History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 20

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 20

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few weeks ; and if he continues in the service any longer, I don't purpose to stay any longer. I intend to confine him only for this crime."

On the 5th of October, Captain Nicholas Wet- terholt put Lieutenant Jonathan Dodge under ar- rest "for striking and abusing Peter Frantz," and sent him in charge of Captain Jacob Wetterholt, Sergeant Lawrence McGuire, and some soldiers, to Timothy Horsfield, at Bethlehem. On the 6th of October, Dodge was taken before Tim- othy Horsefield. We are not informed of what took place there, but he was no doubt examined, reprimanded, and released from arrest, for he was with Captain Jacob Wetterholt and party on the 7th, at the house of John Stenton, on their return to Fort Allen. At that time many of the Indians were peaceably and friendly disposed toward the whites, particularly those who had adopted a civilized life under the instructions of the Mo- ravian missionaries: it was therefore necessary that the officers and others should have been par- ticularly cautious in their dealings and intercourse with them, as the war feeling was then strong against the whites, so that the least provocation would excite them to hostilities. It may have been difficult to discriminate between the friend- ly and hostile Indians, but the true policy would have been, to treat all in such a manner as to dispose them to peace. Unfortunately, a seri- ous cause of complaint of the Indians then was, that the white people would too often act dis- honestly in their dealings and intercourse with them. When, in addition to this pernicious practice, officers and others having influence or power, and whose duty it is to establish peace- able relations with the Indians, set a bad ex- ample by abusing, robbing, and murdering them, for which they have no prospect of obtaining re- dress, it is not at all surprising that the injured party should become exasperated, and be de- termined on taking revenge on the first oppor- tunity.

On the 7th day of October, Captain Jacob Wetterholt, with his party, left Bethlehem, on their way to Fort Allen; arrived at and lodged the following night at the house of John Sten- ton, who kept a store and tavern, situated in the Irish settlement, on the main road from Bethle- hem to Mauch Chunk, about a mile north of Howertown, in Allen township, Northampton county.6 Against this house the Indians burned with revenge, on account of injuries received there: they may also have had information that Lieutenant Dodge, an object of their hatred, was with the Wetterholt party, and thought there

"Timothy Horsfield was born in Liverpool, England, in April, 1708. He emigrated to America, and settled on Long Island, in 1725; moved to Bethlehem in 1749; was appointed justice of the peace for Northampton county in May, 1752; commissioned lieutenant and colonel, and as such had the superintendence and direction of the two military companies commanded by the two Captains Wetterholt, which were rang- ing along the frontier; they sent their reports to him, and he corresponded with the government, as well as to the frontier inhabitants. He resigned both offices in December, 1763, and died at Bethlehem, March 9, 1773.

"The house stood on property lately owned by Mrs. Thomas Fatzinger.

102

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

would now be an opportunity to take revenge on him as well as on the Stentons. However that may have been, Captain Wetterholt must certainly have known that the Indians were highly exasperated against that house; it is therefore, unaccountable why he did not have a guard stationed outside of it (which appears was not done), as the greatest vigilance was required against a surprise by them. The Indians ap- proached the house, unperceived and undiscov- ered, during the night; and then when the door was opened before day, on the morning of the memorable 8th of October, by the servant of Captain Wetterholt, he was shot at and instantly killed. Captain Wetterholt and Sergeant Mc- Guire were also shot at and dangerously wound- ed. John Stenton was shot dead. The wounded were taken to Bethlehem, where Captain Wetter- holt died the next day.

The redoubtable Lieutenant Dodge felt him- self in a critical situation, as is evidenced by his letter to Timothy Horsfield. The original let- ter owned by the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania, reads thus:

"JOHN STINONE, Oct. 8, 1763.

"Mr. Horsfield. Pray send me help for all my men are killed But one and Capt. Wetterholt is amost Dead. Every

"He is shot threw the Body.

for gods sake send me help. These from me to serve my country and King so long as I live. Send me help or I am a Dead man, this from me.

"LIEUT. DODGE.

Sergt. Meguier is shot threw the Body, Pray send up the Doctor for gods sake."

Timothy Horsfield sent an express to Daniel Hunsicker, Lieutenant in Captain Jacob Wetter- holt's company, with the following letter, to in- form him of this disaster :-

BETHLEHEM, Oct. 8, 1763.

"Sir :- This morning, at about break of day, a number of Indians attacked the inhabitants of Allen's Township; have killed several, and wounded many more. Your Captain, who was here yesterday, lays at the house of John Sten- ton, at Allen's Township, wounded. Several of the soldiers have been killed. I send to Simon Heller, and request him to send a safe hand with it, that you may receive it as quick as possible. Now is the time for you and the men to exert yourselves in defence of the frontier, which I doubt not you will do. I expect to hear from you when you have any news of importance. Send one of your worst men ; as it will be dangerous in the day time, send him in the night. The enclosed

letter to Mr. Grube7 I desire you to send as soon as possible. I am, &c.,

"TIMOTHY HORSFIELD.

"To LIEUTENANT HUNSICKER, Lower Smith- field."

A detailed account of the different murders was sent by Horsfield, with a messenger,8 to the Governor, at Philadelphia. It was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Oct. 13, 1763, printed by Benjamin Franklin, of which a copy is here annexed : -

"On Sunday night last an express arrived from Northampton County with the following melancholy account, viz :-- That on Saturday morning, the 8th. inst., the house of John Sten- ton, about eight miles from Bethlehem, was at- tacked by Indians, as follows: Captain Wet- terholt, with a party belonging to Fort Allen, being in that house, and intending to set out early for the fort, ordered a servant to get his horse ready, who was immediately shot down by the enemy; upon which the captain, going to the door, was also fired at, and mortally wounded; that then a sergeant attempted to pull in the Captain and to shut the door, but he was likewise dangerously wounded; that the Lieu- tenant next advanced, when an Indian jumped upon the bodies of the two others and presented a pistol to his breast, which he put a little aside, and it went off over his shoulder, whereby he got the Indian out of the house and shut the door ; that the Indians after this went round to a win- dow, and as Stenton was getting out of bed shot him, but not dead, and he breaking out of the house ran about a mile, when he dropped and died; that his wife and two children ran down into the cellar, where they were shot at three times, but escaped; that Captain Wetterholt, finding himself growing weak, crawled to a win- dow, and shot an Indian dead, it was thought, as he was in the act of setting fire to the house with a match, and that upon this the other Indians carried him away with them, and went off. Captain Wetterholt died soon after."9

The attack on Stenton's house occurred before daybreak, and before reaching it the band of In- dians met Jean Horner, the wife of James Hor- ner, who was on her way to a neighbor's for coals to light her morning fire. Fearing that she might raise an alarm they killed her with their tomahawks. Her tombstone, in the cemetery of the Allen township Presbyterian Church reads:

7The Rev. B. D. Grube was a Moravian missionary at Wechquetank.

8John Bacher, who was paid for this service, Oct. 12, £2 IOS. 4d.

9A similar account also appeared in the Philadelphische Staatsbote of October 17, 1763, printed by Heinrich Miller, in the German language.

103

INDIAN MASSACRE.

"In Memory of Jean, wife of James Horner, who suffered Death by the Hands of Savage Indians, October 8, 1763, aged 50 years." Mrs. Horner, whose maiden name was Kerr, was born in Ireland in 1713. Her husband sur- vived her thirty years. Their farm was on the high road near Howertown, recently owned by Thomas Laubach. In consequence of the trou- ble and excitement at that time, Mrs. Horner was buried without a coffin. Her husband took her body to the Presbyterian meeting house and then sat up with it, alone, on the night follow- ing the massacre, and the interment took place the following day. Mr. and Mrs. Horner had seven children: Hugh, John, Thomas, Sarah, Mary, James and Jean.

Adam Clendinen, then twenty-four years of age, came near being a victim of the Stenton massacre. He was present at a corn husking frolic at the house of Mr. Stenton on the night preceding the massacre, and staying until late in the night, he was about leaving for home, but being prevailed to remain until morning, he con- sented to do so. After staying awhile, it seemed to him that something prompted him to leave, and in obeying it he escaped being present at the massacre. Mr. Clendinen died in 1817. His youngest son, Thomas, who related these facts, was born in 1799 and died in 1879.

After leaving Stenton's house, the Indians plundered James Allen's house, a short distance off; after which they attacked Andrew Hazlet's house, half a mile from Allen's, where they shot and scalped a man. Hazlet attempted to fire on the Indians, but missed, and he was shot him- self, which his wife, some distance off, saw. She ran off with two children, but was pursued and overtaken by the Indians, who caught and toma- hawked her and the children in a dreadful man- ner; yet she and one of the children lived until four days after, and the other child recovered. Hazlet's house was plundered. About a quarter of a mile from there, the Indians burned down Frederick Kratzer's house, probably after having plundered it.

News of the outrage reached Bethlehem a few hours after its occurrence, whereupon a small armed force was sent to the spot to bring the wounded men to town for surgical treatment. Captain Wetterholt breathed his last at the Crown Inn on the 9th of October and was buried the next day in the graveyard near by. The Crown Inn stood where the South Bethlehem railroad station now stands, and the graveyard was located near the intersection of Second and Ottawa streets, South Bethlehem. At least 22

interments were made in it between 1747 and 1769.

On the day-book of the Crown Inn under date of Oct. 10, 1763, is the following charge:

Captain Jacob Wetherhold, Dr.

£. s. d.

To I pint wine,

I. 2.

For I pint of beer, .

21/2

for his attend- ants, 2.

" oats and pasture for

2 horses, 3. O.

" a shroud, 6.

" ferriage for his at-

tendants ten

times, 2.

O. 14. 41/2

Sergeant McGuire's charges at the Crown Inn weeks at the Inn under the care of Dr. Otto. It is stated that the body of the Captain's servant who was the first to fall at Stenton's, was also brought to Bethlehem, and along with another victim was interred on what was then known as "the Burnside Farm," later William Lerch's, on the west side of the Monocacy.

Sergeant McGuire's charge at the Crown Inn dated Nov. 8, 1763, are as follows:

"Sergeant L. McGuire, Dr. £. s. d. 2. 4.

For 4 half pints wine,

" beer and cider royal, 9.

Cash, 6.

" his wife's diet for 8 days, IO. o.

2 breakfasts, I. O.

" I horse at hay,

25 days diet and attend-

ance, Is. 9d per day, .. 2. 3. 9.

£3. 6. o.

Refugees from Allen and Lehigh townships crowded the Crown Inn during the next few days. The inhabitants of the Saucon Valley also became panic stricken and crowded into the inn. Lieut. Daniel Hunsicker then in Smithfield township, on Oct. 14th, wrote to Horsfield, "I heard that there was murder committed in Sock- ern, and I desire to know if it be true or not." It was late in December before the last of the fugitives had returned to their homes from the Inn.

Then a party of Indians proceeded to a place

" eating and drinking

104

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

on the Lehigh, a short distance above Siegfried's Bridge, to this day known as the "Indian Fall" or Rapids, where twelve Indians were seen wad- ing across the river by Ulrich Schowalter, who then lived on the place owned later by Peter Troxel. Schowalter was at that time working on the roof of a building, the site of which being considerably elevated above the river Le- high, he had a good opportunity to see and count the Indians who, after having crossed the river, landed near Leisenring's mountain, now Laurel Hill. The greater part of this township was at that time still covered with dense forests, so that the Indians could go from one place to another almost in a straight line, through the woods, without being seen. It is not known that they were seen by any one but Schowalter, until they reached the farm of John Jacob Mickley, where they encountered three of his children, two boys and a girl, in a field under a chestnut tree, gathering chestnuts. The chil- dren's ages were Peter, eleven; Henry, nine; and Barbara, seven; who, on seeing the Indians, began to run away. The little girl was over- taken not far from the tree by an Indian, who knocked her down with a tomahawk. Henry had reached the fence, and, while in the act of climbing it, an Indian threw a tomahawk at his back, which, it is supposed, instantly killed him. Both of these children were scalped. The little girl, in an insensible state, lived until the following morning. Peter, having reached the woods, hid himself between two large trees which were standing near together, and, surrounded by brushwood, he remained quietly concealed there, not daring to move for fear of being discovered, until he was sure that the Indians had left. He was, however, not long confined there; for, when he heard the screams of the Schneider fam- ily, he knew that the Indians were at that place, and that his way was clear. He escaped un- hurt, and ran with all his might, by way of Adam Deshler's, to his brother, John Jacob Mickley, to whom he communicated the melan- choly intelligence. From this time Peter lived a number of years with his brother John Jacob, after which he settled in Bucks county, where he died in the year 1827, at the age of 75. One of his daughters, widow of Henry Stat- zel, mentioned a remarkable fact related by her father, that the Mickley family owned at that time a very large and ferocious dog, which had a particular antipathy to Indians; and it was believed by the family that it was owing to the dog the Indians did not make an attack on their house, and thus the destruction of their lives was prevented.

After killing the Mickley children the Indians came to Nicholas Mark's and John Schneider's homes. An excellent account of what occurred is given in an extract of a letter from Bethle- hem, dated Oct. 9th, from the Pennsylvania Gazette, viz:

"Early this morning came Nicholas Marks, of Whitehall township, and brought the follow- ing account, viz: That yesterday, just after din- ner, as he opened his door, he saw an Indian standing about two poles from the house, who endeavored to shoot at him; but Marks shutting the door immediately, the fellow slipped into a cellar, close to the house. After this, said Marks went out of the house, with his wife and an ap- prentice boy,1º in order to make their escape, and saw another Indian standing behind a tree, who tried also to shoot at them, but his gun missed fire. They then saw the third Indian running through the orchard; upon which they made the best of their way, about two miles off, to Adam Deshler's place, where twenty men in arms were assembled, who went first to the house of John Jacob Mickley, where they found a boy and a girl lying dead, and the girl scalped. From thence they went to Hans Schneider's and said Mark's plantations, and found both houses on fire, and a horse tied to the bushes. They also found said Schneider, his wife and three chil- dren, dead in the field, the man and woman scalped; and, on going farther, they found two others wounded, one of whom was scalped. After this they returned with the two wounded girls to Adam Deshler's, and saw a woman, Jacob Alleman's wife, with a child, ly- ing dead in the road, and scalped. The number of Indians, they think, was about fifteen or twenty. I cannot describe the deplorable con- dition this poor country is in; most of the in- habitants of Allen's township and other places are fled from their habitations. Many are in Bethlehem, and other places of the Brethern, and others farther down the country. I can- not ascertain the number killed, but think it ex- ceeds twenty. The people of Nazareth, and other places belonging to the Brethern, have put them- selves in the best posture of defence they can; they keep a strong watch every night, and hope, by the blessing of God, if they are attacked, to make a good stand."

10This apprentice boy was George Graff, of Allentown, then fifteen years of age. He ran to Philip Jacob Schreiber with the news of these murders. He was captain of a com- pany in the Revolutionary War. In 1786 he resigned as col- lector of the excise, and was sheriff of Northampton County in the years 1787, '88 and '89. For three years he was a member of the legislature, then holding its sessions in Phila- delphia, from December 3, 1793, to December, 1796. He lived many years in Allentown, where he died in 1835 in the eighty-eighth year of his age.

105

INDIAN MASSACRE.

In a letter from the same county, of the 10th inst., the number is said to be twenty-three, be- sides a great many dangerously wounded: "that the inhabitants are in the utmost distress and confusion, flying from their places, some of them with hardly sufficient to cover themselves, and that it was to be feared there were many houses, etc., burned, and lives lost that were not then known. And by a gentleman from the same quarter we are informed, that it was re- ported, when he came away, that Yost's mill, about eleven miles from Bethlehem, was de- stroyed, and all the people that belonged to it, excepting a young man, cut off."

John Schneider and Nicholas Marks lived on the road from Egypt to Scheidy's, where James Frantz now lives. Schneider's wife was Anna Margaretha Wotring, a daughter of Abraham Wotring. She was born in 1726 and accom- panied her parents to America in 1733. She married John Schneider about 1745 and they settled on a portion of her father's land, which he had warranted in 1738. Their eldest daugh- ter, Eva, married John Nicholas Marks, and lived near her parents. A daughter, Sara, born August 16, 1752, and the youngest child, a daughter, Susanna, born in April, 1763, with another child, whose name is not known, were murdered by the Indians, with both the parents, on this memorable 8th of October. Another child was missing and was supposed to have been carried off by the Indians, and was never heard of. Two other daughters, Magdalena and Dorothea, were wounded and left for dead. They were attended by Doctor John Matthew Otto, of Bethlehem, Dr. Jacob Reiss, and Dr. Frederick Spiegel, of Macungie, and Magdalena entirely recovered. Dorothea, who had been scalped, also recovered, but was subject to fits for many years after.

Marks and his wife ran to Fort Deshler, and the apprentice boy, George Graff (great-great- grandfather of the writer), ran two miles to Philip Jacob Schreiber's, where is now Coplay. He related to his grandson, the late William Leisenring, that when he arrived there he had only one trouser leg remaining, the other having been torn off by the bushes, he ran in such haste. The cellar of a new house was being constructed at the Schneider and Marks houses, and a few years ago traces of the mortar could still be seen,

The dead were buried on the Schneider farm. The site of the graves is near a tree in a field west of the garden at James Frantz's home. One of the houses stood where is now the garden.

The wife of Nicholas Marks and her sister, Magdalena, who married Nicholas Allimang,

the only surviving issue of John Schneider, be- came entitled to the land, and September 25, 1773, Marks became the owner. On July 24, 1780, Marks and his wife, Eva, sold to George Remeli, of Heidelberg township a total of 226 acres and 68 perches for £959 specie. Remely built in 1784 a spring house, which still stands. He died in October, 1800, and his ex- ecutors, his son Ambrose Remely and Peter Roth, a son-in-law, sold a tract of 164 acres to two of his sons, George and Henry Frantz, for £1455, who divided it on December 27, 1805.

The screams of the Schneiders' attracted John Jacob Mickley and Ulrich Flickinger, on their way to Stenton's, and they hastened to the place, where, a short time before, all was peace and quietness and saw the mangled bodies of the dead and wounded, and the houses of Marks and Schneider in flames. The twenty soldiers stationed at Adam Deshler's, pursued the Indians but could not overtake them. The Schneider girls were taken to Adam Deshler's and on the way they found Jacob Alliman's wife, with a child, lying dead in the road and scalped.

It is well known that, when the Indians be- come exasperated through real or imaginary in- juries, they consider themselves bound to take revenge on their enemies, without regard to age or sex; it therefore frequently happens that the innocent suffer equally with the guilty.

It may perhaps be proper to state in this place that the Mickley family, as well as that of Schneider's, were among those who suffered in- nocently. not a single instance being known of their ever having been guilty of molesting the Indians. Heckewelder says: "The Indians, after leaving this house (Stenton's), murdered by ac- cident an innocent family, having mistaken the house11 they meant to attack ; after which they re- turned to their homes."

In Squire Edward Kohler's account of Egypt he states that the Indians next visited the farm of one Bock, near Unionville, who with his sons, were threshing. He and his wife fled to the woods. The two boys hid in the straw in the barn, and the Indians set fire to the barn, when the boys were burned to death.

The following letter written by E. D. Leisen- ring, editor of the Friedensbote, gives another version. The letter speaks first of the Frantz capture which took place in 1757. It is pos- sible that Henry Frantz, father of Margaret, was killed by this same band of Indians in 1763,

11It was generally believed that the Indians mistook this house for that of Paulus Balliet, which they intended to at- tack. Mr. Balliet lived at the place now Ballietsville, and kept a store and tavern, similar to that of John Stenton's.

MAP of the Seulements. &c .. of Whitehall & Allen Townships. Northampton County, and the route of the Indians on October 8th 1763. Indian Route Scale of Miles: l'ho inches toone mile o

JohnStenton by

James Allen

Andrew Haulat

Lechauweki

Frederick Kratzer

Ceo. Ringer

endau

Indumn Fall

rich Flickinger Jacob Allemand

T P.

Joseph Schowalter

Johur Jacob Mickley

Nicholas Marks

George Kochler.

Jacob Schowalter

John Schneider

WHI

ALL

Nicholas Travel

Egypt Churcha Jacob Kohler.Jr.

Peter Bassler Philip Jacob Schreiber

River

Kohler's MillliE Jarob Kohler. Peter Kohler Jacob Kern

Peter Steckel

Indian Wigwamn.

Adam Deshler Ko

Christian Saeger

Samuel Saryer John Peter Burkhalter

Nicholas Meyer

John Schade

Michael Hoffman

Kolapechlia the Indians

Peter Deshier

JohnwJacob Mickley J

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

106

Lehigh.

Wagner

Panlas Bulhel

Hoke

107

INDIAN MASSACRE.

as opposite his name in the tax list of 1764 is written "Killed by Indians."

"ALLENTOWN, Jan. 13, 1876.

Dr. L. B. Balliet :

DEAR SIR: As you live amongst her kin, ac- cessible to old papers and Bibles, can you give me an authentic history of Margaret Frantz, who was captured by the Indians and held for a number of years, after liberation and return married Johann Nikolas Wootring, on the 9th of May, 1769? I think she was taken captive at or near the place now occupied by Solomon Hoffman. How old was she when captured ? How long did she remain with the Indians? When and where was she born? ( Presume her gravestone at Union Church will tell). Where was she taken to, and in what year was she cap- tured ?

"Also, what do you know or how much can you ascertain of the history of the murder of the Jung Family. The family lived in the neighborhood of Union Church; the mother and two children were killed at the house, one child and the father, hidden under straw in the barn, were burned alive, and one man (Knecht) by the name of Bock escaped with one little girl. In what year was this murder committed? Was it at the same time when Margaret Frantz was taken? I think it must have been previous to October 8, 1763, when the Stentons' and others about Kreidersville, also Mickleys', and Schnei- ders' in Whitehall were murdered.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 20

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