USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Middletown > The chronicles of Middletown : containing a compilation of facts, biographical sketches, reminiscences, anecdotes, &c., connected with the history of one of the oldest towns in Pennsylvania > Part 6
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There is good reason to infer, from this evidence, that the people of this part of the State had reasons for dissatisfaction respecting the con- duct of those managing the war.
The company commanded by Captain James Murray left Middletown on the day following the departure of Captain Elder, with his "33 men."
On the 24th a company of cavalry under Capt. John Hamilton who had marched that day fifty miles, arrived here and pushed on the next day.
After much confusion and loss of time, a portion of the quota was dispatched to the field. The detachments were placed under other offi- cers, and no truer heroes were ever set in array against the enemy.
In the latter part of January, 1777, Col. Samuel Montgomery, with his Cumberland county regiment, 800 strong, camped here for two days.
On the 12th of August, Capt. John Rutherford with his company as- sembled here. This company, containing several Middletown men, had been in active service throughout the campaign of '76.
In 1778 Robert Elder (the Captain Elder alluded to by Colonel Burd), who had risen to be colonel of a battalion, camped here with his com- mand, who were under the following officers: Captains, James Murray, Henry Mckinney, Samuel Rutherford, - - McClure, Robert Clark, Martin Weaver, James Stewart, John Gilchrist. Captain McClure com-
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
manded one, and Captain Mckinney another of the companies raised in and about Middletown.
In the same year, the battalion commanded by Col. Alexander Lowry was ordered to Middletown, and encamped from March until June. The captains of it were Robert McKee, Andrew Boggs, Thomas Robinson, Joseph Work, David McQueen, Robert Craig, Abraham Scott, Hugh Peden, Abraham Forney, Martin Earhart. The whole force was nearly 800 men drawn from territory in the vicinity of Middletown (Conewago, Donegal and Elizabethtown). The camp was on Bomberger's (now Young's) farm, adjoining the town. The reason for this display of force was the protection of the army stores at the Middletown mills, where a vast amount of wheat and other supplies had been collected. Among the officers of the army who took an active part in affairs in and about Middletown, either immediately before, during or after the Revo- lution, were: Col. James Burd, Col. Jacob Cooke, Col. Cornelius Cox, Col. James Crouch, Col. Edward Crouch, Col. Joshua Elder, Col. Robert Elder, Capt. James Cowden, Capt. John Elder, Capt. John Rutherford, Capt. Joseph Shearer.
Although we cannot separate the Middletown volunteers from those coming from other parts of Paxton township, Lancaster county, yet we find on the muster rolls of the different battalions and companies, some few names which at that time or soon afterwards, were identified with her history, viz: Allison, Allen, Alliman, Burd, Brandon, Bollinger, Baker, Brown, Barnet, Bowman, Black, Bomberger, Cook, Crabb, Cooper, Crouch, Campbell, Davis, Duncan, Dickey, Elliot, Elder, Foster, Fulton, Fairman, Gross, Glover, Hays, Harrigan, Henry, Hamilton, Ho- gan, Hutchinson, Harris, Jamison, Jontz, Kerr, Kennedy, Lynch, Laird, Moore, Myers, Miller, Minsker, McCormick, McGuigan, McCann, Mc- Arthur, McClure, McClenachan, Means, McCord, Murray, McFarland, McNair, Martin, Poorman, Parks, Patterson, Postlethwait, Robinson, Ross, Rennick, Steel, Smith, Scott, Shearer, Sheets, Swinford, Thomp- son, Taylor, Wier, Walker, Weirich, Wilson, Wolf, Waggoner. The rest, although recorded, cannot be localized.
This was then the most important town in Paxton township of Lan- caster county, and therefore it might naturally be supposed that there would be no difficulty in designating those who went from here into the Revolutionary army. There are many names which are familiar ones on our streets to-day and many others that were so a century ago, on the muster rolls of the various companies, but there being no par- ticularization as to residence, I have (as yet) been unable to classify them. Could the dead of those forgotten battlefields, or in the deserted graveyards of Paxton, Derry and Conewago, speak, or had their tomb- stones longer resisted the gnawing tooth of time, we would know that of the more than two thousand patriotic men which Paxton township sent to the front, Middletown contributed her full quota.
Can you not in fancy see them-you, whose freedom they won-those brave, stalwart pioneers-as in fringed buckskin or faded blue and buff
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
uniforms, with powder horns and patches, bullet pouches and muzzle- loading, flint-lock guns, they marched through the single, log cabin-lined street of old Middletown-the hardy frontiersmen of Pennsylvania-on their way to meet the veteran legions and mercenary allies of a power that had battled with, and (up to that time) beaten all nations that dared to oppose her.
On Fame's eternal camping-ground Their silent tents are spread, And glory guards, with solemn round, The bivouac of the dead.
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight Nor time's remorseless doom, Can dim one ray of holy light That gilds their glorious tomb.
XIII.
WYOMING MASSACRE.
May 25th, 1778, the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania writes to the Board of War. After alluding to the fact that Colonel Grubb wishes a guard of one hundred men at Lebanon, and that the Hon. W. A. Atlee insists on keeping a guard at Lancaster until he has collected the Hessian prisoners, they add a postscript. "It is proposed to withdraw the guard at Middletown as soon as the Hessians are brought."
July 3d, 1778, occurred the "Wyoming Massacre." The Tories and Indians, commanded by Col. John Butler, defeated the settlers under Col. Zebulon Butler. (These latter were principally old men and boys, the able-bodied men being absent in the Continental army.) Then fol- lowed a massacre of the survivors, out of 400 but sixty escaped. (It is said that the war made 150 widows and 600 orphans in the Wyoming valley.) This remnant taking refuge in Forty-Fort, succeeded in effect- ing terms of capitulation, stipulating that their lives and property should be spared; but the Indians could never be bound by treaty, and after Col. John Butler and his army had left, burning and plundering com- menced, and the remaining widows and orphans, a desolate band, with scarcely provisions for a day, took up their sad pilgrimage over the dreary wilderness of the mountains and the dismal "Shades of Death."* Mr. Minor says :
"What a picture for the pencil! Every pathway through the wilder- ness thronged with women and children, old men and boys. The able men of middle life and activity were either away in the general service, or had fallen. There were few who were not in the engagement; so that in one drove of fugitives consisting of one hundred persons, there was
"On the head waters of the Lehigh, was an immense body of rather wet land, covered with a dense forest of pine. This place was called, by the forlorn fugitives from Wyoming, the "Shades of Death."
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
only one man with them. Let the painter stand on some eminence com- manding a veiw at once of the valley and the mountain. Let him paint the throng climbing the heights; hurrying on, filled with terror, despair and sorrow. Take a single group, the affrighted mother, whose hus- band had fallen; an infant on her bosom; a child by the hand; an aged parent, slowly climbing the rugged way, behind her; hunger presses them sorely ; in the rustling of every leaf they hear the approach- ing savage; the "Shades of Death" before them; the valley, all in flames behind them; their cottage, their barns, their harvests, all swept in this flood of ruin; their star of hope quenched in this blood shower of savage vengeance !"
These fugitives were the families of the Connecticut settlers in Wyom- ing, against whom a strong feeling existed at that time, the reasons for which do not concern these "Chronicles." William Maclay, the founder of the Democratic party, and (in 1779) the first Senator of Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, was among the number of those obliged to flee, and although so strongly prejudiced against the settlers that, in 1773, in writing to the Secretary of the Province, he says, that "if Hell is justly considered as the rendezvous of rascals, we cannot entertain a doubt of Wyoming being the place." In a letter sent from here (Pax- ton), to Timothy Matlack, Secretary to the Executive Council of Penn- sylvania, July 12th, 1778, says : "Dr Sir
"I write you this letter with reluctance, as I am certain it must give pain to any man of sensibility to be informed of the distressed situation of our Frontiers .- I will not trouble you with a recital of the inconven- ience 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 to it, were covered with men, women and children, flying for their lives, many without any property at all, and none who had not lef the greatest part behind .- The panic and spirit of flight has reached even to this place. Many have moved even out of this township, and almost every one is thinking of some place of greater security .- Some- thing, my dear sir, must be done to restore Confidence to the desponding and flying multitude, and to make them face the enemy. Depend on it, Sir, the County will be lost without some vigorous measures. For God's sake, for the sake of the Country, let Colonel Hunter be reinforced at Sunbury-send him but a single company, if you cannot do more. Mrs. Hunter came down with me. As he is now disencumbered of his family, I am convinced that he will do everything that can be expected from a brave and determined man. I must mention to you with freedom, an opinion that has prevailed, and done great hurt on the Frontiers, viz, that no men or relief would be sent to them. The miserable example of the Wyoming people, who have come down absolutely naked among us, has operated strongly, and the cry has been, let us move while we may, and let us carry some of our effects along with us .- Something in the way of charity ought to be done for the many miserable objects that
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
crowd to the banks of this river, especially those who fled from Wyom- ing; they are a people, you know, I did not use to love, but I now most sincerely pity their distress .- I cannot but hope that the men will most cheerfully return, with the first troops that go up that way. We are told every hour of more and more murders committed by the straggling sav- ages. We hope a great part of this vague intelligence may prove with- out foundation. The Express waits-am in great haste, Dear Sir, with sincere regard.
"Your most obedient and most "humble servant, "WM. MACLAY."
July 14th, 1778, Bartram Galbraith, writing from Lancaster to "George Bryan, Vice-President for the State of Pennsylvania," says: "Yesterday, at noon, I rec'd the alarming intelligence of eight or nine hundred British troops, Tories and Indians, coming down the East Branch of the Susquehanna, driving all before them; it is said they have taken three of our Forts at Wyoming, or near to it; out of which, four hundred of our men sallied out upon the enemy (not expecting them to be such a number), and that only sixty escaped, since which, the enemy have burnt the people's habitations thereabouts. On Sunday morning last, the banks of the Susquehanna from Middletown up to the blue Mountain, were entirely clad with the inhabitants of Northumberland County, who had moved off, as well as many in the river, in boats, canoes, rafts, &c. Indeed the inhabitants of Wiconisco valley, which is about twenty-five miles above Harris's ferry, in this county, were moving on Sunday last, and that the people lower down were thinking to follow. This I had from Captain Scott, a man of veracity who was up at Gar- ver's mill for his sister, the wife of Colonel Hunter, and spake with a lieutenant of a company that was stationed at Wyoming, and was in the action; he also seen six of the wounded men that were brought down. In the mean time, I'm venturing the privilege of calling the class's of militia that were ordered to hold in readiness some time ago last March- It is really a melancholy affair for the inhabitants of Northumberland, as well as many of this county; for should they not get their crops cut, or some of them, the poor people will be entirely ruined; as many of them has been obliged to come off without the necessaries of life, or wherewithal to purchase, leaving their stocks behind, &c. In haste I wait the orders of Council,
"and am your ob't "h'ble serv't "BARTRAM GALBRAITH, LT.
Lancaster County."
At this time (1778) Middletown was the first place on the river, of any size, which the fugitives would reach and as the wounded, naked and famished refugees landed from their rude canoes, dugouts, and hastily improvised rafts, after days of exposure and suffering, and thronged on shore, what a cheering sight must the little burg with its
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
single street, lined with one and two-story log houses, have seemed to them. There was a generous sympathy and hospitality among the old frontiermen, it was share and share alike; and although the newcomers, of some nationalities, from the wornout old world, were disposed to be close-fisted, their offspring, in the free air of that boundless domain, soon lost the grasping and mercenary proclivities of their progenitors. So they were welcomed with open hands, tables were bountifully spread with venison, bacon, hominy, corn-pone, milk and wild honey; with lashins of whiskey to wash it all down. And thus soothed and com- forted, they rested; and forgot in sleep, for awhile at least, the horrors and woes of the recent past, and the loneliness and gloom (for many of them) of the future.
In 1779 General Sullivan was dispatched to carry the war into the In- dian country, and (as was stated in a previous paper) the boats for this expedition were built in Middletown.
Philadelphia, May 13th, 1779, Ephraim Blaine writes to President Reed : "Sir, I have some time ago given orders to my assistant at Lan- caster to send, and without delay, four hundred barrels of flour to Mid- dletown," etc.
June 2nd, 1779, President Reed writes to Col. Samuel Hunter, re- questing him, as Lieutenant of the county of Lancaster, to afford General Sullivan all the aid in his power; stating, incidentally, that it will be unnecessary to order out the militia of that county, as "there can be no danger from an enemy, from Middletown to Sunbury," etc.
On the next day, he (President Reed) writes to General Sullivan, "upon the subject of providing an escort for the stores from Middle- town," etc.
July 28th, 1779, Colonel Hunter writes from Sunbury to Col. Mat- thew Smith, of Paxton, detailing fresh Indian outrages there, and con- cludes: "N. B. Rouse ye inhabitants there, or we are all ruined here .- S. H."
On the same date Francis Allison writes to Col. Joshua Elder, Sub. Lieutenant Lancaster county, to the same effect, ending: "If any relief can possibly be afforded it should be given instantly, otherwise the towns of Northumberland and Sunbury must be the barriers." Writing again, on the 29th, he says: "Hurry if possible, all the assistance possible, with utmost haste, or else the consequences on our side will be dreadful."
On the 30th, William Maclay writes from Paxton to Timothy Mat- lack, Secretary of the Council, ending: "I need not ask you what is to be done, Help, Help; or the towns of Sunbury and Northumberland must fall; our whole frontier laid open, and the communication with General Sullivan's army is cut off."
August 3rd, Col. Matthew Smith notifies President Reed of his arri- val "at Sunbury with sixty Paxton Boys." He says: "The Distress of the people here is great-you may have some Conception, but can scarcely be told-the town now composes Northumberland County.
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
The Enemy have burnt Everywhere they have Been, houses, barns; rye and wheat in the fields, stacks of hay, &c., is all consumed-such devas- tation I have not yet seen" &c.
August 5th, William Maclay writes from Sunbury to Council, speak- ing of the arrival of this company ; and says: "Every hour has brought us fresh accession of Numbers; We were near five hundred strong this morning, and the whole marched under the command of Colonel Smith, for Muncy, to seek them (the enemy) out."
In the summer of 1779, General Sullivan's expedition arrived at Wy- oming ; as they passed the fort, arms gleaming in the sun, their hundred and twenty boats arranged in regular order on the river, and their two thousand pack-horses in single file, they formed a military display sur- passing any yet seen on the Susquehanna, and well calculated to make a deep impression on the minds of the savages.
They arrived at Tioga Point, August IIth, and hearing that the enemy were at Chemung, an Indian village twelve miles above, went up and discovered them lying in ambush below; the Indians were driven off, and, after destroying their grain, &c., the army returned to Tioga to wait for General Clinton's brigade, which came down the East Branch on the 22nd of August from New York, with 200 batteaux. The united forces now moved forward up the Tioga, into the Genesee country. They burnt the Indian towns of Katherine's-town, Candai, Kanandaiga, Kanaghias, Gaghsuguilahery; Jenise, their capital or chief town, and twenty-four others; laid waste their fields, and destroyed all their corn, a quantity not less than one hundred thousand bushels, and returned to "Fort Sullivan," at Tioga, September 30th, 1779. They were received by Colonel Shreeve (who had been left behind with two hundred men to guard the place), with a joyous salute, and "as grand an entertainment as the circumstances would admit."
The ravages committed by General Sullivan, made but a slight impres- sion upon the savages; they hovered around the frontier until the close of the Revolution (1783).
August 6th, 1781, President Reed writes "to Captain Robinson of the Company of Rangers: I hope that by this time the ammunition and clothing sent to Captain Hambright, to be forwarded to Captain Scott at Middletown, and thence to Captain Hunter, has arrived safe," &c. He also writes to Capt. John Hambright: "Sir; your letter of the 25th ult., came safely to hand, and we were obliged to you for your care in forwarding the ammunition and clothing to Northumberland. We shall be glad you would inform yourself whether it has gone forward from Middletown.
To convey a better idea of the size of Middletown at this time, the tax lists for two years, viz: 1778 and 1782 are appended :+
+At this time most of the Scotch-Irish settlers were in the army, whence few of them returned to settle again in Middletown.
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
1778.
Backenstoe, John,
Hubley, Frederick,
Caldhord, Matthew,
King, Christian,
Cassel, Nicholas,
King, Jacob,
Seabaugh, Christian,
Craft, Philip,
Kennedy, Dr. Robert,
Shertzer, Samuel,
Crabb, Thomas,
Kalm, Margaret,
Swinford, Albright,
Creamer, Jacob, Derr, Abraham,
Lowman, George,
Snyder, John,
Dowdel, Daniels,
Lanning, Dr. John,
Snyder, Jacob,
Ettele, David,
McKinley, Widow,
Snyder, Simon,
Ettele, Philip,
Moyer, Henry,
Shuster, Peter,
Eater, Jacob,
Metzgar, George,
Shaffner, Henry,
Eakins, William,
Miller, Adam, Miller, Peter,
Shockin, Philip,
Frey, George,
Minshall, Thomas, Mayer, John,
Scott, Patrick, Toot, Thomas,
Gross, Michael,
Parthemore, Philip,
Hebright, Christian,
Reigard, Peter,
Walton, Jacob,
Harris, Henry,
Roth, Christian,
Welker, Felty,
Hemperly, Ludwig,
Singleton, Joseph,
Weirich, Philip,
Wolfley, Conrad, Wall, William.
1782.
Bombach, Conrad,
Bollinger, Emanuel,
Backenstrose, John,
Beitle, Michael,
Hollenback, John, Hubley, Frederich,
Parthemore, Philip,
Barnet, John, Cassel, Nicholas,
Crabb, William,
Crabb, Thomas,
Conrad, Michael,
Cremer, Elizabeth,
Jamison, Alexander, King, Christian,
Craft, Philip,
Kennedy, Robert, Kissinger, John,
Conn, Daniel,
Davis, Henry,
Lytle, John, Lowman, George,
Defrance, John,
Dowdel, Daniel,
Ettele, David,
Ettele, Philip, Farr, Abraham,
Frey, George,
Minsker, Thomas,
Gross, Abraham,
Gross, Michael,
Gross, George, Jr.,
McCann, Henry, Miller, Jacob, Miller, Peter,
Miller, Adam,
Myers, Henry, McClure, David,
Parks, Samuel, Reichert, Peter, Shaffner, Henry, Scott, Patric, Shertz, Christian, Spayd, Christian, Shuster, Peter,
Cryder, Christian,
Gross, George, Sr.,
Gregg, Joseph, Harrigan, Patrick,
Heppich, Christian, Hemperly, Ludwig, Hemperly, Martin, Harris, Henry,
Spayd, Christian,
Frain, Ulrich,
Shertz, Christian,
Gross, Abraham,
Lebernick, Frederick,
Snyder, Mark,
Snodgrass, George, Still, John,
Lipse, Anthony, Lenning, Dr. John, Moore, Thomas H., Minsker, John,
Shertzler, Samuel, Shockey, George, Snyder, Jacob, Snyder, John, Snyder, Mark, Seabaugh, Christian, Sneaganc, George, Tebemack, Frederick, Wickersham, Abner, Wolfley, Conrad, Walker, Valentine, Wells, William.
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
The roll of 1750-already given-contains 45 names. Estimated pop- ulation, 200 persons. The roll of 1782 contains 70 names. Estimated population, 350.
In 1778 the following Middletown soldiers were among those de- tached from the army and, under Captain Crouch and others, sent to repel the Indians who were committing raids upon the frontiers of Penn- sylvania. James McCord, Conrad Alleman, Martin Houser, Jacob Mil- ler, Frederick Cassel, George Sheetz, Conrad Wolfley, Dr. Robert Ken- nedy, Adam Ritter, John Minsker, Albright Swineford, Christian King, John Ritter, Jacob Miller, John Swineford, George Sneagance, Robert Herron, George Williams, Simon Reardon, Richard Allison, Joseph Mark.
The roll of record in Dauphin county in 1785 contains 120 names ; estimated population 600.
In 1799 Paxton township was divided and Swatara taken off.
These rolls, when compared with that of 1750 and other data, show the nationality of the earlier and subsequent settlers in and near Middle- town.
XIV.
In 1777-1779, owing to the large number of tories in certain parts of the State, it was considered necessary by the Assembly to impose an oath of allegiance; a measure which is usually taken, particularly in civil war; in the late war it was only those suspected of disloyalty who ... were required to take such an oath, but in Revolutionary times, when the population was sparse, all were obliged to swear, as follows:
"We the subscribers, do swear (or affirm), that we renounce and re- fuse all allegiance to George the Third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, and that we will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as a free and independent State, and that we will not at any time do or cause to be done, any matter or thing that will be prejudicial or injurious to the freedom and independ- ence thereof as declared by Congress, and also, that we will discover, and make known to some justice of the peace of said State, all treason and traitorous conspiracies which we now know, or hereafter shall know, to be formed against this or any of the United States of America."
Each person taking the oath was given the subjoined certificate : "I do hereby CERTIFY that hath voluntarily taken and subscribed the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance and as directed by an Act of General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed the 15th day of June, A. D. 1777. Witness my hand and seal the - day of , 177 -. , [L. S.]
The following are a few of the names of the inhabitants of Middle- town, and its immediate vicinity, who took the oath:
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CHRONICLES OF MIDDLETOWN.
Allison, Robert,
Hemperly, Martin,
Means, Adam,
Ashcraft, William,
Johnston, Thomas,
Moore, Thomas, McNair, Thomas,
Benner, Jacob,
Kirkpatrick, William,
Plesson, Anthony,
Burd, Edward,
Brown, John,
Kirkpatrick, James, Lewis, Michael,
Ryan, John, Jr., Raredon, Simon, Shearer, Joseph,
Boland, John,
Crouch, Capt. James,
Lindsay, William,
Spade, Michael,
Chesney, John,
Lowman, George,
Shocken, George P.
Crab, Thomas,
McClure, Jonathan,
Steel, John,
Cassel, Nicholas,
McClure, Alexander,
Steel, William,
Carson, George,
McClure, Andrew,
Shuster, Peter,
Donley, John,
McClure, William,
Shoop, Barney,
Deem, Adam,
McClure, Roan,
Steever, Daniel,
Davis, Henry,
McCord, Robert,
Spade, Christian,
Dowdel, Daniel,
McClure, Richard,
Thompson, Thomas,
Derr, Conrad,
McCord, James,
Thompson, John,
Ettele, Philip,
McClenaghan, William, Tate, Conrad,
Ettelin, Gottleib David, Moore, Howard,
Wickersham, Abner,
Flora, Peter,
Means, John,
Wall, William,
Gross, Christian,
Means, James,
Wertz, James,
Hinds, John,
Minsker, George,
Work, James,
Hemperly, Ludwig,
Moore, John,
Wolf, Michael,
Holmes, Abram,
McGill, Robert,
Wierich, Valentine,
Youngman, Jacob.
Those who would not take the oath were fined. Among the Quakers, Mennonites, Dunkards and others, who from conscientious scruples, doubt as to the final issue, or opposition to the cause of the colonies refused it, there were many who objected to paying the fine, and the Pennsylvania Archives show that the authorities had much difficulty in collecting it.
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