USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals and geography of each townshipAlso a sketch of woman's work in the county for the United States sanitary commission, and a list of the soldiers of the national army furnished by many of the townships > Part 9
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" Minna Du Bois was twice married ; Abraham was the son of his first wife ; and Jane (Mrs. Lusk), an only daughter of his last wife. The house in which the latter was born now forms a part of the Lusk House,1 at the south end of the bridge, where Minna Du Bois kept a public house for years, and here Benajah Strong had one before him; and Abraham Du Bois, his son, after him (1812). Mr. Du Bois died March 14, 1824, aged seventy years. His wife afterwards resided with her daughter in Montrose, where she died December 30, 1848, aged eighty years.
"Abraham Du Bois, Esq., married, in 1811, a daughter of Joseph Bowes (Julia), who was educated at the Moravian school in Bethlehem, Pa. Their sons were : Joseph (contributor to these ' Annals'), Nicholas, James C., and William, who died in Panama. Their daughters : Mrs. Rev. J. B. McCreary, dead, Mrs. Dr. Brooks, of Binghamton, Mrs. F. P. Catlin, of Wisconsin, Mrs. Hon. S. B. Chase, and Mrs. - Curtis, of Great Bend.
" Abraham D. died August 1, 1867, aged eighty-one years ; and his wife died May 15, 1855, aged sixty-one."
" A TALK WITH AN INDIAN DOCTOR. By J. Du Bois .- Many years ago when I was a boy, a playmate of mine informed me that an Indian family had ar- rived at Great Bend, and had taken lodgings at the Log Tavern. Up to this time I had never seen an Indian, and my curiosity was greatly excited. I soon obtained leave of my parents to go and see the natives. I filled my pockets with knick-knacks for the young Indians, hoping thereby to gain the good-will of the older ones.
"In company with another boy (for I was afraid to go alone) we proceeded to that then far-famed hotel known as the Log Tavern, and there we found
! This place is one of the ancient landmarks. After Mr. Du Bois's death, Benjamin Taylor, - Langley, Ebenezer Brown, Sen., Benjamin Miller, and -- Caldwell, were its proprietors. Mr. Chaffee was first proprietor of the Lusk House. James Parmeter's well is still to be seen, in front of the hotel, across the river-road.
1
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an old Indian with a young squaw for a wife, and three children. The old Indian claimed to be a doctor. True, he did not bring with him innumerable ' manikins just imported from Paris,' neither did he come preceded by flam- ing posters, announcing free lectures, nor pay lectures. The Indian doctor came unheralded, driving his own horse and wagon containing his family. He was an intelligent-looking man, over six feet in height, weight over two hundred pounds. His hair, notwithstanding his age, was shining black, neatly braided, and hung down to the middle of his back in the form of a cue. His costume, in style, was not purely Indian, but he retained the leg- gings and moccasins of the red man. The only insignia of his profession, which he carried, was the ' medicine bag,' which was an otter skin, with the fur on. The doctor had already announced his intention of remaining with us two or three months, had tendered the landlord the coin for his board in advance, saying that his principal object in coming here was once more to visit the scenes of his early youth. Although he plainly announced the ob- ject of his visit, it was not long before many speculations and guesses were made by the curious among our citizens as to the real object of this Indian visit. Some of those observing ones had noticed that the 'medicine bag' was the receptacle of many articles not to be found in the materia medica of the white or red men, and from this fact, came to the conclusion that the title of doctor was merely assumed to hide his real object, which some said was to dig up and remove ' hidden treasures.' Others said, he had come to re-mark the localities of covered salt springs, or valuable mineral deposits. On being questioned as to his knowledge of these things, the doctor was very reticent ; this only increased the curiosity of these speculators, and they even went so far as to offer to pay the Indian well if he would disclose to them this hidden wealth, which they plainly told him they were sure he could do if he would. At last the doctor yielded to the pressure, so far as to tell them that if they would count him out seven hundred dollars in coin, he would disclose to them something worth-to use the Indian's own language-much money. Now these speculators were more anxious than ever to know what it was, whether hidden treasures, salt springs, or mineral deposits, but to these questions the Indian was silent. Then they told him he had set his figures too high, and offered him one hundred, two hundred, and finally four hundred dollars ; but all of these offers did not move the Indian. The doctor's movements were closely watched while he was here, some of these speculators thinking that they might gain by stealth what they failed to obtain by negotiation ; but the Indian was too much for them in this. Almost daily he took his rifle and went out upon our hills, but never twice in the same direction, and although the woods at that time literally swarmed with game, the doctor seldom came home laden with the fruits of the chase. The doctor had his patients, too, and it is but just to say, that those that did apply to him were well satisfied that the Indian doctor was no humbug.
" The writer, anxious to learn something about the Indians that once lived in this valley, concluded to question the doctor. I again visited the Log Tavern. I found the doctor reclining on the grassy slope of the bank of the Susquehanna, near the Indian Apple Trees. Armed with a pipe and tobacco, I approached him and presented them, retreated to a respectable distance and sat down, and watched him as he drew forth the steel, the flint, and striking fire, proceeded to test the quality of the Indian weed. Boy like, I at once commenced to question him, and as he remained silent, I piled ques- tion upon question, without even waiting for an answer, not knowing at that time that an Indian never answered a question immediately, but first smokes, then thinks, and then answers. After almost exhausting my list of inquiries, I remained silent. The Indian, after puffing away at the pipe for some time, said, ' Boy want to know much, Indian tell him some. When a boy, I lived here, many Indians lived along this valley of the Susquehanna, we belonged to the Confederate Five Nations, afterwards called the Six Nations.' He then
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
proceeded to state in his own language that this valley was for a long time the frontier of the Confederacy. At that time the Delaware Indians claimed all the lands up to the Susquehanna River, at the same time the Confederacy claimed to the Delaware River, the land lying between these two rivers was disputed ground, and many were the conflicts between the hunters on this disputed territory. After a while, the Six Nations conquered the Delawares, and extended their authority as far south as the Chesapeake Bay. During the war of the Revolution, the Indians quietly withdrew from this valley, and all of them, except the Oneidas, joined the British and were nearly all ex- terminated in the battles which followed. Before the Revolution the Indians raised great crops of corn along these river flats.
""'All over yonder,' said he, pointing to the hills on the south side of the river, 'elk, elk, deer, too, plenty, very plenty, fish in this river very plenty, Indian lived well.' I asked the doctor where the Indians buried their dead ; he pointed toward Dimon's flats, saying, 'there we bury our dead.' I then told the doctor, that when the workmen were excavating the ground for northern abutment of the first Great Bend Bridge, they discovered the skele- ton of what they supposed to be a large Indian (as it was found in the sit- ting posture), I asked him how this Indian came to be buried there. After puffing away at the pipe as if in deep thought, he replied, 'The Delaware Indian, he die in his canoe, we bury him there.' I asked him by what death did he die, but received no answer. Not being willing to give it up so, I told the doctor that this Delaware Indian, as he called him, had a large hole in his skull, to which he replied, 'Delaware bad Indian.' Pursuing my inquiry in another direction, I asked him if a hostile Indian was detected as a spy, if by their laws it was death; he answered yes. And upon inquiring he said that they never bury those belonging to another tribe with their own dead. He further said that the Three Apple Trees was the rallying point and headquarters for all the Indians in the neighborhood. Here coun- cils were held, marriages celebrated, feasts observed, war-dances performed, and the fate of prisoners decided.
" At another visit the doctor said that he had greatly enjoyed his visit here in looking upon the hills and valleys where his youthful days were spent, and would soon return to his people in Canada, who were anxiously awaiting his return. When the doctor had ended his visit, many of his friends here met at the Long Tavern to bid him good-bye. The Indian doctor during his stay here made many friends, performed some remarkable cures, excited a good deal of curiosity, imparted much information about the former inhabit- ants of this valley, and with his family departed for his home in the North- west, with the best wishes of his new-made acquaintances."
" AN INDIAN CLAIM .- Jonathan Dimon was one of the early white settlers of this valley. He settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. Carl. When Jonathan Dimon left the valley of the Hudson River, and removed to this, then called wilderness, West, his son, Charles Dimon, had not com- pleted his education, and did not come on to his father here, until some years later. A few days after his arrival, his father told him to go upon the flats and plow up an old ' Indian burying ground.' (This burying ground was located about the centre of the lately talked-of Fair Ground, and proposed Race Track, and on each side of what now remains of an old hedge.) More than thirty years ago, the writer had this narrative from our late and much esteemed fellow-townsman, Charles Dimon. He said that he felt many mis- givings about thus disturbing the burial place of the dead, and asked his father what he should do with those curious stones that marked the last rest- ing-place of the Indians. His father told him that when he plowed up near enough to these stones to loosen them, to carefully take them up and pile them up by the fence. He said that with a heavy heart he proceeded to do as his father bade him, but would much rather have plowed elsewhere. After working awhile, his oxen needed rest ; at this time he was very near
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the bank of the river, and was sitting on his plowbeam with his back towards the river. He said that, in spite of himself, his thoughts would run on about the red men who once inhabited this valley. True, his father had told him that no Indians had been here for a long time, they had long since removed to other ' hunting grounds,' or had fallen in battle before the superior arms of the white man. He thought, and could not help thinking, what would be his fate if the Indians should happen to come along and find him plowing up the graves, and removing the stones that they had set up to mark the last resting-places of their ' fathers ?' While these thoughts were troubling him, he heard a low guttural, yet musical sound, or combination of sounds, which came from the river behind him. It was different from anything that he had ever heard. He turned his face toward the river, a screen of willows partly hid from his view objects on the river nearest to him, and as these strange sounds came nearer, he peered through the bushes and-said he to the writer-'imagine, if you can, my feelings and surprise, when I tell you that I saw close to me a large canoe full of Indians, and this had barely passed the opening before another canoe full of Indians came in sight. I immediately unhitched the oxen and hurried out of that field, and away to the house. Being somewhat excited at what I had seen, I said to father, that I thought it very unsafe to plow in the Indian burying field while the Indians were about. Father told me to explain; I did, by telling him what I had seen. He told me to go down to the ferry, and see if the Indians landed. I went to the ferry, which then occupied the present site of the Great Bend Bridge across the Susquehanna River. And there, at the Log Tavern, which then stood on the site of the two-story house opposite to and near the toll house, I found the Indians, about twenty in number.' A crowd of the curious soon collected, and an 'inquisitive' Yankee soon learned from the Indian inter- preter, that they had come to claim all that strip of land lying north of the Susquehanna River, and south of the forty-second parallel of latitude, de- claring that they had never sold it, and that they wanted to meet the settlers and have a talk. This declaration of the interpreter caused the crowd to disperse in every direction to notify the settlers, and when these messengers told the settlers that a large party of Indians were at the Log Tavern, and claimed their lands, they too left their plows and wended their way to the Log Tavern, and as they came together on the way thither, they saluted each other after this manner, 'what now, what next?' here we have been trem- bling about our titles, Pennsylvania claims us, Connecticut claims us, and now, after all, here come the aborigines themselves, to claim our lands, and, if we should refuse, perhaps will take our scalps.
" By evening a number of settlers had collected, and, as they had no speaker among them, they chose one for the occasion; he was a kind of backwoods lawyer of those days (his name, as well as many other interesting incidents of this meeting, have, I am sorry to say, gone from the memory of the writer). Among those early settlers that were named as having attended this meet- ing, and were interested therein, I can only remember the following : Captain Ichabod Buck, Captain Jonathan Newman, Jonathan Dimon, Sylvanus Hatch, Josiah Stewart, David Buck, Noble Trowbridge, and James New- man. After all were seated in the old Log Tavern, the speaker for the set- tlers arose, and told the Indian interpreter that all were now ready to hear the talk of their chief.
" Many eyes were now turned toward the central figure of a group of noble looking Indians. But at this time some of the whites present were whisper- ing to each other, and at the same time, wondering why the chief rose not. After a while the interpreter arose, and gave these inattentive whispering whites, a just and well-merited rebuke. 'Friends,' said he, ' I perceive that you do not understand the character of the red men, when assembled in council. No Indian will rise to speak, until there is perfect silence and attention, and there is nothing he more dislikes than a whispering, inattentive audience.'
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After this rebuke from the interpreter, silence reigned. The chief, a man of great stature and noble bearing, soon arose, and spoke in the Indian dialect, which was well interpreted, sentence by sentence, in good English, and was, as near as the writer can remember, as follows : 'Friends and brothers, once our fathers had their wigwams on these beautiful banks of the Susquehanna ; once they chased the elk, the deer, the bear, over the beautiful hills that sur- round us ; once we had full possession of this valley, and no one disputed our right. Moon after moon rolled on, and our fathers left the valley for better hunting grounds, north and west, but before they left, 'good Father Onas, (William Penn) made a treaty with our fathers, by which they sold him a large piece of land, which is called after William Penn-Pennsylvania-he gave our fathers a copy of the treaty-large paper-which, I am sorry to say, is lost. Now our learned young men tell us, that in this treaty with good father Onas, the northern line of his purchase here was the Susquehanna River, and not the forty-second parallel of north latitude, as laid down on the ' paper pictures'-maps-of the whites. Now, brothers, we come to you as the representatives of our nation to claim this land. We believe we have never sold it. We come not to take it from you, but to sell it. Our good father Onas-William Penn-always dealt fair with the red man. We would never claim anything that was wrong of the children or friends of Onas if we knew it. When famine came upon the early friends of Onas, did not our fathers supply the wants of the starving friends of Onas, by hunting and fish- ing for them, and when bad hostile Indians troubled them, did not our fathers place the white feather of protection over the doors of their log wigwams. And while we acknowledge that bad Indians, many bad Indians, did take the king's money and fight with the king's men, our brothers will witness, and your history of the war will witness, that the nation, or that part of the nation that we represent-the Oneidas-never raised the war cry against our brothers. And now, if we have a good right to this land, we have great con- fidence in our friends, the children of our great and good father, William Penn, that they will do right and just by us. We wait your answer.'
" The speaker for the settlers, after a few words in an undertone with them, made a low bow to the chief, and to the other members of the delegation who sat on each side of their chief, in the form of a semicircle, said: 'Friends and brothers, we are pleased with the words of the noble chief who has so eloquent- ly spoken. The settlers, who now surround me, have chosen me to answer the chief. They desire me to thank him, and the other braves who sit before us, for the kind and pacific manner in which their great chief has set forth their claim to this part of the land we occupy, and upon which we have built. our wigwams. They also desire me to say, that they are not ignorant that those that you represent were always the friends of our good father, William Penn, and have always proved true to his friends, and shall always cherish in remembrance those kind offices of our red brethren in times past. And here, almost under the shade of the three ' Old Indian Apple Trees,' planted by your fathers, we pledge ourselves anew to our red brothers, that nothing arising out of your present claim shall mar the peace or lessen the friendship that has so long existed between us. We are very sorry, however, to inform you that our 'head man,' Judge William Thomson, is away on a long jour- ney, and as to your rights to this land, we must confess that we are ignorant. We settled here holding the titles to our lands under the charter of William Penn, never doubting his knowledge as to the extent of his purchase of your fathers. When our ' head man' returns, and it should prove that our good father, and your good father, Onas, was mistaken, and that your fathers never parted with this land, we pledge ourselves, as the honest descendants of the good William Penn, to buy of you these lands, on which we have settled and built our wigwams. If our brothers will tarry with us until our ' head man' returns, which will be in eight or ten days, the hospitalities of this Log Tav- ern shall be yours, without cost to you, and in the mean time you can amuse
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yourselves, perhaps, in hunting the deer on these beautiful hills, where once your fathers trod. And if our brothers desire it, we will join you in the chase. But if you cannot gratify us in this, but must sooner return to your own peo- ple, then we pledge ourselves again, that you shall hear from us when our head man returns.'
"The interpreter of the Indians, after consulting with the delegates, said, that, in behalf of his companions, he returned many thanks for the very kind answer, and for their pressing invitation to remain and enjoy the hospitalities of their friends ; but,' said he, 'we are compelled to deny ourselves this great enjoyment. Business at the Council House of the Six Nations demands our return, where among our own people they would await a letter from our head man, and there would invoke their Great Spirit-your Great God-to shower blessings upon the head of the friends of William Penn.'
" The next day these Indians left for their homes in Northern New York. When Judge Thomson returned, the settlers soon acquainted him with this new claim to their lands. Judge Thomson sent to the capital of the State, for a certified copy of William Penn's treaty with the Indians. In due time the Judge received a fac-simile copy of said treaty, and many of our citizens of that day had the pleasure of seeing and examining this copy of Penn's treaty with the Indians, before the Judge forwarded the same to the Council House of the Six Nations. This copy was described to the writer, as a great curiosity. The names of all the chiefs were plainly written out, and at the termination of each name was the sign manual or mark of the chief; at the end of one name was a bow, another an arrow, another a bow and arrow crossed, another deers' horns, another a deer's head and horns, another the form of a new moon, etc. etc., each name having a different mark representing their implements of war, hunting, game, trophies, etc.
" This treaty plainly fixed the northern boundary of our State on the forty- second parallel of north latitude, thus dissipating the fears of the settlers. This copy of Penn's treaty, Judge Thomson forwarded to the address left by the Indians, since which time, neither our fathers, nor we of the second or third generation, have heard anything more about the Indians' claim to these lands." -
Almon Munson, a carpenter, came May, 1800. The next year he brought food for his family from Tioga Point, in a canoe.
In 1800 Major Trowbridge was Collector of State Revenue for Wheelingboro' and "Nine Partners."
About this time Oliver Trowbridge and others petitioned for "a road from the plantation of Ichabod Buck (at Red Rock), extending up the river to the north line of the State," and also, one " from the north line, on the east side of the Susquehanna, down the same to Abner Comstock's to a fording, thence across the river, to intersect the first mentioned road, near the plantation of William Smith." Simeon Wylie and David Brownson were the viewers.
In 1801, still another road, or marked path at least, was gained, " from the north line of the State near the seventeenth mile-stone, down to the road that leads from Great Bend to Harmony."
The taxables of "Wheelingboro'" this year were ninety, and the amount of tax, $810.59 ; David Brownson, Assessor ; S. Blair and S. Hatch, assistants. (The compiler cannot explain the fact that the tax, in 1803, was but $70.)
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
There were then three slaves in the town : one was owned by Jonathan Dimon, another by David Barnum, and a third by Anna Newman.
There were two " Phesitions"-Noah Kincaid and Asa Corn- well.
The innkeepers were: David Summers, Robert Corbett, James Parmeter, and Sylvanus Hatch. Each of the latter two owned half a ferry.
Jonathan Cunningham had a ferry opposite the present Trow- bridge farm. It was called "the lower ferry." Mr. Du Bois says of this :-
"James Parmeter's ferry having become very profitable, another pioneer built a house on the opposite side of the river; and he too built a ferry boat, and opened an opposition ferry. As the road through here was fast becoming a great thoroughfare, both of these ferrymen made money. In the winter season, they found it difficult to cross with boats, owing to the floating ice in the middle of the river. As the country along the Susquehanna was mostly a wilderness, our river did not freeze entirely over as readily as now. Strong ice would form along each shore for four or five rods in width, the middle of the stream remaining for a long time open. These ferrymen would then pro- ceed to build an ice bridge after this manner : After measuring the distance from the solid ice on each side of the river, they would commence immedia- tely above, and laying out the width and length they would saw out of the solid shore ice a bridge, and, holding fast one end, would swing the other end across the open chasm till it rested against the solid ice on the other side ; then by dipping water from the river in freezing weather they soon formed a strong and safe bridge for teams to pass, the travellers freely paying toll for crossing this ice bridge. This ferry was kept up until the fall of 1814, when the first Great Bend Bridge was completed."
The " merchants" on the tax list for 1801 were D. Barnum (not here three years later) and S. Hatch; the blacksmiths, Philo Clemons and Jonathan Newman; cordwainer, Abner Eddy. William Campbell, Joel Hull, and Eli Nichols appear as new taxables.
Tench Francis, landholder, was taxed for 13,158 acres. Un- improved land was valued at fifty cents per acre.
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