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 113
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At Paxtang, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1779, William Maclay (see page 759) wrote to President Reed as follows :
"I am just returned from Sunbury. The whole of the troops have left that place a week ago, and I am satisfied that General Sullivan will move forward with the Expedi- tion perhaps this very day. A more happy incident could not have happened than the rise of the Susquehanna at this critical and unexpected time."
On July 27th, by order of General Sullivan, General Poor's brigade broke camp at Forty Fort and moved down to Wilkes-Barré, erecting their tents near the village. On July 28th the detachment in com- mand of Lieut. Colonel Reid, which had been sent to Brinker's Mills on July 10th, returned to Wilkes-Barré convoying eighty wagons loaded with supplies for the Expedition. On Thursday, July 29th, orders were given for everything to be put in readiness for the marching of the army on the morning of the 31st.
In pursuance of arrangements previously made by Military Lodge No. 19, the remains of Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones-who had been members of that Lodge-were raised from their rude graves on Wilkes-Barré Mountain and re-interred in the Wilkes-Barré grave-yard, near the corner of the present Washington and Market Streets, with appro- priate military and Masonic ceremonies on July 29th. The members of the Lodge met at five o'clock in the afternoon at the marquee of Colonel Procter, Master of the Lodge, and marched thence in procession to the marquee of General Sullivan, where they were joined by him. Then, escorted by the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment (Lieut. Colonel Hubley's) and Colonel Procter's artillery regiment, with drums and fifes and the band of the last-mentioned regiment, they proceeded three-quarters of a mile to the grave-yard, where the remains of the dead soldiers-previ- ously exhumed, encoffined, and brought down from the mountain- awaited their coming. "The afternoon was very rainy," it is stated in one of the journals of the Expedition, "otherwise the appearance [of the Free Masons] would have been tolerably grand, as they all inarched in order, with the band of music playing." Arriving at the grave-yard, an exceedingly heavy slower of rain came down, which prevented the deliv- ery of a discourse appropriate to the occasion which had been prepared
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by the Rev. Dr. Rogers. Instead, a short prayer was made by the Clap- lain, and then the bodies were interred in one grave, in regular Masonic form, after which three volleys of small arms were fired over the grave.
The following account of this, the first Masonic and military funeral in Wyoming Valley of which we have any record, was prepared at the time by a member of Lodge No. 19, who forwarded it to John Carter of Providence, Rhode Island, by whom it was published in the Provi- dence Gazette and Country Journal of September 18, 1779.
" WYOMING, July 31, 1779.
"On Thursday last, the 29th inst., agreeable to previous determination, the bodies of our Brethren, Capt. Joseph Davis and Lieut. William Jones, who were massacred by the savages near this Post on the 23d of April last, were reinterred. This mark of respect we thought necessary for the following reasons : It being expressive of our esteem, and their not being buried in the proper grave-yard. The form of procession being fixed on by Lodge No. 19, was as follows: Twenty-four musketeers with reversed arms ; two Tylers, bearing their swords ; a band of music ; two Deacons, with wands ; two Brethren bearing orders ;* the Holy Bible and the Book of Constitutions, supported by two Breth- ren ; the Reverend Brethren ; the Worshipful Master, with the Honorable Major General Sullivan ; the Senior and Junior Wardens, bearing their columns ; the Treasurer and the Secretary ; Past Masters ; the Brethren [of the Lodge], two and two ; Brothers of the army, t two and two ; two corps of drums (muffled ) and fifes, playing a solemn dirge .¿
"The Brethren were neatly clothed, with jewels, etc., and were, in number, odds of 150. Just as we arrived at the grave, an exceedingly heavy gust of rain coming up prevented the delivery of a discourse which had been prepared by Brother [sic] Rogers. A short prayer being by him offered up, we then committed their bodies in Masonic form to the dust; afterwards, three volleys of small arms were discharged. The Brotherhood were attended by the Pennsylvania Infantry, commanded by Colonel Hubley, as like- wise by a great concourse of people-both inhabitants and soldiery. The melancholy scene was closed with that decorum usual among the Brethren, and the satisfaction of all the bystanders. A stone being prepared by our Brethren Forrest§ and Story, | with a suit- able inscription, was fixed at the head of their grave."
The stone thus referred to as having been erected over the double- grave in the Wilkes-Barre burial-ground was a red-stone slab, upon which were chiseled certain Masonic symbols and the following inscrip- tion :
"In Memory of Capt. J. DAVIS of the 11th Penna. Regt. also Lieut. WILLIAM JONES who were massacred by the savages on their march to the relief of the distressed inhab- itants of Wyoming April 23, 1779. Erected by the Brotherhood July 25, [ the same year."
A good many years later, at the instance of George M. Hollenback of Wilkes-Barré-whose paternal grandmother had been closely related to Lieut. William Jones-the above-described head-stone was replaced by a marble slab bearing the following inscription :
"In memory of Capt. J. DAVIS, of the 11th Pennsylvania Regt., also of Lieut. WILLIAM JONES, who were massacred by the savages on their march to the relief of the distressed inhabitants of Wyoming, on the 23d of April, 1779. Erected by a friend." **
* The jewels, or "working-tools," of the Lodge.
¿ That is, those Free Masons in the army who were not members of Lodge No. 19.
# Undoubtedly "Roslin Castle."
§ THOMAS FORREST, commissioned Captain, in the Pennsylvania Artillery Battalion commanded by Major Procter, October 5, 1776; promoted Major, Pennsylvania State Regiment of Artillery (Proc- ter's), February 5, 1777; promoted Lieutenant Colonel, December 2, 1778; resigned from the service October 7, 1781; Member of Congress, 1819-'23; died in Germantown, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1825, aged eighty-three years.
|| SAMUEL STORY was an Englishman, who joined the American army after the British evacuated Philadelphia, and was commissioned Third Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Artil- lery, commanded by Colonel Procter. Later he was promoted Second Lieutenant, and May 13, 1779, he was promoted First Lieutenant. He was appointed Adjutant of the regiment February 13, 1780, and was promoted Captain-Lieutenant October 7, 1781. He died in service in South Carolina, October 4, 1782.
" Sunday, July 25th, had been fixed upon as the day for the reinterment of the bodies of Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones, but as it rained very hard on that day as well as the next, the cere- monies were postponed to the 29th.
** The remains of Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones rested in the old Wilkes-Barre burial- ground until 1867, when, in view of the fact that the ground was to be abandoned as a place of inter- ment, and the remains of all the dead buried there were to be reinterred elsewhere (see, as to this, a subsequent chapter), it was decided by Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., of Wilkes-Barre, to remove the remains of those two long-deceased Free Masons to Hollenback Cemetery. A committee of members of the Lodge, consisting of Edmund L. Dana, Sharp D. Lewis, Elisha B. Harvey, Hendrick B.
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A detail of 600 men was employed at Wilkes-Barré on Friday, July 30, 1779, from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night, loading boats and pack-horses with supplies for the Expedition. On this day General Sullivan received from Col. William Cook (see note, page 818) at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, a letter dated at seven o'clock in the morning of July 29th and reading as follows :
" The enemy yesterday [July 28th] made themselves masters of Freeland's fort, upon the West Branch of the Susquehanna, upon terms of capitulation, viz .: The men to remain prisoners of war; the whole garrison to be plundered by the Indians ; the wonien to go free. The number of the enemy appearing before the fort, about 250-one- third British. The residue were savages, together with a Corps de Reserve of 100 more, at some distance. The whole under the command of Captain McDonald .* We have now at Northumberland about 150 to oppose the enemy and protect the women and children, whom it is impossible to get off. We expect to be attacked every hour, as we are the most frontier garrison, and fear [that] without some speedy assistance [we] must fall a prey to Savage Tyrants. The enemy have collected all the cattle and everything valu- able as they came on. We beg leave to give it as our opinion that a party of men thrown across the country will retake the plunder and everything else. * * The number killed in action were Capt. Hawkins Boone and forty men, after the capitulation, who were out on a scout and had not heard of the surrender of the Garrison."
About the same time General Sullivan received from Col. Samuel Hunter, Lieutenant of the County of Northumberland, a communica- tion (dated July 28th) similar in purport to the foregoing letter. He also received by a messenger a letter written July 28th at Minisink, on the Delaware, and reading as followst :
Wright, George Urquhart, Albert M. Bailey and William L. Stewart, was appointed to prepare a pro- gram of ceremonies, and make the necessary arrangements for carrying out the same. St. John the Baptist's Day (June 24th), 1867, was fixed upon for the ceremonies, and invitations to unite and take part in the same were extended to all the Masonic Lodges in Luzerne County, and to some others in neighboring counties. Sidney Hayden, of Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, Athens, Pennsylvania, was invited to deliver the address on the occasion.
The day selected for the carrying out of the program proved a most favorable one, and Wilkes- Barré was filled with strangers drawn hither to witness the solemn and peculiar ceremonies that were to take place. At two o'clock in the afternoon a procession was formed on West Market Street (near the Hall of Lodge No. 61), with the right resting on River Street. Capt. Charles C. Plotz acted as Chief Marshal, assisted by Capt. O. K. Moore and Walter G. Sterling of Wilkes-Barre, Bryce R. Blair of Plymouth, Captain Gordon of Shickshinny, and George Parton and Julius Josephison of Scranton. The formation of the procession was as follows: (1) Veteran Zouaves (Capt. W. W. Ellis command- ing) and drum corps, of Wilkes-Barre. (2) Officers and soldiers of the War of 1861, in full uniformn. (3) Officers and soldiers of the Mexican War. (4) Officers and soldiers of the War of 1812. (5) The Scranton Cornet Band. (6) Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, in the following order: Sylvania, No. 354, Slickshinny; Schiller, No. 345, Scranton; Hyde Park, No. 339, Hyde Park; Plymouth, No. 332, Plymouth; Peter Williamson, No. 323, Scranton; Waverly, No. 301, Clark's Sumn- mit; Union, No. 291, Scranton; Carbondale, No. 249, Carbondale; St. John's, No. 233, Pittston; Lodge No. 61, Wilkes-Barre. (7) The clergy. (8) Hearse. (9) Pall-bearers: Gen. Henry M. Hoyt, Col. Samuel H. Sturdevant, Col. William Brisbanc, Lieut. Col. Edwin S. Osborne, Lieut. Col. Thomas C. Harkness, Licut. Col. George N. Reichard, Maj. Charles M. Conyngham, Maj. Oliver Parsons, and Maj. George Smith-all in full uniform.
The procession moved down River Street, and thence throughi several other streets to the old grave-yard on East Market Street. There the remains of the two officers and Brethren (previously disinterred and laid in a new coffin) were placed in the hearse, and the procession moved on to Hol- lenback Cemetery, the band and the drum corps playing "Roslin Castle" (referred to on page 1182). Arriving at the cemetery-where a large concourse of citizens had gathered-the following program was carried out: (1) Prayer by the Rev. Thomas P. Hunt. (2) Dirge, played by the band. (3) Masonic burial services, conducted by Edward H. Chase, Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 61. (4) Music. (5) Introduction of the orator of the day, by Gen. Edmund L. Dana, a Past Master of Lodge No. 61. (6) Oration, by Sidney Hayden. (See the present writer's "History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M.," pages 600-608, for this oration.) (7) Music. (8) Remarks, by Gen. Edmund L. Dana and the Hon. Hendrick B. Wright, members of Lodge No. 61. (9) Benediction, by the Rev. Jolin G. Eckman. (10) Firing, by the military escort. The procession then returned to Masonic Hall, where it was dismissed. Some 500 Free Masons took part in the ceremonies of the day.
The marble slab, which had stood for a number of years at the head of the Davis-Jones grave in the old burial-ground, was removed to Hollenback Cemetery and set up over the grave there-where it still stands-while the original red-stone slab is said to have been placed in the grave with the remains of the two officers.
In the Summer of 1896 Mrs. Martha (Bennett) Phelps of Wilkes-Barre caused to be erected, at her expense, and on her property near her Summer residence on Wilkes-Barre Mountain, a substan- tial stone monument to mark the spot where Captain Davis and Lieutenant Jones and their compan- ions fell. This monument, which was dedicated with very interesting ceremonies on September 12, 1896, in the presence of a large company of invited guests, bears upon one face the following inscription : "Near this spot, April 23, 1779, Captain Davis, Lieutenant Jones, Corporal Butler, and two privates, belonging to the advance guard of the Expedition under Major General John Sullivan, were scalped, tomahawked and speared by the Indians. Their bodies were buricd here. Those of the two officers were reinterred in Wilke's-Barre, July 29, 1779." On another face of the monument the following inscription appears: "This Stone is given to the care of the Sons of the Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution of Wilkes. Barre, Pennsylvania."
* Capt. JOHN McDONNEL of Butler's Rangers.
i See the Pennsylvania Packet, August 19, 1779.
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"I embrace this earliest opportunity to inform you that on the 20th inst. Joseph Brant, with a party of Tories and Indians-twenty-seven whites and sixty Indians-made an attack on Minisink and killed four men ; took fifteen prisoners ; burnt ten dwelling- houses, one church, eleven barns, one grist-inill, a large quantity of hay and grain ; took a great quantity of horses, cattle, and other plunder. The militia soon collected and pursued them, overtaking theni about twenty-five miles up the Delaware, upon which a most bloody engagement began, continuing four hours. We lost forty of our best men, including one Colonel, six Captains, and seven or eight Lieutenants. * * We believe. the enemy are at Cochecton, almost forty miles from this place and about the same dis- tance from Wyoming. * They left Chemung the 8th of July."*
To Colonel Hunter General Sullivan replied on July 30th as fol- lows (see " Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VII : 594) :
* The following account of the British and Indian forays against Minisink and Fort Freeland (and the immediate reasons for the same) is taken from Ernest Cruikshank's "The Story of Butler's Rangers" (page 63), previously referred to. "On the 2d of May [1779] Maj. John Butler left Niag- ara with 400 men, including a few Indians. He was directed to advance no farther than Kanadesaga, the principal village of the Senecas, and keep a sharp lookout towards Fort Pitt and Wyoming. * Everywhere he found the Indians on the very brink of starvation- many of them were actually liv- ing on roots and leaves. Cattle and grain could scarcely be purchased at any price. Seouts con- firmed the report that an overwhelming army was assembling on the Susquehanna, and said that the
* Lieutenant frontier settlements were everywhere protected by a girdle of strong stockades. *
Thompson, with forty 'Rangers,' accompanied by Roland Montour and a few Indians, was detached to the Susquehanna to obtain cattle; Lieutenant Johnson made a raid upon Schoharie and brought off eighteen prisoners. One bold recruiting officer had gone within sight of Albany and brought in twenty men helonging to Burgoyne's army. Another actually penetrated beyond the Hudson and en- listed seventy men.
"Butler urged the Indians to plant as much corn as possible, and every 'Ranger' not otherwise. employed was set at work to assist them in the fields on the fertile Genesee flats. By the beginning of June his stock of provisions was exhausted, the 'Rangers' were living from hand to mouth, and the starving Indians were wasting his scanty supply of ammunition by firing at every wretched bird they saw in the woods. It seemed impossible to remain much longer at Kanadesaga. * On the 3d of July a deserter came in from Wyoming, bringing, as it proved, very reliable information. He stated that when he left, General Hand was encamped there with 600 men, and Generals Sullivan and Maxwell were daily expected with nine regiments and nine cannon. Another army was to ad- vance from North River, and a third from Fort Pitt. "They intend to cut off the Indians as they come along, and then join and attack Niagara. They had 600 pack-horses, and were to have 400 more. A great number of boats were lying in the river.'
"There could no longer be any doubt that a very serious invasion was contemplated, although it was still generally supposed that the numbers of the enemy were much exaggerated. To distract their attention as much as possible, and occupy them in the defense of their own frontiers, as well as to procure supplies, McDonnel, with sixty 'Rangers,' a few volunteers from the 8th [Regiment], and 100 Indians, was sent to the West Branch of the Susquehanna, while Lieut. Barent Frey and [Joseph] Brant marched against Minisink, on the Delaware. Meanwhile, scouting parties returning from the. Mohawk, discovered an encampment of troops at 'Cochran's Lake' [Lake Otsego], supposed to be the advance-guard of the army coming from the North River. They likewise brought the doleful news that Lieut. Henry Hare and Sergeant Newberry of the 'Rangers' had been taken by the enemy and executed as spies. Hare had been recognized while 'viewing the stores as they passed up the river,' and was hanged on a gallows-erected with a refinement of cruelty-in front of his own house.' Their comrades were bitterly exasperated, and made fierce threats of retaliation in like manner.
"By the 19th of July every expedient that ingenuity and experience could suggest for the main- tenance of the remainder of his battalion at Kanadesaga had been exhausted. Lieutenant Thompson wrote from Tioga that he had been unable to procure any cattle, and must either return or starve. The Indians were continually begging [Butler] for food, which it was not in his power to supply. * 'To add to all this,' Butler continued, 'there is not the same opportunity of driving cattle from. *
* Genesee Falls, two days' march from Kanadesaga, was selected as a suitable place for an encampment. where the 'Rangers' could be- supplied with provisions by boats from Niagara, and the abundance of fish in the river would afford a welcome change of diet to men who had been living, for many weeks, on stale salt meat imported from Ireland. He [Butler] himself still remained at Kanadesaga to sustain the spirits of the Indians, and vigilant officers were stationed in all their outlying villages with instructions to keep scouts out in every direction.
the enemy's frontier as there was the preceding Summer.' *
"While Butler was so employed both the parties he had sent out against the frontiers had struck damaging blows. After a 'very fatiguing and tedious march over mountains and through woods almost impenetrable,' McDonnel gained the West Branch of the Susquehanna. On the 27th of July he marched all night, and at day-break came in sight of Fort Freeland, the frontier post. Before noon the garrison capitulated, after having two men killed. Thirty-one prisoners were taken, including a Commissioner of the County [of Northumberland]. Of the besiegers, only John Montour, who led a party of the Indians, was wounded, while scalping a man under the walls. Two hours later the 'Ran- gers' were unexpectedly attacked by a party of seventy or eighty men from a neighboring fort, who, having heard the firing, had advanced to the relief of Fort Freeland. The Indians had dispersed in search of cattle, and allowed them to approach unperceived until within gunshot. McDonnel has- tily formed his men and engaged them in front until the Indians assembled and took the enemy in the flank, when they were quickly routed, leaving three Captains and thirty men dead on the field. McDonnel said that very few would have escaped if their flight had not been favored by thick under- wood. He lost only one Indian killed and another wounded. After this skirmish he attempted to induce the Indians to follow up their success, but 'they were glutted with plunder,' and insisted on retreating a few miles to enjoy themselves overnight. In the morning he returned with 100 men and destroyed five forts and thirty miles of settled country, advancing within a short distance of Shamno- kin [Sunbury]. Eighty women and children were taken during the day and released uninjured. A hundred cattle were driven off, but half of them were subsequently stolen by the Indians. On the 5th of August McDonnel was again at Tioga, awaiting the approach of the enemy from Wyoming. "Brant and Frey had a very similar experience. They destroyed several small forts, or stock- ades, and many other buildings at Minisink, with little opposition. On their retreat they were pur- sued by a much superior force of militia, which outmarched them and formed an ambush at the Lack- awaxen ford. Quickly recovering from his surprise, Brant quietly led a party of Indians around a hill, and suddenly attacked his assailants in the rear. They dispersed, and were remorselessly slaugh- tered in their flight. More than a hundred were killed, and but one taken prisoner."
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"Your letter of the 28th I received to-day, announcing the loss of Fort Freeland.
* * I could wish to assist you, but the good of the service will not admit it. The object of this expedition is of such a nature, and its consequences so extensive, that to turn the course of this army would be unwise, unsafe and impolitic. * * To-morrow morning I shall march with the whole army for Tioga, and must leave you to call upon the Council of your State for assistance. As Pennsylvania has neglected to furnish me with the troops promised for this expedition, she certainly will be enabled to defend her frontiers without much inconvenience." * *
At Wilkes-Barré, under the date of July 30, 1779, Lieut. Col. Adam Hubley, Jr., wrote to President Reed of Pennsylvania as follows* :
" In my humble opinion I think it would answer an exceedingly good end if a detachment of 500 men from this army were detached and sent on the Western Branch, as they would have it in their power effectually to scour that country, and be at Tioga nearly as soon as the main body. This would give relief to the poor inhabitants, and would by no means delay the expedition. * ** I don't mean by giving my opin- ion so freely to throw the least reflection on the Commander [Sullivan]. I am confident he acts from pure principle, and for the good of the public in general. No man can be more vigilant and assiduous. I sincerely wish his labors may be crowned with laurels. To-morrow we march, and, I am sorry to say, exceedingly ill provided to carry through the extensive Expedition. The same unparalleled conduct of those employed in supply- ing this army seems still to exist. I hope to see the day when the delinquents will be brought to proper punishment. My regiment, I fear, will be almost totally naked before we can possibly return. I have scarcely a coat or blanket for every seventh man. The State stores are all issued and delivered to the regiment."
At " Camp Wyoming," Wilkes-Barre, under the date of July 30, 1779, General Sullivan wrote to General Washington as follows :
" I have the honour to inform your Excellency that I have at length surmounted every obstacle, and shall commence my march to-morrow morning."
At the same time General Sullivan wrote to Gen. James Clinton as follows :
"I shall leave this [place] to-morrow morning. I wish you to set out the 9th of next month [August, 1779]. On my arrival at Tioga I will immediately detach a consid- erable body of Light Troops to favour and secure your march."
On the same day General Sullivan placed in the hands of Col. Zebulon Butler the following letter of instructions, f now published for the first time.
"HEAD QUARTERS, WYOMING, July 30th [1779].
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