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 66
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The Assembly directed that the " Committee of Pay Table " should examine and adjust the account contained in the foregoing memorial.
Relative to some of the Tories who were captured by the Westmore- land authorities either at Lackaway or up the Susquehanna, as afore- inentioned, the following action was taken by the General Assembly in February, 1778 .*
"Resolved by this Assembly, That Richmond Berry, Philip Buck, Thomas Silk, Edward Hicks, Edward Hicks, Jr., John Young, Jacob Bowman, Adam Bownian, Jr., Jacob Brenner, John Henry Short, Henry Hover, John Hover, Nicholas Phillips, Nicholas Phillips, Jr., John Phillips, Jacob Anguish, George Kentner and Frederick Frank, who were lately taken in arms against the inhabitants of the United States by the militia of Westmoreland and sent to the Deputy Commissary General of Prisoners in this State, as prisoners, ought to be received by said Commissary and treated as prisoners-of- war. Provided, That nothing in this Resolve shall be understood to excuse them or any of them from any treasonable or other offences against the laws of any particular State, or from being dealt with accordingly."
Referring to the names of Butler's Rangers printed on page 944, it will be seen that of the abovenamed prisoners Philip Buck, Edward Hicks, John Young, Adam Bowman, Jacob Bowman, Henry Hover, Nicholas Phillips and Jacob Anguish were "Rangers."
At a meeting of the Connecticut Council of Safety, held at Leba- non, December 1, 1777, Elisha Scovell, of Exeter in Westmoreland, and Lieutenant of the 7th Company, 24th Regiment, was present, and received permission "to transport, from any part of the State, a four- horse load of salt, twenty yards of plain cloth, and twenty yards of flan- nel to Westmoreland, for the use of the inhabitants there."
At a " legally-warned " town-meeting of the freemen of Westmore- land held at Wilkes-Barré, December 9, 1777, Judge John Jenkins was " chosen Moderator for ye work of ye day." Various officers, to serve the town for the ensuing year, were then elected. Among them were the following : Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, Town Clerk ; Capt. William Wor- den, Ensign Daniel Downing, Lieut. Daniel Gore, Capt. Nathaniel Lan- don, Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard, Lieut. Aaron Gaylord, Silas Park, Isaac Tripp, Capt. Stephen Harding and Capt. John Franklin, Fence View- ers. The meeting was then adjourned to December 30th.
Nine days later (Thursday, December 18) a day of public thanks- giving was observed throughout the United States, in pursuance of a resolution adopted by Congress on November 1st recommending the Governors of the several States to formally appoint such a day. Gover-
* See "Records of the State of Connecticut," I : 539.
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nor Trumbull having issued a proclamation to the people of Connecti- cut, the day named was duly observed in Westmoreland.
On December 30th the town-meeting adjourned from December 9th was held at Wilkes-Barre, with Judge Jenkins as Moderator. Among the various matters of business transacted was the passing of a vote "to grant one penny on the pound as an addition to the two penny tax granted August 6th." It was also voted to loan the county of West- moreland £40. Then the following was passed : "Voted by this Town, That ye Committee of Inspection be empowered to supply the Sogers' wives and the Sogers' widows, and their families, with the necessaries of life."
The General Assembly of Connecticut convened at Hartford Jan- uary 8, 1778, and Isaac Tripp, Esq., was present as the only Represent- ative from the town of Westmoreland. Early in the session the fol- lowing resolution was adopted :
"Whereas it is recommended by Congress to cause subscriptions to be opened in each town for supplies for the war, on loan-office certificates, Resolved, That * * ISAAC TRIPP in Westmoreland * * be and is hereby appointed, impowered and directed to open [receive ?] subscriptions."
James Bidlack, Jr., was appointed and commissioned Captain of the 1st (or Lower Wilkes-Barre) Company, of the 24th Regiment, in the room of John Garrett, promoted Major of the regiment in October, 1777.
At this session a report was made to and accepted by the Assembly relative to the " Polls and Rateable Estates and Assessments of West- moreland." The "sum total of the lists" amounted to £20,322 and 17sh., which was £3,326 and 4sh. greater than the total of the assess- ment lists for 1776. (See page 907.) These original lists for 1778 are now in existence *. They contain 515 names, including those of many of the men who are known to have been absent from Westmoreland at
* Copies of them are printed in "Proceedings and Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," V : 231-241. The names contained in the lists are as follows:
WILKES-BARRÉ DISTRICT. Elisba Fisb,
Wm. Hooker Smith, Aholiab Buck,
Jonathan Fitcb,
John Smith, William Buck,
Christopher Avery,
John Foster,
Isaac Smith,
Asahel Buck,
William Avery,
Obadiah Gore, Jr.,
Jonathan Slocum,
Asa Brown,
Richardson Avery,
Daniel Gore,
Asa Stevens,
Thomas Bennet,
Jonathan Avery,
Cornelius Gale,
Josiab Stanburrough,
William Baker,
Jobn Ahbott,
James Green,
Jabez Sill,
Richard Brockway,
Benjamin Bailey,
John Garrett,
Joseph Staples,
David Bixby,
Col. Zebulon Butler,
Rezin Geer,
John Staples,
Robert Campbell,
Thomas Brown, John Brown,
Zeruiah Hazen,
Samuel Staples,
Amaziah Cleveland,
Isaac Bennet,
Jobn Hollenback,
John Truesdale,
Elias Church,
Asa Bennet,
Samuel Hutchinson,
Gamaliel Truesdale,
John Constock,
Gideon Baldwin,
Job Tripp,
Elisha Blackman,
Joseph Hubbard,
Justus Worden,
Peleg Comstock, Elnathan Cary, William Crooks, George Dorrance,
William Cooper, Joseph Crooker, Samuel Colc,
Azariah Ketcham,
Peter Wheeler,
Joseph_Disberry,
Eleazar Carey, Nathan Carey,
Thaddeus Williams,
Isaac Downing,
Dr. Jarib Dyer,
Thomas McClure,
David Whitney,
Col. Nathan Denison,
Capt. Rohert Durkee, Jabez Darling, David Darling, Anderson Dana, William Dorton,
Thomas Porter,
Flavius Waterman,
William Warner,
Thomas Foxen, Eliphalet Follett,
Daniel Downing,
David Reynolds,
KINGSTON DISTRICT.
Peter Finch, Isaac Finch, Daniel Finch, Stephen Fuller, Jr.,
William Dunn, Jr., Thomas Dunn, Dr. Shadrack Derby,
Isaac Rhodes, Darius Spafford, Toseph Shaw, Benjamin Shaw,
James Atherton, Jr.,
Gabriel Ferguson,
Isaac Baldwin,
William Gallup,
Benjamin Budd,
Hallet Gallup,
Stephen Fuller,
John Bass,
Lemuel Gustin,
Jabez Fish,
Henry Bush,
Samuel Gordon,
George Cooper,
John Hageman,
Jonathan Weeks,
Enoch Judd,
Jonatban Weeks, Jr.,
John Dorrance,
Capt. William Judd,
Philip Weeks,
Henry Decker,
Benjamin Kelly, Solomon Lee,
John Williams,
Amos Draper,
William Parker,
James Wigton,
James Divine, Esther Follett,
Daniel Rosecrans, Ann Ross,
Elihu Waters.
William Rowley,
Asahel Atherton,
James Atherton,
John C. Fox,
Henry Elliot, Joseph Elliot, John Elliot,
William Stark, Aaron Stark, Elizabeth Stark, Josiah Smith,
John White,
Nathan Bullock,
John Hyde,
James Staples,
Samuel Cummings,
Darius Hazen,
Samuel Hutchinson, Jr.,
1
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KINGSTON DISTRICT (Concluded). Charles Gillett, Asa Gore, Obadiah Gore, Silas Gore, Peter Harris, Elijah Harris, Lebbeus Hammond, William Hammond, John Hammond,
Jonathan Hunlock, Andrew Herrega, George Herrega,
Jenks Corey,
Christopher Courtright,
Elisha Courtright,
William Hurlbut,
Jacob Holdrin,
Zachariah Hartsouf, Benjamin Harvey, Silas Harvey,
Samuel Jackson, Samuel Jackson, Jr.,
Thomas Kitchen,
Benjamin Kilbourn,
Stephen Lee, Zebulon Lee,
Andrew Freeman, James Forsythe,
John Franklin,
Daniel Ingersoll,
Eldad Kellogg,
Josiah Kellogg,
Nathaniel Landon,
Peter Lowe,
Jesse Lee,
James Legget,
Robert McIntire,
Winchester Matthewson, Ezekiel Peirce,
Timothy Peirce,
John Peirce,
Noah Pettebone, Tohn Perkins,
Tonathan Otis,
Peter Pugh,
Tohn Jacobs,
Robert Jameson, John Jameson,
Nathaniel Williams,
William Williams, Whittaker, Esq.,
Eleazar West, Amy Wilcox, Justus Worden.
EXETER DISTRICT.
Joseph Baker,
Nathan Bradley,
Manasseh Cady, John Gardner,
Stephen Gardner,
Capt. Stephen Harding,
Ichabod Tuttle,
Isaac Underwood,
Isaac Van Orman,
Stephen Whiton, Ozias Yale.
PLYMOUTH DISTRICT.
Benedict Satterlee,
Tohn Jenkins, Esq.,
Benjamin Jones,
James Linn,
Mary Baker,
James Bidlack,
Joshua Bennet,
Nathan Beach,
Peter Stevens,
Adam White,
Robert Young.
David Smith,
John David Shoemaker,
PITTSTON DISTRICT.
Isaac Adams,
Noah Adams,
Samuel Tozer,
Tohn Coleman,
Elihu Williams, Jr.,
Rufus Williams,
Daniel Allen,
Christopher Wintermute,
John Wintermute,
Philip Wintermute.
Increase Billings,
Silas Benedict, William Benedict,
James Bagley,
Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard, Roger Clark,
Isaac Baldwin,
Uriah Chapman, Esq.,
Tames Dye,
Tasper Edwards,
Capt. Eliab Farnam,
David Gates, Nathaniel Gates,
Jonathan Haskell,
Jacob Kimball, Abel Kimball, Walter Kimball,
John Franklin, Jr., Robert Frazer,
Aaron Gaylord,
Tames Brink,
Isaac Bennet, Jr.,
Teremiah Bickford,
Henry Burney,
Aaron Bowen, Stoddard Bowen,
Abraham Harding,
Capt. Zebulon Parrish,
Philip Goss, Jr.,
Solomon Goss,
Nathaniel Goss, David Goss, John Heath, Thomas Heath, James Hopkins, Timothy Hopkins,
Alexander Campbell,
Isaac Campbell, Kingsley Comstock, Jonathan Corey,
Timothy Keyes, Toseph Leonard, Tames Lewis, Solomon Lee,
Samuel Miller, James Moore, James Moore, Jr., Ebenezer Marcy, Zebulon Marcy, Alexander Mackey, Francis Phillips, Timothy Pcarce, Justus Pickett, Thomas Pickett, John Ryan, Elijah Silsby, Zachariah Squire, William Shay, John Scott,
Joseph Sprague, Samuel Slater,
Samuel Slater, Jr., Daniel St. John, David Sanford, Ephraim Sanford,
John Stafford, Aaron Stark, William Stark, Isaac Tripp, Esq., Tob Tripp, Tohn Taylor, Preserved Taylor,
Thomas Taylor,
Timothy Rose,
Noah Pettebone, Jr.,
Elisha Parker,
Joshua Stevens,
Tames Parker,
William Jameson,
George Liquors,
Edward Lester,
Ebenezer Lane,
Conrad Lines,
William Searle,
Thomas Stoddart,
Tames Roberts,
Mary Ransom Swift,
James Roberts, 2d,
Lockwood Smith, Elijah Shoemaker,
Daniel Roberts,
Mary Roberts,
Parshall Terry, Uriah Terry,
Nathaniel Terry,
Benjamin Reed,
Capt. Lazarus Stewart,
Lazarus Stewart, Jr.,
Stephen Harding, Jr.,
Lemuel Harding, Peter Harris, Jr.,
Tames Hadsall,
Tustus Jones,
Thomas Joslin,
Samuel Andrews, Samuel Ayres,
Oliver Smith,
Obadiah Scott,
Solomon Squire,
Tacob Sly,
John Walker,
James Newton, Elisha Scovell,
Bull,
Benjamin Cole,
James Cole,
Matthias Van Loon,
John Van Why,
Joshua Coleman,
Elihu Williams,
David Allen,
Richard West,
Jesse Coleman,
Jeremiah Coleman,
Jeremiah Coleman, Jr., John Caldwell, William Churchill,
Asaph Whittlesey,
Nathan Wade,
John Wilson,
Jesse Washburn.
HANOVER DISTRICT.
Prince Alden,
Robert Alexander,
Caleb Bates, Esq.,
William Armstrong,
Peleg Burritt,
Gideon Burritt,
Barnabas Carey,
Stephen Burritt,
Daman Beef, John Bony, Isaac Booth,
Gideon Booth,
Zadock Killam, Moses Killam,
Tephthah Killam,
Ephraim Killam,
John Killanı,
Tohn Pellet, Jr., William Pellet, Amos Park, Silas Park, Esq.,
Toel Strong, Flijah Witter, Enos Woodward, Enos Woodward, Jr.
Oliver Hammond, Daniel Hewitt, Dethick Hewitt, Christopher Hurlbut,
William Landon, Rufus Lawrence, David Lindsey,
Thomas Leavenworth,
Gad Marshall,
Nicholas Manvil,
David Marvin,
Samuel Marvin,
Uriah Marvin,
Ephraim McCoy,
Phineas Nash,
James Nesbitt,
William Nelson,
Daniel Owen,
Elijah Inman,
David Inman,
Joseph Thomas, John White,
William Stephens,
Jedidiah Stevens,
Luke Swetland,
Giles Permon,
Tunia Preston,
Nehemiah Parks,
Peren Ross,
Hezekiah Roberts,
James Lasley, George Mack, Jacob Morris,
William McKerachan,
Benjamin Potts, Tosiah Pell,
Edward Spencer, James Spencer,
Caleb Spencer,
Levi Spencer,
Simon Spalding,
William Smith, Jr.,
William Smith,
James Stevenson,
Tohn Sharar,
Tohn Tillbury,
Taphet Utley,
Samuel Morgan, William Martin,
Thomas Sawyer,
Daniel Trask,
Samuel Williams,
William White,
Thomas Angel,
LACKAWAY DISTRICT.
Tohn Ainsley, Hezekiah Bingham,
Jonathan Churchill, Thomas Carscadden, Richard Dodson, Thomas Dodson, James Dodson,
Tohn Dodson,
Gilbert Denton, Joseph Dewey, Frederick Eveland, Hugh Foresman, Jehu Fish, Tonathan Forsythe,
Joseph Gaylord,
Justus Gaylord, Goodwin,
Philip Goss,
Tames Cook, James Corkindale, John Commer,
Thomas Harding, Timothy Howe, Eton Jones. Richard Jones,
John Carlisle, James Cochran, Charles Carrell, William Casson, Nathaniel Davenport,
Samuel Davenport, Samuel Ensign, John Ewing, Isaac Fitchett,
Roasel Franklin,
Elias Green,
Nathaniel Howard,
Cyprian Hibbard,
William Hibbard, Ebenezer Hebard,
Titus Hinman, Nathan Howell, John Hutchins, Israel Inman,
Richard Inman,
Elijah Inman, Jr.,
Ebenezer Skinner, Constant Searle,
Josiah Rogers, Jonah Rogers,
William Randall,
Lebbeus Tubbs,
David Reynolds,
William Reynolds,
Elisha Richards, Samuel Ransom,
William Stewart,
Daniel Sherwood,
Tonathan Center,
Tames Sutton, Richard Tozer,
Isaac Allen,
Rufus Baldwin,
James Brown, Elihu Carey,
Joseph Carey, Daniel Cash, John Carr, George Cooper,
Thomas Christy, Isaac Finch, Isaiah Halstead, Richard Halstead, Levi Hicks,
953
that time serving as soldiers in the Continental army. On the other hand, however, the names of many soldiers who were property owners and heads of families are not to be found ; and the names of all the "Up the River" taxables which appear in the lists of 1776 and 1777 are, with only two or three exceptions, missing. As in the former lists, the names of the Reverends Jacob Johnson and Noah Wadhanis, James Bidlack, Jr., and some others are missing. In the circumstances it may be reasonably stated that at the beginning of 1778 the inhabitants of Westmoreland, excluding those absent in the Continental army, num- bered at least 3,100 souls.
The township of Wilkes-Barré contained ninety-nine taxables, or a population of about 600, in 1778. From the best information at present obtainable, it would seem that these inhabitants lived chiefly in that part of the township which is now the township of Plains, and in that part lying between the present Northampton Street and the Wilkes- Barré-Hanover boundary-line. From the minutes of the commissioners under the Compromise Law of 1799 (see page 25, Vol. I) the present writer has compiled the following list of the owners of the various lots in the town-plot of Wilkes-Barre (see page 655) in the Spring of 1778- which list is now printed for the first time. Upon a number of these lots no structures of any sort had yet been erected.
OWNERS OF LOTS IN THE TOWN-PLOT (SECOND DIVISION ) OF WILKES-BARRE IN 1778.
1. Jabez Sill.
18. Solomon Johnson. 34. James Abbott.
2. Christopher Avery.
19. John Hollenback. 35. Rev. Jacob Jolinson.
3. Col. Zebulon Butler.
20. Jonathan Fitch. 36. Col. Zebulon Butler.
4. Col. John Durkee.
21.
Amasa Allen. 37. Joseph Heath.
5. Obadiah Gore, Jr.
22. John Garrett. 38. Jonathan Slocum.
6. Obadiah Gore, Jr.
23. Estate of Jeremiah Ross. 39. Abraham Westbrook.
7. Asa Stevens. 24. William McKerachan. 40. Benjamin Bailey.
8. Harris Colt. 25. John Stevens. 41. Christopher Avery.
9. Rev. Jacob Johnson1. 26. Elihu Waters. 42. Jabez Fish.
10. Rev. Jacob Johnson.
27. Col. Zebulon Butler. 43. William Warner.
11. Obadiah Gore, Jr.
28. Benjamin Clark.
44. Thomas Park.
12. Rev. Jacob Johnson.
29. John Hyde. 45. Public Grave-yard.
13. James Wigton.
46. Caleb Spencer.
Samuel Cole.
31. Dr. Jarib Dyer.
48. Nathan Wade.
15. John Williams.
. Elizabeth Judd. 49. Benjamin Wheeler.
16. Stephen Fuller.
32.
Eli Judd.
50. Jonathan Slocum.
17. Abigail (Fuller) Bidlack. 33. Benjamin Bailey.
Wilkes-Barré Island. Rev. Jacob Johnson.
14. § Solomon Cole.
30. James Stark. Dr. Shadrack Derby. 47. Jonathan Haskell.
CHAPTER XV.
THE BATTLE OF WYOMING-WILKES-BARRE ALMOST WHOLLY DE- STROYED BY "BUTLER'S RANGERS" AND INDIANS-THE VALLEY OF WYOMING DESOLATED AND DESERTED-CAPT. SIMON SPALDING'S WESTMORELAND INDEPENDENT COM- PANY IN THE CONTINENTAL SERVICE.
"Lo! where the giant on the mountain stands, His blood-red tresses deep'ning in the sun, With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands, And eye that scorcheth all it looks upon; Restless it rolls-now fixed, and now anon Flashing afar-and at his iron feet Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done." -Lord Byron, in "The Battle of Talavera."
"Here of a truth raged battle, as though no combats beside Reigned elsewhere. *
Here we beheld in his fury the war-god." -Virgil's "Æneid."
The year 1778 brought great distrust and fear to the frontiers gen- erally, but particularly to Wyoming. It was known early in the year that a large force was collecting at Fort Niagara, to be augmented by the Indians at Kanadesaga, Unadilla and Oghwaga, for the purpose of laying waste the frontiers of Pennsylvania and New York. As early as February General Schuyler wrote to Congress that from the best infor- mation he could obtain an attempt would certainly soon be made by the enemy to attack the frontiers. In a little while he wrote again to Congress, saying : "A number of Mohawks and many of the Ononda- gas, Cayugas and Senecas will commence hostilities against us as soon as they can. It would be prudent, therefore, early to take measures to carry the war into their country. It would require no greater body of troops to destroy their towns than to protect the frontier inhabitants." Unfortunately, Congress had not the troops to use for either purpose.
Halsey (in "The Old New York Frontier," page 205) says: "Some hope of securing Indian neutrality still remained. At a council held on March 9th, at Johnstown, and attended by more than 700 Indians, an attempt was made to quiet them. The Senecas alone failed to attend. With Oriskany so recent and bloody a memory, it was strange indeed that any Mohawks or Cayugas should have come. The Senecas sent a
954
955
communication expressing their surprise (a surprise which is quite com- prehensible) that 'while our tomahawks were sticking in their heads, their wounds bleeding and their eyes streamning with tears for the loss of their friends at Oriskany, the Commissioners should think of inviting them to a treaty.'* Stone notes as the result of the council that the Commissioners were persuaded that from the Senecas, Cayugas, and nearly all the Mohawks, 'nothing but revenge for their lost friends and tarnished glory at Oriskany and Fort Schuyler was to be anticipated.'"
By those men who were well informed it was believed, without ques- tion, that the Wyoming settlements would be among the first to be attacked ; and this for several reasons. They were, in every sense of the word, frontier settlements; they could be easily and quickly reached from New York by way of the Susquehanna River ; they were exposed and unprotected, and neither Pennsylvania nor Connecticut could come to their aid, and the Congress had not yet taken them under its wing. If the Wyoming people should be driven from their possessions, the only important barrier between the enemy in western New York and the Pennsylvania settlements below the Blue Mountains would thus be removed, and all those settlements, from the Delaware Water Gap to Sunbury, would be exposed to slaughter, havoc and fire. Further, it was well known that the Wyoming settlements had furnished to the Conti- nental army an unduly large quota of their inhabitants (compared with other frontier settlements of the country), thus evincing their zeal and loyalty in and to the American cause. It was also well known that from the rich and fertile fields of Wyoming bountiful crops had been harvested each year during the progress of the War for Independence, and that in consequence Wyoming was able to furnish supplies of provisions as well as of men in order to keep up the contest for freedoin.
These conditions aroused in the ininds of those who were planning and managing the campaigns and forays of the enemy in western and central New York the firm belief that the Wyoming settlements ought to be exterminated. This belief was stimulated and strengthened by the violence of resentment, hatred and vindictiveness which the rough usage they had met with had aroused in the breasts of the Tories who had fled, or been driven, from the Susquehanna, and which they did not hesitate to manifest.
To Maj. John Butler at Niagara, especially, the destruction of the Wyoming settlements seemed to be positively necessary. In his corre- spondence with Sir Guy Carleton and others of the British military establishment, in the Spring of 1778, he frequently declared that it was his intention to march with his "Rangers" and their Indian confederates to the Pennsylvania frontiers, and thence to advance, as expeditiously as possible, to a union with the "southern army" under Sir Henry Clinton.t At that time this army was quartered in Philadelphia, the most direct routes to which, from southern-central New York, were by way of tlie rivers Susquehanna and Delaware. By the Susquelianna route Butler and his command could easily (provided they were not interfered with by the enemy) be conveyed in boats as far as Middletownt-between the New York-Pennsylvania boundary and which town the only settle- ments of consequence on the river were those at Wyoming and Sunbury.
* See page 964.
+ For example, see on page 971 a copy of a letter written by Major Butler to Sir Guy Carleton.
Mentioned in a note on page 859.
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These, Butler believed, could be destroyed with ease by the large force of "Rangers" and Indians which he expected to muster. Middletown and Philadelphia were distant from each other only eighty-five miles, but the intervening country was everywhere in the strong occupancy of the Americans, while Washington's army lay at Valley Forge, almost in what would be the most direct line of march from the Susquehanna at or near Middletown to Philadelphia. Nevertheless, notwithstanding these conditions, Butler wrote and talked much in the Spring of 1778 about joining Sir Henry Clinton with his "Rangers" and Indians.
About February 12, 1778, during a severe snow-storm, a party of forty or fifty Indians, led by Parshall Terry, Jr., and another Westmore- land Tory who were members of Butler's Rangers, arrived at the old deserted Indian village of Friedenshütten (previously described), near Wyalusing, where several white families were then living. In the neighborhood of Wyalusing lived Amos York, a native of New London County, Connecticut, who, with his wife and children, had settled in Westmoreland some five years previously. His house was visited by Terry and his party on February 14th, and the family were plundered of most of their bedding, wearing apparel, meat and grain. This spoil was loaded upon sleds, to which were hitched Mr. York's horses. His cattle and flocks were collected, and the best of them were taken, and then the marauders set off with Mr. York and Lemuel. Fitch, another Westmoreland settler, as their prisoners. The party hurried northward to Fort Niagara as rapidly as possible, and the journey was one of incredible hardship and suffering to the prisoners .*
Early in March, 1778, Colonel Denison sent Lieut. Colonel Dor- rance, with 150 men of the 24th Regiment, up to Wyalusing for the purpose of aiding the family of Amos York, and the families of a few other Whig settlers then living at and near Friedenshütten, to remove to Wyoming Valley. Arriving at their destination, the party tore down the church and some of the best log houses there which had formerly been occupied by the Indians, and made a raft of the timbers, on which, and in canoes, the fleeing families and their belongings were placed and floated in safety down the river to Wyoming Valley. 1
The reiterated rumors of preparations on the part of the British and their Indian allies to attack the Wyoming settlements, were now engag- ing, as never before, the attention of the members of Congress. They saw, felt and acknowledged the exposed and defenseless situation of these frontier settlements; but Philadelphia was then, and had been since September, 1777, in the possession of the enemy, and, while from that vantage-ground the heart of the country was being assailed, and the whole force under the control of Congress was being concentrated for an important and decisive campaign, little aid but encouraging words could be afforded to the threatened frontiers. Finally, on March 16, 1778, at York Town (now York), Pennsylvania, where the Congress was sitting, the following was votedt by that body :
"Resolved, That one full company of foot be raised in the town of Westmoreland, on the East Branch of the Susquehannah, for the defence of the said town and the settle- ments on the frontier in the neighbourhood thereof, against the Indians and the enemies of these States; the said company to be enlisted to serve one year from the time of their enlisting, unless sooner discharged by Congress.
* For a more extended account of this incident see "The Harvey Book," page 910.
t See Craft's "History of Bradford County," page 28.
# See "The Journals of Congress," IV : 113.
957
" That officers be commissioned only in proportion to the number of men who shall be enlisted.
"That the same pay and rations be allowed to the company as to officers of the like rank and soldiers in the Continental army.
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