History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 7

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

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ADDITIONAL STATISTICS .- The number who emigrated from Phila- delphia Barracks, 80 adults, and upwards of 90 children ; total, about 170. For the year 1765, from May 9 to December 31: baptized, 5; died, 2; communicants (brethren, 16; sisters, 17), 33; non-commu- nicants, all baptized, 23; not baptized (adults, 37; children and youth, 34), 71; total number connected with the mission, 146.

For 1766 .- Born, 6; died, 1; baptized, 18; received into church fellowship, 4; communicants, 46 ; candidates, 3; non-communicants, baptized, 55; not baptized, 68; total, 172.

For 1767 .- Married, 3 couple; died, 4; baptized, 23; communi- cants, 42; candidates, 1; non-communicants, baptized, 75; unbap- tized, 67; total, 185.

For 1768 .- Baptized (adults, 8; boys, 5; girls, 4), 17; died, 9 communicants, 48; non-communicants, baptized, 75; not baptized, 52; total, 175.

For 1769 .- Born (boys, 7; girls, 5), 12; haptized (adults, 3; boys, 6 ; girls, 5), 14 ; married, 1 couple ; dicd, adults, 2; (boys, 4; girls, 2), 6 ; communicants, 45; non-communicants, baptized, 82; not bap- tized, 51 ; total, 178.

For 1770 .- Born (boys, 6 ; girls, 1), 7 ; died, 7; married, 1 couple ; baptized, 10; communicants, 47; non-communicants, baptized, 79; not baptized, 45; candidate, I ; total, 172.

For 1771 .- Died, 7; baptized, 19; moved to the west, 14; commn- nieants, 48; non-communicants, baptized, 77; not baptized, 26; total, 151.

From 1765 to 1772 .- Whole number baptized, 104; whole number died, 41.

STATISTICS OF SCHECHSCHIQUANINK .- From Jan. 25 to Dec. 31, 1769 .- 4 log houses built ; to us eame 18 souls ; left us, 3 souls ; bap- tized, 4; dicd, 3; birth, 1; communicants, 3; noq-communicants, baptized, 14; not baptized, 36; total, 53 souls.

For 1770 .- Baptized, 3; admitted to the Lord's Supper, 2; whole number connected with the mission, 58; dicd, 2; births, 2; came to the place, 16; left the place, 6.

For 1771 .- Connected with the mission, 10 married couple, 20; widowers, 1; widows, 7; single men, 7; single women, 3; half- grown boys, 6; half-grown girls, 4; children (boys, 6; girls, 9), 15; total, 63 souls.

CHAPTER II.

LAND CONTROVERSIES.

THE controversies which grew out of what is known in Pennsylvania history as the Connecticut claim, enter so largely into the early history of this county that no account of its settlement can be fairly understood without a knowledge of how that claim originated, the conflicts involved in its prosecution, and the means by which it was terminated. These controversies related to two distinct questions,-the right of jurisdiction and the right of soil.

The political conflicts which had been waged in Great Britain, made prominent the distinction between the power to make and execute law and the right of ownership in the soil. This distinction, so fundamental to the English system of government, her colonists brought with them to this country.

Soon after the discovery of the New World by Columbus, the different maritimne nations of Europe sent out expedi- tions of discovery, and each claimed jurisdiction over that part of the country explored by navigators sailing under its own flag. Accordingly, the French established themselves along the borders of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes, in virtue of the discoveries of Verrazani and Cartier. The Dutch laid claim to the territory bordering the Hudson, which had been explored by Henry Hudson. The English claimed jurisdiction of that part of the continent extending from the St. Lawrence to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the South sea, as the Pacific ocean was then called, in con- sequence of the discoveries of the Cabots and others sailing under the patronage of the King of England.

For the purpose of extending and maintaining the

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

authority of the British crown over the immense territory to which it laid claim, great companies, composed of noble- men, merchants, and wealthy gentlemen, were incorporated by James I., king of England, in 1606, by letters-patent under the name of the London and Plymouth companies. To the former of these was granted the territory of South Virginia, extending from the thirty-fourth to the fortieth degree of north latitude, and from the Atlantic ocean on the east to the South sea on the west ; to the latter company the territory of North Virginia or New England.

On Nov. 3, 1620, the Plymouth" company was incorpo- rated by letters patent under the name of the Great Council of Plymouth, and there was granted to them, their sneces- sors and assigns, all of New England in America, in breadth from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north lati- tnde, and in length within all the breadth aforesaid, through- out the mainland from sea to sea, " provided always that any part of the premises hereinbefore mentioned, and by these presents intended to be granted, be not actually possessed or inhabited by any other Christian prince or state." To this company were granted both the jurisdiction and the royal pre-emption of the soil, with the authority to distribute their territory and assign their prerogatives to companies of adventurers, for the purpose of occupation and settle- ment.

Accordingly, in 1628, the grant of Massachusetts was made by the Plymouth council, in breadth from the Merri- mack to the Charles river, and in length throughout all the breadth aforesaid north and south, from the Atlantic on the east part to the South sea on the west part. This grant, which extends southward, as the lines were settled, to the forty-second degree of latitude, was, with the proviso in the great Plymonth charter, confirmed by King Charles I., in 1629.

In 1630 the Earl of Warwick, president of the Plymouth council, procured a grant of a certain large tract of land from the said council, and the same year obtained the king's charter of confirmation. This he conveyed to Lords Say, Seal, Brooks, Humphrey, Wyllys, Saltonstall, and others, twelve in number, by deed dated March 19, 1631. This grant included all that part of New England in America extending from a river called Narragansett river the space of one hundred and twenty miles as the sea-coast lieth toward Virginia, and in length within the breadth aforesaid throughout all the mainlands from the Western ocean to the South sea. The territory, as thus described, includes a belt of land bounded on the north by the south line of the Massachusetts grant, on the south by the forty-first parallel of latitude, and on the west by the Pacific ocean. The forty-first parallel enters the State of Pennsylvania at Stroudsburg, and passes near Bloomsburg, Clearfield, and New Castle. That part of Pennsylvania north of this line was embraced in the Connecticut claim.

The company of Lord Say and others appointed John Winthrop their agent, who entered upon and took possession, and made a settlement at month of Connecticut river, to which he gave the name of Saybrook, in honor to his principal patrons.

While the right of soil and privileges pertaining to it might be transferred from one to another, the right to form

a separate government was deemed so sacred that it must emanate directly from the crown in each particular instance in which it could be legitimately exercised. The great Plymouth council having apportioned out to adventurers all the lands comprised within their grant, in order that the king might confer upon these several companies charters containing the powers and privileges of government, in the year 1635 released their right of jurisdiction to the crown in nearly the same descriptive words as are contained in their grant, mentioning their western extension to be considered about three thousand miles.

A number of English colonists who had emigrated from the Massachusetts plantations and settled upon the Connec- ticut river, finding they were without the Massachusetts patent, formed themselves into a voluntary association, took upon themselves the name of the Colony of Connecticut, adopted a plan of government, and purchased of George Fenwyck, Esq., then agent of Lord Say and others, all their lordships' right derived from the grant of Plymouth council.

In the year 1661 they petitioned King Charles II., set- ting forth their colonization, their grant from Lord Say and company, their acquisitions by purchase and conquest, pray- ing him to grant them a charter of government agreeable to the systemn they had adopted, and to confirm the grant they had obtained of the assigns of the Plymouth council. In consequence of this petition, His Majesty granted them a charter dated April 20, 1662, in which he " ordained, con- stituted, and declared John Winthrop and others, his asso- ciates, a body corporate and politic, by the name of the governor and company of the English colony of Connecti- cut, in New England, in America." This charter covered all the territory included in the grant to the Earl of War- wick, with the usual proviso, excepting any part of the said territory which might be inhabited or possessed by any other Christian prince. By this charter the two colonies or jurisdictions of Connecticut and New Haven were united.

The States General of Holland granted to some adven- turers a charter, in 1614, under which settlements were made on the western end of Long Island and along the banks of the Hudson as far as Albany. Negotiations were entered into by the governor of Connecticut and the Dutch governor for establishing the boundary line between the two colonies. A provisional line was run and agreed upon, subject to the ratification of the respective governments. In the meanwhile Charles II. granted to his royal brother, the Duke of York, the territory covered by the Dutch pat- ent, who, in August, 1664, dispossessed the Dutch and as- sumed the government of the territory. Negotiations were begun afresh for settling the eastern bounds of the Duke's patent, which were at length determined by a royal com- mission, agreed to by the respective governments, and con- firmed by the royal mandate in 1730. The west line of the duke's patent was the Delaware, and was never a mat- ter of dispute between the two governments of New York and Connecticut ; the latter colony never relinquished her claim to the territory west of the Delaware and within the bounds of her charter.

Under date of Sept. 14, 1720, Governor Saltonstall, in reply to certain questions of the Board of Trade, says, " On the west the province of New York have carried their claim

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

and government quite through this colony from south to north and cutt us asunder, twenty miles east of Hudson's river." This language is inexplicable on the theory that the determination of the eastern boundary of New York was considered as marking the western bounds of Connec- ticut.

For a number of years this claim of Connecticut was in a. measure acknowledged both by the home government of Great Britain and by the colonial governments in America. In 1752 or 1753 commissioners were appointed to settle the disputes which had arisen between England and France with reference to their possessions in North America, on the basis that each crown was to hold the lands most an- ciently granted to its subjects. The English commissioners produced the charter to Plymouth council and the grants under it of Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut, which were some years earlier than any grants made by the French king. To this the French commissioners replied, "You claim the whole country ; there is no settlement to make," and the negotiations were broken off.

In 1754 a congress composed of deputies from the Brit- ish colonies north of Virginia, held at Albany by direction of Lords of Trade and Plantations, declare, " The ancient colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut were, by their respective charters, made to extend to the South sea."

In 1755 the governor of Pennsylvania spent a whole ses- sion in a dispute with the assembly relative to the jurisdic- tion of Fort Du Quesne, the governor affirming that it was within the province of Pennsylvania, and the assembly de- claring that it was within the colony of Connecticut.

King Charles II. of England, by his letters-patent, dated Feb. 28, 1681, granted to William Penn, his heirs and assigns, all that tract of land in America bounded on the east by Delaware river, on the north by the beginning of the three-and-fortieth degree of northerly latitude, on the south by a circle drawn twelve miles distant from New Castle town northward and westward to the beginning of the fortieth degree of northerly latitude, thence by the be- ginning of the said fortieth degree of northerly latitude, to extend westward through five degrees of longitude to be reckoned from the said easterly bounds.

This grant encroached on the south upon the previous grants to Lord Baltimore and the Virginia colony, giving rise to controversies which were adjusted by compromises, and long and expensive lawsuits; it also lapped upon the previous grant to Connecticut the width of about one de- gree of latitude, extending the whole length of Pennsyl- vania, giving rise to controversies which were not adjusted until more than one hundred and twenty-five years after.

While the royal charters conveyed to the grantees lands, rivers, mines, minerals, all and singular other commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, privileges, franchises, and pre-emi- nences, it was nevertheless the doctrine held by Connecti- cnt, as well as by Pennsylvania, that these chartered rights were subject to the prior claim of the native inhabitants, and that the Indian title must be extinguished by either purchase or conquest before the land could be lawfully entered upon by the English colonist. It will be remem- bered that the New York Iroquois claimed jurisdiction over all the northern part of Pennsylvania. Holding their lands

in joint tenancy, all sales were required to be negotiated at public treaties, at which all had a voice in the deliberations and shared in the price and the presents.

As the question of Indian purchase entered largely into the controversies relating to the right of soil in the dis- puted claim, it will be necessary to trace this subject with some degree of minuteness. The authority to make pur- chases of land from the Indians was implied in the royal charters, and resided in the grantees within their charter limits. In Pennsylvania this right inhered in William Penn and his heirs, or in agents appointed and authorized by them. But in Connecticut every freeman was a pro- prietor, and the right of purchase was regulated by the assembly. Until 1717 every freeman was permitted to make purchases of the Indians. It was then enacted that " no title to any lands in this colony can accrue by any purchase made of the Indians, on pretense of their being native proprietors thereof, without the allowance or appro- bation of this assembly." To nearly all the territory within the present limits of that State the Indian titles were extinguished by individuals, or by companies acting on their own discretion and responsibility. This fact of the purchase being shown, upon their petition they were incorporated into a town and entitled to representation in the assembly. Lots were surveyed and assigned to the members of the company according to regulations adopted among themselves. It will thus be seen that the methods of making Indian purchases and effecting settlements in Connecticut and Pennsylvania were radically different. In the former, it was by voluntary associations of the freemen, acting with the authority and consent of the assembly; in the latter, solely by the lord proprietor or his agents. Keeping these facts in mind will enable the reader to understand the reason for the procedure of the parties to this controversy, and will answer some of the objections which each made to the transactions of the other.

As early as October, 1736, the Six Nations, at a public treaty, entered into a solemn contract with the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, in which they engage for themselves and their posterity " that neither we, nor any in authority in our nations, will at any time bargain, sell, grant, or by any means make over, to any person or persons whatsoever, whether white men or Indians, other than to the said pro- prietors, the children of William Penn, or to persons by them authorized and appointed to agree for and receive the same, any lands within the limits of the government of Pennsylvania as it is bounded northward by the govern- ment of New York and Albany." This was the famous deed of pre-emption of which so much was said in the dis- cussions on Indian title. At the treaty at Albany this deed was indorsed, confirmed, and ratified by the chiefs of the Six Nations, July 9, 1754.

The territory of Connecticut, east of New York, being nearly all taken up, many of the people began to turn their eyes towards some favorable location, within her chartered limits, to the westward. Rumors of the won- drous beauty and fertility of the Susquehanna valley were in circulation. A few prominent men of Connecticut, wishing to know more of the country, sent a party to cx- plore this region. They were charmed with Wyoming.

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Its broad plains, its rich soil, and beautiful situation made it a paradise beside the sterile, rock-bound New England ; and so favorable a report did they make, that an association, styled the

SUSQUEHANNA COMPANY,

was formed, July 8, 1753, for the purpose of securing the purchase and effecting a settlement of the Susquehanna lands, with the ultimate design of being erected into a separate colony by a royal charter .*

As the Susquehanna company played so prominent a part in the land controversies of this eounty for nearly half a century, and as the greater part of the first settlers here came under its auspices, and held their lands under its title, a brief account of the history of its operations may be of interest. Following the usual plan adopted in Connecticut for aequiring the Indian title, and settling the unappropri- ated lands of the colony, it was a voluntary association of Connecticut freemen, organized under the laws of the colony. At a meeting of the company, held in September, there were 350 members enrolled ; by the next January the num- ber had increased to 500. Rules were adopted for the ad- mission of new members, which at length numbered above 1200, embracing many prominent men in every New Eng- land colony, in the provinces of New York and New Jersey, even in Pennsylvania and in Great Britain. Each member was a joint owner in the territory and was called a pro- prietor.

The congress at Albany, in 1754, having been sum- moned, among other things, for the purpose of effecting purchases of land from the Indians, a meeting of the com- pany was held on the 9th of January, and Deaeon Timothy Woodbridge, of Stoekbridge, who was deeply interested in Wheelock's Indian school, and had the year before accon- panied Rev. Gideon Hawley on a missionary tour among the Indians, } was appointed to negotiate a purchase of the Sus- quehanna land for the company. By the aid of Colonel John H. Lydius, of Albany, a deed was obtained from the Indians, for the company, of a large traet of land beginning ten miles east of the East Branch of the Susquehanna river, on the one-and-fortieth degree of north latitude, thenee with a northward line ten miles distant from the said river to the end of the forty-second degree, and to extend westward throughout the whole breadth thereof, through two degrees of longitude, one hundred and twenty miles. This deed, which covers all of Bradford County, except the north- castern corner, was properly executed, and signed by seventeen sachems of the Six Nations, and bears date July 11, 1754.

Although this transaction was open and above-board,

done with the full knowledge of the Pennsylvania delegates to the congress, acknowledged both by the Proprietaries and the Indians, yet no sooner was it fully aseertained to be in- cluded within the charter limits of Pennsylvania, than every sort of objection was made to the transaction, and the In- dians were debauched into repudiating it. Lydius was branded as a Roman Catholic and an outlaw ; the Susque- hanna company as a band of desperate adventurers, acting without the knowledge and consent of their government; and that their deed was defective in form, fraudulent in execu- tion, and for land for which the Proprietaries of Pennsylva- nia already held a deed of pre-emption.

THE DELAWARE COMPANY.

Another association, ealled the " Delaware Company," was subsequently formed. A deed to Hezekiah Huntington and three hundred and sixty others, his associates, was ob- tained from the " Ninnepuncs or Delaware Indians," of a tract extending through the breadth of the Connectieut charter, from the Delaware river on the east to the line of the Susquehanna company's purchase on the west. This in- cluded the northeastern part of Bradford County, comprising the township of Warren, with parts of Windham, Orwell, and Pike. This territory they surveyed into townships of six miles square; appointed Elisha Hyde, of Norwich, Conn., their agent to negotiate the sale of townships to companies of settlers ; Andrew Tracy, Oliver Crary, Robert Gere (2d), and William Young, Jr., a committee to grant townships for the company. Of the two townships which were in Bradford County, Martel was granted Oct. 14, 1795, to Elisha Hyde " to defray his expenses as agent," and Minden, April 25, 1796, to Elisha Hyde and Elisha Traey, both of Norwich. These parties sold to the settlers, the details of which will be given in the annals of Warren and Orwell. The Delaware company was not a conspicu- ous party to the land controversies in this eounty, only so far as their interests were blended with those of the Sus- quehanna company.

The Susquehanna company at onee began to take meas- ures for occupying their lands, and in the fall of 1754 a considerable number came on for the purpose of selecting a favorable location for a settlement, but on account of the disturbed condition of affairs, growing out of the French war, the matter was held in abeyance for eight years. Peace having been declared, the company at once renewed its efforts to take possession of its domain. For the en- couragement of settlers, two townships, each ten miles square, were granted as a gratuity to the first two hundred, they being proprietors, provided they begin their settle- ment before Nov. 1, 1762. Accordingly, a large party was sent on the last day of August, who built houses and fenees, made hay, and such other preparations as were deemed advisable for the reception of the colony the following spring.

For the additional security of their settlers, the company appointed a committee to attend another treaty with the Indians, held at Albany in March, 1763, at which the In- dians confirmed their former sale, and guaranteed to the company immediate and peaceable possession of the land.

In the month of May following, about one hundred and

* AMERICA .- Connecticut, July 27, 1753 .- Several hundred people of this colony have agreed to purchase a large tract of land of the Six Nations of the Susquehanna, about 300 leagues to the westward, lying within the limits of their charter, to settle upon it, expecting that it will in a short time he a distinet government .- London Mag., for 1753.

+ Mr. Hawley describes him as " being a man long acquainted with the business and a gentleman of abilities. He rose to he the first man in the county of Berkshire, was always esteemed for his sense, but had few who wished to promote him. For many years he was at the council board, and sustained his station with reputa- tion." -- Doc. Hist. of N. Y., iii. 1037.

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

fifty settlers came on, some of them bringing their families with them, and occupied and improved lands in Wilkes- Barre, Kingston, Plymouth, and Hanover. This year the Pontiac war broke out, and bands of hostile Indians began to hover over the frontier settlements in Pennsylvania, watching for a favorable opportunity to avenge the wrongs inflicted upon them by the whites. Zeisberger had been recalled from Wyalusing, and on his way to Bethlehem stopped among the New England people, and warned them of their danger; but was informed that they intended to remain and hold their land at all hazards, and did not eon- sider the danger as great as it was represented. About midday, on October 15, just as they were returning from their fields, the settlers were suddenly attacked by a band of hostile Indians; twenty of their number were killed, a few were taken prisoners, and the remainder fled, leaving everything behind them.

By orders of the crown, all further attempts at making a settlement on the Susquehanna were suspended until the establishment of peace. This was finally seeured at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in November, 1768, at which time the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania effected a purchase of a tract of land, beginning at Owego, thence following the left bank of the Susquehanna as far as the mouth of the To- wanda creek, thence up the Towanda, along the Burnett hills, down Pinc creek to the West Branch, and across to the Ohio. This tract included a large part of Bradford County. The remaining part of the territory was not purchased until after the close of the Revolutionary war.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 7

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