USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Susquehanna > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 2
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When the white man first appeared in the val- ley, this special district was in no manner differ- ent from the surrounding forests in its primeval aspeet, for even upon the ramparts the trees which had gained firm footing were said to have been as large as those in any other part of the valley ; one large oak, particularly, upon beiug cut down, according to Chapman, was ascertained to be seven hundred years old.
The Delawares, Shawanese and Nantieokes, were entirely ignorant as to the purpose for which these fortifications were built, aud in none of the collections of Indian history can there be found any traditions concerning them, which of itself, the latter faet, would strongly argue, that this unknown race had no descendants by blood, remaining upon the Susquehanna.
The same historian adds, that "they were, per- haps, erected about the same time with those up- on the waters of the Ohio, and probably by a similar people, and for similar purposes."
The Hon. Charles Miner, whose History of
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THE WYOMING VALLEY.
Wyoming is claimed by many to be unequaled, mentions another fortification, which was situated on Jacob's Plains, near Wilkes-Barre. This fort, in form, shape, and size, corroborates the idea suggested by Chapman, and lends weight to the theory. He mentions, also, that the ancient peo- ple all concurred in stating that there existed a well on the same locality.
Dr. Hollister, of Scranton, who contributed to the literary wealth of northern Pennsylvania, "The History of Lackawanna Valley," in 1857, and whose knowledge of the history of local tribes is second to no writer on the continent, follows out the more recent discoveries to some length, strengthening the belief so prevalently accepted, and convincing the reader by a knowl- edge that is thoroughly practical, that the coun- try affords abundant testimony in relics, to estab- lish the conjecture. The burial ground which he mentions, at the confluence of the Lackawanna with the Susquehanna, has given additional testi- mony to the matter in question. The older skeletons which were exhumed, besides giving evidence of a very remote burial, were at times found with specimens of materials which had been placed with the body, no doubt, at the interment.
Hollister presents as a strong ground, that as "bowls and pots of the capacity of a gallon or more, ingeniously cut from soap-stone, and orna- mented with rich designs of beauty to the Indian
eye, were often found preserved with the re- mains," and that, "as none of this soap-stone is found nearer this place than Maryland or New Hampshire, it would seem to indicate the migra- tory as well as the commercial character of the tribe once possessing them."
Other spots in the northern part of the State have given up the relics which have been buried for ages before the mighty hemlock which stands to-day over their hiding place, had commenced its development as a tiny shrub.
Truly has Stone depicted the lost records of the forest rovers, who once held sway over every- thing, and now rule nothing :
"The Indians are no sculptors. No monuments of their own art commend to future ages the events of the past. No Indian pen traces the history of their tribes and nations, or records the deeds of their warriors and chiefs-their prowess and their wrongs. Their spoilers have been their historians ; and although a reluctant assent has been awarded to some of the nobler traits of' their nature, yet, without yielding a due allow- ance for the peculiarities of their situation, the Indian character has been presented with singu- lar uniformity as being cold, cruel, morose, and revengeful ; unrelieved by any of those varying traits and characteristics, those lights and shad- ows, which are admitted in respect to other peo- ple no less wild and uncivilized than they."
CHAPTER II.
THE PIONEERS OF WYOMING VALLEY, AND THE QUESTION OF TITLE TO THE SOIL.
"They rise, they fall ; one generation comes Yielding its harvest to destruction's sythe, It fades, another blossoms: yet behold ! Red glows the tyrant's stamp-mark on its bloom, Withering and cankering deep its passive prime ." Shelley.
The ascendancy of the Iroquois, or the Six Nations, to a power which was absolute, and to a policy which was stern and unrelenting toward the feebler tribes, was but a harbinger of doom to the peaceful Indian villages along the roman- tic streams of northern Pennsylvania.
The alliance made by the union of the Mo- hawks, Senecas, Onondagos, Oneidas, Cayugas, and the Tuscaroras, into a confederation which figured in historical annals for years on the bor- ders, was well calculated to embroil into destruc- tion the more independent clans who asserted sovereignty to their territory ; for the sway of the combined power had learned to taste the sweets of conquest, and the diplomacy which had once existed in purity around more ancient coun- cil fires, was easily forgotten in the greed for expanse, and the intoxieating spirit of mastery.
The advance of civilization was the real cause of the Indian trail leading westward, but, along the Susquehanna and in the forests adjacent it would be difficult to show by any standard au- thority, whether the jealous Iroquois, or the pio- neer palc.face was the greater aggressor, in push- ing away the Lenni-Lenapes from the Lacka- wanna region, the Shawanese, Nanticokes, and the Delawares from the Wyoming region.
Miner states, in endeavoring to explain the shifting tribes and their motives,-"in unraveling the tangled web of Indian history, we found our- selves in the outset extremely embarrassed, es-
pecially when reading the pages of Heckwelder and other writers of the United Brethren. The removal of tribes or parts of tribes to the valley, their remaining a brief period and then emigrat- ing to some other place, without any apparent motive founded in personal convenience, consis- teney, or wisdom, perplexed us exceedingly, as we doubt not it has others."
The whites, on their first entrance found the Delawares sole masters of the valley.
The Nanticokes had occupied the lower por- tion of the valley, on the east of the Susquehanna with the Shawanese as neighbors immediately across the river.
Chapman, gives the following relation as to how the Delawares seeured sole possession :
"While the warriors of the Delawares were engaged upon the mountains in a hunting expe- dition, a number of squaws, or female Indians, from Maughwauwame, were gathering wild fruits along the margin of the river, below the town, where they found a number of Shawanese squaws and their children, who had crossed the river in their canoes upon the same business. A child belonging to the Shawanese having taken a large grasshopper, a quarrel arose among the children for the possession of it, in which their mothers soon took a part, and, as the Delaware Squaws contended that the Shawanese had no privileges upon that side of the river, the quarrel soon be- . came general ; but the Delawares, being the most
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THE WYOMING VALLEY.
numerous, soon drove the Shawanese to their canoes and to their own bank, a few having been killed on both sides. Upon the return of the warriors, both tribes prepared for battle, to re- venge the wrong's which they considered their wives had sustained.
"The Shawanese, upon crossing the river, found the Delawares ready to receive them and oppose their landing. A dreadful conflict took place between the Shawanese in their canoes and the Delawares on the bank. At length, after great numbers had been killed, the Shawanese effected a landing, and a battle took place about a mile below Manghwanwame, in which many hundred warriors are said to have beeu killed on both sides; but the Shawanese were so much weakened in landing that they were not able to sustain the conflict, and, after the loss of about half their tribe, the remainder were forced to flee to their own side of the river, shortly after which they abandoned their town and moved to the Ohio."
It was during this era of Indian history that Count Zinzendorf, who, from the highest motives that can actuate mortal man, sought the forests, with the aid of an interpreter, to preach the light of the world as it is exemplified in the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose servant he chose to be away in the wilds of an American forest occupied by savages.
The Shawanese were still occupants of the territory described above, when this missionary came among them. The natives, fearing the presence of a stranger, and construing his inten- tions as mercenary, laid plans to assassinate him. The warriors who had been selected for the pur- pose of executing the design were already with their painted faces inside of the tent, where the benevolent mau was writing, when to their hor- ror, they saw a huge rattlesnake crawl over his feet, and pass away without spending venom up- on its natural enemy. The savages, construing this providential intervention, as a dispensation of protection from the Great Spirit, abandoned their plans, leaving Zinzendorf to complete the work of his Master, which resulted in an en- larged effort so well known afterward as the Mo. ravian Mission.
From the favorable introduction of the German
Count, and his philanthropic allies, is dated the beginning of the white settlement. Zinzendorf appeared in 1742, and as soon after as 1750, the first body of men, on record, entered the valley, not for love, as did the pions mien, but for gain and adventure.
It was hinted iu the former chapter that white men, as individuals, had been known by tradition to have had communication with the Delawares long before the appearance of Zinzendorf, and here is presented the fact, that only eight years later, a body of men from the far away settle- ments of New England, had entered the valley, the charms of which must have reached their ears by tales handed down from mouth to mouth, which in those days must have been as devoid of directness and velocity, as is the intelligence of brother hunters in the legends of the forests of Germany, where the marks left in trees have grown over, before the once separated compan- ions greet again on the same spot.
These adventurers returned again to their for- mer homes, with accounts so glowing, that new parties sought these Elysian plains, for, Conrad Weiser, the celebrated Indian interpreter, and agent for the proprietary government of Penn- sylvania, reports, on a visit to the Indians at Shemokin, as it appears in his letter to the Gov- ernor, in the Colonial Records :
"The Indians in Susquehanna and about She- mokir, saw some of the New England men that came as spies to Woyomock last fall ; and they saw them making drafts of the land and rivers, and are much offended about it. They asked me about them. * I told them we had heard so much as that, and that we had intelligence from New England that they came against the advice of their superiors as a parcel of headstrong men, and disturbers of the peaee. They, the Indians, said they were glad to hear that neither their brother Onos nor their own chief men had sent them, and they hoped they would not be sup- ported by any English government in their so doing."
Dr. Peck states, that it is believed by their descendants in this county, (Luzerne) that the elder John Jenkins and Thomas Bennet were in this company, and gives as authority, that this was the first attempt which was made to sketch
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THE PIONEERS OF WYOMING VALLEY.
a map of the country, preparatory to the forma- as "The Susquehanna Company" for the purpose tion of a settlement.
The question with the kings of the forest, from this date, was not one of selfish and jealous dis- pute with their own race. It was a vital one to them,-that of defending their camp fires, and the endearing associations of this, to them, ter. restrial paradise.
The footprints of the covetous pale-face were the tokens for keen suffering, and right heartily did the braves meet the issue on the war path. But degenerate manhood, whether in an Indian or a Caucasian, will seek for selfish gain, and thus, were not only painted faces on the war- path, seeking the blood of the white intruder, but trail crossed trail, upon each of which were kindred warriors, seeking for the scalps of the others to avenge some imaginary wrong, which had been instilled into their untutored minds by designing factions of white men, who were equally culpable of a desire to defraud their own blood, from auother province, of the just and equitable rights which belong to man.
The turmoils of the so-called savages, seem to yield in measure of opprobium, when compared to the blood-thirsty efforts of the civilized whites, in their struggles to despoil each other of their possessions, their homes, and in too many in- stances, of every tie which could connect one upon the earth.
The convulsions, which affected everyone of both races, seem to date to the eventful day when a few men from Connecticut and Massachusetts happened to visit this tranquil section of the country, and had innocently taken- rude maps home with them, where, after explaining the ma- terial features of the far off forest, had, perhaps, gone into raptures over the delightful scene which had been photographed upon their minds, as indelibly as the sun of heaven could print it, in all its freshness and celestial beauty.
The eagerness with which these reports from eye witnesses were received was amply attested in the effect produced, for it is found recorded that, in another season "many persons emigrated," while the date displays the fact that in 1753, earlier by a season, than when Conrad Weiser wrote to the Governor, of spies only,-there was organized in Connecticut an association, known
of forming a settlement in Wyoming ; but in or- der to proceed safely, and knowing that a few bar- riers must be met in the way of counter-claim, a commission was appointed, "to explore the coun- try and conciliate their good will."
Had the commission performed its trust faith- fully, the annals of Wyoming to-day might not have been so horrible, as to send a chill current to every youthful heart, and furnish bard and nov- elist with emotions, which when depicted with skill, can hardly overreach the plain facts as giv- en by the less sensational pen of the historian.
The Susquehanna Company, then but in its inception, numbered over six hundred persons, among whom were not only the many who long- ed for a better and balmier clime to invigorate them in their future homes, but men of high so- cial standing and wealth joined their fortunes, covetous in the prospects of the imaginary promised land.
During that year the great council of the Six Nations was held at Albany, at which duly ac -. credited persons were in attendance from the Susquehanna Company, with instructions to effect a purchase of the desired land.
Sir William Johnson, who at that time was provisional-civil and military ruler of the territo- ry which had been conveyed, either by purchase or compulsion, from the tribes of the colony, and whose influence was renowned for strength with the mighty Indian Confederation, lent his might to the scheme, and for "two thousand pounds of current money of the province of New York," the sale was effected, and the eastern association, to all intents and purposes, were happy in the event.
Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, who was officially cognizant of the preparations for this step, had taken the precaution to send to Albany to prevent the purchase, a deputation of leading citizens, consisting of John and Richard Penn, Isaac Norris, and Benjamin Franklin.
The different boundaries in the decd of con- veyance, are given by Colonel Stone, as follows :
"Beginning from the one and fortieth degree of north latitude at ten miles distance east of Susquehanna River, and from thence with a northwardly line ten miles east of the river, to
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THE WYOMING VALLEY.
the forty-second or beginning of the forty-third degree north latitude, and so to extend west, two degrees of longitude, one hundred and twenty miles south, to the beginning of the forty-second degree, and from thence east to the afore-men- tioned bound, which is ten miles east of the Sus- quehanna River."
The deed was formally signed 'by each of the chief sacheins and heads of the Five Nations of the Iroquois, and the native proprietors, and among these, a name appears, which in after years was lisped in terror over the entire civilized world,-that of Thayendanegea, afterwards the Great Captain of the Six Nations, known in his- tory as Joseph Brant.
How little the hopeful New England deputies knew, how severely their association with this renowned warrior, would in after years affect their destiny ! How little the then meagre settlements dreamed, how mighty this rising Indian genius would become !
As a matter of course, the Susquehanna Com - pany, having invested the title in themselves by purchase, began to make extensive preparations for populating their valuable acquisition. The colonial records show that the movement was widely and favorably canvassed along the New England coast, and many and bright were the visions that arose in their expectant minds. But difficulties arose which prevented the immediate removal to Wyoming, which delayed the move- ment until 1762. This was occasioned by the open war between the French and English forces, in which the Indians of the country took part as best suited to their selfish ends.
The Shawanese, before their exile from the valley, had espoused the side of the French, while the Delawares, who occupied the greater portion of the territory, adhered to the English as an ally to the Six Nations, their former ene- mies. The French war was still pending, and the valley was unsafe for emigrants at the period when the Susquehanna Company desired to lo- cate on the river from which the association de- rived its name.
During the interval between the formation of the New England society and the subsequent planting of their first numbers, the State of Peun- sylvania had been active in its efforts to prevent
what was considered as an unwarranted innova- tion upon the soil, coming as the strangers were expecting to, with full powers to locate and rule their own internal interests as landholders, for be it understood, that by virtue of the purchase at Albany, the lands were conveyed in fee simple giving all power to the purchasers which the most liberal views of that day could construe in favor of a freeholder.
The State of Pennsylvania held its lands un- der the feudal system practiced in England, con- sequently, every Pennsylvanian who worked his acres, was in fact but a tenant, the same as his forefathers had been across the water. The Connecticut men, on the other hand, came with a title to their lands, and were freeholders by that title ; and here a dispute arose, which was foreseen by Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, when he learned officially that the Susquehanna Company were making preparations to inhabit the forests over which a conflict existed as to a question of title.
It will be necessary at this point to trace the title under which each claimed rights to the soil, and in order to present it to the reader in a clear light, the title to the province of Pennsylvania will be traced to its source, before the legal claims of the Susquehanna Company are considered.
Pennsylvania, as a colony, had its name from the famous quaker, William Penn, son of Sir William, commander of the English fleet in Oli- ver Cromwell's time, and in the beginning of Charles the Second's reign, who obtained a grant of it in the year 1679. It was bounded and de- scribed under that grant, "on the east by Dela- ware bay and river, and the Atlantic ocean, on the north by the country of the Iroquois or Five Nations ; and on' the south and west by Mary- land."
This grant, which the reader can readily see will not correspond to the modern boundaries of the State, must be explained by tracing to its source the authority by which the English gov- ernment could convey to Penn the territory marked out.
New York, the Jerseys, and Pennsylvania, were discovered, with the rest of the continent of North America, in the reign of Henry the Seventh, by Sebastian Cabot, for the crown of England ;
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THE PIONEERS OF WYOMING VALLEY.
but Sir Walter Raleigh was the first adventurer that attempted to plant colonies on these shores in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and, in honor of that princess, gave all the eastern coast of North America the name of Virginia.
Hudson, sailing to that part of the coast which lay at that time between Virginia and New England, in the beginning of the reign of James the First, and being about to make a set- tlement at the mouth of Hudson's river, the Dutch gave him a sum of money to dispose of his interest in this country to them ; in the year 1608 they began to plant it, and, by virtue of this purchase, laid claim to all of those countries which were afterwards known as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania ; but there remaining some part of this coast which was not planted by the Hollanders, the Swedes sent a fleet of ship thither, and took possession of it for that crown ; but the Dutch having a superior force in the neighborhood, compelled the Swedes to submit to their dominion, allowing them, however, to enjoy the plantations they had settled.
The English, not admitting that either the Dutch or Swedes had any right to countries first discovered and planted by a subject of England, and part of them at that time possessed by the subjects of Great Britain, under charter from queen Elizabeth and king James the First, king Charles the Second, during the first Dutch war, in 1664, granted the countries of New York, the Jerseys, and Pennsylvania, of which the Dutch had usurped the possession, to his brother James, duke of York; and Sir Robert Carr being sent over with a squadron of men of war, and land forces, and summoning the Dutch Governor of the city of New Amsterdam, now New York, to surrender, he thought fit to obey the summons, and yield that capital to the English ; the rest of the places in the possession of the Dutch and Swedes followed his example, and these coun- tries were confirmed to the English by the Dutch at the next treaty of peace between the two na- tions.
The duke of York afterward parcelled them out under proprietors ; selling in particular, to William Penn the elder, in 1683, the town of New Castle, afterwards called Delaware, and a district of twelve miles around the same ; to whom, his
heirs and assigns, by another deed of the same date, he made over all that tract of land from twelve miles south of Newcastle to Cape Henlo- pen, which was divided into the two counties of Kent and Sussex, which with Newcastle district, were commonly known to the earlier days, as the "Three Lower Counties upon Delaware River."
All the rest of the under-proprietors, some time after, surrendered their charters to the crown, whereby New York and the Jerseys be- came royal governments ; but Penn retained that part of the country which had been sold him by. the duke of York, together with what had been granted him before, in 1680-1, which is now the real Pennsylvania.
As soon as Penn had got his patent, he began to plant the country.
Those who went over from England were gen- erally dissenters and Quakers, whose religion bad been established by law at home. The Dutch and Swedes, who were settled in Pennsylvania before Penn became proprietor, chose to remain under him.
Penn, however, not satisfied with the title granted him by king Charles II. and bis brother, bought the lands also of the Indians for a valua- ble consideration or what was esteenied as such, and whenever it was deemed necessary to expand the territory, the land was purchased of the sachems.
It will be seen then, that the tenure by which Penn held the soil, was derived from the British crown. The Pennsylvania archives, which con- tain the full records, give the following synopsis of the claim :
"King Charles II., by letters patent, under the great seal of England, granted a tract of land in America to William Penn, esq., his heirs and assigns, and made him and them the true and absolute proprietors thereof, saving always to the crown the faith and allegiance of the said Will- iam Penn, his heirs and assigns, and of the ten- ants and inhabitants of the premises, and saving also unto the crown the sovereignty of the said country.
The later clause defines at once the position of the province of Pennsylvania to the mother country, and establishes the relations of the in-
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THE WYOMING VALLEY.
habitants to their feudal proprietors. The same authority adds :
"And thereby granted free, full, and absolute power unto the same William Penn and his heirs, and to his deputies and lieutenants, for the good and happy government of the country, to ordain, ยท make, enact, and, under his and their seal, to publish any laws whatsoever."
In pursuance of the authority thus vested in Penn, the charter having been accepted, all the inhabitants of the country were but tenants under leases, while the Penns owned the soil in fee.
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