USA > Pennsylvania > Annals of Buffalo Valley, Pennsylvania, 1755-1855 > Part 12
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
April 17th.
Jacob Dreisbach was brought before the committee, and being duly sworn, he saith that he asked Captain Links if he was the man that was to go to Philadelphia for salt, and the said Links answered that he was, and said that he had a sister in Philadelphia, and wanted to see her, and said it would suit him better to go than another who had no errand of their own ; but says, for his own part, he was will- ing to allow Captain Links whatever came to his share of the ex- penses, at the same rate that the rest of his employers allowed him. and further saith not.
.JACOB DREISBACH.
Mr. George Overmire, a member of this committee, declareth that he was present when Captain Links agreed with his employers, and says that he was to have his expenses allowed him, whether he got salt or not.
Captain Links compeared and produced his account for traveling expenses, which amounted to £5 15, acknowledging the receipt of £39 from his employers, part of which he had yet in his hands. and says he could have got salt, but it being salt that had been already purchased or allotted for the use of this county, and was to be distributed over the county at large, it was not answering his purpose to bring it, and there was no other salt he could get to purchase.
Resolved, That Captain Links be authorized to keep the sum of two shillings and eleven pence half penny out of every pound of his employer's money for payment of his expenses, as his account ap- pears to this committee to be very moderate.
WHEREAS, A certain William Read, of Bald Eagle township, has been taken into custody and carried before this committee to an- swer for his conduct in refusing to associate and bear arms in behalf of the States ; and being asked his reasons for so refusing, his an- swers were as follows, viz :
That he was once concerned in a riot that happened in Ireland, commonly known by the name of the Hearts' of Steel, and was taken prisoner, tried, and acquitted, upon his taking an oath of
136
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.
allegiance to the King, and coming [under] solemn obligations never to lift arms against him for the future ; he, therefore, looked upon it as a breach of his oath to muster or bear arms in behalf of the States, as the arms of the States were now employed against the King to whom he had sworn allegiance.
Being further asked if he had any objections to the cause the United States were now engaged in, he said he had not any, and would be as forward and willing as any to join in it, could he do it without breach of his oath. Being asked if he would take an oath of allegiance to the United States, he said he would if it did not oblige him to take up arms.
Accordingly an oath was tendered to him, and he swore as follows :
I do swear to be true to the United States of America, and do renounce and disclaim all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and promise that I will not, either directly or indirectly, speak or act any thing in prejudice to the cause or safety of the States, or lift arms against them, or be any way assistant to their declared enemies in any case whatsoever.
WILLIAM READ.
Whereupon, the committee resolved to dismiss him, upon his pay- ing the sum of seventeen shillings and one penny half penny, being the costs of bringing him before the committee.
In consequence of sundry accounts, from different parts of the county, of a dangerous plot being on foot by some of our enemies to bring on an Indian war, and in particular by an intercepted letter, wrote by a certain Nicholas Pickard, directed to a certain John Pickard, at the house of Caspar Read, in Penn's township, with all speed, a copy of which was transmitted to us by Nathaniel Landon, of Wyoming, and is now before this committee, and is as follows :
WYOMING, March 7th, 1777.
WORTHY FRIEND : I cannot omit but write you a few lines, that I am in a good state of health, and, further, I let you know that, as soon as the river is clear of ice, we shall march from every part ; therefore, I would advise you, as a friend, to go out of the way, for we then, as soon as the river is clear of ice, intend to cut all off ; therefore, I think it is better for you to go out of the way with the rest, for against May it will go as you heard it should go. Perhaps
137
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.]
against Easter I will be with you ; then I shall tell you further, and give you a better account of it. No more at present, but I remain your trusty friend. Give my compliments to them all a thousand times ; tell them all that I intend to see them soon. I have wrote to you as much as I durst.
(Signed.) NICHOLAS PICKARD.
In consequence of which letter, Colonel James Murray and Cap- tain James Espy were sent out, by order of this committee, in search of the said Nicholas and John Pickard.
April 17th.
Captain Espy returned, and brought the body of John Pickard before this committee; and being legally sworn, upon the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God,
He saith, that he went up the river, some time about last Christ- mas, from Middletown to Wyoming, in a boat, and at Wyoming he met with the aforesaid Nicholas Pickard, his own cousin, and that they two went by land about twenty miles further up the river, to a place called Tankhannock, to see some friends, and being in the house of a certain Nicholas Phillips, he, the said Phillips, told his cousin and him that the Indians had told him they would come down, and cut off all against this spring, or as soon as they got their orders ; and that they would in particular strike upon the Mohawk river and the waters of the Susquehannough; and that when he parted with the said Nicholas, at that time, he promised to write to the deponent as soon as he thought there was immediate danger, so that he might go out of the way ; withal telling him that the Indians did not want to kill any that did not take up arms against them, so that if he would go out of the way, or lie still on one side, there would be no danger of him. And further told him, about a fortnight ago, that there were five hundred Indians at Shamung, waiting for their orders from Niagara. Likewise, that he, the deponent, asked the said Nicholas what his reason was for coming down to Caspar Read's at that time, (being about a fortnight ago,) and he told him that the Yankees were going to apprehend him for a Tory, and that a certain Dennis Clark came to him about midnight, and gave him notice of it, and accordingly he made his escape down the river to Caspar Read's, or that neighborhood. And he has told the deponent, that
138
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
[ 1777.
he has wrote him two letters, one of which was sent by a man of the name of Clark, which the deponent thinks is the same Clark that gave him notice to go off; and that Clark took sick upon the way, and when he could not proceed forward with the letter, by reason of his illness, he threw the letter in the fire and burnt it; and that the contents of the letter was, that the Indians were coming down, and for the deponent to go out of the way, and further saith not.
JOHN PICKARD.
An oath of allegiance to the United States being proposed to John Pickard, and bail for his good behavior, he complied with both. and produced Caspar Read as his bail, who bound himself in a bond of an hundred pounds for the good and orderly behavior of John Pick- ard, for a year and a day next to come after this date. Then the oath of allegiance was tendered to him, and he swore as follows :
I do swear to be true to the United States of America, and do renounce and disclaim all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and promise that I will not, either directly or indirectly, speak or act anything in prejudice to the cause or safety of the States, or lift arms against them, or be any way assistant to their declared enemies, in any case whatsover. So help me God.
JOHN PICKARD.
Upon the satisfaction given to the committee by the said John Pickard, it was unanimously agreed that he be dismissed.
April 17th.
Colonel Murray returned, and brought the body of Nicholas Pick- ard before this committee, and being [questioned] anent the aforesaid letter, confesseth that he wrote it, and a copy of the letter being read unto him, he ackowledged the same in every particular ; and further confesseth, that he is in connection with the ministerial troops at Niagara, and that he has taken an oath of allegiance to the King of Britain, but says he was forced to it ; and further, concerning the letter, he says that he wrote it in a kind of mysterious manner, by reversing the letters, so that it might not be understood, in case it should be intercepted ; and that he sent it by a person of the name of Dennis Clark, and that he has seen said Clark since that time, who told him that he took sick upon the way, and, seeing that he could not get the letter forwarded, he had burnt it.
139
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.]
He likewise says that one Nicholas Philips, at Tankhannock, noti- fied him and several others thereabouts to move away with their families and connections to a place called Tiogo, in the Indian country, as the English were coming down to cut off the inhabitants upon the waters of the Mohawk river and the Susquehannough. That there were fifteen thousand of the ministerial troops at Niagara, which were to be divided; four thousand of them were to come down the North Branch and four thousand down the West Branch of Susquehannough, and seven thousand down the Mohawk river, and a number of Indians were to be along with them, and that the person who informed this Philips of it was one John DePeu, who is gone off and joined the English at Niagara, and that he sent him this piece of information by an Indian, after he went off.
Upon due deliberation upon the examination of Nicholas Pick- ard, the committee are unanimously of opinion that he is an enemy to the States : therefore,
Resolved, That he be immediately sent from before this commit- tee to the Supreme Executive Council of this State, to be dealt with as their superior judgments shall direct them in the case, and that John Coates be the person who shall carry him thither, and that he call as many to his assistance as may be needful.
Resolved, That this committee be adjourned till the 10th day of June next, when they are to meet at the house of Mr. Laughlan McCartney, in Northumberland.
January 3, was fought the battle at Princeton, in which Colonel Potter's battalion took part. Washington, it will be recollected, slipped away from Cornwallis at Trenton, made a forced march on Princeton, and had already won the battle there, when Cornwallis, having made a forced march, arrived near Stony Brook. Washing- ton sent an order to Colonel Potter to destroy the bridge at Worth's Mills, on Stony Brook, in sight of the advancing British. Colonel Potter ordered Major Kelly to make a detail for that purpose. Kelly said he would not order another to do what some might say he was afraid to do himself. He took a detail and went to work. The British opened upon him a heavy fire of round shot. Before all the logs were cut off, several balls struck the log on which he stood, and it broke down sooner than he expected, and he fell into the stream. His party moved off, not expecting him to escape.
140
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
[1777.
By great exertions he reached the shore through the high water and floating timbers, and followed the troops. Incumbered, as he was, with his wet and frozen clothes, he made prisoner of an armed British scout, and took him into canıp. (Lossing, in his Field Book of the Revolution, says he was taken prisoner. This is a mistake.) Colonel Kelly used to tell that during this tour, for three days at one time there was no service of provisions, and during the march before and after the battle, they were thirty-six hours under arms without sleep.
Muster roll of Captain Benjamin Weiser's company, at Philadelphia January 30, 1777.
Captain-Weiser, B.
First Lieutenant-Snider, Christopher.
Second Lieutenant-Shaffer, Adam.
Third Lieutenant-Van Gundy, Joseph.
First Sergeant-Hain, Matthew. Second Sergeant-Markle, George.
First Corporal-Moyer, Philip.
Second Corporal-Eisenhauer, Frederick, enlisted in the service of the United States.
Privates-Brosius, George ; Brosius, Nicholas; Faust, John ; Furst, Christian, sick at present, (discharged at Reading, by Doctor Potts ;) Furst, Conrad ; Groninger, Henry ; Hauser, John ; Heim, John ; Herter, John ; Herrold, George; Hosterman, Peter ; Kauf- man, Henry; Kerstetter, Adam; Kerstetter, Martin ; Kerstetter, Leonard; Kitch, Thomas; Leffler, Adam ; Livengood, John ; Mei- ser, John; Moyer, George; Neitz, Philip; Newman, Michael ; Pei- fer, George; Pickel, Tobias; Reitz, Andrew; Shafer, Christian ; Shafer, Nicholas ; Snider, Jacob ; Spengle, Zacharias; Stroub, John ; Troutner, George, (enlisted in the United States service ;) Weis, Peter ; Witmer, Mathias.
28th January, the Assembly passed an act reviving all laws in force on the 14th of May, 1776, and such of the common and stat- ute laws of England as had been in force previously, except the act of allegiance, or those that acknowledged the authority of the heirs and devisees of William Penn, or were repugnant to the lately formed constitution. The courts were directed to be held at the
141
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.]
times and places of old, and the President and Council should desig- nate the presiding justice; in his absence, the justices to chose one. The election for justices was fixed for the 25th of April, two persons from each township to be elected, one commissioned. Licenses for taverns to be granted by the Executive Council, on recommend- ation of the justices. 14th March, register and recorder's offices established in every county ; and on the 14th of June, the county was districted ; Buffalo, White Deer, and Potter placed in the third district. The elections to be held at Fought's mill.
February I, occurred the skirmish at Piscataway, New Jersey. Patrick Kellahan, of Captain Clarke's company, was wounded by a musket ball in the right thigh. He.lay a long while under the doctor's hands. The ball, however, was never extracted, at least in 1786, when Colonel James Murray certified to the facts, in order to his drawing a pension. Peter Nees was wounded in the privates, and died from want of proper care. He left a widow, Mary Nees, and three children. Henry Dougherty and John Fitzsimmons, of Northumberland county, were wounded. Lieutenant Gustavus Ross, of Lee's company, was killed. Captain Thomas Robinson, who was second in command that day, said he was wounded in the bowels, and died that night, at Ash Swamp, east New Jersey. Rob- ert Wilson, who became ensign of Cookson Long's company, and John Norcross, were wounded. Wilson in the left foot, Norcross in the left shoulder.
The following receipt is a curiosity in its way. It bears date 27th May : " Received of Captain John Clarke the sum of five pounds and twelve shillings and nine pence, together with three pounds seven shillings and three pence, together with four pounds, seven shillings bounty and subsistence, being the full pay for a private for three months and eighteen days. I say received by me.
" Jos. GREEN."
During the summer Colonel Kelly was commanding on the fron- tier. Van Campen, in his narrative, says he served a tour of three months with him at this time. Colonel Kelly's guide was Job Chil- loway, a friendly Indian. They were stationed at the Big Island, near Lock Haven.
Job Chilloway, says Jones, in his history of Juniata valley, page 351, spent his latter days on Spruce creek, Huntingdon county,
142
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
[1777.
where he was found dead in his cabin, by some hunters, about the close of the last century. He was a tall, muscular man, with his ears cut so as to hang pendant, like a pair of ear-rings; so said the late E. Bell, Esquire. He was of the Delaware tribe, and his name occurs frequently in the Archives, from 1759 on, as a spy, and always friendly to the whites.
April 5th, General James Potter appointed third brigadier general.
April 22. " Matthew Brown, whose remains lie buried in White Deer Hole valley, was quite a prominent man in our history. He was one of the first overseers of the poor for White Deer township ; in February, 1776, one of the committee of safety for Northumber- land county ; in June 1776, a member of the Provincial Council that met in Philadelphia to dissolve our political connection with Great Britain, and in July, 1776, a member of the State Convention that formed our State Constitution of 1776, which he signed on the 28th day of September, in that year. In the autumn of 1776 he entered our provincial or United States army as a soldier, and while serving thus contracted what was called 'the camp fever,' which compelled him to return home, and finally carried him to his grave. He lies buried here in a field, about half a mile south of my residence. His grave is surrounded with a rude unmortared stone wall, put there by his wife, Eleanor Brown, the widow named in our above list of names. After surviving him for a period of thirty-seven years, she also died, and now lies buried at his side. The inclosure is about ten or twelve feet square in the clear, inside, and contains two upright, plain white marble tombstones, now much discolored and blackened by time, leaving the following inscriptions and noth- ing more, to wit :
.MATTHEW BROWN,
Died April 22d, 1777.' ' ELEANOR BROWN, Wife of Matthew Brown, Died August 9, 1814.'
"And inside of this stone inclosure there stands four living trees, viz : a straight and handsome hickory tree of about sixteen inches in diameter near the ground, and three other crooked and scraggy trees, a wild cherry tree, and two elm trees of some seven or eight
I13
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.]
inches in diameter near the ground. Mr. Brown seems to have been well off, and doubtless owned this land and lived somewhere near where he now lies buried."-J. F. Wolfinger.
Ioth May, occurred the action at Piscataway, New Jersey. Chris- topher Gettig, afterwards many years a justice at Sunbury, was acting first lieutenant that day in Colonel Cooke's regiment. He was wounded in the leg and taken prisoner. His leg had to be amputated. Some of his descendants live near Bellefonte, Centre county, (1877.)
IIth September, battle of Brandywine. Captain John Brady was badly wounded. William Boyd,1 his lieutenant was killed. Adam Christ, of Buffalo Valley, was wounded in the breast, a mus- ket ball passing clear through his body. Samuel Brady was also in this battle. The twelfth was under General Wayne, at Chadd's Ford. General Potter was with General Armstrong at Pyles' Ford. Christ was in Lieutenant Colonel James Murray's battalion, under Potter.
20th, occurred the Paoli massacre. Samuel Brady was on guard, and laid down with his blanket buckled around him. The British were nearly on them before the sentinel fired. Brady ran; and as he jumped a fence, a soldier struck at him with a musket and pinned his blanket to a rail. He tore the blanket, and dashed on. A horseman overtook him, and ordered him to stop. He wheeled and shot the horseman dead, and got into a small swamp, supposing no one in but himself. In the morning he found fifty-five men in it, of whom he took command and conducted to camp.
Ist November, Colonel Hunter writes that he had orders for the third and fourth classes of militia to march, but he had neither arms or blankets for them ; that the first and second classes were on the frontiers, and had all the good arms that could be collected; that the people were in a bad way ; had not got in any crops. For the state of the country, he referred President Wharton to Captain John Hambright, who had been chosen of the Council. That the
1 William Boyd was the son of Sarah Boyd, a widow, who resided at Northumber- land, and a brother of Thomas, who shared in all the dangers and fatigues of the Canada campaign, (see Judge Henry's Memoirs of Arnold's Expedition, ) and fell a sacrifice to Indian barbarity in Sullivan's expedition. Another brother, Captain Boyd, lived at Northumberland many years afterwards. See Meginness, page 280, for his adventures.
144
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
[1777.
county was the worst off of any in the State for salt. His next let- ter, 11th November, Fort Augusta, is as follows :
SIR : This day the third and fourth classes of the third battalion march to join the army of General Washington, under the com- mand of Colonel James Murray. The two classes of Colonel Cook- son Long's battalion I have ordered to duty on the frontiers, as the first class, that was commanded by Colonel John Kelly, has come off from thence, after serving two months, to encourage the poor, scattered inhabitants to return back to their habitations, which I hope will be approved by the Council. The militia that now marches is badly off for blankets, and several go without any, and but thinly clothed, which shows their attachment to the American cause ; though poor, yet brave, and can be depended upon for their integrity. The first class that did duty up the Bald Eagle looks to me for pay. It has come home with the loss of two men, drowned in the river.
Your obedient servant, SAMUEL HUNTER.
By way of appendix to the year 1777, I insert a letter to Gen- eral James Potter. His correspondence, embracing letters from all the principal characters in the Revolution, from General Washing- ton to Lady Harriet Ackland, after being many years carefully pre- served on his garret, were scattered to the four winds, in the mis- fortune of some of his descendants, some twenty years ago. His dark lantern is still in the possession of Colonel William P. Wilson, of Trenton, New Jersey, one of his descendants.
General Potter's positions are indicated as follows : July 22, in command at Billingsport ; 29th August, in command of the first brigade, Pennsylvania militia, at Chester ; September 1, at Wilming- ton ; 2d and 5th moved up to Newport.
HEAD QUARTERS, 31st October, 1777.
SIR: As soon as the Schuylkill is fordable, I shall send over a large body of militia to you, for the purpose of executing some par- ticular matters. The principal one, to endeavor to break up the road by which the enemy have a communication with their shipping over the islands, if it is practicable; and to remove the running stones from the mills in the neighborhood of Chester and Wilming- ton. This last I would have you undertake immediately, with your
1.45
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
1777.]
present force, as I have information that the enemy are about making a detachment to Wilmington, probably with an intent to take post there, and secure the use of the mills. To execute this matter at once, you should impress a sufficient number of wagons for the pur- pose, without letting any person know what they are for, and send them under good officers, with sufficient parties, to the following mills :
Lloyd's, about two miles on this side of Chester ; Robinson's, on Naaman's creek ; Shaw's, about one mile back of Chester, and the Brandywine mills. If there are any other that I have not men- tioned, contiguous to the river, they are also to be dismounted. The stones should be marked with tar and grease, or in some other manner, that it may be known to what mills they belong, that they may be returned, and made use of in the future, and they should be moved to such distance that the enemy cannot easily recover them. If there is any flour in the mills, it should be removed, if possible, after the stones are secured. I am informed that there is consider- able quantity in Shaw's mill, particularly, which there is reason to believe is intended for the enemy. It is very convenient to the navigation of Chester creek, and should be first taken care of. I beg you may instantly set about this work, for the reason above mentioned. That no previous alarm may be given, let a certain day and a certain hour be fixed upon for the execution of the whole at one time, and even the officers who are to do the business should not know their destination till just before they set out, lest it should take wind.
I have yours of yesterday afternoon, and am glad to hear that the flood has done so much damage to the meadows. Endeavor by all means to keep the breakers open. When the party that I mentioned in the former part of my letter gets down, I hope you will be able to break up the dyke effectually.
I am sir, your most obedient servant,
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
P. S. I have desired Captain Lee, of the light horse, to give you any assistance that you may want.
GENERAL POTTER.
From the camp at Mr. Lewes', November 12, 1777, after recom- mending Thomas Jordan for paymaster, General Potter writes :
10
I46
ANNALS OF BUFFALO VALLEY.
[1777.
" As for news. I have not much. Yesterday came up the river thirty-eight sail of the enemy. What number of troops were on board is a secret to me. I went to Chester in the evening, but could not learn. There has been very heavy firing for three days past. The first day they did no damage to the works or the men. I have intelligence almost every day from the city. Howe is the best Whig- maker in the United States. He has converted many from the evil of their ways, and turned them unto the country. Distress and want is likely to abound in the city. I am told the poor would have suffered before this time, if General Washington had not allowed them to get flour at the Frankfort mills. Friend Howe is not a par- tial man. He uses Whig and Tory alike, which is the best thing I can say of him. The friends to the Government lent friend Howe £100,000. I believe by this time they would not refuse security, if offered. The enemy have made two floating batteries, but they are constructed so badly and sunk so deep in the water, they will do us little damage. My men brought in to-day five British soldiers pris- oners. We catch them napping, sometimes. Firing has been heavy to-day, but we stand it as yet. I have tried to get a man to go to Red Bank to-day, and to-morrow I hope I will get an account from there. I have just received a letter from George Read, Esquire, Pres- ident of Delaware State, informing that their militia had seized a number of people, who were supplying the enemy's shipping with fresh provisions, and destroyed six of their vessels in Duck creek. Three weeks ago I advised the taking and keeping of Province and Car- penter's Islands. If this had been done, friend Howe would have been hungry by this time. We have it reported that on Wednesday last our people sank a sixty-four gun ship. On Monday our people took twelve light horse and some foot prisoners. The soldiers in the city say often that they look upon themselves as our prisoners. One day one of the sentinels told Major Taylor so.
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.