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 III > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108
Messrs. Gore and Franklin attended, as Representatives from Westmore- land, the regular semi-annual session of the General Assembly of Connecticut, held at Hartford, in October, 1781, and early in the session presented the above- mentioned memorial to the Assembly.
At Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army, "together with all the officers and seamen of the British ships in the- Chesapeake, prisoners of war to the combined forces of America and France," under General Washington. This act caused a practical suspension of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States, and was virtually the end of the War of the Revolution.
When, some days later, the news of this surrender became known in the principal cities of the country, there was great rejoicing; and just about that time the members of the General Assembly of Connecticut, being undoubtedly in a generous and joyous state of mind, unanimously voted to grant the prayer of the Westmoreland petitioners.
At this same session of the Assembly there was presented to it a very full and detailed report on losses sustained by the inhabitants of Westmoreland, which had been carefully compiled in pursuance of the resolution adopted by the Assembly in May, 1780-as set forth on page 1251. In the Lower House it was ordered that this "report be lodged on file in the Secretary's office." This action was duly concurred in by the Upper House-and the report still "lodges" in the State Capitol at Hartford, without any further action upon it ever hav- ing been taken by the General Assembly of Connecticut or any other legislative body. The document in question will be found in the collection of MSS. re- ferred to in paragraph "(3)", page 29, Vol. I, and it reads as follows:
"A BILL OF LOSSES sustained by the inhabitants of the Town of Westmoreland from the 3d Day of July, 1778, to May, 1780, taken and carefully examined by the Select Men of sd. Town, Pursuant to a Resolve of the Assembly of the State of Connecticut holden at Hartford the second Thursday of May, 1780. And is as followeth :-
£
S.
S.
Samll. Andross
26
15
Ishmael Bennet.
96
17
Isaac Adams.
103
64
Isaac Bennet
61
7
Richardson Avery
155
0
Asa Bennet
199
12
Alice Abbot
173 6
Henry Burney
71
15
Prince Alden
83
17
Moses Brown.
13
S
Mason F. Alden
5
13
Andrew Blanchard 49
15
Noah Adams
83
5
John Blanchard.
23
S
Cornelus Atherton
103
0
Joseph Blanchard.
54
9
Samll. Ayers
100
10
Margaret Blanchard. 79
2
James Atherton.
120
9
Lucretia Buck 90
14
Richardson Avery Jnr
137
13 James Benedict. 228
13
Eber Andross.
120
9
Capt. Jeremiah Blanchard
215
14
Col. Zebulon Butler
429
4 Benjamin Baily. 134 17
Zerah Beach, Esq.
67
13 Asahel Burnham. 35
6
*The original is "No. 143" in the collection of documents described in paragraph "(3)", page 29, Vol. I.
TIMES ENG DERT
FORT RICE AT MONTGOMERY'S NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY
1281
£
S.
Isaac Benjamin.
9
0 Daniel Lawrence
37
0
Thomas Brown
61
0
George Liquors. .
136
18
Thomas Bennet.
507
0 Abigail Leech
82
0
James Brown.
165
4 Joseph Leonard .
79
19
Capt. James Bidlack
65
19
John Lassley . . .
53
2
Sarah Brockway
205
7
David Linsey .
78
7
Joseph Baker .
124
13
Edward Lester
109
11
Elisha Blackman.
137
1
Samll. Morgan
135
8
Elizabeth Benedict.
144
13
Thomas McClure.
66
1
Bether Bixby.
36
13
John Murphy.
86
3
James Bagley
95
15
Benj. Merry.
78
2
Mary Bixby.
74
8
Ebenezer Marcy
118
12
Capt. Caleb Bates
285
4
Uzania Manvill
46
17 0
Wm. Buck
245
5
Thos. Neil
4
Elijah Buck.
103
18
James Nisbitt.
74
19
Abigail Bidlack.
63
10
Phinehas Nash
70
0
David Brown.
28
16
Richard Brockway
163
17
Daniel Owen.
24
0
Mehitabel Bigford.
202
1
Amos Ormsby
7
1
Uriah Chapman, Esq.
53
10
Anning Owen
174
12
Samll. Cummins. .
151
5
Josiah Pell.
73
10
John Cary.
93
10
Lucy Pettibon
79
7
Wm. Churchill.
178
16
Hannah Parish.
44
12
Anne Campbell.
100
5
Thos. Picket, Jr.
66
0
Nathan Cary.
166
4
Hannah Peirce [Widow of Timothy].
151
6
Benjamin Cole, Jr
165
0
111
11
James Cole.
207
3
91
2
Peleg Comstock
40
13
Thos. Porter.
200
0
Mary Crooker.
51
1
Josiah Parks.
49
19
John Comstock
219
7
Noah Pettibone.
216
1
Jonathan Cory
173
11
Jonathan Prichard
30
15
Jinks Cory.
83
0
Jonth. Parker
54
12
Barnabas Cary
88
17
Silas Parks, Esq ..
91
10
Samll. Cole.
89
6
Elijah Phelps
550
10
Preserved Cooly
95
19
Sarah Pixley
26
19
Col. Nathan Dennison
209
15
John Ryon .
18
3
Samll. Downer.
22
19
Wm. Ross.
320
0
Daniel Downing
107
0
John Ross.
63
17
David Darling.
13
0
Susanna Reyno'ds
28
10
Sarah Durkee.
240
18
Peran Ross
233
9
Amos Draper
68
18
Abigail Richards
135
3
Samll. Dart
124
4
David Reynolds
94
7
Anderson Dana, Esq.
194
15
Capt. Samll. Ransom.
259
0
Frederick Eveland
90
6
Capt. Daniel Rosecrant
175
10
Samll. Ensign
38
10
James Roberts.
83
18
Joseph Elliott
33
7
Jonah Rogers.
168
17
Henry Elliott.
40
14
Amasa Roberts
92
10
Benjamin Eaton
369
10
Timothy Rose
118
11
Nathaniel Evans.
61
19
Caleb Spencer
182
17
Capt. Stephen Fuller
288
4
Margaret Smith
155
1G
Roswell Franklin
104
0
James Stark.
547
15
Charles Foresythe.
15
3
Lazarus Stuart, Jr.
172
12
Capt. John Franklin
21
Isaac Smith
67
10
Benj. Follet.
118
17
Joseph Staples.
223
0
Jabez Fish.
223
0
Esther Spencer
135
0
John Ferre, Jr.
61
11
David Sanford.
193
John Ferre. .
61
18
Elizabeth St John
162
0
Hugh Foresman.
193
11
Elisha Scovel.
712
1
Sarah Fuller
101
13
Jonth Scovel.
72
0
Esther Follet.
221
7
Ebenezer Skinner
89
1
James Finn
221
11
Wm. Shay
114
15
Elizabeth Follet
212
3
Josiah Smith
83
19
Richard Fitz Jarold.
245
2
Obadiah Scott.
72
15
Jonathan Forsythe.
138
16
Jedidiah Stevens .
285
0
Jonathan Fitch, Esq.
46
10
Joshua Stevens
119
11
Capt. Eliab Farnham
27
Zacharias Squire
66
16
Joanna Fish.
30
17
James Sutton. 176
17
Major John Garet
309
11
David Shoemaker
50
0
Hannah Gore.
Daniel Sherwood.
40
1
John Garret, Jr.
59
16
Edward Spencer, Jr.
85
7
Daniel Gore.
273
13
Thos. Stoddard.
200
8
Cornelius Gale.
7
14 David Smith
202
15
Thos. Picket. .
Ichabod Phelps
John O'Neil.
18
£ S.
1282
£
S.
S.
Wm. Gallop.
200
0 Jane Shoemaker . 329
12
Solomon Goss
31
14
Benj. Skiff
98
7
Justus Gaylord
134
14 Doct. Wm. Hooker Smith. . 168
7
Keziah Gore.
89
0 Wm. Stuart.
57
17
Obadiah Gore, Esq.
306
1
Giles Slocum
205
19
Elisha Garret. .
29
0
Asa Stevens.
185
11
Catherine Gaylord [Widow of Lient. Aaron Gaylord].
158
4
James Staples
80
19
Joseph Gaylord. .
69
6
Martha Stuart
481
12
Stephen Gardner
176
18
Jabez Sill.
351
19
Nathaniel Gates.
66
14
John Staples .
224
12
James Gardiner
180
0
John Stafford.
36
6
Wait Garret. .
108
6
Luke Sweatland.
200
0
Bezaleel Gurney
59
7
Joseph Thomas
120
18
John Hurlbut, Esq.
85
7
Mary Thomas
25
0
Peter Harris.
149
16
Ephraim Tyler
14
19
Lebbeas Hammond.
84
18
Parshall Terry 216
30
19
Joseph Hagaman
19
0
Job Tripp.
113
1
Henry Harding.
5.5
12
Isaac Tripp
74
10
Matthew Holonback.
671
3
Lebens Tubbs
180
5
Doct. Joseph Hamilton
284
17
John Taylor
61
14
James Hopkins
90
6
Preserved Taylor
18
2
Capt. Robert Hopkins
28
18
Mehitabel Truks
159
4
Samll. Huchinson
163
9
Moses Thomas.
68
3
Simeon Hide.
117
17
Bezaleel Tyler
35
17
Widow Hasen and son.
182
10
Elisabeth Tuttle
67
10
Samll. Howard
27
15
James Towser
36
0
Mary Howard
50
1
Isaac Van Orman
122
0
Benjn Harvey
186
0
John Van Tilberry
84
9
Mary Hatch .
62
7
Rev. Noah Wadhams. 193
6
John Hutchins
57
1
Amy Willcox. 116
12
Capt. Stephen Harding
181
13
Elisabeth Willson 87
15
Stutley Harding
73
6
Enos Wooddard.
30
19
James Headsall
210
0
Enos Wooddard, Jr.
16
7
Thos. Heath.
190
0
Eliezer West
53
10
Cyprian Hybert
119
13
Nathl. Williams
30
0
Daniel Ingersoll
208
2
Abigail Weeks.
129
16
Sarah Inman. .
161
10
Mary Walker.
42
5
Richard Inman
41
17
Eunice Whiton
26
7
Edward Inman.
84
6
Daniel Welling
44
17
Revd. Jacob Johnson
459
4
Tho :. Wigton
175
6
John Jemison.
88
11
Isabel Wigton
130
1
Crocker Jones
9
0
Wm. Warner.
68
16
Wm. Jackson
106
1
Wm. Williams
148
18
Robert Jameson
183
16
Jonath. Weeks
239
11
Capt. Wm. Judd.
19
2
Flavius Waterman
90
0
John Jenkins, Esq. Josiah Kellogg. .
146
12 Richard West
65
17
Michael Kelly
21
11 Amy Williams.
130
0
Benj. Kilburn
92
16
Daniel Whitney
363
14
Hannah Keys
178
14
Abraham Westbrook
380
2
Alexander McKay.
277
4
. James Wells
92
12
Sarah Lee. .
236
6
Lucretia York
221
13
Thos. Leavensworth
122
14
Jemima Yale
130
3
Sarah Leonard
75
0 Jacob Zuvalt.
42
11
Rufus Lawrence
189
11 [286 Names],
TOTAL AMOUNT .. £38,308 13
"The foregoing Bill was carefully examined in each single account, and estimated in lawful money equal to money in 1774 .* Certified by us:
"JOHN HURLBUT,
"Westmoreland Oct.
"NATHAN DENISON, /
"JOHN FRANKLIN,
Select Men"
"JAMES NISBITT,
"JABEZ SILL.
*Previous to the Revolutionary War paper money was issued to a greater or less extent hy each one of the thirteen Colonies. . Originally the issues were authorized to meet the necessities of the Colonial treasuries. Many of the Col- onies, therefore, went into the Revolutionary War with paper already in circulation, and with all of the Colonies making issues for the expenses of military preparations. .
In the year 1774, and earlier, six shillings in the "lawful money" of Connecticut were equivalent to one Spanish milled dollar, which was valued at 4s. 6d., sterling; equal to $1.09-in American money of to-day as stated in the note on page 252, Vol. I.
After the Revolutionary War was well under way "hard money" hecame very scarce in the country. But inas- much as money of some kind had to be had hy the Government. and as the Continental Congress had no power to
12
Richard Halsted
177
6
Mary Thompson
Elizabeth Gore.
240
0 Josiah Stanberry
603
14
John Scott.
217
3
the 2d 1781.
598
1
Elihu Williams.
197
10
1283
After the capitulation of Cornwallis, Washington sent 2,000 troops to reinforce the army under General Greene, and then dispatched the balance of his army, including the soldiers from Westmoreland, to Winter cantonment along the Hudson, north of the city of New York. Washington himself went to Philadelphia, to "endeavor to stimulate Congress to the best improvement of the late successes of the army, by taking the most vigorous and effective measures to be ready for an early and decisive campaign the next year." In a letter to General Greene, about that time, Washington wrote that he feared the Congress might "too much magnify" the importance of the surrender of Corn- wallis, and "may think our work too nearly closed, and fall into a state of languor and relaxation."
To the soldiers, leading a life of inactivity in the Winter camp along the Hudson, there soon came a feeling that the war was really over, and that ere long peace would be declared. Consequently many of the men-particularly those who were husbands and fathers-applied for their discharges. Among these men were a number of the Westmorelanders in Captain Spalding's company.
At Philadelphia, under the date of January 3, 1782, Washington wrote to Maj. Gen. William Heath (in command of the Continental posts on the Hudson, with his headquarters at West Point) in part as follows :*
"Every proper indulgence has been granted to the soldiers of the Connecticut company raised at Wyoming. When they were removed from thence last Spring, by order of Congress, Colonel Butler had liberty to grant furloughs to those whose families would be most distressed by their absence; and he did so. If there are others under the same circumstances, I should have no objection to their being allowed the same indulgence, a like number of those upon furlough being called in. But I cannot consent to the interference of the State [of Connecticut] in giving discharges. That is a matter altogether foreign to their power."
tax the people or the States, and as the members of the Congress were accustomed to paper issues as the ordi- nary form of public finance, the Congress hegan to issue bills on the faith of the "Continent", to be used as a circulating medium. These hills, denominated "Conti- nental Currency" (as explained on page 898, Vol 11), were payable in Spanish milled dollars, "or the value thereof in gold or silver.".
The first issue-made in August, 1775-was for 300, 000 dollars, redeemable in three years. Bills for 9,000, 000 dollars were issued before any depreciation began. Undoubtedly their value must have been affected by the bills issued by the separate Colonies, for these, too, depreciated in value as the War went on. At the end of the year 1778 the Continental paper dollar was worth sixteen cents in the northern States and twelve cents in the south. Early in 1780 its value had fallen to two cents, and before the end of the year it took ten paper dollars to make a cent. As Washington said, it took a wagon-load of money to buy a wagon-load of provi- sions. In October, 1780, Indian corn sold wholesale in
Boston for $150. per bushel; butter was $12. a pound, tea $90., sugar $10., coffee $12., while a barrel of flour cost $1,575. Samuel Adams paid $2,000 for a hat and a snit of clothes. The present writer has in his posses- sion an original receipt given to Zebulon Butler hy Ben- jamin Harvey, at Wyoming, February 7, 1780, for "one hundred and twenty-eight dollars for a sow and two pigs." (See the last paragraph in the note on page 1225, Vol. II, relative to the value of certain articles in Connecticut in 1780.)
Nº 19556
One Shilling & Six-Pence.
At-000-2 -01-0 2 -0 1-0 2-0 8- ## #-HE Poffeffor of this BILL, a-T-#- fhall be paid by the Tiea- ****** furer of the Colony of Con. ne Eicut. One Shilling & Six-pence, Lawful Money, by the firfi Day off
POUL.T
Jimoary, A.D. One Thoufand, Seven Hundred, and Eighty-two. By Order of Affembly, Dated Hartford, June 19th,- A. D.
The Continental Currency soon ceased to circulate freely, being no longer a legal tender or receivable in 1 776. 1/6. 1/6d. payment of taxes. Debts could not be collected, and there was a general prostration of credit. The early Glylyes issues of the money were so worthless that barber-shops were papered with it. To say that a thing was "not worth a Continental" became the strongest possible ex- pression of contempt. By the close of the year 1780 the Kommit'e o Currency had ceased to have currency. "Like an aged FACSIMILE OF CONNECTICUT CURRENCY Issued in pursuance of a resolution of the General As- sembly of the Colony passed June 19, 1776. man, expiring by the decays of nature, without a sigh or a groan, it fell asleep in the hands of its last posses- sors. * * * The money had, in a great measure, got out of the hands of the original proprietors, and it was in the possession of others, who had obtained it at a rate of value not exceeding what was fixed upon it by the scale of depreciation." Attempts were subsequently made to have it funded or redeemed, but without success.
Concerning the Continental Currency Pelatiah Webster (see note in Chapter XXII, post) wrote: "We have suffered more from this than from every other cause of calamity. It has killed more men, pervaded and corrupted the choicest interests of our country more, and done more injustice than even the arms and artifices of our enemies."
*See "Massachusetts Historical Collections", Fifth Series, IV: 235.
1284
At Fort Wyoming, Wilkes-Barré, under the date of January 4, 1782, Lieut. Samuel Shippard,* an officer under Captain Mitchell at the Wyoming post, wrote to Col. Zebulon Butler, at "Camp Connecticut Huts," in part as follows: "The troops at this Post are supplied agreeable to the new mode. I have requested to be relieved, and expect the matter will be gone through with in three or four weeks. * *
Mrs. Shippard joins with me in our compliments to Colonel Butler, as also to Captain Spalding."
At Wilkes-Barré, under the date of January 8, 1782, Lord Butler wrote to his father: "I believe there never was known to be such weather [here] at this time of the year since this place was settled. The river is banks full-as high a freshet as almost ever has been seen at any time of the year."
At Wilkes-Barré, January 9, 1782, Hugh Forseman wrote to Colonel Butler in part as follows:+
"With respect to the particulars of the affair between Captain Mitchell and his men: They have laid six different complaints against him, * (1) for selling their shoes to * * the inhabitants; (2) for giving them, or ordering them to get, condemned beef for five weeks; (3) for making them receipt in full for their rations, when they received only part; (4) for selling or lending three barrels of whisky to some of the inhabitants; (5) for punishing [soldiers] without their first being tried or examined; (6) for ordering men on fatigue [duty] to work for the inhabi- tants, and not getting any pay for their labor."
In Hanover Township, only a few miles below Fort Wyoming, on Sunday, April 7, 1782, there occurred an Indian outrage, concerning which Miner ("His- tory of Wyoming," page 301) declares: "A more distressing tragedy scarcely crimsons the page of history!" A very detailed and interesting account of this outrage, written by the late Rev. David Craft, D. D., and read before The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, in October, 1907, is printed in Vol. X of the Society's "Proceedings and Collections," under the title: "The Capture and Rescue of the Family of Rosewell Franklin " The following facts have been gleaned from Dr Craft's article and from "Historical Sketches of Roswell Franklin and Family," by Robert Hubbard, Dansville, N. Y., 1839; and "Sketch of the Life of Rosewell Franklin," by the Rev. Charles Hawley, D. D., read before the Cayuga County (New York) Historical Society, January 14, 1879, and published in Vol. VII of the Society's Collections.
About the beginning of April, a band of thirteen Indian warriors, bent on murder and plunder, quietly stole into the valley. Before reaching the settle- ments they separated into two bands, five of the Indians going in one direction, while the other eight made their way to the locality where Lieut. Roasel Frank- lint lived-in the block-house mentioned on page 925, Vol. II. In the morning of the 7th Lieutenant Franklin went into the woods in search of some of his hogs which were missing. The various members of his family were busy about their home, when the eight Indians previously mentioned suddenly entered the
*In 1779 he was First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 3d New Jersey Regiment, and took part in the Sullivan Expedition.
+The original letter is itt the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.
#ROASEL FRANKLIN, whose name appears frequently in these pages, was a man of activity and prominence in Wyoming, almost from the first days of the settlements here under the Susquehanna Company. In the various Wyo- ing histories his Christian name is commonly spelled "Roswell" or "Rosewell"; but it was undoubtedly "Roasel", as is evidenced by his signature attached to several original documents now preserved in the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.
He was horn about 1732 or '33 undoubtedly in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and was the hrother or sou of Jehiel Franklin of Woodhury, who, at Westmoreland, May 3, 1774, conveyed land in Hanover Township to Thaddeus Braughton of Woodbury,-Roasel Franklin having conveyed to the same man, in the preceding March, certaitt land which he owned in Hanover.
In 1755 and '56 Roasel Franklin served as a soldier in a Connecticut regiment in the French and English War, and in 1762, as a Connecticut soldier, took part in the expedition against Havana-described on page 482, Vol. I. of this work. He was married (first) September 22, 1760, at Southbury, Connecticut, to Jerusha ( horn August 17, 1740) , daughter of Stephen Hickok.
Roasel Franklin came to Wyoming in the Summer of 1769, having been preceded here a few months by his brother John. (See first paragraph of note "}" on page 1,227, Vol. II.) The latter was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Elisha and Susanna (Higley) Blackman, mentioned in the note on page 1,067, Vol. II, and one of their children was Arnold Franklin, who, after the death of his father, became a member of his uncle Roasel's family, and later was carried into captivity hy Indians, as narrated heretofore. John Franklin was slain at the hattle of Wyoming, and Decem-
-
SENTRY'
N
ADAMS
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER
PITTSTON FORT
1285
house. Painting the faces of Mrs. Franklin and her four children, they quickly ransacked the house, set fire to it, and beat a hasty retreat to the woods with their plunder, and the mother and her children as their captives.
Soon after the marauders had left the scene Lieutenant Franklin returned to find his house ablaze and his family gone, he knew not whither. With the direful news he hastened to Fort Wyoming, where the alarm-gun was fired, giving notice to the people of the valley of the presence of the enemy. A party was immediately organized to pursue the Indians and, if possible, rescue the captives. Sergeant Thomas Baldwin led the party, and the other members of it were: Joseph Elliott, John Swift, Oliver Bennett, Waterman Baldwin, Gideon Dudley,- Cook and Taylor.
The same day the pursuers set off up the Susquehanna, and several days later interrupted the retreat of the pursued near the mouth of Wyalusing Creek. A sharp fight ensued, at the beginning of which Mrs. Franklin and her children who had been left between the lines of the opposing parties, and could hear the singing of the bullets as they sped from both directions, stood up in order to attract the attention of their friends. Mrs. Franklin being slightly wounded by one of the bullets, she and the children were ordered by the Indians to lie down close together behind the trunk of a fallen tree, and to keep still or they would be killed.
Hearing voices up the hill in the direction whence the pursuing party had come, Mrs. Franklin raised her head and looked that way. Instantly one of the savages shot her, and she died almost immediately. The Indians then fled, one of them carrying off on his shoulder Mrs. Franklin's infant, Ichabod, who was never seen or heard of again. The bodies of two or three dead Indians together with several tomahawks and guns, remained upon the field, while during the encounter Gideon Dudley had been wounded in one of his hands, and Oliver Bennett had been badly wounded in one of his arms. The body of Mrs. Franklin having been buried on the spot, in as decent a manner as circumstances would ber 31, 1782, Roasel Franklin was appointed administrator of his estate by the Probate Court of Westmoreland; Leb- betis Tubbs being surety in the sum of £100.
In 1771 Roasel Franklin was a lot-holder and settler in Wilkes-Barré. Upon the organization of the town of Westmoreland in 1774 he was chosen one of the Selectmen of the town. In 1777 he was Lieutenant of the 5th Company of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and the next year took part with his company in the battle of Wyoming. In 1780 and '81 he was a Lieutenant of Capt. John Franklin's company of Westmoreland militia. ( See pages 1,229 and 1,230, Vol. II.) After the murder of his wife Lieutenant Franklin was married (second) June 22, 1783, to Mrs. Elizabeth Lester, widow of Edward Lester, mentioned on pages 1,106 and 1,107.
(The two daughters of Mrs. Lester, upon their release from Indian captivity, made their home with their mother and step-father until their respective marriages. The younger daughter married- -Benedict, and in 1839 was living near Brockport, New York-her widowed mother, then in the ninety-eighth year of her life, residing with her.)
On the renewal of the land controversies in Wyoming Lieutenant Franklin and his family removed (about 1784 or '85) to Choconut, now Union, in the State of New York. Later he moved to Wysox, in what is now Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and in March, 1789, accompanied by his family and that of his son-in-law, Ebenezer White, moved to what is now Aurora, New York, where he built the first house occupied by a white man in Cayuga County. There. in the Spring of 1792, through stress of trouble and the loss of property, he committed suicide.
At Aurora, on February 22, 1861, at the request of the citizens of the village, an historical address was delivered in memory of Lieut. Roasel Franklin, by his grandson, the Rev. William S. Franklin, then of Genoa and later of Syracuse, New York. On September 24, 1879, the people of Aurora celebrated the centennial anniversary of the destruction of some Indian villages near there by the Sullivan Expedition. The celebration in part was held at "the old foundation" of Roasel Franklin's first log house, which was well decorated with flags and bunting. A grass-covered mound, at the northern end of the village of Aurora, about twelve rods east of Lake Cayuga, marks "the old founda- tion"-a slight elevation the place of the chimney, and a depression the location of the door-place.
The children of Lieut. Roasel and Jerusha (Hickok) Franklin were as follows: (1) Joseph, born about 1765; killed by Indians in Wyoming Valley in 1779. (2) Roasel, or Roswell, born June 22, 1768. (3) Olive, born in 1769; became the wife of - Stevens of Dansville, New York. (4) Susanna, born in 1771. (5) Thankful, born in 1774; died in 1779. (6) Stephen, born in 1776. (7) Ichabod, born in 1780.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.