USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume I > Part 11
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The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in 1749, nominally closed the war between England and France, but failed to establish the boundaries between the respective colonies in America. The efforts to enlarge these boundaries were of constant irritation. In the spring of 1754 the French again began warlike demonstrations, which was followed by the defeat of General Brad- dock in the following year. When the storm actually burst upon the province of Pennsylvania it was found to be totally unprepared. The Dela- ware Indians, in obedience to the orders of their masters, the Six Nations, had been forced to occupy the territory some distance north of the Blue Mountains, stretching from the Susquehanna to the Delaware river. Their principal villages were at Shamokin, near the present site of Sunbury, Penn- sylvania, and were strung along to the east at various points in the Wyoming district. Naturally, hostilities started in the vicinity of Shamokin. The inhabitants of Penn's creek, in the upper part of Cumberland county, on October 16, 1755, were attacked by the Indians, and twenty-five men, women and children were killed and scalped. The Indian depredations extended eastward. Passing through Swatara Gap and at what is now Pine Grove, they massacred George Everhart and his family.
The outbreak of the Indian hostilities fell heavily on Indian converts to the Christian religion. The whites looked on them with an evil eye, espe- cially the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. The Moravians, in their efforts to Christianize these Indians, were strenuously opposed by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who displayed considerable fanaticism. They professed to believe that the Indians were the Canaanites of the Western World, and that God's command to Joshua to destroy held good with regard to the American Indians. Therefore these men were always ready to exterminate the red man, regardless of age or sex. Toward the Christian Indians their greatest animosity was shown, and these poor, inoffensive people were mur- dered whenever an opportunity presented itself. The Moravian experienced
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less difficulty in taming these savages than the government did in subduing the Scotch-Irish, who, discovering the weakness of the government, formed themselves into lawless, armed bands, murdering the Indians wherever they were to be found. There appeared, however, on the horizon a cloud at first not large, which was destined to burst on the white settlers with desolation and terror. Through the summer and early fall of 1755 there were whispers of alarming disaffection among the Indians. The air became pregnant of forebodings; and, like a thunderbolt, on the morning of November 25, 1755, couriers traversed the lower settlements, announcing a savage massacre on Mahoning creek. The hate and revenge of the Indians had at last culminated, and their onslaught fell on the Moravian brethren at Gnadenhutton. The mission-house was attacked on the evening of November 24th by the French Indians, the house was burnt, and eleven of the inhabitants murdered. The alarm was heralded by the uncommon barking of dogs, and when Brother Senseman went out of the back door to learn the cause of the disturbance he was confronted by the Indians with their guns ready, and they opened fire, instantly killing Martin Nitchman. His wife and some others were wounded, and fled to the garret for safety. The Indians, after making unsuc- cessful efforts to burst open the door of the garret, fired the building. The terrorized inmates jumped from the roof in their attempt to make their escape, but most of them were burned alive. The Indian congregation at Gnadenhutton hearing the report of the guns and seeing the flames and learning the dreadful cause from those who escaped, immediately went to the rescue and offered to attack the savage Indians. They were, however, advised to the contrary by the Moravian brethren, and fled to the woods, and Gnadenhutton was deserted.
Fearful of the vengeance of the whites, the Indians, after committing these outrages, fled to the forests. The surviving brethren, with their women, children and the settlers, sought refuge at Bethlehem and other parts of the county.
There was a lull for a few days, when the Indians on the morning of December 10, 1755, attacked the plantation of Daniel Brodhead, near the month of Brodhead's creek, in the town of Smithfield, and not far from the present site of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Brodhead and his sons repelled the Indians' attack, but the latter, proceeding to the houses of other settlers in the vicinity, attacked them, burning their buildings and murdering many of the people. The authorities promptly dispatched military companies to the scene of the disaster, and in less than a month over five hundred men were armed and actively engaged in the defense of the settlers. A line of stockades was built along the Northampton frontier, and Colonel (afterwards Doctor) Benjamin Franklin was commissioned by the governor of Pennsyl- vania to take charge of their erection, as well as the entire line of operations. The Indians continued their marauding all along the northern settlements, and in one of their attacks inflicted a heavy loss on Captain Hay's company of rangers.
Colonel Franklin arrived at Bethlehem December 18, 1755. The white settlers were terrified by the defeat of Captain Hay's company, and the roads were filled with refugees fleeing to the more thickly populated settlements.
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The advent of Colonel Franklin with his imposing military array and the erection of his cordon of forts, or else the magnitude of the atrocities they had committed, seemed to appease the desire of the savages for further revenge or murder. The governor asked the Indians to meet his friends and advisers at Easton the following July, and to this proposition the copper- colored warriors assented.
CEMENT
OLD COUNTY HOUSE, DEMOLISHED 1868
OLD MARKET HOUSE AT THE ENTRANCE OF NORTH THIRD STREET, EASTON, 1812
CHAPTER VIII
THE ERECTION OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Northampton, the seventh county to be organized in the province, was formed March II, 1752, from a part of Bucks. Its name did not originate with the Assembly, but from Thomas Penn, one of the Proprietaries, who in a letter to Governor Hamilton, dated London, September 8, 1751, expressed the desire that the new town (which had been ordered to be surveyed at the Forks of the Delaware) be named Easton, and whenever a new county should be erected it be called Northampton. There was a sentimental reason for this suggestion of names. Penn had just married Juliana Fermor, the daugh- ter of Lord Pomfret, whose county seat, Easton-Neston, was located in Northamptonshire, England. At the time of its erection the county contained 5,321 square miles, which included the entire northeastern section of the province, now made up wholly or in part of fourteen counties.
The first reduction of the area of the county occurred when Northamp- ton county was organized, March 27, 1772, when 2,072 square miles were taken to form that county. The erection of Wayne county, March 21, 1798, further reduced the area 720 square miles. This was followed, March II, 18II, by the organization of Schuylkill county, when 175 square miles were taken. The erection of Lehigh county took place March 6, 1812, and the area of the county was again reduced 389 square miles. Columbia county was formed March 22, 1813, when 25 square miles were taken. The erection of Pike county, March 26, 1814, was the occasion of the loss of 580 square miles, and when Monroe became a county, April 1, 1836, there was placed under her jurisdiction 600 square miles. By the erection of Carbon county, April 1, 1836, there were 390 square miles taken. These reductions aggre- gated 4,951 square miles, leaving the present area of Northampton county 370 square miles. Of the 2,072 square miles taken to form Northumberland county, there were 713 square miles in 1786 taken in the formation of Luzerne county, and in 1810 a further reduction of 797 square miles was included in the organization of Susquehanna county. On the erection of Bradford county in 1810, Northumberland county again sacrificed 390 square miles. Wyoming county was organized in 1842, when 172 square miles were taken. Of the 713 square miles taken to form Luzerne county, there were 424 square miles used in the formation in 1878 of Lackawanna county. Thus it can be readily seen that the end of the first century and a half of its existence Northampton county was genealogically the parent of eight coun- ties, the grandparent of four counties, and great-grandparent of one. The population of the county at the time it was erected was estimated at about 4,000; her population in her restricted terriory in 1910 was 127,667.
The townships which had been formed and named prior to the erection of Northampton county were Smithfield and Milford, in 1742; Saucon, Upper and Lower, and Macungie, in 1743; Bethlehem and Mount Bethel, in 1746; Allen and Williams, in 1749. The only township north of the Blue Moun- NORTH .- 1-6.
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tains was Smithfield, inhabited by Hollanders, and all beyond was an un- broken wilderness known as "Towamensing," a county practically uninhab- ited, and on a map printed in 1749 called "St. Anthony's Wilderness."
The erection of Northampton county was a political movement on the part of John and Thomas Penn. One of the first acts of William Penn was to divide the province into three counties-Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks. The increasing German emigration into the province had become quite a factor in the erection of Bucks county. In co-operation with the Quakers, the Germans wielded a political power in the assembly in opposition to the proprietary interests. In order to break this alliance and thereby reduce it, the Penns fathered the project of the creation of a new county that would embrace within its limits the rapidly growing German communities.
Easton was named as the shiretown, and the Penns donated a lot for the erection of a court-house. There was a good deal of opposition to the selection of Easton from those living remote from the proposed location. The petitioners contended that Easton was in the extreme southeast corner of the new county; it was inaccessible, there being no roads, and it was surrounded by high hills which were difficult to ascend. The courts for over a decade of years assembled at the taverns, and it was not until George Taylor was appointed to attend to the building of a court-house in 1764 when he came to Easton, that any active steps were taken. The court-house was modeled after Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, and was completed at the cost of $4,589.67. It was an inspiring structure, built of limestone, and sur- mounted by a cupola, in which a bell was placed that was cast at Bethlehem. The court-house was situated on the central square, and south of it stood the pillory and whipping-post, those ancient instruments of punishment which ornamented the square for twenty-five years. At the time of the erection of the court-house there were only sixty-three houses in Easton.
After the first court-house had stood about seventy-five years, the people of the county became satisfied that the public interests demanded a new one. Then arose the contention for its location; the citizens did not want the central square to be any longer filled with public buildings; the lawyers did not want it removed from the center of business. The citizens finally won; David D. Wagner and James Thompson donated the site on the north side of Walnut street. The excavation was made on June 15, 1860, the building finished in October, 1861, and on November 18th of that year the first term of court was held in the new court-house. The venerable building on the square was razed, the material removed, and the ground graded.
The first building erected by the county was the jail in 1752; it was situated south of the court-house, fronting Third street. It was designed not only for criminals, but for a place of safety for women and children in the case of an Indian invasion. The cost of the jail, with wells dug, was $1,066.67. This jail served its purpose until the construction of a new one in 1850-51 on the same site. The new jail contained twenty-three cells, nine by twelve feet square. It was built of limestone, and was surrounded by a wall fifteen feet in height. It was used until 1871, when a third jail was built on the same plot of land that the court-house occupied. The size of the new jail is one hundred and eighty by sixty feet ; a wall enclosing it two
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ERECTION OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
hundred and twenty by one hundred and fifty feet. The building is a massive stone structure; the contract for building was $139,000, but the total expense did not fall short of $200,000.
The act providing for the Northampton County Almshouse was ap- proved March II, 1839, by Governor Joseph Ritner. There were at that time comparatively few such institutions in the State. Barnabas Davis, George Barnet, Jacob Vogel, Jacob Wagener, Jacob Hower, Jacob Young, John D. Bauman, David Kemmerer and Conrad Shimer were appointed as commis- sioners to purchase the necessary real estate for the accommodation of the county poor. The commissioners, after examining various localities, pur- chased from the Moravians a tract of land near the present borough of Nazareth in the township of Upper Nazareth, and erected the necessary buildings. The original land purchase has at various times been added to by acquiring subsequent additions. The insane hospital was erected in 1861, and in 1875 extensive additions to the building were made. The institution has an adequate supply of pure spring water; a small reservoir was erected, . which is supplied by several springs rising in the hills about a half mile from the almshouse buildings.
SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON
CHAPTER IX
THE INDIAN TREATIES
At the closing of the year 1755 some of the Delaware and Shawnee Indians went on the warpath. They massacred settlers on both sides of the Blue Mountains, from the Hudson to the Susquehanna rivers. There had been built for the protection of the whites, forts and blockhouses ; promi- nent among these were those at Bethlehem, Christian's Springs, Gnadenthal, Nazareth, Friedensthal and the Rose Inns, which had been erected by the Moravian Economy. These fortifications in January, 1756, accommodated five hundred and fifty-six refugees from the northern settlements. Besides these there was the Deshler's Fort, near Egypt; Brown's Fort, in the Irish Settlement; one at Slatington; another near Point Phillips. To the eastward of these was Dietz's blockhouse, near the Wind Gap; Martin's Fort, the old stone-mill at Martin's creek. The Jersey side of the Delaware river was protected by a line of forts, the first being Fort Reading at Belvidere; eighteen miles north was a fort at Colonel Van Campen's; six miles above this, at the Walpack bend of the river, was Fort Walpack. Above this six miles was the largest fort, known as Headquarters, and eight miles from this point was Fort Nominick; four miles beyond was Fort Shipcoon; and eight miles further north was Coles Fort. There was also inland from the Dela- ware river Fort Gardner.
North of the Blue Mountains on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware river, the first on its banks was Fort Hynshaw, which was situated near the mouth of the Bushkill river. Then above the Water Gap at Shawnee was Depieu's Fort; at Stroudsburg was Fort Hamilton; near Brodheadville was Fort Norris; and at Weissport, on the Lehigh river, was Fort Allen. From the latter place, at certain distances apart, was a continuation of these forts reaching the Susquehanna river.
There was no apparent cause assigned for the Indian outbreak, and early in the spring of 1756 Governor Morris sent messengers to the northern Indians requesting a conference and calling for a cessation of hostilities for thirty days. Unfortunately, after the governor's proclamation announcing the cessation of hostilities, war was proclaimed by the New Jersey authori- ties against the same Indians, and a company of men were sent against Wyoming, one of their towns. This news was brought to Bethlehem as the governor's messengers were making their departure. They therefore waited till they received word that the Jersey party had been to Wyoming, found a deserted town which they destroyed by fire, and returned home. The gov- ernor's messengers then proceeded on their way and met Teedyuscung at Diahoge, in the province of New York.
This noted warrior was holding a conference with the deputies of the Six Nations and a treaty was consummated in which the independence of the Delawares was acknowledged and the authority of Teedyuscung over Four Nations, the Lenapi and Wanami, two Delaware nations, the Munseys
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and Mohicans, was recognized. He was, however, requested not to act independently for his people, but to advise with the Six Nations that by uniting their councils and strength they might better promote the general interests of the Indians. They impressed him with the fact that the English and French were fighting for their land and desired his aid and co-operation to defend their rights.
Teedyuscung then received from the deputies of the Six Nations a large belt with several figures wrought on it. "In the middle was a square, mean- ing the lands of the Indians; at one end was a figure of a man, indicating the English ; at the other end another, meaning the French ; both these, they. said, covet their lands, but let us join together to defend our lands against both, and you shall be the partaker with us of our lands."
To Teedyuscung this proposal was too advantageous not to be accepted ; he therefore agreed to it and concerted a plan with the Six Nations to bring about peace with the English, and for securing their lands. He immediately dispatched Nutimus, a former king of one of the Delaware tribes, to Otsaningo to meet Sir William Johnson, while he himself prepared to meet the governor of Pennsylvania. The latter was the most hazardous enterprise, as he was obliged to go into the inhabited part of the country and amongst settlers who had been incensed against him for the ravages committed by his people; besides, it required the greatest address, as with Pennsylvania government affairs of the greatest importance were to be transacted. The Six Nations empowered him to act as plenipotentiary from them, promising to ratify all his acts.
The Delaware embassy to Sir William Johnson was joined by Pack- sinosa, the old Shawnese king, and met the English official at Onondaga, New York, and from thence went to Fort Johnson, New York, where, on July 10, 1756, a conference was held. Sir William, at the opening of the council, reproached the Indians for their past conduct, painting the murders and devastations they had committed in strong colors, imputing their acts to the artifices of the French. He told them "that by virtue of a power received from his Majesty, if they were sincerely disposed to continue his Majesty's dutiful children and to maintain their fidelity towards him and unbroken peace and friendship towards all his subjects, that their brethren, the English, would exert their unfeigned zeal and best endeavors to reclaim those of their people who had been deluded by the French, and upon these conditions he was ready to renew the covenant chain of peace and friendship."
To this Nutimus calmly replied that "he had carefully attended to what was said, that it was pleasing to him, but he could not take upon himself to give a determinate answer, that he would deliver Sir William Johnson's speech to all his nations on his return home, and that their fixed resolutions and positive answer should be returned as soon as possible."
On receipt of Nutimus' answer, Sir William summoned a council of those members of the Six Nations that attended the conference, informed them of his reply that he intended to make to the Delaware chief, and told them that he expected their support. The Six Nations Indians said they would speak to the Delawares, prepare them for what he intended to say, and press them at the same time to declare their real intentions.
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THE INDIAN TREATIES
The following day Sir William again addressed Nutimus, saying "that what he had answered yesterday was somewhat surprising, as his nation had been the aggressors and the English the injured party; that the present state of affairs between the English and his people required a speedy and determinate issue; that he had received accounts that hostilities were still continued by some of the Delawares, and that therefore it was requisite that he should, without delay, explain himself in behalf of his nation in such an explicit and satisfactory manner that his Majesty's injured provinces might know what part it was proper for them to act, and that he might depend upon it they would not continue tamely to bcar the bloody injuries which they had for some time past suffercd."
In reply the Delaware chief made answer "that his people had already ceased from hostilities, that they would follow the example of the Six Nations, that they would take hold of the covenant chain that bound together the English and the Six Nations, that they renounced the friendship of the French, and as Sir William Johnson had used the Mohicans well, he prom- ised to deliver up what English prisoners he held from among his people." With this decision, Sir William Johnson expressed his satisfaction, offered them the hatchet against the French, which they accepted; the Indians sang and danced the war-song and the Shawnese king informed Sir William Johnson that they would inform Teedyuscung of what had been done.
It was at this mecting that the invidious name of Petticoat, or Woman, was taken from the Delawares, which had been imposed on them by the Six Nations from the time they conquered them in the name of the King of England.
While this conference was taking place, Teedyuscung, having taken pre- caution to protect himself from danger by leaving parties of his warriors between the settlements of Pennsylvania and the Wyoming, on July 18, 1756, arrived at Bethlehem, where he met the governor's messenger, Captain New- castle, and informed him that he would be glad to meet the governor at the Forks, and that he was empowered to speak not only in behalf of his own people but also the Six Nations.
Captain Newcastle hurried to Philadelphia with the chief's messenger, and, presenting himself before the governor, addressed him as follows: "I have been entrusted by you with matters of the highest concern; I now declare to you that I have used all the abilitics I am master of, in the man- agement of them, and that with the greatcst cheerfulness I tell you in gencral, matters look well. I shall not go into particulars; Teedyuscung will do this at the public mecting, which he expects will be soon. The times are dangerous, the sword is drawn and glittering, all around you numbers of Indians on your border. I bescech you, therefore, not to give any delay to this important affair. Say where the council-fire is to be kindled; come to a conclusion immediately ; let us not wait a moment lest what has been done should prove ineffectual." To these urgent demands Governor Morris fixed upon Easton as the place of meeting.
On the beautiful square in the heart of Easton from July 24-31, 1756, was kindlcd the first council-fire in the Forks of the Delaware. At a conve- nicnt place in the square was erected a booth ; here the emissaries of Thomas
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Penn unsuccessfully waged their master's political game, and an untutored son of the forest compelled the white man's government to bend to his will.
There were four factors represented : The Indians seeking justice. The pro- prietary government representatives were : Lieutenant-Governor Robert Hun- ter Morris, accompanied by Richard Peters, the secretary of the province, and four members of the governor's council; the Friendly Association, under the leadership of Israel Pemberton, of about thirty Quakers from Philadel- phia, the wealthiest men of the province, whose presence, while not official, was in the cause of right and justice, which Penn's representatives dared not resist. The people at large were represented by four members of the Assembly, their duty being in conjunction with the governor in all business relating to the expenditure of public money. Colonel Conrad Weiser served as interpreter for the Six Nations; Benjamin-That-Speaks English, a youth from New Jersey, who had deserted from a military company of that prov- ince and cast his lot with the Indians, was interpreter for the Delawares. The Indians were represented by Teedyuscung, chief of the Delawares; the Six Nations by Captain Newcastle-in all about twenty-four Indians. A hearty welcome was extended by Governor Morris to Teedyuscung and his people. The Indian chief informed him he was authorized to speak in behalf of ten nations, as an ambassador from the Six Nations and as chief of four other nations. His duties were to hear what propositions the governor had to offer, and report to those he represented.
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