Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII, Part 11

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 812

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"' I acknowledge the Work we are engaged in to be good, and am pleased the distant Indians have seen us consulting on it, and are pleased with it. What you have observed of our turning our Eyes to the Westward, and that we are concerned to prosecute that

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Expedition, is true. We look on the generous Offer you made yes- terday of doing that Business for us as a great Mark of your Sin- cere Dispositions to his Majesty, and your hearty Attachment to the English Nation. We know it is a great Undertaking, and think you have acted very prudently in reconsidering that Matter, and now heartily thank you for your kind Offers to assist us in it. Our great Enemy, the French, have for a long Time been making En- croachments on these Lands, and are determined to keep possession of them if they can ; And as our great and wise King has found that they will not hearken to any thing he has said to them on this head, he has now, at a very great Expence, sent over into this Country a great Number of Officers and Soldiers to drive them off. When they will set about it is uncertain, but as you have been so kind as to Offer to join us in such an Expedition, when the Com- manding Officer is ready to undertake it, we will acquaint him of your good Intentions, and he will send Notice to you. It will be, therefore, absolutely necessary you immediately send Word to all the Indians who have now joined with us, and make them fully ac- quainted with the Engagements you have entered into on their Ac- counts, and that you and we expect they will fulfil them.'

" A Belt.

" 'Brother :

"' You tell me you have looked above and all over the World to find out from whence the Mischief that has been amongst us arose, that you have now found it out, and shall take Notice of all such as have pretended to be our Friends, that if you find any of them deceitful, you will run your Hand down their Throats, and pul up their Hearts and lay them before us, and that in this all the Indian Nations, who have joined you and us have agreed.

"' Brother :

"' I am glad you have taken so much pains to find out the Cause of this Mischief, and that you are determined still to search it out to the Bottom, and see if any such who pretend to be our Friends have any Hand in it. This is a very prudent Resolution and I desire you would pursue it, for if there be any among you who carry Two faces, and act deceitfully, they are much more dangerous to both of us than our open Enemies, and if not found out, will ever be throwing Logs in the great Road, that has been now opened between us, towards perfecting this great and good Work of Peace, I assure you I shall use the same Care on my part to find out such Enemies amongst us, if there be any.

"' Brother :

I have now answered every Part of what you said to me yester- day. I do not observe that you have said any thing that was wrong; if I had, I should have Endeavoured to set you right, as Brethren ought to do with one another I am sensible of the Neces-

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sity of dispatching this Messenger. I shall do every thing I can to forward it, and I now desire, if you find I have omitted giving you a full answer on every Head, that you would, like' a Brother, open your Mind freely to me, and tell me so, for you must be sensible the greater Freedom we use with one another on affairs of such Importance as the great Work we are at present engaged in, the greater Probability there is of finishing it speedily to the satisfac- tion of both of us.'

" A String.

"Teedyuscung making no Answer, the President proceeded and said.

" ' Brother :

"' As I have now answered what you said to me yesterday, If you have nothing further to say to me on the Head I have some other Business to lay before you.'

" To which Teedyuscung replied : 'I have nothing to object to what you have said. It is a full Answer to what I said Yesterday, and all quite agreeable.'

" The President resuming his Discourse, said :

"'Brother Teedyuscung :

"' I am sorry to inform you that I hear there are now some In- dians on our Frontiers and in Lancaster County, on Swahatawro Creek, murdering our people and carrying off some scattering Fami- lies. This, Brother, will, I am afraid, be attended with very ill Consequences unless we can find out who they are. It highly con- cerns you to join me in endeavouring to know of what Nation these People are, and to bring some of them in, that I may be able to know who sent them there. These may, perhaps, be some of the People who have pretended to be our Friends ; but whether they be or not we must find them out; and as you have now taken hold of our Peace Belt, and have engaged for the Indians on Sasquehannah that they will not suffer any Enemy Indians to hurt me, I desire that you will immediately go to Bethlehem yourself, where I under- stand you have some young Men, and send a Party of them out to Scour our Frontiers and take some of them Prisoners; Or if you are not able to take them, that you will endeavour to bring back our People they have carried off; and I will immediately give Orders for a Party of our Soldiers there to join. This Conduct will convince me and my People that you are in earnest in this great and good Work we are now engaged in.'

" A Belt.

" ' Brother :

"' The Accounts you have mentioned to me from time to time of the several Tribes of Indians joining us in the good Work we are engaged in has given me great Pleasure. You told me by your

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last Messenger that you were now become Eighteen Tribes or Na- tions, and are now grown very strong. I desire you will acquaint such of these Tribes who have joined you that I with great Pleasure take them by the Hand, and that I shall be very glad to see some of the Chiefs of each Nations in this City, that I may see and hear them, and take them in my Arms. They will then have an Oppor- tunity of Confirming by their own mouth what you have said to me; which will afford me great satisfaction. I desire you will make them acquainted with the Engagements you entered into with me at Easton in their behalf of returning all our Prisoners they had in the Indian Country. And as our People are Strangers to the Woods, and will not be able to find the Roads to the Inhabitants, this will be a very good Opportunity of having them conducted safely ; and I shall depend on their bringing with them all our People they can collect.'

" A Belt.

" Teedyuscung having received the Belt arose and said :

""'Brother, hearken, I shall only speak a few words, and all you present take Notice.

"' Brother :

"' Since I have taken hold of the Covenant Chain, as I consider myself as one with you, I can do no other than as you have said. Were my Wife and Children among you I should be very uneasy and want to see them; I will therefore use my utmost Endeavours to collect as many of your People that are Prisoners in the Indian Country as I can, and will bring them down to you ; Brother, now I think we have really finished our Agreements and we are one; But tho' we are one, I will not give myself up intirely to you ; I will not inlist under your Captains or officers, but I will have Captains of my own; Here my Son is one of my Captains ; we will join with you but we will have Captains of our own ; As you know I am but weak and Poor, I hope you will Pay my People who shall go out along with you.

" It being late, the Conference ended; and as Teedyuscung was in haste to dispatch the Messenger, and sent out some of his Young Men to scour our Frontiers, he sat out next morning for Bethlehem, without saying anything of his Private Affairs and Settlement at Wyoming, as he intended."

Extract of a Letter dated Tuesday, April 18th, 1758.

" Tecdyuscung dispatched his Son John Jacob as Captain, and four more Indians, Viz : his Son Amos, Paul and his Brother John, also Isaac, all Delawares, to the three Indian Nations over Al- legheny, Viz“ : Delawares, Shawanese, and Quahanoquesie, of which last Castareega is Chief.

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"Ist. Delivered Four Strings to acquaint said Nations that he had twice receiv'd good News from them, and lately heard they inclined to be at Peace with the English ; but now he hears of fresh mur- ders being committed, which two Contraries he cannot reconcile or see thro', and therefore desires to know the reason.

"2d. A Large Black Belt, with five strokes across, made of white Wampum, at which Teedyuscung said :

"' Hark, Men of Allegheny ; you sent me word you had laid hold of the two ends of the Peace Belt, and I and the English should lay hold of the Middle, which we have done, and held, and do hold it still fast ; Therefore, I must desire all your Captains to sit quiet at Home, and not partake of these Evils, or murder English any more; For indeed, we are many Indians that live here amongst them. By such doings you may hurt the Chain of Peace.'

"3d. A White Belt, with black strokes across, set with black Wam- pum, at which he said :

"' My Friends and Brethren, Shawanese and Delawares :

""'You live near the Others, and if any of you live nigh the French, move a little further from them, and take each other by the Hand, and let all your Chiefs come, and I will take them by the Hand and go with them to the Governor, where they shall hear Words with their own Ears for themselves.'

"4th. A White Belt, set with black Wampum across, and said :

"'Hereby I require and charge all Indians, here and there, not to acquaint the French any thing of Transactions here ; but to stop .. their Ears and Eyes, that they may neither hear nor see what passes amongst us.' "

Then were read the following Letters, and ordered to be entered :

" Extract from a Letter from Sir William Johnson to M. Gen1. Abercrombie, dated at Fort Johnson, 13th April, 1758, received 22d, in the Morning, by the Post.

" I shall endeavour all in my Power to get as many Indians as I possibly can to join his Majesty's Forces, both this way and to the southward, for which Purpose I shall send Mr. Croghan, as soon as he returns from the German Flats to Philadelphia (in the mean while, I think Governor Denny should loose no Time in sending Invitations to them Indians, who are inclined to Peace, to come to Philadelphia), with proper Instructions and Directions to assist and co-operate with Governor Denny, in bringing about and settling a Peace with the Ohio and Western Indians, and try if he can get a Number of them to join Brigadier General Forbes; and endeavour to persuade the rest to lie still if possible, which (from the Steps I have lately taken), I am in hopes he will be able to accomplish. The Cherokees will, I am positive (by what they promised me last VOL. VIII .- 7.

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fall when here), join us heartily, if we do not by neglect, or some 4 mismanagement, overset the good Disposition they then were in, which I hope will be guarded against and prevented, as there Al- liance is, in my Opinion, a Matter of the utmost Consequence, par- ticularly to the Southern Governments, which, I think, should not stick at any thing now to engage them heartily.

"J. APPY, Secretary."

" BETHLEHEM, April 23d, 1758.

" Sir :

" This Morning a Soldier came from Fort Allen, with a Letter from Capt Orndt, directed to you or Mr. Edmonds, wrote last Night, in which the Captain gives you an account of the Trouble he had with Teedyuscung's Messengers, and that he could not get them from the Fort sooner than Yesterday Morning; and that they came back again towards Evening, telling the Captain they would not carry the Message; one of them said he had dream'd that two Indians had poisoned them, and they would die if they did go- forcing, at the same time, their Belts and strings of Wampum upon Mr. Orndt to send them to Teedyuscung again ; yet he kept them, and only desired you, or Mr. Edmonds, to acquaint Teedy- uscung of the Behaviour of his Messengers. Edmonds acquainted Teedyuscung directly of it; he proposed to send a Young Man of his to bid the Messengers proceed in their Journey, &cª. But Mr. Edmonds told him that would be to no purpose-his Captains would not hearken to the Message of a lad-it was needful that he did go himself and look after things; to which he at last agreed, upon Condition that Edmonds should go with him; And so they both set out for Fort Allen about 9 o'Clock. This Morning, Mr. - proposed to take the Captain's Letter along to you; but when sent for, Mr. Edmonds was gone already, and his Wife said he had, in the Hurry, taken the Letters along. I thought it, therefore, needful to acquaint you, nevertheless, of the Contents, as you may have an opportunity to acquaint the Governor of it. The Captain complains, also, that those Indians who were to range, did nothing but Drink, and were continually Drunk-they having brought whole Casks of Rum from Easton. One thing more I must tell you, The Lieutenant from Fort Allen was here, yester- day, in his private affairs; he reported that a Couple of Indians were come from the Susquehannah some Days ago, and that since their Arrival the Messengers look'd much confused, and as if they were knock'd on the Head ; in short, things Look very suspicious, and as if some evil spirit did work and rule again amongst the Savages ; which we have so much Reason to believe, as an Indian from above has secretly told his Friend, here in Bethlehem, there would be bad Times again, beseeching him, at the same Time, to

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retire from these parts. If not the Lord was on our side-in Dis- tress our strong Defence and Armour-we should should be in great fear; but as we are under his Protection, he will keep a good Watch, that we may not be surpriz'd; and I hope the last Murder on Swatara has put all our Neighbours upon their Guard ; for, as we know nothing certain, we can no body tell of it.

" Your Family is well.

"I am, with much respect, Yours, "JOHN EDWIN." 1 " Sir :

" May it Please Your Honour :

"I came to Town last Night, pretty late, and thinking it not Convenient to trouble you to-Day, I beg leave to inform your Honour, that Teedyuscung, a Day or two after he had dispatch'd his Two Sons, &ca., to the Alleghena, Sent Five other Indians to range on our Frontiers, in Company with some of Capt. Orndt's Men ; this he desired I would inform you of, and that he intends, very soon, to pay you a Visit (nay, he would fain come with me), to conclude about going to Wyoming &

"I am your Honour's most Hum. Serv'., "TIMOTHY HORSFIELD.

" Philadelphia, April 23d, 1758."

Benjamin Shoemaker, William Logan, and Richard Peters were appointed a Committee to Consider the Intelligence contained in the said Letters, and what is proper to be done in Consequence thereof, and to make their report thereon as soon as possible.

A Recommendation by the Commissioners under the Act for preventing Abuses in the Indian Trade, &cª., of John Carson, Francis Campble, and Nathaniel Holland, to be Agents at Fort Augusta, and to be Commissionated accordingly, was read & Con- sidered, and Francis Campble is approved of and appointed to be the Indian Agent at Fort Augusta, and to be Commissionated ac- cordingly, of which the Commissioners aforesaid are to have notice.

A Petition to the Governor from several of the Inhabitants of the Town of Reading and others in the County of Berks was read setting forth the great Distress of that County from the Ravages lately committed therein by some Indians, and praying for a speedy Reinforcement; the same was taken into Consideration and upon application to General Forbes a Company of One Hundred High- landers were ordered into that part of the Province for their Pro- tection and Security.

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MEMORANDUM.

On the Twenty-Seventh, Two Members waited on the Governor with the Bills for granting to his Majesty a Duty of Tonnage, &cª., for his Concurrence; and at the same time presented to his Honour the Bill for Extending several Sections of an Act of Parliament, &c2., intituled "An Act for Punishing Mutiny and Desertion," and de- sired his Assent to it as it now stood.

MEMORANDUM.

On the Twenty-Eighth, the Governor by the Secretary sent down to the House the Bill for granting to his Majesty a Duty of Ton- nage, &cª", with a Verbal Message that his Honour was ready to pass the same whenever presented to him for purpose.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Saturday the 29th of April, 1758.

PRESENT :

The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY Esq., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.

Robert Strettell,

Lawrence Growden, Esquires.

Benjamin Chew,

Thomas Cadwalader,

The Governor having last Night received a Letter from Brigadier General Forbes, requiring the Appointment of a Provincial Trea- surer, or Paymaster, to attend him, with a Sum of Money, Subject to his orders, for defraying Contingent Expenses, the same was laid before the House with a Message desiring the House would enable the Governor to return a Satisfactory Answer to the General.

The Governor at the same time sent a Message to the House at the Instance of General Forbes, Earnestly recommending it to them to provide a Barrack-Master, who might be accountable for the Care of the Barracks, and for the Several things therein.

The Governor returned the Bill Entituled "an Act for Extend- ing Several Sections of an Act of Parliament, passed in the Thir- teenth Year of the Present Reign, Entituled ' an Act for Punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters,'" with his Assent to it.

The Bill was laid before the General, and the hardships likely to be put upon the Magistrates from the Loose Expression in the Bill that the Magistrates shall not give Billets for Quarters on Public Houses, unless the Rooms in the Barracks were Compleatly filled, and the General was requested to give an order mentioning the Num- ber of Soldiers to be Lodged in each Room, but the General declined

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giving such Order, saying that they would hold more in one part of the * * than in another, and that no inconvenience could arise to the Magistrates, as it would be his Care in all Cases of that sort to interpose, and indeed he did not believe they would be put to the tryal in the Ensuing Winter.

The said Bill was compared by Mr. Peters on the part of the Council, and Mr. Roberdeau and Mr. Saunders on the part of the Assembly, together with the Bill Entituled " An Act for granting to his Majesty Duty of Tonnage upon Ships and Vessels, and also certain Duties upon Wine, Rum, Brandy, and other Spirits, and a Duty upon Sugar, for supporting and maintaining the Provincial Ship of War, for protecting the Trade of this Province, and other Purposes for his Majestie's Service.

The House was required to attend the Governor in the Council Chamber, in order to pass these two bills into Laws, and accord- ingly waiting on the Governor, they received his Assent, and were enacted, Sealed, and Enrolled.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Tuesday the 2d of May, 1758. PRESENT :

The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esq., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.

Robert Strettell,

Joseph Turner,

Richard Peters,

Lynford Lardner, John Mifflin,

Thomas Cadwalader, ? Esquires.

Teedyuscung, 1 Indians.

Teepyuscung,

Isaac Still, Interpreter.

The Council was called, at the Instance of Teedyuscung, the Delaware Chief; who, addressing himself to the Governor, spoke as follows :

" Brother :

" I have no new matter to lay before you; I only come to re- mind the Governor of some things, already agreed upon, that remain to be done. The Indians want to see the Houses built at Wioming, and then they will remove there. All the Indians ex- pect that the Houses shall be built this Spring; and if they be not, they will blame me much, and say it is my fault. I therefore press you to order the Men who are appointed for this Business to go upon it directly. Summer approaches, and it is Time to plant our Corn ; this is all I have to say."

A String.

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To this the Governor answered :

" Brother Teedyuscung :

"I am always glad to see you; Your request shall be taken into Consideration. I shall communicate it to the King's General, who is now in this City preparing for an Expedition against the Enemy, and likewise to the Assembly, who are now sitting; and, as soon as I have consulted with them, I will give you an answer."

The Governor then entered into Conversation with Teedyuscung on the late Mischiefs that had been done by the Indians on the Frontiers, at Berks County, and desired to know if he had learned what Indians were concerned in them. To which he answered, that he could not tell who they were; He knew nothing about it. He had sent a Letter to the Governor, setting forth all that he knew ; he had sent his Two Sons to the Ohio to demand the Cause of these Murders; he had received Belts from these Nations, acquainting him they were all Brothers, from Sunrising to Sun- setting; he could not, therefore, account for this last Mischief. Being asked how long it would take to finish the Buildings at Wioming, supposing the same Number of Hands as went before, he said Three Weeks. He reminded the Governor that they might have Two School Masters, Ministers, and Councellers.

Wednesday, A. M.

MEMORANDUM.

On the Third, Two Members waited on the Governor, with the following Message, and acquainted him that the House inclined to adjourn to Monday the Fourth Day of September next; to which his Honour was pleased to say, that he had some Business to lay before the House, and would acquaint them therewith, by the Sec- retary, in the Afternoon.

A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.

" May it Please Your Honour :

" At this Time of General Calamity and Distress of the Colonies, when every Liberty, both civil and religious is at Stake, we were de- termined to wave every Thing that might tend to create new Dis- putes between the Two Branches of the Legislature, and therefore have postponed answering your several Messages, and rather sub- mitted, for a Time, to lay under the load of Reflections and Cal- umny they contain, than by any Means impede his Majesty's Service, or obstruct the generous Measures he has been pleased to concert for our Preservation and Defence. But the aids are now granted to the Crown, and your Message of the Twenty-second Ult. is of such an uncommon and extraordinary Nature, a Regard for

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our Characters, Truth, and the Public Welfare, will no longer per- mit us to be silent ; tho' the Passion and Injustice it contains are so evident, 'tis more than probable that it will ever carry with it a full remedy against the unhappy disposition your Honour has dis- covered to deprive us of our just Rights as a Branch of the Legisla- ture, and as far as lies in your power, to ruin our Reputations as Individuals, by Calumniating and condemning unheard, particular Members of our House, without the least Foundation. How far this Conduct corresponds with the large Professions of Justice you made in the Case of William Moore, that you would condemn no Man unheard, nor without giving him and his Accusers a full hearing Face to Face, we leave your Conscience and reason to determine, de- claring that they appear to us the most glaring Contradictions.

"You have been pleased to lament the Melancholy state of this dis- tressed Colony, and the unseasonable Animosities we have been en- gaged in, at which we cannot help being surprised, since it is known to almost every Inhabitant, that you have long had it in your Power to relieve us, in a great Measure, from the first, and in no small Degree, contributed to the Second. Actions speak louder than Words. To these we appeal; will it not appear strange, that this Govern- ment, entrusted to your Honour's Care and protection, has expended, since your Administration, upwards of One Hundred Thousand Pounds in supporting three Battallions of Troops under your com- mand, and yet has received very little Defence against the Depre- dations of the most barbarous and cruel Enemy ? Was your Concern as Sincere as you profess, would you have acted in Violation of the Law, pointing out the only effectual Mode of Defending the People, in not issuing orders for making Incursions into the Enemy's Country ? Would you have neglected the Military Service, upon which the Lives of Thousands depended ; permitted the Officers and Men to remain inactive in the Forts; suffered the Inhabitants to be murdered and Captivated from Time to Time, when every Means in your Power ought to have been exerted for their Defence and Preservation ? These are facts so Notorious, so sensibly felt by our bleeding Fellow Subjects, that we cannot but doubt of the Sincerity of your Concern at a Distress, the Continuation of which has too long been owing to your own Neglects and Omissions.

" As to the Animosities you are pleased to say we have been en- gaged in, we know not what they mean, unless it be the trying and punishing the Author and Abettor of the most Virulent Libel that ever was published against the Representatives of a People and Rights of Government. To enquire into and punish this insolent Attack on the Rights of the Subject was our indispensible Duty. This was concluded long before the Demands of the Crown, made by Secretary Pitt's Letter, were communicated to us, and, therefore, could not impede or affect our Aids to his Majesty for the ensuing Campaign, but rather proved advantageous to the Common Cause,

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Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII, Part 11

Author: Publication date: 1838 Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State Number of Pages: 812

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 812