History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 28

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc > Part 28

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).

We have gathered the testimony on this point at more length than may seem necessary, because of its relation to other events that will be detailed in a sub. sequent chapter.

A LENGTHY DISCUSSION.

The people of the western counties were highly indignant at the suspen- sion of the proceedings for settlement, and, without knowing the reason that prompted Gov. Mifflin, hotly condemned what they called his timidity. The Governor, however, soon righted himself by spreading the intelligence abroad that he had acted in pursuance of a special request from President Washing- ton. He was of the belief, in common with most of the citizens of the State, that there was more bluster than sincerity in the threats of the Indiane, and that the best way was to go right on, and, if necessary, whip them into acqui- escence. Gen. Irvine wrote from Pittsburgh: "People here are astonished at the course of the General Government. I could have taken 500-some mounted, some riflemen, of such as would have effectually awed the savages and British." A long correspondence took place between Mifflin and the Federal authorities, in which the Governor argued earnestly in favor of the right of the State to protect its own territory and endeavored to convince the Cabinet of the folly of suspending the operations.

AN IMPORTANT COUNCIL.

The council referred to by Denny was held at the mouth of Buffalo Creek on the 18th of June. It was attended by Gen. Chapin, as representative of the United States, who found the Indians "much agitated with regard to the movements made by the State of Pennsylvania." He left Buffalo on the 19th, in company with sixteen chiefs and warriors and a British Indian agent, who

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acted as interpreter, for Presque Isle, which they reached on the 24th. Find- ing no person there, they proceeded to LeBoeuf that evening, where they met Capt. Denny and Mr. Ellicott, one of the State Commissioners, who had re- cently come up from Pittsburgh. In the consultation which ensued, the Indians objected to the establishment of garrisons in this quarter in the professed be- lief that it would involve them in a war with the Western Indians. They also claimed that the lands were not legally purchased from them by Pennsyl. vania. Ellicott and Denny replied that the purchase was as openly and fairly made as any that had ever taken place. The Indians returned to Buffalo, where another council was held on the 4th of July, at which it was determined to maintain their rights by force. In a communication of July 17, from the Secretary of War to the Governor, he reported that Chapin had sent word that, had he not proceeded to LeBœuf and the surveyors not suspended operations, blood would certainly have been shed.

FORT LE BŒUF AND ITS GARRISON.

Denny begged of Gen. Gibson on the 27th of June for "a few militia," on the ground that a number of his men at Le Boeuf were ill with the flux and others had to be detached. To the Governor he reported on the 4th of July: "Have been busy erecting a stockade post. Moved the detachment in yester- day. Am now beyond the power of any body of hostile Indians. None have been around since the party on the 24th. Hear firing almost daily, but whether friends or foes is uncertain." Ellicott wrote on the 1st of August: "The In- dians consider themselves as our enemies and that we are theirs. From this consideration they never come near the garrison except as spies and then es- cape as soon as discovered." Denny notified the Governor on the same date that they had four block-houses at LeBœuf, on two of which a six-pounder was mounted, the others not being calculated for cannon. Over each gate was a swivel. The officers occupied their tents in the absence of more agreeable quarters. The situation he regarded as excellent, except that there was a hol- low way parallel with the rear of the works and within gunshot that would "cover any number of Indians." This was examined every morning before the gates were thrown open. A few days previous, two or three Indians were seen "reviewing the plan," who seemed disappointed when a white flag was hoisted. The troops at the post numbered one hundred and ten, inclusive of officers. Ellicott regarded the garrison as being "in excellent order," and that it could, "if supplied with provisions, safely bid defiance to all the In- dians between the Genesee and Mississippi Rivers."

On the 10th of September, a man named Dickson was fired at by a party of Indians and wounded in two places, while working in a field within a hundred and fifty yards of the settlement at Cussewago, below LeBœuf. The news of the atrocious act spread like wildfire, and excited a universal desire among the whites for retaliation.

Denny complained to the Governor, on the 1st of October, that "the men are very naked; few of them have anything but their summer dress, and that in rags, and the most of them are barefooted." Again, on the 1st of November, he sent word: " For want of clothing, particularly shoes, there are numbers of the men who are almost useless. * * The fellows who are barefooted suffer with the snow." A letter from Wilkins, of the 10th of October, gave more favorable accounts from LeBœuf and Franklin. The British influence over the Six Nations, he stated, had been greatly affected by the defeat which the Western Indians sustained from Gen. Wayne's army in August. A number of Six Nation Indians were in the battle at Maumee, and on getting back to their

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homes told the most terrifying stories of Wayne's skill and bravery. Mr. Ellicott set out for the older sections of the State on the 23d of October, and was in Philadelphia on the 30th of December. An order was issued by the Governor to Gen. Wilkins on the 26th of October to raise one hundred and thirty men for six months, after the expiration of the service of the detachment at LeBoeuf, for the maintenance of that post and the completion of the Presque Isle enterprise. Each private was to receive 50 shillings a month, besides the customary rations. The old detachment was relieved by the new recruits in the closing part of December.

A TREATY OF PEACE.

By the efforts of Timothy Pickering, representing the United States, a treaty of peace was concluded with the Six Nations at Canandaigua, N. Y., on the 11th of November, in which they unreservedly acknowledged the title of Pennsylvania to the Triangle, and for themselves and their successors released all claims upon the lands within its limits. This happy conclusion was much hastened by the terror of Anthony Wayne's name and victories. As soon as tidings of the treaty reached Washington, word was sent by the President tc Gov. Mifflin that the temporary obstacles to the establishment were removed. It being too late in the season when the good news arrived at Le Bœuf to do any effective work at Presque Isle, the detachment remained at the former post until early spring. The force there on the 27th of March, 1795, consisted of ninety nine in all.

While Ellicott was at Le Bœuf, in the summer of 1794, he laid out the town of Waterford, the plan of which was afterward sanctioned by the Legis- lature. An act for laying out towns at Presque Isle, Le Bœuf, Venango and Conewango (Erie, Waterford, Franklin and Warren) passed that body in April, 1795, being the second in regard to the first-named place. This law also repealed the one of April 8, 1793, quoted in the beginning of this chapter.

Maj. Craig, of the United States Army, stationed at Pittsburgh, reported to the Secretary of War on the 24th of May, 1795, that "the State troops at Le Bœuf are nearly all disbanded. Capt. Buchanan," he says, " who commanded at that post (Denny having left), arrived here yesterday with the greater part of the men under his command, who are all discharged." In Buchanan's communication to the Governor, of June 19, he states, however, that Lieut. Mehaffey, with twenty-six men, marched from Pittsburgh with Commissioners Irvine and Ellicott toward Le Bœuf. He, Buchanan, expected to start that day with the balance of the escort. This would imply that a new set of men had been enlisted for the purpose. In Denny's report of his operations, he thus describes the location at Presque Isle: "A mile and a half in some directions from the old French fort the land appears to have been under culti- vation, or at least cleared, but is now grown up thick with young chestnut and linn. The fort has been a regular pentagon, but the work was very light. The parapet don't exceed five feet, and the ditch not more. The walls of the mag- azine, of stone, are standing, and may be repaired. The well may also be easily made fit for use." He mentions that " among the stores sent up by the State" was " a complete set of irons for a saw mill."

BEGINNING OF THE TOWN OF ERIE.

Some two hundred men from Wayne's army landed at Presque Isle early in the spring of 1795, under command of Capt. Russell Bissell. They set to work at once, cutting timber for block-houses, of which two were erected on the bluff

Martin Strong

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overlooking the entrance to the harbor, just east of the mouth of Mill Creek .* They also cleared a good deal of land to raise corn for the use of the garrison. In June, Ellicott and Irvine, Commissioners, arrived, accompanied by a corps of surveyers, and escorted by State troops under command of Capt. John Grubb, to lay out the town of Erie as required by the act of Assembly. How long they remained it is impossible to ascertain. The troops under Bissell built a saw mill the next season at the mouth of Mill Creek, which was the first in Erie County, and gave name to the stream. The command would seem to have been kept up until about 1806, being successively in charge, after Bissell, who con- tinued until 1799, of Capts. Hamtramck, Lyman and McCall, and Gen. Callen- der Irvine, a son of Commissioner Irvine.

THE LAST INDIAN MURDER.

A bloody incident occurred on the 22d of May, 1795, which was afterward the cause of much discussion and litigation, on account of which we will give the cotemporary statements in regard to it found in the Pennsylvania Archives. Denny wrote to the Governor from Pittsburgh on the 29th of May: "Four men were attacked on Saturday laat by a party of Indians lying in wait on the road two miles from Presque Isle. One was found scalped; the fate of the other three is not known." A letter from the Secretary of War to Gov. Mifflin, dated the 5th of June, referring to the occurrence, says: "It is not improbable that the attack was in retaliation, because a family of friendly Indians on the Allegheny, returning from their winter hunt, had been fired upon in May by a party of white men, and two of the Indians badly wounded." The man who was killed was named Ralph Rutledge, and one of the other three was his son, who wae found scalped but living, and was carried to the fort at Waterford for medical treatment, where he died shortly after. These were the first known deaths in the county. The body of the elder Rutledge was found near the site of the Union depot in Erie, and was buried on the spot where he died.

CHAPTER X.

ANTHONY WAYNE.

N O work upon Erie County would be complete without a sketch of the career of Gen. Anthony Wayne, whose last sickness, death and burial are inseparably associated with its history. He was born in the township of Eastown, Chester County, Penn., on the 1st of January, 1745, being the son of Isaac Wayne, who served several terms as a member of the Provincial Leg- islature and took part in one or more Indian expeditions. After receiving a good education, Anthony embraced the profession of a surveyor, at which he was engaged for a brief period in his native county. In 1765-66, he visited Nova Scotia as the agent of a Philadelphia land association, and on returning home was elected to several county offices. He formed an early friendship with Dr. Franklin, and, like him, was one of the first to espouse the cause of American independence. A member of the Assembly in 1774, and of the Pro- vincial Convention in the same year, to consider the troubles with Great Brit-

* The troops merely erected quarters that year ; the warshouse and stockadss were not completed until the next ysar, after the saw mill was placed in operation. The supplies for the command were brought by vessel from Detroit.

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ain, he became one of the Committee of Safety in 1775. Believing war to be inevitable, he resigned his civil office in September, and, after some time spent in military study and practice, raised a regiment, of which he was commis- sioned Colonel. His first service was with Gen. Sullivan in the spring of 1776, and he bore a brilliant part in the battle of Three Rivers, Canada. When the expedition returned, he was placed in charge of the posts of Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence. In February, 1777, he was commissioned a Brigadier General, and served with Washington in the New Jersey and Delaware Valley campaign. On the 20th of September, 1777, while stationed at Paoli, near his Chester County home, with a detachment of 1,500 men, his position was be- trayed by some tories to the enemy, who fell upon him during the night and killed and wounded one-tenth of his command. By Wayne's coolness and bravery, his little army was rallied, and retreated to a place of safety. This was the affair generally known as the

'MASSACRE OF PAOLI."

" A court-martial convened by Gen. Washington, at Wayne's urgent re- quest, decided, after minute investigation, that he did everything that could be expected from an active, brave and gallant officer under the orders which he then had." He led the attack of the American right wing at Germantown, and received the special applause of Washington for his conduct at Monmouth. His surprise and capture of Stony Point, one of the strongest British positions on the Hudson, was among the most gallant events of the war, and elicited res- olutions of thanks from Congress and the Legislature of Pennsylvania. After other valuable services in the North, Wayne was transferred to the South, where he co-operated with marked skill in the operations which led to the sur- render of Cornwallis. His last sphere of duty during the Revolution was in Georgia, from which he succeeded in driving the enemy. He was distinguished in all councils of war for supporting the most energetic measures, from which, and from his wonderful dash and courage, he won the popular appellation of " Mad Anthony." At the close of the war, he retired to his farm in Chester County. He was called in 1789 to serve in the Pennsylvania convention, and in that body advocated the adoption of the United States Constitution with all of his old-time earnestness and patriotism.

HIS WESTERN CAMPAIGN.

In the year 1792, Wayne was commissioned a Major General, and assigned to the Northwestern frontier, for the purpose of forcing the Indians into subjec- tion. After various minor engagements, he gained a signal victory over the savages on the Maumee, in August, 1 794. His skill, promptness and bravery made a strong impression among the hostile tribes, and they hastened to sue for forgiveness. He was then appointed sole Commissioner to deal with thein on the part of the United States, and effected a treaty of peace at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, which paved the way for the settlement of Northwestern Penn- sylvania and Northern Ohio.

SICKNESS AND DEATH.

Gen. Wayne's mission being fulfilled, in the fall of 1796 he embarked in a small vessel at Detroit for Presque Isle, now Erie, on his way homeward. During the passage down the lake, he was attacked with the gout, which had afflicted him for some years, and been much aggravated by his exposure in the Western wilds. The vessel being without suitable remedies, he could obtain no relief, and on landing at Presque Isle was in a dangerous condition. By his

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own request, he was taken to one of the block houses on the Garrison tract, the attic of which had been fitted up as a sleeping apartment. Dr. J. C. Wallace, who had served with him as a surgeon during his Indian campaign, and who was familiar with his disease, was then stationed at Fort Fayette, Pittsburgh. The General sent a messenger for the doctor, and the latter started instantly for Erie, but on reaching Franklin was astonished to learn the news of his death, which occurred on the 15th of December, 1796. During his illness every attention was paid to the distinguished invalid that circumstances would permit. Two days after his death the body was buried, as he had directed, in a plain coffin, with his uniform and boots on, at the foot of the flagstaff of the block-house. Among those who helped to lay out and inter the remains was Capt. Daniel Dobbins, long one of the best known citizens of Erie. The top of the coffin was marked with the initials of his name, "A. W.," his age and the year of his decease in round-headed brass tacks, driven into the wood.

HIS APPEARANCE AND BEARING.

An account of Gen. Wayne at the age of thirty two describes him as "about middle size, with a firm, mauly countenance, commanding port and eagle eye. His looks corresponded well with his character, indicating a soul noble, ardent and daring. In his intercourse with his officers and men, he was affable and agreeable, and had the art of communicating to their bosoms the gallant and chivalrous spirit which glowed in his own. *

* * His dress was scrupulously neat and elegant, his movements were quick, his manners easy and graceful."

DISINTERMENT OF THE REMAINS.

In the fall of 1808, Gen. Wayne's daughter, Mrs. Altee, was taken serious- ly ill. While upon her sick bed, she was seized with a strong desire to have her father's remains moved to the family burying ground. Realizing that it was her last sickness and anxious to console her dying moments, Col. Isaac Wayne, the General's son, consented to come on to Erie for the purpose of complying with her wishes. The journey was made in the spring of 1809, through what was then a wilderness for much of the distance, with a horse and sulky. On arriving in Erie, Col. Wayne put up at Buehler's Hotel, and sent for Dr. Wallace, the same one who had been called to minister to the General. The Doctor agreed to attend to the disinterment and preparation of the re- mains, and Col. Wayne gave him entire charge of the operation, declining to witness it on the ground that he preferred to remember his father as he knew him when living. Thirteen years having elapsed, it was supposed that the corpse would be decomposed, but, on opening the grave, all present were amazed to find the body petrified with the exception of one foot and leg, which were partially gone. The boot on the unsound leg had decayed and most of the clothing was missing, Dr. Wallace separated the body into convenient parts and placed them in a kettle of boiling water until the flesh could be re- moved from the bones. He then carefully scraped the bones, packed them in a small box and returned the flesh, with the implements used in the operation, to the coffin, which had been left undisturbed, and it was again covered over with earth. The box was secured to Col. Wayne's sulky and carried to East- ern Pennsylvania, where the contents were deposited in a second grave among those of the General's deceased relatives. In the labor of dissection, which took place on the garrison grounds, Dr. Wallace was assisted by Robert Murray, Rob- ert Irwin, Richard Clement and perhaps others. Gen. Wayne's sound boot was given to James Duncan, who found that it fitted him, had a mate made for it and wore the pair until they could no longer be used.

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APPEARANCE OF THE BODY.

At the time of the disinterment, Capt. Dobbins and family were living on the Garrison grounds in a large building erected for the use of the command- ing officer. Mrs. Dobbins was allowed to look at the body, with some of her lady acquaintances, and obtained a lock of the dead hero's hair. She had a vivid recollection of the incident when nearly in her one hundredth year. The body, she said, was not hard like stone, but was more of the consistency of soft chalk. The hairs of the head pulled out readily, and the general appearance of the corpse was much like that of a plaster of Paris cast.

In explanation of Dr. Wallace's course, it is argued that he acted in accord- ance with what the circumstances of the case seemed to require. It was necessary that the remains should be placed in as small a space as possible, to accommodate the means of conveyance. Col. Wayne is reported to have said, in regard to the affair: "I always regretted it; had I known the state the remains were in before separated I think I should certainly have had them again deposited there and let them rest, and had a monument erected to his memory."

William H. Holstein, a grandson of Gen. Wayne, in a letter printed in the Erie Observer of February 13, 1880, states that "Col. Wayne was not aware of the condition of his father's remains until all was completed or he would not have consented to the removal."

A SECOND DISINTERMENT.

Some years ago, Dr. Germer, of Erie, who has a profound veneration for Wayne's memory, read a sketch of the burial and removal, and was prompted to look up the place of the grave. He first ascertained the site of the block- house, which had long before disappeared with the other structures, and dig- ging down at the probable foot of the flagstaff readily found the grave and coffin. The lid of the coffin, with the initials, etc., before described, upon it, was fairly preserved, but the balance had mostly rotted away. Largely through the efforts of Dr. Germer and Capt. Welsh, an appropriation was obtained from the Legislature, with which a substantial log block-house in imitation of the original was built to mark the site, and the grounds were surrounded by a railing with cannon at each of the four corners. The grave has been neatly and substantially built up with stone, and the coffin lid, with other relics of the early days, is carefully sheltered within the block-house-the whole forming as appropriate a monument to the hero as could well be devised.

HIS EASTERN TOMB.

The Wayne family burial ground, where the bones of the gallant General repose, is in the cemetery attached to St. David's Episcopal Church, at Rad- nor, Delaware County, not far from the Chester County line, less than an hour's walk from Wayne Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and fourteen miles west from Philadelphia. Not far distant is Paoli, the scene of the mas- sacre which was so brilliantly ayenged at Stony Point. The Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati erected a monument over the grave on the 4th of July, 1809, which is still in position. In close proximity are the last resting places of Gen. Wayne's wife, son and daughter, and of numerous re- lations. The house where Wayne was born, near Paoli, is still standing, or was in 1876, and his descendants, who occupy it, have collected and preserved many articles of interest as having been associated with his long and illustri- ous career.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

CHAPTER XI.

LAND MATTERS.

O N the 3d of April, 1792, one month after the cession of the Triangle, the General Assembly passed an act for the encouragement of emigration to the newly acquired territory. This measure, generally known as the "actual set- tlement law," was in substance as follows:

The lands north and west of the Rivers Ohio, Allegheny and Conewango are to be sold to any person who will cultivate, improve and settle the same, or cause them to be improved and settled, at £7 10 shillings for every hundred acres, with an allowance of six per cent for roads, etc.

On application to the Secretary of the Land Office, giving a description of the lands applied for, a warrant is to be issued to the applicant for any quan- tity not exceeding 400 acres.

The lands are to be divided into proper districts and one Deputy Surveyor is to be appointed for each district.

No title shall vest in the lands unless the grantee has, prior to the issuance of his warrant, made or caused to be made, or shall, within two years next after the same, make or cause to be made an actual settlement thereon, by clearing, fencing and cultivating at least two acres for every hundred in one survey, and erected a house, and resided or caused a family to reside on the same for the five years immediately following; and in default thereof new war- rants shall be issued to actual settlers; provided, that if any such actual settler or grantee "shall, by force of arms of the enemies of the United States, be pre- vented from making such settlement, or be driven therefrom, and shall persist in his endeavors to make such actual settlement, then, in either case, he and his heirs shall be entitled to have and to hold such lands in the same manner as if the actual settlement had been made."

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 28

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280