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 97
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Edward Inman was married in 1785 or '86 to Jerusha Dilley of Hanover Township, and they became the parents of the following-named children: (1) Lovina, born in 1787; married April 5, 1809, to John (born July 26, 1776; died February 3, 1843), son of George Espy; died February 19, 1874. (See sketch of the Espy family.) (2) Jemima, born in 1789; married in 1814 to John (born in Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, July 13, 1787; died there July 3, 1871), son of John and Catharine Turner, originally of New Jersey, but after 1784, of Plymouth Township. Mrs. Jemima (Inman) Turner died August 1, 1864. (3) Susan, married (as his second wife) to Dr. Asa Clark Whitney of Kingston Township, who was born May 5, 1785, and died December 10, 1824. (4) Jerusha, married to William Jackson. (5) John E., married to Mary Hannis. (6) Elizabeth, born in 1801; married to - Stiles; died in 1851. (7) Nathan, born in 1803; died November 2, 1835.
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mangled, was found in a creek not far from his home. He had been shot, beaten with a war-club, and scalped, and by his side lay the club witlı which he had been beaten.
Early in December, 1778, Colonel Butler sent Matthias Hollen- back from the Wyoming Post, at Wilkes-Barré, to Col. William Cook,* Deputy Quartermaster General at Northumberland, for a supply of food and money for the post. Mr. Hollenback returned shortly before Christmas-day, 1778, bringing £1,155 to be used at the post in a manner " most conducive to the public welfare."
The following copies of original documents now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society will give the reader some idea of what was going on at the Wyoming Post in November and December, 1778.
(1) "Wyoming, November 21, 1778. Received of Colonel Butler eighteen dollars for work as a Joyner on a House at the Fort at Wyoming. [Signed] "PHINEHAS SPAFFORD."
(2) "Westmoreland Dec. ye 1st, 1778. Then we the subscribers apraised one frame belonging to Capt. William Gallup, for the use of the Contanent for a store house, at the sum of twenty pounds in money of Connecticut. Also one frame for Barracks, belonging to jonathan fitch, at the sum of twelve pounds Lawf. money.
" By us - [Signed] "SIMON SPALDING, Capt.,
"BENJAMIN HARVEY,
"STEPHEN FULLER."
" Wyoming, December 1, 1778. (3) " The United States of America to Lt. Col. Zebn Butler, Dr.
"To paying Isaac Baldwin as Express from Wyoming to Board of War, 3d July, £38 15s. ; to paying Lt. Gore as Express from Fort to headquarters, for expenses, in July, £7 10s .; to paying Mr. Jenkins as Express from Fort Penn to Harris' Ferry, in July, £7, 17s. 6d .; to paying Mr. John Hageman as Express from Wyoming to Philadelphia, in August, £22, 6s. 3d .; to paying Captain Spalding for his expenses to Philadelphia in November, to get clothing, money, arms & ammunition at this Post, £41, 13s. 6d .; to 168 1bs. nails @, 7/6, for building stores, barracks, &c., £63 ; to blacksmith's bill for shoe- ing horses, and other iron work, £74, 1s. 3d .; to 1,000 brick for chimnies, bake-ovens, &c., £5, 12s. 6d .; to 14,572 feet of boards for building barracks, store-houses, &c., @, 7/6 per hundred, £241, 2s. 6d .; to one drum for the use of the troops, £3 15s .; one frame, as per appraisal, for store, £13 15s .; one do., £25; one do., for store and barrack, £15; 1,000 long shingles, at two dollars per 100, £7 10s."
After the capture of Frances Slocum by Indians on November 2d (as mentioned on page 1106, and fully narrated in the ensuing chapter), the remaining members of the Slocum family removed from their home at the north-east corner of the town-plot to Fort Wyoming, for safety. Mr. Slocum left his few head of live-stock on his premises, together with the hay and fodder which had been harvested and stacked by him in the early Autumn, and each day he or some member of his family, accompanied by a file of soldiers detailed by Colonel Butler, would go forth from the fort to feed the cattle. On December 16, 1778, Jonathan Slocum, his son William, and his father-in-law, Isaac Tripp (see page 467, Vol. I), left the fort for Mr. Slocum's premises, unarmed, and unaccompanied by the usual guard of soldiers-inasmuch as neither Indians nor their traces had been seen in the vicinity for some time. The three men had scarcely arrived at their destination, however, when a cry of "Indians ! Indians !" was raised by one of them, and at the same inoment several savages, who had been lying under cover at the corner of Main and North Streets, were discovered making for the hap- less party from the fort. The latter immediately separated and ran in different directions, but Mr. Tripp, being an old man, was soon over- taken, speared nine times, and scalped. Jonathan Slocum ran in the
* See note on page 818.
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direction of the fort, while William Slocum made his way towards the public burial-ground, at the corner of Market and Washington Streets. Jonathan was soon shot, killed, and scalped, but William, although wounded in the fleshy part of one of his legs by a rifle ball, managed to get safely to the fort. A detachment of soldiers was immediately sent out, but the alert and wily foe had disappeared, leaving behind them no traces save the mangled remains of Isaac Tripp and Jonathan Slocum, which were gathered up and interred in the burial-ground.
Just two weeks later (being Wednesday, December 30, 1778) a day of public thanksgiving was observed at Wilkes-Barre by the inhabitants of Westmoreland gathered here, and by the Continental soldiers com- posing the Wyoming Garrison. This was agreeably to a resolution adopted by the Congress, and in conformity with a proclamation issued by Governor Trumbull of Connecticut.
RYLAND
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STORY OF FRANCES SLOCUM, A CAPTIVE TO THE INDIANS.
"Accurs'd, unhappy, wretched, hateful day ! Most miserable hour that e'er Time saw In lasting labor of his pilgrimage ! But one, poor one, one poor and loving child, But one thing to rejoice and solace in, And cruel Death hath catch'd it from my sight." -Shakspeare, in "Romeo and Juliet."
"Amnong a savage people, still She kept from savage moods apart, And thought of crime and dream of ill Had never swayed her maiden heart." -W. G. Simms, in " Pocahontas."
To the general mind the most striking and dramatic incident in Wyoming history is that of the carrying away into Indian captivity of little Frances Slocum. The story of her abduction and her long and unwonted life among the Indians is one with which every reader of the annals of Wyoming is familiar, and this story will always continue to be as interesting and affecting as it is now and as it has been in the past.
In the Autumn of 1777 Jonathan Slocuin,* a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, immigrated to Wilkes-Barre from the township of Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island, accompanied by his wife, six
* JONATHAN SLOCUM was born in East Greenwich Township, Kent County, Rhode Island, May 1, 1733, son of Joseph Slocum, and sixth in descent from Anthony Slocum. The last named was pre-
sumably of Somersetshire, England, where he was married about 1610 to - Harvey (born about 1590), daughter of Thomas Harvey of Somersetshire. (See "The Harvey Book," page 27.) Anthony Slocum and his wife and one child, at least, came to America about 1636, and it is believed that they settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts. Anthony was one of the forty-six "first and ancient purchasers" in 1637 of Taunton, Massachusetts, where he resided from 1638 till 1662, when, having united with the Society of Friends, or Quakers, he disposed of his rights in Taunton and removed with his family to that part of New Plymouth incorporated later under the name of Dartmouth Town- ship. He and one Ralph Russell were the first settlers there. A fragment of a letter written by Anthony Slocum at Dartmouth-probably about 1670-to his "brother-in-law William Harvey in Taun- ton," has been preserved. In it is this paragraph: "Myself, wife and sons and daughter Gilbert who hath four sons, remember our respects and loves, and my sons are all married."
It has been said that Giles Slocum (born about 1618), the eldest child of Anthony and
(Harvey) Slocum, "was the common ancestor of all the Slocums whose American lineage has been found to date from the 17th century." Giles Slocum settled in what is now the township of Ports- mouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, and September 4, 1648, was granted, and had laid out to him, thirty acres of land. For a number of years prior to his death he owned considerable land in Ports- mouth, also in Shrewsbury Township, New Jersey, and elsewhere. He and his wife Joan were early
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members of the Society of Friends. She died at Portsmouth August 31, 1679, and he died there early in 1682. Giles and Joan Slocum were the parents of nine children. Samuel, the seventh child, was born about the year 1657. He married and became the father of Giles Slocum, Jr., who was born in or near Newport, Rhode Island, and was married there November 23, 1704, to Mary Paine, daughter of Ralph and Dorothy Paine of Freetown, Massachusetts. Giles Slocum was admitted a freeman at Newport in May, 1707, and died there prior to 1724. He was survived by four sons and one daughter, the eldest of whom was Joseph, born January 30, 1706, at Newport.
Joseph Slocum was married (1st) at Newport September 27, 1724, by Jonathan Nichols, "Assist- ant," to Patience, daughter of Caleb Carr of Jamestown. In 1730 or '31 they removed from Newport to the township of East Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island, where Joseph was admitted a free- man in the year 1732, and where he became a farmer, and a dealer in land. In 1743 he was mar- ried (2d) to Hannah - In the years 1741, '42 and '44 he was chosen Deputy to the Gen- eral Assembly of Rhode Island from the newly-erected township of West Greenwich. In the Spring of 1769 he came to Wyoming Valley in the company of settlers led by Maj. John Durkee, and was here at Wilkes-Barre in June of that year. (See page 498, Vol. I.)
Some writer of Wyoming history stated a good many years ago that "a lot surveyed to Col. Lod- wick Ojidirk, in ye township called ye Capouse Meadows, passed into the hands of Jonathan Slocum in 1771, on account of Slocumn's doeing ye duty of a settler for Ojidirk." This statement has been repeated in Munsell's "History of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties," in "The Slocums of America," in Kulp's "Families of Wyoming Valley," and in other books. Original authentic re- cords show, however, that it was not Jonathan, but Joseph, Slocum who did the "duty of a settler" for Ludwig Updike, or Opdyke, of Rhode Island, in the township mentioned. ("Ludwig Opdyke" and "Lodwick Ojidirk" were, in reality, one and the same person. See Munsell's "History of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties," page 385.) That Joseph Slocum was in Wyoming in 1772 is shown by a reference to the list of settlers printed on pages 736 and 752, ante. When, in March, 1773, the township of New Providence was organized and allotted to its proprietors (see page 770), "Ludwig Updike," represented on the ground by Joseph Slocum, was named as one of the "original proprietors of the township," and was assigned "Lot No. 6." (See "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 772.) Mr. Slocum took up his residence there and lived there until his death in the early part of 1777. His name appears in the tax-list for 1776, but not in that for 1777. (See pages 878 and 946.)
Joseph and Patience (Carr) Slocum were the parents of five daughters and one son-the latter being Jonathan, previously mentioned, who was the fourth child, and was born in East Greenwich Township, Kent County, Rhode Island, May 1, 1733. He was reared by his parents according to the principles and practises of the Society of Friends, and from youth up was an exemplary member of that Society. For a few years, after becoming of age, he resided, and worked at his trade of black- smith, in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island. February 23, 1757, he was married at War- wick, Kent County, Rhode Island, to Ruth (born March 21, 1736), daughter of Isaac Tripp of War. wick. (See page 467, Vol. I.) After his marriage Jonathan Slocum located in Warwick-where he purchased land of his father-in-law-and there he resided until his removal to Wilkes-Barre in the Autumn of 1777, as previously mentioned. As related on page 1111, he was slain by Indians Decem- ber 16, 1778, on his premises in the town-plot of Wilkes-Barre. His remains were buried in the old grave-yard on East Market Street, but many years later were removed to Hollenback Cemetery, where they now lie. For a number of years after the death of her husband Mrs. Ruth (Tripp) Slocum con- tinued to reside at their old home, but prior to 1790 she removed with some of her children to a small frame house, owned by one of her sons, which stood at the corner of Main and North Streets, Wilkes-Barre. In 1801 and 1802 certain of the sons of Jonathan and Ruth (Tripp) Slocum owned all the land in the town-plot of Wilkes-Barre bounded by the present Main, Union, Canal (Penn- sylvania Avenue) and North Streets-excepting a small part of Lot No. 36, at the corner of Union and Main Streets. They also owned other lots in the town-plot, and in the other divisions of the township of Wilkes-Barre at that time. Mrs. Ruth Slocum died May 6, 1807, at her home on North Main Street. Her remains now lie in Hollenback Cemetery.
Jonathan and Ruth (Tripp) Slocum were the parents of the following-named children who grew to maturity. All, excepting the last child, were born in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island. (i) Giles, born January 5, 1759; died November 14, 1826. (ii) Judith, born in October, 1760; died March 11, 1814. (iii) William, born January 6, 1762; died October 20, 1810. (iv) Ebenezer, born January 10, 1766; died July 25, 1832. (v) Mary, born December 22. 1768; died April 5, 1848. (vi) Benjamin, born Decemher 7, 1770; died July 5, 1832. (vii) Frances, born March 4, 1773; died March 9, 1847. (viii) Isaac, born March 4, 1775; died August 26, 1858. (ix) Joseph, born April 9, 1777; died September 27, 1855. (x) Jonathan, born September 12, 1778; died in September, 1842.
(i) Giles Slocum was in the nineteenth year of his life when he accompanied the other members of his father's family to Wilkes-Barre. In 1778 he was a private in the 6th Company, 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and with his company took part in the battle of Wyoming. (See pages 1021 and 1023.) In the Autumn of 1778 he was at Wilkes-Barre serving in the detachment of militia com- manded by Lieut. Colonel Butler. (See page 1096.) During the Second Pennamite-Yankee War he took an active part with the Yankees, as is shown hereinafter. In 1779 he was married to Sarah, daughter of Jeremiah and Ann (Paine) Ross, of Wilkes-Barré (see a subsequent chapter for a sketch of the Ross family), and from about 1780 until they removed from Wilkes-Barre they lived on River Street just north of South Street. In 1785 or '86 Giles Slocum and his wife and three children removed to Dutchess County, New York. Some time later-probably within a year or two-they removed to Saratoga Township, Saratoga County, New York, and thence, about the year 1806, to Claverack, Columbia County, New York. About 1815 they returned to Saratoga County and settled three miles west of Schuylerville, near Saratoga Springs, where Mrs. Sarah (Ross) Slocum died November 22, 1820, aged seventy-one years, and Giles Slocum dicd November 14, 1826. (See the Susquehanna Democrat, Wilkes-Barré, December 1, 1826, for his obituary.) Giles and Sarah (Ross) Slocum were the parents of three children: Jeremiah, born in 1780; Sarah, born November 4, 1782; Giles, born in 1784.
(ii) Judith Slocum, born in October, 1760, was married at Wilkes-Barre Sunday, February 24, 1782, to Hugh Forseman. The latter was, according to Charles Miner, a native of Ireland. He set- tled in Plymouth Township, Wyoming Valley, in 1776 (sce his name in the tax-lists for 1777, '78 and '81), and upon the organization of Captain Hewitt's Continental company in the Spring of 1778 (see page 957) he became a non-commissioned officer therein. With his company he took part in the bat- tle of Wyoming, and it is said that, of the small number of men of that company who made their escape from the field after the battle, Hugh Forseman was "perhaps the only man who brought in his gun." (See Hayden's "The Massacre of Wyoming," page 57.) He returned to the Valley in the Autumn of 1778, and joined the troops at Wilkes-Barre under the command of Colonel Butler. Shortly afterwards he was appointed clerk, or deputy, to William Stewart, "Commissary of Purchases and Issues for the Wyoming Garrison." In the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is an original document in the handwriting of Lord Butler, Acting Deputy Quartermaster General at the Wyoming Post in 1780, reading as follows: "These are to certify that there is due to Hugh Foresman from the United States the sum of 531 dollars -- for writing on public business.
"Wyoming, February 24, 1780. [Signed] "LORD BUTLER, A. D. Q. M. G."
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September 20, 1780, by and with the advice and approval of Col. Ephraim Blaine, Commissary General of Purchases of the Continental army, Colonel Butler appointed Hugh Forseman "Pur- chasing Commissary for the Wyoming Post," to succeed William Stewart, who was transferred by Colonel Blaine to duties elsewhere in the Commissary Department. The duties of his new office were satisfactorily performed by Mr. Forseman until May, 1781, when the work was again taken up by William Stewart, under an appointment made by the General Assembly of Connecticut-as noted on page 871. At the same time Mr. Forseman was appointed by the General Assembly, and commis- sioned by Governor Trumbull, a Justice of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland. In the Autumn of 1783 the Yankee settlers of Westmoreland appointed Mr. Forseman their agent to present to the Legislature of Pennsylvania a memorial relative to the grievances of the settlers against the Pennsylvania land-claimers. In May, 1783, Mr. Forseman and his family had removed from Wilkes-Barre to Sheshequin, as related in the note on page 980, and there, according to Heverly's "History of Sheshequin" (1902), they lived until 1804, at least. It is probable that soon thereafter they removed to Ohio, inasmuch as Mrs. Judith (Slocum) Forseman died in Ohio-probably in Cin- cinnati-March 11, 1814. Charles Miner makes the following statement in his "Wyoming" (page 304) relative to Hugh Forseman: "A man of business and probity, few shared more highly the gen- eral confidence. As Clerk of the Town [presumably Westmoreland], his writing is singularly neat and accurate. To his care we are indebted that the old Westmoreland records were preserved."
(iii) William Slocum, born January 6, 1762, came to Wilkes-Barre in 1777 with the other mem- bers of his father's family. It was he who was wounded, but who escaped with his life, at the time his father and grandfather were killed by Indians, as narrated on page 1111. The rifle ball with which he was wounded was never extracted from his leg. During the Second Pennamite-Yankee War he was a very active member of the Yankee party. He was married January 4, 1786, to Sarah Sawyer (born May 12, 1764), and shortly afterwards they took up their residence in the house on River Street above South which had been vacated a little while before by Giles Slocum and his family. There they made their home until they removed from Wilkes-Barre. From 1796 till 1799 William Slocum was Sheriff of Luzerne County-which then comprehended the territory now included within the bounds of the counties of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming and Susquehanna, and part of Brad- ford. In March, 1799, William Slocum bought of Nathan Baldwin a farm in Pittston Township, and thither he removed with his family. In 1806 he was elected a Justice of the Peace in and for Pittston Township.
William Slocum died in Pittston October 20, 1810, and his wife died there March 16, 1832. Their children were as follows: (1) Lemuel, born March 24, 1787; married to Nancy Collins Decem- ber 20, 1812; died August 24, 1830. (2) Elizabeth, born October 3, 1788; married (1st) to William Jenkins in 1809, and (2d) to Zenas Barnum in 1815; died August 22, 1869. (3) Frances, born August 26, 1790; married August 30, 1812, to Eleazar Carey (see page 1026) ; died April 7, 1822. (4) Laton, born August 16, 1792; married February 1, 1819, to Gratey (born December 24, 1796; died September 5, 1829), daughter of James and Thankful (Nash) Scovell of Exeter Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Laton Slocum died January 16, 1833, survived by the following-named children: (a) Frances Carey, (b) James Scovell and (c) William. (5) Sarah, born August 12, 1794; died March 17, 1829, unmarried. (6) Rhoda, born July 17, 1796; married May 27, 1829, to James Wright. (7) Merritt, born July 12, 1798; was Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds in Luzerne County from 1836 until his death, July 11, 1838. He was unmarried. (8) Giles, born May 4, 1801; married (1st) March 9, 1826, to Sarah Perkins; married (2d) February 9, 1847, to Sarah Reesc; died May 7, 1878. (9) William, born May 4, 1803; married September 15, 1828, to Ann Levington Stewart of Pittston; died at Hyde Park, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1856.
(iv) Ebenezer Slocum, born January 10, 1766, was in the thirteenth year of his life when the battle of Wyoming was fought and when, a few months later, his sister Frances was carried into cap- tivity. As early as May, 1788, he was a private in the 3d Company (William Ross, Captain) of the 1st Battalion of Militia in Luzerne County, commanded by Lieut. Col. M. Hollenback; and in October, 1790, he was still a member of this company-as is shown by original "returns" in the possession of the present writer. As early, at least, as 1798, Ebenezer Slocum became Captain of the "Wyoming Blues" of Wilkes-Barre, in the Pennsylvania militia. IIe was married at Wilkes-Barre December 3, 1790, to Sarah (born August 31, 1771), daughter of Dr. Joseph and Obedience (Sperry) Davis. In 1798 Ebenezer Slocum and James Duane purchased certain lands and a grist-mill situated alongside Roaring Brook near its junction with the Lackawanna River, in the township of Providence-or, as it was still sometimes called, Capouse. The particular locality referred to was known as "Deep Hol- low." Slocum and Duane enlarged the grist-mill and added a distillery to it, and in 1799 built a saw- mill and a blacksmith shop near by. Duane withdrew from the partnership and was succeeded by Benjamin Slocum (younger brother of Ebenezer) in the latter part of 1799, and a year later Ebenezer Slocum and his family and Benjamin Slocum removed from Wilkes-Barre to Deep Hollow. In the year 1800 the Slocum brothers built in the "Hollow" a forge having two fires and one trip-hammer. All kinds of useful agricultural implements were made at this forge and sold to the farmers of Wyo- ming and Lackawanna Valleys. The aforementioned plants, a small cooper shop, and three or four rude dwelling-houses composed the settlement at Deep Hollow in the year 1801 and for several years thereafter. To this settlement the Slocums gave the name "Unionville," and by this name it was generally known; although as late as 1804 it was commonly referred to as Capouse. (In the Luzerne Federalist, Wilkes-Barre, of September 1, 1804, there is an interesting account of Capt. Ebenezer Slocum's escape from death by drowning in the Slocum mill-race at Capouse.)
In 1805 Ebenezer Slocum built the first frame house at Unionville (there is a picture of it in Pearce's "Annals of Luzerne County," page 222), and it was a landmark for many years. It was torn down in 1875, at which time it was the oldest house in Scranton, and had been known for some years as the "old Slocum red house." In 1811 the Slocums built a second grist-mill and distillery at Unionville, and about that time whisky, flour, feed, lumber and iron began to be manufactured in such quantities as to advance the little settlement to a position of some importance in the Wyoming- Lackawanna region. Then, by the people of this region, Unionville began to be commonly called "Slocum Hollow." Forty or fifty men were employed at the various works in the "Hollow," and the Slocums had several teams on the road carrying their products to neighboring localities. After a few years the iron ore began to fail, and the Slocums made their last iron June 10, 1822. Two or three years later they closed up their distillery, and in 1826 they dissolved their general partnership. Both brothers were at that time possessed of a considerable amount of property.
Slocum Hollow was a quiet, sleepy place from about 1828 until 1840, when, iron-ore and anthra- cite eoal having been discovered on the Slocum and adjoining lands, the "Hollow" entered upon a new life. In the year last mentioned a blast-furnace was built at the village in the "Hollow," which then had a population of 100. Five years later, when its population numbered 500, the village was renamed "Harrison;" but the old name, "Slocum Hollow," still clung to the locality, even after it had attained a population of over 2,700, and been rechristened "Scrantonia." In 1851 the name of the town was shortened to "Scranton"-which name it has since borne.
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