Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 10

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526

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The hunters who were after the deer seen by the woman on the fifth day of her adventure were James Anderson and John Thompson belonging to the detail known as spies. Had her thoughts not been de- ferred by the rattlesnakes she would have discovered them to be friends and escaped a day which felt like eternity.

GEN. RICHARD BUTLER.

The following sketch of the life of Gen. Richard Butler was written in 1893 by Dr. Egal, State Librarian of Harrisburg, who was the ablest historian of his day in Pennsylvania. It has been published in previous histories of the county, but its value is inestimable and it is worthy of preservation.

"Richard Butler, the eldest child of Thomas and Eleanor Butler, emigrants from the North of Ireland, was probably born in what is now York County, Penn- sylvania, April 1, 1743, although most biographers state he was born in Ireland. He was educated at the school of Rev. Mr. Allison, Chester County, and studied the profession of law. He served as an en- sign in Capt. James Hendrick's Company,

of the First Pennsylvania Battalion, in Col. Henry Bouquet's expedition of 1764, and there received his first experience in the military art. At the outset of the Revolutionary struggle he entered the Pennsylvania Line as major of the Eighth Regiment, commissioned July 20, 1776; was promoted lieutenant-colonel March 12, 1777, ranking from August 28, 1776, and transferred to lieutenant-colonel of Mor- gan's rifle command, June 9, 1777, whom he afterward succeeded, and distinguished himself on many occasions. This regiment was made up of picked men detached from the several regiments of the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia Line. He was considered by Washington and General Wayne one of the ablest partisan officers of the Revolution and most familiar with Indian life and affairs. It is said that he knew several Indian dialects, and had been requested by the commander-in-chief to compile an Indian vocabulary.

"When General Burgoyne advanced against General Gates, Washington sent Butler's Rifles from the banks of the Dela- ware to protect the flank and rear of Gates from the Indians under Brant; and after participating most efficiently and suc- cessfully in the battle of Saratoga, Octo- ber, 1777, were ordered back to Washing- ton's headquarters. The same regiment distinguished itself at the battle of Mon- mouth, June, 1778, and when Washington, in a dispatch to Congress, animadverted on the conduct of Gen. Charles Lee on that occasion, he also stated that 'Colonel Butler's was the only command which fired a gun.' He was promoted colonel of the Ninth Pennsylvania, and under his command this regiment took a prominent and honorable share in the capture of Stony Point; and St. Clair to Reed, in a letter dated July 25, 1779, says: 'My friend, Colonel Butler, commanded one of the attacks and distinguished himself.'

"After the revolt in the Pennsylvania Line, the Ninth Regiment generally reën-

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listed under their old colonel and his cap- tains in the Fifth Pennsylvania, who com- manded it during the campaign under General Wayne in the south. Of his career in that department we have extant a characteristic letter to Gen. William Irvine, published in the first volume of 'Pennsyl- vania in the War of the Revolution.' Gen. Henry Lee, in his 'Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States,' alludes to the incidents referred to in that letter as follows:

While in his camp before Williamsburg the British general learned that we had some boats and stores on the Chickahominy River. Hither he detached Lieutenant- colonel Simcoe, with his corps and the Yagers, to de- stroy them. This service was promptly performed; but the American general, having discovered from his ex- ploring parties the march of Simcoe, detached on the 26th, Lieutenant-colonel Butler, of the Pennsylvania Line, the renowned second and rival of Morgan at Sara- toga. The rifle corps, under Majors Call and Willis, and the cavalry, which did not in the whole exceed one hun- dred and twenty effectives, composed Butler's van. Major MacPherson of Pennsylvania led this corps, and having mounted some infantry behind the remnant of Armand's Dragoons, overtook Simcoe on his return near Spencer's plantation, six or seven miles above Williams- burg. The suddenness of MacPherson's attack threw the Yagers into confusion; but the Queen's Rangers quickly deployed, and advanced to the support of the Yagers.

Call and Willis had now got up to MacPherson's support with their riflemen, and the action became fierce. Lieutenant Lollar, at the head of a squadron of Sim- coe's Hussars, fell on Armand's remnant and drove it out of line, making Lieutenant Breso and several privates prisoners. Following his blow, Lollar turned upon our riflemen, then pressing upon the Queen's Rangers; and at the same moment, Captain Ogilvie, of the Legion Cavalry, who had been sent that morning from camp with his troops for the collection of forage, accidentally appeared on our left flank. The rifle corps fell back in confusion upon Butler, drawn up in the rear with his Continentals. Satisfied with the repulse of the assailing troops, Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe began to retire; nor was he further pressed by Butler, as Cornwallis had moved with the main body, on hearing the first fire, to shield Simcoe.

"In October following, in view of Colonel Butler's valuable services prior to and at the capture of Yorktown, he was honorably designated to plant our flag upon the British works after the surrender of Cornwallis; and though Colonel Butler detailed for this purpose his ensign, Maj. Ebenezer Denny, being probably partial to him as coming from his own town, Carlisle,

where the families were near neighbors, yet Baron Steuben, unexpectedly and of- fensively, appropriated this honor to him- self, and Colonel Butler that night 'sent the arrogant foreigner a message, as everyone expected, and it took all the in- fluence of Rochambeau and Washington to prevent a hostile meeting.' In this business, however, we have the following statement, according to which the baron's conduct was approved: When the com- missioners were discussing and arranging the terms of surrender, Lafayette, whose turn it was next to command the trenches, marched with his division to relieve the baron. The latter refused to be relieved, urging that having received the flag, the rules of European warfare secured him the right to retain the command until the surrender of the place. Lafayette ap- pealed to Washington who, after consult- ing Count Rochambeau, and other foreign officers, informed him that the baron was entitled to the command, and must retain it until the matter under discussion should be decided.

"On a plan of Carlisle, made in 1764, the Butler home is then and there indi- cated as being on lot 61, West Main Street. We have some letters written by him, and afterwards by his widow, as well as let- ters which we carefully copied from the originals now among the archives of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, writ- ten by him to a friend, Gen. William Irvine, then commissioner of public ac- counts in New York, and they indicate Carlisle as his home. These letters, which are dated at Carlisle, besides some written by him thither when. absent in the field of military service, extend from September, 1782, to July, 1789. In September, 1789, his letters begin to be dated at Pittsburg, and the last one we have, posted from Pittsburg, is in August, 1790. It was the next year that he was killed in battle. We are thus particular, as these facts are not generally known, and in order to establish

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the claims of Carlisle to him as being a resident and citizen of the place the greater part of his life.

"After the close of the Revolutionary War, and when residing in Carlisle, the public service repeatedly called his atten- tion and presence elsewhere, especially to Fort Pitt, on business relating to the In- dians, with whom he was well acquainted, and a very trusted commissioner of the Government among them, and hence he was generally and favorably known in that place. As an evidence of this statement, we will here mention what might now be regarded as a small matter, but, in the olden time, it was intended as a marked compliment and tribute to a great and popular man. Brackenridge, in his 'Recol- lections,' speaking of taverns and tavern- keepers of Pittsburg, says: ‘When I can first remember, the sign of General Butler kept by Patrick Murphy, was the head tavern, and the first hotel in the town, just as the painted portrait of Washington or Lafayette or Jackson, or Perry, was often hoisted at the front of a public house to dignify and distinguish it, and to attract patronage. Throughout these many years a street in Pittsburg bears his name. Many a partial parent called a son after him. General O'Hara, of Pittsburg, gave the name of Richard Butler to one of his sons, with whom we were intimately ac- quainted, whose family we often visited at Guyasutha Place, and where still re- sides his only living daughter, Mrs. Will- iam M. Darlington. Butler County, as well as the town of Butler, was named in honor of the general, and the same honor- able name has been conferred on counties, and towns, and townships in other sections of the Union.'

"But what had been his character and public services? We answer briefly: He was a brave and intrepid soldier, quick to perceive duty and as quick to perform it, and he possessed in a high degree the at-

tachment of his men and the confidence of Washington.

"Colonel Butler was at Fort McIntosh, now Beaver, on the 29th of September, 1785, as his will, to which we shall pres- ently refer, was dated at that place. ‘The will,' writes Judge M. C. Herman, of Car- lisle, to whom we are indebted for some of the facts here given, 'appears to have been written hurriedly, and on the eve of some dangerous expedition, for he says':

Being in perfect health and senses think it my duty (as I am going far from my family, and into some degree of danger more than generally attend at my happy and peaceful home), to make such arrangement of my worldly affairs as I wish and desire may take place in case of my death, which I hope for the sake of my family, the Great and Almighty God will avert.

"Upon the return from this expedition, Colonel Butler remained at Pittsburg, and owning considerable property in that neighborhood, he was quite prominent in securing the formation of the new county of Allegheny. The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, appointed him, September 30, 1788, lieutenant for that county, and on the 2nd of October follow- ing, the General Assembly appointed him commissioner, with Col. John Gibson, to purchase from the Indians their claim to the triangle on Lake Erie. In November, 1788, in connection with his brother, Will- iam Butler, James Robinson and Daniel Elliott, made purchase of the reserved lots opposite the town of Pittsburg. He was commissioned one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, November 21, 1788, which he re- signed in December, 1790, having been elected to the Assembly from the district composed of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.

"Upon the expiration of his term of service in the Assembly, Colonel Butler re- turned to Pittsburg. The failure of Gen. Josiah Harmer's expedition against the western Indians occurred in the autumn of 1790. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was then

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

appointed commander-in-chief of the

United States army. Colonel Butler was appointed major-general, and second in command, and fell, when that army was defeated on the Miami, in the bloody battle fought against the allied Indians under Brant, on the 4th of November, 1791. The expedition had originally numbered about 2,000 men; on the day of action it had been reduced to about 1,400, and of this force 913 were killed, wounded and miss- ing. A battalion of artillery was almost entirely destroyed. St. Clair was a great civilian and brave soldier, but, like the unfortunate Braddock, probably did not sufficiently understand and appreciate Indian warfare, or his army may not have been properly trained and disciplined to meet such a foe; and many believed that if Butler had had the command, the result would have been different. Two of his brothers, Cols. Thomas and Edward But- ler, were also in the disastrous battle in which the general had fallen, and the first was severely wounded. Maj. Ebenezer Denny, the aid-de-camp of General St. Clair (he had previously been the aid-de- camp to General Harmer, after whom he named his eldest son, and he named his youngest son after St. Clair), gives a de- tailed account of that battle in his military journal; and his son, Dr. William H. Denny, in his admirable memoir of his father, thus speaks of it:

After General Butler had received his first wound, he continued to walk in front, close along the line, with his coat off and his arm in a sling, encouraging the men, and retired only after receiving a second wound in the side. The commander-in-chief sent Major Denny, with his compliments, to inquire how he was. He found him in the middle of the camp, in a sitting posture, supported by knap-sacks; the rifle balls of the Indians, who now surrounded closely the whole camp, concentrated upon that point. One of the wounded general's servants and two horses were shot here. He seemed, however, to have no anxiety, and to the inquiry of the aid-de-camp, he answered that he felt well. Whilst making this reply, a young cadet from Virginia, who stood by his side, was hit on the cap of the knee by a spent ball, and cried so loudly with the pain and the alarm, that General Butler actually shook his wounded side with laughter. This satisfied Major Denny that the second wound was not mortal, that the General being very fleshy, the ball might

not have penetrated a vital part. He always believed that he might have been brought away and his life saved. Probably his own aid-de-camp, Maj. John Mor- gan, may have offered to bring him off, as was his duty, and the wounded General declined, conscious that his weight and helplessness would only encumber his brave young friend for no use, and hinder him from saving himself.

"About the time to which reference is here made, it is reliably stated that the youngest brother, Capt. Edward Butler, removed the general from the field and placed him near the road by which he knew the army must retreat, and on returning to the field found his other brother, Maj. Thomas Butler, shot through both legs. He then removed him to the side of the general, who, learning that the army was in retreat, insisted on being left alone, as he was mortally wounded, and that he should endeavor to save their wounded brother. He consequently placed Thomas on an artillery horse captured from a re- treating soldier, and taking a sad leave of their gallant and noble brother, 'they left him in his glory.' A letter from Edward Butler to his Brother Pierce, of Kentucky, dated Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, November 11, 1791, says :

Yesterday I arrived here with our worthy brother, Major Thomas Butler, who is illy wounded, he having one leg broken and shot through the other. I hope, however, he will do well. He has borne the hard fortune of that day with the soldiery fortitude you might have expected from so brave a man. We left the worthiest of brothers, Gen. Richard Butler, in the hands of the sav- ages, but so nearly dead that, I hope, he was not sensible of any cruelty they might willingly wreak upon him.

"We do not know just when he died or how he died. All we know of his end is, that, out of regard for the welfare of others, and with a heroic and self-sacrific- ing spirit, he desired to be left behind. His desire was granted, sadly and reluc- tantly, and we, too, can only hope that he was not conscious of any savage indignity. In the autumn of 1793, General Wayne, who had succeeded General St. Clair, in his expedition against the allied Indians, obtained possession of the ground on which the Americans had been defeated in 1791,

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which he fortified and named Fort Recov- ery. Here he carefully collected, and with the honors of war, interred the bones of the slain of the 4th of November, 1791.

"Sixty years after the death of General Butler, his nephew, Col. E. G. W. Butler, son of Col. Edward Butler, received his Uncle Richard's sword, a 'Toledo,' from Gen. W. L. Gaither, of Maryland, who said it had been presented to his ancestor, Ma- jor Gaither, by General Butler, after his brothers had left him, and handed down through two generations with the injunc- tion of the former, 'never to wipe from the blade the blood of Butler.' It was given to Colonel Butler because of the efforts of his father to save the life of its gallant owner, and by its side rests the sword of his wounded brother, Thomas, given to Colonel Butler by his eldest son, because the father of the former saved his father's life. Both bear the motto, in French : 'Draw me not without just cause'; and on the other side: 'Sheath me not without honor.'

"Col. William D. Wilkins, son of the late venerable Judge Ross Wilkins, of Michigan, has the military journal of Gen. Richard Butler during the campaign of 1791, at the back of which are recorded the roster of officers for duty, and also General Butler's mess account and memoranda of expenditures. The order of battle and march was being entered at the very mo- ment of the attack by the enemy, and the change in the handwriting, from a very fair caligraphy to the nervous, blotted writing of an agitated and excited man, is quite significant.

"Then follows a hiatus of several days and the series of orders recommences at

Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, to which the army fell back after its defeat, with a melancholy list of the killed and wounded, in which Butler's command (em- bracing the first and second Pennsylvania levies and battalion of Kentucky militia) suffered fearfully. The book is a very curious picture and record of the ancient military life, discipline and manners of the DeKalb and Steuben period, and shows General Butler to have been a skillful, judicious and accomplished officer, well versed in his profession, thoughtful of the welfare of his men, and solicitous for the honor of his country.

"Gen. Richard Butler's will, as stated, was dated September 29, 1785, and is re- corded at Carlisle. In it he mentions his wife Mary, and children, William and Mary, the rearing and educating of whom is entrusted to his wife. His estate con- sisted of a 'house and lot in Carlisle,' 'furniture, plate, etc.,' tract of land 'war- ranted in the name of John Beard, situate on Plumb Creek, Westmoreland County, adjoining land of the late Col. George Croghan'; tract of land in Allegheny County; lots in Pittsburg, adjoining lots of William Butler; one thousand acres of land, being a donation of the State of Pennsylvania, and six hundred acres of land, a donation of the United States in Congress-'these donations are for my services as colonel in the Army of the United States,' and other property, includ- ing 'horses, cows and farming utensils at and near Carlisle.' The executors named in his will are his wife Mary, his brother William, his 'respected friend Thomas Smith, Esq., attorney-at-law, Carlisle, and my friend John Montgomery, Esq.' "

CHAPTER III

LAND TITLES

Naming of Pennsylvania-Extinguishment of the Indian Title-The Erie Triangle --- Boundary Line Disputes-Ferguson's Wanton Act-The Depreciation Lands- The Donation Lands-Drawn by Lottery-The "Struck" District-The Settlement Law of 1792-Robert Morris-Agrarian Troubles-The Shooting of Maxwell- The End of the Land Jobbers-The McKee and Varnum Case.

It is commonly supposed that Pennsyl- vania was so named by her founder in honor of himself. As a matter of fact, Penn wished to call his province New Wales, but King Charles II. objected. In view of the fact that the country was heav- ily timbered, Penn proposed the name Sylvania. The king agreed to this as a portion of the title, and to do honor to the distinguished admiral, the father of Will- iam Penn, he prefixed the word Penn to Sylvania, and named the province Penn- sylvania. Admiral Penn at the time of his death had claims against the crown amounting to sixteen thousand pounds, or about eighty thousand dollars. It was in liquidation of these claims that the title to all of the lands in the charter limits of Pennsylvania was vested in William Penn. The charter conveying the magnificent province dated March 4, 1681, is the foundation of all land titles in the State. The province contained about thirty-five million, three hundred and sixty-one thou- sand, six hundred acres. The final adjust- ment of the charter boundaries with Vir- ginia, Maryland and New York did not take place for many years after the grant- ing of the charter. Penn died in 1718, and

by his will, made in 1712, he devised his lands, rents, etc., in trust to his wife, Han- nah, to dispose of so much as was neces- sary to pay his debts, and then to convey forty thousand acres to William Penn, Jr., his son by a former wife, and the rest of his vast estate to his children by his sec- ond wife. The title was vested in them until 1778, when it was assumed by the State or colony.

EXTINGUISHMENT OF INDIAN TITLE.

The first Indian purchase after the char- ter was made by William Markham, a relative of the proprietor, in July, 1682, and secured the right to a small territory about the size of Bucks County. In 1683, 1684, and 1685 deeds were executed for small parcels of land west of the Schuyl- kill and on the Susquehanna.

In 1686 the deed for the much disputed "walking purchase," of which one of the boundaries was "as far as a man can go in one day and a half," is said to have been obtained. Other lands were pur- chased from the Indians in 1696, and in subsequent years, but the lands freed from their claim were of comparatively small extent prior to 1718. The most important

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relinquishment of Indian titles were made by deeds and treaties executed in 1736, 1749, 1754, 1768, and 1784. It is with the last of these treaties that the reader of the history of Butler County is most con- cerned. The Indian title to the land north- west of the Allegheny River was extin- guished by the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. Since the year 1768, when the first treaty of Fort Stanwix was made, the northwestern boundary of the Indian pur- chases in the State ran from the Susque- hanna on the New York line to Towanda Creek, thence to the head of Pine Creek in Lycoming County, and down the Alle- gheny and the Ohio to the west lines of the State. The purchase of 1784 included all of the lands in the State except a triangle in Erie County, embracing the present counties of Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, Elk, Cameron, Potter, Kane, Warren, Forrest, Venango, Crawford, Mercer, and Law- rence, and parts of the counties of Beaver, Erie, Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana, Clearfield, Clinton, Lycoming, Tioga and Bradford.

Distinguished men represented the United States at the treaty of Fort Stan- wix, among whom are Gen. Richard But- ler, Oliver Wollcott, and Arthur Lee. General Lafayette was also present. The Indian tribes represented were the Mo- hawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, and the Cornplanter band of Senecas. Among the chieftains present were Cornplanter and Red Jacket. The latter was opposed to peace and made a war speech, which Lafayette said was a masterpiece. Cornplanter saw the folly of waging a war single-handed, and exerted all of his powers for peace. After a long conference, the treaty was signed on the 22d of October.

THE ERIE TRIANGLE.

What is known as the triangle of the northern part of Erie County was not within the charter boundaries of the prov-

ince. This tract containing an area of 202,187 acres was by the cessions of New York in 1781, by Massachusetts in 1785, and by Connecticut in 1786, left out of the jurisdiction of any particular State. While surveying the donation land of northwest- ern Pennsylvania, General Irvine dis- covered that the northern charter boun- dary of the State would strike Lake Erie so as to leave but a few miles of lake coast, and that without a harbor in the State. In consequence of his representations a move- ment was set on foot to secure from the Indians and the United States the cession of the triangle to Pennsylvania. This cession was secured in 1792.

BOUNDARY LINE DISPUTES.

The settlement of boundary lines be- tween Pennsylvania and surrounding colo- nies was attended with much difficulty. Had the claim of Lord Baltimore of Mary- land been conceded, the line would have been run twenty miles or more north of the present boundary, and Pennsylvania would have lost about three million acres of her most fertile land. Had Penn's claim been conceded, the consequences would have been still more serious to Maryland. She would have lost all of her territory north of Annapolis, including the site of Baltimore and several other towns, which includes about two-thirds of the area of the State. The existing boundary known as Mason and Dixon line was run in the years 1767 and 1768, and the agree- ment was ratified by the king in 1769.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 10

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1526

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526