USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1876 > Part 6
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The complications which had arisen in Indian affairs had a direct tendency to retard, or, in fact, to prevent for a long time, the consummation of the purposes for which the pur- chase at Albany had been made. In 1750 the settlers re- ceived no violence from the Indians themselves, the latter making their complaints and efforts to regain possession of their lands through the provincial government. After 1754 it was at the risk of life that a white man presumed to take up his residence within the purchased territory, unless he was also within such a distance of the fortifications that he could take refuge in them at the approach of danger. The evacuation of Fort Shirley, in 1756, removed the only pro- tection that had existed within our present county. Even previous to that event, but few warrants had been taken out for lands, and there were fewer actual settlers.
The "Land Lien Docket " for Huntingdon county, con- tains the record of but two office rights granted before 1762. They are both dated in 1755, the first on the 3d of February to Barnabas Barnes, for a tract in Tell township, and the other on the 25th of June, to Anthony Thompson, for a tract on Little Aughwick. J. Simpson Africa, esq., Deputy Sec- retary of Internal Affairs, at Harrisburg, a citizen of the county, who is more familiar with our land titles than any other person, knows of but four tracts warranted during the time I have mentioned. They are: I. One including the upper end of Smithfield, the whole of Bryan's farm, and some ad- jacent land in Walker township. II. The farm on the north- east side of the Juniata river, above Warrior's Ridge station. III. That upon which Alexandria now stands; and IV. One
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on the Juniata below Alexandria. These were all warranted in 1755. They are probably patented, and therefore do not appear on the Land Lien Docket.
It was in this same year that Hugh Crawford made an improvement, as he claimed, where Huntingdon now stands. He conveyed to George Croghan, by deed, dated at Fort Pitt, June 1st, 1760, "a tract of 400 acres, on the north side of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata, known by the name of the Standing Stone, including my improvement thereon, from the mouth of the Standing Stone Creek to the crossing up the Creek, and to the upward point of a small island." The grantee in this conveyance is the same George Croghan who was such a conspicuous figure at Aughwick. At the date of the deed he was a resident at Fort Pitt.
For a period of seven years after 1755, the region west of the Tuscarora mountain remained in almost primitive seren- ity. During all that time there seems to have been no de- mand whatever for the lands. The Indians had succeeded, for the time being, in making them valueless to the proprie- taries, by increasing the dangers of frontier life to such an extent that no man was willing to encounter them. This state of affairs continued until 1762, when there was a re- vival of the desire to acquire titles. In that and the follow- in year, many warrants were issued from and returns of surveys made to the Land Office. These were principally located along the streams and in the valleys, the earliest purchasers, of course, selecting the most fertile lands. But these were not all taken up for actual settlement. A large pro- portion of the warrantees were eastern men, many of them residents of the cities, whose only object was speculation.
This era was also brought to an end. Dangers from the Indians again increased. Early in the summer of 1763 depredations were committed on the frontiers, some of them near Bedford, the alarm from which extended throughout the country, and occasioned the removal of the settlers from the Juniata and its tributaries. Col. Armstrong, who was then in command of the militia west of the Blue Hills, wrote to Governor Penn, in December, of that year :
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" The People drove off by the Enemy from the North side of the Mountains, forms the Frontier, as they are mix'd with the settlers on the south side, where of consequence the motions of the ranging party are required; at the same time those who were driven from their habitations have some part of their effects yet behind, and their crops stack'd in the field thro' the different valleys, at a considerable distance beyond the mountains. To these distressed people we must afford Covering partys as often as they request them, or will Convene in small Bodys in order to thrash Out and Carry over Grain wherewith to Supply their Familys; this last men- tioned Service, necessary as it is, greatly obstructs the uni- form course of patroling behind the Inhabitants, that other- wise might be performed."
Col. Armstrong does not designate the localities in which the danger and alarm were the greatest, but the same situa- tion seems to have existed throughout the entire region known as the frontiers.
This check to the rush of speculation and the progress of settlement and improvement, continued until 1766. In that year and the one succeeding it, a great many applications were made, warrants issued and surveys returned. By the close of 1767, all the good lands in the valleys and river bot- toms had been taken up.
It was in the latter year that the town of Huntingdon was laid out. Its founder was William Smith, D.D., an Episcopal clergyman, and a gentleman of learning and ability. While Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, to which position he was elected in 1755, he made a trip to England for the purpose of soliciting funds in aid of that institution, and re- ceived a liberal donation from the Countess of Huntingdon, in honor of whom he named the town. It is proper that we should know something of the life and character of this es- timable lady.
Selina Shirley was born August 24th, 1707. She and her two sisters, one of whom was older and the other younger than herself, were the daughters and heiresses of Washington Shirley, second Earl of Ferrars. At the age of twenty-one
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she married Theophilus Hastings, ninth Earl of Huntingdon, a nobleman distinguished for his piety, from whom she took the title by which she is known in history. The deaths of four of her children at early ages, and of her husband in 1746, made a deep impression upon her mind and intensified her religious predilections. She adopted the doctrines of and attached herself to the Calvinistic Methodists, of whom George Whitefield, who, with Wesley, was, effecting a great revival, was the founder and leader. She was so zealous in advancing the principles she had espoused, and her wealth enabled her to exert such a vast influence, that a branch of Whitefield's followers became known as " The Countess of Huntingdon's Connection." She made that eminent preacher one of her chaplains, and he, in return, appointed her by will, sole proprietrix of his possessions in the province of Georgia, America, where she organized a mission. In her own country she built chapels, maintained ministers, and, for the education of the latter, and with the assistance of other persons of opulence, many of whom were members of her own family, established a college at Trevacca, in South Wales. For the support of this institution she made liberal contributions during her lifetime, and at her death created a trust. She provided in like manner for her chapels. The college was removed after her demise, to Cheshunt, in Herts, where it still exists. She also donated large sums to young itinerant preachers, and to private charity. Her death oc- curred June 17, 1791. The number of her chapels was then sixty-four. She bequeathed them to four persons, in trust for their care and management. They have increased in number until there are now nearly twice as many as when she died.
CHAPTER XI.
HUNTINGDON AT TIIE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR-THE MC- MURTRIES-FORT STANDING STONE-TORIES-COLONEL PIPER EXCEEDS HIS . AUTIIORITY-GENERAL ROBERDEAU AT HUNTINGDON-IIIS LETTER-TORY EXPEDITION TO KITTANNING-ITS RESULT-DEATII OF WESTON AND DIS- PERSION OF HIS MEN.
At the beginning of the revolutionary war, Huntingdon contained four or five houses. The inhabitants of whom we have any information, were Benjamin Elliott, Ludwig Sells, Abraham Haynes, and one of the Clugages. The names of several of these became prominent in connection with the formation of the county, eleven years later, and with subse- quent events.
In 1776 or '77 there came from Philadelphia two brothers by the name of McMurtrie. They were sons of a prudent Scotchman, who had sent them away from the temptation of entering the "rebel" army. One of these young men, David, attained some prominence in public affairs. He married a daughter of Benjamin Elliott, and his descendants are among the most prosperous people of the county. The other brother, James, resided a while in Huntingdon and then re- moved to a farm on Shaver's creek.
During the war, the town was more frequently called Standing Stone than Huntingdon. It is mentioned by the former name in many of the letters and records of that period, relating to the movements of troops, tories and In- dians. When called Huntingdon, its other name was some- times added to designate what place was meant.
A fort was built there in the early part of the war. It stood in the southeastern part of the town, on the bluff overlooking the creek and the lowlands between it and the fort, and covering about ten acres of ground. It was never permanently garrisoned, but when troops were in Hunting- don, as was the case on several occasions of which we have authentic information, it is to be supposed that their quar- ters were in this fortification.
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When not garrisoned, its defence, in cases of necessity, de- volved upon the citizens of the town and surrounding coun- try, many coming for miles to seek its protection. In times of alarm and in the absence of troops, the people sometimes resorted to ruses and stratagems to drive away the Indians. Once an attack was threatened by a party of savages who made their appearance on the ridge across the river from Huntingdon. They greatly outnumbered the force that could be gathered to oppose them, and to have awaited their nearer approach with the hope of making a successful resist- ance would have been futile. Instead of this, an effort was made to deceive them into the belief that the little squad was really an army. The latter was drawn into line in such a position that the ends of the column could not be seen by the savages, and so that by marching round and round, men would be continually in view and present the appearance of battalions moving steadily forward. At the same time the drums, and other instruments not so musical-some of them in the hands of women and children-were beaten so vigor- ously as to impress the savages that great preparations were being made for battle. The enemy were overawed, and re- treated without testing the strength of the fort and its de- fenders.
As to the sufficiency of the causes which were regarded as impelling the colonies to a separation from the mother country, there was not a unanimity of opinion among the people of the upper Juniata. There were many royalists or tories, who were very bold and open in their opposition to the revolutionary cause and in their sympathy for and ex- tension of aid to the British, whose emissaries and Indian allies were operating against the western frontiers. But the patriots outnumbered them many fold.
That part of Bedford which now constitutes Huntingdon county was the centre of tory strength and activity. The disaffected element was scattered over all parts of it, but ex- isted principally at Huntingdon, on Stone Creek, Shaver's Creek, the Raystown Branch, and the Aughwick, and in Canoe, Woodcock and Hare's valleys. Deep and dark as
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were the designs of the tories, they were frustrated by the fatal mistake of those who were to have cooperated in the execution of them.
From the Indians there was more real danger, and it con- tinued a much greater length of time. The alarms caused by them were well founded. They placed the frontiersmen on the defensive at a time when the means of protection were insufficient, and when all the population capable of bearing arms was urgently needed in front of the British army. Troops could not be sent to the frontiers, nor, on the other hand, could men be withdrawn from thence for duty elsewhere. The settlers were thrown entirely upon their self-reliance, too often literally so, as they were fre- quently without arms or amunition ..
This chapter will not enter very fully into the details of Indian depredations and massacres. Many of them will be described in the histories of the different townships, which form a part of this work, each in treating of the locality in which it occurred. The measures taken for the defense of a large extent of territory, in which Huntingdon county was included, will give an insight into the manner in which hos- tilities were waged against it by the savages.
In January, 1788, Col. John Piper, realizing the exigen- cies of the situation, and after consultation with his sub- lieutenants, proposed the raising of a force of one hundred and sixty men, to be stationed at five different points in Bedford county, thirty of them to " guard the inhabitants of Hart's Log Settlement and Shaver's Creek." In informing the Supreme Executive Council of his action, Col. Piper says :
" The urgent Call for these men, and the Exhorbitant Prices of all articles, Lay'd us under the necessity of aug- menting their Pay to five Pounds Pr month, the men to Be engag'd for the space of nine months, unless sooner dis- charg'd. These People Have Repeatedly apply'd to me, praying their Situation to Be Lay'd Before Councill, and Assureing Councill of their determinations to make a Stand -if they meet with this necessary Assistance. They Like- wise Pray that a Suitable person may be Appointed to Lay
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a Small Store of Provisions at each Post to Supply Scouting Party, or other troops who may be Employ'd as Guards. If these measures are aproven by Councill the People will Stand, and if Rejected, I have the Greatest Reasons to Be- lieve, that upon the first alarm from Indians A great Part of our County will Be Left desolate."
But Col. Piper had exceeded his authority. The Council replied that they were surprised that he was enlisting men for nine months; they had intended that he should call out the militia as a temporary measure; it was expected that the people of the county would more cheerfull / exert i hemselves in their own defence than enter a service more distant, and therefore they were not called upon to meet and oppose the King's army, but were permittted to remain at home. The enlisting of men for so long a term was improper and unne- cessary ; there was no fund for the payment of them, and the proposed increase of pay was a sufficient reason against it, as the militia of other counties would claim the same rates. There were legal objections to Col. Piper's action, which it was not within the power of the Council to remove, and therefore they had no other discretion than to disapprove of it. This failure to provide a military force was followed by others. In fact, there cannot be said to have been any very efficient protection of the kind during the war. There was no intentional neglect of duty, no want of earnestness, courage and patriotism, but as the unorganized, predatory warfare of the Indians could have but little effect on the ultimate results of the contest, it was but wisdom on the part of the State and Federal governments not to divide their strength, but to re- serve it for the greater foe that was to be met on other fields
Many of the events of those times cannot be better illus- trated than in the letters of the principal actors in them. I will insert, in their proper places, several that were written from Huntingdon, during the most active period of the operations in the public defence.
On the 23d of April, 1778, Robert Smith sent the follow- ing note to Robert Clugage, a citizen of the county and an officer in the continental service :
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" Sir: Be pleased to send Expresses to Lt. Carothers by first opportunity, to give him some account of insurrections on the South mountain, and Likewise to enspect very closely into who is abroad at this time, and upon what occasion, as there is a suspision; by information, of other insurections Rising in other parts of the county of Cumberland, and in so Doing you will oblidge your friend, to serve,
ROBERT SMITH."
On that day General Daniel Roberdeau was in Hunting. don, on his way to Sinking Valley to superintend the mining of lead for the revolutionary army. He forwarded the above note to Lieat. Carothers, commanding in Cumberland coun- ty, in the following letter :
"STANDING STONE, April 23, 1778.
"SIR: The enclosed was put into my hands to be for- warded to you by express. The intelligence it contains is abundantly confirmed by several persons. I have examined both fugitives from the frontiers and some volunteers who have returned for an imediate supply of ammunition and provisions, to be sent forward to Sinking Spring Valley, as the Troops will be obliged to quit the service without they are supplied without Delay. Want of arms prevents those who would turn out. I shall furnish what I brought from Carlisle as soon as they come forward, but it is very unfor- tunate that these arms and the amunition which is coming by watter have been retarded by some contrary wind, and probably the Lowness of the Watter. To remedy this I have Dispatched two canoes this morning to meet them on the way. I am giving Mr. Brown, who is here, every as- sistance in my power, but your aid is greatly wanted to stimulate the militia and furnish arms, Amunition, pack- horses, and everything necessary in your Line of Duty. The insurgents from this Neighborhood, I am informed, are about thirty ; one of them (Hess) has been taken and con- fession extorted, from which it appears that his Banditti ex- pect to be joined by 300 men from the other side of the Aleganey ; reports more vague mention 1,000 Whites and Savages. The supply of provisions for so great a number
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
renders it improbable, but in answer to this I have been in- formed by the most credable in this neighborhood, that strangers, supposed to be from Detroit, have been this winter among the Disaffected Inhabitants, and have removed with them. If you have authority to call out the militia, in proportion to the exigence of the times, I think it of great importance that a considerable number of men should be immediately embodied and sent forward to meet the enemy, for it cannot be expected that the Volunteers will long con- tinue in Service, and I find that the recruiting the three companies goes on too slow to expect a seasonable supply from them of any considerable number; if you have not authority to call the necessary aid of militia, you no doubt will apply to the Hons. the Council, and may furnish them with my sentiments, and to the board of war with arms and Amunition. With ten men here under the command of Lieut. Clugage, in Continental service, until the 1st Dec. next, I intend to move forward as soon as the arms, ammu- nition and other things comes forward, to afford an escort to Sinking Spring Valley, where I shall be glad to meet as great a number of militia as you will station there, to en- able me to erect a Stockade, to secure the works so neces- sary to the public service, and give confidence to frontier Inhabitants, by affording an Assylum for their women and children. These objects, I doubt not, you will think worthy your immediate attention and utmost exertion, which I can assure you, making the fullest allowance for the timidity of some and credulity of others, is a very serious matter, for without immediate aid the frontiers will be evacuated, for all that I have been able to say has been of no avail with the fugitives I have met on the roads, a most Distressing sight of men, women and children, flying through fear of a cruel enemy."
Although the tories were threatening vengeance against all who had taken the oath of allegiance to the new government, their power was entirely incommensurate with the dread they inspired. Their strength and numbers were greatly exaggerated by the wild and unfounded rumors that prevailed,
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causing genuine fears to grow out of imaginary dangers. General Roberdeau, while speaking of " the timidity of some and credulity of others," gave full credence to many of these rumors and did not express a disbelief in any of them. Other officers were as much inclined as he to regard them as true, and repeated them in communications to the Council, as intelligence to be taken into consideration and acted upon in providing measures for the public safety. On the 24th of April, 1778, Lieut. Carothers reported to the President of the Council, that he had received, through Col. McAlevy, an account that a body of nearly three hundred and twenty tories had collected in and above Standing Stone, and had driven a number of the inhabitants from the town, that Colonels Buchanan and Brown had marched with a few men to the defence of the place, and that he was impatiently awaiting the issue. But our soil did not become a battle- ground, as there was no enemy to be found.
Troops, arms and amunition were sent by Lieut. Carothers, about the same time, to General Roberdeau, in Sinking Val- ley. This force consisted of seventy privates and eighteen muskets. The latter, added to the arms which the General had taken with him, were considered sufficient for that emergency.
The tories at this time were concocting schemes in secret, their meetings being frequently held at the house of their leader, John Weston, in Canoe Valley, west of Water Street. When they were ready to attempt the consummation of their plans, he was chosen their commander, a most fortunate selection, in view of its consequences, for the almost defence- less people, whose lives and property would have paid the forfeit, had not disaster overtaken their enemy before he had an opportunity of striking a blow. The only cotemporary account of their movements and fate, is given in a letter from Col. John Piper, written at Bedford, May 4th, 1778. It is as follows:
" An affair of the most alarming nature (and as I believe altogether unprecedented) has happened lately in a Corner of this County, and w'ch I could not think myself justifiable
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in not communicating to the Honorable the Supreme Execu- tive Council of this State: a Number of evil minded Persons, to the amount of thirty-five, (I think) having actually asso- ciated together, marched away toward the Indian Country in order to join the Indians, and to conduct them into the In- habitance, and thus united, kill burn and destroy Men, Women and Children.
"They came up with a body of Indians near or at the Kittanings, and in conferring with them, they, the Indians, suspecting some design in the white People, on w'ch one of their Chiefs shot one Weston, who was the Ring-leader of the Tories, and scalp'd him before the Rest, and immediately (as if Divine Providence, ever attentive to Baffle and defeat. the Schemes and Measures of wicked Men) the rest fled and dispersed.
"A very considerable number of the well-affected Inhab- itants having, as soon as their combination and march was known, pursued them and met five of them, and yesterday brought them under a strong guard to the County Goal.
"They confess their Crime and Intention of destroying both Men and Property ; as these people, thus in open rebel- lion, are so numerous, there is great reason to believe them as a part of a greater whole, in some dangerous confederacy with the Common Enemy, either in Phila. or Detroit."
Those of Weston's men who escaped capture never re- turned to the Juniata Valley. It is said that most of them went west to Fort Pitt, and from thence to the south, and that their families ultimately followed them. The fear of the tories soon passed away from the public mind. There was a vague dread for a time after the tragedy at Kittanning that a tory force would make its appearance at some un- guarded point or moment, but the people soon learned that such apprehensions were groundless, much to their relief, we may feel assured, after two years of trepidation and alarm. The only enemy that remained was the Indian, against whom protection was necessary four years longer.
F
CHAPTER XII.
1.78 TO 1782-CUMBERLAND COUNTY MILITIA SENT TO THE FRONTIER-DIF- FICULTY OF OBTAINING ARMS-COLONEL BROADHEAD'S REGIMENT ORDERED TO STANDING STONE-CAPTAIN THOMAS CLUGAGE'S COMPANY-AT FORT ROBERDEAU-CIIARGES AGAINST CAPTAIN CLUGAGE-IIIS REPLY TO TIIEM- MILITIA OF LANCASTER AND YORK CALLED OUT FOR SERVICE IN BEDFORD AND WESTMORELAND-TIIEIR FAILURE TO RESPOND-COLONEL MARTIN'S LETTER TO COUNCIL-ASSISTANCE FROM CUMBERLAND COUNTY-HUNTING- DON A DEPOT FOR SUPPLIES-DIVISION OF COUNTY INTO MILITARY DIST- RICTS-COLONEL GEORGE ASIIMAN-HIS REPORT TO PRESIDENT REED-HIS ANXIETY FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTRY-SURRENDER OF LORD CORN- WALLIS-GENERAL CARLTON SUPERSEDES SIR HENRY CLINTON-PEACE.
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