USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 7
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"When the news reached the fort a party volunteered to visit the ground, and when they reached it, although the snow had fallen ankle deep, they readily found the bodies of Adams and the Indian; the face of the latter having been covered by his companions with Adams' hunting shirt." -
The place where this sanguinary duel took place between the pioneer and the Indian is on the farm of William Cole, in Richland township, four and a half miles from Johnstown. It is on Sandy Run, near the head of Solomon's Run. The path from the Adams place was up Solomon's Run and then along Sandy Run. The grave where Samuel Adams and the Indian were buried is but a few hundred yards from the home of Mr. Cole, at the angle of the Geistown and Elton, or the "Hollow" road.
The facts of the manner and place of the death of Samuel Adams are fully sustained by tradition, by stories from persons who were companions of Adams, as well as the grave that held the bodies of the representative of the white man and the red race, side by side, who were combatants in a cause in which each believed he was in the right.
The above, as has been noted, is the version, of Historian
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Day, and while in the essentials it agrees with, yet in many points it differs from well authenticated local tradition concerning the same incidents. Probably the best of these local stories is that of Edwin A. Vickroy, a son of Thomas Vickroy, a surveyor, of Alum Bank, Bedford County.
Thomas Vickroy was a neighbor of the Adamses, and, of course, knew them well, and Edwin A. Vickroy, also a surveyor, knew Archibald Adams, a son of Samuel Adams. From these gentlemen he procured his information, which was substantially this :
That Samuel Adams, just previous to his death, lived on the place formerly owned by Louis von Lunen, but he did not own it, as in a contest with William Barr it had been lost. It is now mostly in the Seventeenth ward of the city. When the In- dians became troublesome he took his wife and children to Fort Bedford for safety and came back for his cattle. While collect- ing them the Indians observed his movements, and when he and his brother Solomon, John Bridges, and Thomas Cheney had started with the cattle toward Bedford, the Indians went around them and ambushed at the crossing of Sandy Run and fired on them. Solomon escaped and ran to Bedford and gave the alarm. The next day a party came over and found Samuel Adams and an Indian, both dead, and both were buried near where they fell.
No tidings could be had of Bridges and Cheney for a long time, but they finally returned and told of the attack; that they began to fight Indian style, each man getting behind a tree, but that they were overpowered, and had been taken prisoners and conveyed to Canada. But Adams had killed an Indian and was himself dead, before they were taken away. Bridges re- sided on the place known as Samuel Blough's.
Archibald Adams, the son of Samuel Adams, was born in 1764, and died in what is now the Eighth ward of the city of Johnstown in 1859. A short time before his death he spent the day with Mr. Vickroy, and then said that he was about seven years of age when his father was killed, which would make his death about 1771. Sherman Day states that it was about 1777, but it seems that our authority is the better. We know that the Adamses had improved the John Horner farm prior to 1774, as it was warranted as the "Adams Improvement." Jesse Proctor, the great-grandfather of I. E. Roberts, of this city, married the widow of Samuel Adams.
There is, as a matter of fact, no doubt of the death of Samuel
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Adams and of the Indian combatant substantially in the manner set forth, nor of the time nor of the place, and that this historical event is so well authenticated onght to be a matter of satisfaction to the people of the county in which Samuel Adams was un- doubtedly the first settler, in the days when every man was a hero. This theory rests upon authority from the lips of persons who were companions of the Adamses, two of whom were John Grosenickel and Peter Goughnour. The late Isaac Hersh- berger, who was born in 1811 and resided until his death on his farm a short distance from where Samuel Adams died, knew John Grosenickel very well and heard him relate the Adams in- cident, along with other things occurring at that time, in 1777. Shortly before his death he stated that Grosenickel came from Lancaster county and settled on the farm now occupied by Samuel I. Hershberger, near Geistown, on the Bedford road. The log house occupied by Grosenickel and his family, which was erected before the death of Samuel Adams, is still stand- ing. It was used as a dwelling until 1895 and now does duty as a home for Mr. Hershberger's chickens. When the trail between the Adams improvement and Geistown was opened, Grosenickel built another log house near the trail, which was used as a lodging place by many a weary traveler. The Adamses were also frequently entertained therein. This house is about three-fourths of a mile east of Geistown on the Bedford road, and was recently occupied by 'Squire McVicker.
In the latter house John Grosenickel died about 1826. His youngest daughter, Salome Grosenickel, married Justus Varner, who later lived in Adams township, but both have been dead many years. A number of their children, however, are now residing in Richland and Adams townships.
Hannah Grosenickel, a daughter of John Grosenickel, mar- ried John Miller, who was an uncle of Isaac Hershberger. They resided on a farm now occupied by Joseph S. Blough, a mile and a half south of Geistown. Mr. Miller moved to the "Miami" country in Ohio, and afterward to lowa, a good many years ago.
Peter Goughnour, Daniel and Christian his brothers, lived above Solomon's Run. Isaac Hershberger was intimate with Peter Goughnour, and in referring to the early days of pioneer- ing, told him that on one occasion, he, with some of his neigh- bors, went east to procure provisions and were unavoidably delayed, and when the party returned Goughnour's family were living on nettles and potato stalks, which they cooked as greens.
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RACHEL ADAMS.
Tradition has it that Rachel Adams was also killed by the Indians, and this is authenticated by the word of Peter Gough- nour and Thomas Vickroy, the surveyor. These gentlemen fre- quently told Mr. Hershberger how Samnel, Solomon, and Rachel Adams started from their home to go to Bedford over the Geis- town trail; that they remained at Grosenickel's over night and started at an early hour next morning with some horses. After proceeding a few miles something occurred that required the brothers to return, and they left Rachel in charge of the horses for what they expected would be a brief absence. Before their return, however, the Indians appeared, captured the horses, and killed Rachel Adams. This occurred near Elton, in Adams township, at a small stream which has since been known as Rachel's Run, named by the woman's brothers, it is said, in commemoration of the horrible deed. In her memory also was named Rachel's Hill, a prominence a short distance east of Geistown on the Bedford road.
In connection with the death of Samuel and Rachel Adams, tradition says that their brother Solomon was also killed by the red man, but there is no authentic, or reasonably authentic, information that such was the case. The probabilities are that it is not true, as we have record testimony in the colonial ar- chives that in 1787 Solomon Adams was appointed by the Pro- vincial Council as one of the Viewers to locate the Frankstown road, and acted in that capacity, as appears by his report when the duty was performed.
The Hannastown massacre, in 1782, was the final atrocions act of the Indians. For a year or two afterward an occasional attack was made on the white settlers, but by 1784 there was practically peace as far west as Westmoreland county, and it is not probable that Solomon Adams was put to death by them after 1787.
On Friday, April 6, 1787, at a meeting of the supreme ex- ecutive council in Philadelphia, wherein Benjamin Franklin was President, commissioners as follows were appointed.
"Charles Campbell, of Westmoreland County, and James Harris, of Cumberland County, surveyors, and Solomon Adams, of Bedford County, were appointed Commissioners to lay out a highway between the navigable waters of Frankstown Branch of Juniata and the River Conemaugh, agreeably to Act of As- sembly dated 29th of March last."
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Within recent years proofs of the habitation of the Indian in this vicinity have been plowed from the ground and found in trees. A few years ago Samuel I. Hershberger plowed up an Indian tomahawk, and frequently he has found arrow points made of stone, some broken and others whole. John B. Lehman found an arrow head on the farm of Moses B. Miller, in Rich- land. Isaac Hershberger cut a tree on his farm and found near the top of a flint arrow head imbedded therein. About 1863 the late Wesley J. Rose found a skeleton in the lot now occu- pied by John Thomas, Esq., on Vine street, Johnstown, which the late Dr. John Lowman, the eminent surgeon and physician, pronounced to be the perfect form of a matured Indian.
Pastor Gallitzin. a pioneer, came from the Gallitzin family, of the Russian nobility, whose members had been prominent in war and diplomacy from the sixteenth century.
Vasili, a prince of that house, surnamed the Great, born 1643, died 1714, was the councilor and favorite of Sophia, the sister of Peter the Great, and regent during the latter's minority. The design of Vasili was to marry Sophia and place himself on the Russian throne, but it miscarried, whereupon Peter placed Sophia in a convent, and banished Vasili to a spot on the Frozen ocean, where he died.
Amalie, Princess Gallitzin (1746-1806), the mother of Father Gallitzin, was a daughter of the Prussian general, Count von Schmettau, and was noted for her literary culture and de- voutness to Catholicism. In 1768 she married Prince Dimitri Alexievitch Gallitzin, (1738-1803) a diplomat and the author of several books on geology. He had been sent as ambassador to the court of France in 1763, and to The Hague ten years later. The Prince and Princess separated, she withdrawing from a life of splendor in the courts of Europe retired to a charming residence between The Hague and Scheveningen, where she edu- cated her two children, a son and daughter.
Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was born at The Hague, December 22, 1770. He was carefully educated and at seven- teen was confirmed in the church of his mother's choice, taking the name of Augustine to please her. The father, desiring to have his son enter the army and take up a military career, pro- cured for him an appointment as aide-de-camp to the Austrian
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General von Lillien, but difficulties arose which caused a re- consideration for his future, and the position was not accepted.
The father had conceived a profound admiration for John Adams, who represented the States at The Hague, which feel- ing was cordially reciprocated, and when the military career was cast aside for the present at least, the Prince desired his son to travel through the United States under the kindly at- tention and influence of Mr. Adams. The father gave him letters to Mr. Adams and others in the field of diplomacy at Washington, and the mother procured a letter of introduction from the Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim to Bishop Carroll, of Baltimore. It was the decision of the parents that Demetrius should lay aside his princely title and estate, and should travel in America under the name of Mr. Schmet, an abbreviation of "von Schmettau," his family name.
When the time for his departure had come and his mother accompanied him to the pier, he recanted and implored her to let him stay. Her flashing eyes and indignant accusation of cowardice overcame him, and he fell backward into the ocean, but being an expert swimmer he recovered in time to sail for the new world. Demetrius arrived in Baltimore on October 28, 1792, and presented his letter to Bishop Carroll, who took a kindly interest in the youthful traveler. His life was made so pleasant that he evinced no desire to form new acquaint- ances, nor is it known that he called upon Mr. Adams at Washı- ington, who was then vice-president.
Probably a year or more after his arrivel he informed the Bishop that he had determined to renounce his ambition and that of his family, and intended to enter the church for the benefit of the American mission. His family were informed of the new declaration, and they were astounded; beseeching letters came, imploring him not to do so, but he remained firm and entered the Society of St. Sulpice, and on March 18, 1795, was ordained a priest. Thus a child of fortune became a pio- neer in the forest of the Allegheny mountains. He was now known as Father Smith, and served as a missionary at Port Tobacco, on the Susquehanna, at Conewago, near Gettysburg, and in Cumberland and Huntingdon counties, until July, 1799, when he arrived at Loretto, the scene of his future home and work.
Captain McGuire had donated a tract of land for church purposes at Loretto, and Father Gallitzin began to construct a
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log church, where on December 24, 1799, he celebrated the in- itial mass in a building, which was the first one erected for that purpose between the Mississippi and the Susquehanna rivers. He devoted his services to the congregation at Loretto, and traveled the mountains administering spiritual comfort to those who were unable to attend his church. He created debts for the church and honored them with remittances received from his sister, until in 1808 he was informed that in conse- quence of adopting the Catholic faith and clerical profession he was excluded from any share in his father's estate, and that his mother having died (1806) his sister was sole heiress. This decision of the Russian senate and council of state was ap- proved by the emperor and was therefore irrevocable.
His sister, known as the Princess Marianne, or Mimi, could not bestow any part of the property on her brother, but she wrote him that she would faithfully divide the income, and led him to believe that it was her wish to do so. Her prom- ises were not fulfilled, although he received small remittances for a while, the princess ended all hope by marrying, late in life, the Prince de Salm, who squandered her fortune. These complications caused his financial embarrassment, for debts not of his own, but made for the use of the church and which he felt in honor bound to meet. It is estimated that he had spent between $150,000 and $170,000 from his own fortune. These sacrifices on his part were beyond the comprehension of the rougher element, and aroused suspicion in the minds of the wicked. Notwithstanding the financial difficulties, these sus- picious persons formed a conspiracy to ruin his reputation, even accusing him of forgery; but it fell harmless among those who knew him, and Bishop Carroll always remained his friend. In these difficulties with the border ruffians, who had been en- couraged by the suspicious members of the community, he showed much courage and fearlessness. On one occasion two of the in- tense sinners went to his church with the intention of attacking him there by an assault. He was informed of this, and when the congregation had assembled, coming before the altar in his vestments, he said: "I now proceed to offer up the Holy Sac- rifice of the Mass. Let no one dare to profane this church, or insult the Christ here present, by one word or movement. And I tell you this," as he advanced with vigor of speech, "and [ tell you this, if any man raises hand or foot to take me from the
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altar, or to interrupt my words this day, another day shall come when he will call for me and I will not be there."
On July 18, 1807, one of the conspirators recanted and hu- miliatingly acknowledged his guilt, and imposed this penalty upon himself: " As to temporal punishment, I will, with cheer- fulness, submit to your reverence. I am willing to submit my bare back to flagellation publicly in the church, by your trustees, for I consider no punishment too good to be inflicted upon me. the most unworthy of sinners."
In 1808, in the campaign between Snyder and Ross for governor, he was enthusiastic for Ross, the Federalist candi- date, and in a letter to Bishop Carroll, who was also a follow- er of Hamilton, he said: "I am very much afraid of the issue in the next election. Our Irishmen are ready to go mad for Snyder, and Charles Kenny, Esq., of Westchester, by his art- ful and virulent publications in the Aurora and in Dickson's Lancaster paper, keeps them up in a state of enthusiasm for Snyder and against sound, genuine principles. Under the signature of Tyrconnell he made an attack upon my political character and principles in order to prevent his countrymen of Cambria and Huntingdon counties from listening to me. I yesterday sent my reply to be published in Hamilton's Federal Gazette of Lancaster."
While he was in Huntingdon, in 1802, he filed his naturaliza- tion papers and was made a citizen under the name of August- ine Smith. Having adopted this name by the direction of his parents, and the purpose for which it was done having passed, he now desired to have his own name restored; therefore, on December 5, 1809, he presented a petition to the senate and house of representatives of Pennsylvania, praying that a law be enacted to establish his true name of Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, which was accordingly done on February 12, 1810 (5 Smith, 84).
He was for some years vicar-general of the diocese of Philadelphia, but on October 28, 1823, Gallitzin wrote to Arch- bishop Marechall declining to accept the bishopric of Detroit, wherein he expressed his laudable purposes thus :
"Several years ago I formed a plan for the good of religion, for the success of which I desire to employ all the means at my disposal when the remainder of my debts are paid. It is to form a diocese for the western part of Pennsylvania. What a conso- lation for me if I might, before I die, see this plan carried out,
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and Loretto made an Episcopal See, where the Bishop, by means of the lands attached to the bishopric, which are very fertile. would be independent, and where, with very little expense, could be erected college, seminary and all that is required for an Epis- copal establishment."
In writing to Bishop Carroll he expressed his views on the question of temperance thus :
"I am so exceedingly fatigued after walking since last Mon- day about fifty miles through rocks and mire after sick people (having lost my riding horse) that I am obliged to confine my- self to a very few words. From what little experience I have it appears to me that total abstinence from spirituous liquors is the only sure way of breaking up the habit of that kind; and as I never keep any kind of liquor, nor drink anything but water or milk, I think if he seriously means to leave off the practice of drinking he will have a fine chance of curing himself effectively by living with me."
Gallitzin was intensely patriotic, and would not submit to any halfway measures or things dishonorable. During the war of 1812 two members of Captain Richard McGuire's com- pany came home without leave of absence, probably worse; they attended the service in the church at Loretto, and as the priest approached from his dwelling one of them went toward him with an offer of greeting to receive the expected welcome. He stopped and clasped his hands behind his back, and with his dark eyes expressing contempt, he bade them no welcome, but saying: "I never shake hands with one who deserts his post," passed on.
Gallitzin was a versatile citizen; beside being the priest, he was the trading man of the community for many miles from Loretto; he was the counsellor in all things, legal and otherwise; he had a limited knowledge of medicine, and gave his assistance wherever he could; he built a tannery and a hat manufactory, and aided the farmers.
On February 9, 1800, he wrote thus to Bishop Carroll in- forming him of the favorable conditions at Loretto: ".Our church, which was only begun in harvest, got finished fit for service the night before Christmas. It is about 44 feet long by 25, built of white pine logs, with a very good shingle roof. I kept service in it at Christmas for the first time, to the very great satisfaction of the whole congregation, who seemed very much moved at a sight which they never beheld before. There is also a house built for me, 16 feet by 14, besides a little kitchen and a stable. I have now, thanks be to God, a little home of my own for
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the first time since I came to this country, and God grant that I may be able to keep it. *
* The congregation consists at pres- ent of about forty families, but there is no end to the Catholics in all the settlements round about me; what will become of them all if we do not receive a new supply of priests, I do not know; I try as much as I can to persuade them to settle around me."
In 1827 Gallitzin not having satisfied all his creditors, he prepared a petition to his fellow Christians requesting relief, wherein he stated : Being the only son of a wealthy father he did not spare expense in order to get the above ends accomplished (establishing the Loretto church), but still spent far below his supposed ability. Lately, unexpectedly and without having had it in his power to foresee, or to even suspect such an event, he finds himself by a decree of his former government, deprived of
The McGuire Residence at Loretto. Where Prince Gallitzin Said First Mass in Cambria County.
the whole of his parent's estates, and with debts amounting to more than $5,000. This statement came to the hands of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, who endorsed his approval of the project as fol- lows :
"I hereby recommend to all charitable persons to sub- scribe such sums as their inclination and ability will permit to second the views detailed on the opposite page by the Reverend Demetrius A. Gallitzin.
"CH. CARROLL, of Carrollton. "13th Nov. 1827."
Some of the subscribers were: Ch. Carroll of Carrollton, $100; Robert Oliver, $100; Baron de Maltitz, $100; Je Silvestre Rebello, $100; Cardinal Capellari, $200-the latter was subse- quently known to the world as Pope Gregory XVI; and Matthew Carey, $20.
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Father Gallitzin died May 6, 1840, in his sixty-ninth year. Seven years thereafter a vault was constructed in the church yard to which his remains were transferred, and a humble but substantial monument was erected to his memory. This was, however, replaced by a beautiful bronze figure of the Pioneer Priest, the gift of Charles M. Schwab, as a token of his esteem. It was dedicated October 10, 1899, in the presence of a large concourse, when Archbishop Ireland and Governor William A. Stone made the principal addresses. There were many church dignitaries present, among them Sebastian Martinelli, Arch- bishop of Ephesus, and the Apostolic Delegate to the United States of Pope Leo XIII; the Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, Vicar Gen- eral of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Mr. Justice John Dean, of the supreme court, in acknowledging the invitation to be present said: "No one reverences the Christian character of Father Gallitzin more than I; that character shines through all the early records of the county, deeds, wills and contracts. Much of his work passed under my eye as judge in that county. He was a Christian lawyer in this, that taking human nature as it existed, he sought to allay and prevent strife by wise, just and clear writings, as well as by Christian counsel."
The first settler in Northern Cambria was Captain Michael McGuire, who, in 1788, brought his family from Taneytown, Maryland, where they had resided. During the Revolution, Cap- tain McGuire had served in a Maryland company, but his first visit to Cambria county had been made on a hunting trip in 1768, when he established his camp near the borough of Chest Springs, which appears on a map of 1793 and is designated "Captain McGuire's Camp." With his nearest neighbors at Blair's Hills on the eastern slope of the mountains, about twelve miles distant, he located the "McGuire Settlement" in the valley east of the borough of Loretto, now Allegheny town- ship, in this county, but at that time in Frankstown township, Huntingdon county. He died on his farm, November 17, 1793, in his seventy-sixth year, and was the first person interred in the Loretto Cemetery.
Captain McGuire was a devout Catholic, and donated a very large tract of land for the use of the church and its schools to Bishop John Carroll, of Baltimore, a cousin of Charles Carroll, of Carrolltown, who was the last survivor of the sign-
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