USA > Pennsylvania > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the Columbia County Historical Society and Commissioners of Columbia County. Volume One > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
1
- 7 -
The Indians, however, were tricked in several ways: Instead of a leisurely walk, as the Indians had anticipated, trained athletes were hires who, as the Indians said: "No eat, no smoke, no sleep, no walk, just lun! lun! lun!" Instead of measuring the distance parallel to the Delaware River, the line was marked out more westerly, so as to include a greater amount of land. The distance covered was sixty miles, more than twice the distance anticipated by the Indians. Finally, instead of drawing the far boundary due east to the Delaware river, the line was turned at right angles so as to make it go much farther north and thus include still more land than the Indians had expected.
In 1742 the Six Nations, rulers of the unsold territory in Pennsylvania demanded that Pennsylvania drive back the squatters from the unsold western lands. This the Pennsylvania authorities agreed to do. In turn, Pennsylvania asked the Six Nations to require the Delawares to leave the area of the walking purchase. This scene then took place in council in Philadelphia between the Pennsylvania authorities and Indian Chiefs. Canassetego, a Seneca chief, spokesman for the Six Nations, addressed Nutimus, Delaware chieftain in the disputed lands:
"We conquered you, we made women of you, you know you are women and can no more sell land than women. This land you claim is gone .... We therefore assign you to Wyoming of Shamokin. This Wampum is to forbid you, your children and grandchildren to the latest posterity, from ever meddling in land affairs, neither you, nor any, who descend from you are hereafter to presume to sell any land."
At the conculsion of this speech, Conassetego seized Nutimus by his hair and ejected him from the Council. The Delawares shortly after departed from their loved homelands near modern Stroudsburg for the North Branch regions. And there was bitterness in their hearts Further purchases were to follow. The Six Nations secured the purchase money. Often there was bribery. The Delawares, and other groups who had come into the Susquehanna valley were the ones compelled to move. The once friendly Delawares finally became bitter enemies of the White man.
Six Nations Control the Susquehanna Valleys
Besides compelling the Delawares to go to Shamokin or Wyoming, the Six Nations had a policy of compelling other defeated and dis- possessed groups of Indians to take up lands in the Susquehanna valley, after the destruction of the Susquehannocks. This was to keep the white settlers from coming into unoccupied lands. The Tuscaroras, referred to above, who made up the Sixth Iroquois Nation, were settled at the headwaters of the Susquehanna. The Nanticokes, gave their name to modern Nanticoke, as did a Delaware group, the Munsees to Muncy. Other Delawares were settled for a time at Nescopeck and probably Wapwallopen. Conoy or Gangawese were at Catawissa. The Shawnees gave their name to Shawnee flats below Wilkes- Barre. They may have dwelt in the Columbia County region for a while. As the lands came to be successively sold, the tribes gradually moved farther west and eventually out of the State, although some of them were involved in later wars.
7
1
1
OF
١
٠٠٠٠٠٧٠٠
1
1
ك
.
- 8 -
The Six Nations sent a representative, Shikellamy into the Susquehanna valley to control these subject groups and to deal with the White Hen, traders, and others. He made his home at Shamokin. Here, at the junction of the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna River, he exercised control for the Six Nations over all the subject Indians in the valley.
The bitterness of the Delawares was shared by other subject groups. Land purchases brought enrichment in money and goods to the Six Nations, often with bribes besides, but the subject Indians always had to move west.
The last of the intercolonial wars between the French and English broke out in 1754. As you know, this is called the French and Indian War. Just previously, in 1749 a purchase was made that brought the frontier of the purchased lands through the southern part of our present Columbia County. In 1755 another purchase was made. This was west of the Susquehanna including modern Selinsgrove. In this year also occurred Braddock's defeat in the vicinity of Fort Duquesne. This was the signal for the embittered Indians to wreak their vengeance on the white settlers, the ones who were to be made to pay with their blood and suffering for the fraudulent practices of the Penn's sons and heirs. Four months after Braddock's defeat a war party of Delawares attacked whites at the mouth of Penn's Creek, near modern Selinsgrove, killed fifteen, and carried ten into captivity. This massacre was merely a small sample of what was taking place all along the frontier. In 1763 Indians attacked settlers in the Wyoming valley, near modern Wilkes-Barre. Fifteen or more were killed here, and others carried into captivity. These outrages did not touch the region of our county at this time for the reason that there were probably no settlers here then.
In 1763 the French and Indian war was brought to a successful conclusion by the complete defeat of France. The following year marked the complete and overwhelming defeat of the Indians who had participated in Pontiac's bloody uprising.
New Purchase
Then in 1768 a very important council of English and Colonial authorities with the Indian chiefs was held at Fort Stanwix, near modern Rome, New York. For us, this meeting is especially important because an extensive tract of land in Pennsylvania was purchased by the Penns from the Six Nations. This was an irregular strip of land extending from the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania to the southwestern corner of the state. It included all of Columbia County's future area, not previously purchased in 1749, and also the neighboring regions. It was called the "New Purchase".
TO FIND OUT HOW EFFECTIVELY YOU HAVE READ
1. How do we know about the Indians of our region after the time of Columbus?
2. How long have Indians been in North America? How do we know?
3. Where did the Indians come from? How do we know?
- 9 -
4. How did the Indians help the Europeans? How did the Europeans help the Indians? Have you learned of these helps from other history study?
5. Explain the Indian situation in Pennsylvania when William Penn came.
6. Why did the Pennsylvania Indians change from friends to enemies?
7. Identify or connect with our history: Etienne Brule, John Smith, Shikellamy, "Long House", Walking Purchase.
INTERESTING THINGS TO DO
1. This chapter introduced you to certain Indians. List them.
2. List all the Indian place names of our region. Locate them on a map.
3. Reproduce the diagram of the "Long House". Show on a map where it was.
4. If you learn of a new site of Indian artifacts write a letter reporting it to the Columbia County Historical Society.
5. Volunteers should bring Indien artifacts to class, and explain where they wore found. Perhaps the reports of students may show where there are hitherto unknown sites of Indian villages or camp grounds. Report such a find in a letter to the Secretary, Columbia County Historical Society, Bloomsburg .
6. Excursions: to an Indian site near your school, to the museum at the Columbia County Historical Society, or to an expert on Indian lore in your neighborhood.
7. Locate the 1754 line in southern Columbia County. Locate the area of the " Now Purchase" .
8. For the whole class: on a long sheet of paper, wrapping paper will do, make a time chart similar to that on the bottom of this page, only about four feet instead of a few inches. Now you have room for many more entries of events than could be made in the book. It would help your understanding to inelude events from the broader American History. Settlement of St. Augustine, Florida, might be one. Discuss additional entries and then add those that seem worthwhile. Similar time charts will be suggested for other chapters.
9. For the camera hobbyist - photographs of Indian village sites in your in your immediate region, especially any recently discovered and not noted on existing maps.
10. Possible class reports: dwellings of the Susquehannock Indians, their boats, warfare between the Susquehannocks and the Five Nations; description of the Walking Purchase; the Penn's Creek Massacre; the Wyoming Massacre of 1763. (Students utilizing the school library or a public library should have very definitely in mind their instructions as to the topic they are searching for and the steps to take in order to find it.
When you make a class report, you must do more than prove to the teacher that you have been diligent and thorough. The class as a whole must learn from what you present.)
Check your vocabulary:
artifacts
implement, precipice awl scoundrel
impressive
squatters
fraudulent
heir
posterity
junction
wreak
Time Chart For Chapter I
1492 1500
James- town 1600 1607
Intercolonial wars ending in
1700
1763
Undisturbed Indian life
Penna. chartered 1681
1768 New
Purchase
Score:
16 - 18 excellent 12 - 15 good
site primitive
fragment
mongolian habitations vengeance
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS, AND TORIES IN THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS
Chapter II.
Conflicts and Their Causes
1768
The New Purchase at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 marks the end of our region as Indian country, although the Indians did not all leave it immediately. The lands of the North and West Branches had been purchased and the French rivals defeated. The fur traders were to move farther west, following the Indians and seeking areas where fur animals and game had not been so nearly killed off. The area was definitely open to Pennsylvania settlers, or so it seemed at that time. But actually, terrible events were in the making. The colony of Connecticut laid claim to the north- ern part of Pennsylvania and endeavored to settle it with Connecticut people. Within seven years, also, the war of the Revolution was to break out. These two conflicts were intermingled and both involved our region in bitter struggles. And many Indians, reluctant to leave these lands, joined against the settlers to bring destruc- tion and bloodshed to the people of these valleys. These struggles will now be explained.
Early Explorations in the North Branch Country
1728 1737
Long before 1768, information about the Susquehanna lands had been growing. Fur traders journeyed deep into Indian country. They reached the Forks of the Susquehanna at an early date. In 1728 one of these traders, James Lefort wrote from Catawissa about a fight between the Shawnees and "some back inhabts". This is the first written mention of Catawissa. In 1737 Conrad Weiser, the great Indian interpreter, came down the North Branch from a journey to the Six Nations. He reported traders in the Wyoming Valley, and also three men, Germans, from the Delaware region, who were hunting land. The following years, missionaries visited the Indians and endeavored to convert them to Christianity. This they failed to do. However, their trips increased the knowledge of the region. Soon one of these travelers was to write that the river at Catawissa was the "most beautiful he ever saw". Friendly Indian guides and the several hundred soldiers sent to garrison Fort Augusta, during the French and Indian War, were able to tell about these lands. Conflict with Connecticut
1756
From all these reports people learned that there were rich lands beyond the first mountains in the upper valleys of the Susquehanna. These stories were carried far and wide in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even to Connecticut. In Connecticut, there was not much land to expand into. People were seeking other areas to settle. Its boundaries as originally granted had extended to the "South Sea", which meant the Pacific Ocean. But since that grant of 162, other charters had granted land due west of Connecticut's settled boundaries to New York, to New Jersey, and to William Penn. By the middle of the 1700's these sections in New York and New Jersey were well advanced in settlement and were in the control of strong provincial governments. But in the upper
- 2 -
valleys of the Susquehanna there were no settlements at all. These Pennsylvania lands were almost as far away from Philadelphia as they were from Connecticut. The Quaker government at Philadelphia had given such weak support in the French and Indian war that the Connecticut people may very well have thought that they could take possession of this land without much diffi- culty from Pennsylvania, even though this meant reviving claims that had not been asserted for almost a century and also "leap- frogging", as it might be termed, over the parts of New York and New Jersey between. A land company for the settling of this region was formed. Settlers were induced to migrate to the Wyoming Valley, first in 1762.
Connecticut People Settle in Wyoming
This was in the region of modern Wilkes-Barre. The first result was to anger the Indians. In 1762 this land had not yet Pontiac's been bought from the Indians and the Pennsylvania government had promised the Indians that they would not be disturbed. In 176.3 an embittered group of Indians, Delawares mostly, attacked the settlers, killing a number, and taking other prisoners. The remainder fled back to Connecticut.
War 1763
First Wyoming Massacre 1769
First Pennamite War
In 1769 the Connecticut settlers tried again. Land was cleared. Towns were laid out. Forts, houses, and barns were built, and also grist mills. The Pennsylvania authorities ordered them to leave. When not obeyed, Pennsylvania repeatedly tried to eject the Connecticut settlers by force, but without success. However, there were armed conflicts with some loss of life on the part of both the Yankees or Connecticut settlers, and the Pennamites, as the Pennsylvanians were called. After the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775, both contenders were instructed by the United States government to devote their entire efforts to winning independence. This they both did, but not without some friction and suspicion on the part of both, as we shall see later.
Trenton Decree 1781
Later Pennami te Wars
Looking ahead of our story, we may note here that the conflict was finally decided in favor of Pennsylvania by a special court, convened at Trenton, in 1781. But further friction, and even conflict arose. These conditions grew out of land holdings which were disputed between claimants who bought from Connecticut and those based on Pennsylvania grants. After years of bitterness and more armed conflicts some of these settlers were given money damages for lands that they were required to vacate, usually the Pennsylvania holders, while the other claimants, mostly those from Connecticut, were allowed to stay in possession of the lands, if they could show a valid grant from Connecticut.
Connecticut's Claim Included Part of Columbia County
This contest was centered in the Wyoming Valley and northwards as far as the New York State line. The southern line of the Connecticut claim was the forty-first parallel of latitude, which extends east and west through the mouth of Fishing Creek. Thus if Connecticut had been successful, Berwick and Bloomsburg as well as the larger part of Columbia County, the northern part, would now be part of Connecticut. Two of the towns organized by Connecticut were
3
- 3 -
Huntington and Salem. The boundary of Salem Township adjoining Columbia County in Berwick and Briar Creek Township is the old boundary of the former Connecticut Town of Salem. The name Huntington is derived from Samuel Huntington, one-time governor of Connecticut and one of her signers of the Declaration of Independence. His name is also attached to the tributary of Fishing Creek joining it at Forks, and the mountain along whose northern slope it flows.
This whole Connecticut effort at settlement brought four or five thousand settlers to the upper Susquehanna, some of whom were to help build up our county, once the violence of the conflicts had been settled. These settlers were mostly Connecti- cut people, but considerable numbers from New York and New Jersey, and even from Pennsylvania, had bought land from Connecticut's Susquehanna Land Company. Probably the most important result from the Yankee-Pennamite conflicts was that it made the Pennsylvania authorities bestir themselves to bring about settlement of our region more rapidly, if they were not to lose it to the Connecti- cut claimants. Now we can return to other conditions after the " New Purchase.
Locating the Desirable Land
1769
The Proprietors of Pennsylvania, the sons of William Penn, had sent exploring parties into the region of the New Purchase, even before the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. Trips were made with canoes: along the river, up Fishing Creek as far as Huntington Creek, and probably up the other considerable streams. Locations for surveys were made at the mouths of the several streams: Green Briar Creek, Catawissa Creek, probably Roaring and Nescopeck Creeks. Early in 1769 parties of surveyors were on the ground. For instance, land on both sides of Nescopeck Creek at its mouth had been surveyed by February, 1769. Other surveys were extended rapidly. These early surveys followed the bank of a stream as one boundary, with the foot of the hills as the opposite boundary, the other boundaries adjusted so as to make the grant contain about 300 acres. These surveys before the Revolution extended well up the streams. For instance, those in the Fishing Creek Valley were carried beyond Knob Mountain up both the main stream and also Huntington Creek. The Surveyors
These early surveyors usually went out in the spring and stayed all summer in the wilds. The party consisted of the head surveyor, who carried the sighting instrument, called Jacob's Staff, and two chainmen for measuring distances. One of the chainmen carried a small ax for marking boundaries on trees; the other a rifle for defence against the wild animals and also in order to shoot game for food. They might find rude bark huts or rock shelters, or they might need to construct their own shelters for warmth and as places to prepare their notes and records. We in our day cannot realize the trials and hardships of the surveyors in their work in the unmapped woodlands. There were no roads and few paths, the settlements were few and far between. They had to travel great distances through the wilderness.
12
- 4 -
Who Would Want to Take up Land in the Back Woods?
Cheap lands, new lands, even if uncleared of their dense covering of trees, attracted hundreds of Pennsylvanians, in greater numbers, probably, than those from Connecticut. The area around Philadelphia, northwestwardly to the mountains, was getting crowded and land prices higher." The large families of those days meant that many younger sons could not be provided with an inheritance of extensive acres. Mechanics and other craftsmen in the towns in the vicinity of the Delaware valley had saved enough money to buy lands. They were used to hard work. They knew, too, that if they cleared their newly purchased lands, built a house and barn, they would increase their wealth very much. Pennsylvania was still attracting immigrants, chiefly from Great Britain and Germany. Some, having come as indentured servants, wished to strike out for the wilderness and cheap lands as soon as their terms of service were completed. Often they and others would mark out a few hundred acres of land and occupy it without paying anything for it. They were squatters. They cleared the land as best they could, a small portion at a time, built a log shelter for their family. They might later pay for it, or they might be able to sell their improvements to the rightful owner before they moved on to try the same process further into the wilds. Some settlers bought their land in the regular way from the Pennsylvania land office. Much of our frontier land in Pennsylvania was settled by former laborers and craftsmen, as well as by farmers. "(Additional: Much land farmed for a century was less productive.)
The Speculators
There were many actual settlers, however, who bought from land speculators, or land jobbers, as they were called then. These were wealthy persons who had gained riches in the prosperous city of Philadelphia, or similar places. It may have been from trade with the Indians, or by importing and exporting over seas. Certain manufacturers had been prosperous. Also business and professional men in many cases had grown rich, and had money to invest. Frontier lands that could be bought cheaply and sold at a marked advance in price seemed attractive investments when there were many actual settlers who wished to buy lands. Handsome profits might be made. The Susquehanna Land Company of Connecti- cut was largely organized by such speculators. We have seen how this company was important in bringing in hundreds of settlers to the Wyoming Valley.
How to Purchase Land
Pennsylvania speculators were also influential in bringing settlers to the frontier lands. The speculators actively sought out the best lands by getting information from travelers, soldiers, traders, surveyors, and also special explorers in their employ, "spotters" as they were called. Such persons had to be paid for their work. For information gathered in these various ways, the speculator would learn that there was land at the mouth of one or another of the creeks. An old indian village, conspicuous trees, or other natural features were noted. Ax marks, called blazes,
73
-
- 5 -
were slashed on trees to mark boundaries. The old deeds recorded in the Register and Recorder's office in the Court House at Bloomsburg, mention these early landmarks. On the basis of these landmarks persons desiring to secure land would make an application to the Land Office to have it surveyed. This office would then issue a warrant to the official surveyor to survey the land applied for. After the survey had been completed, a patent would be issued. This gave the applicant full possession of the land. An individual applicant was expected to apply for three hundred acres of land. This amount would necessarily be approximate, because the exact amount could not be specified until the survey had been made. The purchaser would be charged about five pounds per hundred acres, or fifteen pounds for the regulation amount of three hundred acres. This would be equivalent to twenty-five cents an acre .- Under the proprietors there was also an annual quitrent of one penny per acre. Speculation in Land - Opportunities and Risks
Speculators, however, by various means would secure possession of thousands of acres of land. In some cases it might be for special services, as in the cases of soldiers on the frontier during the French and Indian war. In other cases, favoritism or trickery was used. As an instance of trickery: A speculator would persuade friends or relatives to make applications. Then after the patents had been issued, such lands would be sold to the speculator for the amount of money expended. Undoubtedly, the speculator furnished this expense money. Various speculators by such means secured thousands of acres which they hoped to sell at profit, some times at exorbitant profits. But the speculators also had risks. Although the land prices were low, when thousands of acres were secured, large amounts of money would be necessary, money that was borrowed in some cases. Expenses in holding it were not great for a single plot. Rents for immense holdings, the taxes, and the interest on borrowed money would become high. And when thousands of acres were owned, the quit rents would mount up. There were also the charges of surveyors, spotters, and forms of advertising to secure buyers, all of which added up to burdensome expenses. Where the land could be sold without undue delay, large fortunes were made. This was not always the case. Robert Morris and James Wilson, both revered statesmen in winning the War of Independence and securing our Constitution speculated in frontier lands, some of them in our region.2 They became deeply involved. They could not meet their debts. They both died in financial ruin.
Date 1765
1There were changes in the prices charged at various times. Price Quit rents Amount allowable
5 pounds per 100 acres 2¢ per acre 300 acres customarily
25¢ per acre
1779 1784
1789 Pennsylvania Cancelled ownership of the Penns with liberal compensation 30 pounds per 100 acre abolished 1,000 acres $14.50 per acre
2James wilson at one time owned the land where Fort Jenkin . was
build. Robert Morris owned land in the Catawissa Valley.
24
٠٦
r
- 6 -
Effects of Speculation - Good and Bad
There were cases of sharp dealing and in some cases there was outright cheating3. Not all speculators by any means were scoundrels or persons endeavoring to gain undue profits. Their efforts in many cases, probably a majority of cases, would class them as community builders. By learning where the good lands were, having them explored, paying the initial costs, and spreading the knowledge of them, settlers were induced to come. Some of these services were necessary and deserved compensation, to some extent, at least. Many of the early settlers bought land from such speculators, some of whom will be mentioned later. Speculation with all of its good and bad aspects seems to have been a necessary part in bringing about the settlement of frontier lands.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.