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 36
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tSee "Pennsylvania Archives", Old Series, X: 621.
ĮMr. Benjamin Bailey is here referred to His house, at that time, was at the corner of North Main Street and Public Square
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then went to assist a certain Mrs. Spaulding, a lone woman, to remove her family and property, but he had scarce left the gate of the Fort when he was fired upon by the aforesaid Connecticut party. That they continued to fire upon the inhabitants, wounded a boy of about twelve years old, an old man above sixty-five years of age, and shot at a very young boy riding on a horse, and wounded the horse; and that Hostilities had not ceased on Sunday morning, the twenty- fifth instant, when he left the place."
Samuel Kerr deposed as follows:
"On July 23rd Lord Butler took him, the deponent, prisoner to John Franklin where he received considerable abuse and was ordered to turn off from his premises. Likewise Ishmael Bennet threatened to blow out his brains if ever he, the deponent, was seen on the ground again."
Mrs. Catherine Sims, aged thirty years, a resident of the village of Wilkes- Barré, and undoubtedly, the wife of William Sims, who was an inmate of Fort Dickinson during its investment, deposed as follows:
"In the forenoon of the twenty-third of July last, the deponent saw a number of the Conn- ecticut settlers coming from the Woods southward of the house in which the deponent lived in Wyoming [Wilkes-Barre]. As they directed their course towards the house, the deponent fastened the door. When they came up they ordered her to open the door & let them in; she refused, and then they attempted to force the door open, but failing in that, they burst open & broke a Window, at which one entered & opened the door inside & let the rest in. William Slocum burst open the Window. When the party came in they turned her out, & ordered her to go into the Fort, which she said she would not do, as she had rather stay in her own house.
"They then went to the Window and began to fire upon the Fort. They fired several guns upon the fort before one shot was returned. William Slocum and William Ross were the only two of the party that Deponent knew. After firing pretty briskly for about half an hour they went off, leaving the Deponent and her children in her house. The next morning Giles Slocum and Phineas Pearce came to the Deponent's about breakfast time, and asked for Deponent's Hus- band. She informed them that he was not at home. Giles Slocum looked about the house, and observed to the Deponent that she had removed some of her Effects; she answered no, that she had taken her Bed & slept with her children in the Cellar, as she was afraid to stay up stairs. Giles Slocum and Phineas Pearce, who both had fire-arms, went into the Garden and crept through the potatoes up to the head of the Garden toward the fort, and laid down under the fenee.
"While Slocum & Pearce lay in the Garden, Phineas Stephens and two others came to the door and, seeing the Deponent's two Cows at the door, Stephens ordered the other two that were with him to take off the Cows. The Deponent entreated them at least to leave her one Cow, but they would not. The deponent took hold of the Rope of one of the Cows, but Stephens struck her away, & ordered her to remove with her children, for if he caught her in the house again it would be worse for her. The deponent was forced to remove. While she was trying to get a few of her things out of the house, Nathan Carey, Richard Inman, one Hibbard, one Gore, Wm. Ross, Nathan Walker & many others came up to the house. A short time after she removed into the fort. A smart firing begun soon after.
"The Deponent before she went to the fort went to John Franklin who commanded the Connecticut party to endeavour to get her Cows. He gave her no satisfaction. Every thing the Deponent left in her house was plundered and her garden destroyed."
Elizabeth Van Norman deposed as follows:
"On Saturday, the 24th of July, as I was helping Mrs. Sims to move her effects to the fort. I heard Richard Inman & William Hibbard, in Company with a Number of others, Declare that as long as there was six of them Living they would lay in the woods and would kill and Destroy all they could. At the same time Richard Inman told me to move away, for there was one of their men gone to John Swift for orders to shoot at Women & Children. During this time the Connecticut People kept up a constant fire towards the fort. The Tuesday following, as I was fetching a Pail of Water, there was Eight guns fired at me by the aforesaid Connecticut Party."
The Supreme Executive Council met at Philadelphia, on Saturday, July 24, 1784, when several letters from Northumberland County were read. They had been brought to the city by Justice David Mead, were addressed to Lieut. Col. James Moore, and gave accounts of the recent disturbances at Wyoming -dwelling in particular on the skirmish at Ross Hill, on July 20th. The Council immediately ordered that the Sheriff and magistrates of Northumberland County "be directed and required to exert every legal means in their power to suppress these or any future outrages, and if possible, bring the authors of them to im- mediate punishment." The Council also ordered that Col. Thomas Craig*, lieutenant of the county of Northampton, be instructed "to hold some part of the militia of the said county in readiness to march at a moment's warning,
See note, page 670, Vol. 1I.
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should the temper of the malcontents at Wyoming make a military interference necessary."
The same day Lieut. Col. John Armstrong, Jr., Secretary of the Council, wrote to the magistrates and the Sheriff of Northumberland County as follows :*
"We are sorry to learn that the disturbances in the neighborhood of Wyoming have within these few days revived under so serious a form & that the two parties have proceeded to actual hostilities. In this situation it becomes the duty of Council to require you, by every legal means in your power, thoroughly to investigate the facts & to proceed with the utmost vigor & impar- tiality so that every Person committing an outrage upon the peace of the County & the dignity of the State may be duly punished. The more effectually to countenance these proceedings Council have thought proper to direct the Lieutenant of Northampton County to hold a militia detachment in immediate readiness to proceed to your aid, should any assistance of this kind be thought necessary."
This letter was placed in the hands of David Mead, who, without delay, set off for Sunbury. Meanwhile Capt. John Armstrong and Constable William Brink were hastening from Wilkes-Barré to Philadelphia, where Brink arrived July 26th, and the next day went before Chief Justice Mckean and made the affidavit printed on page 1398. Armstrong having left Wilkes-Barré on July 25th, reached the city on the 28th, and the same day made the affidavit printed on pages 1395 and 1400.
When the Supreme Executive Council met on July 29th, a number of papers including the depositions of Armstrong and Brink-relating to the disturbances at Wyoming, were laid before it. Chief Justice Mckean (having just been re- appointed to his office) attended in Council, and was instructed to issue writs forthwith upon the depositions of Armstrong and Brink. The Council then adop- ted the following preamble and resolutions:+
"The Council taking into consideration the evidence before them, and the emergency not permitting to wait any longer for the sense of the Honorable the General Assembly-
"Resolved, That the peace and good order of Government are interrupted by sudden and dangerous tumults and riots near Wioming in the county of Northumberland for the suppression of which the immediate aid of the militia is expedient and necessary.
"Resolved, That the Lieutenant of the county of Northampton be directed immediately to draw forth a detachment of 300 infantry and twelve or fifteen light dragoons, properly officered and equipped, from the militia of the said county.
"Resolved, That the Sheriff of the county of Northumberland immediately raise the posse of that county, and that the Lieutenant thereof add his authority to that of the Sheriff, so that the aid of the militia of the said county may be forthwith and effectually obtained, as the exigency requires.
"Resolved, That the militia and posse aforesaid act under the direction of the Commissioners hereinafter appointed for suppressing the tumults and riots aforesaid, and in duly executing the laws of the State.
"Resolved, That the Hon. John Boydt and Lieut. Col. John Armstrong, Jr., § be appointed Commissioners for carrying into execution such measures as shall be judged necessary and ex-
*See "Pennsylvania Archives", Old Series, X: 295.
+See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records", XIV . 167.
#JOHN BOVD, JR., who, at the time of his appointment, was a member of the Supreme Executive Council, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1750, the third son of John and Sarah Boyd, who had immigrated to America from the North of Ireland, in 1744. Some time prior to the erection of the county of Northumberland, the Boyd family removed from Chester County to what is now the borough of Northumberland. William Boyd, who was a Second Lieutenant in the 12th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, and was killed at the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, and Lieut. Thomas Boyd, who was an officer in the Sullivan Expedition, and was taken prisoner aud put to death by the enemy (as related on page 1215, Vol. II), were sons of John and Sarah Boyd.
John Boyd, Jr., was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 12th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, October 16, 1776. Col. William Cooke (not "Cook", as erroneously printed in the note on page 818, Vol. II) command- ed the "12th" at that time, and among its line officers were Capt. Alexander Patterson and Lieutenants Blackall William Ball, Christian Gettig and John Armstrong, mentioned hereinbefore. Lieutenant Boyd was promoted First Lieu- tenant and transferred to the 3d Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, in July, 1778, and was promoted Captain- Lieutenant, August 13, 1779. During his connection with the 12th and 3d Regiments, Captain Boyd took part in the battles of White Plains, Germantown, Brandywine and Stony Point. At the last-mentioned place he was one of the fifty men who composed the "forlorn hope" led by Gen. Anthony Wayne. January 17, 1781, Captain Boyd was re- tired from the 3d Regiment and appointed Captain of a company of Pennsylvania Rangers raised in Bedford County.
Linn, in his "Annals of Buffalo Valley", Pennsylvania. says that some time in 1781 Captain Boyd marched with his Rangers, numbering about forty men, on an expedition to the Juniata River. Near Raystown they were surprised hy a large body of Indians, who, after a sharp fight, compelled the Rangers to flee in disorder, leaving Captain Boyd, severely wounded in his head, a prisoner in the hands of the savages. He was placed in charge of an old Oneida squaw, who dressed his wounds and attended him with care during the march of the war party back to Canada. She accom- panied him to Quebec, where he gained admission to a hospital, and, attended by a British surgeon, soon regained his health. He remained at Quebec until he was exchanged."
Captain Boyd was retired from the military service of the State in the latter part of 1783, and about that time became a member of the Pennsylvania Branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1784 and later years he was fre- quently referred to as "Major" Boyd. He was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in 1784,
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pedient for the support of the civil authority, by establishing peace and good order in the county of Northumberland.
"Resolved, That John Van Campen*, Esq., be appointed Commissary to furnish provisions to said troops."
Immediately upon the adoption of the foregoing resolutions, Colonel Arm- strong sent a copy of the same to the Lieutenant of Northampton County, Col. Thomas Craig, at Easton, together with a letter reading as followst:
"Captain Boyd and myself have already directed a supply of ammunition to be forwarded to you. We shall exert ourselves to procure an immediate conveyance for it. The resolutions which regard the county of Northumberland are dispatched thither by Express, & we hope that an immediate co-operation may be brought about. I have now to request, from personal as well as public motives, that you will make choice of such officers as, from your acquaintance with them, will best merit your nomination & the confidence of the State. * * We propose * to set off to-morrow [Thursday, July 30th] or next day, at farthest, and hope to find ourselves enabled to proceed without any great delay.
On the same day (July 29th) Colonel Armstrong wrote to the Sheriff at Sun- bury, and sent with the letter, several writs to be executed at Wyoming. He also wrote to Capt. William Wilson, Lieutenant of the county of Northumberland, as follows:
"Enclosed you have a copy of some resolutions of Council of this day. They are of such a nature as to require your greatest possible industry & attention.
"In addition to them I have to tell you-that Council, from the confidence they have in your capacity & Attachment, wish you to engage for the supply of the Troops which may be called forth by your Order. The price they propose to give is 10} pence per Ration. The quantity to be procured must depend upon your own Calculations-for as this business will be subject to much Contingency, it is impossible for Council to hazard a single conjecture on that score.
"I have also to communicate their wishes that you will not only pay the greatest attention to the Character of the Officers nominated to the Command of the men (& by all means avoid such as have been distinguished by their predilections to either side of the Question), but that you will also come on with the troops yourself to the ground opposite to ye mouth of Nescopeck Creek, where we will endeavour to meet you with the Northampton Detachment. As it is im- possible to calculate with much precision upon the movements of Militia, we cannot venture to name the day on which we shall be there, but the probability is that we shall reach it before you, as it is our intention to move as expeditiously as possible. If so, we will communicate with you by letter, or otherwise, & direct to what other point you are to shape your movements.
"The Sheriff of your County will receive the Orders of Council to co-operate with us, & under the countenance we shall afford, be prepared to execute the writs which have been issued by the Judicial authority.
"You will remember, also, to bring with you whatever ammunition or other public stores that may be deposited at Sunbury. If you should have no powder, you will make a purchase of such quantity as will be necessary for your party, as it might be imprudent to come forward without it.
"I have only to add, yt. if you should be at the place of Rendezvous before us, you will take such steps as will best secure you against disasters of any kind. All this command, however, you are to exercise with great address, & let it appear to be rather the effect of advice & persuasion, than the result of authority."
At Philadelphia, on July 29th, President Dickinson, of the Supreme Executive Council, issued a letter of instructions to Commissioners Boyd and Armstrong, reading as follows§:
"You are so well acquainted with the intentions of Council in appointing you Commissioners, that it is unnecessary to say much to you upon the subject. You will use the utmost diligence to forward the embodying and equipping of the Militia, so that they may march with all possible expedition. We doubt not but you will so effectually guard, that, in their movements, the Troops
'85 and '86, and in December, 1787, was a member of the Pennsylvania convention which ratified the Federal constitu- tion. He was a Presidential Elector in 1792, and was appointed by President Washington an Inspector of Internal Revenue for Pennsylvania. He was Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds for Northumberland County from Decem- ber. 1805 to January 18, 1809. At the close of the war, Captain Bayd engaged in mercantile business at Northumber- land in partnership with Capt. William Wilson. They also built at Chilisquaque, in 1791, a mill which they operated for a number of years.
Captain Boyd was initiated a member of Lodge No. 22, Ancient York Masons, at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, January 27, 1780, being the first person made a Free Mason in this Lodge. In the following July he became one of the original members of Pennsylvania-Union Lodge, No. 29, A. Y. M., referred to in first paragraph on page 1346. He was re-admit- ted to member hip in Lodge No. 22, May 2, 1787, and was Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1789, 1799, 1800 and 1801. Captain Boyd was married May 13, 1794, to Rebecca, daughter of Col. Jobn Bull, of Northumberland, and they became the parents of five daughters and two sons. Captain Boyd died at Northumberland. February 23, 1831.
§Colonel ARMSTRONG was at this time Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council.
*A resident of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, whose name is several times mentioned in these pages. He agreed to furnish rations to the troops for the sum of ten and one half pence per ration.
tSee "Pennsylvanis Archives", Old Series, X: 303.
#See ibid. 304.
§See "Pennsylvania Archives", Old Series, X 591.
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are not exposed to any surprizal; and that the Militia of the Counties of Northampton and North- umberland may support each other.
"You will aet in such manner as to convince the Insurgents that while we are determined to have Justice rendered to all persons without distinction, we are also resolved to preserve peace and good order within the Commonwealth. If this end cannot be attained without employing force, you will give such orders as shall appear to you most advisable for executing the laws of the State and impressing a just Respect for them."
Returning now to Wilkes-Barré, we find that on July 29th, the following- named persons arrived here from Sunbury, to wit: John Scott, Coronor of Northumberland County ; Thomas Hewitt, a Justice of the Peace; and William Mc- Cord, an influential citizen of the county. From the headquarters of the Yankees (by whom they were well received) these gentlemen, on July 30th, addressed a Communication to Alexander Patterson, Blackall W. Ball and Samuel Read, at Fort Dickinson, in which they set forth that, at a recently-held meeting of the magistrates, county officers and a number of the leading citizens of Northium- berland County, the "distressed situation" of the inhabitants of Wyoming -"both New Englanders and Pennsylvanians"-had been taken into consider- ation. and Messrs. Scott, Hewitt and McCord had been appointed a committee to repair to Wyoming and "request both parties to cease hostilities until the further mind of the Council and Assembly be known."
In conclusion the committee wrote: "In pursuance of the above. we, the subscribers, are arrived for that purpose, and do crave a conference with you, either by committee to meet a committee from the other party-or otherwise, as you shall think most proper. We would wish you to be as expeditious as possible, as we are under an obligation to make our return as soon as possible."
To this communication Messrs. Patterson, Ball and Read responded im- mediately, as follows *: .
"We are honored by yours of this date, and conceive ourselves much obliged by the trouble you and the magistrates of this county have taken in this instance. There will be no hostilities commenced on our parts, and we shall be happy to see you at the Garrison when you think proper to honor us with a visit. Everything that may tend to the good of this Government, and the safety of the lives of the citizens, shall be strictly observed on our part. We wish a conference with you, as soon as may be, at this place. Capt. [Andrew] Henderson waits upon you for an answer, or to accompany you to the Garrison."
To this the committee sent a reply by the hands of Captain Henderson, to the effect that they would like to meet the representatives of the Pennamite party at three o'clock in the afternoon of that day at the inn of John Hollenback; and stating, further, that the committee had "the utmost assurance from Mr. John Franklin, Mr. John Swift, Mr. Phineas Peirce and others" that those persons who should represent the Pennamites at that meeting would be "treated with the utmost civility." To this Captain Patterson and his associates answered :
"We would be happy to meet you at Mr. Hollenback's, But we wish first to know whether you are the only Persons that we are to meet; and whether you, as an Embassy from the Magistrates of this County, are restricted from having Egress and Regress to any part of said County. Per- mit us to observe, that we cannot coneeive it consistent with our duty to meet at the place appoint- ed, being at too Great a distance from the Garrison."
In reply to this the Sunbury Committee of Mediation sent to the fort a messenger carrying a flag of truce and a brief communication to the effect that, inasmuch as the committee was "not permitted to enter the Garrison," and as the house of Mr. Hollenback was declared "to be too far from the Garrison," the occupants of the garrison were desired to send.a committee as soon as possible under a flag of truce, to the house of Mr. Slocum, to meet the Sunbury Committee. To this a reply was sent the same day (Friday, July 30th), signed by Alexander
*See "Pennsylvania Archives", Old Series, X: 625.
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Patterson, B. W. Ball, Samuel Read and Andrew Henderson, and reading as follows:
"We received your last, per Flag. We will meet you instantly at the place appointed. In the interim we expeet all hostilities to cease. It shall be strictly observed on our part, but we are sorry to inform you that this instant our people were fired upon."
Colonel Franklin states, in one of his "Plain Truth" articles, that the meeting arranged for through the foregoing correspondence duly took place, and "a cessation of arms was agreed on between the Yankees and the party in the Garri- son." Two days later (Sunday, August 1st), at three o'clock in the afternoon, the same parties met again by agreement, under a flag of truce, at the house of Giles Slocum, (on River Street, just north of South Street), and later in the day the Sunbury Committee set out on their homeward journey.
As noted on page 1401, Lieutenant Colonel Moore was in Philadelphia, when, on July 24th, the Supreme Executive Council resolved that the County Lieutenant of Northampton should be instructed "to hold some part of the militia of the said County in readiness to march at a moment's warning," etc. The resolves of the Council were placed in the hands of Colonel Moore, and he immediately repaired to Easton.
Upon his arrival there he received some fresh news from the seat of war at Wilkes-Barré, brought by Isaac Van Norman; whereupon Colonel Craig (the County Lieutenant) and Colonel Moore, conceiving that in all probability it would soon be necessary to send a force of militia to Wyoming, resolved to immediately embody some twenty or twenty-five volunteers, place them under the command of Capt. William McDonald*, and send them forward to some point of vantage on the Sullivan Road, there to go into camp, guard the only approach to Wyoming Valley from Easton and the lower end of Northampton County, and await further orders.
Captain McDonald and his party (several of whom were New Jerseymen), accompanied by Isaac Van Norman, marched from Easton on Wednesday, July 28, 1784, and following the Sullivan Road, proceeded to a point on the road about one-half mile from the south-eastern end of Locust Hillt, in what is now Tobyhanna Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Here there was a clearing of some size-made about a year beforet-in which there stood a small log house, occupied then or later by a man named Brown. This place was forty-three miles from Easton and twenty-two and three-quarters miles from Fort Dickinson, at Wilkes-Barré. About the time the party reached this point-which was in the afternoon of Friday, July 30th-they were joined by Colonel Moore.
Leaving this vanguard of Northampton County Pennamites at Locust Hill, let us turn our attention again to Wilkes-Barré, where, on July 30th, as before stated, representatives of the Pennamites in Fort Dickinson, under the command of Alexander Patterson, and of the Yankees garrisoned in certain houses in the village of Wilkes-Barré, under the command of John Franklin, held a conference with the Committee of Mediation from Sunbury.
From Colonel Franklin's "Brief" and "Plain Truth" articles we learn that late in the evening of July 29th an express from Easton arrived at Wilkes-Barré,
*Colonel Franklin, in his "Brief", refers to McDonald as "a noted villain from New Jersey who had been active in driving off (from Wyoming] the Yankee women and children, and had made his escape from the valley the morning the Yankees surrounded the Garrison "
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