USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 11
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"Alone, yet not alone am I, Though in this solitude so drear ; I feel my Saviour always nigh, He comes my every hour to cheer."
As the sweet voice of the mother so beautifully sang the words, from among the captives sprang a young girl and rushed into her mother's arms.
During the time of the French and Indian War, 1756-61, the world was largely at war. The ships of France and England even carried it to the great high seas.
CAPTURE AND RELEASE OF FREDERICK STUMP.
In January. 1768, a party of Indians visited a pioneer, Frederick Stump, later known as the "Indian killer," at his cabin on Middle Creek (now in Snyder County), and differences arising, he and his employe, named Ironcutter, killed the Indians and also those at a cabin four miles distant, so that the news would not reach the Indian settlements. The bodies were thrown into the creek and floated down it to the Susquehanna; one was found along the shore near what is now New Cumberland, Pa., then below Harris' Ferry. It was interred by James Galbraith and Jonathon Hoge, who reported it to John Penn, then provincial governor. One William Blythe traveled to Philadelphia and under oath stated that he had seen Stump at the home of George Gabriel and heard his story, in which he admitted the murders.
Penn issued a proclamation offering a reward for Stump and Ironcutter, promising to punish them with death and notifying the Indians of what he had done. Sir William Johnson sent an ur- gent message to the Indians, saying, "If they know any of the relatives of these persons murdered at Middle Creek, to send them
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to him, that he might wipe the tears from their eyes, comfort their afflicted hearts and satisfy them on account of their grievances."
As soon as Capt. William Patterson, formerly of Lancaster County, but then residing on the Juniata, heard of the murders he went, without waiting orders of the authorities, with a party of nineteen men, and arrested Stump and Ironcutter, and delivered them to John Holmes, the sheriff, at Carlisle. Aware that the Indians would be exasperated at hearing of the murders he sent a messenger to the west branch country to them, telling of the arrest. As the messages and replies are of much historical interest they are reproduced in full. First, his official report :
CARLISLE, January 23, 1768.
Sir: The 21st instant, I marched a party of nineteen men to George Gabriel's house, at Penn's Creek mouth, and made prisoners of Frederick Stump and John Ironcutter, who were suspected to having murdered ten of our friend Indians near Augusta; and I have this day delivered them to Mr. Holmes at Carlisle jail.
Yesterday I sent a person to the Great Island, that understood the In- dian language, with a talk; a copy of which is enclosed.
Myself and party were exposed to great danger, by the desperate re- sistance made by Stump and his friends, who sided with him. The steps I have taken, I flatter myself, will not be disapproved of by the gentle- men in the government; my sole view being directed to the service of the frontiers, before I heard his honor the governor's orders. The mes- sage I sent to the Indians I hope will not be deemed assuming an author- ity of my own, as you are very sensible I am no stranger to the Indians, or their customs. I am, with respect,
Your most obedient humble servant,
W. PATTERSON.
The message to the Six Nations, in the west branch country :
JUNIATA, January 22, 1768.
Brothers of the Six Nations, Delawares, and other inhabitants of the West Branch of Susquehanna, hear what I have to say to you :
With a heart swelled with grief, I have to inform you that Frederick Stump and John Ironcutter hath, unadvisedly, murdered ten of our friend Indians near Fort Augusta. The inhabitants of the province of Pennsyl- vania do disapprove of the said Stump and Ironcutter's conduct; and as proof thereof, I have taken them prisoners, and will deliver them into the custody of officers, that will keep them ironed in prison for trial; and I make no doubt, as many of them as are guilty, will be condemned, and die for the offence.
Brothers, I being truly sensible of the injury done you, I only add these few words, with my heart's wish, that you may not rashly let go the fast hold of our chain of friendship, for the ill-conduct of one of our bad men ._ Believe me, brothers, we Englishmen, continue the same love for you that hath usually subsisted between our grandfathers, and I desire you to call at Fort Augusta, to trade with our people, for the necessaries you stand in need of. I pledge you my word, that no white man there . shall molest any of you, while you behave as friends. I shall not rest by night nor day until I receive your answer.
Your friend and brother,
W. PATTERSON.
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The following answer to the above was received from the In- dians :
February 11th, 1768.
Loving Brother: I received your speech by Gertham Hicks, and have sent one of my relatives with a string of wampum, and the following answer :
Loving Brother: I am glad to hear from you. I understand that you are very much grieved, and that the tears run from your eyes. With both my hands I now wipe away those tears; and as I don't doubt but your heart is disturbed, I remove all the sorrow from it, and make it easy, as it was before. I will now sit down and smoke my pipe. I have taken fast hold of the chain of friendship; and when I give it a pull, if I find my brothers, the English, have let it go, it will then be time for me to let go too, and take care of my family. There are four of my relatives murdered by Stump; and all I desire is, that he may suffer for his wicked action; I shall then think that people have the same goodness in their hearts as formerly, and intend to keep it there. As it was the evil spirit that caused Stump to commit this bad action, I blame none of my brothers, the English, but him.
I desire that the people of Juniata may sit still in their places, and not put themselves to any hardships, by leaving their habitations; whenever danger is coming, they shall know it before it comes to them.
I am, your loving brother,
SHAWANA BEN.
To Capt. William Patterson .*
The governor's proclamation offered £200 for Stump's appre- hension, but not knowing of his arrest, delayed the publication for a short period, lest news of it should reach him, and in order to accomplish his arrest in a more secretive manner.
The council of the province advised Governor Penn to write to General Gage and Sir William Johnson, informing them of the murder and of the steps he was taking, and to ask Sir William to communicate the same to the Six Nations, as soon as possible. "in the best and most favorable manner in his power, so as to prevent their taking immediate resentment for this unavoidable injury, committed on their people, and to assure them of the firm and sincere purposes of this government to give them full satis- faction at all times for all wrongs done to the Indians, and to pre- serve the friendship subsisting between us and them inviolable."
But before these letters and the proclamation of Chief Justice Allen reached the magistrates and sheriffs, Stump and Ironcutter as previously stated, had been lodged in jail; however, before they were brought to trial they were rescued from prison.
As white settlers had from time to time been scalped in Perry County territory there was a certain sympathy went out to Stump and Ironcutter with the result that on January 29, 1768, a party of seventy or eighty armed men, supposed to be mostly from Sherman's Valley, appeared at the Carlisle jail and overpowered
*Provincial Records.
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the sheriff, John Holmes, and the jailer and released the two pris- oners, who until that time had been kept in the dungeon. A half dozen prominent citizens who hastily appeared to aid the sheriff included Ephraim Blaine, who was formerly a Toboyne Township citizen and of whose later prominence this book elsewhere goes into detail.
While this murder and the subsequent rescue did not happen on Perry County soil, yet they are dwelt on at some length here owing to the fact that the greater part of the rescuers were supposed to be from Sherman's Valley. Owing to possible complications with the Indians the murders by Stump and Ironcutter and their sub- sequent delivery from jail produced a great wave of excitement in the entire colony. Governor John Penn cited the officers and magistrates to appear before him, reprimanding the latter for their conduct in advising the retention of the prisoners at Carlisle in- stead of delivering them to Philadelphia, as required by the war- rant. Tradition implies that the sheriff and jailer were passive actors in this jail delivery.
EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN JACK.
There are traditionary tales connected with "Captain Jack" and his operations in Perry County, but as county lines in those days were not in existence, his exploits may properly belong to the whole Juniata and Cumberland Valleys. He was a white man, but was variously termed the "black hunter," the "black rifle," the "wild hunter of the Juniata," the "black hunter of the forest," but prin- cipally "Captain Jack." His real name was Patrick Jack, in all probability. He entered the forest section of Pennsylvania, some- where in the Juniata Valley, with a few companions, built a cabin. cleared a little land and made his living by hunting and fishing. not having a care. He was a free and easy, happy-go-lucky type of man until one evening in 1752, when he returned from a day in the woods to find his cabin burned, his wife and children mur- dered. From that moment for over a year he forsook civilization, lived in caves, protected the frontier settlers from the Indians and seized every opportunity for revenge that presented itself. He was the terror of the Indians and the guardian angel of the pio- neers. On an occasion, near Juniata-the name of the Indian town on Duncan's Island, opposite the west end of Duncannon- about midnight on a dark night, a family was suddenly awakened by the report of a gun. Jumping from their cots they saw an Indian fall to rise no more. The open door exposed to view the "wild hunter," who called, "I saved your lives," and vanished into . darkness. He never shot foolishly and his keenness of vision was as unerring as his aim. He formed an association to defend the settlers against savage aggressions. On a given signal they would
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unite. During 1756 his exploits were often heard of from the Conococheague in Franklin County, to the Juniata River. To some he was known as the "Half-Indian," and Colonel Armstrong, in a letter to the governor, said: "The company under the com- mand of the Half-Indian, having left the Great Cove, the Indians took advantage and murdered many." Through Colonel Croghan -for George Croghan had been made a colonel-he also proffered his aid to Braddock. "He will march with his hunters," says the colonel, adding, as a further description, "they are dressed in hunt- ing shirts, moccasins, &c., are well armed and are equally regard- less of heat and cold. They require no shelter for the night-they ask no pay." As Captain Jack wanted to go free of the restraint of camp life and army regulations General Braddock refused his services. Braddock was a strict disciplinarian and despised the Indian method of fighting. He wanted to attain a signal victory over the French without using those methods or the help of others who used them. However, he had already accepted a company of Indians under Captain George Croghan. He never lived to dis- cover his error in refusing Captain Jack's services or the fact that the Indian method of fighting excelled that of marching in the open, clad in gaudy uniforms, with drums beating and banners flying. There is no doubt that among Captain Jack's daring men were some whose homes were within the confines of what is now Perry County.
While some historians give his name to Jack's Mountain, in the Juniata Valley, John Harris says the mountain was named after Jack Armstrong, who was murdered at its base by the Indians. The latter is probably the truth, as Captain Jack's activities were principally in the territory now known as Perry and Franklin Counties.
There is evidence of Captain Jack once owning property, the location being described as "on back Crike, Joning Matthew Arthor's pleas, operward of ye sad Creek," in Antrim Township, later Franklin County. In 1748 this property passed from John Ward to Matthew Arther, who owned the adjoining place. In November, 1767, Arther sold it to Patrick Jack, same being re- corded in Book C, Volume I, at the Cumberland County court- house.
An early writer, in referring to Doubling Gap, located on the Blue or Kittatinny Mountain, further clinches the fact that the Sherman's Valley was one of the principal scenes of the activities of Captain Jack. It follows: "The place for many miles around is invested with many historical facts and legends connected with the carly settlements of the country. It was in the adjoining valley (Sherman's) and on these mountains that Big Beaver, a chief of the Shoshones, with his tribe, in 1752 and for years before had
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their hunting grounds, having been driven in 1677 from Caro- lina and Georgia. This valley ( Sherman's) was the grave of many of his children and the scene of many a massacre. It was where the far-famed and many-named Captain Jack-the Black Rifle, the Wild Hunter, etc .- entered the woods, built his cabin and cleared a little patch of land within sight of a spring and amused himself with hunting and fishing."
Some authorities credit Captain Jack's real name as being Joseph Ager, or Aiger, who settled in Cumberland County in 1851, but the writer is inclined, after careful research, to believe that he was no other than Patrick Jack. However, the actual establish- ment of his real name and his early history must forever remain an unfathomed mystery. Of Herculean proportions and of swarthy complexion he was supposed by some to have been a half-breed. Colonel Armstrong, in a letter to the governor, terms him "the Half-Indian." Others term him a white man with a past. The following, from Hanna's "The Wilderness Trail," is self explanatory : "Captain William Patterson, who lived on Tus- carora Creek, was a bold, resourceful, frontiersman and Indian fighter, whose exploits, with those of his father, furnished much of the material for the legendary history of the fictitious 'Captain Jack,' the Wild Hunter of the Juniata." That much of the his- tory of Captain Jack is lengendary is true, but that he was a fictitious character only is disproved by the previous pages, the ex- tracts being from provincial history and records.
In the possession of Miss Margaret D. McClure, of Bradford, a daughter of William McClure, one of Perry County's noted sons, are two old documents left by her father, which also show that Captain Jack was very real. They follow :
The 2nd Battalion, Penna. Regiment, commanded by
Lt. Colonel Clayton, Camp Fort Loudon, August 16, 1764. John Morrison, Soldier in Colonel Clayton's Company, discharged by Dr. Plunkett's orders from any further service in the above Regiment. Given under my hand this PATRICK JACK,
day, 16th August, 1764. Capt. Licut.
These are to certify :
That the three Marching Companies from the Second Battalion met at Studler's Mill upon the 15th of this mn. and proceeded to elect a Major, when it appeared upon summing of the Poll that Capt. Patrick Jack and Elias Davison, Ist Lieut., had each of them eighty-two votes.
August 22, 1776, BY THEO. McPHERRIN.
Fort Conococheague. One of the judges of the election.
They throw further light on the length of his services, as the first shows service as early as 1764 and the last as late as 1776.
7
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
FORTS IN AND NEAR THE COUNTY.
The horrible atrocities which occurred during the summer and fall of 1755 almost depopulated the lands which now comprise Perry County, as well as others, and the provincial authorities took steps to allay fear and safeguard the pioneers by a line of forts extending from the Delaware River across the province to the Maryland line and at other outlying places. George Croghan was commissioned to select the site of three, in Cumberland County, which were located as follows: Fort Granville, in present Mifflin County ; Patterson's, in present Juniata County, and at Sideling Hill, now in Bedford County.
Among the forts mentioned in provincial history is Fort Au- gusta, built by Colonel Clapham's regiment, which was located where the present town of Sunbury stands. Joseph Greenwood- after whom Greenwood Township was named later-and George Gabriel acted as guides for the regiment of soldiers which Colonel Clapham was conducting to Fort Augusta, as their signatures to an affidavit dated June 2, 1756, verifies. On account of the better trail the movement of troops was conducted up the Perry County side. A member of this regiment was Ensign Samuel Miles, who twenty years later was a colonel commanding a Continental regi- ment in the army under Washington. In a journal kept by him lie tells of this early trip up the west side of the Susquehanna to the site of Sunbury.
Fort Robinson was built by the members of that brave and in- trepid family by the name of Robinson, resolute woodsmen inured to hardship, toil and danger, and their neighbors who inhabited Sherman's Valley, as a place of refuge from Indian attack. It was a log fort, surrounded by a stockade. It occupied a site on the present Edward R. Loy farm, near Centre Church, being located on a tableland with a good view of the surrounding coun- try. At its edge was a bluff, the shelter of which was sought in escaping to the fort. The lowlands below were heavily wooded with large oak and maple, which also afforded protection in going to the fort. A spring was located at the foot of the bluff where water was secured with the least exposure, the distance from the stockade being only the steep bank-probably twenty feet. It was not under provincial control, at least there are no records to prove stich fact. The Robinsons figured prominently in pioneer life. A brother of George Robinson, who located the fort and stockade was a member of Colonel Armstrong's expedition to Kittanning. George Robinson warranted the tract on which the fort was lo- cated, the fort being built in 1755. The fort was evidently in the nature of a block house, surrounded by a stockade built of heavy planks or poles. It was located along the famous Allegheny or
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Traders' Path and was the only source of protection for the trav- eler along the Allegheny Path between the Kittatinny or Blue Mountain and the Tuscarora. There are no traces of the pioneer battlements, nothing to indicate the part played by these hardy pioneers in the struggle for settlement and civilization.
While called a fort it would probably have come under the term of stockade. The stockades of that period were practically all of one style. They consisted of oak logs, about seventeen feet long, set in a ditch four feet deep, the logs being usually about a foot in diameter. Around the inside was erected a platform of logs about four or five feet from the ground, upon which the pio- neers stood and aimed their guns trough port holes made in the logs. This additional elevation gave them a considerable advan- tage in reconnoitering the surrounding country.
Speaking of the Fort Robinson site "Frontier Forts of Penn- sylvania" queries, "Could there be a place in our commonwealth more worthy of the fostering care of her people?" Working along that line during 1920, the centenary of Perry County's organiza- tion, the author of this volume took up with the State Historical Commission the advisability of marking the site with a proper stone and inscription, with the result that that Commission will agree to have the bronze inscriptions placed upon a native boulder (as being appropriate to pioneer life) if some local organization will agree to arrange for its future care. Plans are now under way for its consummation and within another year this historic site will probably be marked for all time.
In a list of provincial forts prepared by Jay Gilfillen Weiser, of Middleburg, in 1894, and published in "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," the only fort credited to Perry County is Hen- drick's, built in 1770. This is an error, as Hendrick's fort was located in what is now Snyder County.
On a map which appears in "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," showing the disposition of the provincial troops in the Western District for the winter season of 1764, in the territory which now comprises Perry County, are located two detachments, one marked "A. Grove's, an officer and 20 men," and the other, "Fisher's an officer and 20 men." The location marked Grove's is near the centre of western Perry, vicinity of Fort Robinson, and Fisher's. approximately where the county seat is located.
While Fort Halifax is in Dauphin County, it is to be noted here that it was, with the exception of Fort Hunter, the only fort really built by the province along any border of the present county of Perry, Fort Robinson being built by the pioneers themselves, . according to the only records available. Fort Halifax stood a half mile above where the present town of Halifax now stands, and was garrisoned with provincial troops. Commissary General Young,
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in a report to the governor and council, said that "Fort Halifax was in a very bad location, being built beyond two ranges of hills and nobody living near it, none could be protected by it; that it is no station for batteaux parties, having no command of the chan- nel, which runs close to the western shore, and is besides, covered with a large island (Clemson's) between the channel and the fort, so that numbers of the enemy may, even in daytime, run the river, without being seen by that garrison, and that though the fort, or blockhouse at Hunter's was not tenable, being hastily erected and not finished, yet the situation was the best upon the river for every service, as well as for the protection of the frontiers."
The purpose of the construction of Fort Halifax at that location is uncertain, as records show that but two families resided any- where in the vicinity, and the river channel was on the opposite side, with the Clemson Island between. In all probability it was erected as a convenient and safe place to lodge during the two- day trip from Fort Hunter to Fort Augusta, which was located where Sunbury now stands. It was dismantled and abandoned in 1763. Clemson's Island, lying in the river opposite the fort, was the home of a considerable number of Indians, who could easily have annihilated a large party.
Fort Hunter was a provincial fort located opposite the site of the present town of Marysville, on a small promontory, where Fishing Creek enters the Susquehanna River, on the eastern side. It is in Dauphin County and one of the two provincial forts erected along the county's border. The property is now, or was lately, in the possession of John Reilly. Its location, described in provincial records as being "where the Blue Hills cross the Sus- quehanna," gave it command of the passage through this water gap and of the river itself, affording a place of rendezvous for the batteaux which carried supplies to Fort Halifax and Fort Augusta at Shamokin (now Sunbury). It was a blockhouse, surrounded by a stockade, and occupied the site of the present Reilly mansion. It was erected about 1755, as it is spoken of in official records as early as January 10, 1756, as "the fort at Hunter's mill." Its location was at a very romantic spot, noted for its picturesque outlook. In 1814 Archibald McAllister erected a large storage house upon its ancient foundations. Not far above the site are the famous "Hunter's Falls," where the river narrows to pass through a gap and where its waters are deep and swift, as they rush over immense ledges of rock which the waters of the cen- turies have failed to yet wear away.
Fort Bigham, a strong blockhouse, surrounded by a small stock- ade, commanded Bigham's Gap on the Juniata County side, through which lay the famous Allegheny Path to the West. It was on the "plantation" of Samuel Bigham, a Scotch-Irish settler who had
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located in the Tuscarora Valley in 1754. With Bigham came John and James Gray and Robert Hoag, who joined in the erection of the fort as' a place of refuge. Other settlers used it also until June, 1756, when it was attacked and burned by the Indians, who killed or took prisoner all who had sought refuge therein, the total being twenty-three persons. It was rebuilt in 1760 by Ralph Ster- rett, described by Jones, in his History of the Juniata Valley, as "an old Indian trader." In this fort his first child, William Ster- rett, was born. It is related of Sterrett that upon an occasion an Indian tired and hungry, passing his way, was invited in and given a meal and tobacco. Ile had even forgotten the occurrence when, in 1763, the Indians again being on the warpath, he heard a noise and looking out saw an Indian in the moonlight. Ile coolly demanded his business, when the Indian recalled the hos- pitality and stated that the Indians were as plenty as the pigeons in the woods and before another night they would be at Fort Bigham to scalp and kill. Nearly all the settlers of the valley were in the fort and were awe-stricken. They immediately began preparations and long before daybreak a train of pack horses, carrying them and their belongings was crossing Perry County soil, via the Allegheny Path, to Carlisle.
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