History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 9

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438

USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 9

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Franklin himself went to the site of Weiss- port, and built Fort Allen, which he named, as he says in a letter to Governor Morris, " in hon- or of our old friend," meaning Chief Justice William Allen, a large land-holder and the father of James Allen, who laid ont Allentown. He left Bethlehem at the head of a little army January 15, 1756, and erected the work of de- fense during that and the following month. It was an oblong, one hundred and twenty-five feet in length and fifty in width, and was com- poscd of a stockade twelve feet high, in which most of the palings were a foot thick. It had four bastions, on one of which was mounted a swivel gun. A well was dug under Frank- lin's orders, which is still in use. Good bar- racks buildings and a guard-house and maga- zine were erected within the walls. After he had been at Gnadenhutten nineteen days, Frank- lin returned to Bethlehem, and thence went to Philadelphia, and thus closed the brief military career of a man destined to achieve a vastly greater renown in civil life. He had no expe- rience in actual warfare, but in the provisions which he made for the protection of the frontier, he exhibited the same strong common sense and varied ingenuity, which in other lines of action did much to make his fame.

Colonel Clapham, a New England officer, who had had much experience in Indian warfare was invested with command of the fort by Franklin upon his retirement. Later it had various commanders. It was regularly garrisoned for a period of five years-1756 to 1761 inclusive- and after the expiration of that period, was oc- casionally occupied by soldiers. Forts Hanıil- ton and Norris appear to have been garrisoned during the same period that troops were kept at Fort Allen.

Fort Hamilton, which we have shown was built late in 1755 or in January 1756 was visited June 24th, 1756 by James Young, " Commissary General of ye Musters" who made a general tour of inspection to all of the frontier posts of Northampton and Berks Counties. In his journal he says : "At 4 A. M., sett out from Bossarts, at 6 came to Fort Hamilton at about seven miles from Bossarts, a good wagon road, and the land better than any I have seen on the No. side of the mountain. Fort Hamil- ton stands in a corn-field by a farm-house, in a Plain and Clear country. It is a square with 4 half Bastions all Very ill Contrived and finished ; the Staccades open six inches in many Places, and not firm in the ground and may be easily pulled down. Before the gates are some Staccades drove in the Ground to Cover it which I think might be a great Shelter to an Enemy. I therefore ordered to pull them down: I also ordered to fill up the other Staccades where open."

"The Provincial Stores" on hand at Fort Hamilton, were "1 Wall Piece, 14 Gd Muskets, 4 wants repair, 16 Cartootch boxes, filled with Powder and Lead, 28 lbs. Powder, 30 lbs. Lead, 10 Axes, 1 Broad Axe, 26 Tomhaukes, 28 Blankets, 3 Drawing Knives, 3 Splitting knives, 2 adses, 2 Saws, 1 Brass kettle." "I found here a Lieut. and Eight men. 7 were gone to Easton with a Prisoner, Deserted from Gen. Shirleys Regt. 1"

In April 1757 it was arranged that " the long frontier between Susquehanna and Dela- ware was to be defended by Col. Weiser's Battalion and all the forts reduced to three"- of which Fort Hamilton was to be one, with a garrison of one hundred men. Colonel James Burd who visited the Fort in -- says in his Journal, " It is a very poor stockade, with one large house in the middle of it, and some fami- lies living in it."

This Fort was named after James Hamilton of the Governor's Council.

Fort Norris, located near the present west line of Monroe County in Polk township on Hoeth's Creek, now called Big Creek-was

1 Penn. Archives, Vol. ii. p. 679.

HOE OF GREY FLINT. 71/4 by 514 inches.

DELAWARE INDIAN FORT. [From Campanius' "New Sweden."]

FLINT KNIFE. 814 by 3 inches.

FLINT KNIFE. 8 by 314 inches.

PARTLY DRILLED PIECE OF STEATTITE.

MORTAR AND PESTLE. INDIAN RELICS.

HAND-MADE AND FINGER-MARKED VESSEL OF POTTERY.

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

which at present are of very little use. It is clear all around for 300 yards, and stands on the banks of a large creek and about 3 mile from the river Delaware,1 and I think it a very important Place for the Defense of this frontier. At 3 P.M. I mustered the people and found them agreeable to the Lieut.'s Roll, Regu- larly enlisted. . . . Found at this fort Lient. Jas. Hyndshaw with 25 men. He told me the Captain, (Van Etten) with 5 men, was gone up the River yesterday and did not expeet him back before two days. They had been informed from the Jerseys that 6 Indians had been seen and fired at the night before 18 miles np the River."

The Provincial stores here were " 11 good muskets, 14 rounds of powder and lead, for 30 men, 4 pounds powder, 30 blankets." Young ordered more powder and lead to be sent up from Fort Norris. It may be added that the colonial reeords mention that the Fort was further supplied with ammunition from Easton, by Colonel William Parsons, in August, 1756.2

Captain John Van Etten, it may be re- marked, appears to have commanded at Fort Hyndshaw until as late as June 14, 1757, when he received orders from the governor to remove to Fort Hamilton. On the 19th he left Fort Hyndshaw with all the baggage, and arrived safely at Fort Hamilton the next day. Lieutenant Hyndshaw came to the place seven days later, with a conflicting order from Colonel Weiser, giving him command of Fort Hamilton, but Van Etten appears to have remained there.

Just a month after Young's visit (July 24, 1756), Captain Van Etten wrote from Fort Hyndshaw of a collision with the Indians two days before : "On the 22nd, about fifteen miles from this fort, he sent out a sergeant and 4 men to guard some farmers in their harvest. They had an interview with some Indians who

from their conversation (especially after a recent murder had been mentioned) excited suspicion and ran off. Van Etten fired at one, only par- tially wounding (sie) him with shot; Another Indian running off, 9 guns were fired at and killed him." This appears to have been one of the few instances of wanton killing of the Indians by whites.

But we return to Commissary Young to gain a first glimpse of Fort Depui,3 the only one of the posts in the region north of the mountains remaining to be deseribed. He eame baek to this place on the evening of the 24th of June, and in his Journal says :

"At 7 P.M. came to Saml. Depui's, Mustered that part of Captain Weatherholt's company that are sta- tioned here, a Lieut. and 26 men, all regularly en- listed for 6 months, as are the rest of his company. Round Depui's house is a large square, but very slight and ill contrived, stockade, with a swivel gun mounted on each corner. Mr. Depui was not at home, his son, with a son of Mr. Brodhead, keeping house. They expressed themselves as if they thought the Province was obliged to them for allowing this party to be in their liouse ; also made use of very Arrogant Expres- sions of the Commissioners and the People of Phila., in General."

There were reported here only thirteen good muskets, but that number represented only those ineluded in "Provincial Stores," and doubtless many of the men on duty here, as well as at the other forts, had brought with them their own trusty rifles.

It is quite possible that Young's unfavorable report on Depui's may have been influenced by pique at the manner in which he was received. Col. James Burd, who visited the fort on March 2, 1758, tells quite a different story about it, viz. :

"This is a very fine plantation, situate upon the river Delaware. There is a pretty good stockade here and four swivels mounted, and good accommodations for soldiers. . Found here twenty-two good men, fifty pounds of powder, one hundred and twenty-five pounds of lead, no flints, a

1 Authorities almost unanimously agree that the exact site of Fort Hyndshaw was on the hill in front of Jacob Place's hotel. It is said that there are still-or were in 1880-indications that the fort was thus located, in the marks upon the large maple-trees at the right of the road, after entering it from the river road, these marks being supposed to be the scars left by balls fired from a swivel gun in the fort.

¿ 2 See also Penn. Archives (Appendix, p. 379.)

3 Depui's was visited immediately after the breaking out of the war, in January, 1756, by Captain Isaac Wayne, who went there in command of some soldiers by order of Benjamin Franklin, and thence retired to Nazareth. The Stockade was possibly constructed under Wayne's super- vision.

THE INDIAN WAR, 1755-1763.

great quantity of beef. I suppose eight months' pro- visions for a company, plenty of flour at the mill, about 300 yards off."

Soldiers were kept at Depui's during the continuance of active Indian hostilities, and in February of 1760, Ensign Hughes was there with twenty-three men, and Mr. Depni was acting as commissary.1

The forts within the territory, which is the province of this volume, have now all been de- scribed. Those westward of the Lehigh and extending to the Susquehanna, and those along the New Jersey frontier, were similar in size and general characteristics. There were other places of defence-forts. block-houses and stock- aded dwelling-houses in Northampton County, at the Moravian settlements and elsewhere. Of the lesser forts there was one at the Lehigh Gap, and one at Wind Gap, and several farm- houses below the mountains were designated as places of rendezvous in case of danger. At these a few soldiers, under a subaltern officer, were frequently to be found, as, for instance, at a farm-house at the Wind Gap, Young, in 1756, met seven men under one of Captain Weatherhold's ensigns.

Together these forts and block-houses consti- tuted quite a formidable barrier against the in- cursions of the Indians. The most important function which the forts served, however, was to afford permanent places of living and retreat for the soldiers, who, acting as rangers, discov- ered the presence of lurking bands of savages, and, in a large measure, prevented surprises, such as those which cut off the frontier inhabi- tants in 1756 and threatened to depopulate the whole country. The soldiers of these little gar- risons at Forts Hyndshaw, Depui, Hamilton and Norris also performed very valuable ser- vice in protecting the settlers while harvesting and securing their crops.

Notwithstanding the establishment of the forts and the presence of troops all along the bor- der, and notwithstanding the fact, that peace negotiations were entered upon and a treaty actually effected in 1756, numerous murderons incursions were made by the Indians during that

and the succeeding ycars down to 1763, espe- cially in 1757. These were not so much of a part of general hostile demonstration as the former attacks, but were carried on for the most part by small, disconnected, predatory bands.

Soon after the first outbreak of Indian hostil- ities messengers were despatched to Teedyuscung with an invitation to meet his friends, the chil- dren of William Penn, and to tell the causes of his alienation from them. An appeal was also made to the Six Nations to lift up their anthori- tative hand and stay the destroyer. These measures ultimately proved effectual for Teedy- uscung met Governor Morris in treaty at East- on, for the first time, in July, 1756, Governor Denny, in November of that year, and again in November of 1757, but it was not until October 26, 1758, that a general treaty of peace was en- tered into.

It was during the course of these negotiations, says a historian of Pennsylvania,2 that Teedyus- cung, the Delaware chief, succeeded-by his el- oquence, by the weight of his personal charac- ter, and by the firmness and cunning of his di- plomacy-in redeeming his nation, in a great de- gree, from their degrading subserviency to the Six Nations ; and also in securing from the propri- etary government, in substance if not in form, some acknowledgment and reparation for the wrongs done to his nation by the subtleties of the Indian " walk," and by calling in the aid of the Six Nations to drive them from the forks. He would scarcely have succeeded in securing these advantages, had he not been assisted and advised at every step by the Qnakers and mnen- bers of the Friendly Association, who were de- sirons of preserving peace and of seeing justice donc to the Indians. They suggested to Tecd- yuscung the propriety of having a secretary of his own, (Charles Thompson, Esq.,) to take minutes of what was said and done in council. This was to prevent that convenient forgetful- ness which often seized the proprietary secreta- ries whenever the proprietary interest required it. This measure was streunously resisted both by the governor and George Croghan, but firmu- ly insisted upou by Teedynseung. The first

? Sherman Day in " Historical Collections of Pennsylva- nia."

1Penn. Archives, Vol. VIII., p. 340.

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

council was held in July, 1756 ; but as the par- ties were not fully prepared, and the attendance was small, the more important business was de- ferred until autumn. On the 8th of November 1756, the Indian tribes, Delawares, Shawanese, Mohicans, and Six Nations, represented by their principal chiefs and warriors, met Governor Denny, with his council, commissioners, and secretary, and a great number of citizens of Philadelphia, chicfly Quakers. Great pomp was observed on these occasions. "At three o'clock," says the record, " the governor marched from his lodgings to the place of conference, guarded by a party of the Royal Americans in front and on the flanks, and a detachment of Col. Weiser's provincials in subdivisions in the rear, with colors flying, drums beating, and mu- sic playing-which order was always observed in going to the place of conference." Teedyus- cung, who represented four tribes, was the chief speaker on the occasion.

"When the governor requested of him to explain the cause of the dissatisfaction and hostility of the Indians, he mentioned several,-among which were, the instigations of the French, and the ill usage or grievances they had suffered both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

"When the governor desired to be informed what these grievances were, Tcedyuscung replied, ' I have not far to go far an instance: this very ground that is under mc (striking it with his foot) was my land and inheritance, and is taken from me by fraud. When I say this ground, I mean all the land lying bc- tween Tohiccon creek and Wioming, on the river Sus- quehanna. I have not only been served so in this government; but the same thing has been done to me as to several tracts in New Jersey, over the river.' The governor asked him what he meant by fraud ? Teedyuscung answercd, 'When one man had formerly liberty to purchase lands, and he took the deed from the Indians for it, and then dies-after his death his children forge a deed like the true onc, with the same Indian names to it, and thereby take lands from the Indians which they never sold,-this is fraud; also, when one king has land beyond the river and another king has land on this side-both bounded by rivers, mountains, and springs, which cannot be moved-and the proprietaries, greedy to purchase lands, buy of one king what belongs to another,-this likewise is fraud.'

" Then the governor asked Teedyuscung whether he had been served so? He answered, 'Yes-I have been served so in this province ; all the land extend- ing from Tohiccon, over the great mountain, to Wio-

ming, has been taken from me by fraud ; for when I had agreed to sell land to the old proprietary by the course of the river, the young proprietaries came and got it run by a straight course by the compass, and by that means took in double the quantity intended to be sold ; and because they had been nnwilling to give up the land to the English as far as the walk extended, the governor sent for their cousins the Six Nations, who had always been hard masters to them, to come down and drive them from the land. The English made so many presents to the Six Nations, that they would hear no explanation from the Delawares; and the chief (Connassatego) abused them, and called them women. The Six Nations had, however, given to them and the Shawanese the country on the Junia- ta for a hunting ground, and had so informed the gov- crnor ; but notwithstanding this, the latter permitted the whites to go and settle upon those lands. That two years before, the governor had been to Albany to buy more of the lands of the Six Nations, and had described their purchase by points of compass, which they did not understand-including not only the Ju- niata, but also the West branch of the Susquehanna, which the Indians did not intend to sell ; and when all these things were known, they declared they would no longer be friends to the English, who were trying to get all their country from them.'

"He assured the council that they were glad to meet their old friends, the English, to smoke the pipe of peace with them, and hoped that justice would be done to them for all the injuries which they had received."

This conference continued nine days, and at the close a treaty of peace was concluded be- tween the Shawanese and Delawares and the English. The governor also offered to satisfy them for the land in the Forks and the Mini- sinks, but as many of those concerned in the land were not present, that question, at the sug- gestion of Teedyuscung, was adjourned, and was fully discussed at a subsequent council held at Easton in July, 1757. The old deeds were called for, but could not all be produced. Tecdyuscung was well plied with liquor, and it was with great difficulty that the Quakers could keep him in a proper state to see clearly his own interest, and resist the powerful in- trigues of Colonel Croghan with the Six Na- tions to weaken his influence. It was at length agreed to refer the decds to the adjudication of the king and council in England, and the ques- tion was quicted for a time.

Another council was held at Easton, in the summer of 1758, having for its object more espe-

THE INDIAN WAR, 1755-1763.

cially the adjustment of all differences with the Six Nations, as well as with the other tribes. All the Six Nations, most of the Delaware tribes, the Shawanese, the Miamis, the Mohicans, Mon- seys, Nanticokes, Conoys, &c., were represented ; in all, about five hundred Indians were present. The governors of Pennsylvania and New Jer- sey, Sir William Johnson, Col. Croghan, Mr. Chew, Mr. Norris, and other dignitaries, with a great number of Quakers, also attended. Teed- yuscung, who had been very influential in form- ing the council, acted as principal speaker for many of the tribes ; but the Six Nations took great umbrage at the importance which he as- sumed, and endeavored to destroy his influence. Teedyuscung, however, notwithstanding he was well plied with liquor, bore himself with digni- ty and firmness, refused to succumb to the Six Nations, and was proof against the wiles of Col. Croghan and the governor. The council con- tinued eighteen days. The land questions were discussed-especially the purchase of 1754. All causes of misunderstanding between the Eng- lish and the Indians being removed, a general peace was concluded on the 26th of October. At the close of this, as at nearly all the other treaties, stores of rum were opened and the In- dians present, as usual, soon exhibited its worst effects. Another council was held at Easton in 1761, concerning the Delaware settlement, at Wyoming, in which Tecdyuscung took an ac- tive part.

Among the hostilities in the region of which we treat, not heretofore alluded to, and occur- ring for the most part in a period later than has yet been entered upon, were the attacks upon the Marshall family, the capture of the Kellers, the second attack on Bosserts, the killing of Sower and Klein, the burning of Brodhead's house, and several small skirmishes in the vi- cinity of Forts Hamilton, Hyndshaw and Depui.

The Indians appear never to have forgiveu or lost sight of Edward Marshall, the champion of the " Walking Purchase"1 of 1737, by which they were cheated out of their hunting grounds, He lived south of the mountains, about where

the village of Slateford now is, and as early as 1748, seven years before the Indian war began, they had attacked his family and neighbors, and killed one of his sons. When the war broke out Marshall and his family, after being once attacked, moved across the river into New Jer- sev, but they returned in the Spring of 1756, and their home was again attacked by the sav- ages in the Spring of 1757. A party of sixteen Indians appeared before the house one day, while Marshall was absent, and began firing up- on all who were in sight. They shot a daugh- ter as she was attempting to escape, but though she was pierced from back to breast by a rifle ball, she succeeded in getting away, and event- ually recovercd. They took Marshall's wife, who was not in a condition to make a rapid flight, and after leading her some miles away, killed and scalped her, and left her body in the woods. Thus Marshall suffered for his remark- able feat performed for the benefit of the Pro- prietaries, and for which he was never paid. He himself escaped the vengeance of the Indians, and although he had some hair-breadth escapes from death at their hands, lived to be an old man, and died a natural death.

In April, 1757, one Casper Countryman (or Gundryman) a lad of about seventeen years, was killed and scalped within three hundred yards of Fort Hamilton. Captain John Van Etten with seven men went down from Fort Hyndshaw, on the 21st, the day after the mur- der, and gave the body burial.

On the 25th of April, Van Etten sent Ser- geant Leonard Denn and two men down to Depui's for provisions. They were waylaid by a band of Indians, and when within two miles from Depui's, Denn was shot and killed. His comrades fled and, reaching the fort (Hyndshaw), gave warning of the presence of Indians, where- upon, we are told, " The drummer beat an alarm and the neighbors all gathered into the fort.2 Van Etteu and seven men went immediately to the scene of the attack, and found the body of the Sergeant, " scalped and entirely stripped, and shamefully cut, so much so that his bowels

1 See the preceding chapter.

2 Jolin Van Etten's Journal, appendix of Rupp's History of Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties, p. 480,

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

were spread upon the ground." A wagon being procured from Depui's, the body was taken there, guarded during the night, and on the next day given " Christian burial."

Other murders were committed about the same time by small lurking bands of savages, as appears from letters written by Mayor Par- sons, of Easton, to Governor Denny, enclosing depositions taken by him. We quote from one made by Michael Roup :

"The 24th of April, 1757, appeared before me, Wil- liam Parsons, Esq., &c., Michael Roup, of Lower Smithfield, Northampton County, . and did de- pose and declare, That his neighbor, Philip Bozart, being at Fort Norris last Saturday week, heard a let- ter read there, which was dispatched by Major Par- sons to acquaint the garrison that he had received in- formation that some enemy Indians intended shortly to come and attack the inhabitants at and about Minisinks, and to desire them to be on their guard, which was soon made known to all the neighboring inhabitants That on Friday morning last, John Le Fever, passing by the houses of Philip Bozart and others, informed them that the Indians had murdered Caspar Gundryman last Monday evening ; whereupon this deponent went immediately to the house of Philip Bozart to consult what was best to be done, their houses being half a mile apart. That they con- cluded at last for the neighbors to collect themselves together, as many as they could, in some one house. And this deponent further saith, that he immediately returned home and loaded ·his wagon, as fast as he could, with his most valuable effects, which he car- ried to Bozart's house; that as soon as he had un- loaded his wagon, he drove to his son-in-law's, Peter Soan's house, about two miles, and loaded as much of his effects, as the time and hurry would admit, and took them also to Bozart's, where nine families were retired ; that a great number of the inhabitants were also retired to the houses of Conrad Bittenbender and John McDowell ; that Bozart's house is seven miles from Fort Hamilton and twelve from Fort Norris And this deponent further saith, that yesterday morn- ing (the 23d of April), about nine o'clock, the said Peter Soan and Christian Klein, with his daughter, about thirteen years of age, went from Bozart's house to the house of the said Klein, and thence to Soan's house to look after the cattle and bring more effects. That about half an hour after the above three persons were gone from Bozart's, a certain George Hartleib, who had also fled with his family to Bozart's, and who had been at his own house, about a mile from Soan's, to look after his creatures and bring away what he could, returned to Bozart and reported that he had heard three guns fired very quick, one after another, towards Soan's place, which made them all conclude

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 9

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 1438

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438