Notes and queries historical, biographical, and genealogical, Vol. I, Part 79

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: s.n.
Number of Pages: 618

USA > Pennsylvania > Notes and queries historical, biographical, and genealogical, Vol. I > Part 79

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way, stood until 1857, a large locust tree,. the peculiarity of which was its being the only tree of any kind that grew in the road between Harrisburg and Hum- melstown. It therefore served as an. unmistakable guide post to Mr. Ruth- erford's house-and many a forlorn and weary fugitive, upon reaching that old. tree, thanked God and took heart again.

During the summer and fall months, it was no uncommon occurrence for half a dozen negroes to arrive in the night-rest and refresh themselves in the barn during the day and proceed northward under the direction of a guide the following night, and no one in the neighborhood knew anything about it. Slave catchers seldom ventured this far down the Valley, and when they did, almost invariably re- turned unsuccessful. Orce, however, they stole a march upon a company at Mr. Rutherford's-completely surprising everyone on the premises.

Sometime in the month of October, about the year 1845-ten runaways were brought to Mr. Rutherford's by some agent, now unknown. They arrived on Thursday night and were to be kept se- creted until the following Saturday night, by which time arrangments for their further progress would be perfected and conductors sent to pilot them onward. The party consisted of an elderly man. and his six sons-all mulattos, the young- est of whom was a youth of eighteen. Two brothers of a darker hue, remarka- ble for their stal wart proportions-and a short thick sct black man, so black that, as one of the wits of the day remarked, "charcoal would make a white mark on his face." Mr. Rutherford quartered them in his barn and supplied them with eatables which were carried to the barn. from time to time in a large basket.

For some reason, now forgotten, the- conductors failed to appear at the ap- pointed time. Mr. Rutherford could have easily forwarded the party to some ott er station, but, not wishing to interfere with plans already perfected, and no intelli- gence of pursuit having reached him, he- deemed it safe to allow them to remain over Sunday. Nothing extraordinary occurred during the day until about five o'clock in the evening, when the negroes were assembled on the barn floor to par-

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take of supper. The basket had been brought in and was about to be attacked, when some one called attention to a cavy alcade, consisting of two carriages pre- ceded hy four horsemen, moving slowly down the turnpike road, like a funeral. It excited no alarm, however, until it reached the old locust tree, when it sud. denly wheeled in the lane at fuil gallop. Mr. S. B. Rutherford, then a boy, was at the barn, and ran to the house to tell his grandfather, who immediately sent him hack to warn the negroes of danger. When he reached the barn, however, not a negro was visihle.

By this time two of the horsemen had reached the harn, and, dismounting, sta- tioned themselves as outside guards, the other two took up similar positions at the house. The leading carriage, driven hy John W. Fitch, a liveryman of Harris burg, and containing four men, stopped at the house, Mr. Rutherford came out and was introduced by Fitch to Mr. Buchanan, of Maryland, a very courteous gentle man, who, after shaking hands, requested a private interview. The two retired to the front porch and sat down, when Mr. Buchanan explained his errand, showed his authority for searching the premises, and stated that he had brought several officers of the law with him, and would proceed with his search and get away as speedily as possible. Mean- while the second carriage, containing four men-one of whom was Mr. Potts, of Maryland. owner of several of the fugitives, had driven to the harn and the men stationed themselves in front of the stable doors.

Mr. Buchanan, having finished his in- terview, also went to the harn and with one or two others entered the floor, where nothing was visihle hut the basket of provisions, which in the hurry had been left standing in the middle of the floor, and was looked upon as pretty good evi dence that the negroes were not far off. The harn was full of hay and grain, and there was but one way of ascending from the floor to the mows, and that lay through a small opening in the threshing floor loft about four feet square. Messrs. Bu- chanan and Potts both called their ser vants hy name repeatedly, but got no an. swer, and whilst it was hy no means cer-

tain that the negroes were in the barn at all, not a man of the pursuing party dared venture up to see. Calls and threats and promises were again tried, but to no purpose. While this was going on above, Mr. Rutherford's boys were do- ing up the chores, closely watched by the detachment of slave hunters stationed about the stahle doors-so great was their fear lest some one might slip off and alarm the neighborhood. Among those who guarded the stahles was a hlustering, big whiskered Marylander (the owner of one "nigger," and he one of the runaways), whose command of oaths was wonderful, and whose valor in single comhat or otherwise was, according to himsel- phenominal. He positively refused to al low the boys to take the horses out to water, and was so troublesome generally that one of the young men was obliged to get a pitch fork and threaten to impale him, whereupon he wilted and had nothing more to say.

An hour passed, and no sound coming from the lofts, it was determined by the party in the floor to ascend and see what was up there. Upon hearing this the ne. groes hecame alarmed, and one of them appeared at the top of the opening and threatened to hrain the first man who came within his reach. This satisfied the hunters that the birds had not flown. Additional precautions were now taken to prevent any one from leaving the prem- ises. By this time night had set in, lan~ terns were procured, and several hours more were spent in the vain endeavor to persuade the negroes to come down. A consultation was now held which re- sulted in sending a messenger to Harrisburg for reinforcements. Soon after the departure of the messenger, while Messrs. Rutherford and Potts were sitting in the house amicably discussing the slavery question, four strange negroes arrived, two of whom went directly to the barn and the other two entered the house and sat down behind the stove. These were the conductors sent to pilot the fugitives to Pottsville, and until their arrival at Mr. Rutherford's had no knowledge of the betrayal of the hiding place of their company. The two who went to the barn were arrested hy the guards. The two at the house were not

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molested, but remained quietly behind the stove until an opportunity offered of communicating with Mr. Rutherford, who explained the situation and advised them to slip off and collect a force large enough to intimidate the slave catchers. They soon afterwards disappeared.

About 10:30 P. M the pro slavery mes . senger arrived with two carriages and several men, prominent among whom was a character well known in Harris- burg at that time as "Moll Rockey," who afterwards became a very respectable citizen and often spoke of that night's escapade as one of the things of which he had repented. "Moll Rockey" was a host in himself and proved a valuable acquisition to the slave catchers, for in a short time the negroes surrendered and came down-when lo! instead of ten there werc but six. A search with lan- terns and pitchforks was made in every part of the barn, but in vain, no more negroes could be found. Among the missing was the "nigger" owned by the blustering big whiskered man before mentioned.

By midnight the search had ended and the slaveholders hurriedly took their de- parture. Instead of returning to Harris- burg they crossed the country to Middle- town and thence to York.

About an hour after their departure a company of probably forty men, mostly colored, armed with all sorts of weapons, arrived upon the scene. They had come from Harrisburg and vieinity in two divi sions over different roads, and their tem . per was such that had they encountered the slave-holders a bloody battle would doubtless have been fought. Ot the four slaves who escaped two fled from the barn, unobserved, on the approach of the pursuers and secreted themselves in a neighboring cornfield until nightfall, when they made their way to Mr. A. Rutherford's barn, where they remained until the following night, when they were sent north in company with a third who had hid himself so deeply in the hay mow that he was overlooked. The fourth, who was the father of the six sons was in the mow at the time of the surrender- but slipped down the hay hole into the stables and cscaped through a cellar win- dow which the beseigers had not ob-

served, and was consequently unguarded. He was never heard of afterwards. So quietly was this affair conducted, that the nearest neighbors knew nothing of it until the next day .

The hiding place of this party was be- trayed by a mulatto named James Mill- wood, a waiter in Coverly's Hotel, corner of Second street and Market Square, where Messrs. Buchanan and Potts stopped when they came to Harrisburg.

It is a curious fact that in the majority of cases where slaves were captured and returned to their misters, they owed their betrayal to men of their own color.

This chapter, incomplete as it is, would be still more so if we failed to pay a tribute to the memory of William Jones, late of Harrisburg-better known in his day and generation as "Pap Jones."

"Pap Jones" was a large, we'l built man, of pure African descent, and pos sessed in a large measure that quality known among colored men as "Coon sense," which being interpreted means genius, with a large share of cunning superadded.

For many years Mr. Jones was one of the most efficient men connected with the "Underground Railroad" in this locality. He had acquired a thorough knowledge of the routes leading northward, and was always prepared to furnish competent guides. His large covered wagon, drawn by two horses and driven by him- self in the capacity of rag merchant, was frequently to be met with on the roads leading towards Wilkes-Barre or Potts- ville. W. F. R.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Historical, Biographical and Genealogical.

CXXXVIII.

PURDY .- Colonel James Purdy, of the Revolutionary army, died August 7, 1813, aged eighty years, in Fermanagh town- ship, Mifflin county. His two sons, Wil- liam and Hugh Purdy, officers in the army, were killed at St. Clair's defeat on the Miami, November 4, 1791.

RODGERS .- Rev. William Rodgers, a chaplain in the Pennsylvania Line of the

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Revolution, died at Philadelphia, April 7, 1824, in the seventy-third year of his age. He was one of the most eminent of American divines.

IRWIN, COL. JAMES .- This gentleman died at Old Province, September 20,1818, "formerly a representative in Congress from Pennsylvania. He joined McGre. gor's standard at Amelia Island, and has since been attached to the command of Col. Aury." Such is the notice of the Chronicle Who was this James Irwin, and what further is known of his career ?

AN OLD-TIME NOTE .- The following note of James Logan to the Proprietary of date September 20, 1736, it may he presumed, had some reference to the diffi- culties then experienced with the Scotch- Irish settlers who had been prevented from locating on Conestoga Manor, which was not denied the German emigrants, or it may have - reference to some other trouble:

"If the Propriet'r please to take notice of Ja. Anderson, Minist'r of Donegal, and hold some free conversation with him, it may p'haps he seasonable at this time, when those people ought by all means to be animated to vigorous Reso . lutions. He just called on me when I was much engaged, & I expected to see him again, but could not. I suppose he goes not out of town till to-morrow morning, & that lie will then w'thout fail, if not otherwise hindered. E. Ship- pen accidentally calling here, I thought the hint might be of some importance. Thy faithful fr'd, J. LOGAN. "STENTON, 20th 7ber, at noon."

SOME GENEALOGICAL NOTES.

STECKLEY.

Christian Steckley, of Derry, d. in Oc- toher, 1767, leaving a wife Catharine, and children:

i. John.

ii. Barbara.

iii. Chrisly.

iv. Abraham.

v. Mary.

vi. Catharine.

The executors were Jacob and John Lehman, of Derry.

STEPHEN.

Andrew Stephen, of Paxtang,d. March, 1770, leaving a wife Ann, and children:

i. Hugh. ii. Ann.

iii. Andrew.

iv. Ezekiah.

SIMONS.

Michael Simons, of Hanover, d. in May 1775, leaving a wife Margaret, and chil- dren:

i. Peter.

ii. John.

iii. Mary; m. Thomas Hears.

iv. Elizabeth; m. William Weirick.

v. [a dau. ] m. Henry Fensler.

vi. Catharine, m. Peter Weirick.

SNODGRASS.

Robert Snodgrass, of Hanover, d. in March, 1777, leaving children :

i. Joseph.

ii. James.

iii. Elizabeth.

iv. Margaret.

v. Mary.

vi. Susan.

vii. Isabel.

The witnessess to the will were John Rogers, William Snodgrass, jr., and John Kean.

SHAW.

I. Daniel Shaw, of Harover, d. in March, 1778, having a wife Phebe, and children :

i. Robert.

ii. Samuel.

iii. Jane, m. William Haggerty.

II. Alexander Shaw, of Hanover, son of the foregoing, although not mentioned in his father's will, d. in September, 1778, leaving bequests as follows : Bro. Robert and his son Samuel.

Sister Jean Haggerty.

£20 to Mr. Elder's congregation. -

SHWAB. John Shwab of Leacock township, Lancaster county, d. in December 1780, leaving children:

i. Jacob.

ii. Henry

iii. Daniel.

iv. Adam.

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v. Julianna, m. Natz Zwicker.

vi [ A dau ] m. John Hook.

vii. Catharine, m. Ludwig Shott, and had Julianna.

viii. Maryaret, m. George Dial.

ix. George; daughter of m. Casper Bolzer. x. [ A dau ] m. Peter Shaup, and had John.

xi. Conrad.

SCOTT.

Patrick Scott, of Paxtang, d. in May 1782, leaving a wife Ann and children:

i. Robert

Ji. Jackson. iii. Jane, m. Fanagan.

iv. [Adau. ], m. -- Jackson, and

had Alexander, Samuel and Violet.

SAWYER.

William Sawyer, of Londonderry, d. in October 1784, leaving his estate to his "dear auld woman Sophia," and chil- dren:

i. William.

ii. Benjamin

iii. John.

iv. Hannah.

THOMPSON.

John Thompson, of Hanover, d. Sep- tember, 1778, leaving'children:

i. Andrew.

ii. William.

iii. Jean, m. John Robinson. iv. John.

WYLIE.

Oliver Wylie, of Paxtang, d. in October, 1757, leaving a wife Jean, sister of Moses Harper, of Paxtang, and children:

i. Margaret.

ii. Oliver.

iii. William.

WILSON. David Wilson, d. in March, 1766, leav- ing a wife Margaret and children:

i. Samuel,

ii. Robert.

iii Elizabeth, m. Samuel Woods, and had Nathan.

WATSON. William Watson, of Hanover, d. in

October, 1770, leaving a wife Sarah and children:

i. Samuel.

ii. William.

iii. Hugh.

iv. David.

v. Patrick.

vi. [a dau. ] m. Alexander Kennedy.

vii. Sarah. viii Eleanor.

ix. Mary.

x. Martha.

xl. Ann. xii. Jean.

WHITTAKER.

Mary Whittaker, widow of Robert Whittaker, d. in January, 1776, leaving children:

i. Rachel.

ii Phoebe.

iii. Ralph.

iv. Milison, m Robert Hall.

WINGERT.

Christian Wingert, of Bethel township, now Lebanon county, d. in February 1775, leaving a wife Elizabeth, and chil - dren:

i. John. . ii. Elizabeth.

His brother John was the executor.

GEORGE CROGHAN.

A Pioneer Worthy of the Cumberland Valley.

[We had nearly completed a sketch of this distinguished personage, when we were favored with the following preparcd by Isaac Craig, Esq , of Allegheny City. The article is of more than ordinary in- terest. The Mrs. Schenley referred to by Mr. Craig at the close of his article is the widow of a captain in the English army, resident in London, and the owner of millions of real-estate in Pittsburgh. Mrs. Schenley has

five daughters and one son. Her eldest daughter a is the widow of younger son f an English lord . The second daughter married a clergyman of the Church of England, and the third Agnes, is the wife of a son of Sir Thomas Ridley, who was Under Secretary of State during a former administration of the Marquis of

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Salisbury. Mrs. S. is about 60 years of age, a great sufferer from asthma, which forbids her residence in Pittsburgh, and in London where she can only spend May, June and July for the same reason. Her recent generous offer of the "Point" at Pittsburgh to the city, filled with tumble-down tenements on leased ground has caused much excitement in that mc- tropolis of Western Pennsylvania ]

George Croghan was born in Ireland, and educated in Dublin. On immigrating to America, he settled in Pennsboro, west of the Susquehanna river, some five miles from Harris' Ferry, now Harris burg. He became an Indian trader, in which capacity he is found, in 1746, on the shores of Lake Erie, between the mouths of Cuyahoga and Sandusky. While thus engaged, he acquired a thor- ough knowledge of the Indian languages, and so much influence with the tribes in the Ohio valley, that the Government of Pennsylvania employed him as their agent in those parts; but the incursions of the French, and the seizure and destruc- tion of his property, by the Indians, in the interest of the French, reduced Croghan to bankruptcy, and obliged him to retire among the mountains, in what is now Huntingdon county, where he erected a fort at Aughwick; here he had charge of a number of Indians, in the pay of the Province. On the ar. . rival of General Braddock, in 1755, Croghan received a captain's commission, and accompanied the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, and remained with that unfortunate officer until his death. when he returned to Aughwick. In 1756 he was employed in raising men for the de- tense of the Western frontier, along which he erected three stockade posts; but, con- sidering himself ill used by the Pennsyl- vania authorities, he threw up his com- mission, and in July he repaired to Sir William Johnson, whom he accompanied to Onondaga, and by whom he was, in November, appointed Deputy Indian Agent, with charge of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Indians. His time was now taken up in making treaties and assisting in conferences with the Indians, and other official duties.

In May, 1760, he assisted at the meet - ing which General Monckton held, at

Fort Pitt, with the Western Indians; and, afterwards, accompanied Major Rodgers, to take possession of Detroit.

In the latter part of 1763, he was sent to England, by Sir William Johnson, to urge on the Ministry the necessity of agreeing with the Indians on a boundary line which was settled afterwards in the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768, and to recommend some arrangements in regard to the Indian trade. On this voyage, he was shipwrecked on the coast of France. On his return, in 1765. he was sent to Illinois, to pacity the tribes in that quar ter, who were breathing nothing but war. On his way thither, he was attacked, on the 8th July, by a party of Kickapoos and Mascoutens, who killed five of his men, and wounded and took himself prisoner, and carried him to Vincennes. Through the interposition of some friendly Indians, he and the remainder of his party were released, and he proceeded to Illi- nois. At Fort Chartres, he succeeded in accommodating matteis, and in arrang- ing for the surrender to the English of all the posts the French held in the Western country. Col. Croghan then proceeded to Detroit.

In May, 1666, he returned to Fort Pitt, where, on the left bank of the Allegheny river, about four miles up, he had, for sometime, a settlement, with the consent of the Six Nations.

From Fort Pitt he went to Illinois, and from there to New Orleans, and from thence, by sea to New York, where he arrived in January, 1767. In the ensuing summer he was ordered to Detroit for the purpose of restoring, to their respective tribes, some Indians who were prisoners there, and to correct some abuses at that post; and in January, 1768, was exam- ined before the Pennsylvania House of Assembly on the subject of murders com . mitted by the Indians on the Western frontier of Pennsylvania.

At this time, the Assembly placed on record its testimony of "the address and fidelity with which Mr. Croghan has al- ways executed his commission, and the eminent service he has rendered the Na- tion and its Colonies in conciliating the affections of the Indians in the British interest."

In the following March, he held an-

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other conference with the Indians, at Fort Pitt, where he succeeded in remov- ing, from their minds, much uneasiness, on account of the above mentioned mur- ders.

In October, 1768, he assisted in the conferences, held at Fort Stanwix, with the Six Nations and other tribes, and em- braced that opportunity to purchase from the Indians a tract of 100,000 acres of land, lying between the Lake Otsego and the Unadilla river, in New York, for which he obtained a patent the following year, when he secured 18,000 acres addi . tional, in Cherry Valley, N. Y. He req turned to his place, above Fort Pitt, where on the 10th October, 1770, George Wash ington dined with him, when on his way to the Kanawha, Croghan providing him with Indianguides, and accompanying him some distance down the Ohio river. Some time after this, Virginia set up a claim to that part of Pennsylvania, west of Laurel Hill, and exercised jurisdiction over Pittsburgh. In this controversy, Col. Croghan sided with Virginia. He was still residing on his farm, on the Alle- gheny river, when the news of the bat- tle of Lexington reached him.

A meeting of the inhabitants of Pitts- burgh was held on the 16th May, 1775, to give expression to the feelings and sym- pathy and indignation that pervaded the community, and resolutions were unani- mously passed, in entire consonance with the general feeling throughout the coun- try, and a committee of correspondence was appointed to watch over the district -Col. Croghan's name being the first on the list.

In the following year, however, he was superseded as Indian agent, Congress having appointed Col. George Morgan to that office; and, although Col. Croghan continued to reside on his farm, his enc- mies succeeded in creating doubts as to his attachment to the cause of the Revo- lution, and, in a proclamation issued by the State of Pennsylvania in June, 1778, his name appears among those said to have joined the enemy, and who were summoned to come in and surrender themselves on pain of attainder.

Col. Croghan evidently purged himself of all these suspicions, for in April, 1780, he was a resident of Lancaster, and the

following June, of Passayunk, where he conveyed to Joseph Wharton his then' remainining interests in his lands, at Ot - sego county, N. Y. Col. Croghan did' not survive these transactions; he died in Passayunk, Pa., in August, 1782 His will was proved at Philadelphia, Sept. 3d, of that year.

There prevails a general but erroneous belief that Col. George Croghan, the hero of Fort Stephenson, and William Cro- ghan, the father of Mrs. Schenley, are descended from Col. Croghan the Indian Agent. The truth is the latter had no. son; his daughter Susannah married Lieut. Augustine Prevost, of the 60th or Royal American Regiment, afterwards a Major General in the British army; she succeeded to her father's property in Cherry Valley, N. Y.

Colonel Croghan had a daughter by an Indian woman who was the third wife of the famous Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. Several historians give interesting ac- counts of the marriage. Campbell in his Annals of Tyron County, p. 251; Bu- chanan in his Sketches, vol. 1, p. 36 ;. Drake in his Indian Nations, p. 591, give the following account of it: "Colonel Brant was married, in the winter of 1779, to a daughter of Colonel Croghan by an Indian woman. He had lived with her some time ad libitum according to the. Indian manner, but at this time being present at the wedding of a Miss Moore, at Niagara (one of the captives taken at Cherry Valley), insisted on being married- himself; and thus his consort's name was no longer Miss Croghan, hut Mrs. Brant. The ceremony was performed by his companion-in-arms, Colonel John But- ler, who, although he had left his eoun . try, yet carried so much of his magis- trate's commission with him as to solemn- ize marriages according to law. They had seven children, viz: Joseph, Jacob, John, Margaret, Catharine, Mary and Elizabeth, who married William J. Kerr. Joseph,. John and Mary died previous to 1864.

The rank, baptismal and surname of "the hero of Fort Stephenson" being identical with those of Colonel George Croghan, the Indian Agent, very natur- ally lead many persons to suppose that the former was the son of the latter, but there was no relationship.

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Major William Croghan, who was an officer in the 4th Virginia Regiment com. manded by Col John Neville, married a sister of General George Rodgers Clark, "the Washington of the West," and he named his son "George" after his brother- in-law, General Clark, thus making his name identical with that of the Indian Agent-George Croghan. Another son was named after himself, William, and he, Wm. Croghan, was the father of Mrs. Schenley.

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Notes and queries historical, biographical, and genealogical, Vol. I, Part 79

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: s.n. Number of Pages: 618

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: s.n.
Number of Pages: 618