USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > Ransom > History and directory of Newton and Ransom townships, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania; > Part 11
USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > Newton > History and directory of Newton and Ransom townships, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania; > Part 11
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"What awful associations did these memorials of the fatal 3d of July, 1778, bring up! * * * These sacred relics were now objects of universal curiosity and no ordinary veneration, and increased the tendency of the public mind in the direction of the monument which had been commenced. The time for action had come, and a meeting of a number of the early settlers of Wyoming Valley, who had relatives and acquaintances in the Wyom- Ing massacre, and other citizens of Luzerne county, convened at the house of Major O. Helme, in Kingston, on the 16th day of June, 1832, to take into consideration the subject of erecting a monu- ment to the memory of those who fell in that dis- asterous conflict. General William Ross was ap- pointed chairman, and Charles D. Shoemaker sec- retary. After the object of the meeting had been stated by the chair, the following persons were ap- pointed a committee to draft resolutions: John Carey, Colonel Benjamin Dorrance, Rev. Benjamin Bidlack, Colonel George P. Ransom, Calvin Wad-
hams, John Gore, Sen., Anderson Dana, Sen., Jo- seph Wright and Benjamin Reynolds.
"One of the resolutions proposed and passed was, 'That we request the citizens of the valley to meet at the house of F. Gay, in Kingston, on the 3d of July next, at ten o'clock, for the purpose of adopt- Ing such measures as may be thought necessary to insure the erection of the monument.' It was also 'Resolved, That we invite our fellow-citizens to unite with us in paying a tribute of respect to the remains of those patriots on that day, it being the anniversary of the day of their massacre, by visiting the spot where rest their ashes.'
"The committee immediately arranged the fol- lowing program for the proposed meeting:
"The procession will be formed at twelve o'clock, in the following order:
"Those who may be present who were in the battle.
"The soldiers of the Revolution.
"The connections and descendants of those who fell in the hattle.
"The orator of the day and the committee of superintendence.
"The early settlers who were not in the battle. "The citizens.
"The procession will march in silence, or with suitable music, to the place where those who were massacred were interred."
THE MEETING OF JULY 3, 1832. From Peck's History of Wyoming.
"The meeting was one of great public interest, and, as might he expected, a vast concourse of peo- ple attended. Rev. James May of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was the orator. Associated with him in the services were Rev. Nicholas Mur- ray, of the Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Charles Nash, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, then all pastors in the borough of Wilkes-Barre. The ora- tion of Mr. May and the remarks of Mr. Murray were published in the papers, and are now before us.
REV. JAMES MAY'S ADDRESS
Mr. May's address consisted of a brief sketch of the objects of the meeting, the battle, and the consequences which followed. Toward its close we take the following beautiful paragraphs:
"When upward of fifty years have gone, we are in quiet possession of this valley. The sun in his daily journey looks upon few spots on which the Creator has combined more of the materials neces- sary for earthly happiness. No object of price in general can be gained without painstaking and sacrifice. The independence of our common coun- try was not secured without a long and toilsome struggle. This valley, so rich in soil, so lovely in scenery, could not be possessed securely till the sacrifice was made, and that, too, of blood. The hands that more than half a century ago first struck the axe into the forests that had for ages shadowed these plains, lie mingled with the dust. The troubles of those times, when the Indians de- scended upon this valley, were borne hy heads that are pillowed beneath the soil. See, fellow-citizens, the sacrifice which was made by the first civilized tenants of this valley. The grave containing their hones Is uncovered before you. You see for your- self the marks of the tomahawk and scalping-knife
55
HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
on the heads which are here uncovered, after hav- ing rested for more than fifty years. Peace be in this grave-sacred be the memory of them that sleep here.
"A few who were themselves sharers in the tolls and difficulties of those times yet survive, and are here this day to bear witness for us. Venerable citizens we respect you for your years; we honor you for the part you bore in the doings and suffer- ings of those days; we love and cherish the princi- ples of liberty which animated you; we owe you a debt of gratitude for the happy inheritance which you did your part to preserve unimpaired for your children. You have passed within the lines of the second half century since you opened a grave here for your brothers whom the Indians slaughtered on these plains. This valley, which you saw as it was when but a frontier, you survive to see in the midst of a population of many hundreds of thousands overspreading the country beyond you. But on this day, and where you now are, you can not but think of what you once saw in this place. We would stand aside while you look into this grave, and see the bones of your brothers, which fifty years ago you assisted in sadly laying here. We would not in- trude while, as you stand beside these bones, you think how you stood beside your friends when they lived. For your sakes we are glad that this day has come. We rejoice to think that you may yet see a stone raised here, on which the names of those you laid in this spot shall be engraven"
A PORTION OF THE REMARKS MADE BY REV. NICHOLAS MURRAY
"You see these bleached heads and bending forms around me. These worthies have come down to us from the last century, and are the companions of the heroes to whose manly frames these moulder-
ing bones belonged. Could the breath of life be breathed into these bones-could they rise in the possession of living energy; they would find, even among this small remnant, a few brothers and sons. As the gentleman on my right was narrating the incidents of the horrible massacre, I saw the tear stealing down the furrowed cheeks of these fathers of our community. That tear told me that they felt-that they deeply felt; and methinks that there is not a heart in this vast converse that does not sympathize with them. They desire that a monu- ment should be erected over the common grave of their fathers, and brothers, and companions. And do you not sympathize with them? I know you do. I feel persuaded that you are anxious to place a liberal subscription on this paper before you re- tire from this place. You court the honor of con- tributing to the erection of the Wyoming Monu- ment. My great fear is that we shall not all have the privilege of giving. I would therefore caution the rich not to indulge their patriotic feelings too freely, lest the poor should be debarred. We all want to have our stone in the Wyoming Monu- ment."
The necessary amount was not raised, and the subscription was so small that the enterprise rested for seven years. In 1839, an able com- mittee was sent to Harford to solicit aid from the Legislature of Connecticut, to the amount of three thousand dollars, to aid in the erection of the proposed monument. Two years later another petition and another committee were sent, and for a time they thought they would succeed. The lower house voted the appropria- tion by a large majority, but the Senate did not agree. The amount was never granted.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE WYOMING MONUMENT
A meeting was convened at the house of James Scovel, in Exeter township, on the 25th of November, 1809, to adopt measures for erecting a monument to the memory of those who perished in the battle and massacre of Wyoming on the 3d of July, 1778. A com- mittee was appointed for each township in the county to collect funds. In about two months only $300 was collected, and here ended the matter for upwards of twenty-two years.
In June, 1832, the bones of the victims of the battle and massacre were discovered in one common grave, on the farm of Fisher Gay. On the 3d of July, the same year a meeting was held on the monument ground, and among the resolutions adopted was one thanking Fisher Gay "for his liberality in bestowing the ground necessary for the erection of a monument, and for his attention at the meeting." July 3d, 1833, the corner stone of the monument was laid by Elisha Blackman, a veteran, who was
in the battle. A box was deposited in the stone by Samuel Carey, another survivor of the en- gagement. It contained a history of the early settlement of the valley, an account of the bat- tle, a list of the names of those who fell in the engagement, a copy of the official report of the battle by Colonel Z. Butler, a copy of the ad- dress delivered at the laying of the corner stone, by Chester Butler ; the muster roll of a company commanded by Captain Samuel Ransom, made out September 17, 1777; copies of the addresses made by the Rev. James May and the Rev. Nicholas Murray at a former meeting; a piece of each denomination of United States coin ; a copy of President Jackson's proclamation to the people of the United States in reference to the hostile attitude of South Carolina towards the Federal Government, and a copy of each news- paper then published in the county. The bones of the slain were deposited in the ground, and prayer offered by Rev. John Dorrance.
56
HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
In 1839 and 1841 the general assembly of Connecticut refused an appropriation of $3,000 to complete the monument. In 1841, patriotic ladies of Luzerne formed a society called the Luzerne Monumental Association. Mrs. C. But- ler was made president, Mrs. Hollenback and Mrs. Carey, vice-presidents, Mrs. Harrison Wright, treasurer, and Mrs. R. D. Carey, secre- tary. They obtained donations at home and abroad, held a fair at Wilkes-Barre and raised a fund of $2,508. In order to raise funds the ladies spread a monumental dinner in Kings- ton on the 24th of June, 1841. It was largely attended and the association realized a hand- some return. Rev. T. P. Hunt, Colonel H. B. Wright and Dr. T. W. Miner delivered appro- priate addresses. But the most united and gen- eral effort to secure the money needed to com- plete the monument was made at the fair held in Wilkes-Barre on the 1st, 2d and 3d of July following. By this fair the ladies obtained $2,200. This sum was expended, and a monu- ment sixty-two and a half feet in height was raised.
In 1856 Fisher Gay sold his farm to Payne Pettebone. The deed contained provisions se- curing the monumental site to the association. Mr. Pettebone sold the property to Moses Wood- ward, and he to Mr. Kesler and others, and their several deeds reiterated the same provi- sions.
At a meeting of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, January 16, 1864, Payne Pettebone, Hon. W. S. Ross and Colonel Charles Dorrance were named as a committee to collect funds for enclosing and improving the monu- mental grounds, which contains one-half acre of land. The fence was built and trees planted in the Spring of 1864 by the Wyoming Monu- mental Association, which was incorporated by an Act approved April 3, 1860.
The monument proper cost about $6,500. In- cluding grounds, fencing, trees and shrubbery the cost was about $8,000.
The monument is a plain obelisk, of the dark gray stone of the valley, cut on the face and laid in blocks of from twelve to fifteen inches in thickness, and of convenient lengths.
It is sixty-two and one-half feet in height from the surface of the ground, rectangular in form, and of proper proportions to render it graceful and of architectural propriety, with four equal sides. The base rises three steps from the foundation. Within this is a chamber con- taining the bones of the victims of the massa- cre, as far as they could be recovered. Resting on the base is a square die with a tablet of mar- ble set into each face.
The monument was erected over a mile south of the battle field, near the present southern boundary of Wyoming borough, on the east side of the road leading into Forty Fort.
WYOMING MONUMENT.
The north-west or front tablet of the monu- ment contains the following appropriate in- scription by Edward G. Mallery, great grandson of Colonel Butler :
"Near this spot was fought, on the afternoon of Friday, the 3d of July, 1778, the battle of Wyom- ing; in which a small body of patriotic Americans, chiefly the undisciplined, the youthful and the aged, spared, by inefficiency, from the distant ranks of the republic, led by Colonel Zebulon Butler and Col- onel Nathan Denison, with a courage that deserved success, boldly met and bravely fought a combined British, Tory and Indian force of thrice their num- ber. Numericial superiority alone gave success to the invader, and wide-spread havoc, desolation and ruin marked his savage and bloody footsteps through the valley. This monument, commemor- ative of these events and of the actors in them, has been erected over the bones of the slain by their descendents and others who gratefully appreciate the services and sacrifices of their patriotic ances- tors."
The tablets on the south-west and north-east sides contain the names of the slain as far as was known at the time of the building; a few since have been added to the list which is now as follows:
1
57
HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
SLAIN IN BATTLE "Dulec et decorum est patria mori"
FIELD OFFICERS Lieu. Col. George Dorrance Major Jonathan Waite Garrett.
CAPTAINS
James Bidlack, Jr.
William McKarrachen
Aholiab Buck
.
Samuel Ransom
Robert Durkee
Lazarus Stewart
Rezin Geer James Wigdon
Dethick Hewitt Asaph Whittlesey
LIEUTENANTS
A. Atherton
Timothy Pierce
Aaron Gaylord
Stoddart Bowen
Perrin Ross
Elijah Shoemaker
Lazarus Stewart, Jr.
Asa Stevens
Flavius Waterman James Wells
ENSIGNS
Jeremiah Bigord Silas Gore
Asa Gore Titus Hinman William White
PRIVATES
Jabez Atherton
loshua Landon
Christopher Avery Ackke Daniel Lawrence
A. Benedict
William Lawrence
Jabez Beers
Francis Ledyard
Samuel Bigford
James Lock
David Bixby
Conrad Lowe
Elias Bixby
Jacob Lowe
John Boyd
William Lester
ENSIGNS
John Brown
C. McCartee
Matthias Hollenback
Thomas Brown
Nicholas Manville
William Buck
Nero Matthewson
SERGEANTS
Joseph Budd
Alexander McMillan
Amos Bullock
lob Marshall
Asa Bullock
Andrew Millard
PRIVATES
Henry Bush
lohn Murphy
John Abbott
Elisha Harris
Eson Bockway
Robert McIntire
Gideon Baldwin
Ebenezer Heberd
John Caldwell
Joseph Ogden
Zera Beach
Wlliiam Heberd
Josiah Carman
Abel Palmer
Rufus Bennett
Richard Inman
Joseph Cary Joel Church
William Parker
Elisha Blackman
John Jamison
William Cofferin
John Pierce
Nathan Carey
Henry Lickers
James Cofferin Samuel Cole
Noah Pettebone, Jr.
Samuel Carey
Joseph Morse
Isaac Campbel
Jeremiah Ross, Jr.
George Cooper
Thomas Neill
-Campbell
Elisha Richards
Samuel Finch
Phineas Peirce
Robert Comstock
William Reynolds
Roswell Franklin
Abraham Pike
Kingsley Comstock
Elias Roberts
Hugh Forsman
John N, Skinner
Brothers Cook
Cook
James Shaw
Samuel Gore
Edward Spencer
Anson Corey
Abel Seeley
Jenks Corey
Levi Spencer
Rufus Corey
Jabez Darling Darius Spofford
James Spencer
PRISONERS TAKEN FROM WYOMING
John Gardner
Daniel Wallen
Daniel Carr
Daniel Rosencrans Elisha Wilcox
James Stevenson
Samuel Carey
-Pierce
KILLED ON APPROACH TO WYOMING
William Crooks
James Hadsall
Miner Robbins James Hadsall, Jr.
WVm. Martin
Elisha Fish
John Van Wie
Cornelius Fitchett
Elihu Waters
Eliphalet Follett Jonathan Weeks
Thomas Faxon
Bartholomew Weeks
John Franklin
Philip Weeks
Stephen Fuller
Peter Wheeler
Thomas Fuller
Stephen Whiton Eben Wilcox
George Gore -Gardner
Elihn Williams, Jr.
-Green
Rufus Williams
Benjamin Hatch
Aaron Stark
William Hammon
Daniel Stark
Silas Harvey
Josiah Spencer
Samuel Hutchinson
Eson Wilcox
Cyprian Hebard
John Williams
Levi Hicks
John Ward
John Hutchins
John Wilson
James Hopkins
Parker Wilson
Nathaniel Howard William Woodring
Zipporah Hibbard
Elijah Inman
Israel Inman
Ozias Yale
Samuel Jackson
Gershom Prince (colored)
Lieutenant Boyd, killed at Forty Fort, after the Battle.
On the south-east side over the door leading to the vault is a slab containing a list of the survivors as follows:
COLONELS
Zebulon Butler
Nathan Denison
LIEUTENANTS
Daniel Gore
Timothy Howe
Daniel Downing
Jahez Fish
Phineas Spafford Gates
Daniel Washburn
Joseph Crocker
D. Denton
Anderson Dana
Joseph Staples
Reuben Staples
Rufus Stevens
Nailer Sweed Gamaliel Truesdale
Ichabod Tuttle
Abram Vangorder
Joseph Jennings Henry Johnson
Benjamin Harding Stukeley Harding
-Quocko (colored)
Cook
Timothy Rose
Giles Slocum
Abram Shaw
Thomas Fuller John Garrett Walter Spencer
Christopher Courtright John Courtright
Joseph Shaw
Lemuel Gustin
Amos Stafford
Constant Searle
James Green
Roger Searle
Lebbeus Hammond
Cherrick Westbrook
Jacob Haldron
Eleazer West
Conrad Davenport George Downing James Devine
Levi Dunn William Dunn -Ducher Benjamin Finch Daniel Finch John Finch
Silas Parker
Solomon Bennett
David Inman
Henry Pencil
Josiah Pell
Joseph Elliott
Aziba Williams -- Wade
Jonathan Otis
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HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
Above the die is a projecting cornice of some two feet in thickness, the whole supporting the obelisk proper which tapers upwards, terminat- ing in one solid cap-stone in the form of a flat- tened pyramid at the apex.
The monument contains the names of one
hundred and seventy killed, seven prisoners and eight who were killed before the battle, making a total of one hundred and eighty-five. It was impossible to get a complete list, because many fell in line of battle at the last moment, not having time to enroll. The monument, also, contains the names of the fifty survivors.
CHAPTER EIGHT
EARLY IMPROVEMENTS IN WYOMING
THE FIRST MILLS IN WYOMING
As mentioned elsewhere, the first settlement by white people in the Wyoming Valley was begun in 1762, at Mill Creek. The number of settlers was small, and before they could do much more than clear some land for cultivat-
tration. "Males and females alike were found grinding at these hominy mills. They could be heard pounding night and day, in all directions in Wilkes-Barre.'
In 1769 the New England settlers returned to the valley. In a petition to the Connecticut
HOMINY BLOCK OR CORN POUNDER
Society)
A Type of the First Mills Used in Wyoming Valley. (Courtesy of Wyoming
ing, and erect necessary log huts for dwellings, they were all either massacred by the Indians, carried away into captivity, or driven back to their old homes in New England.
No attempt was made by these settlers to erect a grist-mill. In the absence of such a mill a corn-pounder or hominy block was used. This was a section of a tree trunk, with one end hol- lowed out like a bowl. In this bowl the corn was placed, and then pounded with a pestle hung upon a spring-pole, as shown in the illus-
Assembly, dated at Wilkes-Barre, August 29, 1769, and signed by a number of settlers, it set forth that they had been at great expense "erect- ing houses, mills, and other necessary build- ings." AIn the New York Journal of December 28, 1769, there was published an account of the troubles at Wyoming between the Pennamites and Yankees, and reference was made to the capture of Major John Durkee while "going from the block-house to view some mills they were erecting." At a town-meeting held in
59
HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
Wilkes-Barre in September, 1771, Captain War- ner was appointed to live in the block-house near the mills, "in order to guard ye mills;" and he was granted liberty to select nine men to assist him as guards.
These mills-or, more properly, this mill, for there was but one structure-was the mill erect- ed on Mill Creek by the New England settlers in the autunm of 1769, and it was, without doubt, a saw-mill. No steps had been taken, up to the autumn of 1771 towards the erection in Wyoming of a grist-mill. According to Miner's "History of Wyoming" (Appendix, page 47) there were no grist-mills in Wyoming
MORTAR AND PESTLE USED IN FORTY FORT IN 1778.
Now in Wyoming Historical Building, Wilkes-Barre in 1771. "For bread the settlers used pounded corn. Dr. Sprague, who kept a boarding-house, would take his horse, with as much wheat as he could carry, and go out to the Delaware (to Coshutunk) and get it ground. Seventy or eighty miles was no trifling distance. The flour was kept for cakes and to be used only on ex- traordinary occasions."
By 1772 the settlers were in full and complete possession of Wyoming Valley, and then one of the first matters of general interest that was acted upon in townmeeting was with reference to the erection of a grist-mill.
During the period that Wyoming was under the jurisdiction of Connecticut, and the laws of that Province and State prevailed and were en- forced here, the statute relating to grist-mills provided that each miller in the Colony or the owner of a grist-mill, "shall be allowed three quarts out of each bushel of Indian corn he
grinds, and for other grain two quarts out of each bushel; except malt, out of which one quart." Should the miller presume to take or receive greater toll, he was liable to a penalty of ten shillings for each conviction. The mill- er was also allowed for bolting, one pint out of each bushel he should bolt. It was also pro- vided by statute that "one miller to each grist- mill" be exempted from liability to do duty in the militia of the Colony.
THE CHAPMAN GRIST-MILL
Early in 1772 a grant was made to Nathan Chapman (who is said to have come from Goshen, N. Y.), by the proprietors of Wilkes- Barre township, of a site of forty acres of land at Mill Creek ; thirty aeres on the north side of the creek and ten on the south side, just east of the road ( known later as the "middle road," and now as the continuation of Main street) running from Wilkes-Barre to Pittston. The same year a grist-mill and a saw-mill were built by Mr. Chapman on the north side of the creek. This was the first grist-mill erected in Wyom- ing. It was a log structure with one run of stones. These were run by a slow-moving but powerful over-shot waterwheel. The mill irons were brought by Matthias Hollenback in his boat up the Susquehanna river from Wright's Ferry, and Charles Miner says the voyage "was rendered memorable by the loss of Lazarus Young, who was drowned on the way up."
Chapman ran his grist-mill from 1772 till October 24, 1774, when he sold the mill, forty acres of land, dwelling-house, etc., to Adonijah Stanburrough (who came from Orange county, New York) for £400. Stanburrough ran the grist-mill until some time after the Revolution- ary War had begun, when, being a Loyalist or Tory, he was forced by the inhabitants to leave Wyoming. Before going away he placed the Mill Creek property in charge of his father, Jo- siah Stanburrough, then in the valley, and who was not a Tory. Adonijah having failed to pay Chapman the consideration money for the property, the latter sold the same November 16, 1777, to Josiah the father, who was in posses- sion.
The mill was destroyed by the invading ene- my in July, 1778. About 1781 or '82 new mills were built on the Mill Creek site by Jo- siah Stanburrough. The new grist-mill was taken possession of by the Pennamites in the autumn of 1783 and given to a man friendly to the Pennsylvania cause. Repossession of the mill was gained by the Yankees a few months later, but May 1, 1784, it was again "taken by force from the inhabitants by the soldiers with large clubs." Soon thereafter the settlers took possession of the mill by force, and "kept it
60
HISTORY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
running night and day to provide flour for themselves for future emergencies, as well as for their present wants." (Miner's History, page 348.)
After that Josiah Stanburrough continued to run the mill until February, 1787, when, for £300 (about $1,000)* he conveyed the whole property to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of John Hollenback of Wilkes-Barre. Early in the last century the old mills were removed, and a new grist-mill was erected by Mrs. Hollen- back on the south side of the creek. John Hollenback had died in 1797. Upon the death of Mrs. Hollenback in 1808 or 1809 the grist- mill became the property of her son, Matthias,
.
site, and in 1848 E. A. Coray having become the owner of the site, erected a third mill, which is still standing, but has not been in use for the last few years.
POST OFFICE AND MAIL FACILITIES
In 1777 a post route was established between Hartford, Conn. and the Wyoming valley, Wilkes-Barre being the chief settlement. Pre- vious to that date what little mail passed be- tween that point and the outside world had been carried by private messengers. The post- rider was Prince Bryant, who made the trip once in two weeks. During the period of the continued struggle between Pennsylvania and
THE SUTTON MILL, 1776. (Courtesy of Wyoming Historical Society)
Jr. In 1860 or'61 the mill was converted into a distillery, and two years later the building was turned into a dwelling-house. The build- ing was destroyed by fire about 1885.
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