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 21
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 21
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 21
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 21
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 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 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
These murders were the ominous warnings off more sweeping fury to be wreaked upon the settlements later, but they spread terror through- out the valley, and most of the families fled to the so-called forts, or block-houses, for protection, leaving their houses, fields and cattle at the merey of the savages. The condition of the county at this time was indicated in a letter from Colonel Hunter, who said (November 1st) that he had orders for the third and fourth classes of militia to march, but he had neither arms nor blankets for them ; that the first and second classes were on the frontiers, and had all the good arms that could be collected ; that the people were in a bad way ; had not got in any crops. For the state of the country, he referred President Wharton to Captain John Hambright, who had been chosen of the Council. He added that the county was worse off than any other in the State for salt. Writing again, from Fort Augusta, November 11th (after referring to the fact that upon that day the third and fourth classes of the Third Battalion were to march to join the army of General Washington, under the command of Colonel James Murray), he says,-
"The two classes of Colonel Cookson Long's bat- talion I have ordered to duty on the frontiers, as the
Mills ; 4, John Potter ; 5, Martha G., married to Abraham Valentine; 6, Peggy Crouch, married Dr. Charles Coburn, of Aaronsburg ; 7, George L. Potter, Esq., who practiced awhile at. Danville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Andrew G. Curtin, who is a daughter of Doctor W. I. Wilson, of Pot- ter's Mills, is a great-granddaughter of the Revolutionary general, and the Governor is a great-grandson, on the Gregg line of deseent.
-
١١٠
١١٠
1
1
107
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Årst class, that was commanded by Colonel John Kelly, has come off from thence, after serving two months, to encourage the poor, scattered inhabitants to return back to their habitations, which I hope will be approved by the Council."
Colonel John Kelly, being relieved from ser- vice on the West Branch, was ordered, with his battalion, to Penn's Valley to perform duty for two months.
The year 1778 opened gloomily enough for the Continental army in the field and the har- ased inhabitants of the frontier. Notwith- standing the fact that a large number of sol- diers had gone to the front from the back settlements, greatly weakening them at a time when organized Indian invasion was appre- hended, officers came into the region early in the year to recruit for the Northumberland com- panies,
In May, Colonel Kelly was still on duty in Penn's Valley, but his presence did not awe the Indians completely, for upon the 8th, Jacob Stanford was killed there and his family carried into captivity. Numerous other mur- ders were committed along the frontier. Again we draw information from a letter of General Potter's (dated Upper Fort, Penn's Valley, May 17th). He says that he was informed by Colonel Long that a few families coming to Lycoming, escorted by a party under the com- mand of Colonel Hosterman, were attacked by twelve Indians, who killed six of them, and six were missing. Three men were killed, at the same time, on the Loyal Sock ; twenty persons killed on the North Branch. One who was taken prisoner made his escape, and says the Indians are determined to clear the two branches of the Susquehanna this moon. Ile says we have two forts in the valley, and are determined to stand as long as we are supported. The people were poor, and bread very high.
Colonel Hunter pictured the situation (in a letter of May 31, 1778) thus,-
"We are in a melancholy condition. The back in- habitants have left their homes. All above Muncy are it Samuel Wallis's. The people of Muncy are at Cap- ain Brady's. All above Lycoming are at Antes' mill and the mouth of Bald Eagle. The people of Penn's valley are at one place in Potter township. The inhabitants of White Deer are assembled at three
different places. The back settlers of Buffalo have come down to the river. Penn's township people have, likewise, moved to the river. All from Muncy hill to Chillisquaque have assembled at three different places. Fishing creek and Mahoning settlements have come to the river-side. It is really distressing to see the people flying away, and leaving their all, especially the Jersey people, who came up here last winter and spring. Not one stays, but sets off to Jersey again."
On the 2d of June he writes that the people have drawn up a petition to Congress for relief, and Robert Fruit and Thomas Jordan were set off to lay it before the Executive Council for their approval, before presenting it to Congress.
On June 14th he writes that communica- tion between Antes' mill and Big Island is cut off. On the 10th of June a bloody and sweeping slaughter occurred where Williams- port now stands.
All of these events were but the forerunners of greater disasters than any which had yet befallen the settlements.
THE GREAT RUNAWAY.
The great massacre at Wyoming occurred on July 3d, and as the report of that horrible glutting of savage bloodthirst passed down North Branch and spread up the valley of the sister-stream, it caused a general stampede- the wild, precipitate flight of the settlers from all the upper region, known as the "Great Runaway."
The terrorizing news was quite generally spread by the 5th or 6th, and on the 9th, Colonel Hunter writes that both branches are nearly evacuated, and Northumberland and Sunbury will be the frontier in less than twenty-four hours. His letter evinces the agony of a strong man, who, with all supports taken away, was determined to fall, if need be, in defense of the charge committed to him. Hle says,-
"Nothing but a firm reliance upon Divine Provi- dence, and the virtue of our neighbors, induces the few to stand that remain in the two towns ; and if they are not speedily reinforced they must give way ; but will have this consolation, that they have stood in defence of their liberty and country as long as they could. In justice to this county, I must bear testi-
1
٠١.
1
٠١١٠
:
108
JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
mony that the States never applied to it for men in vain. I am sure the State must know that we have reduced ourselves to our present feeble condition by our readiness to turn out, upon all occasions, when called for in defense of the common cause. Should we now fall, for want of assistance, let the neighboring counties reconcile to themselves, if they can, the breach of brotherly love, charity and every other virtue which adorns and advances the human species above the brute creation. I will not attempt to point out the particular cruelties or barbarities that have been practised on our unhappy inhabitants, but assure you that, for the number, history affords no instance of more heathenish cruelty or savage barbarity than has been exhibited in this county."
Matthew Smith writes from Paxtang (Harris- burg), July 12th, that he had "just arrived at Harris' Ferry, and beheld the greatest scenes of distress I ever saw. It was crowded with people who had come down the river, leaving everything."
Upon the same day Peter De Haven writes, from Hummelstown : "This day there were twenty or thirty passed through this town from Buffalo Valley and Sunbury, and the people inform me that there are two hundred wagons on the road coming down. I was at Mr. Elder's meeting to-day, and Colonel Clark and Colonel Rodgers made an appeal to the inhabitants to turn out one hundred volunteers," ete.
A letter written by William Maclay, from Paxtang, on the 12th, gives a very graphie pie- ture of the distress,-
" I left Sunbury, and almost my whole property, on Wednesday last. I will not trouble you with a recital of the inconveniences I suffered while I brought my family, by water, to this place. I never in my life saw such scenes of distress. The river and the roads leading down it were covered with men, women and children, flying for their lives. In short, Northumber- land County is broken up. Colonel Hunter only remained, using his utmost endeavors to rally the inhabitants to make a stand. I left him with few. I cannot speak confidently as to numbers, but he had not a hundred men on whom he could depend. Mrs. Hunter came down with me. As he is now disencum- bered of his family, I am convinced that he will do everything that can be expected from a brave and determined man. It was to no purpose Colonel Hunter issued orders for the assembling of the militia. The whole county broke loose. Something, in the way of charity, ought to be done for the many miserable objects that crowd the banks of this river, especially those who fled from Wyoming. You know
I did not use to love them, but I now pity their dis- tress."
Colonel Hunter, upon the 12th, indited (at Sunbury) a most pathetie appeal to the Presi- dent and Executive Council, in which he said,-
"The calamities so long dreaded, and of which we have been more than once informed . must fall upon this county if not assisted by Continental troops or the militia of the neighboring counties, now appear with all the horrors attendant on an Indian war; at this date the towns of Sunbury and Northumberland are the frontiers, where a few virtuous inhabitants and fugitives seem determined to stand, though doubt- ful whether to-morrow's sun shall rise on them free- men, captives or in eternity."
He urged most strenuously that " a few hun- dreds of men, well armed," be immediately sent to the relief of the people.
Bertram Galbraith, writing from Lancaster, July 14th, says, ---
"On Sunday morning last the banks of the Susque- hanna, from Middletown up to the Blue Mountain, were entirely clad with the inhabitants of Northum- berland County, who had moved off, as well as many in the river in boats, canoes and on rafts. This I had from Captain Abraham Scott, a man of veracity, who was up at Garber's Mills for his sister, the wife of Colonel Samuel Hunter, and spake with a lieutenant, who was in the action at Wyoming. He also seen six of the wounded men brought down."
Robert Covenhoven (Crownover), describing the scene near Lewisburgh, says, --
" I took my own family safely to Sunbury, and came back in a keel-boat to secure my furniture. Just as I rounded a point above Derrstown (now Lewisburgh) I met the whole convoy from all the forts above. Such a sight I never saw in my life. Boats, canoes, hog-troughs, rafts hastily made of dry sticks, every sort of floating article, had been put in requisition, and were crowded with women, children and plunder. There were several hundred people in all. Whenever any obstruction occurred at any shoal or ripple, the women would leap out into the water and put their shoulders to the boat or raft, and launch it again into deep water. The men of the settlement came down in single file, on each side of the river, to guard the women and children. The whole convoy arrived safely at Sunbury, leaving the entire range of farms along the West Branch to the ravages of the In- dians."
I The account of the "Great Runaway," as well as of some subsequent affairs, is taken chiefly from John Blair Linn's " Annals of the Buffalo Valley."
1
1 .. .
. 1
1
109
THIE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Several persons, among them John Michael Bishor, were killed by the Indians during the "Great Runaway."
REGULAR TROOPS MARCHED TO THE PRO- TE TION OF THE SETTLEMENTS .- In answer to Hunter's appeal, Colonel Brodhead and his regiment, on their march to Fort Pitt, were or- dered to the West Branch. He was at Fort Muncy on July 244th, and sent a captain and twenty-four men down to Penn's Valley to protect the reapers at General Potter's place. General Potter writes from Penn's Valley, on the 25th, " that the inhabitants of the valley are returned and were cutting their grain. IIe Wft Sunbury last Sunday afternoon, and the people were returning to all parts of the county. Yesterday two men of Captain Finley's com- puny, of Colonel Brodhead's regiment, went out from this place on the plains a little below my fields, and met a party of Indians, five in nia- ber, whom they engaged. One of the soldiers, Thomas Van Doran, was shot dead; the other, Jacob Shedacre, ran about four hundred yards and was pursued by one of the Indians. They attacked each other with their knives and our excellent soldier killed his antagonist. His fate was hard, for another Indian came up and ·hot him." The general estimated the loss in- flieted on the county by the "great runaway" at forty thousand pounds.
Colonel Thomas Hartley, with a small force of men, was also ordered to the Susquehanna, and on August 1st was in command at Sun- bury with his regulars and two hundred mili- tia. On the 8th he was at Muncy, Colonel Brodhead's regiment having resumed their march to Fort Pitt. Colonel Hartley seems to have been in command of all the troops, and offered it to General Potter, who declined the honor and responsibility. Much fault had been found with Colonel Hunter's management of the militia at the time of the " great runaway," and he evidently did not wish to place himself in a position where he would be subjected to similar obloquy.
Lieutenant Carothers, who was at Carlisle, sent sixty men up to the Kishacoquillas and neighboring valleys, and they remained there a considerable time.
Murdering, pillaging and burning went on in the West Branch Valley and adjoining re- gions, in spite of the presence of troops.
DEATH OF JAMES AND JOHN BRADY .- On August 8th the brave James Brady was killed above Loyal Sock. Colonel Hartley relates the circumstance as follows, --
" A corporal and four men of his regiment, with three militia, were ordered to guard fourteen reapers and cradlers who went to cut the grain of Peter Smith, who had his wife and four children killed by the Indians. On Friday they cut the greater part and intended to complete the work next morning. Four of the reapers improperly moved off that night. The rest went to work-the cradlers, four in number, by themselves, near the house; the reapers somewhat distant. The reapers, except Brady, placed their guns around a tree. Brady thought this wrong and put his at some distance from the rest. The morning was very foggy, and an hour after sunrise the sentry and reapers were surprised by a number of Indians, under cover of the fog. The sentry retired towards the reapers, and they in turn fell back. Brady ran towards his rifle and was pursued by three Indians, and, within a few rods of it, was wounded. He ran for some distance and then fell. He received another wound with a spear, and was tomahawked and scalped in an instant. The sentry fired, but was shot down, as also a militia-man. Young Brady, who is an exceeding fine young fellow, soon after rose and came to the house. Jerome Vanness ventured to re- main with him ; the others fled. There were thirty Indians, supposed to be Mingoes. Brady wanted Vanness to leave him, but he would not do it. He assisted him to the river, where he drank a great deal of water. Captain Walker and a party came up from the fort at Muncy. When they approached, Brady, supposing them to be Indians, sprang to his feet and cocked his gun. They made a bier and carried him to Sunbury, where his mother then was. Robert Covenhoven was one of the party. On the way he became delirious and drank large quantities of water. It was late at night when they got there and they did not intend to rouse his mother. But she had fears that something had happened and met them at the river. He was a fearful-looking object and the meet- ing with his mother was heart-rending. He lived five days, the first four being delirious; but on the fifth his reason returned and he related the whole circum- stance distinctly. He said that Bald Eagle (after- wards killed by his brother Samuel on the Allegheny ) was of the Indian party.""
James Brady was the second son of Captain John and Mary Brady, and was born at Shippensburg, his eller brother being the Bonous Captain Samuel Brady, the In- dian scout and woodsmmn, whose services were, perhaps,
1
1
..
110
JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
The force on this part of the frontier now consisted of one hundred men of Colonel Hart- ley's regiment, two hundred and twenty of Lan- caster County militia, one hundred and seventy of Berks County, one hundred of Northum- berland militia and seventy of Captain James Murray's, making nearly seven hundred men,- a quite effective force, distributed to the best advantage by Colonel Hartley.
In September, 1778, Colonel Hartley planned an expedition up the North Branch, and to Tioga (now Athens, Bradford County). It left Muncy on the 21st, two hundred rank and file strong, at four A.M., with twelve days' provi- sions. Great rains, swamps, mountains and de- files impeded the march. They waded or swam the Lycoming Creek twenty times. On the morning of the 26th the advance party of nine- teen men met an equal number of Indians, had the first fire, and an important Indian chief was killed and scalped ; the rest fled. A few miles farther they came upon a camp where seventy Indians lay the night before. These also fled. They then pressed on to Tioga. They burned Tioga, Queen Esther's Town. On the 28th they crossed the river and marched towards Wyalu- sing, where they arrived at eleven o'clock that night. Here seventy of the men took to the canoes and the rest marched by land. Lieu- tenant Sweeney commanded the rear-guard of thirty men, besides five scouts under Captain Campleton. The advance guard consisted of an officer and fifteen men. At two o'clock a heavy attack was made on the rear, which gave way. At this critical moment Captains Boone and Brady and Lieutenant King, with a few brave fellows, landed from the canoes, joined Sweeney and renewed the action. They advanced on the enemy on all sides, with great noise and
of more value than those of any other one man of his use- ful class. Of James Brady, his brother, General Hugh Brady, said : " He was a remarkable man. Nature had done much for him. His person was fine. He lacked but a quarter of an inch of six feet, and his mind was as well finished as his person. I have ever placed him by the side of Jonathan, son of Saul, for beauty of person and nobleness of soul, and, like him, he fell by the hands of the Philistines." James Brady was buried at Fost Augusta, but his grave has long since been plowed over and no man knows his sepulchre,
shouting, when the Indians fled, leaving their dead (ten). The expedition arrived at Sun- bury on the 5th of October, having performed a circuit of three hundred miles and brought off fifty head of cattle, twenty-eight canoes, etc.1
This expedition did not, however, awe the Indians, for, by November 9th, they had come down, invested Wyoming and destroyed the settlements on the North Branch as far as Nes- copeck. The same fall murders were committed at Fort Freeland.
Colonel Hunter, in a letter written in Decem- ber, expresses great regret at Colonel Hartley's departure. Hesays he made the very best possible use of his troops. He complains of the " fore- stallers" of grain, whom he looks upon as worse than savages, for raising the price of grain upon the people.
The year 1779 witnessed no improvement in the situation of the settlers on the Susquehanna frontier. On the 11th of April, Captain John Brady, who, it will be remembered, commanded a so-called fort bearing his name and located near the mouth of Muncy Creek, was killed by the Indians, scarcely a quarter of a mile away from its protecting walls. It had become necessary to go up the river some distance to procure supplies for the fort, and Captain John Brady, taking with him a wagon-team and guard, went himself and procured what could be had. On his return in the afternoon, riding a fine mare, and within a short distance of the fort, where the road forked, and being some distance behind the team and guard, and in con- versation with a man named Peter Smith, he recommended Smith not to take the road the wagon had, but the other, as it was shorter. They traveled on together, until they came near a run where the same road joined. Brady ob- served, 'This would be a good place for In- dians to secrete themselves.' Smith said ' Yes.' That instant three rifles cracked and Brady fell. The mare ran past Smith, who threw himself on her and was carried in a few seconds to the fort. The people in the fort heard the rifles, and seeing Smith on the mare coming at full speed, all ran to ask for Captain Brady, his
' John Blair Linn.
-
1
4 . 1
F ...
111
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
wife along, or rather before the rest. Smith replied, ' In heaven or hell, or on his way to Tioga,' ' meaning that he was either killed or taken prisoner. Those in the fort ran to the spot and found the captain lying in the road, his scalp taken and rifle gone; but the Indians had been in such haste that they had not taken his watch or shot-pouch."
Rapine followed throughout the settlements. Isolated murders and cases of pillaging were al- most numberless and larger strokes of savage fury were not infrequent.3 Several of these murders occurred at Fort Freeland. By May so great had become the sense of insecurity that the greater number of the people of Buf- falo Valley had left. Colonel Hunter had poor success in recruiting companies of rangers, as so
1 McCabe's account in Blairsville Record.
? Captain John Brady " was born in the State of Delaware in 1733. Ilis father, Hugh, an emigrant from Ireland, first settled in Delaware and then removed within five miles of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. John Brady mar- ried Mary Quigley, and their eldest son, Samuel, was born in Shippensburg in 1758. He was a surveyor and pioneer in the settlements, and lived at Standing Stone (now Hun- tingdon) in 1768, when his son, General Hugh, and twin- sister, Jennie, were born. In 1769 he came over on the West Branch and settled on what is still the property of Hon. George Kremer's heirs, opposite. Strohecker's Landing, below Lewisburgh, where he resided until the fall of 1776, when he removed to a place a little above Muney and built upon it. October 14, 1776, he was appointed captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania, and was wounded severely in the battle of Brandywine."-Linn.
Mary, the widow of Captain John Brady, died October 20, 1783, and is buried in the Lewisburgh cemetery. The family of John and Mary Brady was as follows: Captain Samuel Brady, born 1758, at Shippensburg. James Brady, killed in 1778. John Brady, born 1761, and known as sheriff. Mary (married to Captain William Gray, of Sun- bury), died December 13, 1850. William P. Brady, who removed to Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He was dep- uty surveyor in Northumberland County many years. His son IIugh was a noted attorney in the western counties of the State. The latter married a daughter of Evan Rice Evans, Esq., and their son, the first Brady that ever was killed in battle, fell at Antietam, in 1862. General Hugh Brady, who died in Detroit, in 1851. Jennie Brady, a twin-sister, born 29th July, 1768. Robert, married after- wards to a daughter of Colonel William Cooke. Hannah. Liberty, born August 9, 1778, so called as she was the first. child born to them after the Declaration of Independence. She married William Dewart, and died without issue, July 21.
"See chapters upon the townships for accounts of nu- merous murders and massneres.
many of the able-bodied men of the settlements were preparing to enter the " boat service " [the convoying of General Sullivan's commissary up the North Branch]. By the last of June he had only thirty men, exclusive of those at Fort Freeland and with General Potter, who was at Sunbury. By the latter part of July the troops had all left Sunbury to join General Sullivan. Northumberland County was left in a deplorable condition, with no forces but the militia and fourteen regulars under Captain Kamplen. Almost every young man on this part of the frontier had engaged in the boat service, and the country above Muncy was com- pletely abandoned.
FALL OF FORT FREELAND .- All things conspired to give the Indians opportunity for a more than usually effective blow. It was di- rected against Fort Freeland, and that strong- hold was captured upon July 28, 1799. A number of British officers and soldiers were with the besieging party, the advance portion of which made its appearance upon the 21st. The whole force consisted of about three hundred men. Colonel Hunter writes upon the 28th,-
"This day, about twelve o'clock, an express ar- rived from Captain Boone's mill, informing us that Freeland's Fort was surrounded; and, immediately after, another express came, informing us that it was burned and all the garrison either killed or taken prisoners ; the party that went from Boone's saw a number of Indians and some red-coats walking around the fort, or where it had been. After that, firing was heard off towards Chillisquaque. Parties are going off' from this town and from Northumber- land for the relief of the garrison. General Sullivan would send us no assistance, and our neighboring counties have lost the virtue they were once possessed of, otherwise we should have some relief before this. I write in a confused manner. I am just marching off, up the West Branch, with a party I have col- lected."
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.