Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 6

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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It thus seems a fair inference that Washington's life was imperiled on the

27th of December, 1753, and that it was near or upon the waters of the Breakneck that the incident occurred. He arrived at Williamsburg on the 16th of January, 1754, and made his report to Governor Dinwiddie. This concluded the first im- portant public service of George Washing- ton.

ENGLAND TAKES ACTION.

The English government, having learned of the designs and operation of the French on the Allegheny and the Ohio Rivers, re- solved to oppose force with force, and in the spring of 1754 began the erection of a stockade and fort at the forks of the Ohio, now the city of Pittsburg. Ensign Ward was in charge of this work. Before he had completed his stockade the French came down the Allegheny River and drove him away. The French and Indian War followed, in which the Indians were at first aliled with the French, and later with the English, and concluded with Pontiac's con- spiracy in 1763.

CAUSE OF INDIAN DISSATISFACTION.

In order to combine the efforts of the colonies in this war, a conference was held at Albany, New York, in July, 1754, which was attended by the chiefs of the Six Nations, two commissioners on the part of the Council of New York, and two on the part of the Province of Pennsylvania, the latter being Robert Morris and Benjamin Franklin. The result of the conference was unsatisfactory to the Council, but Franklin and Morris secured from the Six Nations a great part of the land in the Province of Pennsylvania to which the Indian title had not become extinct. By this sale the Delawares, the Shawanese, and the Munseys found all of their land on the Juniata, the Susquehanna and the Allegheny Rivers sold from under their feet, which the Six Nations had guaran- teed to them on their removal from the eastern waters.

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Previous to 1754 the Six Nations and the Delawares on the Atlantic coast had been at war with each other and the latter had been conquered. A treaty of peace was made in which the Six Nations guaranteed the Delawares, the Shawanese and the Munseys certain lands on the river above mentioned in consideration of their re- moval from their former homes in the east. This act of the Six Nations in selling the land in central and western Pennsylvania was highly dissatisfactory to these tribes, and was a partial cause of their alienation from the English.

DESTRUCTION OF KITTANNING.

The destruction of the Indian town on the east bank of the Allegheny River at Kittanning in 1756 by Colonel Armstrong was a part of the operations of the army of the Province during the war with the French and Indians. King Shingas, the Delaware chief who met Frederick Post at Cushcushking in 1758, was in this battle, as was also Captain Jacobs, the latter be- ing killed. An excellent description of the destruction of Kittanning is given in the narrative of the Kirkpatrick family in this work.

The Indian town of Kittanning was used as a sort of storehouse by the French, and was a central point from which the Dela- wares, the Shawanese and the Munseys made forays into the central and eastern part of the State, causing widespread de- vastation among the frontier settlement. So desperate had the situation become that the authorities of the Province about this time offered a bounty of 150 Spanish dol- lars for the scalp of every male Indian that was killed by the frontiersmen, and half that amount for a female or a child. To the credit of the frontiersmen and set- tlers, be it said, there is no record of an Indian being wantonly killed for the sake of securing the bounty. The destruction of Kittanning was a severe blow to the Indian tribes in western Pennsylvania,

and they retired subsequently to the terri- tory west of the Allegheny River of which Butler County is a part.

CHRISTOPHER GIST.

Christopher Gist, who accompanied Washington on his expedition to Venango, was a native of England and first became known in North Carolina as a good sur- veyor, a bold and skillful woodsman, and an intrepid explorer. As agent for the Ohio company he made a journey to the wilderness west of the Allegheny in 1750, went as far as the Scioto and Miami Rivers in Ohio, and was the first explorer of Kentucky. He was again with Wash- ington in the Fort Necessity campaign in 1754, and was chief guide of Braddock's army. In 1756 he went south and enlisted the Cherokees in the English interests. He became Indian agent in the south for the British government, and died some- where in one of the southern States. He had three sons who were men of note, one of them being a colonel in the Revolution- ary army.

FREDERICK POST.

The next appearance of white men within the limits of Butler County was in 1758, when Frederick Post, the Moravian missionary and political messenger, was sent among the Indians west of the Alle- gheny River, north of the Ohio, to detach them from their friendly relations with the French. His topographical references con- nect him with the Indian towns of Butler County, but he does not always distinguish between the headquarters town of the savages and their hunting town or lodge of the same name. Post was acting in the capacity of a spy, and was at Venango, August 8, 1758. His companion on this trip was Pesquetum, and from a minute made in his journal on August 8, they intended to visit Cushcushking in the Slip- pery Rock district. On August 10 they learned from an English trader, whom

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

they met, that they were then within twenty miles of Fort Duquesne. On the 12th they came to an old town on the Con- noquenessing Creek and there heard that Cushcushking (written Koshkoshkung, Cushcushkee, and otherwise) was fifteen miles distant. Post sent a messenger to Cushcushking with four strings of wam- pum to announce his arrival. It appears that he was well received by the Indians at Cushcushking, and that here he met several Indians of the Shawanese tribe from the Wyoming Valley who knew him. The principal chief at Cushcushking was King Beaver who lodged Post and his friends in a large house and entertained them royally. In the evening Beaver called on the preacher to say that a council ordered the men to be summoned but that they could not assemble for five days. Later ten chiefs came into the house and sat by Post's fire until midnight. The 13th of the month appears to have been Sunday, and Post did not transact any business on that day. The following day he resumed his mission among the savages and witnessed fifteen French mechanics building houses for the very people who were promising to aid the enemies of their benefactors.

During the next few days some time was spent in speech-making and festivities, and on the 17th of August a space in the center of the town was cleared and prepared for holding the council. About noon two mes- sengers from the Duquesne savages ar- rived, accompanied by a French captain and fifteen soldiers. The messengers wish Post to go at once to Duquesne where representatives of eight nations wished to speak to him. The Indian representatives with the soldiers were Kuckquetackton and Killbuck, and their treatment of Post was so formal and cold that King Beaver took the preacher to his own wigwam. The five days having expired the council was opened on August 18th, the visitors being addressed by King Beaver, King Shingas

and Deleware George. On the following day, the 19th, the council was concluded and on the 20th Post, accompanied by twenty-five mounted men and fifteen men on foot, set out from Cushcushking for Sa- konk. Here the messenger was received with hostile demonstrations, which were only allayed by the interposition of the In- dians accompanying him. On the next evening fifteen savages from Cushcushking arrived at Sakonk, bringing the number of male Indians up to 120, and on the 22nd twenty savages of the Shawanese and Min- go tribes appeared, who informed Post that he was wanted at Duquesne. The next day Post left Sakonk and proceeded to Du- quesne by way of Logstown, arriving at the French fort on the 24th. While the French officers watched Post closely at the meet- ings held with the Indians at the fort, and suspected the object of his visit, they did not once violate French courtesy by order- ing him off. Post placed so much reliance in French honor that on the 27th of Au- gust he was back in Sakonk on his way to Cushcushking. King Shingas and nine- teen other savages accompanied him to the Indian town. On the 29th a party of nine Tawa Indians arrived at Cushcushking on their way to the French fort, and on Sep- tember 1st, the savages began to consider the proposals for alliance with the English submitted by Post. When they suggested that the main object of the English was to get possession of their lands, Post called on God to witness that such an idea was never entertained by his employers. He also made other statements that the In- dians did not believe but which they did not dispute, being willing to deceive the English as they were then deceiving the French. On the 3rd of September a treaty of friendship with the English was signed by the following named counselors and chiefs: King Beaver, Captain Peter, Awa- kanomin, Delaware George, Macomal, Cushawmekwy, Pisquetumen, Killbuck, Keyheynapalin, Tasucamin, Popauce, John

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Hickomen, Washaocautaut, and Cochqua- caukehlton.

On September 8th Post left Cushcush- king, accompanied by Tom Hickman and Pisquetumen. He reported at Fort Au- gusta September 22, 1758, with a long story of Indian treachery and narrow escapes and charging his Indian companion Pis- quetumen with being a perfidious scoun- drel, which charge would seem, from subse- quent events, to have been not altogether without some foundation.

POST RETURNS TO THE DELA- WARES.

In the latter part of October, 1758, a council of the Five Nations with the Gov- ernor of the Province and other represen- tatives of the English was held at Easton, Pennsylvania, which was attended by Post. After the council was over, Post re- turned to the Delaware towns west of the Allegheny River, under escort. The es- cort left him at the Allegheny River and on their way back to Easton were am- bushed and killed by the very Indians who had pretended friendship to the English. Pisquetumen was concerned in this treach- ery.

KASKASKUNK-PAKANKE, GLIKKIKIN.

The first white men to set foot within the limits of Butler County were, so far as is known, Christopher Gist and Major George Washington, when they made the expedition to Fort Venango in 1753, and they were followed by Frederick Post, the Moravian missionary and political messen- ger of the English in 1758. It would ap- pear from the evidence available on the subject that the next expedition of white men did not occur until after the Revo- lution, and about 1790. Loskiel's History and Map of the Missions of the "Church of Jesus Christ of North America" which was published in 1794, gives some light on this subject.

The first Moravian missionaries were sent out in 1732 and established missions in the eastern part of Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Bethlehem and on the Susque- hanna River. David Zeisberger, who was one of the early missionaries of that so- ciety, was among the Indians at Onondaga in 1750, and in 1767, Zeisberger and two converted Indians named Anthony and John Papunhank came to the Seneca tribe at a town on the Allegheny River north of Fort Venango, called Goschgoschuenk. The town was described as containing three villages under the command of a blind chief named Allemewi. The mission- aries succeeded in converting the chief and a woman of the tribe said to be 100 years old. In the following year, 1768, Zeisber- ger and a fellow missionary named Got- lieb Senseman, returned to Goschgosch- uenk with three Indians named Anthony, Abraham and Peter, and in the following two years established a mission on the west side of the Allegheny River at an Indian town named Lawunakhannock. In 1770, trouble arose at this Indian town be- tween the Seneca tribe of Indians and the Cherokees. A treaty that had been made between the tribes had been violated by the murder of two or three Cherokees by the Senecas. The Cherokees caught two of the Seneca warriors, cut their fingers off. and sent them home with this mes- sage: "Now because you will not hold the chains of friendship with your hands, we will cut them off and send you herewith a specimen." During his visit to Lawunak- hannock in 1768, Zeisberger had met Pa- kanke, the chief of the Delawares, at Kas- kaskunk, and Glikkikin, the noted warrior, who had become converted, and when the trouble arose in 1770, Pakanke requested the missionaries and their friends to come and live with him. Accordingly on the 17th of April, 1770, the two missionaries set out with sixteen canoes loaded with their Indian congregation and converts, and all of their baggage, descended the Al-

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

legheny River to the Ohio, thence to the mouth of Beaver Creek or River, and from there ascended that stream to the falls of the Beaver, where they arrived on the 3rd day of May. They then took the overland route to the village of Kaskaskunk in But- ler County, and were met on the road by Glikkikin, who had provided horses for them. After two days' journey they ar- rived at the Indian town and were made welcome by Chief Pakanke. Shortly after their arrival the missionaries and their followers established the mission of Frie- denstadt, or the "Town of Peace." Here they built bark huts, erected a large hut for meetings, and cultivated crops. The mis- sion of Friedenstadt, according to Los- kiel's map, was located on Beaver Creek in what is now Lawrence County, near the present site of New Castle. This map does not locate the town of Kaskaskunk nor any of the Indian villages and towns in western Pennsylvania, except where mis- sions were established. The blind Chief Solomon was baptized at Kaskaskunk by one of the missionaries, probably Zeisber- ger, as he was the leader. Glikkikin, who had previously been a great warrior, be- came tired of this pursuit, and after his conversion declared his intention of taking up his residence with the missionaries at Friedenstadt. This decision on the part of Glikkikin caused a quarrel between him and Pakanke. The old chief became re- conciled, however, and about a year later his son was baptized by one of the mission- aries. Zeisberger and Senseman were aft- erwards adopted by the Delaware tribe and wielded a great influence over the In- dians of western Pennsylvania and east- ern Ohio.

REV. JOHN ROTHE.

Rev. John Rothe appears to have suc- ceeded Zeisberger and Senseman at Frie- denstadt and in 1773, when the congrega- tion decided to move to Gnadenhuetten on the Muskingum River in Ohio, he led the

party that traveled overland, while the old people and the invalids traveled by way of boat down the Beaver River to the Ohio, and thence to the mouth of the Mus- kingum.

It is proper to mention something of the work accomplished by Rev. Rothe at this point, as part of his labors among the In- dians was performed in this county and his remains lie at rest in the little ceme- tery at Prospect. He first came to Nain in the vicinity of Bethlehem in 1753, and was one of the missionaries sent to Frie- denshuetten on the Susquehanna River in 1765. He established a congregation among the Indians a short distance from Friedenshuetten at an Indian town named Tsehechschequannunk, and in 1772 when the congregations at these two points de- cided to move to Schoenbrun in Ohio. Rev. Rothe and another Moravian missionary conducted this expedition. Part of the ex- pedition went by boat down the main stream of the Susquehanna, and then up the west branch to its head waters. Here they were met by the overland party led by Rev. Rothe and the united company, composed of 240 persons, seventy head of oxen and as many horses, proceeded through the forests to the Allegheny River at Kittanning. A description of this pas- sage of the wilderness is a thrilling narra- tive. Mrs. Rothe and her young child ac- companied the expedition. The path led through the forests and over blind roads. On one occasion Mrs. Rothe's horse fell and pitched her headlong, but she escaped without serious injury. On another occa- sion she fell into a morass and was res- cued with difficulty. At Kittanning boats were built and the expedition was divided, part going by the way of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, and part under the leadership of Rev. Rothe, traveling across the coun- try to Friedenstadt, which point they reached, after many hardships, on the 5th of August. Their route lay through But- ler County and no doubt followed the old

HARDWARE STORE OF F. A. FRISHKORN, ZELIENOPLE

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Indian trail from Kittanning to the Ohio line, which lay some distance north of the borough of Butler, and probably passed Kaskaskunk. The passage of the wilder- ness was attended with many hardships and some casualties. Several of the mem- bers of the party died from exhaustion, among the number being an Indian boy who was a cripple. The boy had recently been converted and expressed to his pas- tor, Rev. Rothe, his great joy in his new- found religion, and his willingness to die.

While at the mission station on the Sus- quehanna River, Rev. Rothe baptized the noted Indian chief, James David, on the 18th of May, 1755. Chief David was one of the leaders of the Indian settlement at Friedenshuetten, and a member of the "Cajuga" tribe. After conducting the congregation from Friedenstadt to the Muskingum River in 1773, Rev. Rothe re- turned to eastern Pennsylvania and be- came the pastor of a Lutheran congrega- tion at York, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death. He took a prominent part in colonial affairs during the Revolution and was one of the first chaplains to the United States Congress. He also assisted Zeisberger in translating the New Testa- ment and the hymns into the Delaware In- dian language. In the latter part of the nineteenth century his remains were brought to Butler County by his grandson, Rev. David Luther Rothe, and interred in the Lutheran cemetery in Prospect by the side of his son, Col. David Rothe.

Col. David Rothe commanded an eastern regiment in the War of 1812, and was a member of the State Legislature from Le- high County before removing to Butler County. He settled at Prospect and be- came the progenitor of the Rothe family of Butler County.

THE CONVERSION OF GLIKKIKIN.

Previous histories accredit Frederick Post, the Moravian missionary, with being at some of the Indian towns in the present

limits of Butler County in 1758 or shortly thereafter. The Indian towns which he visited were probably Kushkushkee on Wolf Creek in Slippery Rock Township, and the Indian town on the Connoqueness- ing Creek above Amberson's, known as "Murdering Town." Day's "Historical Collections of Pennsylvania" mentions the Indian town, Kaskaskunk, as being located eight or ten miles northwest of Butler, but which was really located in Center Town- ship a short distance west of Holyoke Church, and says that this Indian village was the home of Pakanke, a noted chief of the Delaware tribe of Indians who inhab- ited this district about the time Post made his visit to the western part of the state. Glikkikin, who was a great warrior and an orator, resided in the same village, and when he heard that the Moravian mission- aries were at Venango and coming into the country to teach the Indians, he went to refute them. Glikkikin was a Canadian Indian and had been initiated into the Catholic Church by the priests of Canada, and was acting as a sort of educator among the Indians with whom he lived. A converted Indian named Anthony ar- ranged a meeting between Glikkikin and the Moravian missionary (who proved to be David Zeisberger), at Murdering Town. Anthony invited the missionary and the Indian orator to dine with him with the re- sult that Glikkikin was converted to the Moravian faith. Loskiel's "History of Missions in North America," published in 1794, relates the incident about Zeisber- ger converting Glikkikin and also states that about a year afterwards a son of the great Pakanke was baptized.

SETTLEMENTS UP TO 1804-THE PIONEERS.

From 1773 to 1790 the only white men to come within the limits of Butler County were the frontier scouts, such as Captain Brady, Captain Crawford, John Harbison, James Amberson and such hunters as cared to risk their scalps for the sake of the

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

pelts of the beaver and otter they could catch during the trapping season. Cush- cushking was occupied by the Seneca In- dians and Kaskaskunk by the Delawares until after the Revolution and roving bands of Shawanese occupied camps and villages within the limits of the county. They were all allies of the British and ene- mies to be feared by the most adventurous frontiersmen.

After the close of the Revolutionary War the revival of the migratory and land- hunting spirit of the older counties as well as the renewal of immigration from for- eign lands, caused an influx of settlers to that section of the state north of Allegheny County and west of the Allegheny River. Although the land was not open for settle- ment until 1795, there were adventurous spirits among the pioneers who made their appearance within the boundaries of But- ler County as early as 1790. This advance guard was composed of hunters and trap- pers whose purpose was to spy out the land, and at the same time make a profit out of the furs to be obtained from the wild animals that then abounded in this region. These men usually came here in the begin- ning of the hunting season, and returned at its close to their homes in the eastern counties, to market the product of their trap and gun.

The Delaware and Shawanese tribes of Indians who had inhabited the greater part of Butler County, were hostile and op- posed to the westward march of civiliza- tion, and made the life of the hunter a hazardous one, but a tribe of the Senecas who had a village in the county near Slip- pery Rock Creek were friendly to the whites, and many of the hunters and trap- pers were kindly received by them. The treaty of Greenville made in 1795 removed all the Indian tribes from the territory ex- cept a small band which lived in the village, near West Liberty, that were friendly to the whites, and remained in that vicinity as late as 1812.

There are many conflicting stories told about who were the first white men to set- tle in the county, and in the absence of ab- solute records, the statements given by their descendants must be taken as within reasonable bounds of accuracy. The first men who came into the county for the pur- pose of becoming permanent settlers were David Studebaker and Abraham Snyder, of Westmoreland County, who crossed the Allegheny River at Logan's Ferry, in the fall of 1790, camped for the night on the site of Butler borough and then proceeded to the village of the Seneca Indians on Slippery Rock Creek, where they remained for the winter. The original party that left Westmoreland County was composed of twelve persons who started out for the purpose of exploring the extreme western part of the county, for Westmoreland County then extended as far west as the Ohio line and as far north as Erie. When they arrived at Logan's Ferry they were told stories about the Indian depredations against the whiteskins in the territory west of the Allegheny River and all the party except Studebaker and Snyder returned home.

The two hunters remained with the In- dians about three months, spending the time in hunting and fishing and exploring the county. They then returned to their homes near Greensburg and in 1792 David Studebaker again came to Butler County, bringing with him his youngest sister as housekeeper. They took possession of the little cabin in Worth Township built by the hunters the previous year and became permanent settlers. After a time the young girl, unable longer to endure the loneliness of the forest, begged her brother to take her home. Her brother complied with this request, and brought back an older sister to take her place. David Stu- debaker's father was Joseph Studebaker of Westmoreland County, who in early boy- hood was taken captive along with his younger sister by the Indians, and held by

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them for nine years. The sister grew up to be a young woman among the Indians, became quite a favorite with them, and was treated with the utmost courtesy and civil- ity. Shortly before her brother was re- leased by the Indians she was thrown from her pony while riding through the woods and instantly killed. Joseph Studebaker was liberated at a place called Muskingum in southeastern Ohio in 1764, returned to the settlements in Pennsylvania and took a part in the War of the Revolution. He came to Butler County, made his home with his son, David, in Worth Township, and died there in 1815.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 6

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