History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 128

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 812

USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 128

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" This Stuart was vehemently opposed to; the report among us was that he had the influence to return for answer that they wished for no capitulation, would ask no quarter, nor give none! A very warm altercation now in a special manner took place between Stuart and Col. Dennison, as to the expediency of attacking the enemy under present circumstances. Stuart seemed to he under an impression that it would be as easy to kill Indian warriors in the woods as it had been to break open the jail in Lancaster and kill a poor defense- less group of men and women, i.e., Indians and squaws, without the means of either fighting or fleeing ; therefore he would fight that very day, or else march his men back, and never attempt to aid them any

more, and finally charged Dennison, and those of his opinion, with cowardice. Dennison, well known to be a candid man, now became provoked, anger took place, and he said he would not hear that. If Stuart would go out and die (oaths passed), he would venture him- sclf in it.

"Early in the afternoon the men were paraded and marched out, while a few remaincd hehind to help garrison. I had been fatigued, and taken unwell, hence was in the fort; but soon after the army were gone was taken out and placed as a sentry on the road, about three-fourths of a mile from the garrison, with orders that if I saw Indians to fire at them, and hasten back. Some others were stationed out with the same charge. In a short time I heard the battle com- mence, but it was of short duration. I heard the Indian yell rise on our men beginning to retreat, and as they bent their course for the fort the report of single guns came nearer and nearer to me, nor was it long until a wounded man on horschack came past me with had news. He had received a hall in his thigh, and a doctor, who was in the engagement, had kindly set him on his own horse and went on foot himself.

"The fugitives now crowded past me, all bearing doleful tidings, and I distinctly heard the groans and cries of our poor men falling hy the hands of the savages. It was too distant to have heard it in a single casc, but the cases were so numerous at the same instant, that it made a heavy and a doleful sound. A sentry not far from me, at any rate, said he saw Indians, discharged, and this was the signal to retreat to the fort. I did so. Through the night our poor men came in one by one, seldom two together. Col. Dennison, however, brought in several with him, some of whom took hold of the mane, tail, etc., of his horse, and thus augmented their speed. He said he had intended to die with them rather than abandon them in their distress.

"Early in the next day Butler sent a flag to the fort, proposing that if we would lay down our arms, and hecome neutral until the war ended, we should have leave to occupy our farms and live peace- ahly in our houses as heretofore. Col. Dennison sent word back that we would accede thereto.

" The British commander, and with him the army, came in. A written capitulation was signed, and we laid down our arms. The capitulation did not avail so as to save us from the plundering and destroying hand of the Indians; they forthwith went to plundering all the household stuff belonging to the families in the garrison, and demolishing the walls, as well as burning the buildings of the inhabi- tants all around, and driving off all the horned cattle and horses they could find.

"They, however, spared the houses in the fort. These we con- cluded to occupy, at all events, for the present. Myself, father and family, were in them ; the father and family also of Mrs. Terry. We were lately married. In this place we witnessed the work of devas- tation and ruin that befell the settlement below us, down to the very lower end of Wyoming. . . All the household stuff that they saw fit they took off, destroying the rest. This work of ruin lasted sev- eral days. At last the enemy withdrew.

" The necessaries of life now became very scarce with us, and we found that we must either leave the country or perish with famine. I was now in a sickly condition, but went seven miles down into the settlement below, where I found a horse that the enemy had not got their eyes on; on him we sat a sick man, who, if not taken care of, must perish. We now took the road from Wilkes-Barre to Easton, and at length, with a difficult march through the mountains, arrived in the white settlements, where was plenty.

"In the dreadful carnage that took place in this action many valuable lives were lost. The number killed could never be exactly ascertained. As it concerned my own company, I took the pains after the action to count them, and found that it wanted but a man

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or two of the one-half of the number that were missing. Our cap- tain, Aholiab Buck ; lieutenant, Eliah Shoemaker ; ensign, Asa Gore ; all the commissioned officers we had, fell in the action. Col. Dorrance, who had a part of the command in the action, was captured, and an Indian demanded his sword, which he refused to give np ; the savage took hold of the blade, and he violently drew it back through his hand. He by some means, likely others assisting him, got the sword from Dorrance, and with his own sword cut off his head. Our Col. Butler, as he belonged to the Continental troops, knew that if they got him they would kill him ; hence he left the fort soon after he got in. Col. Dennison survived, and made the capitulation aforesaid.

" During the time that we remained at the aforesaid fort I saw the corpses of many of our poor men come floating down the river, and I knew a part of them. Some of them I made out to bury. When eventually we went off I took the sick man aforesaid by water some miles down to Wilkes-Barre. On the passage a refugee, William Pawling, who was now a. captain of a company of refugees, hailed me and asked, ' Who have you in the canoe?' Answer. 'A sick man.' Said he, 'He is a wounded man' (then remarked they would have killed him). 'No,' said I; 'he is not.' Said he, 'Who are you ?' Answer, 'Jonathan Terry.' He made no reply, but I was seriously afraid that he would discharge upon me, but I escaped.

"In autumn, after the break of Wyoming, when Col. Hartley, with a scouting party was passing down this river, and had a skirmish with the Indians near Tuscarora creek, below Wyalusing, a son of said Col. Dorrance shot an Indian and ran forwards among them and scalped him. He escaped safe. Capt. Lazarus Stuart aforesaid fell in the action, together with a brother's son of the same name ..

"False reports have been circulated in respect to my brother, Par- shal Terry, and I have heard that it has been in print that he killed his father, etc. ; hence I wish to, in this place, declare the real truth in regard to it.

" My brother, Parshal Terry, was indeed on the opposite side of the great question from us, who were true Whigs, and was with the enemy, as well as many more. He also came into the fort with Butler and his army; but he offered no manner of violence to any of his friends. On the contrary, he said he had come into the fort to save our lives; and his father (who was also my father) has survived many years, and died among his friends in this place, in a good old age.

"The best accounts that could be ascertained, as to the number of the British Butler's army, was that there were seven hundred of them. Nothing strange, then, that our poor men were soon overwhelmed by numbers !

(Signed) " JONATHAN TENRY."

"MRS. LUCRETIA GAYLORD'S ACCOUNT OF WHAT SHE SAW AND SUFFERED AT THE TIME OF WHAT WAS CALLED THE INDIAN BATTLE, IN WYOMING, IN JULY, 1778.

" Wyalusing, Bradford County, Pa., November, 1831.

" At this time I was married to my first husband, Aholiab Buck, and was residing in Kingston, in Wyoming ; two or three years before this great distress my father had removed up to this place (Wyalu- sing), sixty miles above Wilkes-Barre, on the river. In autumn before this took place he was in fears concerning himself and his large family ; hence, wishing for safety, he went down to Wyoming, and two Indians (they were settled all around) went with him where a friendly consultation took place between the people at Wyoming and them. They advised the Indians, as they had done ever since the war began, to be neutral, and these Indians promised that it should be so.

" He therefore came home easy in mind, and felt himself safe, until the month of February following, that he went down on an errand to the other end of the settlement, where were several families who were Tories, but he had no fears about what did take place. Un- fortunately, nevertheless, Parshal Terry, who had joined the In- dians, was there with & band of Indians, intending to proceed up to his residence and capture him, and now they forthwith executed their design, and with him a prisoner hastened up to his dwelling,- where his wife and family had the mortification to see him a prisoner in the hands of savages and to be plundered of all (which was not a little) that the foe saw fit to carry off; all the horned cattle were driven off but a single cow, which they did not find, and on the horses they bore off the plunder. It was known afterwards that my

father (Amos York) was taken off to the east side of the Seneca lake, and there, under a guard of Indians and Tories, compelled to cut brouse* for the remainder of the winter for his own cattle, they having no fodder ; but for the present I pursue the family left behind him. It was a time of very deep snow, and, in a manner, no road from this down to the settlement. My mother herself was in a situa- tion which required delicate treatment, with a large family (all but two), and those small female children. How she found means to send down a communication of what her situation was to the settlement, I have now forgotten; however, it did arrive, and Mr. Buck, joined by a Mr. William Stuart, undertook both the dangerous and difficult enterprise of coming up with only one horse between them, and took off the family and the cow aforesaid; they, however, could at this time only get them perhaps about a third way there; they were left where some Tories were residing,-all excepting ons girl that they took down on the horse, in a second attempt, shortly after they all arrived in the settlement. From this until the time of the battle was a day of trouble; one alarm succeeded another. In our settlement the Forty fort (so called) was nearest in a time of fears; the inhabitants would flee to it, and when we had hopes of a little respite we would return to our honses again.

"The alarm at length became awfully serious ; scouts discovered a heavy body of the enemy coming down ; some men were killed hy them and their corpses brought in eventually. An Indian army was in Exeter, on the river shove us, and were in possession of what was called Wintermoot's fort. Our settlement all fled to the fort aforesaid, and the settlements below on hearing the news sent up their militis to this place; here they rendezvoused and were collected in two or three days. An afflicting and a serious parting at this time and place took place by many near connections in life, who never met more in this life. Here I parted with him that was my nearest companion in early life,-he never returned. I saw, with many others, a large, healthy body of our men march off from us, and all now with us behind was anxiety and grief, which, in » few hours, was greatly enhanced. We, after this, began to bear the dreadful roar, though distant; but too soon were we convinced that the battle was not going according to our most sanguine wishes, for the report of the guns drew nearer to us, by which we knew that the enemy were driving our men before them back again. As soon as any of our men came in they brought doleful news, and the sad tidings was confirmed by all one after another that did come in. It was a clear moonlight, but a doleful night,-sleep was far from every eye in the fort excepting infants'. The officers formed a design of defending the place to the last, hence they set guards at the gates forbidding any to go out ; this was a resolution in the last extremity, for their strength was very in- sufficient. My mother was in the fort with, including myself, ten children ; she had an infant in her arms, and so had I; the foe was expected all the time; we abode in the place all night, but soon in the morning we concluded to go off,-at all events it was but little we could bear off with us, nor was that our greatest care. We all appeared at the gate, and, in the general confusion, pressed out. A distressed group of us, all females, now made our way down through my own farm and passed our dwelling,-a place of plenty, and vege- tation in its prime ; we reached the river, where was a large canoe, and now we saw women and children pouring into the same place . from every direction. We embarked, and our vessel was soon filled with others as helpless as ourselves, but our lives at stake hastened to make the attempt down the stream ; we succeeded, and progressed until we came to Nanticoke falls, ten miles or more. By this time we saw the river full of crafts of all sorts ; some who resided lower down on the river were before us, others were coming after ; some good men assisted us in descending the falls.

"Soon after we left the fort it was surrendered on a reasonable espitulation, but that availed nothing, for, as we descended, it was not long until we saw the smoke of likely my own, and generally all the buildings in the settlement behind us, rising to the skies! We proceeded down the river with all possible speed. Before night I got the doleful news, by one that escaped from the battle, that he had seen my husband fall by the hand of a savage, with his spear, who also cut off his head ! Our passage down the river was tedious and difficult until, through a kind Providence, we at last found our- selves out of all danger, having arrived, with a vast number more, in

* i.e., the tops of maple and linn trees.

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Paxton township, now in Dauphin county, Pa. . . . The people were kind and compassionate to us, and we abode among them until the autumn following, when we formed a design to return to Wyom- ing again. An opportunity of a boat ascending the river took place, and in it we returnod, but when we reached it we were far from safety. I, however, went over from the fort in Wilkes-Barre (where we for security took up our residence) to sce my former place of abode, and it was all in ruins, and had been committed to the flames in the general conflagration. The people that remained in the place were forted, but that did not save them, for as they must be out at times on their farms, the Indians were lying in wait and would cut them off. As we were coming to the place we tarried overnight at a house in the lower end of Wyoming, where the man soon after was captured, and some of the family slain.

"These things caused us to form a design to return to our native place, Connecticut. The brother of my deccased husband and some other men went with us. One horse and one enw belonging to me had been missed hy the enemy in the general ruin of the place. My friends that found them restored them. . On the horse was packed our little baggage, and a younger one of the family would ride and carry one of the infants; all the rest went on their own feet. We took the road over the mountains towards Easton, and before we were out of hearing we heard the alarm-gun in the fort, that gave notice that some were killed in the vicinity. All wss now fear and dismay with us. Night came on, and for fear we went off into the woods to encamp for the night. Fire we dared not make, but the females and children laid down, cold as it was, while the men betook themselves to their arms and kept watch until the morning, when we resumed our solitary march through the wilderness, and at length reached the settlements south of the mountains, where we had the comfort of conceiving ourselves to be out of danger. We at length reached New Milford, Connecticut, where the relations of my deceased husband received me kindly and solicited me to abide with them. I did so. . . The cup of our affliction was filled up to overflowing with the news that my father had been cxchanged and released from a severe confinement in Canada, and had returned to his native place sick and had got worse, and in a few days expired in great grief, knowing Wyoming had been cut off, and not having heard anything about his family.

"I resided for about ten years after this in Connecticut, and re- turned to my property in Wyoming. There I was married a second time, to Justus Gaylord ; eventually returned to and settled in this place, where through the kind hand of an indulgent Providence I have seen many years of peace and prosperity. . . The infant then in my arms has long resided near me, and is the mother of a large and respectable family."

"NOTE .- Mr. Jonathan Tetry, who has seen this narrative, informe me that he was with & party of about one hundred and fifty that came up to take Mrs. York and family off, as well as others, on account of their being Whigs; this wae done in March following, when the river had opened, and they took the Moravian church, and as much of their other buildinge as they needed, to make a raft of (the Moravian Indians had left the place several years before), large enough to answer their purpose. The Tories were gone from this place, and Mrs. York was, for safety, removed to tho other side of the river, but not 80 far down as Mrs. Gaylord thought. Having completed their raft, Mr. Aho- liab Buck, with myself and some others, went to Mrs. York's house, and bring- ing off all the household stuff not already taken away, put it on the raft, together with Mrs. York and the children. We also took off two other Whig families and their movable property, as well as the wife and children of a Tory who were there alone, the man himself before this having been made a pris- oner hy the Americans. We arrived safe in the settlement, where our friends were taken care of, and the Tory family let go whither they would. Mr. Terry saye that the aforesaid narrative is a good statement of facts well known at the time. I took it from her own mouth.

(Signed) " THOMAS SMILEY."

"MR. WILLIAM HOUK'S ACCOUNT OF SUFFERINGS FROM THE INDIANS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY, AND AT THE TIME OF THE INDIAN BATTLE, TAKEN FROM HIS OWN MOUTH, DECEMBER, 1831.

" After what is related in my supplement to Mr. D. Allen's narra- tive, and on the morning after our poor men who went out from the Forty fort were cut off, my uncle, with whom I was (past the prime of life for age), formed a design to leave the scene of misery in the fort. The commanding officer, Col. Dennison, was unwilling, but we

pressed out, only saving our lives. We hastened to the river, and the Indian army was in sight progressing to take possession of the plaoc. We availed ourselves of a small craft that lay at the shore, in which we embarked, and hastened to get round the bend out of sight. We could progress but slowly, hence on the first day we did not get so far off but that we saw the smoke of the country, all on fire, behind ascending on the second day.

" I think it was on the third day that we reached Northumberland town, and all the sustenanee we had until we came there to support six of us was one-half loaf of bread, that in our haste we had taken off with us. Having arrived at the town, we found all in a bustle. It appears that the inhabitants had fled, and persons who had also fled from the settloments farther up the west branch of Susquehanna came down that far and occupied the houses. Here we stopped two or three days, and descended the river into Paxton township, now Dauphin county, Pa., where were many hundreds who had fled, and were in the same situation with ourselves in this place. Provisions were plenty.

"In October following we all returned to Wyoming, which place we now kept possession of by garrison. I was young, but as we were forced to live in a state of perpetual defense, I entered into the mili- tary service, in which I was until General Sullivan came into Wyo- ming to invade the Indian country.

" Having entered into this service, I progressed with the army in, I think, the month of July; it was in 1779. The troops were about two thousand at Wyoming. The line of march commenced, and grand as well as a formidable appearance it did make too to go out into a mountainous and rough wilderness. I was in the hoating service of boats. There were above two hundred to ascend the river. How many pack-horses there were, with each one a small barrel of flour on each side, I cannot say, but it made a line of a great length; one man managed two horses. The army kept always. as near to the boats as could be. Sullivan was exceedingly vigilant in keeping scouts and guards out for the safety of the whole. We were always in the night close by where the army encamped, and the long line of pack-horses came up, and one after another their lading was placed in the centre and the horses put out to graze. An abundance of cattle that were driven after the army were also put out in the same manner, and guards und scouts, distributed to the best advantage, secured the whole, while the army was always in an attitude to face the enemy in every direction. In this manner we reached Tioga Point, where a garrison was built, occupying the whole space from river to river where the town now is. Here we lay, I think, about three weeks waiting for General Clinton, who was to descend the north- east branch of the river to join us. He had brought his troops into the outlet of the Otsego lake at the head of the river. It was too low to descend with his crafts, but he dammed up the lake for a length of time, and then breaking up the dam found means to make a rapid descent down through an Indian country, and thus joined Sullivan at Tioga Point. I would think he brought with him about one thou- sand men. No time now was lost. The forces all formed their line of march as aforesaid, and hent their course up the Chemung river.

" When the army had advanced about fourteen miles they found the Indians and refugees behind a breastwork at a place called Hog- back hill. It was said that when Sullivan began the attack upon them that they called ont, Wyoming! However, the plan was well laid, and they found now their match, and more: they fled. I was still at Tioga with the boats, and to this place Col. John Franklin was bronght from the action down wounded. I was with others sent down with boats that were sent back to Wyoming on business, taking the wounded man with us. I returned again and waited until the army returned. We then took the army all aboard, exclusive of the pack-horse drivers, and went down to Wyoming again in the latter part of October. Nevertheless, it appears that Indian scouts followed us, for shortly after some were killed in Wyoming, but they never did depredate in the same manner afterwards as before. I continued in the service against the Indians until the war ended. Eventually returned to this place (Standing Stone), where I have resided for many years, and have been blessed with a good degree of prosperity. "WILLIAM HOUK."

"In the year 1776 our family immigrated from the county of Al- bany, in the State of New York, and went on as far as Springfield, at the head of Lake Otsego. There we waited until the lake was clear of ice. We stayed there about three weeks. My Uncle Fitzgerald

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bought a large bateau, and we moved on down the river with consider- able difficulty. There many obstructions were in the way, until we got to the Unidilly, and we proceeded on to the Standing Stone. There we planted corn and raised a crop, and we lost the whole crop. We were quickly reduced to want, likewise Mr. Strope and his family and Mr. Vankenhourd. Mr. Bastian Strope made bis escape from them and got safe to Wilkes-Barre, and was in the massacre, but he made his escape, and the rest of his family was taken to Canada and suffered greatly, and never returned until peace was proclaimed, and then they were sent to Albany by a British escort.

"Now comes on the Tories,-the Vanalistines and Isaae Laraway, and Jacob Bowman and his father and his uncle, and Philip Fox and Parsil Terry, a pack of vile wretehes.

"Now he pretends to say that he wishes his name not to be kept a secret. As for this Parsel Terry, he was a deserter from our army. I publish this for truth, and am willing to attest to it. "WILLIAM HUYCK.

"We made our escape out of the fort and got down to Northum- berlaod, and from there to Middletown, and returned again in Oc- tober.

"Colonel Dorrance was sent up with a party of men and took these Tories, except Parsel Terry ; he made his escape.

"We went down the river with Dorrance, and when we got down as far as Moshopen the river froze up, and could get no farther. There fell a deep snow, and we were obliged to stay there until the first of March, and went down to Wilkes- Barre.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 128

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 812

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 812