USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Hempfield > History of old Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Near Harrold's > Part 6
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, 16Faust, Vol. I, page 419.
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tempt, he was shot in the leg. Quick as a flash, Schell unbolted the door and pulled the wounded Captain into his house. This success rescued the besieged from the danger of fire, for MacDonald would in such an event, have been burned also. MacDonald's ammunition also fell into the hands of Schell, which was fortunate, for he had only a few shots left. The last effort of the enemy having failed, the brave family were given a respite from their bloody labors. While father and sons were getting their rifles ready for another attack, the mother began to sing the battle hymn of the Reformation "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott." "A mighty fortress is our God." The men fell in and Luther's martial hymn echoed through the woods with tremendous power.
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott,
Ein gute Wehr und Waffen;
Er hilft uns frei aus aller Not,
Die uns jetzt hat betroffen.
Der alt boese Feind
Mit Ernst er's jetzt meint ;
Grosz Macht und viel List Sein grausam Ruestung ist ; Auf Erd ist nicht sein's gleichen.
A mighty fortress is our God, A trusty shield and weapon ; He helps us free from every need That hath us now o'ertaken. The old bitter foe Means us deadly woe ; Deep guile and great might Are his dread arms in fight On earth is not his equal.
Mit uns'rer Macht ist nichts getan ; Wir sind gar bald verloren.
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Es streit't fuer uns der rechte Mann,
Den Gott hat selbst erkoren.
Fragst du, wer der ist? Er heiszt Jesus Christ. Der Herr Zebaoth Und ist kein ander Gott; Das Feld musz er behalten!
With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected ; But for us fights the Valiant One Whom God Himself elected. Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is, Of Sabaoth Lord, And there's none other God; He holds the field forever.
Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel waer, Und wollt' uns gar verschlingen, So fuerchten wir uns nicht so sehr, Es soll uns doch gelingen. Der Fuerst dieser Welt, Wie sau'r er sich stellt, Thut er uns doch nicht ; Das macht, er ist gericht'; Ein Woertlein kann ihn faellen!
Though devils all the world should fill All watching to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill, They cannot overpower us. This world's prince may still Scowl fierce as he will,
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He can harm us none, He's judged, the deed is done One little word o'erthrows him.
Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn
Und kein'n Dank dazu haben;
Er ist bei uns wohl auf dem Plan Mit seinem Geist und Gaben.
Nehmen sie den Leib, Gut, Ehr', Kind und Weib, Lasz fahren dahin! Sie haben's kein'n Gewinn ; Das Reich musz uns doch bleiben ! (Dr. Martin Luther.)
The Word they still shall let remain And not a thank have for it,
He's by our side upon the plain,
With His good gifts and Spirit.
Take they then our life, . Goods, fame, child and wife;
When their worst is done, They yet have nothing won,
The Kingdom ours remaineth.
(Authorized English translation, Church Book.) This hymn inspired them to renewed effort. "The Tories and Indians now pushed some of their guns through the shot- holes of the house, at a moment when the men had withdrawn to load. The courageous mother, seeing the danger, seized an axe and struck it upon the guns, bending the barrels, and giv- ing her men time to reload. Darkness soon set in, and the besieged family sang with lusty voices as if they were con- fident relief were coming from Fort Dayton. The attacking party, not being able to see through the woods, and discouraged by the loss of their leader, withdrew into the forest, taking
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with them the two youngest sons of Schell. During the night, the latter with his family wisely withdrew to Fort Dayton. The next morning, MacDonald was brought into the fort and remained a hostage for the two sons. This courageous defense, with its inspiring singing, stands out as one of the bright spots in the long tale of suffering which the Mohawk settlers were called to endure. Not always was bravery so well rewarded. Even Schell himself, a year later, died from the effects of a wound received from another marauding party of Indians."17
Such were the dangers our forefathers had to meet.
In the summer of 1781 occurred the illfated Clark expedi- tion into the Ohio country against the Indians. In this expedi- tion, Col. Lochry and many of his company of Westmoreland men lost their lives.
The disasterous Crawford Expedition against Sandusky occurred in 1782.
On the 13th of July, 1782, a party of about one hundred and fifty Indians and white renegades among whom was the Renegade Connolly (Shimmel places the total enemy strength at 300 Indians and 60 Tories18 attacked Hanna's town and Millers station. At Hanna's town, the alarm was given in time so that the people fled to the Fort. The few huts in the vil- lage were burned, but the Fort under the leadership of Michael Huffnagle held out. A part of the enemy force went to Millers station and surprised a wedding party and took the station and many prisoners.
From a historian's viewpoint, we cannot refrain from an explanation regarding all the historical accounts of the burning of Hanna'stown that we have ever seen.
Why are certain men written into the story in capital letters and others in six-point type, as it were? Why hesitate to give Michael Huffnagle the credit for his leadership at that time?
17Faust, Vol. I, page 318.
18 Border Warfare, page 139,
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In reading the histories of the times, one is amazed to find certain nationalities written up and others downward. Doubt- less, the Scotch-Irish deserve great credit for their work on the frontier and elsewhere to our nation; we would not pluck a laurel from their wreath of achievement, but at the same time, why are there so many slurring remarks thrown against the German element and their achievements in the early history of our country? From the time of John Smith at Jamestown, Virginia, to the present, there has been an ungallant and un- worthy attitude among many writers toward the achievements of the German, Swiss, and Scandinavian settlers in this country.
This discrimination also holds as regards religions. Our school histories tell us of the religion of the Cavaliers and Puritans. They make special mention that Roger Williams was a Baptist, that Maryland was settled by the Catholics, New York by Dutch Calvinists, but what the religion of the Saltz- burger and of the Swedes of the Delaware was, nothing is said.
Here is a sample of the treatment of the situation in the Province of Pennsylvania in 1776. Shimmel's Border Warfare in Pennsylvania, page 42-"There were three political parties more or less defined, in the Province in 1775: (1) the friends of the existing Government, composed chiefly of the adherents of the Proprietaries, Royalists from conscientious opinion and from religious scruples, and the greater portion of the Society. of Friends; (2) the Revolutionary or active movement party ; (3) a class of men, earnestly devoted to the cause of the Colo- nies, but more or less anxious for reconciliation. The first and third were greatly in the majority. The first comprised the Quakers, who, with the Proprietary party, at that time con- trolled the Assembly. The Germans, from a sense of gratitude to Penn for their homes and liberties, acted with the Quakers. The third party comprised nearly all of those who were recog-
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nized as the political leaders of the day-Franklin, Dickinson, Reed, Morris, Mifflin, Mckean, Clymer, and others. The second class were the Scotch-Irish, but they were far removed from the seat of the Government, and before the declaration of independence, had very little political influence."
"The Quakers and the German sects were opposed to war on account of religious scruples. This fact had caused a bitter feeling against them on the part of the Scotch-Irish."
Taking the three divisions as in the main correct, we dis- sent to the place assigned the German element. It is true that the Germans were grateful for their lands and liberties. They, then as now, were loyal to the "powers that be," but they never belonged to class one as did the Quakers and English. The older German settlements were whole souled with Franklin and his party. They were never "Tories." In the opinion of John Adams, in which Thomas Mckean, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, etc., coincided, the people of New York and Pennsylvania were very equally divided between the Tory and Democratic parties, and nearly one-third of the whole popula- tion of the colonies, at the time of the Revolution were Tories. There were very few Tories among the Germans in Pennsyl- vania. There were pacific sectarians, such as Mennonites, Quakers, Dunkards, Seventh-Day Baptists, and others, who were opposed to war from religious principles, but few indeed were Tories.
Now Schimmel says that "before the declaration of in- dependence, the Scotch-Irish party (second class) had very little political influence." Who, then, influenced Pennsylvania to become the keystone state in Independence? Was it the Tory party ? No. The Quakers and pacific sects? No. Then the Germans, after all, must have been on the patriots' side. Muehlenberg and Schlatter were leaders for the Revolutionary cause. The Lutheran and Reformed churches followed their leadership.
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In 1776 the population of Pennsylvania was 341,000. (Congressional census.) It is estimated (above) that one-half were Tories, leaving 170,500 for the patriotic cause. Hanna, "Scotch-Irish in North Ireland and North America," estimates the Scotch-Irish population at 100,000. Faust, German Ele- ment in the United States,19 accounts for at least 110,000 Germans in population of Pennsylvania. The testimony of Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Rush, the historian Proud as well as Muehlenberg's report to Halle, all agree that the Ger- man population of Pennsylvania in 1775 was at least one- third of the whole. Now, if we accept the statements of the historians that one-half the population of Pennsylvania was Tory, that the Scotch-Irish had little influence before 1775, then it remains that it was the German element that swung the old Keystone State into the arch of Liberty.
We think John Adams's estimate that one-half the popula- tion were Tories is entirely too high. In the heat of conflict, doubtless the Quakers and German pacific sects were rated as tories, on the principle that "he that is not with me is against me" in arms. As stated above, there were some Germans who, for religious reasons, were opposed to war, but who performed pacific duties such as raising grain, etc., but there were very few German Tories. Here on the frontier we read of no German renegade Tories among the Indians, while the roll of renegades and Tories,-Girty, Elliot, McKee, Butler, Mac Donald, Connoley, Croghan, Guy Johnson, John Gibson, and others, attest to the fact that not all English and Scotch-Irish settlers were Patriots.
Dr. Shimmel's classification would lead us to infer that the Scotch-Irish were the Revolutionary party and that the Ger- mans belonged to the party desiring reconciliation. Upon this basis, the Scotch-Irish had little influence in the famous Han-
19Vol. II, page 285.
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nastown Resolutions and the other Resolutions at Hanover and Woodstock, for these resolutions explicitly state the principle of reconciliation ; and queer enough, at each meeting the Ger- mans were an important factor. The statements, frequently made, that the Scotch-Irish were the frontiersmen of America, exclusive of the Germans, is but the fiction of over-zealous partisan writers. The same influences that brought the one group brought the other also, namely, cheap lands and inde- pendence.
On June 22, 1782, about a month before the burning of Hannastown, a meeting was held at Fort Walthour and a petition sent to General Irvine, then commander at Fort Pitt. The petition states "That since the commencement of the pres- ent war, the unabated fury of the savages hath been so par- ticularly directed against us, that we are at last, reduced tó such a degree of despondency and distress, that we are now ready to sink under the insupportable pressure of this very great calamity. . . That the season of our harvest is now fast approaching, in which we must endeavor to gather in our scanty crops, or otherwise subject ourselves to another calami- ty equally terrible to that of the scalping-knife ... and from fatal experience, our fears suggest to us every misery that has usually accompanied that season.
Wherefore, we humbly pray for such an augmentation of our guard through the course of the harvest-season as will enable them to render us some essential service. . .
And, as we have hitherto been accustomed to the protec- tion of the continental troops during the harvest-season we further pray, that we may be favored with a guard of your soldiers, if it is not inconsistent with other duties enjoined on you."20
20Frontier Forts.
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A small force of continentals was stationed at Turtle Creek. These were intended to protect all that settlement round about. The petition was signed by the following :
"George, Chrisopher, Joseph, and Michael Waldhauer, Abraham and Joseph Studebedker, Michael and Jacob Byerly, John and Jacob Ruthdorf, Frederick Williard, - - Wiesskoph, Abram Schneider, Peter and Jacob Loutzenheiser, Hanover Davis, Conrad Zulten, Garret Pendegrast, and John Kammerer."21
21 Washington Irving Correspondence-Butterfield, pages 300-301, quoted from Cort. Col. Henry Bouquet and His Campaigns.
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CHAPTER VII Forts and Blockhouses
This chapter is taken largely from Frontier Forts by Albert.
Walthour's Fort
Walthour's Fort was located eight miles west of Greens- burg on the turnpike to Pittsburgh, twenty-three miles east of Pittsburgh and four miles south of Harrison City. It was built on the farm of Christopher Waldhour. Christopher and his brother George Waldhour, the Studebakers, Kunkles, Byerlys, Williards, Irwins, Hibergers, Wentlings, Bauchmans, Gongawares, Fritchmans, Buzzards, Kifers, etc., belonged to that settlement.
"It would appear that the region about this fort suffered most during the seasons 1781-1782, and especially just before the destruction of Hannastown. Many petitions, sent to Gen. Irvine from citizens of Washington and Westmoreland coun- ties, show in a clear light, the dangers and exposures of the border throughout this period. Of these petitions there was one from Brush Creek, dated June 22, 1782 (see Chapter 6) of which Mr. Butterfield, the erudite historian of the Western Department says: 'This petition, so unexceptionally elegant in diction, as well as powerfully strong and clear in the points stated, is signed by nineteen borderers, mostly Ger- mans. The document itself is in a bold and beautiful hand. It would be hard to find in all the Revolutionary records of
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the west a more forcible statement of border troubles, in a few words, than this.'1
To this Fort belongs the story of the Lame Indian2 as given by H. H. Brackenridge.
"In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about the year 1782, one evening just at twilight, there was found sitting in a porch, an Indian with a light pole in his hand. He spoke in broken English to the person of the house who first came out, and asked for milk. The person (a girl) ran in and returning with others of the family, they came to see what it was that had something like the appearance of a human skeleton. He was to the last degree emaciated, with scarcely the semblence of flesh upon his bones. One of his limbs had been wounded ; and it had been on one foot and by the help of the pole that he had made his way to this place. Being questioned, he ap- peared too weak to give an account of himself, but asked for milk, which was given him, and word sent to the commanding officer of the garrison at that place (Gen. William Irvine), who sent a guard and had him taken to the garrison; after having had food and now being able to give some account of himself, he was questioned by the interpreter (Joseph Nichol- son). He related that he had been on Beaver river trapping, and had a difference with a Mingoe Indian who had shot him in the leg, because he had said he wished to come to the white people. Being told that he must tell the truth, and that in doing so he would fare the better, he gave the following account, to-wit :
That he was one of a party who had struck the settlement in the last moon, and attacked a fort and killed some and took some prisoners.
This appeared to be a fort known by the name of Wal- thour's fort by the account which he gave, which is at the
1Washington Irving Cor., page 301.
2Frontier Forts, page 363.
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distance of twenty-three miles from the town on the Pennsyl- vania road towards Philadelphia, and within eight miles of what is now called Greensburg. He stated that it was there that he received his wound.
The fact was that the old man Walthour, his daughter, and two sons were at work in the field, having their guns at some distance and which they seized, on the appearance of the Indians, and made towards the fort. This was one of these stockades or blockhouses to which a few families of the neighborhood collected in times of danger, and going to their fields in the day, returned at night to this place of security.
These persons in the 'field were pursued by the Indians and the young woman taken. The old man with his sons kept up a fire as they retreated and had got to the distance of about a hundred yards from the fort when the old man fell. An Indian had got upon him and was about to take his scalp, when one in the fort directing his rifle, fired upon the Indian who made a horried yell and made off, limping on one foot. This was in fact the very Indian, as it now appeared that had come to the town. He confessed the fact, and said, that on the party with which he was, being pursued, he had hid him- self in the bushes a few yards from the path, along which the people from the fort in pursuit of them came. After the mis- chief was done, a party of our people had pursued the Indians to the Allegheny river, tracing their course, and had found the body of the young woman whom they had taken prisoner, but had tomahawked and left. The Indian, as we have said, continuing his story to the interpreter, gave us to understand that he lay three days without moving from the place where he first threw himself into the bushes, until the pursuit might be over, lest he should be tracked; that after this he had got along on his hands and feet, until he found this pole in the marsh, which he had used to assist him, and in the meantime
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had lived on berries and roots; that he had come to a post some distance from here, where a detachment of soldiers were stationed and thought of giving himself up, and lay all day on a hill above the place thinking whether he would or not, but seeing that they were all militia men and no regulars, he did not venture. The Indians knew well the distinction between regulars and militia, and from these last, they ex- pected no quarter.
The post of which he spoke was about twelve miles from Pittsburgh on the Pennsylvania road at the crossing of what is called Turtle Creek. It was now thirty-eight days since the affair of Walthour's fort and during that time this miser- able creature had subsisted on plants and roots and had made his way on one foot by the help of a pole. According to his account, he had first attempted a course to his own country by crossing the Allegheny river, a considerable distance above the town, but strength failing to accomplish this, he had wished to gain the garrison where the regular troops were; having been to this place before the war; and, in fact, he was now known to some of the garrison by the name of Davy. I saw the Indian in the garrison after his confession, some days, and was struck with the endeavors of the creature to conciliate good will by smiling and affecting placability and a friendly disposition.
The question was now what to do with him. From the mode of war carried on by the savages, they are not entitled to the law of nations. But are we not bound by the laws of nature, to spare those that are in our power; and does not our right to put to death cease, when an enemy ceases to have it in his power to injure us? This diable boiteux, or devil on two sticks, as they may be called-his leg and his pole-would not seem likely to come to war again.
"In the meantime the widow (Mrs. Mary Willard) of the man who had been killed at Walthour's fort and mother of the
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young woman who had been taken prisoner and found toma- hawked, accompanied by a deputation of the people of the settlement, came to the garrison, and, addressing themselves to the commanding officer, demanded that the Indian should be delivered up that it might be done with him as the widow and mother and relations of the deceased should think proper. After much deliberation, and the country being greatly dis- satisfied that he was spared, and a great clamour prevailing through the settlement, it was thought advisable to let them take him, and he was accordingly delivered up to the militia of the party, which came to demand him. He was put on a horse and carried off with a view to take him to the spot where the first mischief had been done (Walthour's fort). But, as they were carrying him along, his leg, the fracture of which by this time was almost healed, the surgeon of the garrison having attended it, was broken again by a fall from the horse which had happened some way in the carrying him.
The intention of the people was to summon a jury of the country and try him, at least for the sake of form, but as they alleged, in order to ascertain whether he was the iden- tical Indian that had been of the party of Walthour's fort; though it was not very probable that he would have an impar- tial trial, there having been a considerable prepossession against him. The circumstance of being an Indian would have been sufficient evidence to condemn him.
The idea was, in case of a verdict against him, which seemed morally certain, to execute him, according to the Indian manner, by torture and burning. For the fate of Colonel William Crawford and others was at this time in the minds of the people, and they thought retaliation a prin- ciple of natural justice. But, while the jury were collecting, some time must elapse, that night at least ; for he was brought to the fort, or blockhouse, in the evening.
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According, a strong guard was appointed to take care of him, while in the meantime, one who had been deputed sheriff went to summon a jury, and others to collect wood and ma- terials for the burning, and to fix the place, which was to be the identical spot where he had received his wound, while about to scalp the man he had shot in the field, just as he was raising his scalp halloo, twisting his hand in the hair of the head, and brandishing the scalping-knife.
It is to be presumed that the guard may be said to be off their guard somewhat on account of the lameness of the prisoner and the seeming impossibility that he could escape; but so it was, that while engaged in conversation on the burning, that was to take place, or by some other means in- attentive, he had climbed up at the remote corner of the blockhouse, where he was, and got to the joists, and thence upon the wall-plate of the blockhouse, and thence, as was supposed, got down on the outside between the roof and the wall-plate, for the blockhouse is so constructed that the roof overjuts the wall of the blockhouse, resting on the ends of the joists that protrude a foot or two beyond the wall, for the purpose of those within firing down upon the Indians, who may approach the house to set fire to it, or attempt the door. But, so it was that, towards morning, the Indian was missed, and when the jury met, there was no Indian to be brought before them. Search had been made by the guard everywhere, and the jury joined in the search, and the militia went out in all directions, in order to track his course and regain the prisoner. But no discovery could be made and the guard were blamed for the want of vigilence ; though some supposed that he had been let go on the principle of humanity that they might not be under the necessity of burning him.
The search had been abandoned; but three days after- ward, when a lad, looking for his horses, saw an Indian with a pole or long stick, just getting on one of them by the help of
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a log or trunk of a fallen tree; he had made a bridle of bark as it appeared, which was on the horse's head and with which and his stick guiding the horse, he set off at a smart trot, in a direction towards the frontier of the settlement. The boy was afraid to discover himself, or reclaim the horse, but ran home and gave the alarm, on which a party in the course of the day was collected and set out in pursuit of the Indian.
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