USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
The march of the captives was toward Hannastown, and, when there, they joined the band which had remained to burn the town. About dark the entire band changed their location, moving to the northeast, and encamping for the night in the ravine, or hollow made by Crabb Tree creek. There they partook of what provisions they had. Some watched the prisoners, while others at- tended a council to deliberate what should be the next move.
While the detached band of Indians was destroying the Miller blockhouse and returning with their prisoners, the Indians at Hannastown kept a close watch on the fort. They also kept up an irregular fire on it all afternoon. They were evidently afraid to attack it ; they did not know of its real weakness. Those within had only feelings of hope and fear. If their neighbors could not unite and rescue them they expected captivity and death the next morning.
The romantic event of the afternoon was the shooting of Margaret Shaw. The story of this young girl's death has been repeated many times, but it never grows old. It has been exaggerated by romanticists, but the simple story
181
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
makes her character and actions so beautiful and attractive that no false col- oring is necessary. She has lived since, and always shall live in the sad story of that day, as a genuine heroine of Hannastown. She was the daughter of Moses Shaw, and the sister of Alexander and David Shaw. Both of her brothers were hunters and scouts, and both were well known Indian fighters and rangers. David had entered the Revolution as a substitute for his father. When his term of enlistment expired he came home like Brownlee to assist in border defense. Like Brownlee, too, he thought it was always right to kill an Indian. Otherwise he was a man of most gentle nature, and was liv- ing up to his general reputation when, before he entered the fort, he first ran to ascertain whether his father's family had been taken in or not. Margaret (or Peggy, as she was called), resembled him in the gentleness of her dispo- sition. She was about fourteen years old, but large and strong for her age. During the afternoon in the fort the older people were devising means of defense should an attack be made, and perhaps the children were somewhat neglected. Inadvertently a small child wandered toward the picketing of the fort, and was in a section of the enclosure which was within the range of the enemy's bullets. Seeing this, Margaret ran to it to fetch it back to safety. As she bent down to pick it up a bullet struck her in the breast and penetrated her right lung. With the skill in surgery of our present day she might easily have recovered. As it was, she lingered two weeks and had wasted away until she was but a mere skeleton, when death relieved her. She was buried at a Presbyterian graveyard two miles north of Mt. Pleasant, now known as the Middle churches.
Thus it will be seen that there was a great deal of firing at Hannastown, and this, among other things, aroused the entire community. The men as- sembled at George's are said to have fired all their guns at once to arouse the neighborhood. About forty men gathered there by dark. All were bent on rescuing the prisoners in the fort. The night fortunately brought dark clouds and rain which favored the rescuing party. Only about thirty of them were able to go to the relief of the fortress. Suspicions of cowardice were hinted for long years afterwards, concerning some who failed to accompany them. Of these thirty, many were on horses and all were armed. The location of the Indians, the destruction of the town, etc., was all reported by scouts who, by much practice, were as wary as the Indians themselves. The party advanced with great caution. They could see from the gleam of burning logs the outline of the fort with its whitewashed palisades. As they crept up to it the scouts made known their arrival, the gates were opened and all entered in safety.
As soon as the evening meal was over the Indians proceeded to divide their plunder. Many of them attired themselves in the new garments which fell to them. One unusually large Indian tried to array himself in a silk dress, but could not get his foot through the sleeve. His attempts were very ludicrous, and he seemed highly pleased that he could make others laugh so heartily. They also prepared to celebrate their victory. One captive was
182
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
selected, his body painted with black stripes, and tied to a tree. He was to be tortured by being burned alive. They also made the prisoners run the gauntlet, the men first and then a number of the women. Some of them were very badly beaten. The daughter of Robert Hanna was put through, but had gained the favor of an Indian by laughing at his grotesqueness when arrayed in the silk dress, and therefore got through without great injury. But a young woman named Freeman, who had red hair, which was always held in contempt by the dark-haired race, was beaten nearly to death. More than a generation afterward she was treated by Dr. Postlewaite, in Greens- burg, for injuries to her skull received that night. But about twelve o'clock the Indians discovered that forces were arriving at the fort. They did not have time to torture the prisoner, so they tomahawked him and soon after- ward began their march.
It was believed by those in the fort that an attack would be made in the morning, so they tried to deceive the Indians by making them think that very large forces had arrived. Some old drums were brought out and beaten. There was a wooden bridge across the entrance to the fort, and all the horses were galloped across this bridge to the music of the drums. They were then taken around the bridge and brought over several times. All in the fort were now hilarious, or acting so, at least, and, as was intended, these acclama- tions of joy, apparently over the arrival of forces, were plainly heard by the Indians. It was, moreover, not unlikely that by twelve or one o'clock forces should arrive from Fort Pitt or Fort Ligonier, and the stratagem had its desired effect on the minds of the Indians. As soon as possible, therefore, they moved with their prisoners and baggage, stealing away so silently that no one in the fort knew they were going. They traveled north, passing be- tween Congruity and Harvey's Five Points and on northward, crossing the Kiskiminetas at about where Apollo now stands. When morning came those in the fort were delighted to learn that the Indians had gone. The forces followed them as far as the place where they crossed the river, but could not pursue them into the Indian country, which was then a wilderness. For their failure to pursue them further they have been more or less cen- sured, but we think unjustly. There were at least one hundred and fifty well-armed Indians and Tories, and the forces in the fort, including the relief party from George's, did not amount to more than fifty, if both old and young should join in the pursuit, which was practically impossible.
The Indians had with them about twenty prisoners, whom they had taken at and near Miller's. Their march to Canada was comparatively without in- cident, unusual in such parties, though it was a trying ordeal on the cast- down and over-burdened prisoners. Arriving in Canada they sold both pris- oners and scalps to the English for beads, trinkets, firearms and whisky. The prisoners were kept until a final peace was effected between Great Britain and the colonies, after which most of them found their way back to West-
183
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
moreland county. It has been often said that one of the daughters of Robert Hanna, Marian, was married to a British officer, but this has been partly disproved by recent researches.
Of those who are known to have helped to rescue the fort and follow the Indians to the river, not yet mentioned here, were the Craigs, the Sloans, Captain David Kilgore and two of his sons. Captain Wendel Ourry was also with them. James Moore, of Salem township, who died in 1846, aged sev- enty-three, was in the fort. He was a child living with his widowed mother in Hannastown when the great calamity overtook it. From Miller's was taken Dorcas Miller, a daughter of Captain Samuel, and her younger brother, whom they killed because he could not travel rapidly enough. Dorcas was kept at Niagara, and some three years afterward was ransomed and sent home by a British officer named Butler, who knew her father. She came home, and was afterward married to Joseph Russell, residing most of her life on the farm where she was captured. She died in Greensburg, March 15, 1851.
Who commanded the Indian forces on the Hannastown raid will never be certainly known. Some have written that it was Simon Girty. This is now known to be an error, for it is latterly pretty well proved that he was in Kentucky at that time. The leadership of nearly all incursions of that character was attributed to him. It was more likely Guyasutha on the part of the Indians, and Connolly of the Dunmore's war fame on the part of the white Tories, though his presence was never proved. The Indians were mainly from a small tribe called Munsies, then in northern Pennsylvania.
Captain Matthew Jack and David Shaw were for many years justly called the "Heroes of Hannastown War." Jack was sheriff of the county at the time, which probably accounts for his being at Hannastown that afternoon. He was also a county justice, and was all-around one of the most noted and daring Indian fighters of his day. He was a man of great strength and agility, and was without personal fear. Often in after years, at barn-raisings, musters, etc., he illustrated his manner of riding that day. He could place his hat on the ground and pick it up as he galloped by. Later he was known as General Jack, trom his prominence in the Whisky Insurrection. He was born in 1755, and died November 26, 1836. Both he and his wife, Nancy (Wilson) Jack (born 1760, died September 20, 1840), are buried at Congruity, about seven miles northeast of Greensburg.
Hannastown was never rebuilt, though the courts were held there (the courthouse not being burnt) for more than four years afterwards. Cities of untold wealth and power have risen, but few of them have achieved as glorious a record in history as this little collection of mud-plastered log huts, built in the heart of a primeval forest in western Pennsylvania. It was per- haps at its best in 1782, when it was burned.
On February 5, 1829, a petition was presented to the legislature of Penn-
184
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
sylvania by the wife of Captain Brownlee. asking for a pension, and from it we gather the following: She was born in Londonderry, in 1755, her maiden name being Elizabeth Guthrie, and was a daughter of John Guthrie. With her father she came to this country in 1771, and settled in Westmore- land county, near the present town of Greensburg, in 1772. During Dun- more's war they were repeatedly compelled to fly to Hannastown for safety. In 1775 she was married to Captain Brownlee, who was with Erwin as a rifleman in the Revolution, and was taken a prisoner at the battle of Long Island. After serving his time in the Revolution he came home and en- gaged in Indian warfare until the burning of Hannastown. He, with his wife and children, were captured at Miller's fort. In that petition it is stated, also, that it was Mrs. Hanna, the wife of Robert Hanna, who mentioned Captain Brownlee's name in the presence of the Indian captors, and thus led to his identification and death, as indicated above. From there they were taken to Cataraugus, a journey of thirteen days, during which the pris- oners, unable to subsist on the scanty fare of the Indians, almost perished from hunger. From Cataraugus they were taken to Buffalo, where the In- dians concluded, because of Mrs. Brownlee's weakness, she being greatly reduced by fever and ague, to burn her at the stake. But a white man, Captain Lattridge, told them she was too far reduced to afford them any amusement, and prevailed upon them to sell her for whisky, which would afford them much more pleasure. So they listened to his advice, and she and her child, which she carried tied to her back, were marched to Niagara and sold for twenty dollars and two gallons of rum. There she was better cared for, and finally arrived in Montreal. When peace was declared, after many hardships, she returned to Hannastown. Two years later she was married to Captain William Guthrie, captain of the rangers in protecting the frontier. Guthrie was a good Indian fighter but a poor farmer, and afforded her but a scanty living. He lived until 1829, when he was killed by falling from a wagon which went over the side of a high bridge. John Beatty, Robert Orr, Sr., and Jane Beatty testify to these statements. By act of March 23, 1829, she was paid $60, and $60 per year thereafter as long as she lived.
Mrs. Robert Hanna's maiden name was Elizabeth Kelly, a daughter of John Kelly, and she was a sister of Colonel John Kelly, a member of the first Continental convention, also a soldier in the Revolution. Both she and her daughter were taken to Montreal, where they were kindly treated, through the efforts of Rev. William Hanna, an Episcopal minister. They were re- leased in December, 1782, and returned home by way of Lake George, Albany, New York and Philadelphia. Jeanette Hanna, the captured daugh- ter, afterward married David Hammond, an officer in the Revolution. They were the parents of General Robert Hanna Hammond, who fought in the Mexican war. They were buried near Milton, Pennsylvania.
In a letter from General William Irvine to General Washington, dated
185
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
January 27, 1783, we learn that the Indians had assembled near the head- waters of the Allegheny. Further the letter says: "In the year 1782 a de- tachment composed of three hundred British and five hundred Indians was formed, and actually embarked in canoes on Lake Jadaque (Chautauqua) with twelve pieces of artillery, with an avowed intention of attacking Fort Pitt. This expedition was laid aside in consequence of the reported repairs and strength of Fort Pitt, carried by a spy from the neighborhood of the fort. They then contented themselves with the usual mode of warfare, by sending small parties on the frontier, one of which burned Hannastown."
The destruction of Hannastown and the injuries inflicted on the com- munity in connection with it were much more serious and far-reaching than the reader may at first blush imagine. Its evil effects cannot be estimated in dollars and cents, though when viewed, even from that standpoint alone, it was a fearful calamity. For almost a quarter of a century western Penn- sylvania had been gradually increasing, with Hannastown as its chief center and seat of justice. Rude though its log cabins may have been, they were the best in the community, and with their contents represented many years of toil and sacrifice. Here the hardy pioneer had expended his best energies in taming the land, and building up a civilization. Upon the perpetuity and growth of law and order depended the values of their properties, not only in Hannastown but all over Western Pennsylvania. But now all for which they labored had been swept away by a single blow, and the word went east to prospective settlers and land purchasers that in Westmoreland county, even under the shadow of the temple of justice, savage warfare prevailed, property was ruthlessly destroyed and life itself was in constant danger.
With the exception of a country store and a few old houses at Hannastown, built long since the original town was destroyed, there is nothing there to point the inquiring stranger to one of the most historic spots in western Pennsylvania. When it was burned the war for Independence was prac- tically over, for Cornwallis had surrendered to Washington in October of the previous year. Its destruction was in reality the last instance in America during the Revolution, in which the English united with their savage allies to destroy the innocent pioneer by what can be called little else than common butchery. The site of Hannastown is now farming land, owned by Mr. William Steel.
CHAPTER XIII
The Removal of County Seat to Greensburg.
It will be remembered that the law which provided for the formation of the county specified also that the courts should be held at the house of Robert Hanna until a courthouse should be built. The same act authorized Robert Hanna, George Wilson, Samuel Sloan, Joseph Erwin and John Cavett, or any three of them, to select a county seat, purchase land, and erect a court- house. A letter has already been quoted in which Arthur St. Clair lamented that the law had been worded so that the commissioners, by failing to build a courthouse, could indefinitely continue the courts at Hannastown. That was exactly what was done. Hanna was undoubtedly a strong-minded Irish- man, of great shrewdness. Against the will of the people and against the power of St. Clair, who had more than any other secured the erection of the new county, he forced the unwilling committee to retain the county seat at his place for thirteen years. Indeed, it is doubtful whether it would ever have been removed had not the town been destroyed by the Indians.
Another misfortune for Hannastown was the location of the state road about three miles south. This road was a better and a more direct route between the east and the west than the Forbes road, on which Hannastown was built. On the new road sprang up a village called Newtown, about three miles southwest of Hannastown. This town, as well as Pittsburgh, be- came an aspirant for the location of the county seat. The courts were reg- ularly held at Hannastown after it was destroyed (July 13, 1782), and it certainly must have been an inconvenient place, for but few houses were rebuilt, and the town was practically without accommodations. Still, Hanna was strong enough to prevent the commission from acting, and therefore the courts were from year to year held at his house.
187
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
In 1784 this question of a county seat was carried to the legislature, and on November 22 an act was passed which set forth that, whereas, the trustees appointed by the law erecting the county had not complied with the powers given them to erect county buildings, they were dismissed, and a new com- mission was named. The new commissioners were John Irwin, Benjamin Davis, Charles Campbell, James Pollock and Joseph Wilkins. They or any three of them were authorized and empowered to perform the duties required . of the commissioners in the erecting act of February 26, 1773. The second board of commissioners could not agree on the location, though they met and deliberated over the various claimants. They were confronted by rep- resentatives from three places, all demanding the county seat. First, Robert Hanna and his friends wanted it to remain in Hannastown. Second, there were those who were trying to have it located in Pittsburgh, which was then by far the most important town in Westmoreland county, and was rapidly increasing in population. Third, there was the village of Newtown, well located and full of promise, and its friends were urging it with all their power.
Upon the refusal or inability of the second commission to select between these three aspiring towns, the legislature, on September 13, 1785, removed them and appointed a third board. As this act is the one under which the county seat was actually located, we give that part of it in full :
"Whereas, the seat of justice of Westmoreland hath not heretofore been established by law, for want of which the inhabitants labor under great inconveniences, it shall and may be lawful for Benjamin Davis, Michael Rugh, John Shields, John Pomeroy and Hugh Martin, of the county of Westmoreland or any three of them, to purchase and take assurance in the name of the Commonwealth, of a piece of land in trust for the use of the inhabitants of Westmoreland county : Provided said piece of land be not situated farther east than the Nine Mile Run, nor further west than Bushy Run, further north than Loyalhanna, nor further south than five miles south of the Old Pennsylvania road leading to Pittsburgh: On which piece of ground said commissioners shall erect a Court House and prison, sufficient to accommodate the public service of the said county."
By this act it will be seen that Pittsburgh had lost all power in the legis- lature, for the county seat could not go further west than Bushy Run, which is at least twenty miles east of Pittsburgh. The act further provided that the money expended in purchasing land and erecting a court house and jail should not exceed one hundred pounds.
The contest now lay between Hannastown, on the old and somewhat abandoned Forbes road, and Newtown, now beginning to be called Greens- burg, on the new state road. Of the new commissioners named in the above act, Benjamin Davis lived in Rostraver township, Michael Rugh in Hemp- field township, Hugh Martin in Mt. Pleasant township, John Shields in Salem township, and John Pomeroy in Derry township. Three of them
188
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
lived south of the Forbes road and three north of it, while Pittsburgh had no representative on the commission at all, even if the act itself had not proscribed it as a county seat.
Shortly after .their appointment the commission viewed the territory, and met at Hannastown to deliberate. On November Ist and 2nd they came to no agreement, and in December met again at Newtown (or Greensburg) and the three of them living south of the Forbes road decided on Newtown as the county seat. They were Benjamin Davis, Michael Rugh and Hugh Martin. John Shields and John Pomeroy, living north of the Forbes road, favored Hannastown, and, dissenting from the decision, refused to act fur- ther with the trustees or commissioners. But by the terms of the act three of them had the necessary power, and on December 10, 1785, they entered into an agreement with Christopher Truby and William Jack, to which Ludwig Otterman afterwards subscribed, to sell to them, in trust for the county, two acres of land on which to erect public buildings. This day, December 10, 1785, is the day upon which Greensburg was legally selected as the county seat of Westmoreland county.
The three trustees proceeded at once to erect the public buildings. An- thony Altman was selected to erect the court house, and was to perform the work under the supervision of Michael Rugh, who was a trustee. The court house and jail were but one building, built of logs and heavy plank. The jail portion had a heavy stone wall which extended some distance above the ground, perhaps to keep prisoners from cutting their way out. The structure was pushed rapidly, and by July Ist, 1786, both jail and court house were ready for occupancy. The trustees reported its completion to the July sessions of the court at Hannastown. Upon this the justices of the peace, who were also judges of the courts, visited the new county seat and inspected its buildings, after which they made the following report :
We the subscribers, Justices of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland, upon receiving a written report from the Trustees of said county informing us that a new Court House and prison was erected in Newtown, and that a number of other con- venient buildings were also erected and open for entertainment, found that we were war- ranted by law in adjourning our courts to the said town; now being desirous as soon as possible to take leave of the many inconveniences and difficulties which attend our situa- tion at Hannastown, as well as to avoid the cost for rent for a very uncomfortable house, in which we held our courts, we did, therefore, accordingly adjourn to the said town. And we do certify that we found a very comfortable, convenient Court House and prisor., included in one commodious building, together with a number of large commodious houses, open for public entertainment, in which we enjoyed great satisfaction during our residence at court. We do further give it as our opinion that the situation is good, and possessed of every natural advantage that can contribute to the comfort and conven- ience of an inland town; that it is as nearly centrical to the body of people as any spot that can be found possessed of the same advantages; that it lies in direct course between Ligonier and Pittsburgh, and will admit of the straightest and best road between these
189
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
two places : that its situation is in the center of the finest and wealthiest settlement in this western country, and cannot fail of being supplied with the greatest abundance, upon tlie most reasonable terms; in short, we think the said Trusteees have done themselves honor in their choice and proceeding through the whole of this business. Given under our hand the roth of August, 1786.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.