History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 3

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424

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THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

for the Onondagas. In April, 1748, accompanied by his son and Conrad Weiser, he visited Philadelphia for the last time, but no public business of importance was considered .*

Shikellimy's residence is first definitely located in 1729 in a letter of Governor Gordon to "Shikellimy and Kalaryonyacha at Shamokin." With- in the next eight years he had removed some miles up the valley of the West Branch. In the journal of his journey to Onondaga in 1737 Conrad Weiser states that he crossed the North Branch from Shamokin on the 6th of March; on the 7th he crossed Chillisquaque creek, and on the 8th he reached the village where Shikellimy lived. Bishop Spangenberg and his party passed over the same route, June 7, 1745; after passing Chillisquaque creek and the "site of the town that formerly stood there," they "next came to the place where Shikellimy formerly lived," which was then deserted; the next point noticed is Warrior's Camp (Warrior run). Spangenberg certainly did not cross the West Branch; if Weiser had done so in 1737 there is every reason to suppose that he would have mentioned it, which he does not; from which, if there were no other data bearing upon the subject, it would be fair to conclude that in 1737 Shikellimy resided on the east bank of the West Branch at some point between Chillisquaque creek and Warrior run. But there are other data: numerous applications for land in Buffalo valley refer to " old Muncy town, Shikellimy's town, or Shikellimy's old town," and from a comparison of the evidence of this nature John Blair Linn arrives at the conclusion that the village was situated " at the mouth of Sinking run, or Shikellimy's run as it was formerly called, at the old ferry one half mile below Milton on the Union county side."; However this may be, there is no doubt that at some time between 1737 and 1743 he removed to Shamokin, where he resided the remainder of his life. From this point he made fre- quent journeys to Onondaga, Philadelphia, Tulpehocken, Bethlehem, Pax- tang, and Lancaster, as the discharge of his important public functions required.

There is ample evidence in contemporary records that Shikellimy's posi- tion was one of responsibility and honor rather than profit or emolument. In the general system of national polity of which the Iroquois confederacy was the only type among the aborigines of America, his post corresponded to that of a Roman proconsul. But there the parallel ceases. Although he was charged with the surveillance of the entire Indian population of central Pennsylvania, and doubtless exacted a nominal tribute, no provision what- ever was made for his personal necessities, to which, with characteristic

*Further particulars regarding Shikellimy's participation in public affairs may be obtained by reference to Colonial Records, Vol. III. pp. 316, 330. 334-337, 404-410, 425, 435, 446, 500-504; IV. pp. 80, 432-434, 443-447, 584, 743; V. pp. 84-88, 162, 212, 222; Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. I. pp. 228, 241, 288, 455, 494-497, 499, 649, etc.

tLinn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p. 3.

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

diplomacy, the provincial authorities were induced to contribute .* He was expected to hunt and fish, the natural modes of subsistence with an Indian, regardless of his station, but in the waning vigor of old age he was obliged to relinquish the chase, and in October, 1747, Conrad Weiser found him in a condition of utter destitution. This he describes as follows, in a letter to Council :-

I must at the conclusion of this recommend Shikellimy as a proper object of char- ity. He is extremely poor; in his sickness the horses have eaten all his corn; his clothes he gave to Indian doctors to cure him and his family, but all in vain; he has nobody to hunt for him, and I can not see how the poor old man can live. He has been a true servant to the government and may perhaps still be, if he lives to do well again. As the winter is coming on I think it would not be amiss to send him a few blankets or match-coats and a little powder and lead, if the government would be pleased to do it and you could send it up soon. I would send my sons with it to Sham- okin before the cold weather comes.t

Upon the consideration of this letter it was immediately decided by Coun- cil that goods to the value of sixteen pounds should be procured and for- warded to Shikellimy by Conrad Weiser. The consignment included five stroud match-coats, one fourth of a cask of gunpowder, fifty pounds of bar lead, fifteen yards of blue " half-thicks," one dozen best buck-handled knives, and four duffel match-coats.

On the occasion referred to (October, 1747), Shikellimy was quite ill. Weiser says: "I was surprised to see Shikellimy in such a miserable condi- tion as ever my eyes beheld. He was hardly able to stretch forth his hand to bid me welcome; in the same condition was his wife, his three sons not quite so bad but very poorly, also one of his daughters and two or three of his grandchildren all had the fever." On the 10th of October, the day after his arrival, he administered medicines agreeably to the directions of Dr. Thomas Graeme, of Philadelphia, and before his departure Shikellimy was able to walk about "with a stick in his hand." In the following month he was so far recovered as to visit Tulpehocken, and in April, 1748, he was at Philadelphia. After this he seems to have had a relapse, for on the 18th of June in the same year the provincial Council was informed that he was " sick and like to lose his eyesight." He again recovered, however, and in the fol- lowing December made a visit to Bethlehem. On the return trip he became

* " The president likewise acquainting the board that the Indians, at a meeting with the Proprietor and him, had taken notice that Conrad Weiser and Shikellimy were, by the treaty of 1732, appointed as fit and proper persons to go between the Six Nations and this government and to be employed in all transactions with one another, whose bodies, the Indians said, were to be equally divided between them and us, we to have one half and they the other; that they had found Conrad faithful and honest; that he is a true, good man, and had spoken thelr words and our words, and not his own; and the Indians having presented him with a dressed skin, to make him shoes, and two deer skins, to keep him warm, they said, as they had thus taken care of our frlend, they must recommend theirs (Shikellimy) to our notice; and the board, judging it necessary that a particular notice should be taken of him accordingly, it is ordered that six pounds be laid out for him in such things as he inay most want."- Colonial Records, Vol. IV. p. 88.

+Colonial Records, Vol. V. p. 138.

THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

ill, but reached his home with the assistance of Zeisberger, who attended him during his sickness and administered the consolations of religion. He died on the 17th of December, 1748, his daughter and Zeisberger being present. The latter, assisted by Henry Fry, made a coffin, in which, with the possessions he had valued most highly during life, the mortal remains of the great viceroy were interred at the burial ground of his people.

" Where Susquehanna's tranquil branches meet, Like prince and princess, each from far retreat,

" Blue Hill, which has for many ages frowned Upon the less imposing lillis around, Rock-breasted, mountain-walled, had ever been The legendary home of wondrous men.

"Half up those rocks, conspicuous in place, Time's hand has chisell'd Shlkellimy's face, Which, looking eastward o'er the rippling wave, Beholds the place where chieftains made his grave."*

Loskiel, the Moravian historian, gives the following estimate of his char- acter and account of his conversion :-

Being the first magistrate and head chief of all the Iroquois Indians living on the banks of the Susquehanna as far as Onondaga, he thought it incumbent upon him to be very circumspect in his dealings with the white people. He mistrusted the Brethren at first, but upon discovering their sincerity became their firm and real friend. Being much engaged in political affairs he had learned the art of concealing his sentiments, and, therefore, never contradicted those who endeavored to prejudice his mind against the missionaries, though he always suspected their motives. In the last years of his life he became less reserved, and received those Brethren who came to Shamokin into his house. He assisted them in building, and defended them against the insults of the drunken Indians, being himself never addicted to drinking, because, as he expressed it, he never wished to become a fool. He had built his house upon pillars for safety, in which he always shut himself up when any drunken frolic was going on in the village. In this house Bishop Johannes Von Watteville and his company visited and preached the Gospel to him. It was then that the Lord opened his heart. He listened with great attention, and at last, with tears, respected the doctrine of a crucified Jesus, and received it in faith. During his visit in Bethlehem, a remarkable change took place iu his heart which he could not conceal. He found comfort, peace, and joy by faith in his Redeemer, and the Brethren considered him as a candidate for baptism; but, hearing that he had already been baptized by a Roman Catholic priest in Canada, they only endeavored to impress his mind with a proper idea of the sacra- mental ordinance, upon which he destroyed a small idol which he wore about his neck. After his return to Shamokin the grace of God bestowed upon him was truly manifest, and his behavior was remarkably peaceable and contented. In this state of mind he was taken ill, was attended by Brother David Zeisberger, and in his presence fell asleep happy in the Lord, in full assurance of obtaining eternal life through the merits of Jesus Christ.

At his first appearance in colonial affairs, Shikellimy had a son and daughter and probably other children. A present was provided for his wife and daughter at the conclusion of the treaty of October, 1728; and on

*Legends of the Susquehanna, by Truman H. Purdy, pp. 9, 42.

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

the 18th of August, 1729, the Governor sent him a message of condolence upon the death of his son and a shroud with which to cover him. Another son, Unhappy Jake, was killed by the Catawbas, with whom the Six Nations were at war, in 1743, and in a letter dated January 2, 1744, Weiser informs Secretary Peters of the fact, suggesting also the propriety of sending the bereaved father "a small present, in order to wipe off his tears and comfort his heart." Several days before Weiser's arrival at Shamokin, November 9, 1747, there were three deaths in the family, viz .: Cajadies, his son-in-law, "that had been married to his daughter above fifteen years, and reckoned the best hunter among all the Indians," the wife of his eldest son, and a grandchild. It is evident that he had more than one daughter at that time; " his three sons " are also mentioned. The eldest, Tachnechdorus, succeeded to the former authority of his father, and, with two others, "sachems or chiefs of the Indian nation called the Shamokin Indians," affixed his signa- ture to the Indian deed of 1749. Conrad Weiser, writing to Governor Morris under date of March 1, 1755, styles him "Tachnechdorus, the chief of Shamokin, of the Cayuga nation," the latter part of which is difficult to harmonize with the fact that his father is uniformly referred to as an Oneida. His brother seems to have been associated with him; Richard Peters, the provincial secretary, in his account of the eviction of settlers from lands north of the Kittatinny mountains not purchased from the Indians, states that his party was accompanied by three Indians from Shamokin, "two of which were sons of the late Shikellimy, who transact the business of the Six Nations with this government." Tachnechdorus was also known to the English by the name of John Shikellimy. In 1753 he had a hunting lodge at the mouth of Warrior run and resided at a small Shawanese town below Muncy creek on the West Branch. These facts are derived from Mack's journal, which also states that Shikellimy's family had left Shamokin, where they found it very difficult to live owing to the constant drafts upon their hospitality. In April, 1756, he was at McKee's fort, but greatly dissatisfied, as nearly all of his party were sick.

Sayughtowa, a younger brother of Tachnechdorus, was the most cele- brated of Shikellimy's sons. "In 1768 and 1769 he resided near Reedsville in Mifflin county, and has given his name to the spring near that place, to Logan's branch of Spring creek, in Centre county, Logan's path, etc .. . .... In 1774 occurred Lord Dunmore's expedition against the Shawanese towns, now Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which was the occasion of Logan's celebrated speech, commencing 'I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat,' which will go down to all time, whether properly or not, as a splendid outburst of Indian eloquence."* Heckewelder, who thought him a man of superior talents, called on him in April, 1773, at his settlement on the Ohio below

*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p. 5.

THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

Big Beaver; the same writer also states that he was murdered in October, 1781, between his residence and Detroit. His English name, James Logan, was conferred in honor of the distinguished Friend who was so long and prominently identified with colonial affairs in Pennsylvania; he is generally known to history as " Logan, the Mingo."

It has been stated that a Frenchman, Etienne Brule, made the first exploration of the Susquehanna; French traders were also the first to bring the valley of that river within the sphere of commercial influence. As early as 1694 a petition was presented to Council from certain inhabitants of Philadelphia and other parts of the Province, "setting forth their jealousies relating to the French in general amongst them, and more especially refer- ring to those trading in remote and obscure places with the natives without security or approbation." In the previous year information had been lodged against Ann Le Tort, charging her with treasonable correspondence and with the use of language calculated to alienate the friendly Indians; this she denied, and the charges were not substantiated. She was the wife of Jacques Le Tort, and among their compatriots in the Province at that time were Peter Bazalion, Richard Bazalion, Captain Dubrois, and M. Lewis, a French Canadian who was taken prisoner by Pennsylvania Indians and lived with the Le Torts. Jacques Le Tort was a resident of the Province as early as 1690, when he applied for permission to go to England, which was granted. Madame Le Tort resided at Conestoga in 1704. James Le Tort was probably their son; regarding his personal history the following entry appears in the minutes of Council under date of the 17th of 6th month, 1703 :-

James Le Tort, who, about two years ago, went out of this Province to Canada and returned last spring, having been upon his return examined before several of the .Council and magistrates and no great occasion found to suspect him of any evil designs against this government, he having been bred in it from his infancy, had hitherto behaved himself inoffensively, and was seduced to depart in time of peace by the instigation of some others without any evil intentions that could be made to appear in himself .*

The earliest evidence of resident Indian traders within the present limits of the county is "A Draught of the Susquehanna River in 1701, made by Isaac Taylor, Surveyor of Chester County." It locates "J. Le Tort's store" at the site of the borough of Northumberland, and from that point the journey referred to in the minutes of Council was probably made overland to Canada. His position was well chosen; it commanded the trade of both branches of the Susquehanna, and, while consignments were doubtless made to Philadelphia, there is reason to think that the proprietor was also in com- munication with the French. England and France were then at war, and, notwithstanding the favorable disposition of the provincial authorities toward him and his professions of fidelity to the colonial government, he was

*Colonial Records, Vol. II. p. 100.

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

called upon to give "sufficient security for his good behavior in the sum of one thousand pounds," in default of which he was incarcerated in the com- mon gaol of Philadelphia. In 1707, with Peter Bazalion, Martin Chartiers, and others, he embarked in prospecting for minerals "upon the branches of the Potomac, within this government," evidently the Cumberland valley, from which they were obliged to withdraw by order of the Governor. In 1712 he was licensed as an Indian trader; at a treaty with the Six Nations at Philadelphia in July, 1727, their chiefs requested ,"that none of the traders be allowed to carry any rum to the remoter parts where James Le Tort trades (that is, Allegheny, on the branches of Ohio)," from which some idea of the extent of his operations may be formed. It is highly probable that his journeys thither were made by way of the Susquehanna river; on the 18th of April, 1728, having "lately come to town from Chenastry on the upper parts of the river Susquehanna," he was examined before Council at Philadelphia and stated that, intending to make a journey as far as the Miamis in the autumn of the previous year, he had consulted Madame Mon- tour, who had formerly lived among them; she and her husband, Caronda- wana, agreed to accompany him, but, after waiting long at Chenastry for one who had engaged to go with them, the winter set in before they could pro- ceed, and when he again spoke to Madame Montour upon the subject she declined to go, having heard of impending hostilities on the part of the Indians. As further information was desired, Le Tort and John Scull were forthwith dispatched to Chenastry with messages and presents for Alluma- pees, Madame Montour, and Manawkyhickon. On the 12th of May Le Tort wrote to the Governor from Catawissa, which shows that his travels embraced also the North Branch. He was concerned in Indian affairs for some years after this, but not with any degree of prominence in the terri- tory to which this work relates.

The earliest recorded visit of Europeans to Shamokin occurred in May, 1728, although there can be no doubt that Le Tort, Madame Montour, and others passed through the place prior to that date. Taylor's map of 1701 locates "John Scull's store " on the east bank of the Susquehanna river, near the mouth of Mahanoy creek. Scull was thus the earliest resident English trader within the present limits of Northumberland county of whom there is authentic evidence; he was also the first English visitor to Shamokin of whom there is any record. As previously stated, he was associated with Le Tort as the bearer of presents to Madame Montour and the Indian chiefs; they were commissioned on the 18th of April, 1728, and on the 10th of May, in a letter headed "Shahomaking " Allumapees informed the Governor that he had received his letter, and sent an answer by John Scull. Several weeks later it again became necessary to communicate with the chiefs; three friendly Indians having been killed at Cuscussea, Chester county, steps were at once taken for the apprehension of the murderers, and on the 15th of May,

THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

1728, Nicholas Scull, John Scull, and Anthony Zadowsky received instruc- tions to inform Allumapees, Opekasset, and Manawkyhickon of these pro- ceedings. The conference was held at Shamokin, and the answer of the chiefs, " delivered in Indian and interpreted by James Le Tort," was trans- mitted to the Governor under date of May 22, 1728. On the 7th of August, 1729, a committee of Council recommended the payment of the following :-

To Nicholas Scull, eleven pounds, for twenty-two days' service on a message to the Indians at Shamokin and other parts upon the unhappy murder of those at Cuscussea; and four pounds extraordinary to him, he being the person especially intrusted with the management thereof.

To John Scull, fifteen pounds for thirty days' service on the said messages and other services performed; aud three pounds extraordinary for interpreting at treaties.

To Anthony Zadowsky, seven pounds, for fourteen days' service on the message aforesaid .*

In the autumn of the same year (1728) it became necessary to send a third message to the chiefs at Shamokin. Anthony Zadowsky, in a private letter to John Petty, another Indian trader, stated "that an Indian came to Oley to one Peter Kerwin and brought account that all the Indians were removed from Shamokin except Allumapees and Opekasset; that at the Shawanese town called Malson the Shawanese had hanged one Timothy Higgins, a servant of Henry Smith's, an Indian trader, upon a pole of their cabin; .... and that it was feared it might not be well with the rest of the Indian traders in those parts." Intelligence having also been received that a band of Shawanese had left Pecheoquealin (Durham, on the Delaware river), upon the receipt of a message from the Susquehanna, the Governor and Council, at a meeting on the 1st of September, 1728, decided to send Henry Smith and John Petty to Shamokin with a message to Allumapees, Ope- kasset, Shakatawlin, and Shikellimy. Having arrived at their destination, they wrote the Governor under date of September 3, 1728, informing him that Higgins had not been hanged as reported and that they were pursuing their journey in quest of further intelligence. Nothing of material impor- tance was discovered, however; the Shamokin chiefs met the provincial authorities in conference on the 10th and 11th of October, 1728, at the court house in Philadelphia, when expressions of the most friendly character were interchanged, and thus the war cloud that seemed to be gathering on the Susquehanna frontier was happily dissipated.

John Fisher and John Hart are mentioned as "two of the Shamokin traders" in a letter from the Delaware chiefs "at Allegheny on the main road" under date of April 30, 1730. Some of their people, the chiefs state, formed a hunting party, to which Fisher and Hart attached themselves; when they had gone down the Allegheny river more than a hundred miles the Indians "proposed to fire hunt by making a ring; the white men would go along"; the Indians tried to dissuade them from it, "alleging that they *Colonial Records, Vol. III. pp. 366-367. 3

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

did not understand it and might receive some harm, but they still persisted in it, so all went together." John Hart was shot in the mouth; the bullet lodged in his neck, resulting in death. The letter also states that "at a friend's house about twenty miles distant from hence, Henry Smith being there with rum, the Indians got drunk," and in the melee which ensued an Englishman was wounded. This was doubtless the same Henry Smith who was associated with Petty two years previously as the bearer of the messages and presents to the chiefs at Shamokin. Anthony Zadowsky and John Fisher had been at Allegheny in 1729; Jonah Davenport, who had some dealings with Caron- dawana, the husband of Madame Montour, prior to 1728, had been at Alle- gheny as early as 1727; from which it is quite evident that the traders who frequented the regions of the upper Susquehanna extended their journeys to Allegheny by that route, while the expression, "Shamokin traders," clearly indicates that the town of that name was a rendezvous for the commercial itinerants of the entire northern and northwestern parts of the State.

Regarding these adventurous spirits it is possible to speak only in gen- eral terms. Their ranks were not usually recruited from among the best classes of citizens, and much that has been preserved concerning them in official records is not to their credit; but, while their dealings may have some- times shown a disposition to take advantage of the ignorance and credul- ity of the " red brother," this harmonized so well with the general usage of the first Proprietor and his successors that it ought, perhaps, to be regarded as commendable. Wherever there were Indians who would take guns and ammunition, rum, stroud match-coats, knickknacks, etc. in exchange for peltries, the ubiquitous traders found their way, and, while geographical knowledge was but an incidental acquisition, the information of this nature thus gained was of the first importance. In establishing commercial rela- tions with the Indian tribes they did much to attach them to the English interest. Not unfrequently, after a long absence in which their associations had been exclusively with the savage population of remote districts, they were summoned before the Governor and Council and the information thus elicited determined in large measure the policy of the government in Indian affairs. Correspondence with distant tribes was conducted entirely through them, while their knowledge of the Indian languages rendered their presence and assistance indispensable at treaties. In the latter functions they were succeeded by Conrad Weiser, who, as official interpreter from 1732 until his death, was intimately connected with affairs in the territory to which this work relates during that period.

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History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 3

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829- Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424