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 96

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 680

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 96

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* The two Hageman women were detained as prisoners among the Indians until the close of the war. Their names-together with those of Capt. Zebulon Parrish, Stephen Parrish, Jasper Parrish and Stephen Kimball, of Lackaway District, Westmoreland, who were captured July 5, 1778 (see page 1020), and Capt. James Bidlack, Sr. (see page 999)-appear in a report made by Colonels Fisher and Harper, at Johnstown, New York, under the date of March 2, 1780, relative to certain American pris- oners who were to be sent to Canada. (See Meginness' "Biography of Frances Slocum," page 23.)

At Wilkes-Barre, December 29, 1778, Dr. William Hooker Smith was granted by Nathan Den- ison, Judge of Probate, letters of administration on the estate of Edward Lester, deceased. Mrs. Les- ter and her children were conveyed by their captors to the Seneca country, where two of the chil- dren, girls, were separated from the mother and each other and sent to Indian villages widely re- moved from the village where Mrs. Lester and her youngest child-a boy less than two years of age -- were detained. When, on September 15, 1779, the Sullivan Expedition reached Genesee Castle (mentioned in note ";" on page 1042) Mrs. Lester, who, with her child, had managed to elude the Indians when they and "Butler's Rangers" left the town two or three days before, came to the camp of the army. She and her child were in a half-starved condition, having been wandering in the woods without food since their escape from captivity. They were taken to General Sullivan's quarters and well provided for. Mrs. Lester informed the General that "Butler and Brant, with the Indians and Tories," had left Genesee Castle on September 13th and gone to Fort Niagara, distant eighty miles. She said that the Indians were "very uneasy with Butler and their other leaders," and were in great distress. In the journal of Lieut. Col. Adam Hubley, under the date of September 15, 1779 (see Miner's "Wyoming," Appendix, page 100), we find the following relative to Mrs. Lester: "She, with her bantling, was almost starved for want of food. She informs us that the Indians have been in great want all last Spring; that they subsisted entirely on green corn this Summer; that their squaws were fretting prodigiously, and continually teasing their warriors to make peace."

When, on September 16th, the army set out from Genesee Castle on its homeward march, Mrs. Lester and her child were furnished with a horse. On the third day of the march the child was taken

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off by the Indians to New York State. On November 7th John Perkins* of Kingston District was killed by Indians in Plymouth. On Novell- ber 9th Capt. Robert Carr and Philip Goss were surprised by Indians near Wapwallopen. While attempting to escape in their canoe, both men were killed. About the same time Robert Alexander and Amos Parker were found murdered in the lower part of Wyoming Valley.

At Sunbury, Pennsylvania, under the date of November 9, 1778, Colonel Hartley wrotet to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylva- nia informing them that within ten days the enemy had been "down in force and invested Wyoming." "Had one or two regiments been sent to Wyoming as I requested," Colonel Hartley declared, " these calam- ities would now not have happened." Continuing, he wrote :

" Wyoming, I make no doubt, will make a good defense, but the garrison is rather small. Should the enemy take that post, New York, Pennsylvania and Jersey will then too late think of its importance. * * * About seventy Indians were seen twenty-two miles from here yesterday, advancing towards the forks of the Chillisquaque; they took some pris- oners. With the small force we have we are endeavoring to make a stand. I am drawing some little force together, and to-morrow will endeavor to attack the Indians on the Chillisqua- que, and make a movement towards Fishing Creek, which will probably be of use to the peo- ple of Wyoming."

At "Fort Jenkins, near Nescopeck, November 14, 1778," Colonel Hartley wrote to the Supreme Executive Coun- cil in part as follows : " The enemy are in force between here and Wyoming. *

* They expected the frontiers to give way. I am now advancing towards Wyoming. I am weak, but hope for success." On the same day, and from the same place, Colonel Hartley wrote to Colonel Butler§ at Wilkes-Barré as follows|| :

" I understand our friends from Chemung have paid you a visit. The West Branch is strong Col. Thomas Hartley. and safe. The troops from the main army are certainly on their march. I presume you have heard of their approach. I am advancing with (After an old portrait.) } horse, foot, provisions and artillery. I shall move early to-morrow, and if there are any of the gentry on the way, we shall make them know us. My men are in the highest spririts. Let me know of your situation by

sick, and shortly after died. The dead body was wrapped in an old blanket and hastily buried. Mrs. Lester returned with the army to Wilkes-Barre, where, June 12, 1783, she was married, as his second wife, to Lieut. Roasel Franklin of Hanover-a sketch of whose life will be found in a subsequent chapter. At the close of the War of the Revolution one of the daughters of Edward Lester, who had been separated from her mother, as previously narrated, was released from captivity, and made her way to Wyoming. The other daughter was supposed to be at Fort Niagara, and thither Roasel Frank- lin and his wife journeyed; but the girl was not there. After considerable inquiry it was learned that she was with a band or tribe of Indians on the Grand River, in what is now Michigan. "An Indian was sent to pilot Franklin to the tribe she was with," states Mrs. Hannah (Gore) Durkee, in a story of "thrilling incidents" recounted by her many years ago, and later printed in Heverly's "History of Sheshequin." "They found her" (the daughter), states Mrs. Durkee, "and as soon as they made their business known the squaws began to make great lamentations, tore their hair, and she utterly refused to leave the Indians. When they compelled her to come, the squaws tore her clothing all off and left her naked. Franklin wrapped his horse blanket around her, and then mounted his horse, and an Indian handed her up to him, and he carried her off by force. They joined her mother at Niagara, then returned home. They stopped at father's for dinner. She [the daughter] was then fourteen years old, and a squaw in every respect except color. * * She married Mr. Cole, who was one of the first settlers of Scipio, Cayuga County, New York."

* JOHN PERKINS came to Wyoming-from Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut, it is said- in the Spring of 1769, with the company of settlers led by Maj. John Durkee, as previously related. He ultimately located in Kingston, where he acquired two "rights" of land. He was joined by his family in 1772. He had three sons who grew to maturity-John (born about 1754), Aaron (born

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to-morrow night ; we shall probably be about Wapwallopen. I move slow, and if any of the lads show their noses, they will be hurted. I have the best marksmen and the best powder I ever saw."

Three days later (to wit, November 17, 1778), at Fort Jenkins, Col- onel Hartley wrote-at three o'clock in the morning-to Colonel Butler at Wilkes-Barré, as follows :

" I just now received yours of the 16th inst. I am happy to find the savages have returned, and that the communication is once more open between us. Your accounts are pleasing concerning the strength of your garrison. Hearing of your distress I collected all the force I could, and was determined to relieve you if it was in my power. We have made much parade ; our advanced body was at Wapwallopen, our main body, with the flour and ammunition, at Nescopeck. Still firing our field-piece, swivel, etc., as we

about 1756) and David (born January 1, 1769). Upon the organization of Captain Durkee's West- moreland Independent Company, John Perkins, Jr., enlisted therein as a private, and served until his death at Morristown, New Jersey, July 6, 1777. John Perkins, Sr., and Aaron Perkins were both private soldiers in the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and were in service at Wyoming in the Autumn of 1778. (See page 1096.) Letters of administration upon the estate of John Perkins, Sr., were granted at Wilkes-Barre August 6, 1782, by the Probate Court of Westmoreland to Samuel Cummins-Capt. Stephen Fuller being his surety on a bond of £400.

Aaron and David Perkins resided in Kingston Township until their respective deaths-David holding for a number of years the office of Justice of the Peace. Aaron died subsequently to 1838, and David died January 8, 1854. The latter's wife was Sarah Ferrier, who died January 1, 1845, aged seventy-seven years and five months. She was the daughter of Thomas and Hester (Lucky) Ferrier of Orange County, New York. David and Sarah (Ferrier) Perkins were the parents of sev- eral children, among them being: (i) Zibia, born in 1790; became the first wife of Elisha Atherton (born May 7, 1736; died April 2, 1853) of Kingston. She died August 3, 1825. (ii) John, born July 11, 1792; died April 23, 1838. (See below.) (iii) Thomas, died September 24, 1810, aged eighteen years. (iv) David. (v) Mary, who was married at Kingston, February 22, 1827, by the Rev. Dr. George Peck, to James Hancock, then of Wilkes-Barre, but later of the borough of Wyoming. (See a sketch of the Hancock family in a subsequent chapter.) (vi) Elizabeth, who became the wife of John C. Grier of Peoria, Illinois, and had David Perkins Grier, born in 1837 and died April 21, 1891.

(ii) John Perkins became a Major in the United States Army. His wife, who was Eunice Miller, was born September 3, 1804, and died January 2, 1880. John and Eunice (Miller) Perkins were the parents of six children, as follows: (1) Sarah E., born October 19, 1823; married in 1841 to Thomas F. (born December 8, 1816; died April 27, 1870), son of Elisha and Zibia (Perkins) Atherton, men- tioned above. Mrs. Sarah E. (Perkins) Atherton died at Wilkes-Barre November 30, 1886. (2) David, born February 28, 1829; died December 10, 1893. (3) A daughter who became the wife of Reuben Henry of Jersey City, New Jersey. (4) A daughter who became the wife of Elisha Atherton Coray (born April 30, 1822) of Exeter Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. (5) A daughter who became the wife of Robert Black of Scranton, Pennsylvania. (6) Zibia, born July 19, 1834; died August 30, 1878.

¡ See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VII : 81.

# THOMAS HARTLEY was born near Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1748, and consequently was in the thirty-first year of his life when he planned and commanded the expedition against the Indians at Tioga Point. At the age of eighteen years he removed to York, Pennsylvania, where he studied law, and was admitted to the bar July 25, 1769. He was commissioned January 10, 1776, Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Pennsylvania Battalion, commanded by Col. William Irvine. This battalion, in company with others, was ordered by Washington, April 26th, 1776, to embark for Canada. On June 3d the "6th" was at the mouth of the Sorel, forming a part of the forces com- manded by General Sullivan. On June 5th the "6th" was included in the detachment ordered by General Sullivan to proceed to Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence, to attack the enemy. The attack on Three Rivers occurred on June 8th, the Americans were defeated, and Colonel Irvine was taken prisoner by the British-whereby the command of the "6th" devolved on Lieut. Colonel Hartley, and he continued in command until the expiration of the battalion's term of service, in December, 1776. However, the battalion was immediately re-enlisted in the service as the "7th Pennsylvania Regiment," with Irvine (still a prisoner in the hands of the enemy) as Colonel, and Hartley as Lieut. Colonel.

Just about that time (to wit, on December 27, 1776) Congress passed a resolution authorizing General Washington to "raise and collect together, in the most speedy and effectual manner, from any and all of these United States, sixteen battalions of infantry, in addition to those already voted by Congress, and to appoint the officers for said battalions." Washington, on January 11, 1777, issued to Lieut. Col. Thos. Hartley a commission as Colonel, and authority to raise one of these sixteen bat- talions. In a short time thereafter the battalion was raised, became known as "Hartley's Regiment," and was attached to the 1st Pennsylvania Brigade, in the division commanded by Gen. Anthony Wayne. In the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown (see page 906) Colonel Hartley com- manded the abovementioned brigade. "Hartley's Regiment" was ordered to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, about July 14, 1778. It is stated in "Pennsylvania in the Revolution," I : 778, that, but for the let- ters of Colonel Hartley to be found in "Pennsylvania Archives," "very little would be known of the military operations on the West Branch [of the Susquehanna] in 1778-79." Congress resolved January 13, 1779, that "Hartley's Regiment" and certain other organizations should be incorporated together, "to form a complete battalion upon the new establishment, and to be added to the Pennsylvania Line as the Eleventh Regiment of that State." In pursuance of this resolution the "New 11th Regiment" was immediately organized, with Hartley as Colonel and Adam Hubley, Jr., as Lieut. Colonel; but Colone! Hartley resigned his commission February 13, 1779, and was succeeded in command by Lieut. Colonel Hubley, who, June 8, 1779, was commissioned "Lieut. Colonel Commandant" of the regiment, to rank from February 13.

Upon Colonel Hartley's retirement from the army, after a little more than three years of service, he returned to York and resumed the practise of law. Thereafter, until his death at York, December 21, 1800, his life was a busy one, and it is only necessary to refer to Carter's and Glossenbrenner's "History of York County," to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, XXV : 303, and the records of our State and National legislatures, for "evidences of his brilliant career as a soldier, lawyer, and statesman."

§ The day following the writing of this letter Zebulon Butler was promoted from Lieut. Colonel of the 3d Connecticut Regiment to Colonel of the 2d Regiment of that State.

| See "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," I : 459. I See ibid., 460.

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moved forward, the Tories thought us numerous. I adopted this mode of advancing because my letter to you, which I sent you by [Capt. Robert] Carr* fell into the enemy's hands. In this, among other things, I informed you that Congress had directed General Washington to send on a body to break up the settlements at Chemung and protect the frontiers of Pennsylvania, New York, etc., and that I was ordered to hold myself in readiness to co-operate with those troops, and was preparing for the same ; and also gave you notice to do the like.

"You will receive fifteen axes, a number of carpenter's-tools, ammunition, etc .; forty-two barrels of flour, three barrels of whisky, two barrels of biscuit. You shall have more as soon as I can send the same. Captain Bush, with a party, conveys these stores as far as Wapwallopen-or the whole way, if necessary. Some men of Major Eichelberger's company and one of Captain Thornbury's company goes, and is to be stationed at Wyoming. * * You will send the remainder of my men by Captain Bush, unless there should be some new alarm. I have wrote pressingly to Congress and the Board of War for a regiment to be sent to garrison Wyoming, and that my regiment should be stationed here and at the West Branch, and I have no doubt but this will be complied with. You may keep the swivel which is on the big boat. You will please to let Mr. Lemon come down ; Mr. Ensign Thornbury relieves him. * * If you are rein- forced with the regiment, and would make a movement toward Tanckanock with 200 men, I should imagine the enemy would be almost intimidated enough to leave Che- mung, as they believe an expedition will be carried against them."

Miner records, in the following words, an account of a most dis- tressing tragedy enacted on November 19, 1778, by a band of Indians in what is now Nescopeck Township, some twenty-two miles down the river from Wilkes-Barré. "A whole family were butchered. John Utley, Elisha Utley and Diah Utley were attacked. The two first were shot down and soon despatched. Diah, the youngest, fled to the river and swam over to the west side (near Beach Grove), but an Indian had crossed before him in a canoe, and struck him with a tomahawk as he reached the shore. He plead for his life, but there was no mercy shown. The savages then entered the house, and, having murdered and scalped the aged mother, placed her as in sport in a chair and so left her. The Utley family were from the east side of the Connecticut River, in Hart- ford County."

At Sunbury, under the date of November 23, 1778, Colonel Hart- ley wrote to Colonel Butler at Wilkes-Barré as followst :

" I received yours of the 20th inst. I am glad to understand that your place is in so defenceable a situation. By the boats we send you forty barrels of flour and - bar- rels of biscuit, 1 barrel of salt and one of whisky ; also the keg of spirits. There are at present but a very few barrels of flour for the whole troops-besides those sent you. I have wrote more pressingly to Congress and the other public bodies for another regiment to be sent to Wyoming. I understand there is one at the Minisinks which will most probably join you. I am about going to Philadelphia, and shall not be present for some time again on these frontiers. I desire the following dispositions may be carried into exe- cution :

" That if you be not reinforced at Wyoming, Captain Kenney's and Mr. Eichel- berger's companies to remain at your post in garrison. Should another regiment join you-in that case those two companies are immediately to march to Fort Muncy by the way of Northumberland-town; and two companies of the regiment which is to join you are immediately to be detached to Fort Jenkins, where they are to remain in garrison to preserve the communication, instead of Captains Bush's and Forrester's companies who will then be withdrawn to strengthen the posts next the Allegheny. Should the enemy after this attempt an invasion, the troops at Wyoming and Muncy might fall in the rear. The Board of War have intrusted me with arranging the troops, and I expect these instructions will be punctually attended to. I am exceedingly happy to think I have been of some use to the frontiers, and when I go away I shall always be ready to give them any assistance in my power.

"You must send a guard to Wapwallopen on Friday, which must remain there till the boat and convoys meet them. I wish you may enjoy peace and plenty during the Winter season. Captain Stoddert will command the troops that may be here, or on the West Branch, or at Fort Jenkins; the garrison at Wyoming to command above Nesco-

* Present my compliments to Mrs. Butler and the gentlemen officers of the peck. *

* See page 1107, ante.

See "Proceedings and Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," VII:144.

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garrison. * * * A boat with eighty barrels of flour sunk in the [Nescopeck] Falls. You must not issue above a pound of flour per man per day."

Late in November, or early in December, 1778, Isaac Inman*, who, as a private in the 5th, or Hanover, Company of the 24th Regiment, had taken part in the battle of Wyoming, and later had served in the detachment commanded by Lieut. Colonel Butler (see page 1096), was murdered by Indians near his father's home in Hanover Township. Late one afternoon he heard what he believed to be the gobbling of wild turkeys, so, taking his gun, he went out in search of the birds. Soon thereafter the report of a gun was heard, but young Inman did not return home. That night there was a fall of snow, and the next day a search was made for the missing man; but as no traces of him could be found it was believed that he had been captured by Indians and carried away. Early the next Spring, however, his body, shockingly

* ELIJAH INMAN, SR., was born in either Connecticut or Rhode Island in 1718, and in 1775 be came with his wife, Susannah, and children to Wyoming Valley, and settled in Hanover Townsbip. His name appears in the tax-lists for 1776, '77, '78, '80 and '81. After the battle of Wyoming be fled from the Valley with his wife and younger children, but returned a few months later to find bis house and barn burnt, his cattle missing, and the most of his crops destroyed. Elijah Inman, Sr., died in Hanover Township February 7, 1804, and his wife Susannah died in Wilkes-Barre August 21, 1809, aged eighty-eight years. They were the parents of the following-named children, at least: (i) Elijah, mentioned bereinafter. (ii) Richard, born about 1751. (See below.) (iii) Israel, killed at the battle of Wyoming. (iv) David, who was in the battle of Wyoming, and subsequently served in tbe detachment of Westmoreland militia commanded by Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler, as explained on page 1096. He died within a short time thereafter. (v) John, born about 1758; died in 1814, leaving sons Hiram and Richard. (vi) Isaac, born in 1760; murdered by Indians in November, 1778, as mentioned above. (vii) Edward, born in 1763; died in 1848. (See below.)

(i) Elijah Inman, Jr., came to Wyoming with the other members of his father's family and set- tled in Hanover. His name appears in the tax-lists for 1777 and 1778. He was a private in the 5th Company, 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and with that company took part in the battle of Wyo- ming, and was slain. Letters of administration upon his estate were granted by the Probate Court of Westmoreland June 23, 1779, to his widow Sarah Inman-Capt. Stephen Fuller being her surety on a bond for £1000. The original inventory of the decedent's estate, filed a few months later, is now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and reads as follows: "Westmoreland, November 17, A. D. 1779. an Enventory of the Estate of Elijah Enmon, Desest. we the subscribers being chosen and sworn as the Law direcks do prise 200 acres of Land at ££300; 1 mair at £10; 2 sowes and peggs [sows and pigs], £3; 1 pair plow iorns, 18s .; 1 grubing how [hoe], 6s .; 1 pair ring and weges, 9s .; old iorn, 5s .; 1 woman's saddle, '£1; 1 pair plow iorns and plow, £1, 5s .; 1 iorn cittle [kettle], 9s .; 1 dito, 6s .; 1 pot, 8s .; 1 how [hoe], 4s .; 1 mans sadle, 18s .; 1 shave, 4s .; 1 jaket, 8s .; 1 pr. of shoe buckels, £1, 4s .; 1 pr. of nee buckels, 12s. Total, £321 16s. "the above arcticls are prised at hard money prise. [Signed] "JABEZ SILLS

"CALEB SPENCER prisers." (ii) Richard Inman was born in 1751, and came to Wyoming with the other members of his father's family. His name appears in the Hanover tax-lists for 1776, 1777, 1778, 1780, and 1781. He was a private in the 5th Company of the 24th Regiment, and started for the battle-field of July 3, 1778, but did not get there-as is explained on page 1018. Later he served in the detachment of Westmoreland militia commanded by Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler, as noted on page 1096. Between the years 1790 and 1800 the Town Committee of Hanover leased to Richard Inman part of public lots Nos. 30 and 31 in Hanover Township-"to hold on lease simple as long as wood grows and water runs." The rental to be "one bushel of wheat to be paid every twenty-fifth of December into the town treasury." Prior to 1809 Richard and Israel Inman built a very substantial grist-mill at the foot of Solomon's Falls, in Hanover Township. In 1812 Richard Inman became the sole proprietor of the mill, and operated it from about 1817 till his death in 1831. Richard Inman was married to Hannah Spencer, and they were the parents of Israel, Isaac, Caleb (married to Elizabetb Hartzell), Richard, Walter (married to Alden), John, Perry, Mary, Susan, and Margaret (married to Robert Valentine).

(vii) Edward Inman was born in 1763, and came to Wyoming with the other members of his father's family. He fled from the Valley with his parents after the battle of Wyoming, but, returning a few months later, spent the remainder of his life in Hanover Township-living, in his later years, on what was known as Inman's Hill, where he died in 1848. During the Second Pennamite-Yankee War he took a very active part in opposing the Pennsylvania land claimants, and once was impris- oned, with other Wyoming Valley men, in the jail at Easton-as is more fully related hereinafter. In November, 1787, he was elected and commissioned Lieutenant of the militia company in the Upper District of Hanover, forming a part of the battalion commanded by Lieut. Col. Matthias Hollenback. He was commissioned March 20, 1789, Captain of the 2d Company in the "1st Regiment of Militia in Luzerne County"-commanded by Lieut. Colonel Hollenback. Prior to 1804 he was promoted Major of this regiment, and prior to 1837 he became a Colonel in the Pennsylvania militia. Charles Miner, the historian of Wyoming, writing in 1838, said: "A few miles below Wilkesbarre lives Col. Edward Inman, one of our most respectable and wealthy citizens. He owns one of the noblest farms in the county-part of it the same where his father dwelt, and part added by his own industry-con- sisting of several hundred acres, embracing a large body of the most productive flats. Plenty crowns his board, and independence cheers the evening of his days."

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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 96

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press Number of Pages: 680

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 680