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 II > Part 111
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Chaplain Rogers retired from the military service January 16, 1781, and returned to Philadelphia, where, shortly afterwards, he became pastor of the Baptist Church. In 1789 he was appointed Professor of Eng- lish and Oratory in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, which position he held until 1792, when he was appointed to the chair of English and Belles Lettres in the same institution. In 1812 he resigned from the faculty. In 1816 and '17 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature from Philadelphia. Many years before this the colleges of Yale and Princeton had each conferred upon him the degree of A. M., and the University of Pennsylvania had inade him a Doctor of Divinity. He died in Phila- delphia April 7, 1824, being, at the time of his death, the last surviving Chaplain of the Revolutionary army.
(From an original oil-painting.)
Mogens
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Chaplain of the 3d Brigade (General Hand's) of the Sullivan Expedition, was present, although not a member of the Craft, and read to the assem- bled Brethren the serinon which had been preached by the Rev. Wil- liam Smith, D. D., Grand Secretary of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, at the St. John's Day celebration in Philadelphia in December, 1778, as narrated in the note on page 784, ante. The text of this sermon was from I Peter, II : 16-"As Free, and not using your Liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." We are able to print the following paragraphs from this sermon. * The doctrine delivered in my text for the enjoyment and exercise of Liberty, among Christians in general, is what the members of this Ancient Society (by whose appointment I appear in this place) have bound themselves by the strongest obli- gations to follow in the several relations they sustain, viz .: First, in all their meetings and communications with each other ; Secondly, in society at large ; Thirdly, in private life-as individuals glowing with the love of their species, and seeking to promote their happiness, as far as opportunities can reach, or the wide wish of Benevolence extend. Upon these three grand pillars, founded on the adamantine rock of Eternal Truth, we profess to support the fabric of our labours ; convinced that other foundation, than what the great Master Builder hath laid, can no man lay. * *
" Whatever curiosity might have at first prompted me to pry into the secrets of this science, the most solemn obligations could not have engaged my adherence to it, when found repugnant to antecedent obligations, which are indispensible, and therefore more solemn. * *
* As to you, Brethren, I hope I need not remind you that, if none be accepted among us but such as strive daily, through the Grace of Heaven, to lay aside those evil passions condemned by the Apostle, then shall the Lodge be truly denominated a 'Spiritual House,' and all its members 'Living Stones,' hewn out of the Rock of Ages and adorned with jewels of unspeakable value. Then shall they be Free, indeed, for the great Spiritual Master shall have set them free from the turbulence of Passion, the stings of Guilt, and the thraldoni of Slavery, both of body and mind. In Wisdom, Strength and Beauty shall they ever appear * * *
"From the bosom of the Lodge, seated on an eminence, its foundations reaching the centre and its summit the sky, we have beheld, as upon a turbulent ocean at an immense distance beneath us, the States of this world alternately mounted up and cast down as they have regarded or neglected the principles described above ; while, sup- ported by them, the sublime fabric of our Constitution has remained unshaken through ages-and, thus supported, it shall still remain while the Sun opens the Day, to gild its cloud-capped towers, or the Moon leads on the Night, to chequer its starry canopy. * * The doctrine that one man's grandeur, or the grandeur of a few, is to be the misery of all, can have no reception among us. * * In our estimation, therefore, no government can be of Divine original but as it resembles God's own government-round whose eter- nal throne Justice and Mercy wait. And all governments must be so far Divine, as the Laws rule, and everything is ordered, under God, by free and common consent. To con- tend for such governments with a holy, enlightened and unquenchable zeal is the higli- est temporal glory. * *
"They who-from a sense of duty to God and their country, seeking that liberty and peace which Heaven approves-have thus acted their part ( whether in more elevated or inferior stations), form the first class in the roll of worthies. And when they descend again into private life, casting behind them vain pomp and fastidious pride, to mingle with their fellow-citizens, *
* their characters become, if possible, still more illustrious. Their very maims and scars are nobly honorable. Such, to name no more, was the character of a Cincinnatus in ancient times, rising 'awful from the plough ' to save his country ; and, his country saved, returning to the plough again with increased dignity and luster. Such, too, if we divine aright, will future ages pronounce to have been the character of a-but you all anticipate a name [WASHINGTON] which delicacy forbids me, on this occasion, to mention. Honoured with his presence as a Brother, you will seek to derive virtue from his example ; and never let it be said that any principles you profess can render you deaf to the calls of your country, but on the contrary, have animated you with intrepidity in the hour of danger, and humanity in the moments of triumph."
With the army there came from Easton to Wilkes-Barré four Stock- bridge, or Mohegan, Indians, who had been engaged by General Sul- livan to act as guides and scouts. The journalists of the Expedition refer to one of these Indians as "Captain Jehoiakim." This was the same Indian who had come from Stockbridge to Wilkes-Barré with his family in 1772, as narrated on page 731. It is probable that on the breaking out of the Revolutionary. War Jehoiakim had returned to
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Stockbridge. Schoolcraft states* that "the ancient tribe of Mohicans of the Housatonic, whose history has been impressed upon popular memory by their long residence at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, had been for a long period classed among the followers of the gospel ; but, as the inartial spirit of the [Revolutionary] era aroused all their war- rior feelings, they enlisted themselves on the side of the Colonies and furnished an efficient company of spies and flankers for the American army."
From the journal of Chaplain Rogers we learn that on June 26th " Captain " Jehoiakiin, two other Stockbridge Indians, and five soldiers of Colonel Cilley's regiment were sent forth from the camp at Wilkes- Barré on a scout. On the same day several court-martial sentences were carried out, in pursuance of the following order issued by General Sullivan on June 25th.
"At a general court-martial held on the 8th inst., whereof Major Fish was Presi- dent, Oliver Arnold of the 2d New York Regiment was tried for desertion, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot to death. The General approves the sentence and orders it to be executed at the head of the regiment to-morrow afternoon at six o'clock. Edward Tyler of the same regiment, tried by the same court for desertion, found guilty, and sen- tenced to run the gantlet through Cortlandt's, Spencer's and Cilley's reginients, with a centinel at his breast to regulate his pace. The General approves the sentence, and orders it executed to-morrow afternoon at five o'clock. John Stevens of the same regi- ment, tried for desertion, found guilty, and sentenced to receive one hundred lashes. The General approves the sentence, and orders it executed at the head of the regiment to-morrow afternoon at six o'clock."
The three men mentioned in this order, together with four others, had deserted from Van Cortlandt's regiment at " Learn's," on May 16th.
On Sunday, June 27th, the Rev. Andrew Hunter, t Chaplain of the 1st Brigade, preached a sermon to the men of that brigade in a woods near their camp, while Chaplain Rogers preached to the men of the 3d Brigade (including the artillery regiment) near Fort Wyoming, at ten o'clock in the morning. General Sullivan and his staff attended Dr. Rogers' services. On the same day, in pursuance of orders, the 2d and 3d New Hampshire Regiments crossed the river at Wilkes-Barré and marched up to the remains of Forty Fort, where they established their camp-in the fort and along the bank of the river. Brig. General Poor moved his headquarters to the same locality at the same time. This change was made in order that all the regiments of Poor's brigade might be located near together-the regiments of Colonels Van Cortlandt and Cilley, which formed a part of the brigade, being encamped about two miles off from Forty Fort, on Jacobs' Plains, on the east side of the river, as narrated on page 1176.
In the morning of June 29th thirty-four boats, laden with flour, beef, and military stores, arrived at Wilkes-Barré from Sunbury, con- voyed by the troops that had been detached for the purpose, as men- tioned on page 1184. Dr. Ebenezer Elmer, Surgeon of the 2d New Jersey Regiment, in referring to the arrival of these supplies, states in his journal :
" This was very fortunate, as there was not one day's provision for the campaign. Through neglect and carelessness in the Commissaries, great quantities of beef was so
* In "History of the Indian Tribes of the United States," p. 277.
¡ The Rev. ANDREW HUNTER, the son of a British officer, was born in Virginia, and in 1773 was licensed to preach by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia. In 1788 he was elected a Trustee of Princeton College, and in 1804 was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in that insti- tution. About 1809 he was appointed a Chaplain in the United States Navy, which office he held until his death in February, 1823.
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damaged that the men could not possibly eat it. Such rascally conduct ought to meet with the severest punishment. The horses purchased for this Expedition, for want of care in the Conductors, are many of them lost."
On June 29th two soldiers of Colonel Spencer's regiment were pun- ished for having dressed up and painted themselves as Indians, and then threatened the lives of two officers of their regiment. One culprit received one hundred lashes at the whipping-post, and the other was required to run the gantlet through three regiments, each man of which was provided with a whip.
On this same day orders came out for the execution on July 1st, between the hours of two and four o'clock in the afternoon, of Law- rence Miller and Michael Rosebury, inhabitants of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, opposite Easton. (See page 1180.) Chaplain Rogers states in his journal, under the date of June 29th : "Mr. Kirkland* accompanied me in paying these two unfortunate men a visit. Found them ignorant and stupid. Our endeavors were upon this occasion to open unto them the nature of man's fall, and the dreadful situation of those who died in a state of impenitency and unbelief." The next day Messrs. Rogers and Kirkland visited the condemned men again. Says Rogers : "Mil- ler appeared much softened, distressed and anxious about his future state. Rosebury said but little. I enlarged, particularly, at this time on their awful condition by nature and practice ; their amazing guilt in the sight of an holy God, * * and the great importance of a due preparation for another world."
Before breakfast on Thursday, July 1st, Messrs. Rogers and Kirk- land paid another visit to the condemned Jerseymen. " We spoke to them," says Rogers, " on the realities of heaven and hell, and the justice and mercy of God. Miller appeared still more penitent, and freely con- fessed the sentence of death passed against him to be just. The other excused himself and insisted much on the innocency of his life. Mr. Kirkland and myself waited on the Commander-in-Chief [Sullivan], in order to recommend Miller to mercy. His Excellency was so obliging as to inform us that it was his purpose, on account of Miller's wife and numerous family, his decent behavior on trial, the recommendations of the court, and his former good character, to pardon him under the gal- lows, fifteen minutes after the execution of Rosebury ; and requested that it might remain a secret with us until it was publicly known." Towards four o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday Miller and Rose- bury, with their arins pinioned and hempen halters around their necks, were marched under guard from the fort to the place of execution, attended by Chaplains Rogers, Kirkland and Hunter. Says Rogers, in his journal : "In walking to the gallows we of course conversed with them on the inost serious subjects. Upon arriving there, the military being under arms, and a number of the inhabitants present, it fell to my lot to address the spectators ; after which Mr. Kirkland prayed. Rose- bury was then turned off. He died to all appearances the same stupid man he was at the first of our visiting him. Poor Miller was much agitated at the sight, expecting every moment the same punishment. He was employed in commending himself to God, and upon hearing his pardon from the Commander-in-Chief read, was greatly affected. On recovering himself, he expressed the utmost thankfulness for his great deliverance. The scene throughout was very affecting."
* The Rev. SAMUEL KIRKLAND, referred to more at length on page 1190.
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Armand's Corps (see page 1162), having been ordered by General Washington to repair to his headquarters at New Windsor, New York, marched from Wilkes-Barré, over the "Sullivan Road," in the morning of July 2d. The corps was accompanied as far as the Delaware River by Lieut. Col. David Brearly of the 1st New Jersey Regiment, who, but a short time previously, had been appointed Chief Justice of New Jersey. (The name of Judge Brearly appears again-in Chapter XX-in con- nection with an event bearing importantly on Wyoming affairs.)
Early in the morning of Sunday, July 4th, some thirty boats were sent down the Susquehanna from Wilkes-Barre for provisions for the troops. The boatmen who had been enlisted to man these boats hav- ing deserted, a detachment from the rank and file of the troops was detailed for the work. In Wilkes-Barre, at ten o'clock in the morning of this day, Chaplain Hunter preached "a very good sermon ". from Hebrews, XII : 13, to the troops of the 1st Brigade ; and at the same hour Chaplain Rogers preached to the troops of the 3d Brigade, taking as his text the tenth verse of the XXXIId Psalm. At five o'clock in the afternoon Chaplain Kirkland preached to the inhabitants of Wilkes- Barré, and a number of officers and soldiers who attended the service. In the morning of this day the regiments of Colonels Van Cortlandt and Cilley struck their tents on Jacobs' Plains, crossed the Susquehanna ·opposite their place of encampment, marched down to Forty Fort, and went into camp there with the other regiments of the 2d Brigade. Later in the day a sermon, "adapted to the occasion," was preached to the. assembled troops at Forty Fort by the Rev. Israel Evans, Chaplain of the 2d Brigade.
At Forty Fort, on July 5th, Brig. General Poor gave an elaborate entertainment "in celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence." He extended a general invitation to the officers of his brigade to be present, and also invited a number of officers from other commands. Among the latter who attended were Brig. General Hand and his staff. Also, several of the principal inhabitants of Wilkes-Barré were there by invitation. Eighty-seven gentlemen in all attended, and a bountiful dinner was served in a booth, or arbor, about eighty feet long, constructed of spruce and hemlock boughs and having a marquee pitchied at either end. A number of good songs were sung, and the day was spent in mirth and jollity. According to Lieut. Colonel Dear- born, of the 3d New Hampshire Regiment, the whole affair " was con- ducted with such joy and festivity as demonstrated an independent ele- vation of spirit on this important and interesting occasion." After the dinner the following toasts were drunk. (1) "The United States." (2) " The 4th of July, 1776-the ever memorable patriotic era of American Independence." (3) "The Grand Council of America." (4) "General Washington and the Army." (5) "The King and Queen of France." (6) "General Lincoln and the Southern Army." (7) "General Sulli- van and the Western Expedition." (8) "May the Counsellors of America be wise, and her Soldiers invincible." (9) "A successful and decisive campaign." (10) "Civilization or Death to all American savages." (11) "The immortal memory of those Heroes that have fallen in defense of American Liberty." (12) "May the New World be the last Asylum for Freedom and the Arts." (13) "Vigor and Virtue to all the sons and daughters of America."
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At Wilkes-Barré, under the date of July 5, 1779, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland,* Chaplain of the Sullivan Expedition, and, as such, a mem-
THE REV. SAMUEL KIRKLAND. (Photo-reproduction of an old engraving.)
* The Rev. SAMUEL KIRKLAND was born at Norwich, Connecticut, December 1, 1741, the tenth child of the Rev. Daniel and Han- nah (Perkins) Kirkland, of Scottish descent. In 1760 and '61 he was a student at the Rev. Dr. Wheelock's school (previously mentioned in these pages) at Lebanon, Con- necticut, and in 1762 he entered the Soph- omore class at Princeton College-receiving his A. B. degree in the Summer of 1765; although at that time he had already en- tered upon his life's work, having become in January, 1765 (as mentioned on pages 290 and 968), an "apostle to the Indians." Mr. Kirkland left the Seneca nation-to. which he went first as a missionary-in May, 1766, and on the 19th of the follow- ing June he was ordained to the gospel min- istry at Lebanon, Connecticut. The same day he received, from the "Connecticut Board of Correspondents of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian knowl- cdge," a general commission as an Indian missionary, and in the following July he took up his residence among the Oneidas, at Kanoalohale, their "Lower Castle" and principal town. As narrated on pages 449, 453 and 745, Mr. Kirkland attended the treaty held with the Indians at Fort Stan- wix, New York, in October, 1768.
Mr. Kirkland continued his residence and labors among the Oneidas with such success as the turbulent state of the times permitted. After the death of Sir William Johnson (in 1774) Mr. Kirkland-who, in religion and politics, was true to the spirit and principles of the Puritans from whom he descended, and was, therefore, a dissenter and an American patriot- soon incurred the dislike and opposition of Col. Guy Johnson (see note on page 300, Vol. I). The latter attempted, in various ways, to destroy Mr. Kirkland's character and influence among the In- dians, and to drive him from his post; and for this purpose he encouraged, and gladly received, ac- cusations against the missionary, which he sent up to the Oneida villages with threatening messages and injunctions of his own. Colonel Johnson, however, was foiled in his designs, for the head men of the Oneida nation, after holding a council upon the subject, sent him a belt of wampum, and a speech, in which they declared: "We love and esteem our father, the minister; he lives in great peace among us; he does no one any harm; he meddles not with State affairs; * desist from any further attempts to drive him off."
By a vote of the Continental Congress passed July 18, 1775, it was recommended to the Commis- sioners of Indian Affairs "to employ the Rev. Samuel Kirkland among the Indians of the Six Na- tions, in order to secure their friendship and to continue them in a state of neutrality with respect to" the controversy between Great Britain and the Colonies. (See pages 490 and 830.) Mr. Kirkland was charged personally by Washington to impress upon the Oneidas, in particular, the importance of pursuing a neutral line of policy-for then, no matter which party proved triumphant, the Indian in- terests would not receive injury; while, on the other hand, if the Indians were involved in the strug- gle, their interests would be likely to suffer. This reasoning prevailed with the Oneidas, under their energetic and popular chief, Skenandoah, whose voice was heard in favor of the rising Colonies. As a consequence, Sir Frederick Haldimand (see page 963) some time later sent a special written mes- sage to the Oneidas, threatening them with vengeance for deserting, as he termed it, the British cause, and thus forgetting the wise counsels of their old and respected, but deceased, friend, Sir William Johnson.
* we therefore beg you will
In the Autumn of 1776 Mr. Kirkland was at Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix) where, under a commission from the Continental Congress, he was performing the duties of Chaplain to the American troops. At that time his family was residing at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Upon the organization of the Sullivan Expedition Mr. Kirkland was appointed Chaplain on the staff of Major General Sullivan. He arrived at Easton prior to June 17th, and marched thence to Wilkes-Barre with the army on the 18th. In December, 1783, the War of the Revolution being a thing of the past, and the Oneidas having repaired to their ancient country, Mr. Kirkland returned to them as a missionary. In 1785 he received from Congress a grant of £250, "in consideration of special services rendered" during the Revolutionary War. He also received his pay for services as a Brigade Chaplain during the war. The Corporation of Harvard College, who, for some time, had considered Mr. Kirkland "as in part their missionary," voted April 7, 1786, to allow him the sum of £313, 6s. 8d., in full for his services to March, 1784; and they further voted that he "be continued a missionary among the Oneida Indians till the further orders of the corporation," and that there be allowed to him, annually, the sum of £50 sterling.
In the Summer of 1788 Mr. Kirkland was sent by Governor Clinton of New York on a mission to the Indians at Kanadesaga (see page 967) and at Buffalo Creek (where now the city of Buffalo is located). The journey was performed by water, in a small bateau, from Fort Schuyler to Kanade- saga, and thence by land to Buffalo Creek, where Mr. Kirkland arrived June 26, 1788. There he found a large assemblage of Indians-principally of the Six Nations, with some Delawares, Cherokees. and other western and southern Indians. Among them he met Sayenqueraghta and other old friends of the Seneca nation, with whom he had lived at Kanadesaga more than twenty years before. He also met "Red Jacket," "Big Tree," "Farmer's Brother," and other noted Indian chiefs. At a coun- cil held at Buffalo Creek he had a conference-so he reported-"with Indians from every settlement in the Six Nations." On July 7th he had a long interview with Joseph Brant, the Mohawk, and sev- eral Seneca chiefs. They told him that they had been for a long time "consulting the good of the Indians; that it appeared to them that the Indian interest must be one; that they must all unite as Indians, independent of white people." They expressed their confidence in Mr. Kirkland, although he was a white man, and believed he would not abuse their confidence. They then proposed to him that he should set up a school for educating their children.
In December, 1788, the State of New York and the Oneida Indians, conjointly, made a grant to Mr. Kirkland and his two eldest sons of some 4,700 acres of land in the neighborhood of old Oneida.
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ber of Maj. General Sullivan's staff, wrote to liis wife at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as follows :
" I am at present, in many respects, happily situated ; have part of a large marquee to myself, and live in the General's [military] family. Conversation in the family, for some days past, has been chiefly on religious subjects, such as the authenticity of the Scriptures, the nature and consequences of Deism. The General has undertaken to con- vince any Deist (of which there is no want in the army), from principles of reason, that the Scriptures are of divine original ; at least the doctrinal and perceptive parts. In less than a day he has wrote thirty pages in quarto to prove the existence of a Supreme Being, the truth of the Bible, and that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world. He has read the greatest part to nie last evening and this morning. I cannot but admire the ingenuity of the man, and the justness of many of his sentiments. He frankly owned to me that he was once a perfect Atheist, then a complete Deist ; but at length became convinced, by fair and inipartial reasoning, of the existence of the Supreme Being, and the perfection of His character. * *
"The necessity of a just and speedy retaliation for British and savage barbarity prompts the army toencounter every fatigue and surmount every difficulty. Marksof havoc, devastation and wrath salute our eyes wherever we walk over the fields of this once flour- ishing but now desolated country ; and these objects awaken strange feelings in my breast -a just indignation and a deep abhorrence of pretended British clemency (once so much boasted of ), now blended with savage barbarity. Upwards of 150 widows were here made upon this ground in the short space of one hour and a-half, about a year ago. Are these the fruits and effects of thy clemency, O George, thou tyrant of Britain and scourge of man- kind? May He, to whom vengeance belongeth, put forth His righteous indignation in due time ! These once flourishing, but now devastated, fields are now cultivated by the feeble hands of disconsolate widows and helpless orphans. But why dwell on the dark side ! This devastation is undoubtedly a necessary link in the grand chain of events to bring about the enjoyment and establishment of the liberties and privileges of this land, that we may be a happy people, and the gospel extend its benign influence over every State, and the Redeemer reap a glorious and rich harvest. Indeed, if we look into God's moral government, we shall find that it is not without cause that He hath done all these things, these terrible things, in righteousness."
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