USA > Pennsylvania > Historical register : notes and queries historical and genealogical, chiefly relating to interior Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 5
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1. They differed radically, as already stated, in their speech. The Iroquois used no labials-no sounds that required the use of the lips. They cultivated oratory, and some of their speeches would have done credit to the old Romans. They regarded labial sounds as befitting only children and inferior tribes. They may well be termed "throat-speakers," for one of their orators could open his mouth and utter all he had to say without clos- ing it. The absence of labials very much circumscribed the variety of sounds, and confined them to short mellow syllables, which differed very much from the harshness of the gutterals and rough mute sounds of the Algonquins. Besides rejecting the sounds of M, P, B, V, and F, each tribe had its own pecu- liar dialectical variations. For instance, the Mohawks, Senecas, and Cayugas used the sound of R sparingly ; the Tuscaroras used it frequently ; while the Oneidas always changed it into
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Historical Register.
something else. They all rejected the sound of L, except the Oneidas and sometimes the Mohawks. The Oneida dialect was the softest; the Seneca the roughest: the Tuscarora resembled most the Oneida, but differed more from all the Five Nations than any one of them did from the others. A little attention to the above will often enable us to distinguish many of these names. Compare geographical names in New York and those in New England.
2. They differed in their mythology. The Algonquins claimed that their ancestors came from the west, having crossed a great water. All the traditions of their origin were tales of migrations from very distant parts. This accorded with their migratory habits. The sacred legends of the Iroquois were just the reverse. They were autochthons-their ancestors sprung from the ground itself, and this, too, in the very region they inhabited. Each tribe had its own legend, but they were all substantially alike. When the Great Spirit made the world, he made their country first, and caused their ancestors to spring out of the ground just as he did the trees. Generally they believed that they had some pre-natal existence, either in the form of human beings or of somne animal, but in either case the earth was the great womb from which they originally sprung. Hence the earth was theirs by divine right, and they being first created were the original, Simon-pure Indians, superior to all others, who were formed afterwards from inferior materials. Often these sacred legends were understood to be embodied in their recognized name, so that this name was to the intelligent Iroquois an epitome of the history of their origin.
3. They differed in the mode of building their houses, and in fortifying their villages. The Algonquins lived in wig- wams made of poles and covered with anything most available. They moved frequently, and little craft or labor was expended in constructing their habitations. The Iroquois lived in cabins, well constructed, with upright walls, and covered with bark. Their houses were long, or rather many houses adjoined each other, sufficient to accommodate a whole clan, or series of fam- ilies related by ties of consanguinity, reckoned in the female line. As to their domestic life, they were Conoskioni, cabin build-
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Early Indian History on the Susquehanna.
ers; and as to their confederate government, they all lived in a long house, Hodenosaunee. The Algonquins seldom had any fortifications, and then only of the rudest construction. The Iroquois generally had well palisaded towns, from which they only moved because of lack of wood or other necessity. In hunting and in war they traveled great distances, but always returned to their fixed towns; while the Algonquins were nomadic, and made their homes wherever it suited their con- venience.
4. The Iroquois were somewhat finer in physical appearance ; they were less swarthy in color, were taller in stature, had larger brains, and were more dignified in action. These features were, however, largely modified in later days, by the large infusion of inferior blood taken up from the captives adopted by them.
5. The Algonquins were of different degrees of barbarism, from the degraded, shiftless Ojibwas, up to those who also lived largely by cultivating corn; but the Iroquois were superior to the best of them. They knew more about agriculture, raised large quantities of corn, beans, squashes, and of tobacco. They were more capable of taking concert of action, and of govern- ment by deliberative council. They were more on a fair way to civilization; but coming in contact with it suddenly, the chasm between was too great to be crossed at one span, and they fell, as well as those who were still lower in the scale. In the days of their pristine purity and glory it may be said of any of the Iroquois tribes, what Ralph Lane, governor of Sir Walter Grenville's colony in North Carolina, in 1585, records of the Chowanocks when first visited : "shrewd beyond the cunning of any of the Indians they had seen."
6. They were well aware of this superiority, and expected to be treated as superior beings. They looked down upon the Algonquins with the most inveterate contempt; and by them in turn were regarded with hatred and fear.
Local historians, on Algonquin soil, generally try to make out that their Indians were the greatest and noblest of all the sons of the forest; but the above statements are believed, in general terms, to give a correct view of some of the differences between these two linguistic stocks.
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THE POLLOCK FAMILY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
BY REV. HORACE EDWIN HAYDEN. .
Having been engaged for some years in perfecting the gene- alogy of the HAYDEN family, which descended from William Hayden of Windsor, Connecticut, 1630; and also its collateral branches, with their history, I have thereby become interested in two families of the name of POLLOCK. One, that of the Hon. Thomas Pollock of North Carolina, 1740, which family had one common American ancestor with myself in the Rev. John Warham, of Exeter, England; who came to New England, 1630, and who was an ordained clergyman of the Church of England, and who organized the first Presbyterian church in America. The other, that of my distinguished kinsman, Hon. Oliver Pollock, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 1740, and of Revolu- tionary fame, all of whose descendants now living are my blood relations. This is my apology for having undertaken the work of gathering the following data of the Pennsylvania Pollocks when it might have been performed more perfectly by some one of the name.
The Pennsylvania Pollocks are all of Scotch-Irish descent, and are supposed to have had but one origin in "Petrus, son of Fulbert, who succeeded his father and assumed as a surname the name of his hereditary lands of Pollok in Renfrewshire. He lived in the reign of Malcolm IV, who d. 1695, and was a man of great eminence in his time and a benefactor of the mon- astery of Paisley. This donation was confirmed by Jociline, Bishop of Glasgow, who d. in 1199. Besides his estates in Renfrewshire, he held the barony of Rothes in the county of Aberdeen, which he gave to his daughter, Mauricle de Pollok who m. Sir Norman Lesley and was ancestor of the Earls of Rothes." (Burke.). Although the arms differ, the crests of the Scotch and Irish Pollocks are the same: " A boar passant, · or and vert, transfixed with a dart, proper."
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The Pollock Family of Pennsylvania.
The North Carolina Pollocks were intimately connected with Aaron Burr. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., the son of the great Jonathan the Divine of New England, and the great grandson of Rev. John Warham, had eleven children :
i. Sarah, b. August 25, 1728 ; m. Elibu Parsons of Massachusetts.
ii. Jerusha, b. April 26, 1730 ; d. February 14, 1747.
iii. Esther, b. February 13, 1732; m. Rev. Aaron Burr, President of Princeton College ; father of Aaron Burr, Vice President of U. S.
iv. Mary, b. April 7, 1734; m. Timothy Dwight of Massachusetts.
v. Lucy, b. August 31, 1736; m. Jahaleel Woodbridge of Massa- chusetts.
vi. Hon. Timothy, b. July 25, 1738; m. Rhoda Ogden, of New Jersey.
vii. Susanna, b. June 20, 1740 ; m. Eleazer Porter of Massachusets.
viii. Eunice, b. May 9, 1743 ; m. 1st. Thomas Pollock of Newbern, North Carolina ; 2d. Robert Hunt of New Jersey.
ix. Rev. Jonathan, b. May 26, 1745 ; m. 1st. Mary Porter; 2d. Mercy Sabin.
x. Elizabeth, b. May 6, 1747; d. January 1, 1762.
ci. Hon. Pierpont, b. April 8, 1750; m. Frances Ogden of New Jersey.
GEORGE POLLOCK, son of Thomas Pollock and Eunice Ed- wards, was an intimate friend of Aaron Burr, his first cousin. He lived in Philadelphia at 172 Chestnut Street, near Sixth, from 1800 to 1806. Burr was his guest when he visited Phila- delphia. (See life of Blennerhasset.) Whence Thomas Pollock of North Carolina emigrated is not known. It is however cer- tainly known that four men of the name of Pollock were among the early settlers of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania.
1. JAMES POLLOCK, of East Pennsboro.
2. OLIVER POLLOCK, of Carlisle, brother of James (1.)
3. JAMES POLLOCK, of Hopewell township, whose will, dated May 25, 1773, mentions six children, viz :
i. John.
ii. Jean, m. Mr. Hinchman.
iii. Martha, m. Mr. Dobson.
iv. James.
v. William.
vi. Robert.
4. JOHN POLLOCK, of Carlisle, of whom hereafter.
The descendants of James and Oliver Pollock, of Carlisle, Pa,
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comprising family names of Alger, Bradford, Briggs, Dough- erty, Dady, Foley, Gibson, Morrison, MeKay, O'Brien, Pharis, Penniman, and Robinson. are herewith given :
JAMES and OLIVER. POLLOCK, brothers, emigrated from Ire- land to America, and located at or near Carlisle, Pa., before 1760. The private papers, miniatures, coat of arms of Oliver Pollock, including all his official documents, commissions from, and correspondence with the Continental Congress, &c., were destroyed during the Civil War-partly at Vicksburg, Miss., and partly by the U. S. ganboat Essex, when it shelled Bayou Sara, La., in 1863. Family tradition, and the fact that Oliver was a charter member of the Hibernian Society, of Philadel- phia, and in 1783. a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Pat- rick, of the same city, give assurance that these brothers were born in and emigrated from Ireland. But from what section of Ireland. and of what family descent is not known.
I. JAMES POLLOCK settled in East Pennsboro' township, Cumberland co .. Pa. He m. ANN LOWRY. In October, 1774, he was commissioned coroner for Cumberland county, to suc- ceed Samuel Laird ; was re-appointed to the same office Oc- tober 9, 1775 ; and in 1776 appointed one of the commissioners for that county. Dr. Wing. in his "History of the First Pres- byterian Church in Carlisle," mentions him as one of the origi- nal incorporators of that church in 1775, at which time the names of "James and John Pollock" appear as members thereof. These were doubtless father and son. In 1784, John alone ap- pears in the incomplete list which Dr. Wing gives. James Pollock d. September 1, 1800, at Carlisle, and his will * was
* This will, as recorded in the Register's office at Carlisle, is as fol- lows :
"In the name of God, Amen.
"I, James Pollock, of the township of East Pennsborough, in the county of Cumberland, being weak in body, but of sound memory, blessed be God, do this 26th of Sept., 1790, make and publish this, my last will & testament, in manner following, that is to say :
"First I give & bequeath anto my dearly beloved wife Ann Pollock all the rents, issues, & profits of all my real & landed estate, during her natural life, & also all my personal estate after my just debts are paid out of the said personal Estate-the negro wench Venus not to serve more than ten years.
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The Pollock Family of Pennsylvania.
probated on the second of November, following. His widow doubtless survived him some years, as a Nancy Pollock resided at Carlisle in 1809. Oliver Pollock administered on his estate.
"I give and devise my tract of land situate on the West Branch of the Susquehanna river. near the Great Island, in Northumberland Co., to Jarett Pollock, Mary Pollock, & Lusetta Pollock, my brother Oliver Pollock's children, to them & their heirs & assigns forever.
"I give and bequeath my traet of land situate in Nitiny Valley, Northumberland Co., also my houses & lots in & near Carlisle to the said Jarett, Mary, & Lusetta Pollock, to them their heirs & assigns forever.
"I give & bequeath my tract of land situate in Bedford County to Galvez Pollock, son of said Oliver Pollock, to his heirs & assigns for- ever. And I make & ordain my loving friends Charles McClure & Andrew Galbreath, executors of this my last will & testament, in trust for the intent & purposes in this my last will and testament contained."
This will is duly signed and sealed by James Pollock and witnessed by Jonathan Hoge, John Hulings and Francis Silver, and was pro- bated Nov. 2, 1800.
He seems also to have been a man of large estates. In the Carlisle Gazette of Feb. 26, 1808, Oliver Pollock offers for sale " The following valuable property being part of the estate of James Pollock decd late of the borough of Carlisle, & part of the estate of the subscriber :
"1. Tract limestone land in Nittany Valley, Centre Co., head of Cedar Springs, 400 acres, 4 in meadow, 20 easily made so, SU cleared, & rest in white & black oak & hickory. Log House & kitchen, & Log barn. 16 miles from Bellefonte.
" 2. 2,300 acres in West Branch Susquehanna river, Clearfield Co., called Locust Bottom & adjoining the County town, exceeded by none in that part for fertility & other advantages.
"3. Two lots, with improvements, on Main St., Carlisle, opposite Rob Graydon, Esqe tavern ; 1 a corner lot with tavern house-back building, Barn Stables &c.
"4. 1 tract on Pine Creek, Lycoming Co. 400 acres.
"5. 1 tract, undivided + of 297 acres, on road from Frankstown to Clearfield Creek, formerly Bedford Co., now Clearfield (148} acres.)
"6. 1 tract on Turtle Creek, Allegheny Co, 260 acres, well improved & tenanted.
Also sundry tracts of valuable Cotton lands on the Mississippi river between Natchez & Ibbeville. Perfect titles free from encumbrances. "Apply to Co' Sam' Postlethwaite, Gen' Wm Alexander, Thomas Duncan Esq, Carlisle ; W= Swangy, Esq., or Oliver Pollock, Balto, Md."
He also owned large tracts of land in Kentucky-several thousand acers on the Kanawha river, in Virginia and elsewhere.
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He certainly had two sons, and possibly four. Mr. N. E: Rob- inson wrote me that "a Hamilton. Pollock, nephew of my grand- father, Oliver Pollock, lived once at Tunica, Louisiana." It is not certainly known whether he had any other children than the following :
i. Thomas Pollock, whom Oliver Pollock mentions in a letter to the President of the United States Congress, dated New Or- leans, September 18, 1782, thus : "I despatched my nephew, Thomas Pollock with fifteen volunteers, and Captain La Fitte with twenty six armed men, to Captain Willing's assistance." Nothing more is known of this Thomas.
iï. John Pollock, who must have been born before 1756, and who possibly emigrated with his father. He was sent to Phila- delphia in 1776 by his father to draw £600 from the Commit- tee of Safety for the use of the Commissioners of Cumberland county. This is the John mentioned in N. & Q., ii. March 5, 1881. His will,* which contains all that is known of his family, is recorded at Carlisle. From this will it appears that John Pollock m. GRACE -, and had one daughter Margaret who m. Hanse Morrisson, and had in 1807, two sons, (i) John Pollock Morrisson and (ii) Lucas Morrisson. Hanse Morrison was of Pittsburgh and m. Margaret Pollock, (or Peggy, as the Penn-
*" I, John Pollock of the borough of Carlisle & County of Cumber- land & State of Pennsylvania, being old & infirm, but of sound & dis- posing mind & memory, do make, ordain & constitute this to be my last will & testament in manner & form following, viz : " First I allow all my just debts and funeral expenses to be paid.
"Item, I will & bequeath all my estate, real & personal & mixed to my beloved wife Grace, with full power & authority to grant, bar- gain & sell, release & confirm the whole or any part thereof in fee simple to any purchaser or purchasers, their heirs and assigns for- ever, in order for her maintenance & support. And at her death I allow & order the residue of my said estate in case any shall be left to descend to my eldest grandsons John Pollock Morrisson, & Lucas Morrisson, sons of Hanse Morrisson who is intermarried with my daughter Margaret.
And lastly I make and ordain my beloved wife Grace to be sole ex- ecutrix of this my last will & testament In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal the seventh day of January 1807."
This will is duly signed and sealed by "Jolin Pollock," witnessed by George Loque and James Mitchell and probated March 18, 1807.
#
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The Pollock Family of Pennsylvania.
sylvania Archives have it.) November 12, 1795. Hanse Mor- risson is not a common name, and it is very probable that it was he who is mentioned in Col. Claiborne's " History of Mis- sissippi," (Vol. ¿. p. 320, 1881.) as having been, August 12, 1813, a captain in General F. L. Claiborne's brigade of Missis- sippi and Louisiana Territory Volunteers. John Pollock d. February 18. 1807, at Carlisle, probably over 60 years of age, as he calls himself in his will "old and infirm." Among the advertized letters in the Carlisle Gazette of December 12, 1787, is one addressed to " John Pollock, care of James Pollock."
ii. Hamilton Pollock, who lived in Tunica village, Louisiana, in 1804, on the property of his cousin Lucetta, and who, it is supposed died there, whether married or not is not known. N. E. Robinson says he was Oliver Pollock's nephew and agent at Tunica, and received 500 acres of land there for his services. In 1787-8 he was in Carlisle, possibly resident there then, as in the Carlisle Gazette of December 12, 1787, among the list of letters occurs one for " Hamilton Pollock, care of James Pol- lock." So also September 20, 1788. He was possibly named from Hon. James Hamilton of Carlisle, the intimate friend and legal counsel of Oliver Pollock. He is also named in the will of Lucetta A. Pollock.
IL. OLIVER POLLOCK was b. in Ireland about 1737; and emigrated to Carlisle, Pa., it is supposed, about 1760. Accord- ing to his own testimony, found in his affidavit in the trial of Gen. Wilkinson (Mem. vol. ii, app 1.,) he removed in 1762-3 to Havana, Cuba, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, in con- nection with an eminent house in that city. It is reasonable to suppose that at this time he was at least twenty-five years of age, and hence was born about 1737. At Havana he at once applied himself to the study of the Spanish language, in which he soon became proficient. Whether he was at this time a Roman Catholic, or whether his having been so subsequently, the result of his marriage, is not known. However, he became acquainted. soon after his arrival at Havana, with Father Butler, the president of the Jesuit College. Through his influence he was brought into close and intimate relations with Don Alex-
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ander O'Reily, the Governor General of Cuba, whose friend- ship he retained through life.
In 1762 France had ceded her Louisiana territory to the King of Spain. Thither the thoughts of Pollock were early turned, and before 1768 he had removed to the town of New Orleans, then a place of 3,000 souls, but offering a fine open- ing for mercantile transactions, had purchased property and set- tled permanently. He soon established a high reputation in business circles, making frequent voyages to the cities on the Atlantic coast of America, and even establishing a trade with Spain and France. In 1769 he went to Baltimore, Md., pur- chased and fitted out a brig, which he named the Royal Char- lotte, loaded her with flour and set sail for New Orleans. Mean- while O Reily had been appointed by the King of Spain to be Captain General and Governor of the Province of Louisiana, with directions to take immediate possession of that country, then in a state of insurrection. On the 17th of August, 1769, O'Reily arrived at New Orleans with 3,000 troops. The popu- lation of the town being then doubled, food became scarce, the provisions O'Reily had ordered to be forwarded failed to arrive, and a famine was imminent. At this important juncture Pol- lock arrived with his load of breadstuff at New Orleans. The last barrel sold, had, on that day, brought thirty dollars. With that generosity which afterwards marked his relations with the Colonies, Pollock at once placed his entire cargo of flour at the disposal of the Governor, requesting O'Reily to fix the price. This the Governor refused to do. Pollock thus tells the rest of the incident himself : "I then said that as the King had 3,000 troops there, and the inhabitants were in distress for flour, I did not mean to take advantage of that distress, and I offered my flour at fifteen dollars or thereabouts per barrel, which he readily agreed to, and observed that he would make a note of it to the King, his master, and that I should have a fine trade there so long as I lived, and I did enjoy that privilege so long as I stayed in the country." Thus he laid the foundation of his large for- tune, which he subsequently placed at the disposal of the Col- onies.
In 1775, when the conflict between the Colonies and the
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The Pollock Family of Pennsylvania.
`mother country began, among the many merchants from the . former residing in New Orleans. Pollock was the most promi- nent and energetic. Ilis sympathies were at once enlisted in favor of the Revolution, and his services rendered secretly and effectively. On the 10th of July, 1776, Don Bernardo de Gal- vez, then Colonel of the Regiment of Louisiana. was appointed Provisional Governor of Louisiana, succeeding Governor Un- zaga, February 1, 1777. He was a young man of talent, energy, and character, the son of the then Viceroy of Mexico, and the nephew of the Spanish Secretary of State. Pollock was in- troduced to Don Galvez by Gen'l Unzaga with the assurance that "if the Court of Spain was going to take part with Great Britain, Oliver Pollock should not remain in the country twenty- four hours, but if the reverse, that they were going to take part with France, Oliver Pollock was the only man that he could confide in in the colony "-meaning as an English or American merchant.
Pollock and Galvez became very intimate and warm friends, the former naming his son Galvez in honor of the Governor. In the expeditions which Galvez commanded against the British possessions during the war between Spain and England, Pollock accompanied him in the capacity as an aid-de-camp, doing per- sonal service, and largely aiding the armies of Spain. In 1778 the British authorities at Pensacola fitted out a sloop of war, named the West Florida, to cruise on and command Lake Pont- chartrain. Pollock persuaded Gov. Galvez to furnish a small Spanish armed schooner, for the purpose of capturing the West Florida. Pollock placed in charge of the schooner Captain William Pickles, a gallant and judicious officer, who, with his much smaller armament, attacked and captured the British ves- sel and thus ended the British command of the lake and the canal leading to New Orleans. In 1779 Pollock fitted out the West Florida as a vessel of war, under American colors. Among the many difficulties attending this venture in the territory of a foreign power, was the procuring of arms and munitions of war. The West Florida was already fully equipped with arms by the British, but gun powder was one of the materials which could not be so readily had. However, Pollock succeeded in
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purchasing five hundred pounds of powder for his own use from the King's stores, paying "four hundred and fifty Spanish milled dollars " for it. Thus thoroughly prepared for her cruise, the West Florida was sent to the gulf to aid Don Galvez in his expedition against Mobile and Pensacola. *
* The following letter from Pollock to Captain Pickles will show with what energy he prosecuted the interests of the Colonies :
" NEW ORLEANS, 20th January, 1780.
" DEAR SIR : You are now appointed commander of the sloop West Florida, belonging to the United States of America, all ready dis- patched with a sufficiency of provisions on board for sixty days, for your crew, consisting of 5S men, as you will see by the enclosed ac- count. In consequence you will make all possible dispatch with the said vessel & crew under your command for Ship Island, where I expect you will meet with Governor Galvez's fleet, for which you have herewith enclosed the signals agreed upon betwixt him & you, at which place you will join him, & proceed against Mobile & Pensacola, & give all the assistance in your power to Governor Galvez, & the commander-in-chief of the Spanish fleet, for the reducing of those places, for the space of twenty days, or longer, if necessary, as re- quested by the commander-in-chief of the Spanish fleet ; after which should you be in want of provisions, you will deliver my letter to Don Bazilio Xemenez, or the commissary general of the Spanish fleet, or any who will furnish you with what you may think necessary for your voyage, & then you will proceed to Havana, & there deliver my letter to Monsieur Geronimo Zacheapella who I expect will ship a cargo of tafia & sugar on board your vessel, to the amount of two or three thousand dollars, for the account of the United States, which you will receive on board & proceed immediately for the port of Philadel- . phia, or any other port on the continent you may think most safe from the enemy. For your government on that point you must pro- cure the best intelligence possible at Havana, & proceed accordingly.
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