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 22
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At a town-ineeting held at Fort Wyoming May 1, 1772, the follow- ing business was transacted. T
* See Craft's "History of Bradford County," page 365.
TASA STEVENS was born in Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut, in May, 1734, the son of Jonathan, who was the son of Simon and Mary ( Wilder) Stevens of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Asa Stevens was married October 1, 1761, to Sarah Adams (born January 17, 1738, in Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut), and settled in Canterbury. He came to Wyoming in December, 1771-living for a time in the block-house at Mill Creek-and was admitted a proprietor in Wilkes-Barre January 31, 1772, as noted on page 721. He drew Lot No. 7 in the town-plot, and the house which he subsequently erected thereon stood about where the Hotel Sterling now stands. In 1778 Asa Stevens was Lieutenant of the First, or Upper Wilkes-Barre, Company in the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and July 3, 1778, he took part in the battle of Wyoming and fell on that bloody field. His widow and children-the youngest child only two months old-made their way on foot to Canterbury, Connecticut, where they remained until peace was established, when they returned to Wilkes- Barre. Sarah (born in 1767 ; died August 14, 1823), daughter of Asa and Sarah ( Adams) Stevens, was married at Wilkes-Barre in 1786 to Anderson Dana, Jr. (born in Ashford, Connecticut, August 11, 1765), fourth child of Anderson and Susanna (Huntington) Dana. (See a sketch of the Dana family in a subsequent chapter.) Mary ( born in May, 1778, died Novem- ber 16, 1860), daughter of Asa and Sarah ( Adams) Stevens, was married at Braintrim, Pennsylvania, in October, 1801, to Eleazar Dana (born August 12, 1772), brother of Anderson Dana, Jr., mentioned above. Asa Stevens, Jr., was the eldest son of Lieut. Asa Stevens, He was residing at Wilkes-Barre in 1787 and '88. Jonathan Stevens, second son of Lieut. Asa Stevens, was born at Canterbury, Connecticut, in July, 1764. At the age of sixteen he enlisted in the army of the Revolution, and served therein for nearly three years. In 1786 or '87 he returned from Connecticut to Wilkes-Barre and resided here until 1795, when he removed to Braintrim, in what is now Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. There he resided until 1805, when he removed to Wyalusing. From 1812 until his death in June, 1850, his home was at Standing Stone in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. In 1800 and for a number of years subsequently he was a Justice of the Peace ; in 1811 he was elected a Representative to the Pennsylvania Legislature ; in 1814 and for many years thereafter he was Deputy and County Surveyor in and for Bradford County, and from May, 1818, till 1840, he was one of the Associate Judges of that county.
Į BENJAMIN CLARK was from Tolland County, Connecticut. He came to Wyoming Valley early in May, 1772, and on the 7th of the following July Thomas McClure of Kingston conveyed to said Clark-described as "now on said Susquehanna Purchase" -a half-right in the Purchase, in consideration of "thirty Spanish milled dollars." August 23, 1773, Samuel Pratt of Kingston conveyed a quarter-right in the Susquehanna Purchase to Benjamin Clark, then of Wilkes-Barre. Benjamin Clark was a soldier in one of the Wyoming Independent Companies (see Chapter XIII), and served till the end of the war. About 1784 he settled at what is now Frenchtown, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, but later removed to Ulster Township in the same county. At a subsequent period he was a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia.
¿ For a sketch of Jabez Sill and his family see a subsequent chapter.
1| For a sketch of the Fish family see a subsequent chapter.
{[ See "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre," page 1,065.
730
"Voted, That ye present Comtee proceed & fill up to ye number of 240 settlers, & admit none but such as are good wholesome inhabitants, &c.
"Voted, That those people that was at ye siege in July and August, 1771, & re- gained and took possession of our Lands at wyoming, shall be Intitled to ye New fishing seine, to be their own property to use & fish with, provided they will fitt it up, &c."
At a meeting "of proprietors and settlers legally warned and held in Wilksbury May 13, 1772," Captain Butler was chosen Moderator for the day and it was "Voted, That if any man shall turn his horse or oxe11 or any other of his creatures loose in any of ye inclosed fields, and it shall be proved against him, he shall pay a fine according to ye discre- tion of ye Comtee ."
Miner, in speaking of the condition of affairs and the happenings at Wyoming in the Spring and Summer of 1772, says that "it [1772] may be regarded as a transition year, full of undefined pleasure flowing from the newness and freshness of the scene-a comparative sense of security-the exultation from liaving come off victorious-the influx of old neighbors from Connecticut." The following two or three iteins, extracted from the original records of the settlement, will give the reader some idea of the transactions in the sale and locating of lands which took place here in the Spring and Summer of 1772. March 13th Asahel Buck of Dutchess County, New York, sold to John Depew of Cumber- land County, Pennsylvania, a half-right in the Susquehanna Purchase. Some weeks later John Depew sold, for "one-half barrel of flour worth £3," a piece of land "at a place called Wilkesbarre Fort, in ye Susque- hanna settlement." At "Wilksbury Fort, May 14, 1772," Benjamin Follett, "a committee-man," received from John Thompson of Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, "a note of hand for £12, 12sh.," which entitled said Thompson "to one right of land in ye Susquehanna Purchase." Between April and November, 1772, the "Committee of Settlers at Wilksberry" granted liberty to John Smith, Peregrine Gardner, John Depew, Augustin Hunt, and various other proprietors in The Sus- quehanna Company, "to locate and lay out tracts of land for themselves at various points outside the five settling towns-as part of their pro- prietary right." The bodies of land thus located were termed "pitches".
At an adjourned meeting of the settlers held at Wilkes-Barre May 20, 1772, it was "Voted, That ye proprietors belonging to ye town of Pittstown* have ye liberty to go into their own town & to fortify and keep in a body near together and guard by themselves until further orders." At a meeting of the Committee of Settlers held at Wilkes- Barré May 22, 1772, it was voted :
"That Roasel Franklin have that right in Wilksbarre drawn by Thomas Stephens. That James Bidlack have that right in Plymouth drawn by Nathaniel Drake. That Mr. McDowellt be voted into the Forty Town [Kingstown]. That, for the special services
* This is, apparently, the first time in the original records that this name is applied to the township referred to.
+JOHN MCDOWELL, or MCDOWEL, of Cherry Valley, Smithfield Township, Northampton County, Penn- sylvania, mentioned in the note on page 468, Vol. I. He was one of the few Pennsylvanians living near the Delaware River, north of the Blue Mountains, who in 1754 became share-holders in The Susquehanna Company. John McDowel-according to the inscription on his grave-stone, still standing-was born in Ireland May 20, 1714, the son of Robert and Jane McDowel, who were of Scottish ancestry. John Mc- Dowel immigrated to Pennsylvania. and, having settled in the northern part of Bucks, which later be- came Northampton, County, he was married about 1745 to Hannah, daughter of Nicholas and Hannah De Pui. John and Hannah ( De Pui) McDowel were the parents of the following-named children, and probably others : Robert McDowel ; Jane McDowel (third child), baptized May 20, 1750, and married about 1777 to Elijah Shoemaker, mentioned on page 468; Hannah McDowel, born April 15, 1752, in 1770 became the wife of John Shaw (born at New London, Connecticut, October 27, 1745, son of John and Eunice Shaw, and died in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1823) and died July 8, 1812, leaving a son-Peter Shaw-born August 2, 1788, and died May 21, 1866; "Elizabeth McDowel, who became the wife of Col. Jacob Stroud, the founder of Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and whose name is frequently mentioned hereinafter. John McDowel was one of the original proprietors of the township of Capouse, later called Providence. He died at his home in Northampton County September 7, 1779.
731
done this Company by Colonel Dyer, agreed that his son, Thomas Dyer,* shall have a right in the Forty, if he has a man on it by the first day of August next. That the rights that are sold in the Six-mile Townshipt or Capouset shall be sold at sixty dollars each, and bonds taken."
On the same day that the aforementioned meeting was held at Wilkes-Barré the Moravian diarist at the Indian town of Friedenshütten (see page 443) made the following entry in the journal of the missions :
"Three white men from Wyoming are about, buying up horses and cattle and pay- ing the Indians for them in lead coin. We despatched a runner to Schechschiquanink !! with words of caution."
In the private account-book, or journal, of Zebulon Butler for the month of May, 1772, we find the following charges entered against "The Susquehannah Proprietors": "To { cwt. of flour, 2 lbs. of loaf sugar and 8} lbs. of meat for Mr. Johnson ; { cwt. of bread and flour for the Nanti- coke King, and shoeing his horse, 8sh. 6d." The "Nanticoke King" referred to in the foregoing extract was the chief of the Nanticoke Indians who had formerly dwelt in Hanover Township (see pages 238 and 239, Vol. I), but were then living at Otsiningo, or Chenango, near the present city of Binghamton, New York. The chief, with a small retinue, was on his way to Philadelphia when his wants were supplied by Captain Butler at Wilkes-Barre in May, 1772. The "Mr. Johnson" mentioned above was the Rev. Jacob Johnson, A. M., referred to on pages 82 and 449, Vol. I. When Captain Butler was in New London County in April, 1772, as previously related, he saw the Rev. Mr. Johnson and prevailed upon him to make a journey from Groton to Wilkes-Barré for the pur- pose of looking over the ground here with a view of locating as the people's pastor-the settlement being then without a minister of the gospel. Mr. Johnson arrived here about the middle of May, [ and after a sojourn of several weeks-during which he preached a number of times to the people at Fort Wyoming and the Mill Creek block-house-he re- turned to Groton.
About the time of Mr. Johnson's departure from Wilkes-Barre there arrived here from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a "Stockbridge Indian named Jehoiakim Moh-how-wo-weet, accompanied by his wife and family" and bearing from the Hon. Timothy Woodbridge (see page 256) a letter of recommendation, which set forth that these Indians were "desirous of settling on the Susquehanna." "I hope," wrote Judge Woodbridge, "they will behave well and be kind to the English and seek to serve their interest."
Early in May, 1772, Capt. Obadiah Gore, Sr., was sent to Connecti- cut by the settlers at Wyoming bearing a power of attorney from them- selves to Col. Elizur Talcott, authorizing and empowering him to appear before the General Assembly of Connecticut at its approaching session and urge that the Wyoming region be erected into a county of Connecti- cut and provided with officers for its management and government .** Under date of Wednesday, May 27, 1772, Captain Gore wrote from Bol- ton, Connecticut, to Zebulon Butler at Wilkes-Barré as follows :
"I came to Hartford last Monday, and on Tuesday * * delivered the power of attorney to Colonel Talcott. *
* Have conversed with a number of members of the House, who are of the opinion that nothing will be done this Court. The Assembly has
* Maj. THOMAS DYER, mentioned on page 394, Vol. I.
+ Later called Huntington Township. Į Later called Providence Township.
¿ See "Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society," I : 203.
¡ Sheshequin. See note on page 443, Vol. I.
[ See the first paragraph of the note on page 663. ** See page 725.
732
sent to Great Britain and has had no answer yet. They say it would be a very extra- ordinary step to make a county before they have had an answer from England. Captain Trumbull* brings favorable news from Philadelphia, which I understand is sent to you by Colonel Dyer. There has been a motion made to have one Justice of the Peace, or more, whose power is to extend throughout the Government [of Connecticut]. If so, Major Parsonst is willing, if commissioned, to go to Susquehanna to administer law."
Among the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is an original "List of Settlers at Susquehanna in May, 1772." It was prepared by Capt. Zebulon Butler, Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, Capt. Stephen Fuller and Obadiah Gore, Jr., of the Committee of Settlers, and is in the handwriting of Captain Butler. There are 215 names in. the list, which reads as follows :
"Atherton, James
Denison, Nathan
Hibbard, Ebenezer
Atherton, Asel
Dean, Jonathan
Hibbard, Wm.
Abbot, John
Durel, Stephen
Harding, Stephen
Abbot, Philip
Depew, John
Harvey, Benj .- Jr.
Adams, Isaac-April 25.
Drake, Shubael-2d.
Harris, Elijah
Adams, Noah
Downing, Jonathan-3d.
Harris, Peter-Jr.
Allen, Daniel
Dana, Anderson-3d.
Hopkins, Francis
Allen, Isaac-April 27.
Dixon, Robert
Hopkins, William
Atherton, James-Jr.
Dorrance, John
Holmes, Sam'l
Blanchard, Jeremiah
Davidson, Douglass-14th -Home 31st for 3 weeks. Harding, Lemuel-5th.
Brown, James
Davidson, Wm .- 14th.
Hickman, Andrew
Bates, Capt. Caleb-14th.
Eveland, Fred'k
Hopkins, Capt. Robert-6th.
Bennet, Joshua-9th.
Ewing, John-3d.
Harvey, Benja -7th
Brockway, Richard
Fish, Elisha
Harris, Peter-4th
Bennet, Isaac
Farnam, Levi -Sold out, Sept. '72.
Jones, Crocker-Came from gaol July 26.2
Bennet, Solomon
Fuller, Capt. Stephen
Jordan, Stephen
Buck, Lieut. Wm.
Fuller, Stephen-Jr.
Jearum, Zerubabel
Butler, Capt. Zebulon
Jenkins, John -- Jr.
Buck, Aholiab
Jenkins, Stephen
Buck, Philip
Follet, Benj .- Jr.
Jameson, John-8th.
Baldwin, Gideon -To be absent 3 wks.
Baker, John
Follet, Capt. Benj.
Johnson, Edward-24th.
Baker, Gideon
Franklin, John-20th.
Kentner, George
Brokaw, John-Home 14th.
Franklin, Roasel-20th.
Lester, Edward
Bidlack, James
Gardner, Simeon-3d.
Lyon, Asa-6th
Brown, David
Gardner, Stephen-3d.
Munson, Obadiah-On Enos Yale's Right May 25.
Barney, Henry
Gore, Silas
Manvel, Nicholas
Belding, Ezra-2d.
Gore, Asa
Munger, Daniel
Binghanı, Gideon-3d.
Gallup, Joseph
McClure, Thos
Backus, Stephen
Gaylord, Joseplı
Marvin, Seth
Clark, Martin-25th. Out June 2 for 10 days.
Gaylord, Giles-4th.
Marvin, Matthew-20th.
Carey, Eleazar
Goss, Philip
Marvin, Capt. David-20tl1.
Cary, Barnabas -Out 30th for 22 days. Cary. John
Gaylord, Justice
Marvin, David-Jr .- 20th.
Green, James
McCoy, Ephraini
Crooker, Jos. Clark, Benj .- 4th.
Gore, Obadiah-Jr.
Nisbitt, Samuel
Out June 2 for 10 days.
Grimes, Willianı-22d.
North, Jolın
Churchill, Jonathan
Gore, Daniel-24th.
Cole, Benj .- Home 31st.
Gardner, Stephen -- Jr .-- 24th.
Curtis, Fred'k
Crandel, Eben! -Out 30th for 3 weeks.
Corey, Jenks
Harding, Stephen-Jr.
Peirce, Abel
Carr, Daniel
Peirce, Maj. Ezekiel
Cady, Simeon-12th.
Hotchkiss, Sanı'1 Hibbard, Cyprian
Peirce, Timothy
David, Jolın
Hopson, Jordan
Peirce, Phinehas
* Capt. JOSEPH TRUMBULL, who had been appointed by The Susquehanna Company to wait on Gov- ernor Penn of Pennsylvania. See page 725.
+ SAMUEL H. PARSONS, mentioned on page 657.
¿ The dates affixed to a number of the names indicate-except where otherwise stated-when the per- sons in question arrived at Wyoming. ¿ See page 738.
-
-Out 25th for 3 weeks.
Brokaw, Abraham
Farnam, Ebenezer -26th out for 3 wks.
Fish, Joseph
Johnson, Hendrick-12th.
Frazier, John
Johnson, Turner -- 12th.
Beech, Amos
Gardner, Peregreen
Goss, David
Matthews, Peter-6tl1.
Goss, Nathaniel
McDonnor, John-22d.
Gore, Capt. Obadiah
Nisbitt, James
Nash, Phineas-25th, 0,11 Messenger's Right
Osburn, Sam'1
Hopkins, Deacon Timothy Hopkins, James Hedsall, Jamies
Osburn, John
Perkins, Jolın-25th.
Bennet, Thomas
733
Porter, Thos Pearce, Timothy-Jr. Phillips, Francis Post, Stephen-6th.
Spencer, Robert Spaulding, Oliver* Spaulding, Andrew Smith, Abel
Stevens, Asa
White, Willian1
Weeks, Jonathan
Whittelsey, Asaph
Seeley. Michael-20th.
West, Richard
Stark, Christopher-5th.
West, Eleazar
Stephens, John
Willcox, Elisha
Smith, Chas -6th.
Willcox, Eason
Reynolds, Christopher
Staples, John-6th.
Webb, Reuben
Reynolds, William-6th.
Roberson, Ashbel-7th.
Ross, Daniel-12th.
Sprague, Dr. Joseph-14th. Tuttle, Joshua
Walworth, Thos -6th.
Weeks, Thos -10th
Stoddard, Thomas-24th. Stewart, Capt. Lazarus-22d. Terry, Parshall Smith, John-Esq. Tiffany, Nathan-D. May 9. Wheeler, Ephraim
Stewart, Lazarus-Jr .- 22d.
Terry, Parshall-Jr.
-11th. Home 14th.
Stewart, William
Taylor, Matthew
Weeks, Jesse-14th.
Stewart, James-22d.
Tripp, Isaac-Esq .- 27th.
Williams, John-Jr.
Smith, Timothy
Thomson, John-12th.
-27th to be out 3 weeks.
Sawyer, John
Underwood, Isaac
Yale, Enos Young, Willianı"
Stowell, Jonathan
Utter, Moses-11th.
Vincent, Cornelius-20th. Verner, Titman
-D. D. July 4th.
Wilder, Aaron
Parke, William-8th.
Slater, Sam'l St. John, Daniel
Parke, William-Jr .- 12th. Pettebone, Noah-Jr. Pettebone, Noah-20th. Pensil, John Roberts, Elias Read, Robert
Roberson, Thomas-22d.
Stubbs, Sam'1-8th.
Williams, John
Strickling, Ebenezer -11th. Home 14th.
White, John Warner, William-6th.
Weeks, Barthol -10th
At a meeting of "proprietors and settlers legally warned and held at Fort Wilksbarre June 1, 1772, Captain Butler was chosen Moderator for ye work of ye day. Voted, That those proprietors and settlers that live 011 ye West side the River shall do all the duties on that side ye river ; and all those that live on ye East side of ye river shall do ye duties on ye East side of ye River-as guarding and scouting at present, &c."
Numerous references are made in the preceding pages to the Mora- vian Indian towns Friedenshütten (near the site of which the modern vil- lage of Wyalusing is located) and Schechschiquanink, or Sheshequin (on the site of which the village of Ulster now stands), both being within the bounds of the Susquehanna Purchase and within the present limits of Bradford County, Pennsylvania. In September, 1771, David Zeis- berger (see page 220, Vol. I) came from the Ohio to Friedenshütten and brought the Indians there and at Sheshequin an invitation to settle in the Ohio region. This was accepted by these Christian Indians, who had been experiencing considerable uneasiness and uncertainty, with re- spect to their tenure of the lands they occupied, ever since the treaty at Fort Stanwix and the sale by the chiefs of the Six Nations to the Pro- prietaries of Pennsylvania of the territory lying along the North Branch of the Susquehanna. Early in June, 1772, preparations were made by the missionaries and the Indians at Friedenshütten and Sheshequin for an exodus to the Ohio, and Thursday, June 11th, was fixed upon as the day of departure. They went in two parties-one, consisting of fifty-four Indians led by Bishop John Ettwein, going overland ; and the other, consisting of 140 Indians led by missionary John Rothe, going down the Susquehanna in canoes. The chapel and other buildings at Friedens- hütten were boarded and nailed up, and left in charge of Job Chillaway (previously mentioned) and his wife. The bell was taken down from the turret of the chapel and placed in the bow of one of the canoes, and at two o'clock in the afternoon of June 11th Jolin Rothe and his wife set out in their canoe, followed by thirty other canoes containing the 140 Indians and their belongings. The voyagers were divided in five divis-
* On page 1,313 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre" the following receipt is recorded : " W'ilksbarry, in Connecticutt June 30th, 1772. Then received of OLIVER SPAULDING. late of Woodberry, now at Wilks- barry, 42 dollars for one Right. * * [Signed] "JOHN JENKINS, Comtee."
734
ions, each of which was placed in charge of a captain. The first canoe of the fleet carried the bell, which was tolled until the boats had rounded the mountain a mile and a-half below the deserted village. In his journal of this voyage John Rothe wrote :
"We advanced the first day but eight miles, by reason of a heavy rain. During the 12th, because of the high wind, the canoes rocked roughly in the water. On the 13th [Saturday] the wind was still contrary, causing high waves in the river. At noon we passed Lechawachnek .* As we passed the Fort we saw it lined with spectators, and a man playing on a violin. We encamped on the stony beach of the river, and were dis- turbed at night by some drunken fellows. On Sunday the 14th, after we had passed the [Nanticoke] falls below Wyomik, I held preaching. We then paddled on, and on the 15th reached Nescopeck."
The fort referred to by Rothe was undoubtedly Fort Wyoming at Wilkes-Barré, and not the block-house at Mill Creek. The latter struc- ture was situated some distance back from the wooded bank of the river, while the former stood on the bank, near its edge, in full and unob- structed view from the river.
At Philadelphia, under date of June 22, 1772, Gov. Richard Penn of Pennsylvania issued a proclamation against the "Connecticut in- truders." It was printed by D. Hill in the form of a broadside, and was distributed throughout the settled parts of the counties of Northampton and Northumberland. An original copy of this broadside is now in the possession of Mr. James Terry of New Haven, Connecticut (mentioned on page 30, Vol. I), and it reads, in part, as follows :
"WHEREAS, I have received information that the Connecticut intruders-who have so often disturbed the peace of this Government-not content with having, in the most violent and hostile manner, dispossessed a number of people lawfully settled at Wyoming under the Honorable Proprietaries of this Province, have lately extended their unlawful possessions to the lands at Shohola and Lechawaxin, t and other parts within this Province, where they are now building forts and places of defence and making warlike preparations to support themselves in their possessions unlawfully obtained ;
"AND WHEREAS, divers people belonging to the said Colony have also at different times endeavored to persuade and inveigle many of the inhabitants of this and the neigh- boring Provinces to confederate and join with them in such their illegal designs, and to assist in settling and holding the said lands by a strong hand ;
"WHEREFORE, as well to assert the just rights of the Proprietaries of the said lands, as to warn and prevent any of the inhabitants of this Province from being unwarily drawn in to join the said intruders in prosecuting their illegal settlements, I have judged it pro- per, by and with the advice of the Council, to issue this Proclamation, hereby strictly en- joining and requiring, in His Majesty's name, all and every person and persons already settled or residing on the said lands at Wyoming, Shoholy and Lechawaxin, and other parts of the Susquehanna and Delaware, without the license of the Proprietaries, or authority of this Government, immediately to evacuate their settlements and to depart and remove themselves off and from the said lands without delay. And I do hereby for- bid all His Majesty's subjects, of this or any other Province or Colony, on any pretence whatsoever, to intrude upon, settle or possess any of the aforesaid lands, or any other lands within the limits of this Province, without the express permission of the Proprie- taries or this Government, as they will answer the contrary at their peril, and on pain of being prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the Law." * * *
In The Connecticut Courant, at Hartford, June 23, 1772, and in other newspapers about that time, the following advertisement was printed :
"SUSQUEHANNAH."
"WHEREAS it is reported in several Provinces on the Continent, that the New Eng- land company of settlers at Wyoming, on Susquehannalı River, receive & harbour thieves, robbers and money-makers, ¿ that have made their escape from Justice ; also servants that have run away from their masters-These are therefore to certify all whom it may con- cern, that the above reports are false, but on the contrary that we will give our assistance
* The mouth of Lackawanna River.
+ Within the limits of the present Pike County, Pennsylvania. See the "Map of a Part of Pennsyl- vania," farther on in this chapter.
# See page 731, paragraph 3.
735
in helping to stop, secure and return all such offenders, that they may be brought to justice, whenever we have knowledge of them, either by advertisement or otherwise. "June 11, 1772. [Signed]
"ZEBULON BUTLER, "EZEKIEL PEIRCE, "STEPHEN FULLER,
"OBADIAH GORE, JR., J
Committee of Settlers at Wyoming."
The following is a copy of the original minutes* (in the handwriting of Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, Clerk) of a town-meeting held at Fort Wyoming.
"Att a meeting of the Propriators and setlers Legally warned and Held In wilks- barry June 29th 1772-
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