' "
Halsey says (in "The Old New York Frontier," pages 100 and 101):
"The Indians declared that the deed had been executed 'to prevent those intrusions and encroachments of which we have so long and loudly complained, and to put a stop to many fraudulent advantages which have been so often taken of us in land affairs.' The Indians made certain reservations that 'lands occupied by the Mohawks around their villages, as well as by any other nation affected by this our cession, may effectually remain to them and their posterity.' Out of this grew prolonged trouble. * * [The deed] conveyed to the English a vast territory out of which States have since been made. On that deed rests the title by purchase from the Indians, not only to large parts of New York but of Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. *
* Among those who witnessed its execution were Benjamin Franklin and William Franklin, his natural son, at that time Governor of New Jersey. It transferred the land with 'all the hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging * * unto our Sovereign Lord King George III, his heirs and successors, to and for his and their own proper use and behoof forever.' The actual sum paid in money for this imperial territory was about $50,600."
During the progress of the conferences with the Indians at Fort Stanwix the agents of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania -- who were on
* See note, page 421.
t The Rev. W. M. Beauchamp states that Yonondala, later Unadilla, was an Indian village located where the Unadilla River reaches the Susquehanna. "L" is not found in all Iroquois dialects, and, there- fore, "one early form of this word was Tianderha."
# The present boundary-line between the counties of Broome and Chenango on the one hand and Delaware on the other, in the State of New York, follows very nearly, if not exactly, the course of the 'Fort Stanwix Treaty Line" between Deposit and the mouth of the Unadilla.
§ See Halsey's "The Old New York Frontier," page 101.
| Mentioned in the note on page 257, ante.
[ Mentioned in the notes on pages 239 and 421.
452
the ground from the beginning to the close of the congress-busied themselves in carrying out a plan for the purchase of the Wyoming region from the Six Nations by the Proprietaries. "This object", says Stone, "was of no difficult attainment, as the Indians might doubtless have been persuaded to sell that, or almost any other portion of disputed territory, as many times over as white purchasers could be found to make payment." The Pennsylvanians were successful, and on the very day that the Fort Stanwix treaty was signed six sachems of the Six Nations-one from each of the several tribes-executed to Thomas and Richard Penn a deed for all the lands within the bounds of their Province not theretofore purchased from the Indians, and so far as the general boundary with the King had then been settled. This purchase included most of the lands claimed by The Susquehanna Company and The Delaware Company, under their respective deeds from the Indians. The consideration paid by the Penns for the Fort Stanwix deed was 10,000 dollars, and two of the signers of the deed were Tyanhasare, or Abraham, of the Mohawk tribe, and Senosies, of the Oneida tribe, who had signed in July, 1754, the deed to The Susquehanna Company-as shown on pages 277 and 279.
April 24, 1793, before the Hon. Matthew Clarkson, Mayor of Phil- adelphia, the Rev. Jacob Johnson (previously mentioned) made affidavit relative to certain matters which had transpired at Fort Stanwix at the time of the treaty. That affidavit was filed in the case of Van Horne's lessees vs. Dorrance (referred to on page 290), and is now in the custody of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Garbled extracts from it were printed in a pamphlet entitled "The Susquehannah Title Stated and Ex- amined," published in 1796 at Catskill, New York. Those extracts were reprinted in "The Susquehanna Controversy Examined," a pam- phlet written by Samuel Avery and printed by Messrs. Asher and Charles Miner at Wilkes-Barré in 1803. When Charles Miner wrote his "History of Wyoming" he transferred to it (page 97)-without doubt from Avery's little pamphlet-the erroneous and, in a measure, mislead- ing extracts alluded to above. The following paragraphs are accurate copies (save in punctuation, and the spelling of certain words other than proper names) of those parts of the original affidavit which are pertinent. to the subject now treated of.
"Jacob Johnson* of Wilkesbarre in the County of Luzerne and State of Pennsyl- vania, a witness produced on the part of the defendant, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith : That in the month of November in the year 1768 he was present at a treaty held at Fort Stanwix with the Indians of the Six Nations ; and that Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of the Indians of the Six Nations, John Penn, Governor of Pennsylvania, Governor Franklin of the State of New Jersey, Col. Eleazar Fitch of Windham, the chiefs of the Six Nations, Seaquarratheet a Tuscarora chief and chief speaker, and many other persons, were also present. * * That Gov. John Penn at this time, by the agency of Sir William Johnson, endeavored to obtain from those Indians a deed for the lands on the Susquehanna. That several private consultations were held with the said chiefs,
* In 1768 Mr. Johnson appears to have signed his name "Jacob Ws. Johnson," as is evident in the doc- ument printed on page 449, as well as in other documents.
¿ This was SAY-EN-QUE-RAGH-TA, the chief sachem of the Senecas, mentioned on page 437. The writer of the Johnson affidavit not being familiar, it is probable, with the name of this chief, spelled it "Se-a- quar-ra-thee"-attempting, no doubt, to indicate, as nearly as possible, the pronunciation of the name as given by Mr. Johnson. It will be noticed, further, that the latter, in his affidavit, refers to this chief as being of the Tuscarora tribe. When that affidavit was made twenty-five years, nearly, had passed since the Fort Stanwix treaty. It is quite reasonable to suppose, therefore, that in that time Mr. Johnson had forgotten what nation Sayenqueraghta represented ; although he did recollect that the sachem named had been the "chief speaker" of the congress. It is possible, indeed, that Mr. Johnson did not know in 1768 what the tribal connection of this chief was, for his knowledge of the Six Nations was confined chiefly to the Oneidas. The Tuscarora, as we have indicated on page 116, was the least important tribe of the Six Nations, and no chief of that tribe ever attained to the dignity of "chief speaker" at any Indian congress or council held at the period now under consideration.
453
from which this deponent was secluded ; and there was no agent present at the said treaty to represent the State [sic] of Connecticut or The Susquehanna Company.
"That this deponent, during the treaty, was informed by several of the Indians present that Governor Penn wanted the Indians to give him a deed for the lands on the Susquehanna, and that they replied to him that they had given the New England white people a deed of the same lands, had received their pay for the same and could not sell the same lands again. But they said they had finally agreed to give Governor Penn a deed of that land, because Sir William Johnson had told them that their former con- veyance to the New England white people was unlawful-that they [the New Englanders] had no right to purchase that land, which was within Penn's Charter, and Penn alone had the right of purchasing the same. That near the close of the same treaty the depo- nent well recollects to have heard Seaguarrathee (chief speaker), in a public speech, declare the same reasons as above said for their selling said land the second time, which was publicly interpreted by Sir William Johnson. * * *
"That the deponent held a conference with the Indians at the Oneida Upper Castle, and advised them not to sell their lands-not referring, however, to the Susquehanna lands. That Sir William Johnson had heard of this, and sent to the deponent informing him that he had orders from the King to hold a treaty, and asked why the deponent pre- vented them from assembling, and ordered him to repair to Fort Stanwix. That the deponent knows not what was transacted while he was secluded, except from some of the Indians, but believes that the purchase by Mr. Penn was not the only business then transacted. That a Mr. Johnson was his principal informer as to the treaty carrying on by Mr. Penn ; that Colonel Fitch of Windham, Connecticut, was the person who desired the deponent to go out of the room when the treaty was to be proceeded upon ; that the deponent knows not what was the business of the said Colonel Fitch at the said treaty, or at whose request he attended." * *
The following affidavit, made at some time prior to 1796 by the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, previously mentioned, is taken from "The Sus- quehannah Title Stated and Examined," referred to on page 452.
"That he attended the treaty with the Five Nations, held at Fort Stanwix in the year 1768, for several of the last days of the treaty, and that on his arrival on the ground the Rev. Jacob Johnson, then a missionary to the Oneidas, told the deponent that he had been forbidden by Sir William Johnson to sit in council with the Indians ; and that Colonel Butler and several others had given him the same information. That several Indian chiefs told the deponent, at that time, that they had sold the Susquehannah land to the Pennsylvanians, and that they were finally induced to do it by the counsel and advice of the Commissioners-urging that the Connecticut people had done wrong in coming over the line of Pennsylvania to buy land of the Indians. It was, however, not effected without great difficulty. At the close of the business the Indians were called upon to execute the writings, which were not publicly read in the English language, but one of the Mohawk chiefs gave a brief statement of their general purport in the Indian language. And the deponent further saith that one of the Christian Indians of the Oneida nation, by name Theondintha, or Thomas, some months after said treaty voluntarily, and of his own mere motion, told the deponent that some undue influence had been made use of at said treaty respecting said land, and that he, himself-namely, Thomas-had been the subject of this undue influence, and nine or ten more Indian chiefs were in the same predicament, and that he felt much troubled in his mind about it."
The Proprietaries of Pennsylvania having effected a purchase of the Wyoming and other lands as described, took immediate measures to get possession of the territory, in order to defeat the intentions of The Susquehanna Company. First, the people were publicly notified that existing improvements on the newly-purchased lands would give those who had made them no advantage whatever. Next, preparations were made to have the lands surveyed and plotted into (1) large bodies, or tracts, called manors, to be located here and there in desirable sections of the new territory for the particular and sole use and behoof of the Proprietaries, and (2) smaller tracts, or lots, containing from 100 to 400 or 500 acres, to be taken up on warrants by such inhabitants as should ·apply for the same and comply with the land laws of the Province in force at that time.
When Gov. John Penn returned home to Philadelphia from Fort Stanwix, before the formal opening of the Indian congress, he was evidently well satisfied that the men he had left behind, to look after the Proprietaries' interests, would be able to secure from the Indians the
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much-desired deed for the Pennsylvania lands. Consequently, on the 29th of October-eight days before the "Fort Stanwix Treaty Line" was established and the deed to Thomas and Richard Penn was executed -he began to issue warrants for the survey of certain manors and other tracts of land lying within the disputed territory. Among the warrants issued on the date mentioned, and directed to John Lukens, Esq., Sur- veyor General of the Province, were the following : One for a tract of 4,766 acres, to be located at Shamokin and to be known as the "Manor of Pomfret."* One for a tract of 20,000 acres, to be located in and adjoining Wyoming Valley and to be known as the "Manor of Sun- bury." One for 9,800 acres, to be located in Wyoming Valley and to be known as the "Manor of Stoke."} Among the warrants issued by Governor Penn within the next few weeks was one directing the survey of a tract of 1,615 acres at Muncy, on the West Branch of the Susque- hanna, to be called "Job's Discovery" in honor of Job Chillaway (the Indian mentioned on page 422), who had pointed out this locality as a desirable place for a settlement or plantation.
The warrant issued for the survey of the "Manor of Sunbury" was in the following words :
"BY THE PROPRIETARIES.
"Pennsylvania, ss. These are to authorize and require you to survey and lay out for our use-in right and as part of our tenths-the quantity of twenty thousand acres of land on the north-west side of the River Susquehannah, opposite to Wioming, to include all the low lands ; and make return thereof into our Secretary's office-for which this shall be your sufficient warrant.
"Witness JOHN PENN, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of the said Province, who, by virtue of certain powers from the said Proprietaries, hath hereunto set his hand and caused the seal of the Land Office to be affixed this 29th day of October, A. D. 1768."
[Signed] "JOHN PENN." [SEAL]
The warrant for the survey of the "Manor of Stoke" was similar in form to the foregoing, and directed that the manor be laid out "at Wioming." In pursuance of the directions contained in the two last- mentioned warrants William Scull, a Deputy Surveyor of the Province, proceeded to Wyoming with his assistants, and, under the guidance and supervision of Charles Stewart (a duly authorized agent of the Proprie- taries, as well as a skilled surveyor), surveyed on the 8th and 9th days of December, 1768, on the north-west side of the Susquehanna, the Manor of Sunbury ; and on the 9th and 10th of the month surveyed the Manor of Stoke on the south-east side of the river.
The survey of "Sunbury" was begun near the mouth of Abraham's Creek (described on page 52), and thence a line was run about three and one-third miles in a north-westerly direction ; thence, nearly nine miles in a south-westerly direction ; thence, in a south-easterly direction, two miles to the mouth of Head's Creek, now Harvey's Creek (described on page 54), and thence, along the river's margin, to the place of beginning. Parts of the present townships of Kingston, Jackson and Plymouth were comprehended in the Manor of Sunbury.
The survey of "Stoke" was begun at a point close to "Wyoming Falls" (described on page 36), and thence a line was run in a south- easterly direction-over the hill where the "Prospect" Colliery now stands-two miles to a point on the stream later known as Coal Brook, about one-half mile south-east of the face of the hill where subsequently
* Named for the Earl of Pomfret, father-in-law of Thomas Penn, one of the Proprietaries.
+ Derived from Stoke-Poges, in Buckinghamshire, England, where Thomas Penn owned a valuable estate, and where, at his death, he was buried.
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