USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > Athens > A history of old Tioga Point and early Athens, Pennsylvania > Part 17
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"I am happy to have it once more in my power of manifesting my friend- ship to you, which I shall ever cherish with the fondest recollections."
As to other settlers here at this early date there seems to be no definite record. Craft says :
"It is very certain that quite a number of Loyalists had homes of more or less permanence, extending from Tioga Point to Chemung, but their name and locations cannot be fixed and would be of little historical value if they could."
"Provost's Plantation" was one of these. John Jenkins, in his field notes of the first survey, gives this as "Genl. Provost's plantation N16E98 rods to a ridge of land near the fording across the river." As this is above "the end of a mountain on the other side of the river," we locate it about where the old Elsbree farm house is, below Tozer's bridge, or thereabouts. Of this Walker says: "Which the writer has ascertained was located on Pitney Snyder farm, at the foot of Spanish Hill, where subsequent settlers found buried quite an amount of house- hold utensils, such as iron kettles, pewter dishes, etc." This is an error, doubtless due to the fact that Provost was confounded with some other Loyalist, settled temporarily in this vicinity. One called Fitzgerald's farm was mentioned by Sullivan's soldiers as opposite Barton, and in ruins in 1779.
9 In the narrative of Mountpleasant in the "Holland Purchase" he says: "Our best hunting grounds used to be off toward Genesee river; Secord was an early and successful white trapper in this region." We may infer from this that it was as a hunter and trapper that John Secord first came into this region, possibly before settlement at Tunkhannock, and, of course, was well acquainted with the British at Niagara.
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OLD TIOGA POINT AND EARLY ATHENS
When the news of the battles of Concord and Lexington reached the Susquehanna settlement, a meeting was called at Wilkes-Barre, August 23, 1776, the result of which was the organization of the First and Second Independent Companies of Wyoming, mustered into service September 17, 1776, joined Washington's army December 12. The settlers all along the river, Spaldings, Bucks, Smiths and others, left their farms, and returned to Wyoming to join these companies. There was also formed later the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Connecticut Militia, whose history has been well told by Hon. Charles Tubbs. (See pamphlet published by Tioga Point Historical Society.)
Tioga Point in the Early Days of the Revolution.
Naturally, this strategic point was of much use to British, Tories and Indians during the Revolutionary struggle, though somewhat slightingly treated by general historians. Not only was it useful as commanding Pennsylvania, but, by the establishment of Fort Schuyler, the old Indian trail between the Mohawk Valley and Upper Canada, much used by Brant, was unsafe. A new route was adopted by Iron- dequoit Bay, up the Genesee and one of its tributaries to the Conhoc- ton, thence to Painted Post and down the Chenung through Newtown to Tioga Point, thence up the Susquehanna to Unadilla. The latter became Brant's northern headquarters, whence were made the de- vastating raids on the valleys of the upper Susquehanna, Mohawk, Delaware and Hudson. Tioga Point seems to have been his southern headquarters, the place where councils were held with the British, raids planned, etc. For it quickly became the rendezvous for Indians, British, Tories, and deserters from the American army ; the latter find- ing shelter at Sheshequin with Lord and Hopkins, and at Tioga with the Secords. The hostilities began by raids down to the river on the unprotected settlers from Tioga Point to Wyalusing.10 Those who were not cruelly murdered were held captives at Tioga Point, or for- warded to the British fort at Niagara; or, in case of sudden alarm, sent to Unadilla. For "from Tioga Point to Unadilla," says Judge Avery, "our valley was their stronghold, unvisited by colonists except as captives. * * Here they drilled and trained themselves to warlike feats and prepared for those deadly incursions into our frontier settle- ments, * 'and to this valley they returned as to a fortress."
To protect themselves, Miner says, that in 1776 or '77 a system was established at Wyoming by which scouts were sent up the river to watch Indian trails and bring intelligence. Each party, of five or seven men, was generally out a week, their number increased as emerg- encies required. Few, if any, of these scouting parties reached Tioga Point, though many of its settlers were included in the parties, and their stories are handed down to the present generation, full of hair- breadth escapes and blood-curdling experiences. The following inci-
10 "About the first of December, 1777, the Tories and Indians pillaged the house of Richard Fitzgerald at Standing Stone, and made captive Mr. Lemuel Fitch, who never re- turned. This was the first hostile act in the valley-the Yankees were not therefore the first aggressors as has been charged." (From Wm. Houck's postscript to David Allen's narrative, Smiley mss., found in the Craft Collections.)
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TORIES AT TIOGA AND SHESHEQUIN
dent, given to Rev. David Craft by Steuben Jenkins, we think has never been in print :
"Wyoming Sept. 22, 1875 I to-day had a visit from O. N. Worden (editor of first Athens paper) and obtained from him a very interesting document, of which the following is a copy: 'Concerning news I would inform you we had some men went up the river on business and the Tories and one Indian toke them, but let them all come away except John Jenkins wome they have takeing to Niagary we suppose, and our people went up, a party of them and have killed the one Indian and tok and brought down 25 Tories nigh their whole parti, So now we expect to be at peace no more, but our regards to all our friends and greatly desire to hear from you all.'
"The document is without date in time or place, and also without signa- ture. It was said to have been sent to Elisha Worden as a 'note of warning' in December 1777; and though talked of a good deal in Worden family it was found only a short time ago in Vermont by O. N. W. It would seem from this that the taking of John Jenkins a prisoner was the direct cause of sending up the force under Lt. Col. Dorrance by order of Col. Denison to arrest the tories about Wyalusing and above.
"STEUBEN JENKINS."
The expedition to which Mr. Jenkins refers was as follows: On December 20, 1777, Col. Denison11 sent a force of 112 men under com- mand of Lt. Col. Dorrance up the river. They came as far as Sheshe- quin, raided the house of Captain Hopkins, known to be a refuge for tories and deserters, took some prisoners, and returned to Wyoming.
C. F. Heverly, in "Sheshequin," narrates (without corroborative references) that Hopkins was an Indian, commissioned Captain by the British, and that he lived on present Culver property, that during the attack Hopkins was shot by one Rufus Baldwin, and that "this was the first blood shed in this valley during the Revolutionary contest," that Hopkins recovered and was at the battle of Wyoming.
The following memorial to the General Assembly of Connecticut was submitted by Col. Denison in January, 1778 :
"On December 20, 1777, I was informed that a band of Tories was forming in order to stir up the Indians of Tioga to join said Tories, and kill and destroy the inhabitants of this state, upon which information I ordered a part of my regt. to be equipped and march to suppress the conspirators ; and also sent an express to the tribes of Indians at Tioga. The express was in service seven days."
He then gives number of men who participated, and says :
"The men marched up the river about eighty miles, and took sundry Tories, and happily contented the Tioga Indians and entirely disbanded the conspirators."
This would seem to indicate that there were still friendly Indians at Tioga. However, this quiet was not long continued, and the year 1778 opened with renewed hostilities all along the river. In March a second expedition was sent from Wyoming of 150 men under Col. Dorrance, whose avowed purpose was to remove the Whig families to safety. At Wyalusing this force constructed a raft of some of the timbers of the deserted Moravian houses, on which they removed sev- eral families with their belongings. Christopher Hurlbut, later a pioneer at Athens, was one of this rescuing party.
Dr. Craft found in Connecticut Archives, State Paper No. 98, a Memorial of Samuel Gordon and Thomas Wigton to the General
11 Commander of the 24th Conn. Regt.
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Assembly of Connecticut, wherein it is set forth that Gordon "out of regard to the welfare of the settlement offered to venture his life to make a discovery of the situation of a number of Tories who lived up the river at a place called Tioga and Sheshequin." He made the ex- pedition, and by the negligence of John Jenkins, who agreed to follow him with a force of men, Gordon was taken prisoner, evidently early in 1778. The whole paper is not at hand, but this shows where the Tories were known to be in force.
The familiar names of Van Gorder and Van der Lippe are found on lists of Tories, but we have been unable to follow up the history.
The next Indian raid was, however, but two months later, show- ing them still undaunted. Indeed, by June, 1778, there was scarcely a white family, except Tories, left above the Lackawanna.
John Hilborn, a Quaker and a native of Bucks County, in June, 1778, was taken prisoner by Indians near Stroudsburg and carried to Niagara with other white men. At Tioga Point they rested, and all the loads so far carried on backs were put into canoes and paddled up the Chemung. (From Miss Blackman's "History Susquehanna County.")
Further extracts from the narrative of Mrs. Whittaker, afore- mentioned, are here introduced :
She relates that her family lived at Wysox, then called Wysock- ton, having settled there five years before the Wyoming massacre. On the 20 May, 1778, while they were at breakfast, 13 Indians, 3 squaws among them, swooped down upon them and captured them, i. e., her mother, six children, her grandparents and three sisters of her mother. Her father had gone that morning to Wyoming to arrange, if possible, to move his family there, fearing the Indians. The Indians made Rudolph Fox, who lived at Towanda, go down with them, so that the Stropes would not fly on their approach. He was not a Tory, but a good-natured German. On their return he got away at Towanda and managed to get his family to a place of safety, fearing his turn might come soon. Mrs. Whittaker thought the Indians were Senecas ; they came from the Genesee.
"They took us at once to Tioga Point. There they gave us to Butler at the head of his rangers, composed of Indians and British soldiers. I was about eleven years old at that time. While at Tioga we picked our living from the fields and woods, strawberries, raspberries," etc. (The boys of the party were allowed to fish to eke out this scanty subsistence.) "We saw some prisoners run the gauntlet at Tioga Pt and Oquaga-the women and children pelting them as they ran with their clubs and stones & striking them with their whips. Our party was not compelled to run the gauntlet. When we were taken prisoners they tied the arms of our men, & sent them to Niagara & put them in confine- ment except the two boys left with us. When we were brought to Tioga, we found the flats there & at Owego cleared and corn raised. The stumps from many of the flats were off. Strawberries were wonderfully abundant."
An enlightening account of the preliminaries of descent upon the Mohawk and Susquehanna valleys in 1778 is found in "Annals of Buffalo Valley," copied by Mr. Craft, Note Book No. 5, pages 136 et seq., tell of an intercepted letter, written by a certain Nicholas Pickard to his cousin, both evidently Tories :
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THE DESCENT ON WYOMING
"Wyoming March 7, 1777, Worthy Friend-I let you know that as soon as the river is clear of ice, we shall march from every part, therefore I advise you to go out of the way, for we then-intend to cut all off, therefore I think it is better for you to go out of the way for against May it will go as you heard it will go. Perhaps against Easter I will be with you and give better account-I have wrote as much as I durst. "NICHOLAS PICKARD."
According to minutes of the committee of safety of Northumber- land County sworn testimony of the cousin John shows that is a promised note of warning, the Indians having apprised Nicholas Phil- lips, a Tory at Tunkhannock :
"That they would come down and cut off all against this Spring, or as soon as they got their orders, and would in particular strike upon the Mohawk river and the waters of the Susquehannough,-and that they did not want to kill any that did not take up arms against them, and if he would go out of the way there would be no danger. And that about a fortnight ago, (April 1777) they told him there were 500 Indians at Shamung waiting for their orders from Niagara, and 15,000 of the ministerial troops of Niagara which were to be divided, 4,000 to come down North Branch of Susquehanna, 4,000 down the West Branch; and 7,000 down the Mohawk river, and a number of Indians were to be along with them, and that Nicholas Phillips of Tunkhannock notified Pickard and several others to move with their families to a place called Tiogo in the Indian country and that the informant was John De Peu who had gone and joined the English at Niagara, and sent this information by an Indian."
We are in ignorance as to the delay of the expedition for one year. As Mrs. Whittaker has said, the final preparations for the inva- sion of Wyoming were all made at Tioga Point, under the supervision of the British Major, John Butler, and the Indian Brant. It is acknowl- edged pretty generally nowadays that the famous Joseph Brant was not at Wyoming, but the affidavit of Robert Jones, made at Minisink only a week after the massacre, shows that he was at least called in council. Jones says that he was at Oghwaga (now Windsor) with Brant, while there :
"Came an express from Butler to Brant ordering him to march imme- diately to Tioga, which orders Brant immediately obayed, and stayd eight or nine days, saying when he returned that he had been at a treaty; that the In- dians refused to join in an expedition to the northward unless they were first assisted to cut off the inhabitants of the Susquehanna; at which treaty it was agreed that Butler should go to Wyoming, and that Brant should stay at Anah- quago and collect all the provision he could against the return of Butler."
By this deposition it surely appears that the Indians were specially anxious to dispossess the Connecticut settlers.
It is unnecessary in this history to give the oft told story of Wyo- ming Massacre, but it is worth while to consider this great gathering at Tioga Point-1,100 men, 400 British and Tories, the latter largely recruited by Brant along the upper Susquehanna, and 700 Indians, mostly Senecas, it is said. Of course, all of Queen Esther's braves were there. Imagine the busy scene! The modern historian tells us the canoes for this great force were made at Tioga Point, though it has long been said that they were made up the Cohocton or upper Cayuga Branch.12 However, it was a busy camp. Where was it? 12 "The canoes which carried a large party of Tories and Indians to Wyoming in 1778, were made on the Canisteo. At the settlement of the upper valley of that river the trunks of trees, which proving unfit for use had been abandoned after having been partially wrought, with other traces of work, and some tools and weapons, were found on the farm of Col. J. R. Stephens near Hornellsville. The settlers had this fact also from the Indians."-Erwin's Painted Post History.
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OLD TIOGA POINT AND EARLY ATHENS
According to Mrs. Whittaker, John Secord, the well-known Tory, was the sutler or commissary. As already told, he had seven acres (prob- ably cleared), from river to river, just below the Museum-Library. The natural landing place was at the back of the present Museum- Library site. There is every indication that the camp was located there, and that one may look to-day from the windows of the Tioga Point Museum and imagine the fleet of canoes starting on their voyage of destruction.
Mrs. Whittaker heard them speak of killing white dogs and roast- ing them. This curious Indian feast was over. Each warrior had partaken of the flesh said to give courage and bravery. Each warrior had put on their hideous war paint, black striped with the red ochre, such as is seen to-day in the museum. Some of them had the imposing feather head-dress, waving above their heads or tied at the side, Eng- lish fashion, with cord and tassels. Now they are all ready. John- son's Royal Greens, in their bright uniforms, adding to the hideous picture. One's heart thrills with horror, as did that of the miserable white captives, when, standing in their canoes, the Indians join in their awful war songs. The gibbering squaws and screaming children on the bank are giving them good speed, and the fleet is off on that ter- rible. expedition, ending in the well-known Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778. It does not seem necessary in this history to repeat the oft- told tale.13
There were many families at Wyoming who came later to this lovely valley, and there are a few stories that have not been told, which were oft recounted to her children by Elizabeth Satterlee, who at the time of the massacre was a trembling child of thirteen, with an invalid mother and several small brothers and sisters. Her father, Benedict Satterlee, it is supposed, fell in the battle or during previous dis- orders. Was it not Elizabeth herself who, crouching behind the bed, sought to defend the others with the musket still possessed by her descendants, and well named "Old Trusty." Then came the awful moment when she had to yield, and one as awful when the Indians painted all their faces to keep trace of them. Brave as ever, she begged of the Indians her own pet pony, which they were driving away with other horses. The girl's assurance touched the Indians, and they par- leyed with her and put her to a strange test. The captured stock was all to be driven over a small bridge. The Indians asked her if she could tell her horse's step among the others; she said she certainly could. So they told her to go under the bridge; that they would ride her horse over with the others, and if she could tell its step they would leave it for her. This she was willing to try, and they rode ever so many horses over several times, but she always knew the step of her own. And after all this test, the horrid savages took it away from her. Then came the dreadful journey back to Connecticut, of which each survivor had a different tale of harrowing experiences. None but old, feeble men, very young boys, women and children to go. Yet they were warned by their enemies, when driven out, that if found near
13 For complete account see Harvey's "History of Wilkes-Barré," p. 972, et seq.
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THE FLIGHT FROM WYOMING
Wyoming after a certain time they would all be killed. So the pathetic company started through the dense forest, with only one or two old horses and hardly any food. When relating this to her children, Mrs. Matthewson would always pause and say, "But the Lord mercifully fed us all the way with whortleberries, which grew so thick that we gath- ered all we needed without ever stopping as we went along." She said that when night came they all were obliged to lie down under the open canopy of heaven, without any covering save that of angels' wings. She said they would look out a place to lie, in or near some little bushes, such as alder or whortleberry, that they might have the partial covering their leaves afforded.
After several days they reached the Delaware at Stroudsburg, where they met with two companies of the Continental troops, who had been sent to the succor and relief of the people of Wyoming, but too late. Here they remained a week or more, and received rations from the military stores of the two companies. The mother, Mrs. Satterlee, had a young baby and was not strong, so they gave her the use of a horse most of the way. When only a day's journey from their destina- tion, their Connecticut friends, who had heard of their coming, met them at a small settlement with horses and food. The poor, tired mother asked to go in a house and lie down for a while to rest ; she fell asleep. The company waited a while, and she did not waken; they de- cided to go on and return for her the next day. But she never waked -she died of fatigue ; and Elizabeth, left with the younger children to care for, soon developed the great determination and masterful char- acter well known in later years. Small wonder that there was an ele- ment of fierceness in the tiny, delicate body after such an experience. Though she never seemed to have much enmity for the Indians, the Tories had her undying hatred ; she never had the least bit of toleration for them. How she would and could have fought them, frail as she appeared, was shown in the contests of strength that in her old age she loved to have with her grandchildren and their playmates. Unques- tionably, her hatred of the Pennsylvania claimants was increased by the remembrance that they were supposed to sympathize with the Tories.14
There are many more stories of the massacre and the flight that could be told, but as much of this was never before printed, it has seemed wise to give it as a typical picture of the distress of those days.
The Strope captives were still at Tioga Point when the party re- turned from Wyoming, laden with booty, among which, says Mrs. Whittaker, were cattle and horses in great numbers ; though she heard them say that some of the cattle tumbled off from Breakneck Hill and were killed. The Indians and other forces, and all the prisoners, went up the Susquehanna to Bainbridge and Teunadilla soon after their re- turn, going in canoes. While there, two British soldiers deserted ; curiously enough, making their way toward Tioga Point. They were overtaken at Nichols ; court-martial was dispensed with, and they were shot down at once. Their bodies were left on the ground, as not
14 For much of these interesting reminiscences we are indebted to a grandchild, Mrs. Annie Washburn Lee.
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worthy of burial. Queen Esther (who told the story to the Stropes), however, herself superintended the digging of graves and had them buried in Indian fashion.
Some of the Indians returned to Tioga Point with their captives, remaining there undisturbed until after Hartley's expedition. (This proves that Hartley did not come above the old town of Diahoga.)
Afterwards all the captives were sent to Fort Niagara with an In- dian escort. On their way they stopped at French Catherine's a week or two. There the Indians had a great pow-wow, the squaws all went off evidently for the Green Corn dance.15 (From Mrs. Whittaker's Narrative.)
Judge Avery thus comments :
"There was something particularly interesting, so say various writers, in the Festival at the commencement of the year. A white wampum-the emblem of purity with the Indians was placed in the centre of the group & each Indian in his turn walked to the center of the room-took the white wampum in his hands-expressed in strong terms his determination for the future to lead a good Indian's life-talking his resolution 'into the wampum' as they signified it. In all their councils & treaties with the whites they passed a wampum, or belt as we would call it, over to the person for whom the harangue was intended. This was talking the law or the terms of the treaty into the wampum. There was an officer in the Confederacy whose special duty it was to preserve the wampums. He was called the keeper of them. He would be called in our deliberative bodies a Clerk-Keeper of the Records.
"We cannot but admire this simple & firm belief of our Indian predeces- sors in the existence & superintending care of the Great Spirit-so far in ad- vance of the Polytheism of the Ancients-There was also among our predeces- sors an entire freedom from anything like idolatrous worship. In their simple faith they followed back to its source the warm ray which loosened the trickling sap-which reddened the berry-which embrowned the tassel of the corn & per- fected the harvest. The Indian savage with untutored mind but with a thankful heart looking from his yearly blessings as they returned up to the hand of Ha- wen-nee-gar-the Great Spirit-who gave them."
15 Judge Avery thus comments here: "The dances, of which Mrs. W. mentions two, were important festivals, five or more occurring in the year; they were of a religious char- acter, thanksgivings to the Great Spirit for the yearly return of various blessings. The first was the Maple Festival, thanks being returned for the first running of the sap. The next was the Strawberry Festival, the first fruit of the season. The next was the Green Corn dance, when the corn was large enough to use. The next the Harvest Festival, and the last at the commencement of the new year, a propiatory ceremony that the Great Spirit would bring a return of usual blessings. These were all very sacred, conducted with gravity and decorum until the dancing commenced, when gay costumes, eagles' plumes, and ornaments of various sorts added brilliancy to the scene."
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