USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 11
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On the 31st of July, at the head of three thousand men, General Sullivan, breaking up his camp at Wyo- ming, began his march up the river. Accompanying the troops were three hundred boats laden with provisions, cannon, and munitions of war, and following in the train were many hundreds of pack-horses. The whole ad- vanced in admirable order, and presented a most imposing spectacle. On the 11th of August the army arrived at Tioga, where it was soon joined by General Clinton. General Clinton had dammed the waters from Otsego Lake, by which he had formed an artificial flood, upon the bosom of which he floated his troops in three hun- dred boats, a distance of one hundred miles to the place of union. From Tioga, Sullivan and Clinton advanced to a point near what is now Elmira, New York, where they met and defeated Colonel John Butler, with all his forces. They burnt and destroyed the Indian villages, their orchards and crops, and spread fire and ruin through- out the whole territory of the Six Nations.
On the 13th of September, Lieutenant Thomas Boyd,
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of the rifle corps, in command of twenty-four men, left the main army to reconnoitre. At Little Castle, on the Genesee river, he surprised, killed, and scalped two In- dians. "On his return," says Miner, "Boyd was sur- rounded by a strong detachment of the enemy, who killed fourteen of his men, and took him and a soldier prisoners, eight only escaping. The next day the army accelerated its march, with the hope of releasing Lieutenant Boyd. On arriving at the Genesee Castle his remains, and those of the other prisoner, were found surrounded by all the horrid evidences of savage barbarity. The torture-fires were yet burning. Flaming pine-knots had been thrust into their flesh, their finger nails pulled out, their tongues cut off, and their heads severed from their bodies. It is said that Boyd was brought before Colonel Butler, who examined him, Boyd being on one knee, a warrior on each side firmly grasping his arms, a third at his back with a tomahawk raised. What a scene for a limner ! ' How many men has Sullivan ?' 'I cannot tell you, sir.' ' How is the army disposed and divided ?' 'I cannot give you any information, sir.' 'Boyd, life is sweet, you had better answer me.' 'Duty forbids, and I would not, if life depended on the word; but, Colonel Butler, I know the issue, my doom is fixed.'"*
October 8th. Sullivan's army returned to Wyoming. After resting two days it marched on the 10th, and on the 15th encamped at Easton.
Captain Spaulding's independent company, and a com- pany of militia under John Franklin, accompanied Sulli- van's army into the Indian country. Colonel Z. Butler remained at home in command of the garrison at Fort
* Lieutenant Boyd was a brother of Colonel John Boyd of Northumber- land, who commanded a regiment during the Revolutionary war.
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Wilkesbarre, and, after Sullivan's departure for Easton, with the companies of Spaulding and Franklin, continued to defend the frontier from a general attack. The say- ages, however, made incursions in small parties, and on the 27th day of March, 1780, Thomas Bennett and his son were captured at Kingston and taken to the moun- tains, where they found Labbeus Hammond tied to a tree, This is the same Hammond who had escaped from the bloody Queen Esther's tomahawk at the massacre. He had been taken only a few hours before, and now, with the Bennetts, he was marched off towards Tioga. At Meshoppen the Indians rested for the night. Here, when deep sleep had fallen on the weary party, Bennett ran one of his captors through with a spear, killing him with- out noise. He then unloosed Hammond and his son, and, with their aid, killed four more of the savages, wounded another, and one escaped unharmed. The next day the victorious captives returned to Wyoming.
March 28th. Asa Upson and Jonah Rogers were making sugar a short distance above the mouth of Hun- lock's Creek, when a party of ten Indians rushed down from the mountain, killed and scalped Upson, and took Rogers prisoner. Thence they procceded to Fishing Creek, near Orangeville. Here they took Moses Van Campen, his father, and Peter Pence, prisoners. They killed and scalped old Mr. Van Campen, and then set off through Huntington, where Captain John Frank- lin, with four men, gave them battle, but was compelled to retire. On the head waters of Hunlock's Creek, in Ross township, they found Abraham Pike and his wife boiling sugar. The Indians wrapped Mrs. Pike's child in a blanket and threw it on the roof of the cabin. Tak- ing Pike and wife with the other prisoners, they hastened forward. After proceeding about two miles, an old chief
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painted Mrs. Pike, saying "Joggo squaw"-go home, woman. She returned, got her child, and went to Wilkesbarre. Arriving at the Susquehanna, below Tioga, on the first day of April, they encamped for the night. "Pike," says Mr. Rogers, in his account, " proposed to kill the Indians. The prisoners were all pinioned but myself, and it was agreed that I should procure a knife, which I did. Pike cut himself loose, and while the Indians were sleeping he took away their guns, and then cut the other men loose. One Indian awakened, and immediately Pence fired at him. Major Van Campen took a hatchet and killed two Indians before they rose, the rest ran. The prisoners all escaped, and arrived safely in Wilkesbarre." Jonah Rogers was thirteen years of age, and was known as a person of truth. His statement conflicts materially with that of Van Campen, who says all the Indians were killed, chiefly by his own hand, and that Pike was an arrant coward .* We have already found Van Campen's stories of other matters to be erroneous, and we are dis- posed to receive the account of Rogers as unqualifiedly true.
March 30th. Three men, Avery, Lyons, and Jones. were taken prisoners, near what is now Scranton, and in April the settlement of Mahony, near Mauch Chunk, was attacked, when the Gilbert family, together with Abigail Dodson and some others, in all fifteen persons, were car- ried away captive. The trials and sufferings of this party would form a most interesting chapter.
In September, 1780, a party of Indians crossed the Susquehanna near Nescopeck, and entered Scotch, now Sugarloaf Valley, where they attacked a company of thirty-three men under Captain Myers, took thirteen scalps, and all the survivors were made prisoners. They then burnt several buildings, and escaped to Niagara.
* See Note on p. 155.
10
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In December, the house of Benjamin Harvey, in Ply- mouth, was stormed, and Elisha Harvey, G. P. Ransom, Lucy Harvey, and Rachel Bullock were taken prisoners. On the mountain the girls were painted and allowed to go, but Harvey and Ransom were conveyed to Canada. There the savages sold Harvey to a French trader for six gallons of whiskey. Ransom, with other prisoners cap- tured in various parts of the states, was confined in the fortress at Montreal, but an opportunity presenting, thirty-two of them escaped in the night. They were all drowned in the St. Lawrence in their flight, except Ran- som, who, aided by a board, reached the opposite shore. Directing his steps homeward, he traveled several days through the wilderness, eating mice and snakes to sustain life, and finally reached Wyoming in an exhausted con- dition.
March 10th, 1781, Samuel Ransom's house, in Plymouth, was attacked by Indians, but meeting with resistance, and having one of their number killed, they retreated.
June 19th. Indians attempted to storm a block-house two miles below Wilkesbarre, but were repulsed.
September 7th. The savages attacked Hanover settle- ment, and captured Arnold Franklin and Roswell Frank- lin, Jr. In April, 1782, Roswell Franklin's house was again attacked, and his wife with several of the younger children were carried away. Baldwin and nine others went up the river, got ahead of the savages, and on the Frenchtown Mountain had a severe engagement with them. They succeeded in retaking three of the family, but Mrs. Franklin and her small child were killed.
July Sth, 1782, John Jameson, his brother Benjamin a boy, and Asa Chapman were riding horseback towards Wilkesbarre. Having approached near the site of the German church in Hanover, they were fired upon by eight
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Indians concealed in ambush. John Jameson fell from his horse, was scalped and left dead in the road. Chapman was wounded, but clinging to his horse escaped to Wilkesbarre, where he died the next day. Benjamin's horse, wheeling suddenly about, carried him back in safety to his home. On that day, the last blood was shed, and the last scalp taken, by Indians, within the present limits of Luzerne county. Encouraged by rewards, offered by England for scalps, the merciless savage tore the flesh and spilt the blood of the frontier settlers, with an eagerness and boldness which the love of revenge could scarcely inspire. Down to the moment, when the articles of peace were signed, the Indian was busily engaged in bårtering scalps for the gold of Chris- tian England.
We read of the burning of Moscow, and the disastrous retreat of the French; of the siege of Londonderry and the starvation of its inhabitants ; of earthquakes shaking down and swallowing up whole cities, and of huge steam- ships freighted with hundreds of precious lives engulfed in the stormy bosom of the ocean; and our minds are appalled and stunned by the magnitude of the catastrophe : but to live month after month, and year after year, in constant dread of the rifle and the scalping-knife; to see or hear constantly of some horrible deed perpetrated on neighbors; this is more than appalling-it is protracted torture of soul. The inhabitants of Wyoming suffered the horrors of war from 1768 until 1776 in rather its milder form, but during the Revolution no people ever met with greater disasters. Upwards of two hundred and thirty men, women, and children were murdered and scalped by Indians. About fifty others were carried away into captivity, and eight or ten more were burnt alive. They suffered from hunger, and cold, and disease,
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and imprisonments, and bondage, and floods, and fire; and yet, true to their purpose, they never thought for a mo- ment of abandoning their charming valley. Nor were they selfish in their aims. They loved, loved dearly the cause of liberty, and contributed more than any other people in America, in proportion to their numbers and wealth, to sustain the cause of the colonies against the tyranny of the British crown. The first settlers of Luzerne paid a great price, and passed through the severest ordeal, that the land might be free, and that you and I and coming generations might enjoy unmolested the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Let us prize the great gift, let us honor the memory of those who suf- fered and died to procure it, and let us cherish it and defend it, and transmit it unimpaired to those who shall stand in our places when we are gathered to our fathers.
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
On the 4th of September, 1832, fifty years after the Revolution, thirty-one soldiers, residents of Luzerne county, who had served varions terms during that war, assembled at the court-house in Wilkesbarre, for the pur- pose of availing themselves of the provisions of a certain law, conferring pensions. They, evidently, had been well formed, athletic men, who had braved many hardships and great dangers. Now, their cheeks were furrowed, their heads were white, and their forms were stooping towards the grave. They were " venerable men, who had come down to us from a former generation." We give their names and ages: Nathan Beach sixty-nine, James Thayer seventy, Samuel Pease seventy-two, James Ward seventy-five, David Doolittle sixty-seven, Thomas Gardner eighty-seven, John Strong seventy-seven, John
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Wort seventy-six, Samuel Breese seventy-four, Levi Bron- son seventy-one, Daniel Wadman seventy-seven, Asaph Jones seventy-four, Elam Spencer sixty-eight, Francis Brewer sixty-seven, Benjamin Pedrick sixty-eight, John Whitcomb sixty-six, Benajah Fuller seventy-seven, Ro- bert Freeland seventy, Chandler Robinson seventy-one, Elisha Blackman seventy-two, Samuel Vanscoy sixty-six, John Bird seventy-eight, Joseph Knapp seven-one, Tho- mas Hawkins seventy-four, Epaphrus Wadsworth seventy- six, Thomas Taylor seventy-eight, George Stewart seventy- seven, John Warden ninety, Josiah Pell seventy-two, Daniel Spencer seventy-one, Moses Darby seventy-two.
There were other soldiers of the Revolution residing in the county at this time, who received pensions under other Acts of Congress, and who were not present at this meet- ing. A few years after this they, in company with a number of those already named, assembled in Wilkes- barre, and were addressed by the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack, who had served during the war, in the regular army,
under Washington. This was the last meeting of Revo- lutionary patriots held in Luzerne county. One by one they have fallen, and disappeared from the ranks of the living, but their names are recorded on the tablet of fame. In freedom's cause they sacrificed their property, their comfort, and their health, and have bequeathed to us an invaluable blessing-a free and independent country.
THE WYOMING MONUMENT.
A meeting was convened at the house of James Scovel, in Exeter township, on the 25th of November, 1809, for the purpose of adopting measures to erect a monument to the memory of those brave men who perished in the battle and massacre of Wyoming on the 3d of July, 1778.
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THE WYOMING MONUMENT.
Appropriate resolutions were adopted, and a committee appointed for each township in the county, with instruc- tions to collect funds, and report at the next meeting to be held at Wilkesbarre in the following January. At that time the people were generally poor, and in debt for their lands, and, as a consequence, only $300 were col- lected. This was rather discouraging, and here ended the matter for upwards of twenty-two years.
The spot where the heroic dead had been buried was unknown until June, 1832, when their remains were dis- covered in one common grave on the farm of Fisher Gay. Almost all the skulls found, eighty in number, exhibited marks of the tomahawk and scalping-knife, and many of the bones were perforated by balls. On the 16th of June, 1832, a meeting of citizens was held at Oliver Helm's Ilotel, in Kingston, with a view to renew the effort to
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erect a monument. Benjamin Dorrance, Calvin Wad- hams, Anderson Dana, Lazarus Denison, David Scott, and G. M. Hollenbach, were appointed a committee to confer with Fisher Gay, in reference to procuring a site for the monument. The committee entered into an article of agreement with him, by which he promised to sell and convey land for the proposed monument at the rate of $200 per acre. On the 3d of July following, another meeting was held on the monument-ground, and among the resolutions adopted was one thanking Fisher Gay " for his liberality in bestowing the ground necessary for the erection of a monument, and for his attention to the meeting." July 3d, 1833, the corner-stone of the Wyo- ming Monument was laid with imposing display. The ceremony was performed by Elisha Blackman, a veteran, who was in the battle. A box was then deposited in the stone by Samuel Carey, another old soldier, who had also been in the engagement. The box contained a history of the early settlement of the valley ; an account of the battle ; a list of the names of those who fell in the engage- inent; a copy of the official report of the battle by Colonel Z. Butler; a copy of the address delivered on that occa- sion by Chester Butler; the muster-roll of a company commanded by Captain Samuel Ransom, and made out September 17, 1777; * copies of the addresses delivered by the Rev. Mr. May and the Rev. Mr. Murray at a former meeting; a piece of each denomination of United States coin ; a copy of President Jackson's proclamation to the people of the United States, in reference to the hostile attitude of South Carolina towards the Federal Govern- ment; and a copy of each newspaper then published in
* This was the muster-roll of one of the two independent companies, of which, probably, no copy was taken. What an oversight !
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the county. The bones of the slain were deposited in the ground, and the ceremonies of the occasion were closed by prayer from the Rev. John Dorrance. In 1839, a committee was appointed to visit the General Assembly of Connecticut, and solicit an appropriation of $3000 to complete the monument. The request was refused. The application was renewed in 1841, and again refused. A third time Connecticut was solicited to make this dona- tion, and a third time she refused. In 1839, a meeting was held at P. C. McGilchrist's, in Wilkesbarre, when the following resolution was adopted :- " Resolved, That the Building Committee be requested to obtain a deed in due form of the land, on which the monument is being built, according to the liberal and honorable promise of Fisher Gay, the patriotic proprietor thereof." In 1841, the patriotic ladies of Luzerne resolved to undertake the task of completing the monument, and accordingly formned themselves into a society, called the Luzerne Monumental Association. Mrs. C. Butler was made president; Mrs. Hollenback and Mrs. Carey, vice-presidents; Mrs. Harri- son Wright, treasurer ; Mrs. R. D. Carey, secretary ; Mrs. C. Butler, Mrs. Drake, Mrs. Beaumont, Mrs. Hollenback, Mrs. Conyngham, Mrs. Ross, Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Sturde- vant, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Gilchrist, Mrs. Abbott, Mrs. Nicholson, Mrs. Lewis, and Mrs. Carey, Executive Com- mittee. This society went energetically to work. They obtained donations from various sources at home and abroad; held a fair at Wilkesbarre raised a fund of $2508.15, and proceeded to complete the undertaking, commenced by the lords of creation thirty years before. As a preliminary step, this association of ladies held a meeting in 1842, and adopted this resolution :
" Resolved, That we will finish the Wyoming Monu- ment, provided the gentlemen of the old building com-
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mittee will make us a deed of the land, and give us the foundation of the monument as it now stands, with the stone on the ground, free from all and every encumbrance whatsoever, or direction as to the particular mode of building." It is a matter of regret that the ladies did not adhere to this resolution in every particular. A deed for the land should have been placed in their hands before they commenced the work. This was not done, and after some delay it was determined to commence the structure without a title.
In order to raise funds, the ladies had spread a Monu- mental Dinner, in Kingston, on the 24th of June, 1841. It was largely attended, and the Association realized a hand- some return. Rev. T. P. Hunt, Colonel H. B. Wright, and Dr. T. W. Miner delivered appropriate addresses. But the most united and general effort, to secure the money requisite to complete the Monument, was made at the Fair held in Wilkesbarre on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of July following. A great crowd of strangers and visitors were in attendance. The beauty and chivalry of the valley were there, and the masses put on their best attire and culled out a holiday. Such an array of flags, of eatables, and of drinkables; such an array of fine goods and of fine ladies, had never before been witnessed in Luzerne. By this fair the ladies obtained $2200. The Boston ladies collected, by a fair, $25,000 for the Bunker Hill Monu- ment, but the Luzerne ladies, considering the relative population and wealth, did even better than they. Two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars were expended, and a Monument, sixty-two and a half feet in height, was raised, composed of the granite rocks of Luzerne. On three slabs, inserted in the sides of the structure, are inscriptions. The following, composed by Edward G. Mallery, Esq., is inscribed on the front slab : "Near this
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spot was fought, on the afternoon of the 3d of July, 1778, the battle of Wyoming ; in which a small band of patriotic Americans, chiefly the undisciplined, the youthful, and the aged, spared by inefficiency from the distant ranks of the republic, led by Colonel Zebulon Butler and Colonel Nathan Denison, with a courage that deserved success, boldly met and bravely fought the combined British, tory, and Indian force of thrice their number. Numerical superiority alone gave success to the invader, and wide- spread havoc, desolation, and ruin marked his savage and bloody footsteps through the valley. This Monument, commemorative of these events, and in memory of the actors in them, has been erected over the bones of the slain by their descendants and others, who gratefully appreciate the services and sacrifices of their patriotic ancestors."
The second slab has the following Latin inscription : " Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."*
The third slab contains the names of those who were slain in the engagement.+
For seventeen years this Monument has stood in an unfinished condition. No fence surrounds it; not a tree or shrub casts a shadow at its base, but mutilated and desecrated, it stands a monument not only to the memory of the patriotic dead, but also a monument to our shane. All praise is due the ladies of the Monumental Asso- ciation ; and if gentlemen had properly seconded their efforts and requests, the reproach expressed in the present appearance of the Monument would not exist.2 Will not the ladies of 1860 finish the work so nobly begun and carried forward by those of 1841 ?
* " It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country."
+ See Appendix, E, for names of the slain.
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In 1856 Fisher Gay sold his farm to Payne Pettibone, and provided, in the deed of conveyance, that when the provisions of a certain article of agreement, to which we have already referred, shall be complied with, said.Petti- bone shall execute a deed for the monument ground. Mr. Pettibone and wife sold the property to Moses Woodward, and he to Mr. Kesler and others, and in their several deeds reiterated the same provision. Who, then, owns the grave of our fathers, and the Monument erected to their memory ? The mortifying answer is, twenty or more strangers residing in Philadelphia and other parts of the United States. This fact becoming known to the author, he took the earliest opportunity to lay the subject before the Wyoming Historical Society. That Society directed its finance committee to open a correspondence, in reference to the matter, with the Luzerne Monumental Association. A meeting of the surviving members was convened, and the ladies stated that they never succeeded in procuring a deed, and expressed a desire to transfer the whole subject, with $100, the balance in the treasury, to the Wyoming Historical Society. The trust was ac- cepted, and the matter remains in abeyance, we hope, for no great length of time.
* Note on ABRAHAM PIKE, p. 145 .- Abraham Pike was a witty Irishman, who, when quite young, entered the British army and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. When the Revolutionary war broke out he accompanied his regiment to America, and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. Having become dissatisfied with the Royal cause, he deserted to the American army, and after his term of enlistment had expired he came to Wyoming. He was a member of Capt. Hewit's company, and fought bravely in the battle of July 3d, 1778. He acted as guide to Sullivan's army on its march from Wyoming into the Indian country. He was sadly addicted to intemperance, which occasionally led him to the commission of petty thefts. On one occasion he stole a silver spoon, and on being charged with the offense most positively declared his innocence. " Do you say, Pike, on the honor of a soldier that you have not got that spoon ?" His chin fell to his breast, and taking the spoon from his pocket remarked, " the honor of a soldier is sacred and should never be tarnished." He died a pauper about 30 years ago.
CHAPTER V.
LUZERNE COUNTY.
NEAR the close of the year 1682, William Penn divided the province of Pennsylvania into the three counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks.
Bucks embraced all the north-eastern portion of the province. The Walking Purchase, an account of which we have recorded in a former chapter, placed the heirs of Penn in possession of the lands on the Delaware; and the settlements rapidly increasing along that river, Bucks was divided, and Northampton county was organized in 1752, with the seat of justice at Easton. This act placed the lands of the Susquehanna Company within the limits of the new county, and consequently all legal process issued from the courts of Northampton. Prisoners taken in Wyoming were conveyed across the mountains to the jail at Easton.
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