USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > The history of Erie County, Pennsylvania, from its first settlement > Part 5
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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
Bancroft, in his history of the United States, gives the following account of the destruction of Fort Presqu'ile : "The fort at Presqu'ile, now Erie, was the point of communication between Pittsburg and Niagara and Detroit. It was in itself one of the most tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty men, and could most easily be relieved. On the 22d of June, after a two-days' defense, the commander, out of his senses with terror, capitulated, giving up the sole chance of saving his men from the scalping-knife. He himself, with a few others, were carried in triumph by the Indians io Detroit."
A more detailed account is found in the "Conspiracy of Pontiac," by Parkman. He says : "There had been hot fighting before Presqu'ile was taken. Could courage have saved it, it never would have fallen. The fort stood near the present site of Erie, on the southern shore of the lake which bears the same name. At one of its angles was a large block- house, a species of structure much used in the petty forest warfare of the day. It was two stories in height, and solidly built of massive timber ; the diameter of the upper story ex-
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ceeding that of the lower by several feet, so that, through the openings in the projecting floor of the former, the defenders could shoot down upon the heads of an enemy assailing the outer wall below. The roof being covered with shingles, might easily be set on fire ; but, to guard against this, there was an opening, through which the garrison, partially pro- tected by a covering of plank, might pour down the water upon the flames. This block-house stood upon a projecting point of land, between the lake and a small brook which en- tered it nearly at right angles. And now the defenders could see the Indians throwing up earth and stones behind one of the breastworks ; their implacable foes were laboring to under- mine the block-house, a sure and insidious expedient, against which there was no defense. There was little leisure to reflect on this new peril, for another, more imminent and horrible, soon threatened them. The barrels of water, always kept in the block-house, were nearly emptied in extinguishing the frequent fires ; and though there was a well in the parade- ground, yet to approach it would be certain death. The only resource was to dig one in the block-house itself. The floor was torn up, and while some of the men fired their heated muskets from the loopholes to keep the enemy in check, the rest labored with desperate energy at this toilsome and cheer- less task. Before it was half completed, the cry of fire was again raised, and, at the imminent risk of life, they tore off the blazing shingles and averted the danger. By this time it was evening. The little garrison had fought from earliest daybreak without a moment's rest. Nor did darkness bring relief, for the Indian guns flashed all night long from the intrenchments. They seemed determined to wear out the obstinate defenders by fatigue. While some slept, others in their turn continued the assault, and morning brought fresh dangers. The block-house was fired several times through the day, but they kept up their forlorn and desperate defense. The house of the commanding officer sank into glowing embers. The fire on both sides did not cease till midnight, at which hour a voice was heard in French, calling out that further defense was useless, since preparations were made to burn above and below at once. Christie demanded if any one
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spoke English, upon which a man in Indian dress came for- ward. He had been made a prisoner in the French war, and was now fighting against his own countrymen. He said, if they yielded, they would be saved alive ; if not, they would be burned. Christie resolved to hold out as long as a shadow of hope remained, and while some of the garrison slept, the rest watched. They told them to wait until morning. They assented, and suspended their fire. When morning came, they sent out two persons, on pretense of treating, but in reality to learn the truth of the preparations to burn the block-house, whose sides were pierced with bullets and scorched with fire. In spite of the capitulations, they were surrounded and seized, and, having been detained for some time in the neighborhood, were sent as prisoners to Detroit, where Ensign Christie soon after made his escape, and gained the fort in safety."
Mr. H. L. Harvey, formerly editor of the Erie Observer, a gentleman of research and integrity, in a lecture delivered in Erie, introduced the following account of the same event, differing, as will be seen, from both the above-named ac- credited historians. He says : "The troops retired to their quarters to procure their morning repast ; some had already finished, and were sauntering about the fortress or upon the shore of the lake. All were joyous in holiday attire, and dreaming of naught but the pleasure of the occasion. A knock was heard at the gate, and three Indians were announced in hunting garb, desiring an interview with the commander. Their tale was soon told. They said they belonged to a hunting party, who had started for Niagara with a lot of furs ; that their canoes were bad, and they would prefer disposing of them here, if they could do so to advan- tage, and return, rather than go farther ; that their party were encamped by a small stream west of the fort about a mile, where they had landed the previous night, and where they wished the commander to go and examine their peltries, as it was difficult to bring them, and they wished to embark where they were, if they did not trade. The commander, accom- panied by a clerk, left the fort with the Indians, charging his lieutenant that none should leave the fort, and none be ad-
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mitted, until his return. Well would it probably have been had this order been obeyed. After the lapse of sufficient time for the captain to visit the encampment of the Indians and return, a party of the latter, variously estimated-probably one hundred and fifty-advanced toward the fort, bearing upon their backs what appeared to be large packs of furs, which they informed the lieutenant the captain had pur- chased and ordered deposited in the fort. The stratagem succeeded ; when the party were all within the fort, it was the work of an instant to throw off their packs and the short cloaks which covered their weapons, the whole being fastened by one loop and button at the neck. Resistance at this time was useless, and the work of death was as rapid as savage strength and weapons could make it. The shortened rifles, which had been sawed off for the purpose of concealing them under their cloaks and in the packs of furs, were at once discharged, and the tomahawk and knife completed their work. The history of savage warfare presents not a scene of more heartless and bloodthirsty vengeance than was ex- hibited on this occasion. The few who were taken prisoners in the fort were doomed to the various tortures devised by savage ingenuity, and all but two who awoke to celebrate that day, had passed to the eternal world. Of these, one was a soldier who had gone into the woods near the fort, and on his return observing a party of Indians dragging away some prisoners, escaped, and immediately proceeded to Niagara ; the other was a soldier's wife, who had taken shelter in a small stone house, at the mouth of the creek, used as a wash- house. Here she remained unobserved until near night of the fatal day, when she was made their prisoner, but was ultimately ransomed and restored to civilized life. She was afterward married, and settled in Canada, where she was living at the commencement of the present century. Capt. D. Dobbins, of the revenue service, has frequently talked with the woman, who was redeemed by a Mr. Douglass, living opposite Black Rock, in Canada. From what she witnessed, and heard from the Indians during her captivity, as well as from information derived from other sources, this statement is made."
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About the same time the fort at Le Bœuf was furiously attacked by a large body of Indians, and the block-house fired at night. While the enemy believed them consumed, the ensign and his seven remaining men effected their escape, by means of a secret underground passage, having its outlet in the direction of the swamp adjoining Le Bœuf Lake. Tra- dition says that only one of these reached a civilized settle- ment. At Venango, a party of Senecas gained entrance by stratagem, and massacred the garrison, after having tortured Lieut. Gordon, the commander, for several nights over a slow fire. Afterward they fired and consumed the fort.
It was not the stockaded garrison alone, at this trying period, that suffered from the fury of the savages. Through the whole West the tomahawk and scalping-knife made fearful havoc. More than one hundred traders were struck down in the woods-the husbandman in the field and the child in the cradle shared the same unhappy fate. Emigrants were com- pelled to leave their homes and planted fields, and by toilsome journeys seek protection and shelter in distant settlements. Nearly five hundred families from the frontiers of Maryland and Virginia fled thus to Winchester, being destitute of every comfort. The regions of New York were happily exempted from similar outrages, through the influence of Sir William Johnson.
On the 12th of August, 1764, Col. Bradstreet and his army landed at Presqu'ile, and there niet a band of Shawnees and Delawares, who feigned to have come to treat for peace. Col. Bradstreet was deceived by them (although his officers were not), and marched to Detroit to relieve that garrison. He found Pontiac gone, but made peace with the Northwestern Indians, in which they pledged themselves to give up their prisoners ; to relinquish their title to the English posts and the territory around for the distance of a cannon shot ; to give up all the murderers of white men, to be tried by English law ; and to acknowledge the sovereignty of the English gov- ernment. Soon he discovered, as the war still raged, that he had been duped. He received orders to attack their towns; but, mortified and exasperated, his troops destitute of provi- sions and every way dissatisfied, he broke up his camp and
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returned to Niagara. Col. Boquet afterward met the same deceptive Shawnees, Delawares, and Senecas, and succeeded in bringing them to terms; so that in twelve days they brought in two hundred and six prisoners, and promised all that could be found-leaving six hostages as security. The next year one hundred more prisoners were brought in, be- tween whom and the Indians, in many cases, a strong attach- ment had sprung up, they accompanying the captives, with presents, even to the villages.
The region west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers, prior to the year 1795, was only known as the Indian country. On the Canada side of Lake Erie there were a few white settlements. On the American side Cherry Valley, New York, was the most western settlement, and Pittsburg the nearest settlement on the south.
In the year 1782, a detachment, consisting of three hundred British soldiers and five hundred Indians, was sent from Canada to Fort Pitt. They had embarked in canoes at Chau- tauqua Lake, when information, through their spies, caused their project to be abandoned. Parties of Indians harassed the settlements on the borders, and under Guyasutha, a Seneca chief, attacked and burned the seat of justice for Westmore- land County, Hannastown, and murdered several of the inhabitants.
In 1785, Mr. Adams, Minister at London, writes to Lord Car- marthan, English Secretary of State : "Although a period of three years has elapsed since the signature of the preliminary treaty, and more than two years since the definitive treaty, the posts of Oswegatchy, Oswego, Niagara, Presqu'ile, San- dusky, Detroit, Mackinaw, with others not necessary par- ticularly to enumerate, and a considerable territory around each of them, all within the incontestable limits of the United States, are still held by British garrisons to the loss and injury of the United States," etc. As we do not hear from any other source of the rebuilding of the fort at Presqu'ile or of a garrison there, the probability is that Mr. Adams only had reference to Presqu'ile as an important strategic point.
CHAPTER V.
Penn's Charter-Boundaries of Pennsylvania-Mason and Dixon's Line-Review of said Line by Col. Graham-Western Boundary of Pennsylvania fixed in 1786-Boundary between New York and Pennsylvania confirmed by Act of Assembly in 1789-Purchase of Triangle, 1791-Aneedote of Mr. William Miles.
IN the charter of Charles II. to William Penn, 1681, the first section describes the boundary of his grant as "east by Delaware River from twelve miles distance northward of New- castle town, unto the three-and-fortieth degree of north lati- tude, if the said river doth extend so far northward ; but if the said river doth not extend so far northward, then by the said river so far as it doth extend ; and from the head of the said river the eastern bounds are to be determined by a meridian line, to be drawn from the head of said river unto the said 43d degree. The said land to extend westward 5 degrees in longi- tude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds; and the said lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three-and-fortieth degree of north latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at 12 miles distance from New Castle north- ward and westward unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of north latitude, and then by a straight line westward to the
limits of longitude above mentioned." Explicit as this description appears, Maryland and Virginia disputed for many years, each claiming to itself the whole space or extent of the land south of the fortieth degree of latitude. The controversy was at length settled in 1732, chiefly in favor of Maryland, which rendered the real extent of Pennsylvania one hundred and fifty-five miles instead of two hundred and eight, and the square miles forty-one thousand, exclusive of the Triangle.
Lord Baltimore had, in 1683, petitioned King Charles II. that no fresh grants of land in the territories of Pennsylvania might pass in favor of William Penn until the said lord was heard in his pretension of right thereto. This petition was
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referred to the committee of trade and plantation, which, after many attendances and divers hearings of both parties, made their report to King James II., who in 1685 determined the affair between them, by ordering a division of the tract of land between Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, from the latitude of Cape Henlopen to the south boundary of Pennsylvania, in two equal parts, of which the side of Delaware was assigned to the king and Pennsylvania, and the Chesapeake side to Baltimore. In 1732, commissioners were appointed both from Pennsylvania and Maryland for the actual running, mark- ing, and laying out the boundary lines between both the province and territories of Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to articles of agreement concluded between Charles, Lord Baltimore, the proprietary of Maryland, and John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, proprietaries of Pennsylvania. The boundaries between Pennsylvania and Baltimore were as follows : That a due east and west line shall be drawn from the ocean, beginning at Cape Henlopen, which lies south of Cape Cornelius, upon the eastern side of the peninsula, and thence to the western side of the peninsula, which lies upon Chesapeake Bay, and as far westward as the exact middle of that part of the peninsula where the said line is run. That from the western end of the said east and west line in the middle of the peninsula, a straight line shall run north ward up the said peninsula till it touch the western part of the periphery or arc of a circle, drawn twelve English statute miles distant from New Castle, westward toward Maryland, so to make a tangent thereto, and there the said straight line shall end. That from the western end of the last-mentioned straight line drawn northward, a line shall be continued due north, as far as to that parallel of latitude which is fifteen English statute miles due south of the most southern part of Philadelphia, and from the north end of the last-mentioned north and south line, a line shall be run due west, across the Susquehanna River to the western boundary of Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding this agreement, the performance was long delayed by disputes of the parties about the mode of doing it, said to have been occasioned mostly by the proprietary of Maryland, in consequence of which the inhabitants on the
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Pennsylvania side, near where the boundary line ought long before to have been ascertained and marked out, were sometimes exposed to unreasonable demands from Maryland claims. It was not finally executed until the year 1762, when these families or proprietaries agreed to employ two ingenious English mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, after their return from the Cape of Good Hope, where they had been to observe the transit of Venus, in the year 1761, finally to settle and mark out the same, which was accord- ingly performed by them. 1
At the end of every fifth mile they placed a stone graven with the arms of the Penns on the one side, and of the Balti- more family on the other, marking the intermediate miles with smaller stones having " P" on one side and " M " on the other .. The stones with the arms were all sent front England. This was done on the parallel of latitude as far as Sideling Hill ; but here all wheel transportation ceasing, in 1766 the further marking of the lines was the vista of eight yards wide, with piles of stones on the crests of all the moun- tain ranges, built some eight feet high, as far as the summit of the Allegheny, beyond which the line was marked by posts, around which stones and earth were thrown the better to preserve them. Of these stones, the one which marked the northeast corner of Maryland became in the course of time undermined by a brook, and was removed and used in a farm- house chimney. After this occurrence the Legislatures of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia appointed a joint commission for a new survey, and appointed Col. Graham of the United States Topographical Engineers to superintend the work, and review the line of Mason and Dixon as far as might be judged necessary. Though their work was corroborated in the main, better instruments and a more accurate knowledge of the art enabled their successors to detect some errors. By their corrections Maryland gained about two acres, and a
1 After they had surveyed the distance of 23 miles, 18 chains, and 21 links from the place of beginning, and were at the bottom of a valley on Dun- kard's Creek, a branch of the Monongahela, an Indian path crossed their route, and their aboriginal escort informed them that it was "the will of the Sioux nation that the surveys cease ;"and they terminated accord- ingly, leaving 36 miles, 6 chains, and 50 links as the exact distance remain- ing to be run west to the southwest angle of Pennsylvania.
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gentleman who had served as a member of the Delaware Legislature found his residence located full half a mile within the State of Pennsylvania. Thus was established and perfected the line, " having no breadth or thickness, but length only," which threatens to make " enemies of nations which had else, like kindred drops, been mingled into one."
It is said the survey of Mason and Dixon cost the Penn family nearly $100,000 ; and that an arc of the meridian meas- ured by them at that time is cited in works of astronomy, having been one of the measurements by which the figure of the earth was ascertained. Of these two mathematicians, to whom political disputes have given a notoriety as lasting as the history of our country, Dixon, it is said, was born in a coal mine, and returned to his own country, Durham, where he died in 1777. Ten years later Mason died in Pennsylvania.
It was not until 1786, after many difficulties between the States of Pennsylvania and Virginia, that the western bound- ary of the former was surveyed by extending Mason and Dixon's line five degrees west from the Delaware River, and a meridian drawn from the western extremity to the northern limit.
In 1785 commissioners were appointed, on the part of Pennsylvania and New York, to ascertain the northern boundary of the former from the River Delaware westward to the northwest corner. The commissioners first appointed were David Rittenhouse on the part of Pennsylvania, and Samuel Holland, on the part of New York. They proceeded to act in pursuance of that appointment, and in December, 1786, ascertained and fixed the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude, erected suitable monuments there at and near the River Delaware, but were prevented by the inclemency of the weather from proceeding further in the survey. The next year Andrew Ellicot was appointed a com- missioner for the above purpose, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon Dewit on the part of New York. In 1787 they completed the running and marking of this northern boundary 259 miles and 88 perches from its ,commencement at the Delaware River to its termination in Lake Erie, five or six miles east of the Ohio State line, and
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marked the whole distance throughout by milestones, each one indicating the number of miles from the Delaware River. In addition to these stones there are also mile-trees marked in the same manner. In 1789 an act of Assembly confirmed the acts of the commissioners, and established the line run by them as the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania.
The Indians being recognized as owners of the soil, the whole was purchased from them by different treaties : one at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, extinguished their title to the lands of Western Pennsylvania and New York, excepting the Triangle or Presqu'ile lands, which were accidentally left out of Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia, and were supposed at different times to belong to each. Gen. Irvine discovered, while surveying the donation lands, that Pennsylvania had but a few miles of lake coast, and not any harbor, and in consequence of his representa- tions, the State of Pennsylvania made propositions for its purchase to Phelps and Gorham, the reputed owners in the year 1788. At their request the United States government sent out the Surveyor-General, Andrew Ellicot, for the pur- pose of running and establishing lines. Mr. Frederick Sax- ton, on behalf of Phelps and Gorham, accompanied Mr. Ellicot. As the line was to commence at the west end of Lake Ontario, there was some hesitation whether the western extremity of Burlington Bay or the peninsula separating the bay from the lake was intended. It was finally fixed at the peninsula, and by first running south, and then offsetting around the east end of Lake Erie, the line was found to pass twenty miles east of Presqu'ile. This line, as it was found to comply with the New York charter, being twenty miles west of the most westerly bend of the Niagara River, became the western boundary of the State of New York between Lake Erie and the old north line of Pennsylvania, and the east line of the track known as the Presqu'ile Triangle, which was afterward purchased by Pennsylvania of the United States. The Massachusetts charter, in 1785, comprehended the same release that New York had given, and that of Connecticut which retained a reservation of one hundred and twenty miles lying west of Pennsylvania's western boundary. On
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the 6th of June, 1788, the board of treasury was induced to make a contract for the sale of this tract described as bounded "on the east by New York, on the south by Pennsylvania, and on the north and west by Lake Erie." On the 4th of September, it was resolved by Congress "that the United States do relinquish and transfer to Pennsylvania all their right, title, and claim to the government and jurisdiction of said land forever, and it is declared and made known that the laws and public acts of Pennsylvania shall extend over every part of said tract, as if the said tract had originally been within the charter bounds of said State." By an act of the 2d of October, 1788, the sum of £1200 was appropriated to purchase the Indian title to the tract, in fulfillment of the contract to sell it to Pennsylvania. At the treaty of Fort Harmer, on the 9th of January, 1789, Cornplanter and other chiefs of the Six Nations signed a deed, in consideration of the sum of £1200, ceding the Presqu'ile lands of the United States to be vested in the State of Pennsylvania, and on the 13th of April, 1791, the Governor was authorized to complete the purchase from the United States, which, according to a communication from him to the Legislature, was accom- plished in March, 1792 ; and the consideration-amounting to $151,640.25-paid in continental certificates of various de- scriptions. A draft annexed to the deed of the Triangle shows it to contain two hundred and two thousand one hun- dred and eighty-seven acres.
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