USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County : from its first settlement to the present time, first under Virginia as Yohogania, Ohio, or Augusta County until 1781, and subsequently under Pennsylvania > Part 43
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His excellency, the commander-in-chief, has ordered, in case you should remain after this notice, to seize and make prize of all goods and merchandise brought on this side the Allegheny Mountains or exposed to sale to Indians, at any place except at his majesty's garrison ; that goods thus seized will be a lawful prize and become the property of the captors. The Indians will be encouraged in this way of doing themselves justice, and if accidents should happen, you lawless people must look upon yourselves as the cause of whatever may be the consequence hurtful to your persons and estates, and if this should not be sufficient to make you return to your several provinces, his excellency, the commander-in-chief, will order an armed force to drive you from the lands you have taken possession of to the west- ward of the Allegheny Mountains, the property of the Indians, till such time as his Majesty may be pleased to fix a further boundary.
Such people as won't come to this place are to send their names and the province they belong to, and what they are to do, by the bearer, that his excellency, the commander-in-chief, may be acquainted with their intentions.
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On the 31st of July, 1766, Governor Fauquier issued his procla- mation to those people of Virginia who had seated themselves on these lands west of the Alleghany Mountains and contiguous to the river Cheat, in disobedience of the proclamations of 1763 and 1766, requiring all persons immediately to evacuate the same, which, if they failed to do, they must expect no protection or mercy from the govern- ment, and be exposed to the revenge of the exasperated Indians.
The General Assembly of Pennsylvania also feeling the necessity of immediate action with regard to these settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains, addressed a message to Governor Penn on the 12th of September, 1766, in which Joseph Fox, Speaker of the House, said: "But as we apprehend many of these rash people have gone from Virginia, between which province and this the boundary has not been exactly ascertained, nor is it distinctly known on which side of the supposed boundary these people are settled, we beg leave to recommend it to your honor to take the ear- liest opportunity to communicate to Governor Fauquier the neces- sity of his uniting with you in taking the most expeditious, as well as effectual steps to remove those intruders on the lands to the westward of the Allegheny Mountains, agreeably to his majesty's proelamations."
One month afterwards Governor Penn addressed Governor Fau- quier on this subject, in which he stated that without any authority whatever from Pennsylvania, settlements had been made near Red- stone Creek and the Monongahela, and he presumed also without the consent of the government of Virginia, and in violation of the rights of the nations. Governor Penn desired Governor Fanquier to unite with him in removing the settlers from the Monongahela lands, and if necessary promises a military force to effect the object.
To which Governor Fauquier replied, that he had already issued three proclamations to these settlers, but that the commander-in-chief had taken a more effectual method to remove them, by ordering an officer and detachment of soldiers to summon the settlers on Redstone Creek, the Monongahela Valley, and other parts westward of the Allegheny Mountains, to quit these illegal settlements, and in case of a refusal, to threaten military execution. This proclamation it seems had the desired effect with some few, but a large majority of families remained.
Governor Penn wisely said that as the boundary line between Virginia and Pennsylvania near their western limits, where these settlements were chiefly made, had not been made, and even added that the settlers no doubt would shelter themselves under a disputed jurisdiction, which subsequent events fairly demonstrated. In his address, however, to the General Assembly on the 5th of January, 1768, he said: "I must inform you that those settlements upon the Indian lands to the westward of the Allegheny Mountains, now appear by the line lately run between Pennsylvania and Maryland, to be within the bounds of this province."
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The Assembly, through the advice of the Governor, passed a law on the subject of the removal of all settlers on the Indian lands, but deemed it most prudent to issue a proclamation on this important and exciting subject. And to carry the purpose of the Assembly into full effect, they commissioned Rev. John Steele (of the Presby- terian church of Carlisle), John Allison, Christopher Lemes, and Capt. James Potter, of Cumberland County, to visit the Mononga- hela, Youghiogheny, and other places west of the Allegheny Monn- tains, where any settlements were made in Pennsylvania, to read and explain the proclamation and the law, and induce them to pay due obedience thereto. Sixty pounds in cash were appropriated to each commissioner to defray his expenses. The proclamation is so very important, that I add it at this point in the history.
By the honorable John Penn, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Penn- sylvania-
WHEREAS, By an act of the General Assembly of this Province, passed in the present year, it is among other things provided, that if any person or persons settle upon any lands within the boundaries of this Province not purchased of the Indians by the proprietors thereof, shall neglect or refuse to remove themselves and families off and from the said land, within the space of thirty days after he or they shall be required so to do, either by such persons as the Governor of this Pro- vince shall appoint for that purpose, or by his proclamation to be set up in the most public places of the settlements on such unpurchased lands, or if any person or persons being so removed shall afterwards re- turn to his or their settlements, or the settlement of any other person with his or their family, or without any family, to remain and settle on any such lands, or if any person shall, after the said notice to be given as aforesaid, reside and settle on such lands, every such person or per- sons so neglecting or refusing to move with his or their family, or re- turning to settle as aforesaid, or that shall settle on any such lands after the requisition or notice aforesaid, being thereof legally convicted, by their own confessions or the verdict of a jury shall suffer death without the benefit of clergy.
Provided always, nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be deemed or construed to extend to any person or persons who now are, or hereafter may be settled on the main roads or communications leading through this Province to Fort Pitt, under the approbation and permission of the commander-in-chief of his majesty's forces in North America, or of the chief officer commanding in the western district to the Ohio, for the time being, for the more convenient ac- commodation of the soldiers and others, or to such person or persons as are or shall be settled in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, under the approbation and permission, or to a settlement made by Geo. Crog- han, Deputy Superintendent of Indian affairs under Sir William Johnston, on the Ohio River above said fort, anything herein con- tained to the contrary notwithstanding.
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In pursuance thereof of the said act, I have thought proper by the advice of the council, to issue this my proclamation, hereby giving notice to all persons to remove themselves and families off and from said lands on or before the first day of May, 1768. And I do hereby strictly charge and command such person or persons, under the pains and penalties of the said act imposed, that they do not on any pre- tence whatever remain or continue on the said lands longer than thirty days after the first day of May next.
Governor Penn, in addition to this proclamation, instructed the com- missioners whom I have mentioned, to collect together as many peo- ple of each of the settlements as they could, to read the proclamation, explain its nature, expostulate with them on the folly and injustice of their settling upon the Indian lands, the dangerous tendency of such a rash step both to themselves and other settlers upon the frontiers, the necessity and use of civil government, the obligations we owe to law and good governments and the consequences of disobedience. The commissioners were also instructed to procure the names of all the settlers and report the same to the governor.
The commissioners reached Redstone settlement on the 23d of March, 1768, having left Carlisle on the 2d of March. The people met on the 24th and heard the proclamation read and the law ex- pounded, after which the business was postponed until the 27th. This being Sunday, a considerable number of the people attended, and after a sermon by the Rev. John Stecle the meeting was reor- ganized. Immediately after its reorganization, word was received that a number of Indians had arrived at Indian Peters (this was a point on the west side of the Monongahela and directly opposite Redstone's old fort), and the commissioners sent for them. After their arrival and the business fully stated, the Indians and settlers agreed that nothing would be done until the treaty between George Croghan and the Indians was concluded. These Indians were prin- cipally from the Mingo towns. The settlers concluded that as the Indians evinced no hostile disposition they would remain and wait the issue of the treaty, while some, however, declared their intention to remove to their former province.
The commissioners, pursuant to their instructions, sent notice to the people on Cheat River and to Stewart's Crossing of Youghio- gheny, to meet them at Guesses', the most central place, and also to a place called Turkeyfoot.
The names of the persons who settled near REDSTONE were John Wiseman, Henry Swartz, Henry Prisser, Joseph McClean, William Linn, Jesse Martin, William Colvin, Adam Hatton, John Vervalson, Sr., John Vervalson, Jr., Abraham Tygard, James Waller, Thomas Brown, Thomas Douter, Richard Rodgers, Captain Coburn, John Delong, Michael Hooter, Peter Young, Andrew Linn, George Mar- tin, Gabriel Conn, Thomas Down, John Martin, Andrew Gudgeon, Hans Cack, Philip Sute, Daniel McCay, James Crawford, and Josias Crawford.
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Names at Guesses' place .- John Bloomfield, Richard Harrison, James Lynn, Ezekiel Johnston, J. Johnston, Thomas Guesse, Henry Burken, Charles Lindsey, Lawrence Harrison, James Wallace, and Ralph Hickenbottom.
Names at Turkeyfoot .- Henry Abrahams, Ezekiel Heckman, Ezekiel Dewitt, John Enslow, James Spencer, Henry Enslow, Benja- min Jennings, Benjamin Pursley, and John Cooper.
Rev. Mr. Steele gave it as his opinion to the Governor that, from the best information he could obtain, there were only about one hundred and fifty families in the different settlements of Redstone, Youghiogheny, and Cheat River.
We have referred to the treaty of George Croghan, John Allen, and Joseph Shippen, who were appointed commissioners to meet the chief and principal warriors of the Six Nations, which met at Pittsburg, May 9, 1768. The result of the conference was that two messengers, viz., John Frazer and John Thompson, should visit the people settled at Redstone, Youghiogheny, and Monongahela, and signify to them the great displeasure of the Six Nations at their taking possession of their lands and making settlements on them, and that it is expected they will, with their families, remove without further notice. These two deputies were to be accompanied by the white Mingo and the three deputies sent from the Six Nation coun- try ; but when the time of their departure arrived they refused to go, saying that their instructions were only to attend to making a treaty, and that the driving the white people away from these settlements was a matter which no Indian 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 them from the Indian lands.
The commissioners, finding all efforts fruitless to gain over the Indian deputies, determined to return to Philadelphia, and, while making their arrangements, they were visited at their lodgings by one of the principal warriors of the Six Nations, who stated that he regretted the state of affairs, only fearing the ill-will of the white people, yet pledging his Indian faith and Indian honor that the Six Nations had good hearts to all their English brethren. Thus ended this treaty at Fort Pitt.
From this period, or until the year 1773, the country west of the Allegheny Mountains began to fill up with a growing population, the inhabitants feeling that they were well protected by the military forces at Fort Pitt in case of an Indian attack. Richard Penn, then Governor of Pennsylvania, urged the Assembly to have a sufficient number of soldiers at that post, but the Assembly differed from the Governor, believing that, if the fort was heavily garrisoned, the Indians would naturally become alarmed at such warlike prepara- tions, and the worst consequences might be the result-although the Assembly pledged itself that whenever called upon by the exigencies of the time, they would afford every kind of protection to the western inhabitants.
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The boundary question was one which involved not only the extent of Pennsylvania, but the title of lands. James Hendricks, a sur- veyor of Cumberland County, being written to on the subject in September, 1769, replied that he could not tell precisely where the western boundary crossed the Monongahela, but he inclined to the belief that Chartiers' Creek must be in the province of Pennsylvania, as its junction with the Ohio is but four miles from Fort Pitt, about northwest, and on going to Redstone old fort (Brownsville) you cross it several times, and Redstone old fort is several degrees to the westward of south from Fort Pitt.
Col. William Crawford, on the 9th of August, 1771, in writing on the same subject, says, it was the opinion of some of the best judges that the line of the province would not extend. so far (as that of Mr. Hendricks) as it would be settled at forty-eight miles to a degree of longitude, which was the distance of a degree of longi- tude allowed at the time the charter was granted to William Penn.
Among the persons who were prominent in creating disturbances with regard to the boundary question was Michael Cressap, who declared that the province of Pennsylvania did not extend beyond the Allegheny Mountains, but that all westward of it was the king's land. This assertion easily gained credence among those who settled on the disputed lands, while Mr. Croghan, in a letter to Arthur St. Clair, dated June 4, 1772, asserted that it was not a great number of years since the Assembly refused to build a trading house or fort, alleging it to be out of Mr. Penn's grant, and that even afterwards the same Assembly refused granting money for the king's use, to assist in the reduction of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg). In the same letter he says the people are fools if they do not keep their money until they are fully satisfied that their property is sure, and that they are under the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania.
The fact need not be disguised that the proprietaries of Pennsyl- vania not only claimed all the country about Pittsburg, but the settlers themselves acquiesced in that claim until January 1, 1774. Up to this period the records of Cumberland, Bedford, and West- moreland counties all establish this fact. Whether it was legally made was a question which concerned the king, and not the Earl of Dunmore, then Governor of Virginia. The charters of Virginia and Pennsylvania were derived from a common origin, and the. crown alone could settle the dispute. In the midst of all this perplexity- and to add additional fuel to the burning embers, Dr. John Connolly, a citizen of Virginia (but formerly. a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania), appeared, and posted up the following significant notice :-
WHEREAS his Excellency John, Earl of Dunmore, Governor of the colony of Virginia. has been pleased to nominate and appoint me Captain Com- mandant of the militia of Pittsburg and its dependencies, with instructions to assure his majesty's subjects settled on the western waters that, having the greatest regard to their prosperity and interest-and convinced from the
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
reported memorials of the grievances of which they complain-that he pur- poses recommending to the house of Burgesses the necessity of erecting a new county to include Pittsburg, for the redress of your grievances, and to take every other step that may tend to afford you that justice which you solicit. In order to facilitate this desirable circumstance, I (John Connolly) hereby require and command all persons in the dependency of Pittsburg to assemble themselves there as militia on the 25th inst., at which time I shall communicate other matters for the promotion of public utility.
As soon as Governor Penn had learned of the above circular, and ascertaincd the wishes of the western people, he sent an express in- forming them that he had forwarded a letter to Governor Dunmore demanding an explanation of his strange and unaccountable conduct through his agent Dr. Connolly. At the same time, he urged and required the magistrates to assert the right of Pennsylvania and pro- 'tect the people in every part within its own limits, adding that Fort Pitt was most certainly within the Province of Pennsylvania. The Governor also directed the magistrates to apprehend Dr. Connolly and some of his partisans and magistrates, at the expense of govern- ment.
In pursuance of these directions, Captain Connolly was arrested and committed to gaol on refusing to find securities for his good behavior till next court. It seems, however, that the captain pre- vailed with the sheriff, and obtained his leave of absence for a few days, and, instead of returning to gaol (which was then at Hannahs- town, Westmoreland County), he went to the Redstone settlement, and from thence to Virginia, being guarded by his associates.
While Captain Connolly was returning to Virginia, Governor Dun- more sent the following spicy letter to Governor Penn, dated at Williamsburg, March 3, 1774 :-
SIR : I have been favored with your letter of the 31st of January. From the opinion of his majesty's council, I must inform you that I cannot pos- sibly, in compliance with your request, either revoke the commissions and appointments already made, or defer the appointing of such other officers as I may find necessary for the good government of that part of the coun- try which we cannot but consider to be within the dominion of Virginia, until his majesty shall declare the contrary. And I flatter myself I can rely so far on the prudence and discretion of the officers whom I have ap- pointed, that the measure which I have pursued may have no tendency to raise disturbances in your province, as you seem to apprehend, and if any should ensue, I cannot but believe they will be occasioned, on the contrary, by the violent proceedings of your officers, in which opinion I am justified by what has already taken place, in the irregular committment of Captain John Connolly for acting under my authority, which, however, as I must suppose, was entirely without your participation. I conclude he is before this time released, but, nevertheless, the act being of so outrageous a na- ture, and of a tendency so detrimental to both colonies that, with the ad- vice of his majesty's council, I do insist upon the most ample reparation being made for so great an insult on the authority of his majesty's govern- ment of Virginia, and no less can possibly be admitted than the dismission of the clerk (Arthur St. Clair) of Westmoreland County, who had the au-
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dacity, without any authority, to commit a magistrate acting in the legal discharge of his trust, unless he (St. Clair) can prevail, on proper submis- sion. on Mr. Connolly to demand his pardon of me. I am yours,
DUNMORE.
Governor Penn being highly displeased with Dunmore's letter, and unwilling that so valuable an officer as St. Clair should either be dis- missed or make an apology, immediately forwarded his reply, couched in the following language, dated at Philadelphia on the 31st March, 1774 :-
MY LORD: _ am truly concerned that you should think the commitment of Mr. Connolly so great an insult on the authority of the government of Virginia, as nothing less than Mr. St. Clair's dismissal from his office can repair. The lands in the neighborhood were surveyed for the Proprie- taries of Pennsylvania early in the year 1769, and a very rapid settlement under this government soon took place, and magistrates were appointed by this government to act there in the beginning of 1771, who have ever since administered justice without any interposition of the government of Vir- ginia, till the present affair. It could not, therefore, fail of being both sur- prising and alarming that Mr. Connolly should appear to act on that stage, under a commission from Virginia, before any intimation of claim or right was ever notified to this government. The proclamation of Mr. Connolly had a strong tendency to raise disturbances and occasion a breach of the public peace in a part of the country where the jurisdiction of Pennsyl- vania hath been exercised without objection, and, therefore, Mr. St. Clair thought himself bound, as a good magistrate, to take legal notice of Mr. Connolly. You must excuse my not complying with your lordship's requi- sition of stripping him on this occasion of his office and livelihood, which you will allow me to think not only unreasonable but somewhat dictatorial.
I should be extremely concerned that any misunderstanding should take place between this government and that of Virginia. I shall carefully avoid every occasion of it, and shall be always ready to join with you in the proper measures to prevent so disagrecable an incident, yet I cannot pre- vail on myself to accede in the manner you require, to a claim which I esteem, and which I think must appear to everybody else to be altogether groundless. I am your lordship's obd't serv't, JOHN PENN.
Mr. Connolly, finding himself supported in his measures by Lord Dunmore, returned to Pittsburg, and had himself surrounded con- stantly with an armed body of men to do his bidding in defence of Virginia laws. Whenever the courts of Pennsylvania would issue a process-or even a magistrate-Mr. Connolly, under his authority from Lord Dunmore, would obstruct its execution. It appears that he was determined to overawe the court of Westmoreland County with his measures, and addressed them by a written communication in the following language :-
GENTLEMEN : I am come here to be the occasion of no disturbances, but to prevent them. As I am countenanced by my government, whatever you may say or conceive, some of the justices of this bench are the cause of this appearance, and not me. I have done this to prevent myself from being illegally taken to Philadelphia. My orders from the government of
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Virginia not being explicit, but claiming the country about Pittsburg, I have raised the militia to support the civil authority of that colony vested in me.
I am come here to free myself of a promise made to Captain Proctor, but have not conceived myself amenable to the court of Westmoreland County by any authority from Pennsylvania, upon which account I cannot apprehend that you have any right to remain here as justices of the peace, constituting a court under that province. But, in order to prevent confu- sion, I agree that you may continue to act in that capacity in all such mat- ters as may be submitted to your determination by the acquiescence of the people, until I may have instructions to the contrary from Virginia, or until his majesty's pleasure shall be further known on the subject.
The Justices of Westmoreland County Court immediately returned the following reply :-
The jurisdiction of the court and the officers of the County of Westmore- land rests on the legislative authority of the Province of Pennsylvania, confirmed by his majesty in council. That jurisdiction has been regularly exercised, and the court and officers will continue to exercise it in the same regular manner. It is far from their intention to occasion or foment dis- turbances, and they apprehend that no such intentions can, with propriety, be inferred from any part of their conduct. On the contrary, they wish and will do all in their power to preserve the public tranquillity. In order to contribute to this salutary purpose, they give information that every step will be taken on the part of the Province of Pennsylvania to accom- modate any differences that have arisen between ' and the colony of Vir- ginia, by fixing a temporary line between them.
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