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 118
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and ten men belonging to the 3d Regiment, Connecticut Line (as mentioned on page 834), and a small body of militia (composed of West- moreland inhabitants) officered by Capt. William Hooker Smith and Lieut. Daniel Gore. The duties devolving upon Colonel Butler, the commandant, made it necessary for him, in the circumstances of the situation, to afford protection to the returning inhabitants, to guard the approaches to the Valley, and exercise a surveillance over an extensive region of country.
At Wilkes-Barré, December 6, 1779, a town-meeting of the inhab- itants of Westmoreland was held, Col. Nathan Denison being chosen Moderator. Lieut. Obadiah Gore was elected Town Clerk for the ensuing year, and the usual number of Selectmen, Constables, Surveyors of Highways, Fence Viewers, Listers (Assessors), and Branders of Horses were elected, as well as a Town Treasurer, a Tax Collector, a Key Keeper and a School Committee. Colonel Denison, who was already a Justice of the Peace, Judge of the Probate Court, a Represent- ative to the State Assembly, and Moderator of the town-meeting, was further burdened with the offices of Town Treasurer, Selectman and School Committee-inan.
The Winter of 1779-'80 was the severest ever known (up to that time) in the middle States. The snow began to fall about the 10th of November, 1779, and continued alinost every day till the middle of the ensuing March. In the woods and other sheltered places it lay for many weeks at least four feet upon the level. The weather was intensely cold during the greater part of that period, and harbors, rivers, creeks and brooks were all frozen over. The bay of New York, and the North River from thence up to Albany, were covered froin shore to shore with solid ice. 200 sleds laden with provisions, with two horses to each sled, and escorted by 200 light-horse troops, passed in a body from New York City to Staten Island upon the ice. By the middle of December the snow was about two feet deep in central and northern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania ; but the great snow-storm began on January 3, 1780, and the newspapers of the period refer to it as being terrific in its character. Dr. Thacher, who was with Washington's ariny at Morristown, New Jersey, at the time of this January storm, has
entitled "Susquehannah Settlers," mentioned on page 29, Vol. I, is a petition addressed to the Gen- eral Assembly of Connecticut, dated at Litchfield, Connecticut, December 28, 1779, and signed by the said Burnham. This petition sets forth that the signer is a native of Hartford, and "now a soldier in the Continental army for said State;" that he lived with his family on the Susquehanna for some years before July, 1778; that after the massacre his family arrived at Hartford, where they were for some time provided for; that, in an unsuccessful attempt for their removal back to the Susquehanna, his wife and three small children were left at Litchfield, where, by the humanity of that town, they have been for some months supported; that said Burnham is now a garrison soldier at the Susque- hanna, and has obtained a furlough in order to complete the return of his family to the Susquehanna, but "the poverty which his calamities have unavoidably reduced him to, utterly incapacitates him to effect the removal." The memorialist therefore "implores the Fathers of his Country to take his pit- iful case into consideration," and afford him relief, etc., "which he is confident would free the public from their present burden of supporting his dear, helpless family, and invigorate his courage further to fight his country's battles." The memorialist suggests that he should be furnished "with a few nec- essaries, a small pair of substantial steers, or a couple of horses, able to draw a light sleigh to the place of his destination."
The General Assembly acted on this memorial, and directed the Selectmen of the town of Litch- field to furnish Burnham with necessaries most suitable, not exceeding £15 in value-"estimated at the rate of prices affixed in and by the Act of Assembly of November, 1776; taking the memorial- ist's receipt therefor as part of his dues from the State or Continent for his service in the army." At Litchfield, under the date of March 7, 1780, Burnham receipted to the Selectmen for "one good horse and furniture and provision to the amount of £15 value in the old way, or according to the prices of 1774, in part of what is now due or owing to me [him] on account of my [his] wages for service in the army of the United States." The Selectmen presented to the Assembly, March 10, 1780, their bill for the above horse, etc., "at the price of 2,000 dollars"-for which sum they had given an order for £600; to which should be added £30 for the amount paid the Secretary of State for copies, commissions, ctc. June 6, 1780, the Selectmen received an order on the State Treasurer for £630.
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given a particular account of it in his "Journal " (referred to on page 1070). He says :
"On January 3, 1780, we experienced one of the most tremendous snow-storms ever remembered. No man could endure its violence many minutes without danger of his life. Several marquees were torn asunder and blown down over the officers' heads in the night. * * The sufferings of the poor soldiers can scarcely be described. * * The snow is now from four to six feet deep, which so obstructs the roads as to prevent our receiving a supply of provisions."
The storm continued several days, and under the date of January 26, 1780, an officer wrote from the camp of the American army to the New Jersey Gazette :
" We had a fast lately in camp, by general constraint, of the whole army, in which we fasted more sincerely and truly for three days than ever we did from all the resolutions of Congress put together. This was occasioned by the severity of the weather and the drifting of the snow, whereby the roads were rendered impassable, and all supplies of provisions were cut off."
Concerning the "hard" Winter of 1779-'80, Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, wrote in 1789 :
"The Winter was uniformly and uncommonly cold. The river Delaware was frozen near three months during this Winter, and public roads for wagons and sleighs connected the city of Philadelphia, in many places, with the Jersey shore. The thickness of the ice in the river, near the city, was from sixteen to nineteen inches, and the depth of the frost in the ground was from four to five feet-according to the exposure of the ground and the quality of the soil. * * Many plants were destroyed by the intenseness of the cold during that Winter. The ears of horned cattle and the feet of hogs exposed to the air were frost-bitten ; squirrels perished in their holes, and partridges were often found dead in the neighborhood of farm-houses. In January the mercury stood for several hours at 5° below 0 ( Fahrenheit), and during the whole of that month-except on one day-it never rose, in the city of Philadelphia, to the freezing-point."
The meteorological conditions in Wyoming Valley during the Winter of 1779-'80 were pretty much, if not quite, the sanie as those which prevailed in the localities hereinbefore mentioned. Lieut. Jolin Jenkins, Jr., states in his diary, under the date of January 11, 1780 : "A party of men set out [from Wilkes-Barre] to go through the swamp- across the Pocono range-on snow-shoes; the snow about three feet deep." Under the date of February 2d Lieutenant Jenkins records : " Two soldiers went to Capouse [Providence Township], and froze them- selves badly. " The soldiers and inhabitants in Wyoming Valley suffered in many ways during the Winter, through the discomforts and inconveniences resulting from the cold weather, the snow and the ice. The Susquehanna was frozen over solid and strong for many weeks.
Influenced by citizens of Pennsylvania who resided in the counties of Philadelphia, Northampton and Northumberland, and who laid claim to large bodies of land in the Wyoming region, the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania unanimously passed, November 18, 1779, a resolution to the effect "that a proposition be inade without loss of time to the State of Connecticut to refer [to a third party], by mutual con- sent of the parties, the adjustment and decision of the claims of the two States " to the Wyoming territory; "such adjustment and determination to have effect and be binding on the parties." This resolution was in due time forwarded to Governor Trumbull, and by him was laid before the Connecticut Assembly at its meeting in January, 1780, when, by that body, it was voted :
"Whereas the territory referred to is within the charter bounds of Connecticut- granted long before that to Pennsylvania-and the aboriginal title of the Indians was purchased and obtained by the inhabitants of this State with the approbation of this Assembly ; * * and inasmuch as the dispute concerning the territory was to have been heard in England antecedent to the present contest with the King ; and whereas many
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original papers and documents were carried to and lodged in Great Britain to be used in the case, *
* and no time hath offered since to recover them-which papers are material, etc .- * * Resolved, That this State do not at present agree to the proposal made by the State of Pennsylvania, * * but will readily comply therewith at some reasonable and favorable time hereafter."
At the beginning of the year 1780 the garrison at Fort Wyoming numbered about 125 officers and men. According to an original return inade January 12, 1780, Captain Spalding's company then numbered sixty men ; Schott's Corps* numbered in the neighborhood of fifty, and the detachment from the 3d Connecticut Regiment, under the command of Lieut. Obadiah Gore, numbered thirteen. Efforts to increase the garrison, by having transferred thither from other posts an additional number of Continental troops, proving of no avail, Colonel Butler, in conjunction with the Selectmen of Westmoreland, called upon Capt. John Franklint to enlist a company of militia from among the inhabit-
* The following is a copy of a muster-roll printed in the Pennsylvania Magasine, XXVI: 477.
"Muster of the Corps commanded by Capt. John Paul Schott, taken from 1st October, 1779, to 1st April, 1780.
"John Paul Schott, Captain, September 6, 1776; Acting Paymaster. Antoni Selin, Captain, De- cember 10, 1777. Lawrence Myers, First Lieutenant, April 9, 1777; Adjutant. Conrad Latour, Sec- ond Lieutenant, April 29, 1777. John Gedecke, Sergeant, February 25, 1777. Privates: Hugh Crom- well, March 1, 1777. Johnson Burwell, March 10, 1777. Christian Swanhiser, January 1, 1779. Jacob Reynert, March 10, 1777. Tobias Ritter, February 18, 1777. Peter Corback, March 1, 1777. Gabriel Kline, May 8, 1777. William Genner, November 24, 1777. Captain Selin's Company: Sergeants- Henry Seiders (Q. M. S.), April 15, 1777. Francis McGarran, July 18, 1777 (with D. Q. M. General). Henry Sinfer, August 9, 1777. John Steinheiser, July 27, 1777. Martin Lantz, February 13, 1780. Frederick Liebe (Philadelphia), March 22, 1777. Corporals-George Marx (Reading), January 24, 1777; furlough, Reading. Samuel Ulett, March 8, 1777. Drummer-William Marks (Reading), March 22, 1777. Privates-James Ridgway, October 25, 1776. Christian Fels, February 9, 1777. John Levering (Chester), March 20, 1777; furlough, Yellow Springs. John Eirach (York), March 9, 1777. George Karsh, March 9, 1777. John Poorman (Philadelphia), August 7, 1778. Martin Brechell (Philadelphia), March 15, 1777. Jacob Frey (Northampton County), March 15, 1777. Owen Cooley (York), March 25, 1777. Henry Till (Chester), June 17, 1778. William Dorn (Philadelphia), March 22, 1777; furlough, Baltimore. John Breeker, February 13, 1780. Adam Sypert (Berks Coun- ty), March 28, 1777. Henry Tradcher, May 9, 1777; on command at Easton. John Bengell, February 6, 1777. Valentine Keyser, February 6, 1777. John Roch, February 6, 1777. Basil Lewis, April 14, 1777. Michael Track. Vacant Company: Jacob Hilpe, August 9, 1777; Sergeant. Andrew Horn- berg, March 12, 1777; Corporal; discharged at Wyoming May 8, 1780. Daniel Sheetz (Northampton County), March 12, 1777; Corporal; discharged at Wyoming May 8, 1780. John Köhler (Philadelphia), September 6, 1777; discharged at Wyoming September 1, 1780. Adam Brandhefer (York), March 5, 1777. Henry Keck, March 6, 1777.
"Then mustered Captain Schott's Company as specified in the ahove roll.
[Signed ] "ZEBULON BUTLER,
Colonel Commandant.
"By order of Maj. General Sullivan. Wyoming, 28 March, 1780."
+ JOHN FRANKLIN (JR.) was born in Canaan, I,itchfield County, Connecticut, September 26, 1749, the third child of Jolin and Keziah (Pierce) Franklin. John Franklin, Sr., who was of English de- scent and was born in 1716, had early become a settler in Canaan, where he continued to reside until his death. He became a shareholder in the Susquehanna Purchase soon after the Wyoming region began to be settled by the New Englanders, but it is doubtful if he ever visited the new settlements. The John Franklin who was in Wyoming as early, at least, as June, 1769, and who in 1776, '77 and '78 was a resident of Hanover Township, or District, was not John Franklin of Canaan-as some local writers have stated -- but was, at the time of his coming here, an inhabitant of New York. (See Vol. I, page 512.) Jolin Franklin, Sr., died at Canaan, August 20, 1800.
The children of John and Keziah (Pierce) Franklin were as follows: (i) 'Susanna, married at North Canaan July 29, 1773, to Stephen Harrison; settled in Huntington Township (now in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania) in 1776, and died in 1804. (ii) Abigail, married to - Collander of Massachusetts, and died August 6, 1823, aged seventy-six years. (iii) John, the subject of this sketch. (iv) Samuel, horn at Canaan May 10, 1759; married in 1791 or '92 to Mary Ransom (born May 20, 1772), daughter of Capt. Samuel and Esther ( Lawrence) Ransom, as more fully noted on page 895, ante. (v) Amos, born in Canaan; settled and died in Huntington Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. (vi) A daughter, born in Canaan; married to - - Tubbs, and lived and died in Huntington Township. (vii) Mary, married to - - Fellows. (viii) Abiah. (ix) Silas, born and died in Canaan. John Franklin, Jr., was married (1st) at New Canaan, Connecticut, Fehruary 2. 1774, to Lvdia Doolittle (born at Canaan August 13, 1751), and one week later they set out for Wyoming Valley, where they located in the township of Plymouth.
Early in 1775, under the auspices of The Susquehanna Company, the township of Huntington was laid out in the town of Westmoreland, and Lots 12, 20 and 43 in the First Division thereof were duly allotted to John Franklin, Sr., as one of the original proprietors of the township. Shortly after- wards, leaving his wife and infant child in Plymouth, John Franklin, Jr., went single-handed and alone to the new township and began preparations to establish a home on one of his father's lots, on the banks of Huntington Creek, some seven or eight miles north-west of the mouth of Shickshinny Creek. During the next ten months he cleared three or four acres of land, erected a small log-house, and sowed some grain. Late in the Summer of 1776 he removed his family from Plymouth to his new home. (In the Westmoreland tax-lists for 1776, '77 and '78-see pages 877, 946 and 952, ante- John Franklin, Jr., is listed as an inhabitant and tax-payer of "Plymouth District." This is explained by the fact that the new township of Huntington lay within the bounds of "Plymouth District," as established by vote of the inhabitants of Westmoreland March 2, 1774-as noted on page 794, ante.)
During the next two years John Franklin was busily engaged in clearing up his land and carrying on farming in a small way. In October, 1776, as noted on page 908. he was established and com- missioned Ensign of the Tenth Company of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia; and was promoted and commissioned Captain of the same company at the May, 1778, session of the General Assembly
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ants of the town, to aid in garrisoning the fort ; but, more particularly, to do scouting duty. (It may be remarked here that the ranks of the 24th, or Westmoreland, Regiment, Connecticut Militia, were so deci- mated, and its organization was so completely destroyed, by the events of July, 1778, that no attempt was inade thereafter to reorganize the regiment.) Captain Franklin immediately went to work, and in a very short time had organized a company of seventy-four officers and men. Without delay, and without raising any question as to the pay or remuneration for their services, these patriotic Westmorelanders entered upon the duties for which they had voluntarily enlisted.
The earliest authentic roll, or roster, of this company in existence, so far as known, is a pay-roll, in the hand-writing of Captain Franklin, now in the collections of the Tioga Point Historical Society, at Athens, Pennsylvania. A copy of this roll was printed, originally, in the Wyoming County Record, and was reprinted in the Wilkes-Barre Advocate on June 16, 1847. It was reprinted, also, in the Wilkes-Barre Record of January 10, 1899, with some comments and explanations by the present writer. A copy of the roll will be found, also, in " Pennsyl- vania Archives," Second Series, XIV: 335. Excepting some corrections
of Connecticut. At this same session he was appointed and commissioned one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland for the ensuing year.
As to the whereabouts of Captain Franklin and the services performed by him at the time of the battle of Wyoming, full information is given the reader in various paragraphs on pages 994-1052, ante.
Having escaped from Forty Fort and the Valley on July 5th (as described on page 1052) Captain Franklin proceeded to Huntington Township, and, taking his wife and three little children (the young- est of whom was less than three months old), started for a place of safety. Going down the Sus- quehanna to Paxtang, Lancaster County, they remained there for a few days, and then went up to Windsor, in Berks County. Leaving his family there Captain Franklin made his way up to Fort Penn (the present Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania), where he joined the body of Conti- mental troops and Westmoreland militia commanded by Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler. With this de- tachment he marched to Wilkes-Barre at the beginning of August, 1778, and remained here continuous- ly doing military duty until, at least, the first of the following October-except for the short time that he was absent from the Valley with the Hartley Expedition, as described on page 1090.
Towards the latter part of October, or early in November, 1778, Captain Franklin rejoined his wife and children at Windsor, and while he was there all the members of the family were attacked with small-pox, of which disease Mrs. Franklin died November 17, 1778. As soon as he had recovered his health Captain Franklin, realizing his inability to take proper care of his young children, deter- mined to place them in the care of his relatives at Canaan. "Therefore, hitching a yoke of oxen to a little cart he put into the latter his three children, tied a cow by her horns to the tail-board of the cart, and drove on, having a cup into which, from time to time, he milked the cow and fed the babe. Thus he traveled the rough way, 260 miles, through forests, fording streams, and frequently sleeping under the canopy of the heavens." He reached in safety his destination, and leaving there his help- less children he hastened his return to Wyoming. Here he arrived early in 1779, rejoining the hand- ful of settlers and Continental soldiers at Wilkes-Barre.
Thenceforward, for more than a quarter of a century, the name of John Franklin occupies a place of more or less prominence on nearly every page of Wyoming history-as a perusal of the fol- lowing pages will show. As previously narrated (pages 1203 and 1208), he took part in the Sullivan Expedition. In May, 1779, and again in May, 1780, he was appointed by the Connecticut Assembly, and duly commissioned, a Justice of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland; and in May, 1781, and again in May, 1782, he was commissioned a Justice of the Peace and Quorum in and for the county of Westmoreland. In 1780 he was one of the Selectmen of Westmoreland, and for some time, at a later period, was Recorder of Deeds in and for Westmoreland. In October, 1781, he was one of the two Representatives from Westmoreland in the Connecticut Assembly.
During the Second Pennamite-Yankee War one of the most strenuous and efficient of the leaders of the Yankee party was John Franklin, and when, in the Autumn of 1785, the settlers organized a militia regiment within the bounds of Westmoreland, he was elected its Colonel. At that time Col- onel Franklin made his home in Wilkes-Barré, and here he continued to live until his arrest at Wilkes- Barré and commitment to prison in Philadelphia, in October, 1787-as more fully narrated in a subse- quent chapter. Upon his release from prison in September, 1789, he returned to Wilkes-Barre, but some months later removed to the new township of Athens (at Tioga Point), which had been located and laid out in May, 1786, and of which Colonel Franklin was one of the original proprietors.
In 1792 Colonel Franklin was elected Sheriff of Luzerne County, and in 1795 and 1796, and in ' each of the years from 1799 to 1803, inclusive, he was elected a Representative from Luzerne County to the Pennsylvania Legislature. Craft (in his "History of Bradford County") says of Colonel Franklin: "In the Legislature, on all those questions which related to the title of lands, he was earnest in his defense of the 'half-share men,' and unsparing in his reproaches and withering sarcasm of the land- jobbers. An attempt was made in the session of 1802-'03 to expel him from the Assembly on account of his indictment under the Intrusion Law, but, on account of political reasons, many in the land- holders' interest were induced to vote against his expulsion. Determined, however, to get rid of him, the Legislature, in 1804, passed an Act dividing the County of Luzerne, and setting off to Lycoming that part which contained the residence of Colonel Franklin. In 1805, however, much to the chagrin of his enemies, he was elected by the people of Lycoming, and appeared in triumph at Lancaster [then the seat of the State Government] and took his seat in the Assembly. As it was his crowning, so it was his closing victory. Old age had dampened his ardor and chilled his ambition and he spent the re- mainder of his days in the quiet of his own home.
"He possessed a most remarkable memory, which he retained to the last. He could tell the events, in their order and with great minuteness, which had occurred in the Valley from the period of its
John Franklin
COL. JOHN FRANKLIN. Photo-reproduction of an engraved portrait in Craft's "History of Bradford County."
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in the spelling of certain names, and the arrangement of the names of the rank and file in alphabetical order, the roll reads as follows :
"A Pay Roll of the Company of Militia commanded by Capt. JOHN FRANKLIN, in the service of the United States at the Post of Wyoming, for one month-viz. : from the 3d of April to the 4th of May, 1780.
John Franklin, Captain.
Roasel Franklin, Lieutenant. Daniel Gore, Lieutenant. Daniel Ingersoll, Sergeant. Asa Chapman, Sergeant.
Henry Burney, Sergeant.
Christopher Hurlbut, Sergeant.
James Sutton, Corporal.
William Jackson, Corporal. Andrew Blanchard, Corporal.
Prince Alden.
Peleg Comstock.
John Hurlbut, Jr. Sale Roberts, Jr.
James Atherton.
Joseph Elliott.
Naphtali Hurlbut.
David Sanford.
Richard Brockway.
Henry Elliott.
Joseph Hageman.
Caleb Spencer.
Nathan Bullock.
James Frisbie.
Elijah Harris.
Walter Spencer.
Ishmael Bennett.
Jonathan Frisbie.
Robert Hopkins.
Nathan Smith.
Ishmael Bennett, Jr.
John Fuller. Arnold Franklin.
John Hyde.
John Shearer. Daniel Sherwood.
Frederick Budd.
Jonathan Forsyth.
Joseph Jameson.
Thomas Stoddart.
Andrew Bennet.
Frederick Frey.
Turner Johnson.
Abraham Tillbury.
Solomon Bennet.
Roasel Franklin, Jr.
Abraham Nisbitt.
Jacob Tillbury.
Thomas Bennet.
Stephen Gardner.
James Nisbitt.
John Tillbury. Joseph Thomas.
Manasselı Cady.
Willard Green.
Asahel Pritchard.
Ephraim Tyler.
Jonathan Corey.
Benjamin Harvey.
Jonah Rogers.
Nathan Walker.
Joseph Corey.
Elisha Harvey.
Josiah Rogers.
Jonathan Washburn.
Nathaniel Cook.
John Hurlbut.
Sale Roberts.
William Williams.
first occupation by the white people. He knew every man and his history on The Susquehanna Com- pany's Purchase, and the history of every tract of land which had been occupied. In all questions relating to settlement or occupancy his testimony was invaluable and conclusive. He was a ready writer, and his pen was constantly employed. He was earnest in his convictions, and ardent in maintaining them. He believed the claim of The Susquehanna Company was a valid one, and in writing the history of the Purchase, in taking copies of legal papers and documents, in writing letters, and in keeping a journal, the amount of writing done by him was enormous."
In the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society there is a MS. book of 106 pages, about 6x8 inches in size. in the handwriting of Colonel Franklin. This book, which contains extracts from the records of Connecticut and The Susquehanna Company, and also a brief statement of the purchase and settlement of Wyoming from the year 1762 to about 1787, was prepared by Col- onel Franklin for the Hon. William Lewis of Philadelphia, one of the lawyers for the Connecticut settlers in the important law-suit brought for the purpose of determining the status of the conflicting Wyoming land-titles-as fully related hereinafter.
In 1885 there was in the possession of the late Steuben Jenkins, Esq., one of the Journals of Col- onel Franklin covering the years 1780-1790. In 1871 this book had been loaned by Mr. Jenkins to the Hon. Hendrick B. Wright of Wilkes-Barre for use in the preparation for publication of the latter's "Historical Sketches of Plymouth." On a fly-leaf of the journal Mr. Wright wrote and signed the following statement: "Wilkes-Barre, June 15, 1871. This book loaned to me by Steuben Jenkins, Esq. I have carefully perused it, and come to the conclusion that JOHN FRANKLIN was the leading, con- trolling spirit of the Yankee settlers of Wyoming. The evidences spread out upon this, his diary, show that he was their general agent, adviser, representative-the man of all others upon whom they looked for counsel and advice. The diary should be carefully preserved in the archives of the Histor- ical Society of this place."
In his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth" Colonel Wright refers to Colonel Franklin as being "one of the great and acknowledged leaders of the Connecticut settlers-the man of probably the largest intellect and most persevering energy. *
* No one questioned his bravery; no one * doubted his integrity and honesty, while they all relied on his sound and well-balanced judgment. It is true that he differed with some of them as to the propriety of accepting the Confirming Law of 1787; but while there was this difference, the view that John Franklin took of the question was the one which ultimately prevailed. To it the opinions of statesmen, of jurists and of laymen were forced to give place."
Reference has already been made in these pages to the series of articles relative to the battle and massacre of Wyoming which Colonel Franklin wrote and published in the year 1828. In 1801 he wrote over the nom de plume "Plain Truth," and had published in the Luzerne County Federalist (a news- paper published in Wilkes-Barre), a series of five or six articles relating to the Pennsylvania-Connec- ticut controversy over the Wyoming lands. In 1804, and again in 1805, he published in the Federalist other "Plain Truth" articles on the same subject.
Mrs. George A. Perkins, in "Early Times on the Susquehanna" (published in 1870), writes of Colonel Franklin as follows: "Many in this town [Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania] still remember Col. John Franklin, a tall, patriarchal-looking man, bent with years and the cares and labors of early life; of a depressed though expressive countenance; liis face pitted with small-pox; rather negligent of his personal appearance-though always the gentleman-and always commanding the respect and attention of those who knew him. He frequently wore a long blue cloak, and on pub- lic occasions a three-cornered hat, and small clothes, and always carried a little cane, used particu- larly on funeral occasions to preserve order in the procession, of which he was marshal in those days. Sometimes he visited the schools, giving a word of advice, and always presiding at town-meetings."
The following item was published in Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, July 26, 1828. "At a cel- ebration of the 4th of July in Meansville [now Towanda], Bradford County, Pennsylvania, the De- claration of Independence was read by Colonel Franklin (now about eighty years of age) in a strong and impressive manner, after which he delivered, extemporarily, the following short address: 'Friends and Fellow Citizens, you see before you a frail remnant of one of those who have faced the British cannon, and heard the still more appalling yell of the painted savage at the horrible massacre of Wyoming. We gained for you the liberty you have enjoyed for more than half a century. In all human probability this is the last time our faltering tongue will ever tell to you, on an anniversary of free-
William Houck.
Asa Budd.
Ezekiel Brown.
John Gore.
Noah Pettibone.
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According to this pay-roll the pay of the Captain was forty dollars per month, with an allowance of 200 dollars for subsistence ; making a total of 240 dollars, or £72, " lawful money." The pay of each Lieu- tenant was " 263g dollars " per month, and 100 dollars for subsistence ; making a total of 1263g dollars, or £38, " lawful money." The pay of a Sergeant was ten dollars, and an allowance of ten dollars for subsist- ence, per month; making a total of twenty dollars, or £6. The pay of a Corporal was " 799 dollars " per month, and ten dollars for subsistence ; making a total of 1790 dollars, or £5 4s. The pay of a private soldier was "630 dollars," and an allowance of ten dollars for subsistence, per month ; making a total of 1690 dollars, or £5. The total amount of the pay-roll was 1,692 dollars, or £507 12sh., " lawful money."
Some time in 1781 Captain Franklin's company was incorporated into the Connecticut Militia, and becanie the First Company of the Fifth Regiment. In the Winter of 1781-'82 the company was consti- tuted as follows, as shown by a muster-roll found among the papers of Christopher Hurlbut of Hanover Township, and first published in 1887 in Johnson's "Historical Record," I : 211. The roll is as follows (the names of the privates being arranged in alphabetical form by the present writer) :
"Captain, John Franklin ; Lieutenants, Daniel Gore, Roasel Franklin, Natlian Kingsley ; Ensign, John Hageman ; Sergeants, Daniel Ingersoll, William Hibbard, William Jackson, John Hurlbut, Jr .; Corporats, Benjamin Bailey, Joseph Elliott, Henry Harding, John Fuller ; Drummer, William Houck ; Fifer, William Smith, Jr .; Privates, Asa Bennett, Isaac Bennett, Elisha Bennett, Oliver Bennett, Ishmael Bennett, Jr., David Brewster, David Brown, John Borlen, George Charles, Joseph Corey, Nathan Carey, John Carey, Benjamin Carey, Preserved Cooley, Frederick Frey, William Fish, Samuel Gore, John Gore, Avery Gore, James Grimes, Ebenezer Hebard, Reuben Harrington, Richard Inman, John Inman, Edward Inman, John Lanterman, Walter Lanterman, Josiah Pell, Thomas Reed, William Ross, John Spalding, Daniel Sherwood, Edward Spencer, Walter Spencer, James Sutton, Giles Slocum, Jabez Sill, Jr., Ephraim Tyler, Joseph Thomas, Nicodemus Traverse, Joseph Van Norman, Isaac Van Norman, Nathan Wade, Nathaniel Walker, Clement West, Leonard Westbrook, Derrick Westbrook, William Williams, Abel Yarington.
dom, the story of our sufferings. May the Almighty strengthen you with virtue to defend your in- heritance aganist foreign invasion, as well as against domestic intrigue and military usurpation.' " Colonel Franklin was married (2nd) at Wilkes-Barre, November 25, 1790, to Mrs. Abigail (Ful- ler) Bidlack, widow of Capt. James Bidlack, Jr., mentioned on page 1000. Colonel Franklin died at his home in what is now East Athens March 1, 1831, and his widow Abigail died there January 30, 1834, in the eighty-third year of her age.
The children of Colonel Franklin by his first marriage (there were none by his second) were as follows: (i) Billa, born in Plymouth, Wyoming Valley, November 3, 1774; settled first at Palmyra, New York, and later at St. Albans, New York, where he died, leaving a family of nine children. (ii) Amos, born in Plymouth June 4, 1776. Became a physician and settled at Cayuga, New York, where he died October 11, 1804, leaving a wife and one son, Henry. The latter died without issue. (iii) Keziah, born in Huntington Township April 11, 1778. She became the wife of Dr. Solomon Beebe and settled in Geneva, New York, where she died, leaving no children.
END OF VOLUME II.
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