USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History, government and geography of Carbon County, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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Washington's Provincial soldiers attempted to get behind trees and rocks in Indian fashion, but in every instance were forced into the open by Braddock and cursed for being cowards. In the afternoon the Provincial's powder began to fail, and Braddock was mortally wounded by a ball that went through his right arm into the lungs. At about five o'clock in the afternoon the English soldiers began throwing away their guns and clothing, and started on a wild scramble for safety in retreat. Gates tried in vain to rally the remainder of the invincible army. The Indians followed the retreating soldiers and scalped and toma- hawked as many as possible.
Braddock was taken to the rear and expired. Before he died he expressed regret for not having listened to Washington, and just about the time he was breathing his last he turned to one of his men and said, "I shall know better how to deal with them next time." He did not get another chance to show that he had learned better; for he died shortly after he had made the remark. He was buried in the road and all of what remained of the army and baggage train was marched over his grave.
Out of an army of 1,460 men, 456 were killed; of the eighty- nine officers who were in the battle only twenty-six escaped.
When the retreat began the drivers unhitched the horses from the wagons and fled on horseback. Such horses as the Indians could get were loaded with plunder, and then with the
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army flags trailing in the dirt and numerous scalps dangling from their belts, the savages, followed by the French, began their return to the fort.
Twelve of their prisoners were alive and well, having their hands tied behind their backs and their faces blackened to indicate the fate that awaited them. They were surrounded by the Indians and marched back to the fort and taken to the opposite side of the river. Here they were tied to a stake.
A fire was started and the savages began their game of inhuman and Satanic torture. Live coals were first applied to various parts of the body. Splinters of pinewood were then driven into the prisoners and these were lit in order to hear and see the agony of the prisoners as they were consumed and crackled beneath the skin. The prisoners were next seared with red hot gun barrels to make them yell the louder. When the cries could no longer be evoked in this manner, burning fire brands were forced into the mouths and nostrils of the prisoners, or boiling whiskey was poured down their throats. When signs of insufferable agony could no longer be produced in this manner the eyes of the prisoners were bored out with heated ramrods. The scalps of the prisoners were then removed and live coals were placed upon their naked brains, or their bleeding crowns were cov- ered with gunpowder which was lit to make the pain more intense.
The object of the whole horrible affair on the part of the Indians seemed to be to see who could cause his prisoner to scream above the savage yells of the Indians; the death of the victims only brought an end to the torturing process.
Thus came to an end one of the saddest and most horrible scenes that this world has ever witnessed. Though Braddock's defeat is not directly connected with the history of Carbon County, it was his defeat that cut the last string which had thus far held the Indians from murder and plunder, caused the forests to be filled with savages, thirsty for blood and eager to scalp, murder, and plunder as they did at Gnadenhutten. Great indeed is the pity that Captain Croghan's advice was not heeded by Braddock. "Captain Jack's Hunters" would not only have prevented the defeat of Braddock, but they would have held the Indians in check and so prevented murder and massacre all along the border.
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HISTORY GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER VI. EARLY HISTORY.
The village of Constance on the Rhine was a scene of a great event in the year of 1415. John Huss, of Bohemia, the founder of the Moravians, was tied to a stake, wood was placed all around him, and he was burned alive because he dared to do what he thought right; he was against everything that he thought wrong. His ashes were scattered in the Rhine, but his spirit of opposing wrong and of obeying his conscience raised up hosts of followers under the name of United Brethren. In the years that followed many other people were burned or killed for conscience sake; such we call martyrs.
Many of these United Brethren lived in a land called Moravia, and from this these United Brethren became known as Moravians.
For three hundred years they were driven all over Europe. They were hunted like wild beasts, thrust into prison, burned at the stake, or had their tongues torn out, or their limbs torn off, because they dared to worship God as they thought right.
Among them was the greatest schoolmaster of his generation, John Amos Comenius, who also was their leader and bishop. He was the author of the first schoolbook for children that had pic- tures. This book was used for generations. Other books which Comenius wrote greatly influenced the Moravians. This is true also of Brother Warbos, who was the first schoolmaster who came into Carbon County.
These Moravians, however, had among themselves another great man, who became their deliverer. He was Nicholas Lud- wig, Count Zinzendorf. He made a home on his estate for these wandering and friendless people. This new home was called Herinhut, a word which means the protection of the Lord. In this home, however, they were not allowed to live long in peace; for in 1736, Zinzendorf was banished from his home land, Saxony, for his religion's sake.
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OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
After being banished, he went to England. He sent some Moravians to Georgia, but there people were not allowed religious liberty, so they went to settle in the land of Penn. They made their first settlement in 1740, about fifteen miles east of Allentown, at a place called Nazareth. Father Nitchman and a large body of Germans soon joined them. In the following year they made another settlement on the Lehigh River.
To this wilderness home late in the year came their banished leader, Zinzendorf. There was only one house in the settlement, and many of the settlers were living in caves. This house was divided by a wall, one end being a horse and cow stable. In this house the Moravians had their Christmas service, and late in the evening the singers, in the cold and darkness, crept close up to the manger and sang with such feeling that it melted them to tears:
"Not from Jerusalem, but Bethlehem, Comes that which helpeth me."
So in the tears and prayers in the darkness of the stable these pious men of God called their settlement Bethlehem.
Zinzendorf organized the Mission at Bethlehem. He was a descendant of a noble family, educated at Halle and the Univer- sity of Wittenberg, and became converted to the Moravian faith only after his marriage to a rich and noble lady, Countess of Erdmuth. After his conversion, he spent a large part of his time and fortune in advancing the cause of his church. The poor and oppressed of his congregation always were his first con- sideration.
In the presence of several prominent men in Philadelphia, he gave up his title of Count, and took the name of Louis von Thurnstein. After this the Quakers called him "Friend Lewis" and the Moravians "Brother Lewis." Like all other Moravians, he became greatly interested in the Indians. He went to see Conrad Weiser at Tulpenhocken in company with his daughter, Benigna. During this visit, Weiser told him much about the life and habits of the Indians and of their council fires at Onendoga. Weiser also informed him of how the Delawares and the Shwanese had been conquered by the Iroquois. How these two tribes were
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HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
now governed by Shikellimy who stayed at Shamokin. Weiser also told him of their strange desire for rum, their habits of meditation, their reverence for the aged and the Great Spirit, and of the desire on the part of the wise men among them to save the young Indian men from the white man's drink. Weiser, moreover, showed Zinzendorf how the French were going among the Indians as missionaries, learning their ways of living and adopting them, as well as talking their language. That the thing for the Missionaries to do was to bring Christ to the Indians rather than to bring the Indians among the Christians. Weiser went even further, and told him that some Missionary should have a blacksmith shop at Shamokin to mend their guns and hatchets.
Zinzendorf was delighted. He and Benigna agreed to go with Weiser on his next journey to the Indians' council fire. The road was wild and difficult, and in many parts of the Indian trails which they followed, the limbs of the trees often threatened to brush Benigna from her horse. Zinzendorf followed Weiser only part of the way, when, instead of going to visit the Iroquois, he went to visit the Shwanese.
Weiser tried to prevent this. "You don't know the ferocious nature of these Indians. They will surely scalp you. No white man has ever been among them and they will not listen to your preaching," said Weiser.
"That is just why I am going," replied Zinzendorf. "They need to know of Christ." Weiser left him and Zinzendorf pushed on and pitched his tent in the Wyoming country.
One day after he had opened his Mission he received from the Moravians at Bethlehem a bundle of letters which had come all the way from Europe. In order to be alone he caused his tent to be moved some distance from the others. Here he sat alone for some days reading and studying over his papers. He had been received coldly by the Indians at first, but now that he removed himself from then, they became suspicious.
"Why should he come here?" they asked. "He is sitting in a tent alone away from his daughter and the rest of us making plans to rob us. It is a trick to get our lands from us. We've
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not forgotten the Walking Purchase. He's too much alone. He's a bad man. He loves the dark spirit. Snakes are in his wigwam. We had best kill him."
The day of his death was selected and a brave young warrior chosen to do the deed.
Before the day of the murder had arrived, Conrad Weiser arrived in the settlement. He feared all would not be well with Zinzendorf and went across the wild untrodden mountains to bring him the relief that he felt sure Zinzendorf needed. Zinzen- dorf knew nothing of the dark plan of the Indians. Weiser, however, understood them better, and charged them with plotting the murder.
The Shwanese were frightened. They feared Weiser because of his influence with their superiors, the Iroquois. Some one must have told their secret.
"Take this man's life because you think he's going to get your lands," said he. "These lands are not yours. The Iroquois gave them to you for hunting grounds. You are women. If you kill Zinzendorf, they will take the land from you. You are cowardly women. Go bury your scalping knives and let him go."
The Indians promised not to touch him and for a long time the Moravians thanked Weiser for saving Zinzendorf.
It was the Moravians and the early Germans who were the great missionaries to the Indians. They learned the language and the ways of the Indians most readily and most easily adopted Indian ways of living. The early records of colonial history are rich in such names as Spangenberg, Heckewelder, Loskiel, Nitch- man, Mack, Ettewein, and many like them, all men of high pur- pose, strong faith, and courage unexcelled in the world's history. These are the men who carried the message of Christ to the Indians in the spirit of true Christian service. Though they succeeded imperfectly in teaching the Indians to bury the hatchet and live to serve others; their lives so full of faith, of hope, of sacrifice, of suffering, and of service will ever remain as so many monuments to guide and inspire others to be steadfast and devoted in the service of their fellows.
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HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
ZINZENDORF'S VISIT INTO WHAT IS NOW CARBON COUNTY.
In 1742 Count Zinzendorf made the first journey of which we have any record into what is now Carbon County. In com- pany with several Indians who had been converted at Bethlehem, he ascended the Lehigh River at least as far north as where Weissport now stands. On this visit, he selected the spot upon which the Moravian Mission was later built; and in 1745 the con- gregation of which he was the leader bought one hundred and twenty acres of land and laid out a settlement. He was in Pennsylvania only about a year.
This little outpost of civilization was the first white man's home in Carbon County. It consisted of a small number of houses built in the form of a crescent around an old-fashioned log church. The houses were on the northwest side of the Lehigh River where it is joined by the Mahoning Creek. When the town had been laid out it was called Gnadenhutten, which means tents of grace or mercy huts. The church was called a "Mission" largely because it was intended to be used by the Moravian Missionaries in their journeys to and fro from among the Indians in the western part of the state. The whole settlement was built as a place of abode for some converted Indians, and for a retreat for such others as might from time to time be induced to join the colony.
INDIANS AT GNADENHUTTEN.
A number of Indians had been driven out of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. These were sent to the Brethren at Bethlehem by some of the missionaries who lived among them. When these persecuted Indians arrived at Bethlehem a home was provided for them quite near Friedenshutten, and here, for a time, they received shelter, care, and religious instruction. More Indians, however, were constantly arriving and the number soon became too large to be comfortably provided for. It was in response to the urgent necessity of finding more room and shelter for this constantly increasing number, that a new settle- ment was started at Gnadenhutten.
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In this new settlement, when the converted Indians had been taken there, things went unusually well. A Thanksgiving Day was held as soon as the first crops were harvested. Each day's work was begun and ended with prayer and songs of praise. The Bible was translated into Mohegan and read whenever a number of the Brethren were gathered together. Rauch and Martin Mack were the first white men to reside in the settlement as missionaries. The crops were good and the first church was soon too small, and another had to be built.
In 1754 a number of the Indians were led to desert the con- gregation and join their savage fellows in the Wyoming Valley. A large part of the Indians of the congregation were Mohegans and Delawares. The Delawares and Shwanese on the Susquehanna had for some time done all they could possibly do to cause the Indians to desert their Christian Brethren. The converted and friendly Indians for a long time refused to do this. After a struggle, however, their love of the wild life of their ancestors overcame their Christian feelings, and under influence of the wily Delaware Chief, Teedyuscung, a number of them went back to the savage tribes of the forest.
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HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER VII.
TEEDYSUCUNG.
Teedyuscung was baptized by Bishop Cammerhoff on the twelfth of March, 1750. He was a tall straight-limbed warrior, who later became the last and great war king of the Delaware Indians. The doctrine of the Brethren of returning good for evil, little suited his nature, and it was with no Christian spirit that he saw his brethren injured by the whites and their hunting grounds changed into fields. The moment when his untamed brothers asked him to be their king was an evil one for him; for the prospect of the crown dazzled his eyes and he forsook his Christian teachings for ambition and revenge.
The revenge of Teedyuscung was confined chiefly to the lands of the Walking Purchase. From their lurking places in the forest he would lead a small group of savage warriors, ruthlessly burning with the torch and murdering with the tomahawk all of the booty or the prisoners that they could not carry back with themselves .o their retreats in the glades. The defenseless settlers were harassed by their unseen foe by day and night. The settlers were scalped or tomahawked, or carried into captivity for worse than slavery or the coveted ransom. Nightly the horizon was reddened by fire and daily there hung around it a cloud of smoke which marked the progress of the fiendish invaders and their progress of death and destruction to appease a revenge which was relentless as it was unmerciful. Teedyuscung and his bands in the midwinter made hundreds of homeless wanderers who knew not whither to turn for safety. Hundreds in sheer des- peration deserted their homes because of the swift destruction they knew was coming in the pillage of the Indians. They became wanderers who knew not whither to turn for safety or succor. Surely the iniquity of the sins of the fathers were being visited upon the children.
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OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
In the Revolutionary War Teedyuscung was the great Indian hero. He was wise, brave, cunning, and faithful to his followers. He loved fun, was quick in seeing the weakness of his enemy, and was cutting in his remarks to those who opposed him. He lived at Gnadenhutten for six years and remained attached to the Brethren all his life. Like the other Indians he could not resist the temptation to drink. It is reported that he frequently con- sumed a gallon of whiskey a day. He was burned to death while asleep in his cabin. Two fine monuments are erected in his memory in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
NEW GNADENHUTTEN.
The accommodations at Gnadenhutten soon became too small, even though a number of Indians did desert; so it was decided to move the Mission to the northeast side of the Lehigh where Weiss- port now stands. In this new settlement the houses for the Indians were arranged along both sides of the principal street. The Mohegans lived on one side and the Delawares on the other, while the Brethren at Bethlehem took upon themselves the care of the land and the buildings on the opposite side of the river. All still went well in the settlement. The Missionaries worked and prayed for the salvation of the dusky dwellers of the forest, and fondly hoped that continued success would bless their efforts.
TROUBLE ALONG THE FRONTIER.
The days of William Penn, however, were no more. The Indians had been disappointed by the manner in which they were deprived of the land at the forks of the Delaware as the result of the Walking Purchase conducted by the Sheriff of Bucks County. The French in the north fanned these feelings of discontent and ill will into a flame of hatred and revenge. The Indians were led to believe after the death of Braddock that now was their opportunity to destroy all settlements along the Atlantic border. Since much of the land in possession of the white men was secured by getting treaties signed when the Indians had been intoxicated, the Indians felt they had been cheated, that the white men were
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HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
not true to their Bible, and they were eager again to get possession of the hunting grounds of their fathers.
There was no limit to the false reports which the French in the north spread among them. They were told that if they remained true to the teachings of the Moravians their corn would rot on the stock, their streams would go dry, the wild game would seek other lands, and the fish would die in the streams and ponds.
The French flattered the Indians and tried to get their help in every possible way. They stirred them to deeds of blood along the entire frontier. After the defeat of Braddock every day witnessed new deeds of horror which they committed with all the cruelty of which their nature was capable. The whole border was in terror. The farmers deserted their dwellings and fled to towns for safety. The Brethren at Gnadenhutten were warned of their danger, but they agreed to stick to their post and not desert the Mission.
Those Indians who forsook their Christian Brethren to return to their wild life in the woods, became angry with their Indian brothers who would not forsake their Christian comrades and they determined to wipe out the settlement. The Missionaries were, therefore, suddenly and savagely attacked. On the evening of November 24, 1755, they were surprised in the Mission while the entire group was at supper, and eleven of the household were horribly murdered.
MASSACRE AT GNADENHUTTEN.
The shadows of the evening of a chilly November day were just turning into night, when above the whistling and moaning of the wind as it swept through the leafless branches there was heard among the dogs an unusual barking and angry growling. The savage uproar soon resounded through the woods and smote terror into the hearts of the dwellers in the Mission. As the noise became louder, Brother Senseman went out at the back door to see what was the matter. He had hardly left the door before the report of a gun was heard, and when several of the others opened the door, there stood the Indians in all their horrible war
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OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
paint, their guns shouldered ready to fire as soon as the light from the inside made aiming possible. Martin Nitchman was instantly killed when the door was opened. His wife and some others were wounded, but they climbed into the loft and closed the door with the bedstead. Brother Partsch jumped out of the rear window and escaped unobserved. Brother Warbos was in an adjoining house, sick of a fever. He likewise left by the rear window and escaped to the woods in safety, though the savages had cautiously guarded the door in front. When the Indians could not follow those who went to the garret, they set fire to the house; and it was soon in flames. A boy, Sturgeons, made his way to the flaming roof; leaped to the ground; and under the cover of the darkness and the underbrush made his way to safety. Sister Partsch, made bold by the lad's example, leaped to the ground, escaped to a nearby tree, and was again united with her husband who had escaped by the rear window. Brother Fabricus also tried to leap from the roof, but being observed, he was soon wounded by a number of balls. The Indians took him alive; killed him with their tomahawks after removing his scalp, and left him lying upon the ground near the burning building. Brother Senseman, who left the house at the barking of dogs, had the horror of seeing his wife and others in the attic burned alive. Sister Partsch overcome with fear and trembling, hid herself near the Mission behind a tree; and from there she saw Sister Senseman standing upon the burning roof with her arms folded, and looking to Heaven heard her exclaim, " "Tis well, dear Saviour, I expected nothing else." In the group on the attic was also a woman with an infant in her arms. She wrapped the child in her apron, folded it to her bosom and sat in silence. At intervals above the fierce yells of the Indians, the painful cries of the perishing, and the crackling of burning timber, were heard the agonizing cries of the innocent child. Thus five of the eight who had made their way to the attic perished in the flames. Susanna Nitchman was carried away by the captors. She was taken to Wyoming and made to share the wigwam of a cruel Indian. She died in about six months from the injuries inflicted by her brutal captor and from grief and weeping too bitter for words to express.
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HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
The savage murderers next set fire to the stable and the adjoining buildings, burned the hay ricks and the cattle, divided such spoils as they had collected, made a hearty meal of bread soaked in milk, and started on their return journey across Broad Mountain.
GNADENHUTTEN IS DESERTED.
When the Indians at New Gnadenhutten heard the report of a gun and saw the flames across the river, in a few moments they were ready to pursue the invaders. The Missionary, Brother Zeisberger, who had only returned from Bethlehem, advised to the contrary and they all fled to the woods. A body of English militia had marched to within five miles of Gnadenhutten and when told of the savage attack of the Indians did not think it wise to follow them in the dark.
In the old part of the cemetery in Lower Lehighton there is a marble slab within the shadow of a weather beaten monument which tells the sad story of the cruel fate of the sacrificing men and women. The inscription reads:
"TO THE MEMORY OF GOTLIEBAND CHRISTIANA ANDERS WITH THEIR CHILDREN, JOHANNA, MARTIN AND SUSAN NITCHMAN, LEONHARD GETTERMEYER, CHRISTIAN FABRICUS, LESLEY AND MARTIN PRESSER, WHO LIVED AT GNADENHUTTEN, UNTO THE LORD AND LOST THEIR LIVES IN A SURPRISE FROM INDIAN WAR- RIORS, NOVEMBER 24, 1755.
"PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS."
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