History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 15

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650

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After Captain Berry had started from Wallis's that morning to look for the stolen horses, Colonel Hosterman, with Captain Reynolds and a party of thirteen men, set out for Antes Fort with ammunition for that place and the militia stationed at the Great Island. They followed the public road and crossed Loyalsock creek between 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and as they reached the western shore and passed over the "sand hill" they heard firing and yells which they judged to be about three-fourths of a mile up the creek. They hurried up to the place where they thought the firing was, but found nothing. Surmising that.the firing might have been at Thomson's, they returned and pushed on thither as rap- idly as they could across the northern, or upper, end of the great swamp. The heavy rains had made it "very ugly," and it took them nearly a quarter of an hour to cross it. Thus they arrived too late to be of service.

The wily foe no doubt knew of their approach. When they reached the place they found the barn with its store of unthreshed grain from the previous harvest on fire, and heard in the distance the triumphant shouts of the foe. Two of these shouts they recognized as "death halloos," and one they correctly took to be a " prisoner halloo." From the shouts Colonel Hosterman supposed the party to consist of about fourteen. This was a very close guess as subsequent information proved. There was a Tory with the savages, for Captain Reynolds and his men distinctly saw his shoe tracks, along with the moccasin tracks of the Indians, in the soft ground near the house. A search of the premises was made. Near the house they found Thomson's powder horn, with the bullet hole through it, but did not find the men or their bodies. Satisfied that they could be of no further service, Colonel Hosterman returned to Wallis's and wrote out a report of the events of the day. Some accounts state that a portion of the party pushed on to Lycoming creek that evening, where, the sequel will show, they were greatly needed.

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The next morning, when it was learned that the companies sent ont the day before had not all returned, there was great uneasiness, particularly among those who had friends in the expeditions. The full news evidently was withheld by Colonel Hosterman. Another party of men was got together under Captain Shaffer and sent to search for the missing. When they came to Thomson's they made a thor- ough examination of the house and premises. At last the dead bodies of Thomson and Shufelt were found lying a short distance apart, outside a cleared field, among some pine grubs, where they had been dragged. Thomson had been shot in the left ' side and his jacket was scorched by the burning of the powder in his horn. Shufelt was shot through the left shoulder. It is not stated whether they were scalped, but it is very likely they were, as the English paid the Indians a premium for scalps. The place of burial is not given, but they probably were taken to Wallis's, where their friends were, and buried in what is now known as Hall's cemetery.

William Wychoff, who was captured when Thomson and Shufelt were killed, suffered greatly during the journey through the wilderness from the pain of his wound and the exposure to which he was subjected, but his youthful vigor triumphed, and eventually he recovered. When his captors reached the Seneca country he was adopted into one of their families, according to Indian custom, to supply the place of one who has been killed in the war. His life, therefore, became quite tolerable, and in the autumn of the same year he was exchanged and returned home. June 17, 1786, he married Robert Covenhoven's sister, Isabella, then nine- teen years of age. He was nearly twenty-five. They settled near Canandaigua, New York, on land whose value he had learned during his six months' membership of the Seneca family. There he died, April 2, 1847, and there his descendants still live.

The death of John Thomson was a cruel blow to his wife Juda. Left alone in a strange land filled with savages, with no kin but her boy, then but six years old, her lot was a hard one, but probably no worse than some of her neighbors. When the flight commenced she found her way down the river to Sunbury. How long she re- mained there is not known. But she availed herself of an early opportunity to set her face toward the home of her youth. Undoubtedly she traveled with others over the mountains. Her child was too small to make the journey on foot, and too large to be carried in arms. The horses had been lost the day of her husband's cruel death. "But mother-wit is quick wit, and mother love a love which overcomes all obstacles." She succeeded in securing a little cart suitable for the purpose, and in it she placed her child, with the Bible, which had been her husband's, and such light articles of apparel as she had been able to bring with her. This cart she pulled through storm and sunshine, 250 miles, over the mountains and across the streams, through beech woods to Easton, and then over the Jersey hills to her former home. Her return was like that of Naomi from the land of Moab. The one treasure she still possessed, the only relic rescued from the destruction of her home by the red handed heathen, was her husband's Bible. It is still in existence and is now the property of Rev. John Bodine Thomson, D. D., of Inverness, California, a great- grandson of the six-year-old boy. It contains this record, among others: "The 9th day of June, 1778, John Thomson departed this life-was killed and scalped by ye Tory and Indians at Shomoken." The New Jersey people at that time called this

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valley the "Shomoken" country, which explains why that word was used in record- ing his death-although the place was forty miles north of "Shomoken" proper.

John Thomson, Jr., grew to manhood, married, and raised a large family. He became a prominent man, and for more than thirty years was justice of the peace and judge of the Hunterdon county court; and during the latter part of his term he had the satisfaction of recognizing his son, Joseph, as one of the judges co-ordinate with him on the bench. His noble mother, who braved the perils of the wilderness to save him from the savages, died June 17, 1796.

Dr. Thomson thus describes the old Bible, now one of the most venerated relics in the land, because of its remarkable history and sonl-stirring associations:

Every leaf of this precious book is water stained, probably by the exposures of the memorable journey from the Susquehanna to the Raritan. The old calf of the binding is worn into holes by long use, and only small pieces of the antique clasps remain, imbedded in one side of the thick cover. The leaf which contains the family record is becoming brittle, and begins to crumble at the edges.

After the death of the last member of the family who had lived on the West Branch-John Thomson, Jr.,-the Bible became the property of his youngest son, Aaron. By him it was in after years given to that one of the descendants who bears the names of all three of the residents on the West Brench-Rev. John Bodine Thomson. And in pursning its remarkable history a little further, it is strange to note that the precious relic is now zealously guarded on the shores of the Pacific, 3,000 miles from the place where its original owner fell by savage hands. The exact spot where his house stood can almost be pointed out to-day. The sur. rounding country is no longer a wilderness, the great swamp has disappeared, and finely cultivated farms, with stately buildings, are seen on every hand. Within sight of the spot where the blood of John Thomson crimsoned the ground more than a hundred years ago, the tall spires of the churches of the city of Williams- port are plainly visible, and the romantic hillsides are dotted with the cottages of a thrifty, prosperous, and happy people.

A BLOODY DAY.

With the recital of the foregoing horrors the reader might think that the chap- ter was full-that enough blood had been shed in one day to appease the savage appetite. But not so. June 10, 1778, was destined to be the bloodiest day in the annals of our history.

Soon after the disastrous skirmish on Loyalsock a company of emigrants travel- ing by wagon appeared at the Montoursville crossing of that stream. The names of the party, as given by Colonel Hosterman in a letter to Colonel William Winter, under date of June 10, 1778, and written from Wallis's, are as follows: Peter Smith, wife and six children; wife of William King, and two children; Michael Smith, Michael Campbell, and David Chambers, who belonged to Captain Reynolds's com- pany, and two other men named, respectively, Snodgrass and Hammond. This made the company consist of six men, two women, and eight children. They were on their way to Lycoming creek. Here several of them intended to join relatives and settle. Mrs. King aud her children had been living at Northumberland. Her hus- band, William King, had served as a lieutenant in the trouble with the Connecticut

Eng.by J.R.Rice & Sons. Phila

Mahlon Fisker

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settlers, and in March, 1776, as an ensign in the company of his cousin, Captain Cool. In the beginning of the troubles he had been up the river, and as early as 1774 he had settled on the site of Jaysburg. But he had left his wife Rachel and two daughters, Sarah and Ruth, at Northumberland for greater safety. When Peter Smith decided to move his family up the river from Northumberland in a wagon, they persuaded Mrs. King to accompany them with their two children to join her husband at Lycoming. They doubtless argued that this mode of traveling would be more pleasant than to ascend the river in a canoe. Her husband had instructed her to remain at Northumberland until he came; but, yielding to the persuasions of her friends, she decided to accompany them, both for company and greater conven- ience, as she supposed.

It will be remembered that after the company of Captain Berry fell into an am- buscade, and the unfortunate officer, who refused to take any advice from Robert Covenhoven, lost his life, that a party was despatched from Wallis's to ascertain the cause of firing up the creek. That company was commanded by Captain Reynolds and consisted of thirteen men. Colonel Hosterman accompanied them.

When Peter Smith with his wagon and party-several of whom had undoubtedly joined him at Wallis's-reached Loyalsock, John Harris, (son of "old Sam Harris" ) who had heard the firing that afternoon, met and warned them not to proceed, but to return, as he considered it dangerous to go forward. Smith was disinclined to take his advice, but remarked that "firing would not stop them," and proceeded on up the road. When they had got within a short distance of Lycoming creek they were fired upon by a body of Indians in ambush. Colonel Hosterman says in his report that at the first fire Snodgrass fell dead, being shot through the temple. At first the Indians only fired two guns, then three, when they came from their place of concealment. yelling fiercely, and advanced on the wagon. The whites when they saw them-for they did not see them till they had received the second fire-took to trees and returned the fire. At this moment a "little boy and a girl" made off and escaped. The Indians closed in very fast and endeavored to surround the party. "This," remarks Colonel Hosterman, "occasioned our men to flee as fast as they could-all but Campbell, who was seen fighting at close quarters with his rifle, and the Indian's gun was found broken to pieces." Before they were out of sight of the wagon the fleeing men "saw the Indians attacking the women and children with their tomahawks!" It was thought there were about twenty Indians in the attacking par- iy, showing that they had been re-enforced since the fight on Loyalsock.

This bloody affair occurred just before sundown. The boy and girl made their way to Lycoming creek and informed the men there what had happened. But owing to the frightened condition of the children their story was misunderstood, and the persons to whom they gave the information rushed to the river, thinking that a canoe had been attacked. On account of this mistake much valuable time was lost. It was nearer where the butchery occurred than to the river.

In the meantime a messenger had reached Wallis with intelligence of something serious having occurred near Lycoming creek, and Colonel Hepburn, who had charge at the fort, quickly collected a party of armed men and hurried to the place where the firing had been heard. It was some time after dark when they arrived, but they succeeded in finding the dead bodies of Snodgrass and another man, but owing to the

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darkness they could not tell who they were. Deeming it useless to search any further that night, they went on to Lycoming creek and waited till next day. In the morning they repaired to the spot and a horrible sight met their gaze. The wife of Peter Smith was found shot through the body, stabbed, scalped, and a knife lying by her side. William King's wife was found tomahawked and scalped, but living. She was sitting up, and when her husband approached she seemed to recog- nize him, leaned against him, and almost immediately expired. She could not speak. A little girl was found killed and scalped, and a boy the same. Snodgrass had been shot through the head, tomahawked, stabbed, and scalped. Campbell was shot in the back, tomahawed, stabbed, scalped, and a knife left sticking in his body. His rifle was taken, but very few things in the wagon had been carried away. The sight of these mutilated and disfigured bodies was hideous to behold, and showed to what extremes of savage barbarism the red fiends could go. The bodies of the dead were carefully collected and buried near the spot where they fell, and their interment was very likely the beginning of the cemetery which afterwards served for many years as the place of interment for scores of the original settlers.

Colonel Hepburn's party found a coat which had belonged to an Indian, and a cartridge made of the best cartridge paper. The Indians had used buckshot, as one was found sticking in the wagon, and one in the arm of one of the slain. These articles it was clear had been furnished them by the English, who were encouraging them to commit deeds of atrocity calculated to make an ordinary fiend shudder.

COLONEL HEPBURN'S COMPANY.

Colonel Hepburn's company of militia was composed of the following residents of the valley, from Muncy to Lycoming creek:

Captain .- William Hepburn.

Lieutenant. - Paul Ricketts.

Ensign .- John Hall.

Sergeants .- Robert Covenhoven, Andrew Flatt.

Privates .- Joseph Wychoff, Israel Parshall, Jr., Joseph Sutton, Joseph Harber, James Covenhoven, George Barkley, Benjamin Bart, David Berry, Oliver Silver- thorn, Samuel Brady, Samuel Wallis, John Covenhoven, Israel Parshall, Sr., William Hall, Erasmus Burch, Peter Burns, Albert Covenhoven, Cornelius Vanader, Robert Robb, Ezekiel Brown, Albert Polhemus, A. Blackly, Zachariah Irech, Charles Bignell, Ralph Slack, Joseph Webster, Jacob Lawrison, Peter Jones, Ockey Step- sion, Nimrod Pennington, William Jones, Henry Silverthorn, John Hollingsworth, Michael Craell.

In signing this roster Captain Hepburn says: "The above is a true return of the men's names belonging to my company that are not gone out of the county." It is dated August 9, 1778, and addressed to Colonel Hunter.

VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS OF THE MASSACRE.

This terrible massacre occurred at the point where West Fourth street, Williams- port, crosses the little stream which flows down Cemetery street. At that time a natural thicket of wild plum trees grew there, which yielded fruit of remarkable size and flavor for nearly a century after the tragedy. The road was merely a

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widening out of the old Indian trail, and was cut through this thicket. The boughs, with the leaves dried on them, were thrown into the bushes, forming a safe place for the concealment of the savages.

When Colonel Hepburn's searching party was about to leave the spot without finding all the victims, the boy who had escaped the previous day insisted that Mrs. King must be somewhere in the thicket, as he had heard her scream and say she would not go along with the savages when they tried to drag her away, and that he saw her fighting desperately. The party then made another detour through the bushes and found her about nine o'clock in the morning near the little stream, where she had dragged herself during the night and rested with her hand under her head, with her brains oozing over her fingers.

William King, thus suddenly bereft of his wife and children, was left in a state of mind well nigh bordering on despair. The terrible fate of his wife he knew, but he did not know the fate of his two daughters, Sarah and Ruth. They were then, respectively, four and two years old. If carried into captivity it was terrible to think of what sufferings they must endure while in the wilderness at their tender ages. Broken down with grief he made his way back to Northumberland.

In the course of seven years he learned that the children were in Canada. He immediately started in search of them, and after a long and toilsome journey, found and identified them. The history of their adventures, and the difficulty he ex- perienced in finding them, is very interesting, but too long for these pages. When King started for Canada he was accompanied by a friendly Indian as a guide to Fort Niagara. Their route was up Lycoming creek. On the journey they fell in with another Indian, who kept them company for a day and a night. During the night these two Indians kept up such an animated conversation that King's rest was disturbed. When the strange Indian left the next day his guide informed him that he was the man who had killed his wife in the massacre near Lycoming creek. This greatly exasperated King and he chided his guide for not telling him, saying that if he had known it he certainly would have killed him. The guide replied that he feared such a thing and therefore kept quiet. The long talk between the two in the vigils of the night was probably about that bloody affair. The wretch made his escape in time, for, notwithstanding peace had been declared, that fact would not have saved him from the punishment he so richly deserved at the hands of the out- raged husband.

On recovering his children Mr. King started back with them, and in due time reached Northumberland. From them he learned that when they were torn from their mother, who was butchered before their eyes, they were wrapped together in a blanket, placed on a horse and hurried away through the woods over what is now Cemetery street, until they reached the Sheshequin path leading through Blooming Grove and up Lycoming creek, which they followed through the dark and dreary wilderness. Soon after starting little Ruth began to cry, when a young savage seized her by the legs to dash her brains out against a tree, but an old squaw claimed her as her child, and thus by one of their peculiar customs her tender life was spared. On reaching Canada the squaw sold her to the wife of an English officer who had no children, and in her hands her father found her. When Ruth grew to womanhood she went to live with her mother's people in New Jersey, and there she

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married a. retired sea captain. They moved to Genesee, New York, and settled, became well-to-do, and ended their days there.

Sarah accompanied her father when he returned to Jaysburg in 1789, and lived with him until he died in 1802. She then went to the home of her half-brother, Joseph King, when he lived on the Sutton farm in 1832. This farm was near the wild plum tree thicket, where the tragedy of 1778 took place. She would frequently take her nephew, Charles King, and others, down to the Methodist church that then stood at Fourth and Cemetery streets, where they would gather the wild plums that grew so abundantly, and she would point out the spot and relate the bloody inci- dents of that dreadful day! Sarah finally died at the house of John Kelly King, Tioga county, September 19, 1850, aged seventy-six years.

CHAPTER VIII.

STORY OF THE "BIG RUNAWAY."

THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE GREAT DISASTER-VACILLATING COURSE OF THE AUTHOR- ITIES-COLONEL HUNTER ACCUSED OF DOUBLE DEALING-AN IMPORTANT PETITION AND WHO SIGNED IT-CRUEL MURDER OF A FRIENDLY INDIAN-COLONEL HUNTER ORDERS THE PEOPLE TO FLY-A PANIC ENSUES-APPALLING SCENES OF SUFFERING AND MISERY-AUTHORITIES AROUSED AT LAST-THE LOSS TO THE WEST BRANCH VALLEY- HELP AT LAST.

T THE bloody incidents narrated in the preceding chapter cast a pall of gloom over the infant settlements, and terrorized the inhabitants. Accounts of the ravages of the Indians, which were almost daily sent to the Supreme Executive Council, had a slight effect at last on that body, and they were making some efforts to relieve the people. May 30, 1778, Colonel Hunter informed Vice-President Bryan that seventy rifles forwarded to him were on the way between Harris's Ferry and Fort Augusta, but none of the ammunition which he was so sorely in need of had reached the former place. The quantity of powder and lead allotted for this county he thought was very small, when the number able to bear arms was con- sidered. He closed his appeal by saying: "If the people were relieved of the panic they were struck with last Monday, after hearing of the ravages of the Indians on Loyalsock, they would be able to make a better defence. It was really distressing to see the women and children from all quarters running to places the men had appointed to make a stand. The people have all assembled at particular places and are making little forts to leave their families in, while they go out to meet and repel the foe."

When Colonel Hunter dispatched this message he had not heard the worst, for he quickly forwarded another on the 31st of May, in which he said: "We are really in a melancholy situation in this county. The back inhabitants have all evac- uated their habitations and assembled in different places. All above Muncy to

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Lycoming are at Samuel Wallis's, and the people of Muncy have gathered at Cap- tain Brady's. All above Lycoming are at Antes's mill, and the mouth of Bald Eagle creek." The latter designation was meant for Harris's Fort.

This letter was addressed to Capt. John Hambright, who was then a member of the Supreme Executive Council, and as he had previously been a resident of the county and was familiar with every point mentioned, Colonel Hunter was particular in noting localities for his information. Continuing, he observed: "A panic pre- vails in this county. It is really distressing to see the inhabitants flying away and leaving their all, especially the Jersey people, who came here last winter and spring. Not one stays, but sets off to the Jerseys again. The people in general are so dis- couraged that I am afraid we will not be able to make proper stands against the enemy, unless we get more assistance from some other quarter."

It was not strange, perhaps, after what had occurred, that such a condition existed. The people had every reason to be discouraged. But it seems they were determined to make one more effort. The Colonel says: "There were a number of the inhabitants with me to-day to consult in regard to petitioning Congress for some companies to be stationed here and properly supported; for, as the generality of the settlers are poor, they can not subsist long in case they are obliged to keep so many of the militia on duty, as there are at this time three classes, which take the chief of all the arms, so that there is not enough left to supply them that guard the women and children." The people had very likely become tired of appealing to the Supreme Executive Council through the county lieutenant, or they would not have been considering the propriety of addressing Congress. This was a last move to arouse the government to speedy action in their behalf. Colonel Hunter closed his letter with these words: "John Weitzel sets off to-day [May 31] to forward the arms that are allowed to come here, and to endeavor to get more arms, ammunition, and flints. Camp kettles are very much wanted, if such things can be had. I expect you will endeavor all you can to get some money from Council for Mr. Weitzel to purchase provisions, otherwise we will be all undone."

The next day (June 1st) the heart of Colonel Hunter was gladdened, for he wrote Vice-President Bryan acknowledging the receipt of £1,500 in cash by the hands of John Harris, Jr., of Loyalsock, " for purchasing provisions." "In case the Board of War," he added, "has not made provisions in another way, the money shall be put to the use proposed by Council." He complained, however, of the non- arrival of arms which had been promised from Northampton, and then observed + that there had been 250 weight of gunpowder received, " with four or five hundred weight of lead, but no flints!" Flour and wheat, he thought, could be purchased in Lancaster county. And if they succeeded in obtaining it there, it would have to be transported up the river by batteaux, poled by stalwart men, which was a slow process. He complained of the rainy condition of the weather, which greatly inter- fered with military movements and the comfort of the people. He also remarked that more arms and ammunition, exclusive of what had been received and ordered, " would be very necessary to quiet the minds of the people, as there are a great many more that will use arms in their defence than we have enrolled in the militia, especially men above the age of fifty-three and under eighteen will do to be stationed at such little forts as they are erecting for the preservation of the women and

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History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 15

Author: edited by John F. Meginness Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1650

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650