USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County : to which is prefixed a brief sketch of the early history of Pennsylvania > Part 26
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 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
The inhabitants of Lancaster county, (especially those in Paxton and Donegal townships, being most exposed to the merciless Indians) reflecting upon the past, and the present with them; "that the bloody barbarians had exercised on their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives and children, and relatives, the most unnatural and leisurely tortures ; butchered others in their beds, at their meals, or in some unguarded hour. Recalling to their minds, sights of horror, scenes of slaughter; seeing scalps clotted with gore! mangled limbs ! women ripped
*" 1763. Two letters were received from Jonas Seely, Esq. from Berks county, dated, 10th and 1Ith September, 1763.
" We are all in a state of alarm. Indians have destroyed dwellings, and murdered with savage barbarity their helpless inmates ; even in the neighborhood of Reading. Where these Indians come from, and where going we know not. These are dangerous times. 'Send us an armed force to aid our Ran- gers of Berks and Lancaster."
"Those letters were laid before the Assembly, September 16, 1763."-Lancaster Intelligencer & Journal.
352
HISTORY OF
up ! the heart and bowels still palpitating with life, and smoking on the ground! See savages swilling their blood, and imbibing a more courageous fury with the human draught. They reasoned thus: These are not men ; they are not beasts of prey; they are something worse ; they must be "infernal furies in human shape." Are we, asked they, tamely to look on and suffer them to exercise these hellish barbarities upon our children and wives ! our brethren and fellow citizens! Shall these savages-even those whom we suspect as accessories- shall they escape ?
Who could, with all the influences of a continued war upon him, and under such circumstances, let escape one Indian, and if only strongly suspected of treachery, however specious his conduct, in the light of day ? These, we conceive, were the feelings that incited the whites to acts of cruelty ; as we would view them now.
That some of the Conestoga Indians were treach- erous, appears abundantly, from the facts set forth in the following affidavits : 1
" Abraham Newcomer, a Mennonite ; by trade a gun- smith, upon his affirmation, declared that several times, within these few years, Bill Soc and Indian John, two of of the Conestogoe Indians, threatened to scalp him for refusing to mend their tomahawks, and swore they would as soon scalp him, as they would a dog. A few days before Bill Soc was killed, he brought a tomahawk to be steeled. Bill said, "if you will not, I'll have it mended to your sorrow," from which expression, “I apprehended danger."
" Mrs. Thompson, of the borough of Lancaster, per- sonally appeared before the Chief Justice Burgess, and upon his solemn oath, on the Holy Evangelists, said that in the summer of 1761, Bill Soc come to her apartment,
353
LANCASTER COUNTY.
and threatened her life, saying, ' I kill you, all Lancaster can't catch me,' which filled me with terror :' and this lady further said, 'Bill Soc added, 'Lancaster is mine, and I will have it yet.'"
"Colonel John Hambright, gentleman, an eminent brewer of the borough of Lancaster, personally appeared before Robert Thompson, Esq., a justice for the county of Lancaster, and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that in August, 1757, he, an officer, was sent for provi- sion from Fort Augusta to Fort Hunter, that on his way he rested at McKee's old place; a sentinel was sta- tioned behind a tree to prevent surprise. The sentry gave notice, Indians were near; the deponent crawled up the bank and discovered two Indians, one was Bill Soc, lately killed at Lancaster. He called Bill Soc to come to him, but the Indians ran off. When the depo- nent came to Fort Hunter, he learnt that an old man had been killed before; Bill Soc and his companions were believed to be the perpetrators of the murder. He, the deponent, had frequently seen Bill Soc and some of the Conestogoe Indians at Fort Augusta, trading with the Indians, but, after the murder of the old man, Bill Soc did not appear at that garrison."
JOHN HAMBRIGHT.
Sworn and subscribed the 28th of February, 1764, before me, ROBERT THOMPSON, Justice.
" Alexander Stephen, of the county of Lancaster, per- sonally appeared before Thomas Foster, Esq., one of the magistrates, and being duly qualified according to law, doth say, that Cannayak Sally, an Indian woman, told him that the Conestogoe Indians had killed Jegrea, an Indian, because he would not join the Conestogoe Indians in destroying the English. James Cotter told the deponent that he was one of the three that killed William
30*
354
HISTORY OF
Hamilton, on Sherman's creek, and also another man, with seven of his family. James Cotter demanded of the deponent a canoe which the murderers had left, as Cotter told him when the murder was committed.
ALEXANDER STEPHEN."
THOMAS FOSTER, Justice.
" Anne Mary Le Roy, of Lancaster, appeared before the Chief Burgess, and being sworn on the Holy Evan- gelists of Almighty God, did depose and say, that in the year 1755, when her father John Jacob Le Roy,, and many others, were murdered by the Indians, at Ma- honey, she, her brother, and some others, were made prisoners, and taken to Kittaning; that strange Indians visited them; the French told them they were Cones- togoe Indians, and that Isaac was the only Indian true to their interest ; and that the Conestogoe Indians, with the exception of Isaac, were ready to lift the hatchet when ordered by the French. She asked Bill Soc's mother whether she had ever been at Kittaning ? She said ' no, but her son Bill Soc had been there often; that he was good for nothing. '* MARY LE ROY."
From these depositions, the reader may decide whether suspicion was well founded or not. "Bill Soc's own mother declared he was good for nothing."
The friendly Indians, it was fully believed by the Paxtonians, connived at, if not indirectly stimulated the hostile ones, in their relentless attacks upon the frontier settlers in 1763. The grounds for this suspicion were sufficiently founded, in the opinion of the eagle-eyed Paxton and Donegal Rangers, to watch with a “keen eye" the movements of both parties, friendly and hostile Indians. In September, the Indians eluded their close, searching pursuit. The Paxton Boys, and their
*Lancaster Intelligencer & Journal.
355
LANCASTER COUNTY.
neighbors, having asked in vain* for protection from Government, were bent upon making an assault that would infuse terror into all, called Indian ; if not put a stop to Bill and George Soc's going abroad, and their dances at Conestoga.t
And the conviction having become general, aroused feelings, which war naturally engenders, in the bosoms of the citizens, in the Paxton and Donegal inhabitants, to extirpate the Conestogoes, the remains of a tribe of the
*Indians had been traced by scouts to the wigwams at Con- estoga. Suspicion was awakened, the questions, " Are these christian Indians treacherous ? Are their wigwams the harbors of our deadly foe? Do they conceal the nightly prowling assassin of the forest? These and the like surmises were en- tertained by the people. The rangers were active in endeav- oring to discover the perpetrators of those acts of violence .- The people declared openly they no longer confided in the professions of the governor ; numbers of volunteers joined the rangers of Northampton, Berks, Lancaster, and Cumberland, who were engaged in tracing the midnight assassins. Such was the state of irritable feeling of these frontier counties, yet government was supine."
+Jacob Bachman, Esq. of West Strasburg, says, he frequently heard his mother relate, that when she was a girl of sixteen Soc frequented their house ; but she never liked his counte- nance-guilt played upon it. She also related, that a few days previous to the fatal day of the Conestogoes, one of their old women came to their house, and enquired, " Have you heard the bad news ;" when interrogated what bad news, she evasive- ly replied " the snow, the snow." It was then remarked by Mr. Rohrer, the father of Mrs. Bachman, "I guess, Bill and George have been again doing mischief; they will be caught sometime or other."
In company with Dr. J. K. Neff, we called on Mr. John Newcomer, August 10th, 1843, who told us, he distinctly remem- bers Bill Soc, coming to his father's house selling baskets, brooms and wooden ladles.
356
HISTORY OF
Six Nations,* who occupied a spot of land in Manor township.
On Wednesday, the 14th of December, 1763, at day break, " a number of armed mounted men, principally from Donegal and Paxton townships, attacked the Indian village, and barbarously massacred some women and children, and a few old men ; amongst the latter, the chief, Shaheas, who had always been distinguished for his friendship towards the whites. The majority of the Indian villagers were abroad at the time of the attack."t After slaying those at home, their huts were set on fire, and most of them burned down.} "The magistrates of Lancaster sent out to collect the surviving ones, brought them into town, for their better security against any further attempt; and it is said condoled with them on the misfortune that had happened, took them by the hand, and promised them protection. They were put in the
*R. C. a writer in the Intelligencer & Journal says: "The Indians at Conestogo, at the time of its destruction consisted of Senecas, Mingoes, Pequeas, &c. The Mingoes were not of the five nations ; they belonged to a distant tribe of that name."
¿Gordon's Pa. 405.
¡One of these huts or cabins still exists. It is occupied as a kitchen by Isaac Kuhn-it is built of round logs. The writer had been in this cabin, December 7, 1842.
NOTE .- In a pamphlet ascribed to B. FRANKLIN, written in 1764, we find the following names of Indians, who resided at Conestoga: Shehaes, a very old man; Peggy, his daughter; John, an old man; Harry; George and Bill Soe, brothers, both young men ; Betty a harmless old woman, and her son Peter, a likely young lad ; John Smith, who had married Sally, whose Indian name was Wyanjoy .- Spark's Franklin, IV, 54-57.
357
LANCASTER COUNTY.
recently erected workhouse, a strong building, as the place of greatest safety."
When the news of this unkind treatment of the Indians by the Paxtonians reached Philadelphia, the Governor issued the following proclamation :
WHEREAS, I have received information, that on Wed- nesday the 14th of this month, a number of people well armed and mounted on horseback, unlawfully assembled together, and went to the Indiantown in the Conestoga manor, in Lancaster county, and without the least reason of provocation, in cold blood, barbarously killed six of the Indians settled there, and burnt and destroyed all their houses and effects ; and whereas so cruel and inhuman an act, committed in the heart of this province on the said Indians, who have lived peaceably and inoffensively among us during all our late troubles, and for many years before, and were justly considered as under the protection of this government and its laws, calls loudly for the vigor- ous exertion of the civil authority, to detect the offenders and bring them to condign punishment ; I have, therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the council, thought fit to issue this proclamation, and do hereby strictly charge and enjoin all judges, justices, sheriffs, constables, officers, civil and military, and all other his Majesty's liege subjects within this province, to make diligent search and inquiry after the authors and perpetrators of the said crime, their abettors and accomplices, and use all possible means to apprehend and to secure them in some of the public jails of this province, that they may be brought to their trials, and be proceeded against according to law.
And whereas a number of other Indians, who lately lived on or near the frontiers of this province, being willing and desirous to preserve and continue the ancient friendship which heretofore subsisted between them and
35S
HISTORY OF
the good people of this province, have, at their own earnest request, been removed from their habitations and brought into the county of Philadelphia, where provision is made for them at the public expense ; I do, therefore, hereby strictly forbid all persons whatsoever, to molest or injure any of the said Indians, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the said province, at Philadelphia, A. D. 1763, Dec. 22d, and in the 4th year of his Majesty's reign.
By his honor's command. JOHN PENN. JOSEPH SHIPPEN, Jr., Sec'y.
" God save the King."
Notwithstanding the governor's interposition, the people were too much exasperated to have their fury allayed by a proclamation from a supine governor. " They assembled,* says Gordon, in great numbers, forced the prison, and butchered all the miserable wretches they found within the walls. Unarmed and unprotected, the Indians prostrated themselves with their children before their murderers, protesting their innocence and their love to the English, and in this posture they all received the hatchet."
The following letter by William Henry, Esq. of Lan- caster, to a gentleman of Philadelphia, may enable the reader to form some idea of the treatment the Indians received at the hands of the " Paxton Boys."
"There are few, if any murders to be compared with the cruel murder committed on the Conestogo Indians in the jail of Lancaster, in 1763, by the Paxton boys, as they were then called. From fifteen to twenty Indians, as report stated, were placed there for protection. A
*Tuesday, the 27th Dec. 1763.
-
359
LANCASTER COUNTY.
regiment of Highlanders* were at that time quartered at the barracks in the town, and yet these murderers were permitted to break open the doors of the city jail and committed the horrid deed. The first notice I had of this affair was, that while at my father's store, near the court house, I saw a number of people running down street towards the jail, which enticed me and other lads to followt them. At about six or eight yards from the jail, we met from twenty-five to thirty men, well mounted on horses, and with rifles, tomahawks, and scalping knives, equipped for murder. I ran into the prison yard, and there, oh what a horrid sight presented itself to my view ! Near the back door of the prison lay an old Indian and his squaw, particularly well known and esteemed by the people of the town on account of his placid and friendly conduct. His name was Will Soc; across him and squaw lay two children, of about the age of three years, whose heads were split with the toma- hawk, and their scalps taken off. Towards the middle of the jail yard, along the west side of the wall, lay a stout Indian, whom I particularly noticed to have been shot in his breast; his legs were chopped with the toma- hawk, his hands cut off, and finally a rifle ball discharged in his mouth, so that his head was blown to atoms, and the brains were splashed against and yet hanging to the wall, for three or four feet around. This man's hands and feet had also been chopped off with a tomahawk .-
*Captain Robinson's company, on their way from Pittsburg.
+Of the lads present then ; a few as old men are still living. We spent a few pleasant hours with each, lately. They are Mr. DAVID DIEFFENDERFER, at New Holland, and Mr. PETER MAURER, near the city of Lancaster, now in his eighty-seventh year. Both enjoy remarkable health-both had been in the service of their country, during the war "76.
360
HISTORY OF
In this manner lay the whole of them, men, women and children, spread about the prison yard ; shot-scalped- hacked and cut to pieces."
The bodies of slain were then buried in the borough of Lancaster, where thé bones of the Indians rested undisturbed till the month of May, 1833, when the workmen employed in excavating for the rail road, dug up the bones .*
The Governor issued a second proclamation, and offered a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators, but without effect.
Proclamation.
"WHEREES, on the 22d Dec. last, I issued a proclama- tion for the apprehending and bringing to justice a number of persons, who, in violation of the public faith, and in defiance of all law, had inhumanly killed 6 Indians, who had lived in Conestoga manor, for the course of many years, peaceably and inoffensively, under the pro- tection of this government, on lands assigned them for
*Peter Maurer informed us that he saw the bodies of the Indians buried in one hole, at the place where the bones in 1833, were dug up, at the corner of Chesnut and Duke streets.
NOTE .- From a letter of the Rev. Elder to Col. Burd, it appears, if the statement be correct, that the Paxton boys did not cut the bodies of the Indians to pieces; but it was done by others. Elder says, "The inference is plain, that the bodies were thus mangled after death by certain persons, to excite a feeling against the Paxton boys. This fact, Stewart says he can and will establish in a fair trial at Lancaster York, and Carlisle."
NOTE .- Felix Donnelly was keeper of the work house at the time the Paxton boys forced in the door, &c. Donnally was appointed keeper, at the November session 1763; in May 1765, Mathias Booch of the borough of Lancaster, was appointed, in his place.
vanclair's Inth.
View of Lancaster Jail.
361
LANCASTER COUNTY.
their habitation; notwithstanding which, I have received information, that on the 27th of the same month, a large party of armed men again assembled and met together in a riotous and tumultuous manner, in the county of Lan- caster, where they violently broke open the workhouse, and butchered and put to death 14 of the said Conestoga Indians, men, women and children, who had been taken under the immediate care of the magistrates of said county, and lodged for their better security in the said workhouse, till they should be more effectually provided for by order of the government; and whom common justice loudly demands, and the laws of the land (upon the prosecution of which not only the liberty and security of every individual, but the being of government itself depends,) require, that the above offenders should be brought to condign punishment ; I have, therefore, by and with the advice of the council, published this procla- mation, and do hereby strictly charge and command all judges, justices, sheriffs, constables, officers civil and mili- tary, and all others his Majesty's faithful liege subjects within this province, to make diligent search and inquiry after the authors and perpetrators of the said last men- tioned offenders, their abettors and accomplices, and that they use all possible means to apprehend and secure them in some of the public jails of this province, to be dealt with according to law.
And I do hereby further promise and engage, that any person or persons, who shall apprehend and secure, or or cause to be apprehended or secured, any three of the ringleaders of the said party, and prosecute them to con- viction, shall have and receive for each the public reward of $200; and any accomplice, not concerned in the imme- diate shedding the blood of said Indians, who shall make discovery of any or either of the said ringleaders, and
31
362
HISTORY OF
apprehend and prosecute them to conviction, shall over and above the said reward, have all the weight and influ- ence of the government, for obtaining his Majesty's pardon for his offence.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the pro- vince, at Philadelphia, January 2, in the 4th year of his Majesty's reign, A. D. 1764.
By his command. JOHN PENN.
JOSEPH SHIPPEN, Jr., Sec'y.
" God save the King."
The Paxton Boys had become desperate, and in turn " showed up some Indian,"* as is manifest from their conduct in destroying the Indians at Lancaster.
*David Rittenhouse, in a letter to a friend, speaking of the Paxton Boys in Philadelphia, on this occason, says : " About fifty of the scoundrels marched by my work-shop. I have: seen hundreds of Indians travelling the country, and can with truth affirm, that the behavior of these fellows was ten times more savage and brutal than theirs. Frightening women, by running the muzzles of their guns through windows, swearing and hallooing ; attacking men without the least provocation ; dragging them by the hair to the ground, and pretending to scalp them ; shooting a number of dogs and fowls ; these are some of their exploits."-Rittenhouse's Mem. p. 148.
In another letter, Mr. Barton says : " I received a letter from sister E. soon after the alarm at Philadelphia was over, and will give, &c. &c.
" On Monday morning, between one and two o'clock, an express came to the Governor, informing that the rebels were on their way, and that a great number of them were on this. side the White Horse. There was one express after another, till there was certain intelligence that some of them were at Germantown. When the first express came, the bells were rung, the drums beat, and the constables were ordered to go from house to house, to knock up the inhabitants, and bid them put candles at their doors : it had the appearance of all the houses being illuminated. Before day, there was about
363
LANCASTER COUNTY.
The Moravian Indians were placed for safety in the barracks at Philadelphia, and no sooner had this intelli- gence been received in Lancaster, than a large number assembled and marched to Philadelphia. They produced considerable alarm in the city. "The Governor fled to the house of Dr. Franklin for safety ; and nothing but
twenty men met at T. T's, and chose their officers. Before night they were increased to nearly an hundred ; as were like- wise most of the other companies. E- and all our men were in captain Wood's company. They all appeared to be in high spirits, and desirous to meet the rebels. On Tuesday, when the Mayor and other gentlemen set off for Germantown, the heads of companies begged of them not to comply with any dishonorable terms, and told them : " Gentlemen, we are ready to go wherever you may command us ; and we had much rather you would let us treat with them, with our guns." On their return, there was a general murmur among the compa- nies against the proceedings of our great men ; they knew it, and there was a long harangue made by Mr. Chew ; but it did not answer the end. On Wednesday morning I went to -, as usual, and on my return home, I stopped at our friend H. T's, when, on a sudden an alarm gun was fired, the bells began to ring, and the men called " to arms," as loud as possible. I cannot describe, my dear brother, how I felt : we ran to the door, when, to add to my fright I saw E-, amidst hundreds of others, run by with his gun. They met at the court house, formed themselves into regular companies, and marched up Second street as far as the barracks ; where they found it was a false alarm.
" It was a pleasing, though melancholy sight, to view the activity of our men. In less than a quarter of an hour, they were all on their march-it is supposed above a thousand of them; and by all accounts, there were not ten - among them. It was the very common cry, while our men were parading-" What! not one - among us ?! Instead of joining with others, they would sneak into corners and applaud the " Paxton Boys." Their behavior on this occasion has made them blacker than ever,"
364
HISTORY OF
the spirited measures of the inhabitants of the city, saved it from the fury of an exasperated multitude, who would not have hesitated to extend vengeance from the Indians to their protectors."
After some consultation among themselves, on salu- tary advice given, they concluded to peaceably return to their homes, leaving Matthew Smith and James Gibson, two of their number, to represent their views to govern- ment." They laid their grievances before the Governor and the Assembly, by a memorial in behalf of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, complain- ing that these counties were irregularly represented in the Assembly, sending collectively ten members only, whilst the three counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks,, sent twenty-six ; that a bill had passed the Assembly, directing the trial of persons charged with the murder of an Indian in Lancaster county, to be had in some of the latter counties ; that whilst more than a thousand families, reduced to extreme distress, during the past and present war, by the attacks of skulking parties of Indians upon the frontiers, were destitute, and were suf- fered by the public to depend on private charity, one hundred and twenty of the perpetrators of the most horrid barbarities were supported by the province, and protected from the fury of the brave relatives of the murdered ; that the cruelties of the Indians were exten- uated, and efforts improperly made to excite commis- eration for them, on the plea that they were not parties to the war; " But, in what nation," said the memorial- ists, "was it ever the custom that, when a neighboring nation took up arms, not an individual of that nation should be touched, but only the persons that offered hostilities ? Whoever proclaimed war with part of a nation, and not with the whole? Had these Indians
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.