History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 24

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USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 24
USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 24

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The troubles between the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland over the boundary between the two provinces, with their final settlement by the run- ning of "Mason and Dixon's Line," are set forth in Chapter X of the history of Pennsylvania in this volume, and it is unnecessary to repeat them here.

At one time during the Revolutionary period, when the titles of lands in Cumberland County were examined with a view to taxation, it was discovered that a large quantity of land was yet vested in the proprietary family and no revenue was derived from it. "The following tracts," says Dr. Wing. "were described as belonging to them: in East Pennsborough a tract called Lowther (formerly Paxton) Manor, containing 7,551 acres; in West Pennsborough these tracts are called Jericho, containing 807 acres and 40 perches, another of 828 acres, and another of 770 acres and 20 perches; a tract adjoining the moun- tains of 988 acres; one composed of several fragments, originally 6,921 acres and 23 perches, and including the borough of Carlisle and then in the vicinity of the town; one adjoining the North Mountain, 3,600 acres: another near the Kittatinny Mountains of 55 acres; two tracts in Hopewell Township, most if not all of which are probably now in Franklin County, 4,045 acres and 120 perches, and 980 acres-making in all 26,536 acres. Much of the land which had been sold had been subjected by the terms of sale to a perpetual quit rent. During the war none of these quit rents had been collected, no further sales could be effected, and no tax could be collected from this large amount of property. Many persons, too, had settled upon such proprietary lands as were unoccupied without the form of any title, and were making improvements on them. November 27, 1779, the Assembly passed resolutions annulling the royal charter, and granting to the Penn family as a compensation for the rights of which this deprived them £130,000. This, however, did not affect their ownership of lands and quit rents as private persons, so that they still remain the largest land owners in the State. On a subsequent occasion (1780) these private estates were forfeited and vested in the commonwealth, by which act the State government became possessed of a large amount of land which it bestowed upon officers and soldiers, or sold to private settlers for the profit of the State."

We have seen a copy of an original draft of a " proprietary manor southwest of the borough of Carlisle, in Middleton Township, Cumberland County. containing in the whole 1,927 acres, 34 perches, and an allowance of six acres per cent for roads, etc. Resurveyed the 6th, 7th and 8th days of Janu- ary, 1791. Pr. Samuel Lyon, D. S." This joined Carlisle on the southwest. being bounded north by Gillanghan's tract, Armstrong's tract, Richard Peters' tract and Richard Coulter's tract; east by lands belonging to Patrick and William Davidson. Banton & Co., Stephen Foulk. Joseph Thornburgh and William Patterson; south by James Lyon's and the heirs of George Lyre's land; west by Lyre's heirs, William Reaney and John Carver. It was quite irregular in form.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER III.

INDIAN HISTORY-FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-PONTIAC'S WAR.

N this connection it will not be necessary to enter into an extended history I of the Indian nations who at various periods claimed power over this region. It will be sufficient to state that when the Cumberland Valley first beeamo known to the European races, and was looked upon as a place of future coloni- zation, it was virtually in possession of the aggregation of tribes known as the Six Nations. It has been said that at the opening of the seventeenth century " the lower valley of the Susquehanna appears to have been a vast, uninhabited highway, through which hordes of hostile savages were constantly roaming be- tween the northern and southern waters, and where they often met in bloody encounters. The Six Nations were acknowledged as the sovereigns of the Sus- quehanna, and they regarded with jealousy and permitted with reluctance the settlement of other tribes upon its margin."*

The Six Nations-originally the Five Nations until the Tuscaroras of North Carolina joined them in 1712-were the Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas, Mohawks and Tuscaroras. They were termed the "Iroquois" by the French. The " Lenni Lenape," or the "original people," commonly called the Delaware Nation, were divided into three grand divisions-the Unamis, or Turtle tribes; the Unalachtgos, or Turkeys, and the Monseys, or Wolf tribes. The first two occupied the territory along the coast and between the sea and the Kittatinny or Blne Mountains, with settlements reaching from the Hudson on the east to the Potomac on the west. The Monseys, a fierce, active and warlike people, occupied the mountainous country between the Kittatinny and the sources of the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. These three divisions were subdivided into various subordinate classes bearing distinguishing names. The Lenni Lenape tribes occupying this region soon after the first settlement of Pennsylvania were the Tuteloes and Nantecokes, formerly in Maryland and Virginia. The Shawanos, or Shawanese, a fierce and restless tribe which was threatened with extermination by a more powerful tribe in the south, sought protection from the northern tribes whose language was similar to their own, and a portion of them settled near the forks of the Delaware and on the flats below Philadelphia. Becoming troublesome they were removed by either the Delawares or Six Nations to the Susquehanna Valley, and during the Revolu- tion and the war of 1812 their terrible deeds became matters of historic record. From them sprang the renowned chieftain Tecumseh (or Tecumthe). The historian Bancroft, in speaking of the Shawanese, says: "It was abont the year 1698 that three or four score of their families, with the consent of the govern- ment of Pennsylvania, removed from Carolina and planted themselves on the Susquehanna. Sad were the fruits of that hospitality. Others followed; and when, in 1732, the number of Indian fighting men in Pennsylvania was esti- mated to be 700, one-half of them were Shawanee emigrants. So desolate was the wilderness that a vagabond tribe could wander undisturbed from Cumber- land down to the Alabama, from the head waters of the Santee to the Susque- hanna." Some historians believe the Shawanese came north in 1678. They

·Day's llistorical Collection of Pennsylvania, pp. 388, 389.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

had a village in Lancaster County, at the mouth of Peqnea (or Pequehan) Creek, and their chief's name was Opessah, and there were several Indian towns along both sides of the Susquehanna. Those who had settled at Pequea removed a quarter of a century later to lands on the Conodoquinet, within the present limits of Cumberland County, with also a village at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches Creek. They deserted the villages about 1725, when the whites began to look to it for homes, and removed westward to the Ohio. The lands on the Conodoquinet were surveyed for the use of the Indians upon a treaty of purchase being made by the proprietaries for their lands on the Sus- quehanna, at the mouth of the Conestoga and elsewhere. "The intrusion of the white settlers upon their hunting ground," says Conyngham, "proved a fresh source of grievance; they remonstrated to the governor and to the As- sembly, and finally withdrew and placed themselves under the protection of the French. Big Beaver, a Shawanee chief, at the treaty of Carlisle in 1753, re- ferred to a promise made by William Penn, at Shackamaxon, of hunting grounds forever." The treaty mentioned was one " of amity and friendship," made at Carlisle in October, 1753, with the Ohio Indians, by Benjamin Frank- lin, Isaac Morris and William Peters, commissioners. The expense thereof, including presents to the Indians, was £1,400.

Treaties .- Says Dr. Wing (pp. 14-15 History of Cumberland County): "For one or two generations at least the land of Penn was never stained by an In- dian with the blood of a white man. Deeds were obtained on several different occasions during the years 1682-1700 for lands lying between the Delaware and the Potomac, and south of the South Mountain. In 1696 a purchase was effected through Gov. Dongan, of New York, in consideration of one hundred pounds sterling, 'of all that tract of land lying on both sides of the river Sus- quehanna and the lakes adjacent in or near the province of Pennsylvania.' As the right of the Six Nations to sell this territory was not acknowledged by the various tribes living on the Susquehanna, Conestoga and Potomac Rivers, other treaties were entered into with the sachems of these tribes (September 30, 1700, and April 23, 1701), by which their sale was expressly confirmed. So vague, however, was the language used in these deeds that a question arose whether the phrases 'lands on both sides of the Susquehanna and adjoining the same,' would give any rights beyond that river, and it was thought best to effect an- other purchase before any settlement should be allowed on that territory. Ac- cordingly the chiefs of the Six Nations met October 11, 1736, in Philadel- phia, when they revived all past treaties of friendship and executed a deed conveying to John, Thomas and Richard Penn and their heirs all the said river Snsquehanna, with the lands lying on both sides thereof, to extend east- ward as far as the heads of the branches or springs which run into the said Susquehanna, and all the land lying on the west side of the said river to the setting of the sun, and to extend from the mouth of the said river northward np the same to the hills or mountains called in the language of said nations Tayamentasachta, and by the Delaware Indians the Kekachtannin* hills.' This deed included all the lands comprised in the present county of Cumberland, but was not executed until a few years after settlements had been commenced there."

Previous to the purchase of 1736, a number of unauthorized settlements had been made upon the Conodoguinet and Conococheague, mostly by persons from the north of Ireland, and after the purchase, but before the lands were surveyed, these settlements were encouraged for the purpose of preventing in- truders coming in under Lord Baltimore's title. "These settlements," says Day, "gave rise to the complaints of the Shawanese."

*By other authority Kekachtanamin.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

After Franklin's treaty with the Indians at Carlisle, in 1753, a dispute arose between the governor and Council, and the Assembly, over a complaint made by the Shawnnese. " that the proprietary government had surveyed all the land on the Conodoguinet into a manor, and driven them from their hunting ground without a purchase and contrary to treaty." The remarks made by Big Beaver at said treaty have been mentioned. They were mentioned by the As- sembly in the dispute, but " by the governor and Council it was alleged that no such thing had occurred, and that a treaty held in 1754, the same Shawanee chiefs who were nt Carlisle the year before made the strongest professions of their friendship, without any complaint on account of the same tract of land. They alleged, too, that the Shawanese never had any claim to the Conodoguinet lands: for that they were southern Indians who, being rendered uneasy by their neighbors, had settled on these lands in 1698, with the permission of the Snsquehanna Indians and the proprietary. William Penn." However, no com- pensation being made to the Shawanese, they removed as stated and put them- selves under the protection of the French and became a source of terror to the colonists because of their hostility during the great French and Indian war of 1753-60.

Indians belonging to various tribes were met with by the carly settlers. Among them were the Shawanese. Delawares, Susquehannas (of which people but a remnant was left, the tribe having been swept away by wars and small- pox), Manticokes, Mingoes, Tuteloes, etc. A Mingo village is said to have ex- isted on Letort Run. in the neighborhood of Carlisle and the famous Lo- gan. whose residences were many, if all tradition be true, is said to have once occupied a cabin on the Beaver Pond, at the head of Letort Spring. The Shawances were not so numerous as in former years, as many of them had removed westward. They had professed that the lands, being barren, or devoid of large trees were not suitable for a hunting ground, and for that reason they had left. but indiscretion on the part of some of their young men, who had in drunken frolics given offense to the Delawares, had undoubtedly been a great- er reason, although both the Delawares and the Six Nations made investi- gations, forgave their offenses, and invited them to return, which they would not do. Even the proprietary, Thomas Penn, upon his arrival in 1732, ex- tended the same invitation and assigned them a large tract of the land they bad previously occupied provided they would return. A few of them did so, and lived peaceably with the settlers. In order to prevent whites from locating upon the land given to the Shawanese, a tract containing 7,551 acres was sur- veyed in 1732 and erected into a manor called Paxton. The Indians were finally found unwilling to occupy this land, and it was surveyed December 26, 1764, and given the name " Louther Manor." in honor of a sister of William Penn, who married a nobleman of that name. The order for the resurvey was given December 6, 1764, and returned May 16, 1765, the quantity being found as above -- 7,551 acres. The bounds are described as follows: "Bounded on the east by the Susquehanna, opposite John Harris' ferry; north by the Cono- doguinet: south by the Yellow Brecches Creek, and on the west by a line drawn a little westerly from the said Yellow Breeches to Conodoguinet Creek, containing 7,507 acres or upward."

The state of mind the Shawanese were in over their pretended wrongs, and the bargaining away of their land by the Six Nations with little regard for their welfare, rendered them easy to win from their friendship to the English. " More than once." says Dr. Wing. " when messengers were sent to them by the Governor and the Six Nations, they confessed that they had been mistaken, and promised that they would return, or at least live in peace where they were;

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

but every year it became more and more evident that their friendship was forced, and lasted only while they were in expectation of some benefits, and that their hostility might be counted upon whenever an opportunity of vengeance should occur. The Delawares had not as extensively gone beyond the mountains; the main body adhered to their chiefs, and were almost support- ed by the government, but an increasing number of them were wandering off and were making common cause with the Shawanees. The 'Indian Walk,' by which a portion of their lands had been acquired, seemed at least sharp practice, but the injustice had been more than compensated by subsequent dealings."

The use of liquor among the Indians was the cause of much trouble between themselves, and to a certain extent between them and the whites. They knew not how to govern their appetites, and more than once Indian murders occurred which could be directly traced as the effects of the liquor the perpetrators had swallowed. It burned any humanity out of them and made their naturally sav- age dispositions wilder and fiercer. It is known that Sassoonan, king of the Delawares, in 1731 killed his nephew while in a drunken frenzy, and was over- come with remorse and shame when he became sober, and yet he could not bring himself to ask that the sale of the poison to the Indians be entirely pro- hibited, but only that it might be kept from his people, except as it was asked for by themselves.

The French began their work of alienating the Shawanese from the Eng- lish as early as 1730, desiring to secure their influence in the furtherance of their own purposes. The following, from a message by Gov. Gordon to the Provincial Assembly, August 4, 1731, as given in the provincial record, shows "that by advices lately brought to him by several traders (from Ohio) in those parts, it appears that the French have been using endeavors to gain over those Indians (Shawanese) to their interest, and for this end a French gentleman had come among them some years since, sent, as it was believed, from the gov- ernor of Montreal, and at his departure last year carried with him some of the Shawanese chiefs to that government, with whom they at their return appeared to be highly pleased. That the same French gentleman, with five or six others in company with him, had this last spring again come among the said Indians and brought with him a Shawanese interpreter, and was well received by them." [Rupp's History of Cumberland and other counties, page 351. The same au- thority says that "Hetaquantagechty, a distinguished chief, said. in a council held at Philadelphia, August 25, 1732, that last fall (1731) the French inter- preter, Cahichtodo, came to the Ohio River (or Allegheny) to build houses there, and to supply the Indians with goods, etc."]

Settlements by the Scotch-Irish upon unpurchased lands about the Juniata assisted in fanning the flame of Indian hostility. Yet, in what is now Cum- berland County, these settlements must have been as stated by Mr. Rupp. made "by permission from the Indians, whom the first settlers conciliated." for there were no outbreaks here for more than thirty years after the pioneer locations had been made. Yet it was evident that a crisis was impending. The provincial government was hard pressed to provide presents for the In- dians, in order to keep them peaceable and to maintain a line of frontier de- fense against French incursions. Finally war was declared between France and England,* and the storm, which had for so many years been gathering force, broke with deadly fury upon the mountain region, and sad were the ex- periences of the colonists before morning dawned upon a peaceful horizon.

Matters began to look dark for the settlers upon this declaration of hostil-

*Open hostility was declared in March, 1744, although the actual strife in Pennsylvania did not break out until 1753, when the French established posts to connect the lakes with the Ohio.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

ities. The French had eneroached upon territory claimed by the English, and the Six Nations were silent when messages were sent them concerning the other tribes they had previously held in check. Chartier, the Indian trader. formerly located at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, had made his home with the Shawanese and accepted a commission in the French Army. Ho was a half-breed with Shawanese blood in his veins, and had great influence over that tribe. A conference was held with the Six Nations at Lancaster June 24, 1744, when the latter pledged themselves to remain at peace and to do all in their power to prevent the tribes which owed them allegiance from indulging in hostile forays. But as a large portion of the Shawances and Delawares had gono beyond their jurisdiction, the treaty could not reach them, and it became the inhabitants to cast about for means of security and defense. The foolish differences between the governor and the Assembly for years prevented steps being taken sufficient to allay fear. Finally, through the sagacity of Benjamin Franklin, aided by James Logan, 10,000 volunteer militiamen were formed into 120 companies throughout the provinces, and the expense was met by voluntary subscriptions. The regiments thus raised were called "Association regiments." and this was the beginning of a system which continued on into the Revolutionary war. Bancroft states on the authority of Logan that "the women were so zealous that they furnished ton pairs of silk colors wronght with various mottoes." The inhabitants of Lancaster County. for Cumber land was not yet formed, being largely Scotch-Irish and naturally warlike and aggressive, entered heartily into the military spirit. A number of companies was formed in the valley, the officers being chosen by the soldiers and com- missioned by the governor. The several militia captains in the county were sent letters, dated December 15, 1745, stating that news had been received that "the French and their Indian allies were preparing to march during the win- ter to the frontiers of Pennsylvania under the conduct of Peter Chartier, who would not fail to do them all the mischief in his power. The news served to stir up the people, as may well be imagined, but the alarm proved groundless. March 29, 1748, a list of officers in an Associated regiment, raised in " that part of Lancaster which lay between the river Susquehanna and the lines of this province," was presented to the provincial council. The officers had been chosen by the men in their commands and commissioned by the governor, and were as follows: Colonel-Benjamin Chambers, of Chambersburg; lieutenant- colonel-Robert Dunning. of East Pennsborough; major-William Maxwell, of Peters; captains-Richard O'Cain, Robert Chambers, of Hopewell; James Carnaghan. of Hopewell; John Chambers, of Middleton; James Silvers, of East Pennsborough: Charles Morrow. of Hopewell; George Brown, of West Pennsborough; James Woods, of Middleton; James McTeer, of East Penns- borough, and Matthew Dill; lieutenants-William Smith, of Peters: Andrew Finley. of Lurgan: James Jack, of Hopewell; Jonathan Holmes of Middle- ton: Tobias Hendricks, of East Pennsborough; James Dysart, of Hopewell; John Potter, of Antrim; John McCormick, of East Pennsborongh; William Trindle, of East Pennsborough; Andrew Miller, of East Pennsborough; Charles McGill, of Guilford: John Winton, of Peters; John Mitchell, of East Peuns- borough: ensigns-John Lesan, John Thompson, of Hopewell: Walter Davis, of Middleton; Joseph Irwin, of Hopewell: John Anderson, of East Penns- borough; John Randalls, of Antrim; Samuel Fisher, of East Pennsborough : Moses Starr, of East Pennsborough: George Brenan, Robert Meek, of Hope- well; James Wilkey, of Peters, and Adam Hayes, of West Pennsborough. No invasions of what is now Cumberland County occurred, and no murders of citizens of this immediate valley are recorded during this period.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

The home government were in doubt about the legality and expediency of these associated organizations, but their doubts were easily removed, and the council, in a letter to the proprietaries dated July 30, 1748, said: " The zeal and industry, the skill and regularity of the officers have surprised every one, though it has been for them a hard service. The whole has been attended by such expense, care and fatigue as would not have been borne or undertaken by any who were not warm and sincere friends of the government, and true lovers of their country. In short, we have by this means, in the opinion of most stran- gers, the best militia in America; so that, had the war continued, we should have been in little pain about any future enterprises of our enemies. Whatever opinion lawyers or others not fully acquainted with our unhappy circum- stances may entertain of it, it is in our opinion one of the wisest and most useful measures that was ever undertaken in any country." The peace of Aix-la- Chapelle, in October, 1748, did not affect the American colonies, for the French continued to erect forts and take other steps until war was precipitated in 1753.

In what is at present Cumberland County, forts-in some instances mere trading-houses-were erected at various times from 1753 to 1764, and so far as now known were as follows: Fort Le Tort, a trading house near Carlisle, 1753; Fort Louther, at Carlisle, 1753; Fort Croghan, a trading-house, eight miles up the Conodoguinet from Harris' ferry, where the veteran trader, George Croghan, resided; Fort Franklin, at Shippensburg, said to have been commenced in 1755; Fort Morris, at Shippensburg, 1755; Forts Dickey, Fer- guson and McAllister, all in 1764. (These are on authority of an historical map of Pennsylvania issued by the Pennsylvania Historical Society.) The defeat of Gen. Braddock on the Monongahela, July 9, 1755, left the frontier in a greatly exposed condition, and the people were quick to apprehend their dan- Gov. Morris visited Carlisle July 10, 1755, for the purpose of sending on supplies to Braddock and encouraging the people in the midst of their panic over various Indian depredations and the removal of troops for their protec- tion from the valley, and while there learned of the disastrous end of Brad- dock's expedition. The troops in Pennsylvania were sent north, and the prov- ince was left to take care of itself as best it could. Large quantities of pro- visions had been accumulated at Shippensburg. Carlisle and other points, which the retreating army had no pressing need for, and it was well for the inhabitants of the valley. Work on the military road, elsewhere described, was abandoned, and the people looked to the future with dire forebodings. "News of contemplated attacks upon the settlements along the frontier from the Delaware to the Maryland and Virginia line came upon the people in quick succession, and some actual massacres, burnings and captivities were reported from the south, west and north. Even before Braddock's defeat, and when that general with his army had gone only thirty miles from Fort Cum- berland, a party of 100 Indians, under the notorious Shingas, came to the Big Cove and to the Conoloways (creeks on the border of Maryland in what is now Fulton County) and killed and took prisoners about thirty people, and drove the remainder from their homes."* The fugitives spread the news, and terror and consternation resulted among the inhabitants of the region, not lessened when warning was given that an attack had been planned against Shearman's Valley and the settlements here. "John Potter," says Wing, "the sheriff of Cumber- land County, who resided in the vicinity which had been ravaged, gathered some companies to resist the assailants, but it was only to witness the burning build- ings, bury the dead and form a gathering of the fugitives; the nimble foe was

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Author: Publication date: Publisher: W. Taylor Number of Pages: 1280

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280