History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 34

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 34

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143

CIVIL AND LEGAL-COUNCIL AT FORT PITT, 1768.

vient to our main design, that the Indians should be present, while We were advising the People to obey the Law, sent for them; They came; and after Sermon delivered a speech, with a string of Wampum1 to be transmitted to Your Honour. This Speech was: 'Ye are come, sent by your Great Men, to tell these People to go away from the Land, Which Ye say is ours ; and we are sent by our Great Men, and are glad We have met here this day. We tell you the White People must Stop, and We stop them 'till the Treaty, and when George Croghan, and our great Men will talk together, we will tell them what to do.' The names of the Indians are subjoined. The Indians were from Mingo Town, about Eighty Miles from Redstone. After this the People were more Confirmed that there was no danger of War. They dropped the design of Petition- ing, and said they would wait the issue of the Treaty; some, however, declared they would move off. We had sent a messenger to Cheat River, and to Stewart's Crossings, on the Yougheoghenny, with Several Proc- lamations, requesting them to meet us at Guesse's place, as most Central for both Settlements.

"On the thirtieth of March about thirty or fourty men met us there. We proceeded as at Red Stone, reading the Act of Assembly, and a Proclamation, and endeavored to convince them of the Necessity and Reasonableness of quitting the unpurchased Land, but to no purpose. They had heard what the Indians had said at Red Stone, and reasoned in the same manner, declaring that they had no Apprehensions of a War; that they would attend the Treaty, and take their Measures ac- cordingly. Many severe things were said of Mr. Croghan, and one Law- rence Harrison treated the Law and Government, with too much dis- respect. On the thirty-first of March, We came to the Great Crossings of Yougheoghenny, and being informed by one Speer, that eight or ten Families lived in a place called Turkey-Foot, We sent some Proclama- tions thither by said Speer, as We did to a few Families nigh the little Yough, judging it unnecessary to go amongst them. It is our Opinion that some will move off in Obedience to the Law, that the greatest Part will wait the Treaty, and if they find that the Indians are indeed dis- satisfied, We think that the whole will be persuaded to Remove. The

Indians coming to Red Stone, and delivering their Speech, greatly ob- . structed our design. We are, your Honour's most obedient,

" most humble Servants, " JOHN STEEL,

" JOHN ALLISON,

" CHRISTOPHER LEMES,

" JAMES POTTER.

"To HONOURABLE JOHN PENN, ESQ., LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, ETC.

" The Indians Names who came to Red Stone, viz. :

" Captain Haven; Captain Hornets; Captain Mygog Wigo; Captain Nogowach ; Captain Strikebelt; Captain Pouch ; Captain Gilly; Captain Slewbells.

" The Names of Inhabitants near Red Stone:

" John Wiseman; Henry Prisser ; William Linn; William Colvin; John Vervalson; Abraham Tygard, (Teagarden;) Thomas Brown; Rich- ard Rodgers; John Delong ; Peter Young; Geo. Martin; Henry Swats; Jos. McLeon ; Jesse Martin ; Adam Hatton ; John Verval, Jun .; Jam's Waller; Thos. Douter, (Douthitt ;) Captain Coburn; Michael Hooter; Andrew Linn ; Gabriel Conn ; Thos. Down; Andrew Gudgeon, (Gudgel;) Phil. Sute, (Shute;) James Crawford; John Peters; John Martin ; Hans Cack, (Cock ;) Daniel McCay ; Josias Crawford ; One-Province.

" Names of some who met us at Guesses (Gist's) Place :

" James Lyne; ... Blounfield, (Brownfield ;) Eze. Johnson, Thomas Guesse, (Gist,) Char. Lindsay ; Jams Wallace, (Waller;) Richard Harri- Bon ; Phil. Sute, (Shute,) ; Jet. Johnson; Henry Burkon, (Burkham ;) Lawrence Harrison, Ralph Hickenbottom,

"Names of the People at Turkey-foot :

" Henry Abrahams; Eze. Dewit; Jams. Spence; Benj. Jennings; Jno. Cooper; Eze. Hickman ; Jno. Enslow; Henry Enslow; Benj. Pursley."

When he had reached his home, the Rev. Mr. Steel wrote again to the Governor, by way of a supplement ary report :

"CARLISLE, April 11, 1768. "May it please your Honour :

"Upon my return to Carlisle, the 8th instant, I had the Pleasure to see your brother Allen, and Secretary Shippen, in their way to Fort Pitt. The Secretary requested a Copy of our Journal, believing it might be of some Use to them, with which they were immediately furnished, and further advised me to wait an Opportunity rather than hire an Express, to Transmit to your Honour our Papers, which I am favored with in the present Bearer. Sir, there is one thing which, in preparing the Extract of our Journal, happened to be overlooked, viz .: The People at Red Stone alleged that the removing of them from the unpurchased Lands, was a Contrivance of the Gentlemen and Merchants of Philadelphia, that they might take Rights for their improvements when a Purchase was made. In confirmation of this, they said that a Gentleman of the name of Harris, and another called Wallace, with one Friggs, a Pilot, spent a considerable time last August, in viewing the Lande and Creeks thereabouts. We promised to acquaint your Honour with this.

" I am of Opinion, from the appearance the People made, and the best intelligence We could obtain, that there are but about an hundred and fifty Families in the different Settlements of Redstone, Yougheoghenny and Cheat River. . . . "2

Council at Fort Pitt, 1768 .- The council with the Indians was held at Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, be- ginning on April 26th, and ending on the 9th

of May. There were, among others of the 1768. whites, George Croghan, deputy Indian agent for Indian affairs, John Allen and Joseph Shippen, Jr., commissioners on the part of Pennsyl- vania, and the officers of the garrison. Of the Six Nations there were 12 chiefs, 6 chief warriors, with 293 warriors, besides women and children; of the Delawares, 13 chiefs, 9 chief warriors, with 311 war- riors, besides women and children ; of the Shawanese, 10 chiefs, 8 chief warriors, with 141 warriors, besides women and children; Munsies, 5 chiefs, with 196 warriors, besides women and children; Mohickons, 3 chiefs, with 90 warriors, besides women and chil- dren ; of Wyandots, 7 were sent; in all there were 1103 Indians, besides women and children.8

The conference, lasting for many days, was upon two principal matters: one, the pacification of the Indians as to murders of members of different tribes committed at a late date, particularly the killing of several Indians upon the Susquehanna by one Fred- erick Stump and John Ironcutter, his servant, on January 10th preceding; and the other, the arrang- ing of difficulties which had arisen on account of the settlements already made and being made upon their lands. Many speeches were delivered, and much for- mality observed at this well-attended conclave. The passions aroused among the natives by the outrages admitted to have been committed upon them were rather easily arranged by shrewd management and a " condolence" in the shape of presents, amounting in value to upwards of fifteen hundred pounds, and towards the end of the council the matter of the re- moval of the settlers from the Monongahela was

the d-d Dutchman," and wished to give up his land for another tract. He then settled just opposite Redstone Old Fort, where West Browns- ville now stands, and no doubt lived there at the time of Rev. Steel's visit. The tract was warranted to him on April 5, 1769, under the name of "Indian Hill."

1 Wampum was an Iroquois word meaning a mussel. Such shells are made into beads, each a cylinder about three-eighths of an inch long, and about one-eighth of an inch thick, and strung upon a string, con- stituting a string of wampum. Such strings plaited together made a belt of wampum. Everything of moment transacted at solemn council, and every message delivered, was ratified by a string or belt of wampum.

2 The foregoing correspondence is published in IX. Col. Records, 506- 10.

$ See for the parties present and the proceedings in full, IX. Col. Records, 516; I. Olden Time, 344.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

brought forward. It will be remembered that Allen and Shippen had been supplied by Rev. Mr. Steel, at Carlisle, with a copy of the minutes of the conference had with the settlers at Redstone on the 27th of March. The whites seemed to await with some impatience an opportunity to open the debate upon this subject; and indeed it would appear, as shown by the result, that there was more anxiety on the part of the Penn- sylvania authorities that the settlers should remove, than there were on the part of the Indians themselves, on whose account such furious legislation and proc- lamations had been made and issued.

At the session on the 2d of May, a week after the council began, Tohonissagarrawa, a chief of the Six Nations, by whom as the lords paramount all the lands in this western country were claimed to be owned, said through an interpreter to Brother Onas, as the Governor of Pennsylvania was called,-

" Brother: It is not without grief that we see our Country settled by You without our knowledge or Consent ; and it is a long Time since we first complained to you of this Grievance, which we find has not yet been redressed, but settlements are still extending further into our Country. Some of them are made directly on our war Path, leading to our Enemies Country, and we do not like it.1 You have laws amongst you to govern your People by, and it will be the Strongest Proof of the Sin- cerity of your Friendship to let us see that you remove the People from our Lands; as we look upon it, it will be Time enough for you to settle them, when you have purchased them and the Country becomes yours."2

The reply of the Pennsylvania commissioners was made on the 4th of May, in which they expressed their pleasure that they had so good an opportunity of acquainting the Indians of the endeavors which had been made to do them justice in this respect, and proceeded to recite the issuance by the Governor of the proclamation which had been unobserved. " As the people," said they, "who have settled on your Lands came chiefly from Virginia, the Governor of that Province, likewise, issued Proclamations and orders to the same Purpose. The King's General too [His Excellency General Gage] hath twice sent parties of Soldiers to the people living on Red-Stone Creek and the Monongahela to warn them off your Lands, and threatened them with seizing their per- sons and effects if they refused to move away." They then informed the Indians of the passage of the law inflicting the penalty of death on all persons who should continue on their lands after the first day

of the next June; that four prudent and honest men had been sent among the settlers to distribute copies of the act, and of the proclamation commanding strict obedience to it under the penalties provided ; that the messengers had returned home and reported to the Governor that they had executed his orders, but that they were told by the people settled at and near Redstone Creek that they had been encouraged by the Indians themselves to continue on those lands, but they would obey the law and move off without delay :

" But Brethren we are sorry to tell you that as soon as the Men sent by the Governor had prevailed on the settlers to consent to a compliance with the Law, there came among them eight Indians, who live at Mingo town, down this River, and desired the People not to leave their Settle- ments, but to sit quiet on them till the present Treaty at this place should be concluded. The People on receiving this advice and encour- agement suddenly changed their minds, and determined not to quit their places till they should hear further from the Indians."

The commissioners then quoted the speech made at Redstone by the Mingo warriors,8 and expressed their great anxiety at this behavior of the Indians, as it had absolutely frustrated the efforts being made to remove the intruders from their lands. They then proposed that the Indians would send some of their wise and prudent men " to the people settled at Red- stone, Youghogany, and Monongahela, to contradict the advice of the eight Indians from the Mingo Town," and the commissioners would send an " honest and discreet" white man to accompany them :

" And, Brethren, if after receiving such notice from you they shall re- fuse to remove by the time limited them, you may depend upon it the Government will not fail to put the Law into immediate Execution against them."

On the 6th of May, Beaver, a chief of the Dela- wares, said,-

" The Country lying between this River and the Allegheny Mountains has always been our Hunting Ground, but the White People who have scattered themselves over it have, by their hunting, deprived us of the Game, which we look upon ourselves to have the ouly right to, and we desire you will acquaint our Brother, the Governor, of this, and prevent their Hunting there for the future."

The proposition to send messengers to the settlers was assented to on the 9th of May, and White Mingo and the three deputies sent from the Six Nations were selected by the Indians, to be accompanied by John Frazer and John Thompson, appointed as the " honest and discreet" representatives of the prov- ince. The latter received written instructions, defi- nite and imperative in terms, but when ready to depart up the river they sent several times for the Indian messengers, " who at last came to the fort and acquainted them that they had been seriously consid- ering the business they were going to be sent on, and it now appeared to them so disagreeable that they could by no means consent to undertake it, and im- mediately returned the wampum which had been given them." They at first set up a want of power from their superiors, being present only as deputies, and they further added "that the driving white

1 That is, on Dunkard Creek.

2 That the Indians, though wild and untamable, were nevertheless not devoid of reason and eloquence an extract is made from a speech on the land question at another council by Gachradodow to Asaragoa, the In- dian name of the Governor of Virginia : " The world at the first was made on the other Side of the great Water, different from what is on this Side, as may be known from the different Colours of our Skin and of our flesh, and that which you call Justice may not be so amongst us ; you have Laws and Customs and so have we. The Great King might Bend you over to conquer the Indians, but it looks to us That God did not approve of it. If he had he would not have placed the Sea where it is as the Limits between us and You." For an affecting scene, show- ing real eloquence on the part of the uncultivated Indian, see the pro. ceedings of the council of condolence held at Shamokin (Sunbury), in 1769, to appease the Indians on account of the murder of Seneca George's son by a nephew of old Conrad Weiser, in IX. Col. Records, 618.

8 See page 143.

145

CIVIL AND LEGAL-SETTLERS WEST OF MONONGAHELA.

people away from their settlements was a matter which no Indians could with any satisfaction be con- cerned in, and they thought it most proper for the English themselves to compel their own people to remove from the Indians' lands."

The Indians appointed to carry the message having declined, the commissioners vainly endeavored to procure the appointment of others in their stead, and therefore concluded to abandon the attempt. But be- fore they left for Philadelphia, Guyasutha came with Arroas, a principal warrior of the Six Nations, to the commissioners at their lodgings, where the former made the following statement, giving most judicious reasons for their failure to send the messengers, as they had engaged to do :

". . . We were, all of us, much disposed to comply with your Request, and expected it would have been done without difficulty, but I now find that not only the Indians appointed by us, but all our other young Men are very unwilling to carry a Message from us to the White People, ordering them to remove from our Lands. They say they would not chuse to incur the ill will of those People ; for if they should be now removed they will hereafter return to their Settlements when the Eng- lish have purchased the Country from us. And we shall be very un- happy if, by our Conduct towards them at this time, we shall give them Reason to dislike us, and treat us in an unkind Manner when they again become our Neighbors. We therefore hope, Brethren, you will not be displeased at us for not 'performing our Agreement with you, for You may be assured that we have good Hearts toward all our Brethren, the English."

The result was that the settlers, "chiefly from Vir- ginia," were not removed from the homes they had established in the then wilderness of the Mononga- hela valley; nor did any of them suffer the death penalty provided by a timid Assembly; if such had been the case there might have been a less number of the Linns, the Colvins, the Teagardens, the Browns, the Rodgers, the Swartses, the Martins, the Harrisons, within and near the bounds of Washington County than we have at present.

The efforts to dispossess the early settlers are thought to have produced two very natural conse- quences : first, they tended to alienate the settlers from the Pennsylvania government, and to turn them the more readily to Virginia in the boundary contro- versy which after a time followed; and again, they contributed, as has been thought, with other influ- ences to maintain a good feeling between the early pioneers and the Indians, by which means the filling up of the lands westward of the Alleghanies to the Ohio River was rapidly promoted.

Treaty at Fort Stanwix, 1768 .- The speech of Guyasutha clearly foreshadowed an expected treaty by which the Indian title to this country was to be ! purchased. Accordingly in the fall of the same year, under the supervision of Sir William Johnson, the treaty was held at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., for the important purpose of settling a general boundary line between them (the Indians) and the neighboring colonies.1

Governor Penn intended to be present at this treaty on Sept. 7, 1768, but was obliged to return before it was opened. The Council was not begun till October 24th, and on November 5th was transacted the busi- ness which more immediately concerns us, to wit, the purchase by the proprietary government of Pennsyl- vania of the Indian title to a large part of the lands of the province. This purchase included all of the present counties of Washington, Greene, Fayette, Westmoreland; all of Allegheny and Beaver south of the Ohio River, and then extended northeast to Susquehanna and Wayne.

The settlers were now no longer to be disturbed by ' the government on account of objections from the Indians, and on Feb. 26, 1769, notice was given by an advertisement from the land-office that on the 3d of April ensuing the land-office would be opened to receive applications for lands within the new purchase at the rate of five pounds sterling per one hundred acres, and one penny per acre quit-rent. No person was to be allowed more than three hundred acres. On the day when the office was opened numbers of applica- tions for lands within the limits of Washington County were granted, as will soon appear by a refer- ence to a few of them.

Settlers West of Monongahela .- But before the 3d of April, when lands west of the Alleghenies could lawfully be acquired,-indeed, before the council at Fort Pitt and the treaty at Fort Stanwix,-there were many settlements made west of the Monongahela River, and extending well towards the Ohio. It is now believed, indeed documentary evidence has made it clear, that in and prior to 1767 settlers had made improvements here and there all over the beautiful country extending from Fort Pitt southward to the boundary line and between the two rivers named. It is not purposed here to show these settlements in de- tail, but it is beyond doubt that as early as 1767 Everhart Hupp, Abraham Teagarden, and Jesse Baumgartner settled at or near the mouth of Ten- Mile Creek, and on April 3, 1769, the first day of the opening of the land-office, warrants were granted to William Preston, Robert Harrison, Paul Fooks, and David Evans for the four tracts which afterwards made up the Morganza property when purchased, a little before 1796, by Col. George Morgan. On April 5, 1769, Phineas Kellum, or Killeum, obtained a warrant for a tract on the North Fork of Ten-Mile Creek.

The records of the land-office show that on June 15, 1769, applications were made by Abraham Hun- ter for three hundred acres "on a branch of Shirtees Creek [by the path leading] from 1769. Fort Bird to Mingo Town, joining land of Joseph Hunter, Jr., including Catfish, a Delaware Indian's improvement ;" by Joseph Hunter, for three hundred acres " on a branch of Shirtees Creek, joining land of Abraham Hunter ;" and by Martha Hunter,

1 1X. Col. Records, p. 545.

146

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

for three hundred acres " on a branch of Shirtees Creek, joining land of Joseph Hunter, Jr." These lands when surveyed on Nov. 11, 1769, were named respectively, in the order above given and going from south to north, Catfish Camp, Grand Cairo, and Martha's Bottom. The borough of Washington, on Oct. 13, 1781, was laid out on parts of the two tracts called Catfish Camp and Grand Cairo. Each one of the surveys was returned as containing over three hundred and thirty acres. Fort Bird, or more prop- erly Fort Burd, was at Redstone, now Brownsville, and the Mingo town was on the west side of the Ohio, just below where Steubenville now stands.

The same year, 1769, without more particularity as to dates, warrants were granted to Mary McDowell for a tract afterwards passed to Henry Taylor, just northeast of Washington; to William Drummond and to John Allman, for tracts on Chartiers Creek ; to Michael Marshall, for a tract in what is North Strabane; to Indian Peter, for the Indian Hill tract, between "Krepp's Knob" and the Monongahela, on part of which West Brownsville stands. In 1770, Joseph Parkinson had acquired property at 1770. Parkinson's Ferry, now Monongahela City ;

Gabriel Cox, on Peters Creek ; John Grimes, on Buffalo Creek ; and in the fall of that year Henry Taylor, the grandfather of Matthew Taylor, came out from Cecil County, Md., and made his improvement on the lands known to this day as the Rich Hills, just northeast and in sight of Washington.1

1 To illustrate by actual instance the method of acquiring titles by what was called " Tomahawk Improvements." as well as the manner of life of our early settlers, the reader will pardon the following extracts. In 1782 suits in ejectment were brought in our Common Pleas Court by Henry Taylor, claiming under his Pennsylvania rights; and the ques- tions at issue were, which party had made the earliest settlements. Depositions were taken and filed, and from those on the part of Mr. Taylor are made the following extracts, relating as appears from them to the Taylor lands, a part of which are at this day owned by Matthew Taylor, a grandson of Henry Taylor.

Deposition of Alexander Bowling, July 3, 1783 :

" That in the fall of the year 1770, he this Deponent saw Henry Taylor at Monongahela River, on his way out to Chartiers Creek ; he understood he was going out to take up land, and he applied to him to show him Land that was not yet Improved : in answer to which he told said Taylor he was about gathering his Corn and he could not go until he had it finished. Van Sweringen being present said he was going out that way to see some Land he had got of Baltzer Shilling, & that he would be glad of his company, and that said Baltzer could show him Land plenty. Said Taylor went out in a few days with said Sweringen. This Depo- nent further says that some time after, he went out to work on a tract of land he had out on said Chartiera Creek, & on his way he saw Henry Taylor and Van Sweringen surveying and Marking a Line which said Taylor informed that he was marking off his Claim and said Taylor was marking this White Oak Tree which stands about north-west of where Mr. Yeates now lives, and that he then and there saw a plain marked line towards the south east; said Taylor asked this Deponent to stay with him all night, pointing over the ridge and that his Cabban was a little way from where they then stood."

Deposition of Isaac Williams, Jan. 30, 1784 :

" That in the year 1770, that he saw Henry Taylor living in the forks of Chartiers Creek, that he understood he was Improving that Land that is now in Dispute, and to make a Settlement thereon; that he hired his Brother John Williams to strenthen the improvements then

Henry Taylor, as shown by the note hereto, built his cabin in the fall of 1770, and returned to Cecil

Claimed by said Taylor ; that he new the work to be Done, as he bunted to get provision for the men while they were doing the work ; that he also knew Taylor to pay his brother a Riffle Gun and some Cash when he went away, and on his return paid the sum of Eight pounds: that when they were doing the work he found a new Cabban on the White Oak Ridge appearing to have been built that Winter; that on Taylor's finding that some person had been at work on his Land, he employed me to Enquire and if possible find out who it was, and to purchase their Claim, which I found it to be Hugh Sidwell, and purchased the said White Oak Cabban and all his claim, in Behalf of said Taylor, for the sum of twenty shillings."

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 34

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216