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 81
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Samuel. (iv) George. (v) William. (vi) Nathan, born in 1797, and died in 1872, survived by the fol- lowing-named children: Mrs. Fanny Frace of Colfax, Iowa, Mrs. Louisa Evans of Ohio, Merritt of Illinois, George of Kentucky, Hamilton of Parsons, Pennsylvania, William J. of Wyoming, and Martin of Milnesville, Pennsylvania (who died December 7, 1896). (vii) Sarah (twin sister of Nathan), born in 1797; married to Moses Williams, son of Thomas Williams (a Revolutionary soldier) and his wife Elizabeth Robertson. Moses Williams died at Plainsville in 1847, and Mrs. Sarah Williams died there in May, 1888. They were the parents of several children, two of them being Charles Miner Williams and John Carey Williams of Plainsville. (viii) Francis, who died prior to 1868. (ix) Laura, born in 1801; became the wife of Martin Downing, third son of Reuben Downing, an early Wyoming settler; she died at Larksville, Wyoming Valley, July 18, 1887, and was survived by two sons and two daughters.
(5) Benjamin Carey was born about 1763, presumably in Dutchess County, New York. He came to Wyoming with the other members of his father's family, and was here at the time of the battle and massacre of July, 1778. He fled from the Valley with the other inhabitants, but returned the next year, and later settled in Hanover Township. In 1790 he was a private in the Light Infantry Company (com- manded by Lieut. Elisha Blackman) attached to the 1st Regiment of Luzerne County Militia. From 1813 to 1816 Benjamin Carey was one of the Commissioners of Luzerne County. He was married to Mercy, daughter of John Abbott, and they had ten children, as follows: (i) Nathan, married Sally A. Allen and had ten children. (ii) Nancy, married Elijah Adams. (iii) Rachel, married Sira Landing. (iv) Elias, married Letitia Smiley. (v) Sarah, married Bateman Downing (born in Wilkes-Barre Jan- uary 11, 1795; died at Edgerton, Wisconsin, May 24, 1879), son of Reuben Downing previously men- tioned. (vi) Esther, married Darius Waters. (vii) Martha, married Peter Mensch. (viii) Benjamin, married Jane Smiley. (ix) Celestia, married Harvey Holcomb .. (x) Jahn Abbatt, married Polly Bennett. (5) Benjamin Carcy died in 1830.
(6) Camfort Curey was born about 1766, and was six or seven years old when, with the other mem- bers of his father's family, he came to Wyoming. Thereafter, with the exception of about a year, his life was spent in the Valley. About 1788 he was married to Huldah (born in March, 1773), daughter of Philip and Abigail (Beers) Weeks, and they settled on a farm in Hanover Township near the present borough of Ashley. Comfort Carey was a fine singer, and for some time during the latter years of his life was a local preacher and Trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Wilkes-Barre. He died at his home in Hanover Township in the Summer of 1838. He was the father of six children, to wit: (i) Jahn, born in 1793; married to Hannah Dickson. (ii) Benjamin, married to Katy Askam. (iii) Daniel, married to Lovina Diliey. (iv) Lucy, married to Erastus Coswell. (v) Lydia, married to Jacob Worthing. (vi) Gearge. In 1868 all these children were dead except (i) John, who was then living at Etna, Fillmore County, Minnesota.
* That Wintermute's Fort was not totally destroyed on July 3, 1778, is shown by the following extract from the journal of Maj. James Norris (previously mentioned). At Wyoming, under the date of July 2, 1779, he wrote as follows: "Rode out this morning with General Poor and Lieut. Colonel Dearborn about four miles from camp [at Forty Fort], to view the ground where the battle was fought between the savages and the people of Wyoming under Colonel Butler. We saw a stockade fort, with a covert way to a fountain, which our guide told us was built for a show by some of the disaffected inhabitants, and given up to the enemy immediately upon their approach. We examined the trees where the line of battle was formed, but found very few marks of an obstinate engagement. It appears, indeed, that the enemy were superior in numbers to the militia, and soon after the commencement of the action turned their left flank. This brought on a retreat."-Sec "Journals af the Sullivan Expedi- tian," page 225.
ROLAND MONTOUR was the son of Catharine Montour, by her first husband, Thomas Hutson (as noted on page 207, Vol. I), and was, therefore, the nephew of "Queen Esther," previously mentioned.
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unbound him, gave him food, and then led him to a young Indian who was mortally wounded. What passed between Montour and the dying Indian Carey could not then perfectly comprehend, but subsequently he learned that it was Montour's purpose to have the young Indian consent, or request, that, upon his death (which was imminent), Carey should be received by the parents of the deceased as an adopted son, according to Indian customn. The dying warrior expressed his satisfaction with such an arrangement, and thereupon Carey had his face painted, and was given the name of Cocaneunquo, which was that of the young warrior.
Many other incidents similar in character to the foregoing might be narrated here, but these are deemed sufficient to give the reader a good idea of the various kinds of atrocities which were perpetrated by the Tories and Indians on and near Abraham's Plains immediately after the battle of July 3, 1778. Flushed with victory the savage Senecas and (in many instances) still more savage Tories pursued their victims, filling the Valley with their wild screams, and rushing onward in over- whelming numbers.
During the battle, and the subsequent flight of the vanquished, inany of the inmates of Forty Fort walked out on the river bank and listened to the distant firing, which could be heard distinctly. For awhile they noticed that the firing was kept up with spirit, and so hope prevailed among the listeners; but by and by the volleys became broken and irregular, and the sounds grew nearer and nearer. "Alas !" exclaimed one of the most anxious of the waiting company, "all is lost; our people are defeated-they are retreating !" The situation at Forty Fort was certainly a dreadful one.
Colonel Franklin, in his account (see page 994, ante) of the march of himself and some of his men from Huntington to Forty Fort on July 3d, states :
"When we reached the garrison at Shawnee [Plymouth ], we had information direct from Kingston that Colonels Butler and Denison, with all their forces, had left the fort and formed a line at Abraham's Creek, a short distance from the fort, and did not expect an attack from the enemy until the next morning. From that information I left part of the men I had with me to wait a short time for the arrival of the residue of the company from Salem. I marched on with four others, and when we came opposite to Wilkes- Barré we heard the firing, not heavy, but scattering. We hastened on with all speed, and found on arriving at Kingston Fort [Forty Fort] that a battle had been fought, and Colonels Butler and Denison, with fifteen or twenty others, had, in their retreat, gained the fort. Colonel Butler tarried there but a very short time, when he crossed the river to Wilkes-Barré."
The night of July 3d was clear and cloudless, and the moon shone brightly. This was advantageous to the occupants of Forty Fort, by whom every possible precaution was early taken to defend the fort against a probable attack by the enemy. Sentinels were posted in the sentry-towers and at the gates, and orders were given by Colonel Deni- He was, of course, a Seneca, and was married to a daughter of the great Seneca chief, Sayenqueraghta (see page 969); but, as the latter's wife belonged to the Cayuga nation, the daughter also was ranked as of that nation. Roland Montour, with the rank of "Captain," commanded a company of Seneca war- riors under his father-in-law in the expedition against Wyoming. In the Summer of 1779 he was employed with the Indians and "Butler's Rangers" in opposing the advance of the Sullivan Expedition into the Indian country-as explained in a subsequent chapter.
In the Spring of 1780 the Gilbert family, residing near Gnadenhütten (see page 218, Vol. I), were taken prisoners by a roving band of Indians commanded by Roland Montour, with his brother John- known as "Stuttering John"-second in command. From the "Narrative of the Captivity of Benjamin Gilbert and his Family," published in 1790, we learn: "As the Indians approached their homes near Niagara, with their prisoners, Capt. Roland Montour's wife came to the company. Rebecca Gilbert, aged about sixteen years, was at this time given by the Captain to his wife as her daughter, whereupon she took a silver ring off her finger and put it on Rebecca's." In September, 1780, Roland Montour accompanied a party of Indians and "Butler's Rangers" on an expedition to the Susquehanna in the neighborhood of Fishing Creek and Catawissa, and thence to Sugar Loaf Valley. (Fuller mention of this expedition is made in Chapter XIX.) During a skirmish with a company of militia in the latter place Montour received a wound in the arm from which he died a week later. He had long "been known as a brave and active chief," says Cruikshank in his "Butler's Rangers," page 82.
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son that no one should be permitted to leave the fort during the night. Every hour through the night one, two, three or more survivors of the battle, who had been in hiding since their escape from the bloody field, made their way into the fort, so that by morning there were gathered there about sixty inen and youth who had taken part in the battle. The other survivors had fled in various directions-some to the forts at Wilkes-Barré and Plymouth, and some beyond the Wilkes-Barré Moun- tain. In addition to these survivors there were in the fort: Captain Franklin and his men, Ensign John Jenkins, Jr., and the old men and boys who had been detailed in the morning of the 3d to garrison the fort, and several hundred women and children.
In his letters referred to on page 994 Colonel Franklin says :
"It is not known what number of the enemy were killed .* Daniel Ingersoll, who was a prisoner in Wintermute's Fort, informed me that after the battle the enemy col- lected all the tools they could find in the neighborhood, and that parties were out all night in the woods where the battle was fouglit, and went off to the adjoining swamp, where, as he supposes, they buried their dead. In the evening after the battle a council was held in Kingston fort, when it was proposed to send and get a cannon (a four-pound gun) from Wilkes-Barré, and to have all the inhabitants from the towns below repair to Kingston fort, and to make a stand against the enemy. I sent one of my men to Hunt- ington for a cask of powder, and notice was sent to the inhabitants below to repair to Kingston; but it was too late-all were flying or preparing for their flight."
Although Night had thrown her kindly mantle over the field of carnage, and the coming of darkness had put an end to the pursuit of the Americans, and most of the prisoners had been barbarously butch- ered, yet there were some who, sup- posed to be special objects of hate, were selected for slower torture and the execution of more savage ven- geance .¡ On the battle-ground the work of torture lasted till ven- geance, satiated and wearied, drop- ped the knife and torch from exhaustion. Says Miner : "Maj. John Butler, much agitated as the peculiar effluvium of burning human flesh came to his nostrils, said, in the hearing of Mr. [Daniel] Ingersoll, 'It is not in my power to help it.' In the morning the battle- field was strewed with limbs and bodies torn apart, mangled and partially consumed."
At the Pittston fort, the night following the battle, Captain Blanch- ard, Esquire Whittaker, Ishmael Bennett, Sr., and Ishmael Bennett, Jr., noticing fires burning under some large oak trees near the bank on the Exeter side of the river (at the point where the prisoners
* There were about eighty of the invading enemy killed, according to the best contemporary evi- dence, although Major Butler, in his report to Lieut. Colonel Bolton, at Niagara (see page 1047), declared that he had lost but one Indian and two Rangers. In Peck's "Wyoming," page 363, will be found the following: "We have learned from John Bennet that when his uncle Solomon [Bennet] was in Wyoming last-in 1820-he went with him upon the battle-ground and showed him where he stood when the battle began, and how far they pushed John Butler's men. He also pointed out the spot where the British and Indians who were killed were buried. It was on what was called 'the Island,' in the marsh, under some large yellow pines which were then standing. There sixty were consigned to their long resting-place by their fellow Royalists. The number of the slain and the place of burial were com- municated to Mr. Solomon Bennet by the Wintermutes and Secords in Canada in 1812."
Details as to the number of Americans who were killed in the battle or massacred subsequently, are given in full in Chapter XXVII, post. i See the last paragraph on page 114, Vol. I.
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taken at Jenkins' and Wintermute's Forts had been held during the battle, as narrated on page 1013), went down to the river-side. There they saw several naked men driven around a stake in the midst of flames. The groans and screams of the inen were most piteous, while the shouts and yells of the savages-who danced around, urging the victims on with their spears-were too horrible to be endured. The Pittston men were powerless to help or avenge these tortured prisoners, and they withdrew, heartsick, from the sight of the horrid orgies-glad that they did not know who were the sufferers. Later in the night the savages engaged in a "Scalp Dance"-a weird jollification always per- formed after a victorious battle, as explained on page 126, Vol. I.
To those who were in the forts, and to those elsewhere who had escaped the pursuit of the murderous savages, the night of July 3d was one of consternation, of alarm, and of terrible agony. The shrill whoops of the Indians, mingled with the yells and hootings of the Tories, as they gathered near, portended to the surviving Westmorelanders a fate as horrible as any that had befallen their late compatriots, whose mangled bodies were then lying cold in death on Abrahamn's Plains. All through the night was heard the voice of lamentation for the fate of husbands, fathers, sons, brothers and friends who had fallen by the hands of the enemy. To the survivors it was a night long to be remembered-never to be forgotten.
Early in the morning of Saturday, July 4th, Major Butler sent a detachment of his "Rangers" and some Indians across the river to the Pittston fort to demand its surrender. There was nothing for Captain Blanchard to do but to capitulate on the fairest terms he could get, and this he did. The articles of capitulation which were drawn up pro- vided for the surrender of "three forts at Lacuwanack," to wit: the Pittston fort, commanded by Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard (see page 1004), " Rosecrants' Block-house " (mentioned on page 925), and another block-house, neither the name nor the exact location of which is now known, but undoubtedly it stood in Pittston Township. The articles of capitulation further required that the different commanders of the said forts should immediately deliver them up, with all the arms, aminu- nition and stores in the said forts." On the part of Major Butler it was promised " that the lives of the men, women and children " should be " preserved entire." The Indians present at the capitulation of Pitts- ton fort marked the faces of the inmates with black paint, telling them not to remove it, and that if they should go beyond the limits of the fort they should carry a bit of white cloth attached to a stick, so that, being thereby recognized as having surrendered, they would not be hurt by any of the Indians. Among the Indians who were there at that time were "Tom Turkey," "Anthony Turkey," "David Singsing " and "Anthony Cornelius," who had formerly resided in Wyoming and were well known to some of the inhabitants. Trailing along in the rear of these Indians were a number of squaws, smeared with blood and carry- ing strings of scalps ; " of which, with more than a demon's malice, they would smell, and then exultingly exclaim, 'Yankee blood !'" After the capitulation the " Rangers " and Indians demolished the pickets, or stockade, surrounding the three block-houses which formed the fort, and then the Indians began to pillage the people of everything portable and valuable which they could find.
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About eight o'clock Saturday morning Major Butler despatched to Forty Fort a messenger with a flag, bearing a request to Colonel Deni- son to come up to Butler's headquarters, adjacent to the ruins of Winter- mute's Fort, to discuss terms of surrender. Accompanied by Obadialı Gore, Sr., and Dr. Lemuel Gustin, Colonel Denison set out without delay, bearing a flag of truce. At the interview which took place Major Butler demanded that all the Continental officers and soldiers in the Valley (particularly mentioning Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler) should be delivered over to him, to be held as prisoners of war. Relative to this demand Colonel Denison expressed a desire to consult with his officers, to which Major Butler assented. Promising to return at one o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Denison and his companions returned to Forty Fort. Thence, without delay, Colonel Denison lastened to Wilkes- Barré. Here he thoroughly discussed the situation with Lieut. Colonel Butler, and the conclusion was reached that the only course of proced- ure open to the people in Wyoming was to make a full and complete surrender to the invaders on the best terins possible. It was agreed, however, that, before arrangements for the surrender should take place, Lieut. Colonel Butler, the fifteen or twenty survivors of Captain Hewitt's Continental company (including Lieut. Timothy Howe), and those sur- vivors of the officers and privates of Captain Spalding's Westmoreland Independent Company* in the Continental service who had taken part in the battle of July 3d, should leave the Valley and get to places of safety. Directing these inen to proceed to Shamokin, Colonel Butler threw a feather bed across his horse, took his wife and infant sont up behind him, set off over the Wilkes-Barre Mountain by way of the old " Warrior Path " (see page 237), for Fort Allen, at Gnadenhütten, on the Lehigh River (see page 339), and that night bivouacked in Sugar Loaf Valley, some twenty iniles from Wilkes-Barré.
Colonel Denison returned to Forty Fort, and, accompanied by the Rev. Jacob Johnson and Zerah Beach, Esq., proceeded thence shortly before one o'clock to Major Butler's headquarters, where negotiations for a surrender of the various settlements and defenses in the Valley were renewed-Major Butler being first informed that all the surviving Con- tinental officers and privates had fled from the Valley. The terms of the capitulation were soon agreed upon, but as there were no coll- veniences at Wintermute's for writing, it was arranged that the articles should be drawn up and signed at Forty. Fort at four o'clock in the afternoon-the time fixed upon for the formal surrender of the fort. " There were, at the time," states Colonel Franklin, "seven barrels of whisky in the fort, and this becoming known to Major Butler he pro- posed to Colonel Denison to have it destroyed ; that if the Indians got hold of it they would get drunk ; that they could not be commanded, and would probably massacre all in the fort." Colonel Denison and Messrs. Johnson and Beach returned to Forty Fort, where preparations were made for the reception of the enemy-one of the first things done being the rolling of the barrels of whisky down the bank of the river, where their heads were knocked in and the liquor was emptied into the water.
* Among these survivors were Lieut. Phineas Peiree, Sergt. Thomas Baldwin, Sergt. Thomas Neill, James Stark, Jr., Constant Searle, Jr., and Rufus Bennet.
+ ZEBULON JOHNSON BUTLER, two years old. The two other children of Colonel Butler-Lord and Hannah-were at that time living with relatives in Conneetieut.
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The following account* of the entry of the victorious enemy into Forty Fort is drawn from the writings of Col. John Franklin mentioned on page 994, ante.
"Preparations were made to receive the enemy into the fort. The few fire-arms were laid down in the center, and the gates set open at four o'clock P. M., the hour appointed. Maj. John Butler, with his Tories and Indians, appeared, marching in a body-the Tories at the left hand in four regular files, and four abreast, and Major But- ler at their head. The Indians at the right hand, in the same order, and 'Queen Esther' at their head. From appearance, there was about an equal number of Tories and Indians, and not less than 600 in the whole. I marched out with Colonel Denison a short dis- tance from the fort, to escort them through the gate, when 'Queen Esther.' with all the impudence of an infernal being, turned to Colonel Denison and said : ‘Well, Colonel Denison, you make me promise to bring more Indians. Here, see! (turning her head) I bring all these!' Major Butler observed to her that women should be seen and not heard. They marched into the fort, the Indians turning to the right of the fire-arms that were lying in the center, and the Tories to the left, where they halted. The Tories immediately seized all the arms, taking them up. Major Butler ordered them to lay them down again, which being done, he informed the Indians that Colonel Denison made them a present of all the fire-arms, and the Indians took them into possession.
"I went into the cabint in the fort in company with Colonel Denison, Zerah Beach, Esq., and Dr. Lemuel Gustin, also Maj. John Butler, with two or three of his Tory offi- cers, and about the same number of Indian chiefs, where the articles of capitulation, as verbally agreed upon, were committed to writing by the hand of Zerah Beach, Esq."
The articles were, undoubtedly, executed in duplicate, inasmuch as Colonel Franklin wrote in May, 1827 (see farther on in this Chapter), that he then had " the original " articles "in keeping." As to where the document referred to by Franklin is at this time, no one seems to know. In efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of the duplicate (?) of the origi- nal articles which was retained by Major Butler, the present writer has spent a good deal of time and considerable energy. From a careful examination of documents, etc., in the British Museum and the Public Record Office, London, made for the writer at the instance of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, United States Ambassador to Great Britain, it is learned that within a few days after the capitulation of Forty Fort Major Butler forwarded the articles of capitulation of the various forts in Wyo- ming Valley, together with a lengthy report of his operations (see here- inafter), to his superior officer, Lieut. Col. Mason Bolton, commandant of Fort Niagara. By the latter copies were made of the various docu- iments received from Major Butler, and these copies, together with a letter from Lieut. Colonel Bolton, were forwarded (see hereinafter) to Captain Le Maistre, Deputy Adjutant General to General Haldimand, at Quebec. These particular copies are now preserved among the Haldimand Papers, mentioned in a note on page 963, ante.
On the opposite page is a photo-reproduction (specially made for this work) of the veritable copy of the articles of capitulation of Forty Fort which was prepared by Lieut. Colonel Bolton and forwarded to Captain Le Maistre, as mentioned above. The names of the three Westmoreland- ers, attached to the document as principal and witnesses, are misspelled, because of either the carelessness or the ignorance of the copyist. "Beech" should be Beach; "Samuel Gustin" should be Lemuel Gustin; "Den- niston" should be Denison. The names of the three Tories are correctly spelled. William Caldwell was one of the original Captains of "Butler's
* This differs somewhat from the account printed in Miner's "Wyoming" and in other histories and pamphlets. We deem this, however, to be the most accurate account, because it was written and printed ten years prior to Stone's account and about twelve years prior to Miner's. Its author was a keen, a wide-awake, an intelligent and an observant man-in a word, he was a very remarkable man; and as he was on the ground, and took part in the doings of that stormy period in Wyoming's history, it is fair to presume that he was familiar with his subject and that he wrote with superior understanding. This was that compartment of the fort which was then occupied by the family of Thomas Bennet of Kingston.
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Rangers," and his name is several times mentioned hiereinbefore. John Johnston was a Captain in the Indian Department-as mentioned on pages 967 and 985.
Capitulation made, q'compirated besoin Haja. The Button on behalf ? is hanjusty thing George?
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