USA > Pennsylvania > Historical register : notes and queries historical and genealogical, chiefly relating to interior Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 2
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Chief Justice Hugh H. Brackenridge, who spent the last years of his life in Carlisle, where he died and was buried,
* In the autumn of 1793. Gen. Wayne, (who had succeeded Gen. St. Clair,) in his expedition against the allied Indians, obtained pos- session of the ground on which the Americans had been defeated in 1791, which he fortified and named Fort Recovery. Here he carefully collected, and, with the honors of war, interred the bones of the slain of the 4th of November, 1791. J. A. M.
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wrote some lines, occasioned by the death of Gen. Warne. which occurred about five years after the defeat of St. Clair's army, in which he honorably introduces the name of Butler.
"The birth of some great men, or death,
Gives a celebrity to spots of earth ; We say that Montcalm fell on Abraham's plains ; That Butler presses the Miami bank ; And that the promontory of Sigeum
Has Achilles's tomb.
Presqu' Isle saw Wayne expire."
Sixty years after the death of Gen. 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, Major Gaither, by Gen. Butler after his brothers had left him, and handed down through two generations with the injunction of the former, "never to wipe from the blade the blood of Butler." It was given to Col. 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 Col. Butler by his eldest son, because the father of the former saved his father's life. Both bear the motto: No ME SACQUE SIN RAZON. and on the other side, No ME EMBAINES SIN HONOR :- "Draw me not without just cause: Sheathe me not without honor."
Col. Wm. 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 Gen. Butler's mess account and memoranda of expenditures. The order of battle and march was being entered at the very moment of the attack by the enemy, and the change in the handwriting, from _ a very fair calligraphy 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 (embracing the 1st and 2d Pennsylvania levies and battalion of Kentucky militia) suf- fered fearfully. The book is a very curious picture and record
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The Butlers of the Cumberland Valley.
of the ancient military life, discipline, and manners of the De- Kalb and Steuben period, and shows Gen. Butler to have been a skillful, judicious, and accomplished officer, well versed in his profession, thoughtful of the welfare of his men, and solic- itous for the honor of his country."
General Richard Butler's will, as stated, was dated Septem- ber 29, 1785. and is recorded in book E, page 251. at Carlisle. In it he mentions his wife MARY, and children William and Mary, the rearing and educating of whom is intrusted to his wife. His estate consisted of a "house and lot in Carlisle," "furniture, plate, &c.," tract of land "warranted 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 Pittsburgh, adjoining lots of William Butler ; " one thousand acres of land, being a dona- tion of the State of Pennsylvania, and six hundred acres of land, a donation of the United States in Congress-these dona- tions are for my services as colonel in the army of the United States," and other property including "horses, cows, and farm- ing utensils at and near Carlisle." The executors named in the will are his wife Mary, his brother William, his "respected friend Thomas Smith, Esq., attorney-at-law, Carlisle, and my friend John Montgomery, Esq."
Col. WILLIAM BUTLER, b. January 6, 1745, in York county, Penn'a, served honorably during the war of the Revolution ; was lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth regiment of the Pennsyl- vania Line. He was at the head of his regiment during all its active service, its colonel, Lambert Cadwalader, being a pris- oner on parole. In October, 1978, (see Penna Archives 2d series, vol. x, p. 484,) he made an excursion into the Indian set- tlement of Unadilla and Anaquaga, in New York, which were destroyed. Was retired the service January 1, 1783. He died at Pittsburgh, May 16, 1789, and was buried in Trinity church grave-yard, but the inscription upon his tombstone is almost defaced.
Col. THOMAS BUTLER, b. May 28, 1748, in West Pennsboro' township, Cumberland county, Penn'a, was an eminently brave soldier. In 1776, while studying law with James Wilson,-
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one of the signers of the Declaration, then in successful prac- tice at Carlisle. he quitted his studies, was commissioned first lieutenant of the Second Pennsylvania battalion, Col. Arthur St. Clair, January 5, 1776; subsequently captain in the Third regiment of the Line, ranking from October 4, 1776, retiring from the service January 1, 1781. He was in almost every action that was fought in the Midlille States during the war. At Brandywine, September 11, 1777, he received the thanks of the commander-in-chief on the field of battle, for his intrepid conduct in rallving a detachment of retreating troops, giving the enemy a severe fire. At the battle of Monmouth he re- ceived the thanks of Gen. Wayne for defending a defile in the face of a heavy fire from the enemy, while Col. Richard Butler's regiment made good their retreat.
At the close of the war he retired into private life as a farmer, and continued in the enjoyment of rural and domestic happi- ness till the year 1791, when he again took the field to meet a sayage foe that menaced our western frontiers. He commanded a battalion in the disastrous battle of the 4th of November, in which his eldest brother fell. Orders were given by Gen. St. Clair to charge with the bayonet, and Major Butler, though his leg had been broken by a ball, vet on horseback led his battal- ion to the charge. It was with difficulty that his surviving brother. Capt. Edward Butler, removed him from the field. 'In 1792 he was continued in the military establishment as a major, and in 1794 was promoted to lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Fourth sub-legion. That year, as "a fortunate circum- stance," he commanded Fort Fayette,# at Pittsburgh, during the Whiskey Insurrection, and prevented the deluded insur- gents from taking it more by his name than by his forces, for he had but few troops. In 1797 he was named by President Washington as the officer best calculated to command in the State of Tennessee where it was necessary to dispossess some citizens who had imprudently settled on the Indian lands. Ac- cordingly, in May, he marched with his regiment from the Miami, on the Ohio, and by that prudence and good sense which
* Fort Fayette was on Penn street, just above Hand street, or be- tween the present 9th and 10th streets, Pittsburgh. J. A. M.
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The Butlers of the Cumberland Valley. 13
marked his character through life, he, in a short time. removed all difficulties. While in Tennessee he made several treaties with the Indians. In April, 1802, at the reduction of the army, he was continued as a colonel of the Second infantry regiment on the peace establishment.
Col. Butler was subsequently quite as well known for dis- obeying the order to cut off queues, the amusing history of which may be here stated. The Butlers were the staunch friends of Washington and his school, and not very partial to Wilkinson and his clique .. The famous military order to cut off queues, issued by Wilkinson, was chiefly designed for Col. Thomas Butler, whose queue was dressed and head powdered (even during a campaign) before reveille. When the order reached the command, where it was especially intended, the subordinate officers, who generally wore the offensive appen- dage, called upon Col. Butler to get his advice and opinion for their guidance : and to the question, " What must we do ?" he replied, " Young gentlemen, you must obey orders!" And when asked if he designed cutting off his queue, answered : "The Almighty gave me my hair. and no earthly power shall deprive me of it." The behavior of this mutilated and sturdy veteran, and the persecution to which he was subjected, were worked up with great humor by Irving in Knickerbocker's His- tory, Gen. Wilkinson being the original of Von Poffenburgh. and Keldermeester, (master of the cellar,) being a Dutch trans- lation of Butler. "The eel-skin queue of old Keldermeester," recounts Diedrich, "became instantly an affair of the utmost importance. The Commander-in-Chief was too enlightened an officer not to perceive that the discipline of the garrison, the subordination and good order of the armies of the Nieuw Ned- erlands, the consequent safety of the whole province, and ulti- mately the dignity and prosperity of their High Mightinesses, the Lords States General, imperiously demanded the docking of that stubborn queue. He decreed, therefore, that old Kelder- meester should be publicly shorn of his glories in presence of the whole garrison ; the old man as resolutely stood on the de- fensive, whereupon he was arrested and tried by a court-martial for mutiny, desertion, and all the other list of offenses noticed
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in the articles of war, ending with a 'videlicet, in wearing an eel-skin queue three feet long, contrary to orders.' Then came on arraignments, and trials, and pleadings, and the whole gar- rison was in a ferment about this unfortunate queue. As it is well known that the commander of a frontier post has the power of acting pretty much after his own will, there is little doubt but that the veteran would have been hanged or shot, at least, had he not luckily fallen ill of a fever through mere chagrin and mortification, and deserted from all earthly command, with his beloved locks unviolated. He obstinately remained un- shaken to the very last moment, when he directed that he should be carried to his grave with his eel-skin queue sticking out of a hole in his coffin." It is, however, a matter of veritable his- tory, that the close of Col. Butler's life was embittered by trouble.
In 1801, Brig. Gen. James Wilkinson, then general-in-chief of the United States army, issued orders to this effect : "For the accommodation, comfort, and health of the troops, the hair is to be cropped without exception, and the General will give the example." This caused great indignation among the veteran officers of the Revolutionary period, who looked upon it as an innovation. Col. Thomas Butler solemnly declared he, for one, would not cut off his much-prized queue. Gen. Wilkinson did not press the matter, but in subsequent general orders. under date of August 2, 1801, says: "Lieutenant Colonel Com- mandant Butler, at his particular request. and in consideration of his infirm health, has permission to wear his hair. On the subject of this measure, the General will briefly observe that it has been sanctioned in America by the first military characters of the British and American armies, that it has been recom- mended by the ablest generals who have lived, and has been adopted by the best troops in the world, and that the cut of the hair is as essential a part of military uniform as the cut of the coat or color of the facings." Afterwards Wilkinson withdrew the indulgence, and, as Col. Butler persisted in a queue, he sent him, in 1803, before a court-martial of his own appointment, in this, for disobedience of orders and other matters. He was acquitted of the other charges, but sentenced to be reprimanded. ..
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The Butlers of the Cumberland Valley.
which gave Wilkinson an opportunity to indulge in ungentle- manly invective and sarcasm. and to again order Col. Butler to cut off his hair. The latter, in a personal interview, refused, and having gone to New Orleans and assumed command, com- mitted anew the breach of orders. At this time an artillery officer writing home said: "Col. Butler wears his hair, and is determined not to cut it off." For this. Wilkinson sent him before another court-martial for " willful. obstinate. and contin- ued disobedience of orders, and for mutinous conduct." The court sentenced him to suspension for one year, but before the order was issued the veteran had been gathered to his fathers, and was buried with his queue. Col. Butler died at New Orleans, September 7, 1805. aged fifty-seven years.
Col. PERCIVAL BUTLER, as generally known, or Pierce But- ler, as named in his father's will, was b. April 6, 1760, in West Pennsboro' township, Cumberland county, Penn'a. He served in the Pennsylvania Line of the Revolution :- was with Morgan at Saratoga and the conflict with Col. Simcoe at Spencer's Ordinary, June 25, 1781, and served at the siege of Yorktown, but unfortunately seems to be confounded with his brother Richard, who, in fact, was at the head of the en- gagement referred to. After the war he removed to Jessa- mine county, Kentucky, and was adjutant general in the war of 1812. He died September 9, 1821, at Port William, Ky.
Capt. EDWARD BUTLER, the youngest of the brothers, b. March 20, 1762, in West Pennsboro', Cumberland county, Penn'a, was a valiant soldier, and in the Revolution was at- tached to one and another regiment of the Pennsylvania Line. After the defeat of St. Clair by Brant and his allied warriors, Col. Edward Butler returned to the field of operations on the Miami as adjutant general of Commander-in-Chief Wayne, whose army, in 1794. gained a decided victory over the Indians, and secured peace for the people of the North-Western Terri- tory. He was, in the re-organization of the army in 1802, the ranking captain of the Second regiment. He died in Tennessee in 1803.
It is credibly said, that the five brothers left numerous male descendants, all of whom served meritoriously in the United
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States army and navy, and the most distinguished were the fol- lowing :
JAMES RICHARD BUTLER. son of Major Gen. R. Butler, was the heroic captain of the " Pittsburgh Blues" in the war of 1812, a company that won a lasting fame for its bravery, and its com- mander was complimented in general orders by Major Gen. Harrison. " as a worthy son of a gallant sire."
RICHARD BUTLER was the son of Col. Wm. Butler, and he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 11th Infantry, in 1814, during the war with Great Britain.
ROBERT BUTLER, son of Col. Thos. Butler, was Assistant Adjutant General to Major General Harrison, at the battle of the Thames; Adjutant General of Jackson's army at New Or- leans, and breveted Lieutenant-Colonel in December, of 1814, "for gallant conduct during the siege of New Orleans, and uniform attention to his duty as an officer in said army." In 1821 he resigned, and became Surveyor General of the public lands in Florida.
WML. ORLANDO BUTLER was one of the prominent sons of Col. Pierce Butler. In 1812 he participated in the battles of Frei chtown and River Raisin : in 1814 he was breveted Major for gallant conduct at New Orleans, and was aid-de-camp to Major General Jackson in 1816. when he resigned. He repre- sented Kentucky in Congress, from 1839 to 1843. Was Major General of Volunteers in the Mexican war, where he distin- guished himself. and was wounded at Monterey, Sep. 21, 1846. He was presented with a sword by resolution of Congress, "in testimony of the high sense entertained by that body for his gallantry and good conduct in storming Monterey," and suc- ceeded Major General Winfield Scott in command of the army in Mexico. He was candidate on the Democratic ticket for the Vice Presidency in 1848, and his admirable reply to the elder Blair, when accused of intriguing for that office, was: "I prize the character of a gentleman far higher than the Presi- dency."
EDWARD GEORGE WASHINGTON BUTLER, the son of Col. Edward Butler, graduated at West Point in 1820; was aid-de- camp to Major General Gaines from 1823 to 1831. Resigned,
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and became Major General of the Louisiana Militia. As Col- onel of the 3d U. S. Dragoons he took part in the Mexican war, and was commander of the Upper District of the Rio Grande. In 1848 his force was disbanded. For many years he was a sugar-planter in Louisiana, and a very highly respected citizen of that State. He still lives, very venerable in years, being eighty-three-February 22, 1883-but with a brave spirit, and cultivated mind, and strong memory, and vigorous pen-of which we have been recently honored with very gratifying evidence. And we will be excused for here adding, that his gifted and illustrious wife, who died in Mississippi in 1875, and who was the daughter of Lawrence Lewis and Eleanor Parke Custis, of Virginia, was the nearest living relative of the General and Mrs. Washington-her father being the son of Fielding Lewis and Elizabeth Washington, the General's only sister; and the mother being the daughter of Mrs. Washington's only son, John Parke Custis. and of Julia Calvert, grand- daughter of Lord Baltimore. Such is one of the distinguished families, whose first American home was in the beautiful valley of Cumberland, and in its no less beautifully embosomed and attractive town of Carlisle-preeminently "Men of Mark," and this is our humble tribute to their memory.
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FIRST FAMILIES OF BERKS COUNTY.
BY MORTON L. MONTGOMERY.
You have, no doubt, been already in a forest. There, in looking over the vast collection of trees, you saw, at different places, great oaks standing like hoary sentinels that witnessed- as it were-the coming in and going out of years until they numbered a century. Their wonderful arms overshadowed the earth below for a hundred feet, and their magnificent tops stood high above the many trees surrounding. Have you not com- pared to one of these a great family, whose progenitor, by his powerful manhood, gave to society vigorous sons and daugh- ters, which, like the branches of the mighty oak, scattered their seed and their strength all over the land?
In every forest there are such trees. In every county there are such families. The giant oaks are conspicuous for their strength and breadth and height. So are the families conspicu- ous in similar respects-strength of physical character, breadth of mind in the various affairs of life, height of moral grandeur. The former are the pride and glory of the forest ; so are the lat- ter of the counties which comprise our great Commonwealth. Nature and time have been from the beginning creating and destroying both, but both are still living and flourishing. And as the one is necessary for the mountains and the valleys in re- spect to water and air and the intercourse of mankind, so is the other necessary for the counties in respect to government, growth, dignity, wealth, and power.
Pennsylvania is a great State. She comprises a vast area of territory, rich in forests, fields, and mines, and especially rich in internal improvements, and she is possessed by a magnificent people. She is proud of all these; and she can well be proud, for her possessions are well possessed. At the beginning of her history her soil attracted energy and industry. Through these she has been developed to her present greatness, and these
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First Families of Berks County.
are still improving her by an ever-increasing greatness. It was a fortunate circumstance for her that such characteristics first found a lodgment on her territory, and fortunate, too, that they transmitted their virtues. without wandering away, from gen- eration to generation. She still holds to herself the blood of the first settlers. She is therefore distinctively Pennsylvanian in settlement, in growth. in wealth, and in government. Her sons. to a very great degree, possess all-control all. These constitute her great families. They are as distinctive as they are conspicuous. They appear in manufactures and trade as well as in agriculture, and they are as distinguished in juris- prudence as in legislation.
Pennsylvania was formed and named in 1682. Then three counties were set apart-Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia. Within a score of years afterwards a great feeling in her behalf was developed, attributable mainly to the wisdom and excel- lence of the policy of William Penn. It induced hundreds, even thousands to immigrate hither. Upon landing. many pro- ceeded northwardly and north-westwardly. Settlements suc- ceeded each other rapidly. and, for convenience in local govern- ment, township organizations followed. For a period of forty- seven years no additional counties had been formed. Then set- tlers began to formulate them. In 1729, Lancaster was erected ; in '49, York; in '50, Cumberland ; in 52, Berks and North- ampton ; in 71, Bedford : in '72, Northumberland; and in '73, Westmoreland. These were erected in her history as a colony of Great Britain. As an independent State they multiplied in rapid succession, numbering to the present time fifty-six, or averaging nearly one every other year. Altogether the counties number sixty -seven. In each of these counties local history is dependent upon families. Especially in the Provincial counties, prominent historical facts are inseparable from their respective first families. This feature is as plainly perceptible as the mountain ridges which extend through their territory.
In the several respects mentioned, Berks county is conspicu- ous. Her first settlers began to establish themselves along the Schuylkill river, several miles westward from the Manatawny creek, between 1700 and 1705. This district of territory did
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not then have a name. It was identified by being near the Manatawny. Now it is called Amity. It has been so-called since 1720. In 1712 settlers began to locate in Oley. Then this district was so-called. It included a large area of territory, at least sixty thousand acres. In Caernarvon, along the head- waters of the Conestoga, they began as early as 1720; along the Tulpehocken in 1726, and along the Maiden creek in 1733. They took up the lands first by warrant and survey, followed by patent. They possessed and improved them by cultivation, and they generally remained upon them until their decease, when they were transmitted by devise or conveyance to their children. In many instances they have been handed down to the third, and fourth. even fifth generations.
In the several quarters mentioned, east, south, west, and north, the descendants of many of the first settlers are still flourishing in numbers, in industry, in wealth, and in social, religious, and political influence. In taking a hasty glance over its broad territory, I can mention in the eastern district, along the Mana- tawny and its tributaries, the Baums, Bertolets, Boones, De- Turks, Egles, Griesemers, Guldins. Hartmans, Herbeins, Hochs, Hunters, Kauffmans, Keims, Knabbs, Lees, Leinbachs, Leshers, Levans, Lincolns, Lobachs, Ludwigs, Peters, Pottses, Reiffs, Rhoadses, Ritters, Schneiders, Spangs, Van Reeds, Yocums, Yoders, Weavers, and Witmans; and, on the border along the headwaters of the Perkiomen, the Bauers, Bechtels, Boyers, Clemmers, Ehsts, Funcks. Gabels, Rushes, Sassamans, Schalls, Schultzes, and Stauffers : in the southern district, along the Al- legheny, Hay creek, Little Conestoga, and Wyomissing, the Blands, Clymers, Evanses, Geigers. Harrisons, Huvetts, Joneses, Mohns, Morgans, Planks, Redcavs, Robesons, Scarlets, Smiths, and Ziemers; in the western district, along the Tulpehocken and its tributaries, and the Little Swatara, the Adamses, Althouses, Batdorfs, Bergers, Boeshores, Bordners, Brechts, Conrads, Eck- erts, Eplers, Deppens, Dundores, Ermentrouts, Fishers, Fitlers, Frantzes, Groffs, Hains, Hiesters, Keysers, Kissingers, Klingers, Kurrs, Livingoods, Millers, Newcomets, Obolds, Potteigers, Rebers, Reeds, Rehrers, Riegels, Scharfs, Seiberts, Seltzers, Shaeffers, Speichers, Spohns, Tryons, Umbenhauers, Walborns,
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First Families of Berks County.
Weisers, Wenrichs, Wilhelms, Womelsdorfs. and Zerbes : and, in the northern district. along the Maiden creek and its tribu- taries, the Brobs:s. Davises. Dreibelbises, Gernants, Greena- walds. Grims. Hahns. Heffners. Heinlys. Hottensteins, Kautf- mans. Kaerchers. Kellers. Kemps. Kiefers. Kirbys. Kutzes, Leibys, Levans, Merkels. Mertzes, Parvins. Penroses. Piersons, Prices. Rothenbergers. Rothermels. Saylors. Schaffers. Shalters, Starrs. Trexlers. Wanners, Weilers, and Zachariases. Others could be mentioned. These. however, stand out prominently in the development of the county from the first settlements of the several districts to the present time. The great majority of the descendants have continued persistently engaged in agricul- ture upon or in the vicinity of the original settlements. Some moved to other distriets of the county; others to Reading. Many sons and daughters migrated to the West. and settled. par- ticularly in Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Colo- rado. Some of the sons turned to the professions-divinity. law, and medicine, in which they shone with more or less dis- tinction : others to trades and manufactures. in which they re- alized rich rewards for their industry and well-directed energy. In tracing down all the pursuits of life carried on in the county it is only occasionally that a complete stranger appears and iden- tifies himself with her onward movements for any considerable period of time. This is especially the case in our politics. The names of the old families are continually on the surface. Not particularly demonstrative, they are like expert swimmers in deep water. They float onward majestically in the great stream of time; their heads are always visible; their endurance pre- vails.
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