USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. With illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 5
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A general scene of devastation was now sprend through all the townships. Fire, sword, and other instruments of destruction alternating, until every settlement, except those occupied by tories, was destroyed, and the inhabitants butchered or driven from their homes. The barbarities of the inbnman monster Butler, extended to the stock of the wretched people; many were slaughtered; others, with tongues cut out, were left to die the death of' starva- tion. Some cases of especial cruelty were practiced. Among others, Captain Bedlock was stripped, his body filled with splinters nud set on fire; Captains Kernsey aud Durger, were thrown alive into flames, and held in. pluce with pitch-forks, until death relieved their sufferings. The carunge censed only for want of victims. A few women and children were fortunate enough to cseapie to the woods, nod became fugitives from their now desolate homes. The sufferings endured by these helples- wanderers, many of whom perished in their
flight, will only he known when the final pages of this atrocious scene are unfoldled to view at the bar of judgment. These scenes were enacted within the limits of Northumberland County, in un age when the refining influences of Christianity had softened the heart of mankind toward its fellows, and taught us that the principle virtue of the truly good uns charity.
We may search in vain among the annals of the days of the Spanish Inqui- sition, for a parallel to the inhumanity exhibited by the monster Butler, in his ruthless destruction of the defenseless of his own raee, and, in some enses his own bloud. Hunt the records of the dark ages through for a more un- feeling, benstly sentiment, than that of' his reply to the brave Dennison, when seeking some mitigation of cruelty for his followers, he asked for the terms of' sarrender; "the hatchet" was the only response of this blood-stained wretch. Volumes have been written, of the sufferings of the people of Wyoming, Int never can American people rightly appreciate Butler, and his banditti, or the nation that fostered and sustained him in his horrid work. Over two hundred settlers of the Susquehanna met with violent deaths at the time of this massacre, and many were killed by the Indians, who, at various times, stealthily sought isolated settlement>, and with fire and hatchet destroyed every vestige of civilization. No sooner hnd the little settlement partially re- covered from this shock, than they found themselves again arrayed against the whole power of the Pennsylvanian government. Connecticut hnd with- drawn all claim to jurisdiction after the decree of the commission at Trenton and left the wenk Colonists to contend with their old enemies. No com- munity of equal extent in the country had responded so nobly to the enll for troops during the war as the little territory of Northumberland County. Many of her hest citizens had perished in the struggle for Independence. Many widows and orphans had been left hopelessly dependent upon the charity of those little more fortunate than themselves. As a consequence, the ability of the people to defend themselves was much less than formerly ; and it would seem that after all the bitter experiences of the past that any sacrifice would have been made rather than renew the internecine strife. But human nature is very much alike, whether found among the Yankees and Pennamites of Northumberland in 1780, or more civilized loenlities in this the Centennial year, and each party was thoroughly imbued with a consciousness of the rectitude of their conduct. The petition of the settlers to Congress for redress at this time, presents to view a condition of things that it would seem should melt the strongest heart, and prompt those hnving the necessary power to the perfection of some measure for relief. The petition was worded as follows : " We have settled a country which in its original state of but little value, but now cultivated by your memorialists, is of the grentest importance to them, being their all. We are yet alive, but the richest bloud of our neighbors and friends, parents, children and husbands, has been spilt in the general cause of our country, and we have suffered everything this side of death. We supplied the Continental army with many valuable officers and soldiers, and left ourselves wenk and unguarded against the attack of the savages, and others more savage by nature. Our houses are desulate, many mothers are childless, widows and orphans are multiplied, our habitations are destroyed and many of our neighbors reduced to beggary." But all this nvailed nuthing against the cupidity of innumerable speculators who infested the Proprietaries, to use force in dispelling the Connecticut people. The General Assembly appointed a commission, consisting of Joseph and William Montgomery and Joseph McLean, with instructions to repair to Wyoming and compromise the dispute between the settlers and the Commonwealth. This committee recommended that the settlers he allowed land in the western part of the State as consideration for their improvements, provided they would enter into con- traets to relinquish all elaims, and remove immediately. Such a foul wrong as this report contemplated to inflict upon the intended victims would, of course, arouse the indignation of any one with the least atom of manhood: but unjust and outrageously unfair as it was it received the sanction of the self-righteous Friends who claimed the soil of Pennsylvania, and of all their emissaries. Among the latter was one Patterson, who had been in the employ of the Penns for many years, and at this time held the appointment of justice of the peace in Northumberland County. He, with his associates, backed by a military force, commenced a system of contemptible and cowardly annoyances upon the Yankees, by quartering the soldiers upon the inhabitants, arresting people and confining them under gunrd within the fort, und inflicting. upon them every indignity that would anggest itself to a depraved and cowardly spirit like his. Old men suffering with discuse, men who had spent years fighting the British foe, and had just returned to their homes, were hurried off' to a louthesome prison, destitute of even a floor, und there compellerl to lie down, the guard being instructed to shoot any who attempted to risc. The men secure in prison, Patterson turned the women and children out of doors
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
and put his followers in possession of their homes. Petitions were sent to Congress, to the Assemblies of Pennsylvanin and Connectient, but without avail. On the 13th and 14th days of May, 1784-days that will be ever memorable on the Susquehanna River, for the consummation of the most fiendish decds ever perpetrated by mortal man-Patterson's soldiers dispos- sessed one hundred and fifty families, and forced five hundred men, women and children to march through the wilderness to the Delaware, sixty miles distant. "Several children died from starvation and exposure; women just ready for confinement were compelled to wade swollen streams, and the suf- ferings of the entire impoverished throng were beyond the possibility of pen or tongue to describe. Cripples on crutches, babes in the mother's arms, the helpless conveyed on litters, were driven along nt the point of the bayonet, through n dreary, uninhabited wilderness." Patterson overrenched himself by his wanton cruelty, and drew forth the ituliguation of all good men, and by none was his unauthorized and outrageous enurse denounced more strongly than by the people of this County. The settlers were powerless to help themselves, and they could only appeal to the authorities for redress. The next move on the part of the Pennsylvanin Government, was the appointment of Colonel Armstrong nud Hon. John Boyd, with full power to restore peace to Wyoming. In August, 1784, the commissioners arrived in the valley, with three hundred infantry and fifteen cavalry. They issued their proclamation declaring peace and good order, and demanding a cessation of hostilities. The Yankees accepted his promises and were immediately arrested; some were sent to Easton to jnil, forty-two others to Sunbury. Of those sent to Sunbury, ten escaped on the morning of the 25th of August, when the rest were forced into a dirty dungeon and treated with the utmost rigor until finally released on bail. Those confined' at Easton, overcame their keeper and relensed themselves. The perfidious Armstrong was removed, but shortly afterward was promoted to the rank of general, and returned to the valley on the 17th of August, in command of one hundred men. An engagement ensued in which Armstrong was detented. The next day Armstrong sent thirty men to gather buekwhent on the ints, but they were surrounded by the Yankees, and the grain captured. At this junction, the Assembly of Penn- sylvania passed an Act, restoring the dispossessed Yankees to their lands and homes, a conciliatory measure of but temporary relief however. The settlers at once commenced devising measures for protection, organized the militia, with Franklin for colonel, and appointed committees to prepare some form of government. An effort was made by Franklin to erect a new State, out of the precincts of Pennsylvanin. The authorities at Philadelphin snw at once that the infamous policy pursued by Pennsylvania was fast leading to a dis- memberment of the State, and that it became necessary to adopt other and prompt mensures. Timothy Pickering, a lawyer of distinguished ability was regnesteil to repair to Wyoming, and examine into the condition of things there. This he did in the months of August and September, 1786, and re- turned to Philadelphia, reporting that " Yankees were entirely satisfied with the constitution of Pennsylvania, and were ready to submit to its government, provided they could be quieted in the possession of their farms." September 25th, of the same year, Luzerne County was organized, and Pickering, Hol- lenback and others, were commissioned justices of the peuce. On the 27th of December, notice was served on the electors of Luzerne, through Picker- ing, Butler nod Franklin, that an election would be held, on the first day of February, 1787, for the election of one supreme Councillor, one member of the House of Representatives, and high Sheriff. This was an exquisite strategie movement, intended tu divide the Yankees-aud succeeded. Frank- lin was elected to the General Assembly, but he thiled to be enught in the cunningly sprend net, and stubbornly adhered to his former position, refusing to take a seat in the Assembly. On the 28th of March, following the elec- tion, the Pennsylvania authorities, seeing the utter failure to gain any van- tage ground by the futilous course, so long pursued, passed what was known as the " confirming law," and appointed Pickering, Montgomery and Mufilen- berg a commission, to sit at Wilkesbarre and decide upon contestant claims. So often had the plighted faith of the agents of the government been broken, that the Yankees watched with great distrust the action of the commis- sioners. Pickering had long been known as a man of unswerving rectitude, and strictly honorable in all his dealings; he pledged his honor as security for the good thith of Pennsylvania, but still he wus distrusted. A publie meet- ing was called, which was addressed by the friends of ench party. Franklin lelivered a most sarcastic and withering speech, in which he denounced the conduct of Pennsylvania as well as his former friends, who had been estranged from their common cause, and now took sidles with Pickering. The long pent-up emotions of the excited multitude could not be restrained, and the convention broke up in a row, in which fists and clubs were freely
used. Order was finally restored and a vote taken, which resulted in an ac- ceptance of the privileges guaranteed in the Confirming Act. Franklin in vain nttempted to unite the people again, in which effort he was seconded by General Ethan Allen; the people had tired of disorder, and eagerly ac- cepted any compromise that would tend to quiet the disturbing elements of their society. His fierce nature knew no submission-he harangued the people daily, denouncing the authorities and demanding the repeal of the confirming law, which was mainly brought about by two clergymen of the place. Franklin was arrested and carried off' to Philadelphia, and the wild, turbulent Yankees finally subdued, through the consummate tact and ability of Colonel Pickering.
The Legislature of Pennsylvania, finally, in 1799, passed the compromise law, under which Pennsylvania claimants were compensated. Commis- sioners appointed under this law, examined the nature of different claims, and if it appeared that a Connecticut claimant was an actual settler before the Trenton decree, certifientes were issued confirming the title by the pay- ment of a small consideration. This restored peace to the community, which, for a period of' thirty years, had been distracted by a bitter strife, in which passion and selfishness had predominated, and the voice of reason heen unheeded. No more striking instance of the ungovernableness of man, when blinded by passion, and controlled wholly by selfishness, is afforded in the annals of history, than that found in the history of the civil wars on the Susquehanna. The Connecticut party justly deemed themselves the victims of harsh usage, and partial legislation ; and being of the same blood as those who, in Boston harbor, gave the British government so distinctly to under- stand that they would submit to no wrong, it is not surprising that they ob- stinately resisted the arbitrary proceedings of Pennsylvania. The conduct of the government of the Penns, and after their retirement, of the Common- wealth, was without excuse. The vacillating legislation exposed her to the severest criticism. The General Assembly was undoubtedly corruptly in- fluenced in the repeal of wholesome measures, that would have allayed un- pleasant feeling, and at any time, restored quiet. The attitude assumed by Pennsylvania, and the injustice perpetrated upon the elaimants on the Sus- quehanna, by reason of her nuwise legislation, is graphically set forth in a re- port made by the High Court of Censors-a body that convened once in seven years, and to which was preferred the complaints of the wronged settlers.
After a careful investigation, this tribunal reported as follows : "It is the opinion of this Council that the decision made at Trenton early in 1783, he- tween the State of Connecticut and this Commonwealth, concerning the territorial rights of both, was favorable to Pennsylvania. It likewise promised the happiest consequences to the confederacy, as an example was thereby set of two contending sovereignties adjusting their differences in a court of justice, instead of involving themselves, and perhaps their con- federates, in war and bloodshed. It is much to be regretted, that this happy event was not improved on the part of this State as it might have been. That the persons claiming lands, at and near Wyoming, occupied by emigrants from Connecticut, now become subjects of Pennsylvania, were not left to pros- ecute their claims in the proper course without the intervention of the legisla- ture. That a body of troops wus enlisted, after the Indian war had ceased and the Civil government hud been established, and placed at Wyoming-for no other apparant purpose than that of promoting the interests of the claimants under the former grants of Pennsylvania. That these troops were kept up and continued there, without the license of Congress, in violation of the Confederation. That they were suffered, without restraint, to injure and op- press the neighboring inhabitants, during the course of the winter. That the injuries done to these people excited the compassion and interposition of the State of Connecticut, who, thereupon, demanded of Congress another hearing, in order to investigate the private claims of the settlers at Wyoming, formerly inhabitants of New England, who from this instance of partiality in our rulers, have been led to distrust the Justice of the State; when in the mean time, mnubers of soldiers, and other disorderly persons, in a most riotous and inhuman manner, expelled the New England settlers before mentioned, from their habitations, and drove them towards the Delaware, through un- settled and almost impassable ways, lenving these unhappy outensts to suffer every species of misery andl distress. That this armed force stationed, as atoresaid, at Wyoming, as far as we can see, without any public advantage in view, hans cost the Commonwealth the sum of $4,460, and upwards, for the hase levying, providing and paying of them, besides other expenditures of public monies. That the authority for embodying these troops was given privately, and unknown to the good people of Pennsylvania; the same being directed by n mere resolve of the House of Assembly, brought in and read the first time on Monday, the 22d of September, 1788, when on motion,
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
and by special order, the same was read a second time and adopted. That the putting this resolve on the secret Journal of the House, and concealing it from the people, after the war with the savages had ceased, and the in- habitants of Wyoming had submitted to the government of the State, suffi. ciently marks and fixes the clandestine and partial interest of the arma- inent, no such condition having been thought necessary in the defense of the northern and western frontiers during the late war. And lastly, we regret the fatal example which this transaction has set of private persons, at least equally able with their opponents to maintain there own cause, proenring the interest of the Commonwealth in their behalf, and the aid of the pub- lic treasury. The opprobrium, which from hence has resulted to this State, and the dissatisfaction and prospect of disseution, now existing with one of our sister States, the violation of the confederation, and the injury hereby done to such of the Pennsylvania claimants of land at Wyoming, occupied as aforesaid, as have given no countenance to, but on the contrary have dis- avowed these extravagant proceedings. In short we lament that our gov- ernment has in this business manifested little wisdom or foresight ; nor have acted as guardians of the rights of the people committed to their care. Impressed with the multiplied evils which have sprung from the imprudeut management of this business, we hold it up to public censure, to prevent, if possible, further instances of bad government, which might convulse and distract our new-formed nation."
CHAPTER VIL
THE CENTENNIAL OF CHEMISTRY-DR. PRIESTLY.
THE first day of August, 1874, was a memorable one to the denizeus of the quiet little borough of Northumberland. At an early hour, it was evi- dent that something was about to occur, sufficiently apart from the usual routine of the humdrum of life, of tbe quiet, contented people of this se- eluded nook, to arouse from their lethargy those who, for a generation, had floated along the current without an effort to change its conrse. Years had passed, stirring events had followed each other in rapid succession, changing society, revolutionizing science, destroying nations, establishing others from the ruins, since the earth had closed over the wearied form of him who was the principal actor in the wonderful event, that the unusual assemblage at Northumberland had convened to commemorate. One hundred years be- fore, Dr. Joseph Priestly, in the investigation of his beloved science, had made the all important discovery of oxygen gus. To those uninformed as to the influence of this single element npon all animated life, it would probably seem that a feeling had been aroused wholly unproportioned to the magui- tude of the event; hut to those who had devoted valuable lives to the investi- gation of the abstruse science, the interest manifested was hardly commensu; rate with the importance of the discovery to the genus homo. The purpose of the multitude was made manifest in the address of Col. David Taggart, who welcomed the assembled scientists of the nation in words which ade- qnately explained the object of the convention.
"I have been chosen by my fellow-citizens to offer to the learned and dis- tinguished men and women, who have gathered here to commemorate a grand discovery and to honor a great name, a brief but earnest welcome. We cannot follow you through the wide realms of seience, nor explore very deeply the mysteries of nature, for we know more about oxeu thau oxygen, and a great deal more about the whey of milk than the Milky Way, but we can move with equal step in paying tribute of respect and reverence to the illustrious man, who, eighty years ago, found among "the rude forefathers" of this hamlet, a quiet home, and, seventy years ago, an honored grave.
"While in the lapse of everlasting time, all human names must be forgot- ten, many ages will have come and gone and left their silent footmarks on the earth, before that of Priestly will pass from the memories and the re- cords of his fellow-men. He has written it in letters of light aud glory, upon the highest and broadest pillar of the universe. By right of genius and labor, he takes rank with "the dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule onr spirits from their urns."
"Like the eagle, he built his eyrie npon the mountain top, inaccessible to vulgar intrusions. In that pure atmosphere he dwelt not above human spite, jealousy, and detraction-for it is easier to get below than above them, -but above their annoyances. The shafts of bigots and fools were aimed at him, but they could not penetrate the triple armor, which Philosophy, En- thusiasm, and Truth had thrown around him. Like you, ;gentlewen, he
made seience his mistress, and with a pure heart and an untiring mind he worshipped, her "Through long days of labor, and nights devoid of ease," and to-day he stands with Galileo, Newtou, Harvey, Franklin, Faraday and Humboldt, grand, colossal, and enduring, one of the great high-priests in the boundless and beautiful Temple of Nature.
" A brutal English mob could burn his dwelling, aud in an hour of politi- eal madness and religious frenzy, destroy the work of years, but it could not stay the iudomitable energy of his genius, nor dim the lustre of his well- earned renown. While the miserable wretches who composed that mob have long ago given back to the great element which he discovered, seventy-five per cent. of their worthless eareasses, more than eighty years afterward, his great name is a talisman to draw to this quiet village, many of the most renowned knowledge-gatherers of the nation-besides several from New Jersey, and Canada,-an aristoeraey of learning and intellect that can afford to look down from its high eitadels of thought and achievement, with pity, if not contempt, upon the mere vulgar aristocracy of blind accident, the painted caterpillars of pretentious, illiterate wealth.
" As I am not vain enough to suppose that any one cares to listen to me, when such illustrious names are upon the bills, I will merely reiterate to you, men and women of sense and science, in behalf of all my neighbors, a very sincere and unfeigned welcome, to our homes and to our hearts. And let me assure you most earnestly, that we are not only willing, but anxious, to do all things possible to make you remember with pleasure your well-timed pilgrimage to the home and grave of the greatest discoverer of his time."
The people of the present and future have a deep interest in the events that made up the life of the truly great Priestly. A history of his life and aets, forms an essential feature in the history of the community in which he dwelt and labored. The discoveries made by him, here, in the home of his adoption, sufficiently indicate the character of the man, when judged from a scientifie standpoint. His writings on politics and kindred subjects, indi- cate his standing as a politician and mau of letters. His free way of think- ing, and free style of writing, were somewhat at variance with the strict Federalist sentiments of the dominant party of his day, which brought him into a controversy with the factionists that affected his popularity with the masses ; otherwise, he could easily have been the leading politician of his time. His logic was potent, but sometimes a little rough. His manner of expression, piquant; which led doubtless to a greater degree of asperity among his reviewers, than was deserved. His friends were numerous, his confidants hnt few. His compositions would fill volumes, which written for the public eye and expressive of the views of a liberal-minded man, who lived many years in advance of the age, were not the true tests of his real character. His honest convictions are best exhibited in his private correspondence. One of his letters written to n prominent member of Congress, between whom and Priestly there was au affiuity of feeling on all questions of real moment, is here published, as best illustrative, perhaps, of his political status :
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