USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 6
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Stewart, at the head of a hundred and fifty men, entered the valley and laid siege to Fort Wyoming. Ogden was closely invested, and the siege vigorously pressed, so that no one could venture out for food, fuel, or water without great danger. It was evident that, without succor, he must soon surrender; if for no other reason, for want of provisions. He, himself, undertook the dangerous task of leaving the fort by night to convey intelligence of his situation to his friends in Philadelphia. He accomplished it by an act
of consummate stratagem. He tied up his clothes in a bundle on which he placed his hat. This was attached to a cord, and taking hold of the other end he committed himself and bundle to the water, and floated down the river, his clothes following him. The sentinels, by the starlight, observed the floating object, and riddled the bundle with balls, but as the object continued on its course with a uniform motion, the firing ceased. Ogden escaped to the bank unharmed, dressed himself, and, travelling forty miles a day, was soon in Philadelphia with the unpleasant tidings of the situation of Fort Wyoming. As the news spread through the city the excitement was great and general. Prompt action was taken, and 300 pounds were drawn from the treasury for supplies. Captain Dick started for Wyoming with a. strong convoy of provisions. Captain Morris followed with the least delay possible. Butler and Stewart were on the alert. They doubted not forces and supplies were approaching, because they had been made aware of the escape of Ogden. The spies at length brought word that Dick and Ogden were near at hand. An ambush was laid. The pack-horses with the provisions were cap- tured, while the men of the escort escaped into the fort to help to eat up the scanty remnants of the food within. Butler now exerted every nerve to capture the fort before
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the arrival of reinforcements. It was necessary to make a more fatal use of their arms. To starve out the gar- rison without shedding blood was no longer thought of. Some of the garrison were slain, others wounded : Ogden himself among the latter. Surrender became impera- tive. On the 14th of August, articles of capitulation were signed to the effect, that all the Pennsylvania troops should leave the valley, twenty-three only retir- ing with arms in their hands-men with families might remain on the ground for two weeks, and should have the privilege of retaining their effects-the sick and wounded should keep their nurses, and should have leave to send for a physician. Zebulon Butler, Lazarus Stewart, and John Smith signed on behalf of the Yan- kees, and Asher Clayton, Joseph Morris, and John Dick, on the part of the proprietary government. The Con- necticut settlers now poured into the valley in great numbers, for it began to be perceived that the Yankee cause would triumph. About this time the troubles with the mother country were beginning to darken the land, and the proprietary government, unsupported by the peo- ple, withdrew all their forces and left the settlers from the east in undisturbed possession of the lovely valley.
Up to the year 1772, it may be said there was no established discipline in Wyoming, no form of govern- ment, no law. Each individual acted as his own sense of propriety, or his notion of right, might dictate. Even the salutary influence of woman, exercised over man in civilized society, was wanting. In May, 1772, there were only five women in Wilkesbarre township. But in this year quite a number of settlers went east for their fami- lies. Lands were surveyed and assigned to claimants, and block-houses were erected on both sides of the river. Many new faces appeared in the settlement, men gathered
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their relatives about them, and marriages were celebrated. The township of Wilkesbarre was surveyed in the year 1770 by David Meade, and within its limits the struggles for possession of the valley mostly took place. The union of the names of John Wilkes, Esq., and of Colonel Barre, two Englishmen, the latter a brave and accomplished soldier, well known in America, and both celebrated as distinguished advocates of the rights of the colonies against the encroachments of the crown, formed the name Wilkesbarre. But the village, or borough of Wilkes- barre, was not laid out until 1772. This was the work of Colonel Durkee, who formed the town plot on grounds . immediately adjoining Fort Wyoming, which, as has been already stated, was situated on the river bank near Northampton street. During that year, the people were so busily engaged in preparing to live that there was no time to think of a regular form of government. When difficulties arose in respect to land rights, the dispute was decided by town committees. Those were halcyon days, for there was order without law, and peace without the constable-that was the golden age of Wyoming. Ferries and mills were provided for the people, and finally, towards the close of this year, as soon as practi- cable, that is, December 11th, 1772, provisions were made for the permanent support of the gospel and of schools. Nor was there an exhibition of religious into- lerance, but the views and feelings of the Baptists were consulted by the Presbyterians, who formed much the larger body. At length as the population increased, and the interests of the community became, in some degree, conflicting, it was deemed necessary by the Susquehanna Company, on the 2d day of June, 1773, at Hartford, Connecticut, to adopt a code of laws for the government of the settlement. This code punished crime, enforced
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order, provided for the election of directors, peace officers, and other officers who might be found necessary in every township. Every settler was required to subscribe his name to these regulations, to abide by and to support the same. All males of the age of twenty-one years and upwards were allowed a voice in the elections.
It may be noted here that at an early period, even before the code of laws was enacted by the Susquehanna Company, the settlers resolved that any person who sold liquor to an Indian should forfeit his goods and be ex- pelled the colony. But it is probable this order was never observed, for at first, after 1763, there were but few straggling Indians in the valley, and these were mostly Christians connected with the Moravian Society. And in a short time almost the entire body of settlers became drinkers. Whiskey and rum were consumed in astonishing quantities. At that day ardent spirits could be procured in their purity, and as the people were hard workers, and much exposed in the open air, they came to be considered as articles of prime necessity. The effects of their use were wholly different from those produced on the people of our day, by the soul and body destroying mixtures of alcohol and strychnine, and other poisons.
In October, 1773, the General Assembly of Connecticut attempted to open negotiations with the Pennsylvania authorities, with a view to the amicable settlement of the dispute pending in reference to the Wyoming lands. But the governor and council on behalf of Pennsylvania, alleging the total absence of right on the part of Connec- ticut, declined every proposition which the commissioners of the colony advanced. The General Assembly of Con- necticut then, on learning the refusal of the authorities of Pennsylvania to come to any terms, proceeded to exercise those acts of sovereignty which she conceived
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belonged to her. In January, 1774, all the territory within her charter limits, from the Delaware to a line fifteen miles west of the Susquehanna, was erected into a town, called Westmoreland, and attached to the county of Litchfield. Westmoreland was about seventy miles square, embracing nearly five thousand square miles. Within it were numerous townships, divided into lots, which were sold to purchasers, or were drawn for by proprietors. The governor of Connecticut issued his pro- clamation, forbidding any settlement in Westmoreland, except under authority from Connecticut. About the same time the governor of Pennsylvania issued his pro- clamation, prohibiting all persons from settling on the disputed lands, except under the authority of the Proprie- taries. Zebulon Butler and Nathan Denison were com- missioned under Connecticut as justices of the peace, with authority to organize the town. In March, 1774, the whole people of Westmoreland, being legally warned, met and organized the town, and chose selectmen, a treasurer, constables collectors of taxes, surveyors of highways, fence viewers, listers, leather sealers, grand jurors, tything men, sealers of weights and measures, and key-keepers. Eight town meetings were held in the year 1774. The government was of the most democratic character. It cannot be supposed that the whole male population entitled to vote turned out at every meeting, for the number of people in Westmoreland this year was found to be 1922.
As early as 1771 two townships on the West Branch, including the lands on which the present village of Muncy stands, were surveyed under the auspices of the Susque- hanna Company. The names of these townships were Charleston and Judea. In June, 1772, there were a few settlers there from the East, but not numerous enough to
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attract the attention of the proprietary government. The Act of January, 1774, erecting Westmoreland Town, did not embrace these two townships within its provisions. But in May, 1775, an act was passed by the General Assembly of Connecticut, which included Charleston and Judea in the town of Westmoreland, and John Vincent, a resident on the West Branch, was appointed a justice of the peace for the county of Litchfield. Vincent and others succeeded in persuading between eighty and ninety persons to emigrate from Wyoming, and settle in these western townships. This act of Connecticut seems to have roused the provincial authorities of Pennsylvania to check the encroachments of the Susquehanna Com- pany, and to make another attempt to recover the dis- puted territory.
In September, 1775, immediately after the arrival of Justice Vincent and his company, Colonel William Plun- ket, at the head of five hundred Northumberland militia, marched up the West Branch, and utterly destroyed the settlements at Muncy. One man was killed, the rest taken prisoners to Sunbury jail, while the women and children were sent to Wyoming. This success greatly elated the governor of Pennsylvania, as well as the Colonel and the troops who had achieved the triumph. So much were they rejoiced at the victory, that, forgetful of the dictates of prudence, and regardless of all other considerations, it was resolved to make an immediate attack on Wyoming, and drive off the settlers there also. Even the influence of Congress was unavailing to induce an abandonment of the enterprise until the difficulties with Great Britain should be adjusted. By great activity and energy Colonel Plunket was prepared to march carly in December of that year, with seven hundred men, a long train of boats, a field-piece, and an abundance of
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ammunition. He was accompanied by William Cook, Esq., high sheriff of Northumberland county, who bore a warrant for the arrest of certain offenders. After four years of peace the storm of war was again gathering over Wyoming. The people there, mindful of their early prowess and success, are in nowise disconcerted or dis- mayed by this display of force against them. Gathering together their military strength, which numbered about three hundred men and boys, they go down to the southern entrance of the valley to meet the invaders. Plunket, flushed with his West Branch victory, is loud in his boast- ings as he passes the Nanticoke Falls, and moves into the valley. But the reception he met from Captain Butler, at the breast-work on the west side, and from Captain Lazarus Stewart, on the east side of the Susquehanna river, cooled his ardor and his courage. He began to see the folly of undertaking such an expedition in the depth of winter. Repulsed at every point, with dead and wounded men around him, and the weather beginning to grow severely cold, he retreated, and thus ended this ill- advised and rash undertaking. This was the last attempt of the proprietary government to secure the possession of the contested lands. The colonies were now in the midst of the Revolutionary contest, and in the following year declared themselves free and independent states.
While these warlike preparations and deeds were trans- piring, Connecticut resolved that no further additions should be made to the settlement in Westmoreland, with- out special license from the General Assembly. This singular resolution can only be reasonably accounted for by supposing, that it was done either to quiet the fears of the proprietary government, or else with a view to keep at home her own citizens with their resources, at a time when the stern demands of war were making heavy drafts
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on her energies. In May, 1776, John Jenkins, Esq., and Captain Solomon Strong, were elected to the Legislature of Connecticut, and specially instructed to request the Assembly to demand of the Pennsylvania government four thousand pounds for losses sustained by Plunket's invasion.
In the early part of this year it became manifest that the Six Nations of Indians were pledged to support the cause of Great Britain against the Colonies, and the most gloomy-apprehensions were entertained by the people of Westmoreland, on whose borders and within whose limits many of these Indians had their homes. August, 1776, it was resolved to erect suitable forts, and the people were recommended to work on the same without fee or reward. Yet, notwithstanding the dangers which beset the settle- ment at home, a number of active and able-bodied men were enlisted for the army and marched to the head- quarters of General Washington. In addition to this, Congress, being fully apprised of the situation of West- moreland, August 26, 1776, elected Robert Durkee and Samuel Ransom captains of two companies which were ordered to be raised in Westmoreland, on the continental establishment, and to be stationed in proper places for the defence of the inhabitants of said town and parts adjacent. It must excite surprise when it is told that Congress, in December following, ordered these two com- panies to leave the valley and repair to the standard of Washington. They obeyed with patriotic devotion, but it jeopardized the safety of Westmoreland. Nothing but the critical situation of the commander-in-chief and of the common cause, can at all palliate the rashness, to call it by no other name, of this order.
On the 26th of September of this year the provincial government of Pennsylvania expired, and shortly after,
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on the convening of the General Assembly under her first constitution, with a population of 300,000, she assumed the powers of a sovereign state. About this time the General Assembly of Connecticut erected Westmoreland into a county, and Jonathan Fitch, Esq., received the first commission as high sheriff.
Quite a number of persons, in this, as well as in the following year, 1777, came into the valley holding a Pennsylvania title, and denouncing the Connecticut claim as valueless. Besides these, were some tories who came as spies, and who held communication with the British and Indians, giving them information of the state of affairs, and of the most opportune time for striking a deadly blow. They were, of course, objects of suspicion, and some were expelled for their indiscreet words, or treasonable conduct. But in the midst of dangers from abroad, and at home, and though the small-pox was ravaging the settlement, the people slackened none of their energies to improve their condition. A county seat was selected, the county officers appointed, state, county, and town taxes levied, and paid and free schools were opened and supported. The assessment of estates for the county of Westmoreland for 1777 exceeded twenty thousand pounds, and the state tax exceeded two thou- sand pounds.
From Plunket's battle, until 1782, was a period of six years. During that time the whole valley had been devastated by fire and sword. The Massacre of Wyoming had of itself caused the death of upwards of two hundred settlers, and the Indians had at various periods stealthily murdered at least a hundred more. The details of these losses and murders are recorded in other portions of this work. The settlers, now war-worn and miserably poor, found themselves driven to contend against the whole
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power of Pennsylvania; for, as before stated, the state of Connecticut had withdrawn all claim to jurisdiction after the Trenton Decree. They petitioned the General Assembly of Pennsylvania for their rights. "We have settled a country," said they, "which in its original state of but little value, but now cultivated by your memorial- ists, is to them of the greatest importance, being their all. We are yet alive, but the richest blood of our neighbors and friends, children, husbands, and fathers, has been spilt in the general cause of their country, and we have
suffered every danger this side death. We supplied the continental army with many valuable officers and soldiers, and left ourselves weak and unguarded against the attack of the savages, and of others of a more savage nature. Our houses are desolate, many mothers are childless, widows and orphans are multiplied, our habitations are destroyed, and many families are reduced to beggary." Notwith- standing, as soon as the continental troops were with- drawn from Wyoming, where they had been placed for the protection of the people against the savages, Captains Robinson and Shrawder, with two companies of Pennsyl- vania troops, marched and took possession of Fort Wyo- ming, which they named Fort Dickinson. Shortly after. the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, in pursuance of the petition of the settlers, appointed Joseph Montgomery, William Montgomery, and Moses McClean, commissioners, with instructions to repair to Wyoming.and compromise the dispute between them and the Commonwealth. They arrived in the valley in April, 1783, and immediately a spirited correspondence took place between them and John Jenkins, Nathan Denison, Obadiah Gore, and Samuel Shepherd, the committee on the part of the set- tlers. The issue of this was that the state commissioners reported to the Assembly, recommending " that a reasona-
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ble compensation in land in the western part of the state should be made to the families of those who had fallen in arms against the common enemy, and to such other settlers as had a proper Connecticut title, and did actually reside on the lands at the time of the decree at Trenton ; provided they immediately relinquished all claim to the soil where they now inhabited, and enter into contracts to deliver up full and quiet possession of their present tenures to the rightful owners under Pennsylvania by the first of April next." This report evidently expressed the sentiments of Alexander Patterson, who had in charge the interests of the Pennsylvania settlers. Patterson had been in the employ of the Penn family, and had aided to arrest the Connecticut settlers in 1769. He was now a justice of the peace under Pennsylvania, and was settled in Wilkesbarre, whose name he endeavorcd to change to Londonderry. This notorious hater of the Yankees was the head and front of the Pennamite interest. He, with his associate justices, and backed by military force, under the command of Major James Moore, and Captains Shraw- der and Christie, commenced a series of contemptible and cowardly outrages upon the Yankee settlers. The soldiers were quartered upon the inhabitants. Colonel Zebulon Butler, who had just returned from the army, and who boldly denounced Patterson's conduct, was arrested and sent to Sunbury jail. But, as the proceedings had been illegal, he was released.
Mr. Miner says, "October 31, the settlement Shawnee was invaded by the military, headed by the justice in person, and eleven respectable citizens arrested, and sent under guard to the fort. Among the prisoners was Major Prince Alden, sixty-five years old, feeble from age, and suffering from disease. Compassion yielded nothing to alleviate his sufferings. Captain James Bidlack was also 6
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arrested. He was between sixty and seventy. His son, of the same name, had fallen, as previously recorded, at the head of his company in the Indian battle; another son, Benjamin, had served in the army through the revo- lutionary war. Mr. B. himself had been taken by the savages, and suffered a tedious captivity in Canada. All this availed hin nothing. Benjamin Harvey, who had been a prisoner to the Indians, was also arrested. Samuel Ransom, son of Captain Ransom, who fell in the mas- sacre, was most rudely treated on being taken. 'Ah ha!' cried Patterson, 'you are the jockey we wanted; away with him to the guardhouse, with Old Harvey, another damned rascal.' Eleven, in all, were taken and driven to the fort, where they were confined in a room with a mnd floor, wet and comfortless, with no food and little fire, which as they were sitting round, Captain Christie came in, ordered them to lie down on the ground, and bade the guard to blow out the brains of any one who should attempt to rise. Even the staff of the aged Mr. Alden was taken from him." The men secure, Patterson turned their families out of doors, and placed Pennamite claimants in possession of their lands and houses. In many other cases the widows and orphan children of sol- diers, slain in battle in defence of liberty, were forced from their dwellings, and their few implements of agricul- ture were destroyed, or carried away, by order of the heartless and brutal Patterson. The settlers now (1784) petitioned Congress and the Assemblies of Pennsylvania and Connecticut for redress of grievances, and the Penn- sylvania Assembly sent a committee to Wyoming to take depositions. These depositions were read before the Assembly, and although Patterson was severely denounced by many members, he was not removed or deprived of his authority.
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On the 23d of January, 1784, moved by the petition of Zebulon Butler and others, Congress adopted measures for the settlement of the dispute, but on the remonstrance of Pennsylvania the proceedings were discontinued. On the 13th and 14th of May following, Major Patterson's soldiers dispossessed one hundred and fifty families, burnt several houses, and compelled five hundred men, women, and children to march through the wilderness to the Dela- ware river. Several children starved and died in the woods, and the sufferings of the whole impoverished throng, as they wandered night and day over rugged mountains and through deep swamps, were terrible be- yond description. Elisha Harding, who was one of this suffering multitude, says, "It was a solemn scene; parents, their children crying for hunger-aged men, on crutches -all urged forward by an armed force at our heels. The first night we encamped at Capouse; the second at Cobb's; the third at Little Meadow, so called. Cold, hungry, and drenched with rain, the poor women and children suffer- ing much. The fourth night at Lackawack; fifth, at Blooming Grove; sixth, at Shehola; on the seventh arrived at the Delaware, where the people dispersed, some going up and some down the river. I kept on east, and when I got to the top of Shongum Mountain I looked back with this thought: shall I abandon Wyoming for ever ? The reply was, No, oh no! There lie your mur- dered brothers and friends. Dear to me art thou, though a land of affliction. Every way looked gloomy, except towards Wyoming. Poor, ragged, and distressed as I was, I had youth, health, and felt that my heart was whole. So I turned back to defend or die."
These cruelties to the settlers excited sympathy throughout the whole country, and the companies of Shrawder and Christie were discharged by state autho-
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rity. But the inhuman Patterson re-enlisted many of the soldiers, and continued to perpetrate his hellish deeds in spite of instructions to the contrary. After an ab- sence of several weeks the Yankees returned and fortified themselves under a cliff of rock, on the Eastern or Wilkes- barre Mountain. This, Mr. Miner says, they called Fort Lillope, but we have in our possession several orders, sent by John Franklin, John Jenkins, and others, from this cave-fortress, to Matthias Hollenback, in Wilkes- barre, for rum, tea, sugar, &c., and these orders are dated at Fort Defence. From this fort three or four persons entered Wilkesbarre under the promised protection of Patterson, who arrested and beat them with iron ram- rods. Franklin and Jenkins, now having no faith in the promises of anybody connected with Pennsylvania, re- moved in the month of July, with their associates, to Kingston. On the 20th of that month a company of thirty young men, marching to Plymouth, met a body of Patterson's men on Rosshill. A conflict ensued, and Elisha Garrett and Chester Pierce were slain. Several of Patterson's men were wounded, but none of them killed. Forty-two effective and twenty old men, now aroused to vengeance by this bloody deed, placed them- selves under the command of John Franklin. They first marched to Shawnee, and dispossessed the Pennamite families there, then crossing the river at Nanticoke, they drove off all from their dwellings on the east side, and compelled them to take refuge in the fort at Wilkesbarre. This fort Franklin's men proceeded to surround. Patter- son's troops made a sortie from the fort, and set fire to twenty-three buildings, which were consumed. Franklin continued to invest the fort, and demanded its surrender, which was refused. An engagement ensued, in which the
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