USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. II > Part 13
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On being informed of Captain Ogden's intended entrance into the fort early the next morning, Mr. Bennett, upon the pretense of going out to catch some cels, in the evening crossed the river, and went down to the Yankce lines, and communicated the infor- mation. When the Pennsylvanians made a rush upon the besiegers, just before day, they found them fully prepared for them. They lost their pack horses and provisions. Several horses were shot down under their riders, and a number of the party were severely wounded. Captains Ogden and Dick succeeded in entering the fort with about twenty of their men, but they entered to find famine and despondency staring them in the face on every side, and to feel the mortification of having contributed a considerable stock of provisions to the Yankee stock. The besieged Pennsyl- vanians, finding it impossible longer to hold out, capitulated and left Wyoming. Captain Fuller, one of the Yankee officers, said to Mr. Bennett : " You have suffered enough; come down to Fort Lukins, (?) and you shall have as good a lot as there is there." Mr. Bennett took his family down to the fort but refused to take up his residence there. He fitted up an old horse shed in Forty Fort, and made it a comfortable residence for those times and for that country, in which his family lived for more than two years. During this period Mrs. Bennett presented her husband with another daughter-the late Mrs. John Tuttle, of Kingston; and Martha began to develop extraordinary skill at house work, and great power of endurance.
John Tuttle was the third child of Henry Tuttle, a native of Baskingridge, N. J., where he was born November 24, 1733. He removed to Wyoming in 1785 and settled near Forty Fort. John Tuttle was born in Baskingridge April 3, 1767, and married Mary Bennett January 11, 1789. His eldest daughter, Martha, became the wife of Holden Tripp, whose daughter, Lucilla S. Tripp, married the late Charles H. Silkman, who was admitted to the Luzerne bar January 1, 1838. His second daughter, Mary Tripp, became the wife of Joseph Orr, grandfather of Nathaniel Marion Orr, who was admitted to the Luzerne county bar Sep- tember 23, 1875. The late Chester Tuttle, youngest child of John Tuttle, was born December 22, 1806. He was deputy sheriff, clerk to the county commissioners, editor of the Luzerne
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Democrat, the first captain of the Wyoming troop, and for fifteen years a clerk in the navy department at Washington, D. C.
The tide had now turned in favor of the New England settlers, and large accessions were made to their numbers. Colonel Denison came in from Hartford, Conn., and took board with Mr. Bennett. He was married to Betsy Sill, this being the first match consummated among the settlers. Their daughter was the mother of Lazarus D. Shoemaker. He has a rocking chair in his possession that was owned by them, which he con- siders a valuable heirloom. Rev. George Peck, D. D., in his "Early Methodism " says : "Colonel Denison and his lady and three daughters became members of the Methodist church. Colonel Denison and Betsy Sill were the first couple married in Wyoming ; and the colonel commanded the left wing of the patriot forces on the occasion of 'the Indian battle.' He was a man of great influence in the county, of which sufficient proof was given by the responsible positions which he was called by his fellow citizens to fill. [He was a representative from West- moreland to the Connecticut Assembly during the years 1776, 1778, 1779, and 1780. He represented Luzerne county in the Pennsylvania Assembly during the years 1787, 1788, and 1789. He was one of the judges appointed and commissioned for Westmoreland by the governor of Connecticut. He held the same position subsequently under the jurisdiction of Pennsyl- vania.] He was a kind hearted and ardently pious man. His house was open to the weary itinerants, and too much could scarcely be done by the family for their comfort. All the preachers made it a place of rest and refreshment, while several, at different times, were quartered there as a regular boarding place. * * The venerable Bishop Asbury was there several times entertained, as we learn both from his journal and the testimony of members of the family."
All this time the Indians were numerous but very quiet. When Mr. Bennett was taken a prisoner to Philadelphia some of them earnestly urged Mrs. Bennett to come with her children and live among them. Evidently considering her life in danger from the Pennamites, they wished to afford her shelter and pro- tection. Three years of quiet in the settlement had resulted in a
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high degree of prosperity. Plenty had crowned the labor of the settlers, and there had been a large accession to their numbers from the New England states, not merely consisting of young, hardy adventurers, but the old and infirm came on, with their children and grandchildren, to spend the remnant of their days in " the beautiful valley," and to lay their bones beneath its green sod. Mr. Bennett built a "double log house" on his land, which Mrs. Myers said " was then called a good house." "We removed," says she, "to our new house, raised good crops of grain, and had a fine stock of horses and cattle. We sold grain and bought articles of convenience from the Middletown boats. Father and brothers hunted beaver, bears, deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, etc., and we were in comfortable circumstances. Game was abundant at this period; we often saw wolves, bears, and deer swimming the river."
In December of this year (1775) the famous expedition of Colo- nel Plunkett took place. The New England people prepared to give the colonel a warm reception at the head of the narrows (Nanticoke) on both sides of the river. Mr. Bennett and his son Solomon were at the breast works below Shawnee (Plymouth) for two weeks, and Mrs. Bennett took down to them a horse load of provisions at two different times. Men, old and young, boys, and women were all on hand to act their part in the defense of their homes. After an unsuccessful attempt to storm the Yankee works, the gallant colonel undertook to take his forces in a bateau across the river. The first boat load, which, it is said, Colonel Plunkett commanded in person, was saluted by a brisk fire from the bushes by Lieutenant Stewart and his men, and one of the Pennamites was killed and several wounded. The gallant colonel lay down in the bottom of the boat, and ordered the men to push out into the river and go over the falls. The party in the boat and those left on the west side of the river met at the foot of the rapids, and, upon consultation, concluded that it was so late in the season, and the ice was accumulating so fast, that "prudence would be the better part of valor," and the Pennamite army returned home with diminished numbers, no spoils, and no addition to their reputation for either tact or courage. The expe- dition of Colonel Plunkett terminates the first period of this
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unnatural war-a war which was not only a public calamity, but inflicted untold griefs upon persons and parties who pined and writhed under its consequences in private, who never troubled the public with their heart-crushing griefs. It was the last effort of the proprietary government of the colony of Pennsylvania to remove the New England people from Wyoming.
In the fall of 1777 Queen Esther came up the river with about a dozen Indians. She encamped at the mouth of Shoemaker's creek, but a short distance from Mr. Bennett's residence. Mrs. Bennett, accompanied by Martha, visited' the queen's camp and had considerable conversation with her. She asked her if it was true that the Indians were coming to kill us all. She shook her head and shed tears. Her head was gray, and she seemed to be old. She remained there about a fortnight. Mrs. Myers said : " Not long after Queen Esther left the valley we heard rumors of violence committed at the north by parties of Indians, who strolled over the country. These reports created great alarm among the people of Wyoming. In June, 1778, about two weeks before the battle, we had seven head of horses stray away. The boys going in pursuit of them asked me to go with them and pick cherries. We had not gone far into the woods before the boys saw some young hickories broken and twisted in a peculiar manner. One of them exclaimed, 'Oh, the Indians! The In- dians have taken away the horses.' This turned out to be the fact. Upon our return we learned that the Indians had been at Peter Harris's, above Scofield's. Soon after the two Hardings were killed ; and now we, with the settlers generally, moved into the fort. It was crowded full." On July 3 an Indian on horse- back was seen at the mouth of Shoemaker's creek, within sight of the fort. Upon finding that he was noticed he galloped off. Colonel John Butler now sent orders to the people in the fort to surrender, which were promptly refused. The question was now mooted whether they should go out and fight the enemy on the plains above, or keep within the fort until re-enforcements should arrive. Captain Spaulding was coming on with an efficient, well-trained company, and Captain Franklin was on his way from Huntington with a company of volunteers, and it was the opinion of Colonels Butler and Denison that it was best to delay
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until the recruits should arrive. Captains Lazarus Stewart and William McKarrachan headed the party which were for marching out of the fort at once and meeting the foe. A warm debate upon the question followed, which closed with high words. The belligerent captains, perceiving that the majority was on their side, intimated that it was cowardice which influenced the views of the colonels, and that if they should decline the command, they, the captains, would lead on the brave men who would volunteer to go out and flog Butler and his Indians. These insulting insinuations roused the spirit of Colonels Butler and Denison, and they resolved to hazard all upon the chances of a battle. Colonel Butler said : " We go into imminent danger, but, my boys, I can go as far as any of you." Those who were fierce for fight seemed to be under the impression that the enemy was about to retreat, or that they would run as soon as they saw danger. They were anxious to meet and punish the Indians while they were within reach, and to chase them out of the coun- try. This, as they might have known, and as the event proved, was all erroneous. In this case, as in many others, hot-headed and reckless men prevailed against sober counsels. The little army formed and set out in the line of march in high spirits, with fifes and drums playing and colors flying. Mr. Bennett was one of the " old men " who volunteered to defend the country. He, however, was so certain that the little army were about to be drawn into a snare and cut off, that he declared he would go with them no further than "Tuttle's Creek," the distance of one mile or a little more, and he carried out his purpose. He left them at the creek, but his son Solomon went on. Soon after the little, patriot army had left the fort, Major Durkee, Captain Ransom, and Lieutenant Pierce came up on a gallop. They had left Captain Spaulding at Merwines', about thirty miles from Wyo- ming, and hastened to the point of danger. Dashing into Mrs. Bennett's cabin one sang out, " Can you give us a mouthful to eat?" They were furnished with a cold cut. Swallowing a few mouthfuls they took a piece in their hands and pushed on. They left the fort never to look upon it again ; they were all slain in the battle.
When Thomas Bennett returned to the fort he paced the bank
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of the river back and forth in the greatest excitement. When the firing began he listened until he noticed the reports scatter- ing down the plain. He then hastened to his cabin, exclaiming, "Our boys are beat ; they will all be cut to pieces." He was a man of strong nerves, but no stoic. He walked back and forth, and seemed all but distracted. At two o'clock the next day Solomon Bennett made his appearance and gave an account of his escape, and then, in company with his father, Thomas Ben- nett, and Andrew, his brother, a lad of about eleven years of age, left for Stroudsburg. There were many sad partings on that ter- rible day. The depth of sorrow which filled the hearts of hus- bands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, on that day, and the day before, will only be brought to light by the revelations of the last judgment. Something more than a week after the battle the houses throughout the settlement were fired. , The smoke arose from all quarters at the same time. Soon after this the widows of Timothy Pierce and John Murphy (their maiden name was Gore) with Ellis and Hannah Pierce- maiden ladies-requested Mrs. Bennett to visit the battle-ground with them to see if they could identify the bodies of Pierce and Murphy. They found the bodies of the slain broiling in the hot sun, but so changed that they could not distinguish one from another. The husbands of the two young widows, and three brothers-Silas, Asa, and George Gore-lay upon the ensan- guined field, but the heart-broken visitors had not even the poor satisfaction of identifying their remains. Martha Bennett had lost all her best clothes, and found that it was necessary for her soon to make a move of some sort to replenish her exhausted wardrobe. She finally ventured to sob out, "If I could leave mother and sister I would go with Colonel Denison down to Sunbury, to Captain Martin's, and work and get me some clothes." Esquire Pierce, coming up, inquired into the cause of Martha's grief. Upon learning the facts he addressed her in his quaint style : "Go along, gal, go along and I'll take care of mother and child." She accordingly took passage in Colonel Denison's canoe, and arrived in Sunbury the next day. She found a com- pany of between thirty and forty persons from the valley quar- tered in a house. Miss Bennett was received with great cordiality,
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and invited to remain with them and be one of the household. One of the company was Desdemona Marshall, a daughter of Gad Marshall, one of the earliest inhabitants of Huntington. Mr. Marshall brought his family at the same time that John Franklin moved his into the almost unbroken forest, in 1776. His son, Job Marshall, belonged to Captain Franklin's company, and as he was at Plymouth on business on the day of the battle, he hastened on without his company and fell. Desdemona Marshall subsequently married Epaphras Wadsworth, Sr., of Huntington, and was the careful, industrious mother of a large family. Her christian principles and moral excellence were influential in her large circle of friends, and in the Methodist Episcopal church of which she was a member. She was the great-grandmother of Rosamond L. (Dodson) Rhone, the wife of Judge Rhone, of this city. The family of fugitives, united by common sufferings and common danger, was not to remain long together. There was a rumor of hostile Indians on the west branch of the Susquehanna, and a woman and boy were tomahawked and scalped in the im- mediate neighborhood, Miss Bennett and others went to see them while they were yet alive.
It was soon rumored that the Indians and tories had again visited Wyoming, and all the settlers had left. A company com- menced making preparations to go across the mountains to Strouds- burg, and Miss Bennett accepted an invitation to go with them. All the means of conveyance they had was a small cart drawn by a yoke of steers. There were some small children in the company, who were allowed to ride when they were tired, but as for the rest they all walked. Their journey was of the distance of about one hundred miles through the wilderness, and crossing the high ridges which lie between the Susquehanna and the Dela- ware. The Misses Bennett and Marshall with three other girls outstripped the rest of the company, and saw nothing of them during the day. They became hungry and turned aside and picked berries to satisfy the demands of nature. The path was exceedingly rough, and Miss Bennett's shoes gave out in conse- quence of the constant contact with stubs and sharp stones, and her feet were so injured as to leave blood behind them. "But," says she, "we made ourselves as happy as possible, amusing
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ourselves with singing songs and telling stories." They were constantly annoyed with fears of "the Indians," knowing that those dreadful scourges of the country might chance to cross their path at any moment. As the darkness of night began to approach they met two men whom they first supposed to be Indians, but, perceiving them to be white men, they sang out, " How far is it to a house?" The answer was as cheering as it was cordial. "Two miles ; be of good courage ; we are hunt- ing for some cows, and will soon be in." The young pedestrians soon arrived, and found the house guarded by several men. The family had gone and most of the goods were removed. They made a supper of bread and milk, and lay down upon sacking bottoms from which the beds had been removed. They waited for the arrival of the company with great anxiety until about two o'clock in the morning, when, to their great joy, they arrived in safety. The morning's light came, and our travelers were early on their way. They passed through Easton, where they bought provisions. That day "the girls " kept within sight of their com- panions in travel. The third day, at night, they arrived at Stroudsburg. Miss Bennett there met her mother and sister, who had come over the mountains with Major Pierce and his family, but was greatly disappointed in not finding her father and brothers. Her brother Solomon had been to Middletown in pursuit of her, had returned that day, and set out immediately with Colonel Butler and Captain Spaulding for Wyoming. Mrs. Myers said, in relation to the events of that day : " One disappoint- ment followed another in quick succession, and I seemed almost left without hope." Mrs. Bennett and her daughters did not remain long in Stroudsburg, but went to Goshen, and early in the spring to Bethlehem, where Mrs. Bennett's brother, Samuel Jackson, resided, then to Litchfield, Nobletown, and Caanan, where they remained among their friends. In the fall Solomon Bennett came on with a horse to bring his mother and two sisters back to their loved and much desired Wyoming ; and finally Mr. Bennett's family, after two years' separation, were together again. Mr. Bennett had fitted up "one of Sullivan's old barracks, just opposite to Wilkes-Barre, for a house." They had an abundance of corn and garden vegetables, but no flour, as there was no grist
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mill in the valley. The only resort of the settlers, for the time, was to a hominy block. This was a block cut from the trunk of a large tree, hollowed, and set on end. The corn was put in the hollow and bruised with a pestle hung upon a spring-pole. Such was the demand for hominy that this rude mill was kept going day and night. The girls often worked the mill, and not unfre- quently were obliged to wait long for their turn.
There were now about thirty families in the settlement. Mr. Bennett could procure no land to work under cover of the fort, and finally resolved to make an attempt to work. his own land above Forty Fort. On March 27, 1780, he commenced plowing within the "Ox-bow," a bend in the creek on the flats. His team consisted of a yoke of oxen and a horse. The boy Andrew rode upon the horse. When they came to the bend in the creek the horse seemed shy. Mr. Bennett said: "I fear all is not right. I think we will go around once more." When they came again to the same point four Indians sprang from the bushes, and one seized Mr. Bennett and another took Andrew from the horse. The Indians hurried off their prisoners, and soon came up with two more Indians, having Lebbeus Hammond as a prisoner. Mr. Bennett exclaimed, "Hammond, are you here? " With downcast look Hammond answered, " Yes." When Mr. Bennett left home he told his wife that if he did not return by sundown she might conclude some harm had befallen him. Soon after sundown Mrs. Bennett gave the information at the fort that her husband and son had not returned, and desired that a party might be sent out in search of them. Mr. Ham- mond's wife was also alarmed on account of his failing to return as expected. Mrs. Bennett and her remaining children were now left in a state of most cruel suspense for the space of six or seven days. Mr. Bennett was somewhat advanced in years, and was afflicted with rheumatism, and it was most probable that he would break down under the hardships of his captivity, and fall a victim to savage cruelty. The barbarous tortures inflicted by the savages upon the helpless victims of their fiendish orgies were all like household words with Mrs. Bennett and her child- ren. In the midst of the gloom and despondency of the families of Mr. Bennett and Mr. Hammond, and the general impression
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that the prisoners would never return, three emaciated, limping, reeling figures were seen directing their course toward the fort at Wilkes-Barre. Who could they be? As they came near it was discovered that they were "the Bennetts and Hammond." Their appearance almost seemed like a resurrection from the dead. The mystery was soon explained; they had arisen upon their captors at Meshoppen and cut them to pieces, and had found their way back to the embraces of their families and friends. Their feet had been badly frozen, and the consequences were most painful. When the excitement of their flight was over they scarcely had a spark of life left. Good nursing soon restored their physical strength, and Mr. Hammond and Andrew Bennett were able to get about in a few weeks; but Mr. Bennett's feet were so dreadfully injured by the frost that several of his toes came off at the first joint, and he was obliged to walk with crutches for more than a year, during most of which time he suf- fered indescribably, and required much attention.
The escape of the Bennetts and Mr. Hammond was on the fourth night of their captivity, and was as follows: When the Indians were ready to lie down, they pappoosed the prisoners, that is, fastened down with poles laid across them, with an Indian on each end of the poles ; then they drew their blankets over their heads and fell into a sound sleep. One only seemed to be on the watch. About midnight Bennett manifested great uneasi- ness and asked to get up. He received for answer : " Most day ; lie down, dog." He insisted that he was sick, and must get up. About one o'clock the Indians all got up and relieved the priso- ners, allowing them to get up and walk about. Bennett brought wood and flung it on the fire. In about two hours all the Indians were snoring again except the old watchman, and he commenced roasting a deer's head, first sticking it in the fire, and then scrap- ing off the meat with his knife and eating it. Finally the old fellow began to nod over his early breakfast. Hammond placed himself by an Indian axe, and Andrew Bennett, the boy, stood by the guns, which were stacked. Both watched the movements of Mr. Bennett, who was poking up the brands. He had on a long great-coat, and, as he came round near the Indian, he cautiously took hold of a spontoon or war spear, which lay by
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his side, and stepped back with the instrument, covered by his coat, holding it in a perpendicular position behind him. When he had reached the right point behind the Indian he plunged it through him. He gave a tremendous jump and a hideous yell, and fell upon the fire. The spontoon was so firmly fixed in the body of the Indian that Bennett was obliged to abandon it, and to use a gun and a tomahawk during the rest of the fight. Hammond used the axe, dashing it into the head which was first lifted. An old Indian, who had given an account of Lieu- tenant Boyd's massacre, was the first to take the alarm. He yelled out, " Chee-woo, chee-woo," when Hammond buried the head of the axe in his brains, and he fell headlong into the fire. The next blow took an Indian on the side of the neck just below the ear, and he fell upon the fire. The boy snapped three guns, not one of which happened to be loaded, but his operations made the Indians dodge and jump straight under Hammond's axe, or the breech of a gun, which old Mr. Bennett had clubbed, and with which he did terrible execution. A stout Indian under- took to secure a weapon by a rush upon the boy. "He sprang upon him with the fury of a demon, his eyes seeming to blaze, when the brave little fellow swung the breech of a gun, and buried the cock in the top of his head. Just at that moment the only two Indians remaining alive took to their heels, when Mr. Bennett, who could throw a tomakawk with the precision and force of any red-skin on the frontier, picked up a tomahawk and let it slip, and it stuck in the back of one of them. The Indian turned round, being at about the distance of forty feet, and hol- lowed out, " Whoo," and his blanket fell from his shoulder, and the hatchet was left with it on the ground, he running off naked. It was an awful struggle, but it was not long. A minute and a half or two minutes and the work was done. Five of the savages were piled up on and around the fire, and two had fled, badly wounded. There was a great contrast between the present ap- pearance of the Indian camp under the rock and that same camp the evening before, when the blood-thirsty savage gloried in the barbarous deed of cutting off Boyd's fingers and toes, and pulling out his eyes; and looked forward, perhaps, to the next night, when he would glut his savage vengeance in a similar manner
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