History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 16

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158

USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I > Part 16

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).

"2Ist. A fine Settlement of Moravians, called Gnadenhütten, situate in Northampton County, on the West Branch of the river Delaware, was attack'd, six of them killed, and their Dwelling Houses, Meeting house, and all their Outhouses burnt to Ashes, with all the Grain, Hay, Horses, and upwards of forty head of fat Cattle that were under Cover.

"December. During all this Month the In- dians have been burning and destroying all be- fore them in the County of Northampton, and have already burnt fifty Houses here, murdered above one hundred Persons, and are still continu- ing their Ravages, Murders, and Devastations, and have actually overrun and laid waste a great part of that County, even as far as within twenty miles of Easton, its chief Town. And a large Body of Indians, under the Direction of French Officers have fixed their head quarters within the borders of that County for the better secur- ity of their Prisoners and Plunder.

"This is a brief account of the progress of these Savages since the Eighteenth day of Oc- tober, on which day was committed the first In- road ever made by Indians upon this Province since its first Settlement and in consequence here of all our Frontier Country, which extends from the River Patowmac to the River Delaware, not less than one hundred and fifty miles in length and between twenty and thirty in breadth, but not fully settled, has been entirely deserted, the Houses and improvements reduced to Ashes, the Cattle, Horses, Grain, Goods & Effects of the In- habitants either destroyed, burned, or carried off by the Indians. Whilst the poor Planters, with their Wives, Children, and servants who could get away, being without arms or any kind of De- fence, have been obliged in this severe season of the Year to abandon their Habitations naked and without any support, and threw themselves on the Charity of the other Inhabitants within the interior Parts of the Province, upon whom they are a very heavy Burthen.

"Such shocking Descriptions are given by those who have escaped of the horrid Cruelties and indecencies committed by these merciless Sav. ages on the Bodies of the unhappy wretches who fell into their Barbarous hands, especially the Women, without regard to Sex or Age as far exceeds those related of the most abandoned Pi- rates; Which has occasioned a general Con- sternation and has struck so great a Pannick and Damp upon the Spirits of the people, that hither- to they have not been able to make any consider- able resistance or stand against the Indians.

"All our accounts agree in this that the French, since the defeat of General Braddock, have gained over to their Interest the Delawares, Shawonese, and many other Indian Nations formerly in our Alliance, and on whom, thro' fear and their large promises of Rewards for Scalps and assurances of re-instating them in the Possession of the Lands they have sold to the English, they have prevailed to take up Arms against us, and to join heartily with them in the execution of the ground they have been long meditating of obtaining, the possession of all the Country between the river Ohio and the river Sasquehannah, and to secure that possession by building a strong Fort at Shamokin, which by its so advantageous situation at the Conflux of the two main Branches of Sasquehannah (one whereof interlocks with the waters of the Ohio, and the other heads in the Center of the Country of the Six Nations) will command and make the French entire Masters of all that extensive, rich and fertile Country and of all the Trade with the Indians. And from whence they can at pleasure enter and annoy our Territories, and put an effectual stop to the future extension of our Settlements on that Quarter, not to men- tion the many other obvious Mischiefs and fatal consequences that must attend their having a Fort at Shamokin.

"Note .- Some Fachines have been lately dis- covered floating down the River Sasquehannah a little below Shamokin, by which, as the Indians were never known to use Fachines, it is con- jectured the French have begun and are actually building a Fort at that most important place.

"Philada., 29th December, 1755."

INDIAN MASSACRES.

In this year, 1755, Heidelberg township suf- fered from Indian forays. In Captain Wether- hold's list of persons killed in the townships of Lynn, Heidelberg and Albany, which he made December 21, 1757, occur the names of fifty-six persons killed by Indians in these townships and ten taken prisoners. In the year 1755, John

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Rood, his servant, George Gorm, Christobel Stoll, John Stoll, Lecock's wife, Richard Le- cock, John Sensinger and his mother, Melchior Dinke and his daughter and two other persons were killed.

John Sensinger was the son of Ulrich Sen- singer, one of the pioneer settlers of Heidelberg township. He had a family consisting of his wife and four small children, Margaret, Mag- dalena, Andrew and Barbara, a child of only a few months. For four years after the massacre of Sensinger and his mother, whose name was Mary Catharine, the place where he had lived was deserted, the family having been compelled to live with relatives and the buildings were in bad condition.

Casper Schnerr, who had married the widow, Magdalena Sensinger, then settled upon the place and reared the children of the murdered father.

Melchior Dinke, who had settled in Heidel- berg township in 1750, and his wife Catharine, were the parents of four children. The father and one daughter fell victims to Indian brutal- ity, leaving surviving the widow, Catharine Dinke, who afterwards married John Wassum, and Mary, Margaret and Jacob Dinke. This massacre occurred about a mile west of Slating- ton, in what is now Washington township. The son, Jacob, was two years of age at the time.

A Moravian station had been established in Lynn township and in 1751 a school and meet- ing-house was erected. On November 1, 1755, George Biebinghausen, of Lynn, stated at Beth- lehem that thirty persons had taken refuge in the school house, fearing an attack by Indians.

(George Biebinghausen, or Biwighausen, was born in Elshof, Wittgenstein, in 1708. He came to America in 1739 and married, in 1740, Mar- garet Hunsicker. He was a wheelright by pro- fession and was reared in the Reformed faith, but upon settling in Lynn township, became a member of the Moravian church.)

In December, 1755, two men named Kauff- man and Hanover were killed in Lynn township. On January 4, 1756, according to one account, a battle with the Indians occurred beyond John Everett's, near the Blue mountains, in which John Bonsinger, Frederick Erb, Peter Puss and Valentine Rüther were killed. Another account which no doubt refers to the same engagement, says that a battle with the Indians occurred in Albany township, on January 8, 1756, in which three men were killed.

In February, 1756, fifteen or sixteen persons were killed in Albany and Lynn townships and several captured. Capt. Wetherhold's list states

that on February 7, 1756, "Old Gerhorn was killed and two women and six children were burned in the house by the Indians and Freder- ick Richelsdorfer his two daughters killed- eleven killed."

David Schultz in his diary says that on the 14th of February fifteen persons were killed by twelve Indians in Allemaengel; one man was Jacob Geer, and that three or four plantations were burned.

Wetherhold's list says further that in Feb- ruary, 1756, "John Groushor his wife William Yet was killed and his son taken prisoner and Boldes Saislove and George Saislove his two sons killed one taken prisoner. Five Killed-2 Presoner."

In a letter written by Valentine Probst to Jacob Levan, of Maxatawney, dated February 15, 1756, he gives the following account of the murder which Wetherhold dates the 7th of Feb- ruary :

MR. LEVAN :- I cannot omit writing about the dreadful circumstances of our township, Al- bany. The Indians came yesterday morning, about eight o'clock, to Frederick Reichelderfer's house, as he was feeding his horses, and two of the Indians ran upon him, and followed him into a field ten or twelve perches off; but he es- caped and ran towards Jacob Gerhart's house, with a design to fetch some arms. When he came near Gerhart's, he heard a lamentable cry, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus !- which made him run back towards his own house; but before he got quite home, he saw his house and stable in flames ; and heard all the cattle bellowing, and thereupon ran away again.

Two of his children were shot, one of them was found dead in his field, the other was found alive and brought to Hakenbrook's house, but died three hours after. All his grain and cattle are burnt up. At Jacob Gerhart's they have killed one man, two women, and six children. Two children slipped under the bed; one of which was burned; the other escaped, and ran a mile to get to people. We desire help, or we must leave our homes.

Yours, VALENTINE PROBST.

Mr. Levan immediately repaired to Albany township, but before he reached the scene of horror, additional intelligence was received by him of other murders. In a letter from him to James Read and Jonas Seely, of Reading, he says: "When I had got ready to go with my neighbors from Maxatawny, to see what damage was done in Albany, three men that had seen the shocking affair, came and told me, that eleven

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

were killed, eight of them burnt, and the other three found dead out of the fire. An old man was scalped, the two others, little girls, were not scalped."

The Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, D.D., in the Hallische Nachrichten, tells the soul-stir- ring story of Frederick Reichelsdorfer, whose two grown daughters had attended a course of instruction, under him, in the Catechism, and been solemnly admitted by confirmation to the communion of the Ev. Lutheran Church, in New Hanover, Montgomery county.

"This man afterwards went with his family some distance into the interior, to a tract of land which he had purchased in Albany township, Berks county. When the war with the Indians broke out, he removed his family to his former residence, and occasionally returned to his farm, to attend to his grain and cattle. On one occa- sion he went, accompanied by his two daughters, to spend a few days there, and bring away some wheat. On Friday evening, after the wagon had been loaded, and everything was ready for their return on the morrow, his daughters complained that they felt anxious and dejected, and were impressed with the idea that they were soon to die. They requested their father to unite with them in singing the familiar German funeral hymn,

"Wer weiss wie nahe mein Ende?" (Who knows how near my end may be?)

after which they commended themselves to God in prayer, and retired to rest.

The light of the succeeding morn beamed upon them, and all was yet well. Whilst the daughters were attending to the dairy, cheered with the joyful hope of soon meeting their friends, and being out of danger, the father went to the field for the horses, to prepare for their departure home. As he was passing through the field, he suddenly saw two Indians, armed with rifles, tomahawks and scalping knives, making to- wards him at full speed. The sight so terrified him that he lost all-self command, and stood motion- less and silent. When they were about twenty yards from him, he suddenly, and with all his strength, exclaimed "Lord Jesus, living and dying, I am thine!" Scarcely had the Indians heard the words "Lord Jesus" (which they probably knew as the white man's name of the Great Spirit), when they stopped short, and ut- tered a hideous yell.

The man ran with almost supernatural strength into the dense forest, and by taking a serpentine course, the Indians lost sight of him,

and relinquished the pursuit. He hastened to an adjoining farm, where two German families re- sided, for assistance, but on approaching near it, he heard the dying groans of the families, who were falling beneath the murderous toma- hawks of some other Indians.

Having providentially not been observed by them, he hastened back to learn the fate of his daughters. But, alas! on arriving within sight, he found his home and barn enveloped with flames. Finding that the Indians had possession here too, he hastened to another adjoining farm for help. Returning, armed with several men, he found the house reduced to ashes, and the In- dians gone. His eldest daughter had been al- most entirely burnt up, a few remains only of her body being found. And, awful to relate, the younger daughter, though the scalp had been cut from her head, and her body horribly mangled from head to foot with the tomahawk, was yet living. "The poor worm," says Muhlenberg, "was able to state all the circumstances of the dreadful scene." After having done so she re- quested her father to stoop down to her that she might give him a parting kiss, and then go to her dear Saviour: and after she had impressed her dying lips upon his cheek, she yielded her spirit into the hands of that Redeemer, who, though His judgments are often unsearchable, and His ways past finding out, has nevertheless said, "'I am the resurrection and the life, if any man believe in me, though he die yet shall he live.' "

Frederick Reichelderfer's name occurs in the tax list of Albany township, Berks county, in the year 1752. Jacob Gerhart also lived in Albany township. The name Groushor should probably be Kraushar and Yet should be Yeth. From indications it appears that they lived in Lynn township. The Seislove family lived in Lynn, where the father, George, took up a warrant for 200 acres of land on Aug. 16, 1738. He had arrived from Germany on Sept. 1, 1736, and spelled his name Zeisloff. He had two brothers, Balthazar and Nicholas, and the three brothers secured warrants for land on the same day.

On May 18, 1755, George "Zeislof" and his wife Catharine were received into the Moravian congregation of Lynn township. His home was located about one mile west of the present vil- lage of New Tripoli. The one-story log house, built by Seislove still stands. The building is now weather-boarded but inside can be seen the old, rude shaped logs and in the attic, over the door, is cut a loop hole at an angle to command the entrance. A large fireplace still remains as a relic of the days when wood was the only fuel.

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

The Moravian records state under date of Feb. 14, 1756: "Two children of George Zeis- loff were murdered by the Indians, and a third carried into captivity." Wetherhold's account is ambiguous, but both accounts agree in the num- ber killed. One of the sons killed was named Balthazar Seislove. The Moravian account continues, viz: "On March 24, following, while Zeisloff was fleeing with the remainder of his family, they were set upon by the savages, and he, his wife and four children were killed. They had been advised to flee for safety to Bethlehem, but chose to seek a place of safety elsewhere."

Wetherhold in his list states that in March, 1756, "George Seislove and his Wife and three children were killed the Wife of David Bialmen and two of his children Killed-eight Killed."

woods, and the horses frightened at the firing and terrible yelling of the Indians ran down a hill and brake one of the wagons to pieces. That the enemy killed George Zeisloff and his wife, a lad of twenty, a boy of twelve, also a girl of fourteen years old, four of whom they scalped. That another girl was shot in the neck and through the mouth and scalped, notwithstanding all of which she got off. That a boy was stabbed in three places, but the wounds were not thought to be mortal. That they killed two of the horses, and five are missing, with which it is thought the Indians carried off the most valuable goods that were in the wagon."

The two surviving children of George Seis- love were Erhart, aged about 16, and George, aged 4 years.

Zeisloff House in Lynn, Built Prior to 1755

David Schultz in his diary writes that on the 6th of March David Bielman's wife and two children were killed in Allemængle; that on the 22nd William Yeth and his wife were killed and on the 24th George Zeislof and his wife and three children were murdered.

The Pennsylvania Gazette of April 1, 1756, had the following account of the massacre:

"On the 24th of March following, ten wagons went to Allemængle (Albany) to bring down a family with their effects, and as they were re- turning, about three miles below George Zeis- loff's were fired upon by a number of Indians from both sides of the road; upon which the wagoners left their wagons and ran into the

The estate of Seislove was administered by Peter Trexler, Esq., who petitioned the Court in 1764 for the appointment of a guardian for George, then aged 12 years, when Frederick Romig was appointed. Erhart Seislove was then over 21 and married. In 1768 Erhart Seislove is mentioned in the Lynn tax list as the owner of 150 acres of land. On December 13, 1785, Ehrhart and George Seisloff sold to Burkhard Mosser for £550 the tract of 184 acres. In the deed is stated the fact that they are the only sur- viving heirs of George Seisloff, who with his wife and five or six children were killed by In- dians. The deed was witnessed by Peter Koh- ler, Esq., and Burkhard Moser, Junior.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

David Billman, whose wife and two children were killed, had settled on a tract of 150 acres in Lynn in 1744. Others of the family were Conrad Billman and Jacob Billman, who died in 1779.

In the spring of 1756 a company of volun- teers was formed by the frontier inhabitants of Berks and Northampton counties, and contribu- tions were made by the people more safely situ- ated for the support of the soldiers. It was called the Maxetani and Allemangle Freyen Wacht Companies-the Maxatawney and

Allemangle Independent Guard. It con- sisted of 24 men, who served 39 days from April 3 to May IIth. The names of these soldiers were :

Johannes Hergerder, Captain Casper Schmick, Serg't.

Jacob Tholand George Jorgon

Georg Bruner

David Mussgenug

Fridrich Zirn Solomon Bacher

Johannes Klein Martin Unangst

Peter Münch Carl Weinmüller

Adam Schnebely Peter Kiern

Conrad Bauer George Kuir

Nicholas Dehof Michael Kraul

Henrich Schweitzer Nicolaus Arnhold

Conrad Frey George Sauselin

Johannes N- Stephen Gooss.

Henrich Fullweiler

The captain was paid five shillings per day ; the sergeant two shillings six pence; and the privates sixteen pence. Six pence per day was allowed for rations, and a gill of rum, costing eight pence per quart, was served daily to each man. The total outlay was fi04 II 4, the items being as follows, as published in Saur's Germantown paper December 25, 1756:

Dem Captain vor 39 Tage zu 5 Schilling, £9

15 0 Vor 20 Mann 39 Tage jedem 52 Schilling Lohnung 52 O O

Dem Sergeant jeden Tag 2 S. 6, Vor 2 mann nur 36 Tag zu 16 Pens des Tages

16 0

6 8 Vor I Mann nur 20 Tag I

Vor Kostgeld jeden 6 Pens des tages

Vor jeden ein Tschill Rum des Tages zu 8 P. die Quart . . . 20 Pfund Pulver zu 2 Schilling das Pfund

2 o

Summa der Unkesten .. £104

II 0 To meet this expense, collections were made

in the spring of 1756, amounting to £96 19 10 as officially published.

Aus dem Township :

Maxetawny £40

II 0

Towamensing

IO II

Solford

Francony

Hetfield

II O

Worcester

Upper Solford

Albany in Berks Co.

Nord Wales

Upper Hanover

Die Summa der Einnahm £96 19 10

Jacob Levan, who engaged the men, advanced the deficiency of £7 11 6. He, with David Schultze, was one of the trustees to receive and disburse the moneys. They rendered the above accounts, made a statement of the character of the work performed by the Guard, and asked for further contributions, on the 17th of No- vember, 1756, all of which was published in the Germantown paper of December 25th. They said :

"Also fehlen noch £7 II 6, welche summa Jacob Levan, weil er die Companie gedingen, bissher von seinem eigenem Geld hat zu setzen müssen, und auch verlieren muss, so nicht noch einige Freunde etwas beytragen.

"Diese Wacht Companie ist die obgemelte Zeit sorgfältig an den Grentzen postirrt gewesen, um die Gegend von Albany Taunschip, in Bercks County, und haben biss weilen gestreifft biss in Linn Taunschip, Northampton Country; sonst aber sind sie sonderlich nachtzeit in Theil ver- theilt gewesen, so dass nur 3 Mann in einem Hauss postiret waren, damit sie einen desto grosern Bezirck bewachen, und so viel mehr Leuten dienen konten, weil dazumal die Ein- wohner mit einern solchen vorlich nahmen, und es damit wagten, dass sie auf ihren Plätzen aushilten und also die Sommer-Frucht aussähen konten; also auch ihre Fensen repariren, woran die Companie auch selbst behülfflich gewesen.

"JACOB LEVAN "DAVID SCHULTZE . "als Trusties. "Maxetany, den 17 November, Anno 1756."

These outrages on the frontier aroused the authorities to action and Governor Morris sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the Commissioners, to direct the building of a chain of forts, along the Blue mountains, reaching from the Dela- ware to the Susquehanna, at distances of from ten to fifteen miles apart. Sometimes the chain of defenses ran on the south side of the range,

23 15 0

19 2

84 Pfund Bley zu 6 Pens das Pfund

4 17 6

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

then again on the north side, and frequently both sides of the mountains were occupied, as the needs of the population demanded. Some of these forts consisted of the defenses previously. erected by the settlers, which were available for the purpose, and of which the government took possession, while others were newly erected. Almost without exception they were composed of a stockade of heavy planks, inclosing a space of ground more or less extensive, on which were built from one to four blockhouses, pierced with loop holes for musketry, and occupied as quarters by the soldiers and refugee settlers. In addition to these regular forts it became neces- sary at various points, where depredations were most frequent, to have subsidiary places of de- fense and refuge, which were also garrisoned by soldiers and which generally comprised farm houses, selected because of their superior strength and convenient location, around which the usual stockade was thrown, or occasionally block houses erected for the purpose. The soldiers who gar- risoned these forts were Provincial troops, which almost without exception were details from the First Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment, under the command of that brave and energetic officer, Lieut. Colonel Conrad Weiser.

The ravages of the Indians excited the whole population and in their alarm and terror many unreasonable demands were made of the Gov- ernment. Governor Morris apparently became somewhat discouraged as appears from a letter written by him at Reading to the Council at Philadelphia on January 5, 1756, saying : "Gentlemen :

"I have only Time by the Return of the Ex- press to acknowledge the receit of your Favour, and to approve of what you have done since I left you.

"I beg you wou'd open all Letters that come to me upon his Majesty's Service, and in every case do what you think most for his Majesty's Service and the good of the Public, of which you are very good Judges. The Commissioners have done everything that was proper in the County of Northampton, but the People are not satisfied, nor, by what I can learn from the Commis- sioner, would they be unless every Man's House was protected by a Fort and a Company of Sol- diers, and themselves paid for staying at home and doing nothing. There are in that County at this Time three hundred Men in Pay of the Government, and yet from Disposition of the Inhabitants, the Want of Conduct in the Officers and of Courage and Discipline in the Men, I am fearful that whole County will fall into the Enemy's Hands.

"Yesterday and the Day before I received the melancholy News of the Destruction of the Town of Gnadenhütten, and of the greatest part of the Guard of forty Men placed there in order to erect a Fort. The particulars you will see by the inclosed Papers, so far as they are yet come to hand, but I am in hourly Expectation of further Intelligence by two Men that I dis- patched for that Purpose upon the first News of the Affair, whose long stay makes me ap- prehend some mischief has befallen them.

"Last night an Express brought me an accot. that seven Farm Houses between Gnadenhütten and Nazareth were on the First Instant burnt, about the same time that Gnadenhütten was, and some of the People destroyed, and the ac- counts are this day confirmed.

"Upon this fresh alarm it is proposed that one of the Commissioners return to Bethlehem and Easton, and there give fresh Directions to the Troops and post them in the best Manner for the Protection of the remaining Inhabitants. "I am very busy in preparing the necessary Orders and Instructions upon this new Turn in the Affairs, and can therefore only wish you all Health and Happiness.

"And am, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble Servant,

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.

History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 16

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1158

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158