USA > Pennsylvania > Mifflin County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Union County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Juniata County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Snyder County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 14
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" Nothing can better illustrate the pluck and pa- triotism, the spirit and service of Captain James Pal- terson than the following extraet taken from a letter written by him to Col. John Armstrong, on March 27, 1759, he being then at ' Harris's Ferry' :
"' I received the message which you was pleased to send by Colonel Work to me, and am highly obliged to your honor for the regard you always en- tertain for me and my interest, a favor which I shall always with most humble gratitude acknowledge. I must acquaint your honor that I am in a low state of health, by reason of the great hardship and fatigue that I underwent in the last campaign, but I am in hopes that I shall overcome it in the; but as the Doctor assures me that if I do not take good care of myself, I shall lose the use of my limbs, I am afraid I shall not be capable for some time of going out upou a new campaign, but should be willing to continue in the service if your honor would think proper to have me stationed in some fort or garrison until I come to my full strength and the use of my limbs; and as I am acquainted with the ways and humors of the Indians, I humbly conceive I could be of service to my country if stationed at Augusta ; all of which I leave to your honor's most wise consideration. Yes- terday I received an account from Augusta that my son was come in there and brought with him a lusty, able French prisoner, and that the Indians stood ex- ceeding true and faithful to him. I expect him down as soon as he rests himself after his fatigue.'"
There were numerous minor events in the rude drama of Indian war during 1756. Some of these of particular local interest -- the Wool- comber tragedy and others-we extract from the account given by Robert Robison, a partic- ipant, as given in after-years." He says, ---
"Sideling Hill was the first fought battle after Braddock's defeat. In the year 1756 a party of In- dians came out of Conococheague to a garrison' of the name of McCord's Fort, and killed some and took a number of prisoners. They then took their course near to Fort Littleton. Captain Hamilton being sta- tioned there with a company, hearing of their route at McCord's Fort, marched with his company of men, having an Indian with them who was under pay. This Indian led the company, and came on the tracks of the Indians, and soon tracked them to Sideling Hill, where they found them with their prisoners, and having the first fire, but without doing much damage, the Indians returned the fire, defeated our men and killed a number of them. My brother, James Robison, was among the slain. The Indians had McCord's wife with them ; they cut off Mr. James Blair's head and threw it in Mrs. McCord's lap, saying that was her husband's head, but she knew it to be Blair's.
"The next I remember of was in the same year. The Woolcomber's family on Shearman's Creek, the whole of the inhabitants of the valley was gathered to a fort at George Robison's, but the Woolcombers
" In " Loudon's Narrative, " published in Carlisle in 1813.
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would not leave home. He said it was the Irish who were killing one another; these peaccable people, the Indians, would not hurt any person, Being at homeand at dinner, the Indians came in, and the Quaker asked them to come in and eat dinner. An Indian answered that he did not come to eat, but for scalps. The son, a bay of fourteen or fifteen years of age, when he heard the Indian say so, repaired to a back door, and as he went out he looked back and saw the Indian strike the tomahawk into his father's head. The boy then ran over the creek, which was near to the house, and heard the screams of his mother, sisters and brothers. The boy came to our fort and, gave us the alarm ; about forty went to where this was done and buried the dead."
Here follows an account of the Kittaning expedition, in which there is nothing local ex- cept that Andrew Douglas, who lived near Jericho, in Fermanagh township, Juniata County, was shot through both ankles.
Robison further says,-
" I forgot to give you an account of a murder done at our own fort in Sherman's Valley in July, 1756. The Indians waylaid the fort in harvest-time, and kept quiet until the reapers were gone; James Wilson remaining some time behind the rest, and I not being gone to my business, which was hunting deer for the use of the company. Wilson standing at the fort gate, I desired liberty to shoot his gun at a mark, upon which he gave me his gun and I shot. The Indians on the upper side of the fort, thinking they were dis- covered, rushed on a daughter of Robert Miller and instantly killed her, and shot at John Simmeson; they then made the best of it they could, and killed the wife of James Wilson and the Widow Gibson, and took Hugh Gibson and Betsey Henry prisoners.
"The reapers, being forty in number, returned to the fort, and the Indians made off. While the Indian was scalping Mrs. Wilson, the relator shot at and wounded him, but he made his escape."
Some time in the month of July, 1756, the Indians appeared again in Shearman's Valley, and abducted Hugh Robison, who says, --
"I was taken captive by the Indians from Robison Fort, in Shearman's Valley, in July 1756, at which time my mother was killed. I was taken back to their towns, where I suffered much from hunger and abuse; many times they beat me most severely, and once they sent me to gather wood to burn myself, but I cannot tell whether they intended to do it or to frighten me; however, I did not remain long before 1 was adopted into an Indian family, and then lived as they did, though the living was very poor. I was then about fourteen years of age. My Indian father's name was Busguetom; he was lame in consequence
of a wound received by his knife in skinning a deer, and being unable to walk, he ordered me to drive forks in the ground and cover it with bark to make a lodge for him to lie in ; but the forks not being secure they gave way and the bark fell upon him and hurt him very much, which put him in a great rage, and calling for his knife, ordered us to carry him in a blanket into the hut, and I must be one that helps carry him in. While we were carrying him in I saw him hunting for his knife, but my Indian mother had taken care to convey it away, and when we had got him again fixed in his bed, my mother ordered me to conceal myself, which I did. I afterwards heard him reproving her for putting away the knife, for by this time I had learned to understand a little of their lan- guage. However, his passion wore off, and we did very well for the future.
" Having now been with them a considerable time, a favorable opportunity offered me to regain my lib- erty. My old father Busguetom lost a horse, and he sent me to hunt for him. After searching some time I come home and told him that I had discovered his tracks at considerable distance, and that I thought I could find him ; that I would take my gun and provi- sion, and would hunt three or four days, and if I could kill a bear or deer I would pack home the meat on the horse. Accordingly, I packed up some provisions and started for the white settlements, not fearing pur- suit for some days, and by that time I would be out of the reach of the pursuers. But before I was aware I was almost at a large camp of Indians by a creek- side. This was in the evening, and I had to conceal myself in a thicket till it was dark, and then passed the camp and crossed the creek in one of their canoes. I was much afraid that their dogs would give the alarm, but happily got safe past. I traveled on for several days, and on my way I spied a bear, shot at and wounded him so that he could not run, but being too hasty, ran up to him with my tomahawk; before I could give him a blow he gave me a severe stroke on the leg which pained me very much, and retarded my journey much longer than it otherwise would have been. However, I traveled on as well as I could. till I got to the Allegheny River, where I collected some poles, with which I made a raft, and bound it together with elm bark and grape-vines, by which means I got over the river, but in crossing I lost my gun. I ar- rived at Fort Pitt in fourteen days from the time of my start, after a captivity of five years and four months." 1
DESTRUCTION OF FORT GRANVILLE .- Fort Granville, on the Juniata, above the site of the town of Lewistown, heretofore described, was attacked and destroyed by French and Indians in the summer of 1756. The first
! " Loudon's Narrative," vol. ii. p. 196.
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appearance of any considerable force of the enemy in its vicinity was on the 22d of July, when about sixty savages, who had been lurking in that region for some days, made a demonstration in its front, firing on and wounding one of the men whom they surprised a short distance out, but who succeeded in escaping from them into the stockade. They made no further attack at that time, but sepa- rated into smaller parties, some of whom scouted down the valley and attacked the house of Robert Baskins, who lived at the mouth of the Juniata, and whom they killed, burning his cabin and carrying off his wife and children prisoners. Another party of marauders at- tacked the house of Hugh Carroll and took him and all his family prisoners. After com- mitting these and other depredations, the enemy still remained lurking in the vicinity of the Juniata Valley, with the evident intention of assaulting Fort Granville before their return. Their force was differently estimated at one hun- dred and fifty men, about one-third of whom (including their commanding officer) were French, but the larger part were Delaware and Shawanese warriors from the Indian stronghold of Kittaning, on the Allegheny, they being under the innediate command of the Chiefs Shingas and Captain Jacob.
On the 30th of July Captain Edward Ward, the commandant of Granville, marched from the fort with a detachment of men from the garrison, destined for Tuscarora Valley, where they were needed as a guard to the settlers while they were engaged in harvesting their grain. The party under Captain Ward em- braced the greater part of the defenders of the fort, which was then left with only twenty-four men, under command of Lieutenant Edward Armstrong. Soon after the departure of Cap- tain Ward's detachment the fort was sur- rounded by the hostile force of French and Indians, who immediately made an attack, which they continued in their skulking, In- dian manner through the afternoon and fol- lowing night, but without being able to inflict much damage on the whites. Finally, after many hours had been spent in their inef- fectual attacks, the Indians availed themselves
of the protection afforded by a deep ravine, up which they passed from the river-bank to within twelve or fifteen yards of the fort, and from that secure position succeeded in setting fire to the logs and burning out a large hole, through which they fired on the defenders, killing the commanding officer, Lieutenant Armstrong, and one private soldier, and wounding three others. They then demanded the surrender of the fort and garrison, promising to spare their lives if the demand was acceded to. Upon this, a man named John Turner ' opened the gate and the besiegers at once entered and took possession, capturing, as prisoners, twenty-two men, three women and a number of children. The fort was burned by the Chief Jacob, by order of the French officer in command, and the savages then departed, driving before them their prisoners, heavily burdened with the plunder taken from the fort and the settlers' houses which they had robbed and burned. On their arrival at the Indian rendezvous, Kittan- ing, all the prisoners were cruelly treated, and Turner, the man who had opened the gate of the fort to the savage besiegers, suffered the dreadful death by burning at the stake, endur- ing the frightful torment for three hours, dur- ing which time red-hot gun-barrels were forced through parts of his body, his scalp was torn from his head and burning splinters were stuck in his flesh, until at last an Indian boy (being held up for the purpose) sunk a hatchet in the brain of the victim, and so released him from his agony.
Among the prisoners taken by the French and Indians at Fort Granville, was one Peter Walker, who, with others afterwards made his escape, and deposed before John Armstrong, Esq., at Carlisle, with reference to the circum- stances attending the capture, as follows :
" That some of the Germans [taken prisoners by the Indians at Granville ] flagged very much on the second day, and that the Lieutenant [Armstrong, who was killed in the fort] behaved with the greatest bravery to the last, despising all the terrours and threats of the Enemy, whereby they often urged him to surrender;
I Previously a resident in Buffalo Valley, where he had sold out his improvement to John Harris in the preceding year, now owned by R. V. B. Lincoln.
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though he had been near two days without Water, but a little Ammunition left, the Fort on fire and the Enemy situated within twelve or fourteen yards of the fort, under the natural bank, he was as far from yielding as when first attacked ; a Frenchman in our Service, fearful of being burnt, asked Leave of the Lieutenant to treat with his countrymen in the French language ; the Lieutenant answered : 'The first word of French you speak in this Engagement, I'll blow your brains out,' telling his men to hold out bravely, for the Flame was falling, and he would soon have it extinguished, but soon after received the fatal Ball. The French Officer refused the Soldiers the liberty of interring his corpse, though it was to be done in an instant, when they raised the cry to quench the fire. One Brandon, a Soldier who had been shot through the knee, on the approach of the Enemy called out: 'I am a Roman Catholick and will go with you,' but the Indians, regardless of his faith, ob- werving he could not march, soon dispatched him with a Tomahawk."
The deposition of John Hogan, another of the escaped prisoners, taken before Colonel Armstrong, was as follows :
"CUMBERLAND COUNTY :
"The first day of June in the year of our Lord, !757, before me, John Armstrong, Esquire, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Cumberland aforesaid, came John Ilogan, late a sol- dier belonging to Captain Edward Ward's company of Foot, in the pay of the Province of Pennsylvania and upon his solemn Oath did depose and declare that on or about the first Day of August last past (1756) he, this Deponent, with several others, was taken Prisoner at Fort Granville by a party of French and Indians-consisting of one hundred Indians and fifty French-who took this Deponent and the rest of the Prisoners to the Kittaning, where they continued about three hours, in which Time John Turner, one of the Prisoners, was then burnt. They were then taken down the River to Fort Du Quesne, where they staid but a few hours-the French and Indians not agreeing-they then proceeded to Logs Town, where this Deponent mostly continued, until he made his Escape, which was about nine weeks ago. And this Deponent further saith that During the time of his captivity he was several times at Fort Du Quesne and was fully satisfied that the Garrison consisted of about three hundred French, had six Guns, five or six- pounders, mounted, and seven Swivels. That there were no Indians in the Fort; but at about two miles distant from the Fort was an Indian Town, wherein were about fifty or sixty of the natives, Twenty where- of were able to bear Arms. That the walls of the Bastions of the said Fort, were about fourteen feet thick ; The curtain about four or five feet thick, ex- cept that next the River, which is built as a common
Stockade; that between the two Bastions, in the Pennsylvania side, there is a Ditch about six feet wide, and about seven or eight feet deep. That about four Days before this Deponent made his Es- cape, there were twenty battoes arrived at Fort Du Quesne for Canada, loaded with Ammunition and Provisions, and that it was reported that they also ex- pected a large reinforcement of French and Indians from Canada and Mississippi and that they would then Endeavour to cut off the back Inhabitants ; and also said that if the English did not go out this Sum- mer, they would come to them. And this Deponent further Saith that the Indians, having sold a Prisoner to the French, received a nine-gallon keg of brandy. This Deponent and George Hily, another Prisoner, thought that would be a good Time for them to es- cape, as it was customary for the Indians on such Oc- casions to make a frolick and get drunk, whereupon they set off' and brought Martin Borrowelly, another Prisoner, along with them, and arrived at the South Branch of the Potomack in three weeks from the time of their escape.
"Sworn at Carlisle the 1st of June, 1757, before "JOHN ARMSTRONG."
ABANDONMENT OF THE SETTLEMENTS- ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION .- The butcheries of the summer of 1756, closing with the capture of Fort Granville and its garrison, struck terror to the hearts of the pioneers of the region west of the Susquehanna and caused the pre- cipitate abandonment of the settlements from the Blue Mountains northward and westward to the West Branch. From the valley of that stream the fugitive settlers and their families retired for safety to Fort Augusta, and thence eastward to their former homes, while those who had located themselves along the Juniata and in the valleys of its tributaries, fled for their lives across the mountains, and took refuge at Carlisle and Shippensburg. " In 1755," says Gordon, " the country west of the Susquehanna River had three thousand men fit to bear arms.1 In August, 1756, exclusive of the Provincial soldiers, there was not one hundred ; fear having driven them from their homes into the interior of the Province."
Immediately after the Fort Granville affair the whites retaliated with vigorous and incisive measures, Colonel Armstrong, with a large force, marching westward on his famous Kittanning expedition. The Indian stronghold was
1 This is evidently an absurdly extravagant estimate.
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situated where the present thriving borough of the same name is,-upon the Allegheny, forty- five miles above Pittsburgh. Kittanning was attacked at daybreak of September 8, 1756, and, in revenge for the destruction of Fort Granville and other atrocities, was completely destroyed, its thirty houses, or huts, being burned, while a large number of the Indians were killed, among them, it is averred, the chief, Captain Jacob-though this is a mooted question. A considerable quantity of arms, ammunition and stores which the French had assisted the savages to gather at that point were also captured.
The severe blow dealt by Colonel Armstrong had the effect to render the Indians less bold and aggressive, and to withdraw many of the Delawares from the French alliance. The negotations with Teedyuscung and the eastern Delawares, in 1757, also had a favorable effect ; but the bands of Captain Jacob, and the other western Delawares and Shawanese who still re- mained in league with the French, continued their murdering and burning raids wherever exposed white settlements could be found, until 1758, when the treaty of Easton brought peace once more to the harassed frontiers of Pennsyl- vania. At that time, as before mentioned, the Indian purchase of 1754 was confirmed (with a material change of the western and north- western boundary), but the treaty of peace and the confirmation of the purchase did not have the effect to cause the return of the great body. of settlers who had fled the country in terror during the bloody summer and fall of 1756, though a considerable number did come back to reoccupy their lands, which they were then enabled to enjoy in comparative freedom from molestation until 1762, when the machinations of the western chief, Pontiac, began to develop themselves, and to foreshadow another period of devastation and blood for the frontiers.
SECOND PERIOD OF INDIAN WAR .- The plan of the great Ottawa chief was to unite all the Indian tribes east and west against the whites, and in the harvest time of 1763 to in- vade their settlements, carrying massacre and conflagration in their path. This plan was put in bloody execution in many localities, among
which was the upper part of Cumberland County (northward of the Blue Mountain), which region suffered in the hostilities of that year perhaps more severely (in proportion to the number of inhabitants which it then con- tained) than any other part of the province of Pennsylvania. Again (as in 1756) the country was abandoned by the settlers, who fled from their homes across the mountain and sought refuge at Carlisle, Bedford, Shippensburg, Fort Littleton and other points.
A letter from Carlisle, under date of August 14, 1763, to the rector of Christ Church, Phila- delphia, stated that in Cumberland County, principally in the Juniata Valley, seven hun- dred and fifty families had abandoned their plantations and crops from fear of Indian in- cursions. Several occurrences had given legiti- mate ground for this terror and flight. On the 10th of July, 1763, the Indians committed murders at William White's, on the Juniata, at Robert Campbell's, on Tuscarora Creek, and at William Anderson's, and committed depre- dations at Collins' and James Scott's, in the Tuscarora Valley, and burned Graham's house.
The white massacre and some of the other atrocities are interestingly and probably accur- ately related by Robert Robison,1 as follows :
"In the second war, on the fifth (tenth) day of July, 1763, the Indians came to Juniata, it being harvest-time there, and the white people were come back to reap their erops. They came first to the house of William White; it was on the Sabbath day ; the reapers were all in the house. The Indians crept up nigh to the house-door and shot the people laying on the floor, killed William White and all his family that were there, excepting one boy, who, when he heard the guns, leaped out of the window and made his escape.
"This same party went to Robert Campbell's, on the Tuscarora Creek, surprised them in the same way, shot them on the floor, where they were resting themselves. One George Dodds, being there harv- esting, had just risen and gone into the room and lay down on the bed, setting his gun beside him. When the Indians fired, one of them sprang into the house with his tomahawk in his hand, running up to where a man was standing in the corner. Dodds fired at the Indian not six feet from him; the Indian gave a halloo and ran out as fast as he could. There be- ing an opening in the loft above the bed, Dodds
1 . London's Narrative."
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sprung up there and went out by the chimney, making his escape and came to Shearman Valley. He came to William Dickson's and told what had happened, there being a young man there which brought the news to us, who were harvesting at Ed- ward Elliot's other intelligence ; we got in the night. John Graham, John Christy and James Christy were alarmed in the evening by guns firing at William Anderson's, where the old man was killed with his Bible in his hand, supposed he was about worship; his son also was killed and a girl that had been brought up by the old people. Graham and the Christys come about midnight, we hearing the In- dians had got so far up the Tuscarora Valley, and knowing Collins' family and James Scott's were there about their harvest, twelve of us concluded to go over Bingham's Gap and give those word that were there. When we came to Collins' we saw that the Indians had been there, had broke a wheel, emp- tied a bed and taken Hour, of which they made some water gruel. We counted thirteen spoons made of bark ; we followed the tracks down to James Scott's, where we found the Indians had killed some fowls; we pursued on to Graham's; there the house was on fire and burned down to the joists ; we divided our men into two parties, six in each. My brother with his party came in behind the barn, and myself with the other party came down through an oats-field. I was to shoot. The Indians had hung a coat upon a post on the other side of the fire from us. I looked at it and saw it immovable, and therefore walked down to it and found that the Indians had just left it. They had killed four hogs and had eaten at pleasure. Our company took their tracks and found that two com- panies had met at Graham's and had gone over the Tuscarora Mountain. We took the Run Gap, the two roads meeting at Nicholson's. They were there. They first heard us coming and lay in ambush for us. They had the first fire, being twenty-five in number and only twelve ' of us. They killed five and wounded
! The names of the twelve were William Robison, who acted as captain, Robert Robison, the relator of this narra- tive, Thomas Robison, being three brothers ; John Graham, Charles Elliot, William Christy, James Christy, David Miller, John Elliot, Edward McConnell, William Me.Allis- ter and John Nicholson. The persons killed were William Robison (shot in the belly with buck-shot and got about half a mile from the ground) ; John Elliot, then a boy of about seventeen years of age, having emptied his gun, was pursued by an Indian with his tomahawk, who was within a few perches of him when Elliot had poured some powder into his gun by random out of his powder-horn, and hay- ing a bullet in his mouth put it in the muzzle, but had no time to ram it down ; he turned and fired at his pursuer, who clapped his hand on his stomach and cried, 'Och,' turned and fled, Elliot had run but a few perches further on when he overlook William Robison weltering in his blood, in his last agonies. He requested Elliot to carry
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