USA > Wyoming > Wyoming; its history, stirring incidents, and romantic adventures > Part 14
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In the spring of 1778, Mr. Sutton rented his premises in Exeter, and purchased a mill-seat in Kingston, in the place since called Hartsift's Hollow, one mile from Forty Fort. He sawed a quantity of lumber and made a raft. Then, putting on board the raft his fam- ily and all his valuables, they were floated down to
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" Forty Fort Eddy." Mrs. Bedford says : " We lived in a shanty while our house was being built, and it was nearly finished, when we were overwhelmed with a tide of troubles. A malignant and contagious dis- ease, called the putrid fever, broke out in the settle- ment. My grandmother Smith and aunt Gustin died of this disease. A young man who was at work upon our house also died, and my mother, two sisters, and myself caught the disease from him.
" The settlers now began to be apprehensive of an attack from the Indians, and many of them removed to the fort. My youngest sister died, and then our nurse left us and went into the fort with her parents. Doctors Smith and Gustin told us that there were so many sick in the fort that if we went there we would probably die; that those who were as near the fort as we were would do better to remain at their homes as long as they could do so with safety. It was then ar- ranged that, if there should be a prospect of an attack, three alarm-guns should be fired at the fort. One day an old gray-headed Indian came and walked back and forth before our door several times. Father, suppos- ing that there was a company of Indians on the hill, and, if the old Indian was molested, they would come and massacre us, gave him a loaf of bread, when he went away, and we saw no more of him."
One morning early the alarm-guns were fired, and Mr. Sutton went to the fort to ascertain the state of mat- ters. When he left he ordered things to be put in a state of readiness to remove. He soon returned with an officer, a team, and a file of armed men. Mrs. Sut- ton was fast recovering; Deborah was much better, but not yet able to walk any distance; and the younger daughter was yet extremely low, and was carried upon
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a litter. Deborah was taken on a wheelbarrow by a young man by the name of Asa Gore, who belonged to Captain Stuart's company, and was afterward killed in the battle. They reached the fort, and the sick were laid on beds spread upon the floor.
Lieutenant Hamilton had been to General Washing- ton's head-quarters, and most eloquently urged the necessity of immediate assistance being sent on to Wyoming. He pointed out the defenseless condition of the settlement, most of the effective force having been drawn away, and a remorseless horde of savages and Tories about to make a hostile demonstration upon them from the north. He had just returned, and he used his influence to prevail upon the companies which had assembled in the fort to remain there, and, if need be, to defend it until succor should be sent on from the army. But Captain Stuart threatened to withdraw his company if the commanding officers refused to go out and meet the enemy. They finally resolved to go out and fight. Stuart and his party were confident of success. They had no idea of the odds they would have to contend against, but were phrensied with the idea of shooting down a few scattered bands of Indians and Tories. Many of the people in the fort were not at all sensible of the awful hazards of the movement.
Dr. Smith and his family were in the fort at Wilkes- barre. A short time before the battle the doctor went to his house above the town to get some provisions. He undertook to boil some potatoes, and, as he was proceeding with this business, he imagined that some- thing like a blanket was thrown over his head. He supposed it to be a warning from the spirit of his de- parted wife of some approaching evil. He looked out of the window, and saw several Indians standing on
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the top of the hill, looking toward the house. He went out at the back door and ran along the creek- Mill Creek-until he came to the river, and then pro- ceeded on the beach, under cover of the river bank, and so reached the fort in safety.
We set down the above somewhat singular story without advancing any theory upon which it is to be explained. It was taken from the lips of Mrs. Bed- ford, and must be altogether authentic. Dr. Smith, during his latter years, was known to be somewhat skeptically inclined. The idea of a warning from the spirit of his departed wife proves that at the time he had strong convictions of the existence of disembodied spirits. Whether the serious circumstances by which he was then surrounded for the time dissipated his doubts, or the sense of personal security which super- vened in after years overcame the convictions of ear- lier life, we are not prepared to say.
" On the 3d of July, 1778," says Mrs. Bedford, " our little army marched from Forty Fort to meet the en- emy. Doctors Smith and Gustin went out mounted. When our men turned and fled, and the work of slaughter began, the doctors ran their horses, but were hotly pursued. The Indians were so near that a ball passed through Dr. Gustin's hat. They came in, and brought us the sad tidings that our men were beaten, and the Indians were pursuing them through the woods. My father, although a Quaker, believed it right to fight in self-defense, and would probably have been in the battle had it not been necessary for him to stay with the women and children, and to take care of the sick."
After the flag of truce had been sent up, and while the negotiations for the capitulation were in progress, a barrel of liquor which was in the fort was rolled
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down the bank and the head knocked in, that it might not fall into the hands of the Indians. When the In- dians came into Mr. Sutton's cabin they marked those present as prisoners of war, and then proceeded to plunder them of their goods. Mr. Sutton, presuming too hastily that they would be left with the clothing which they had on, put on his wedding suit-a fine Quaker suit. Mrs. Sutton, a little more shrewd, left her best clothing in her trunks, and covered them up with rubbish, and so saved them from observation. The first " big Indian" that came along after Mr. Sut- ton had rigged himself up in his best stripped him of every article he had on excepting his shirt. How that rascally savage looked in his "fine Quaker suit," with his rifle, bullet-pouch, and powder-horn, and a string of scalps around his waist, may be imagined. It was no part of the policy of the Indians to have things in keeping according to the tastes of civilization.
It was now sufficiently evident that there was no safety for the settlers under the articles of capitulation. Butler left the Valley, and the Indians that lingered behind were under no manner of restraint. How Mr. Sutton was to dispose of his family was a question which had its serious difficulties. The youngest child was still very low, while Mrs. Sutton and Deborah were feeble, and the idea of a journey through the swamp was not to be admitted for a moment. Mr. Sutton's mechanical skill now came in play. He and Dr. Gus- tin set themselves at work to build a boat. They took timber and boards from deserted cabins, and drew out old nails which had ceased to be of any service where they were, and with such materials, "in nine days" they had completed and launched their craft. Trunks, boxes, and bundles were soon deposited in the boat,
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and the two families, fifteen persons all told, seated upon and among them. The ingenious and courage- ous navigators pushed off from the shore, and com- mitted themselves and their families to the care of a gracious Providence upon the treacherous current of a river so obstructed by rocks and rapids as to be scarce- ly navigable in low water except by canoes.
Their hastily-built craft had been calked, but no tar or pitch could be obtained, and, consequently, it was found to leak considerably. They hauled up for re- pairs, or "to overhaul her," at Captain Stuart's place, in Hanover. The females went into the deserted man- sion and took refreshments, while the men proceeded to "stop leaks." Poor Stuart was slain in the battle, or, as has been reported, tortured the day following, and his house was left desolate, but not yet consigned to the flames. Mrs. Bedford says that up to the time of their leaving the Valley nothing was said about the houses of the settlers being burned. She saw no smoke arising from burning houses, and heard no men- tion of it; but when she returned to the Valley she learned that the houses of the settlement had been con- sumed by fire soon after they left.
The difficulties which were overcome and the haz- ards which were run in this enterprise can now scarce- ly be estimated. Their craft was a slight flat-bottomed boat, constructed of materials not designed for such a purpose. Upon this frail vessel all the luggage which they dared venture to take on was piled up, and then fifteen persons, some of them sick, one utterly helpless, were seated among the luggage. And now what was before them? A rapid, crooked river, several consid- erable falls, at best of dangerous navigation, and, for aught that was known, many miles of the way they
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would be exposed to the merciless savages. It re- quired courage and skill of no ordinary grade to exe- cute successfully such an enterprise. Mrs. Bedford pi- ously remarks, "We had a dangerous passage down the river, but the hand of Providence preserved us." We will here give a portion of her narrative in her own language.
" Just before night we came to a house on the bank of the river, where we were kindly received and fur- nished with supper. We thought to have remained here for the night, but, fearing the Indians, we con- cluded to trust the hand of Providence for a safe pas- sage through the Nescopeck Falls, at dead of night, rather than run the risk of falling into the hands of the savages. We arrived safely at Northumberland the next morning. That day we learned that the wom- an and her two sons at the house where we took our supper, and where we thought to remain over night, were murdered by the Indians. Our apprehensions of danger were well founded, and, had we remained at that place, we should probably all have been either murdered or led into hopeless bondage.
" From Northumberland we went on to Middletown, but Dr. Gustin went to Carlisle, where he entered into practice .* We remained in Middletown more than two years. The town was full of 'Fleeters,' as we were called, and provisions were extremely scarce. We could procure none other than salt provisions, and for them we had to pay very high prices. Learning that
* An infant daughter of Dr. Gustin, who constituted one of the company in the boat, subsequently became the wife of the Rev. Mr. Snowden, a Presbyterian clergyman, and the mother of Hon. James Ross Snowden, well known in Pennsylvania as having occupied va- rious important and responsible public positions.
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there was a garrison established at Wilkesbarre for the defense of such of the inhabitants as wished to return to their possessions, we returned to the Valley. It was not without great sufferings and fatigue that we final- ly reached Wilkesbarre.
"Our grist-mill and house at Exeter were burned by the Indians and Tories. That the latter had a hand in the matter is evident from the fact that the mill-irons from both the grist-mill and saw-mill were all carried off, and they were things that the Indians would not take. Our house in Kingston had in some way es- caped the flames, but had been stripped of its cover- ing by our men to build barracks with in Wilkes- barre. We consequently had no materials with which to build us a house to live in. The ingenuity of my father, however, was equal to the emergency. He erected a frame, and filled it in between the posts with split wood, and plastered it with clay mortar on each side; he then made a wash of white clay, and washed it over with a brush, and gave it a very nice finish. My mother prepared some coloring matter, and orna- mented the wall quite prettily. The house, when com- pleted, was considered as really a fine thing. It stood in Wilkesbarre just above the fort, on ground occupied subsequently by Arnold Colt, Esq., and at present by Hon. John N. Cunningham.
"There was now no mill in the settlement. The officers and men in the garrison had flour which was brought in from below, but the people of the settlement pounded Indian corn in a hominy block, of which they made bread and mush, which was nutritious, and not disagreeable food. It was, however, difficult to procure this coarse breadstuff in sufficiency to meet the necessities of the people. The pestle was in motion
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night and day, each one who came taking his or her turn.
"My father now set himself at work to meet the pressing wants of the settlement by building a mill on Mill Creek, near the river. He found carpenters among the soldiers who assisted him, and the mill was soon put up. A sentry-box was constructed upon the top of the mill, where a watch was kept day and night, for the Indians were skulking about, plundering all they could lay their hands upon, and killing all who crossed their path. The mill was built of hewed logs, and was on land belonging to Obadiah Gore. During the Pennamite and Yankee squabbles it was seized by a certain person under a Pennsylvania title. My fa- ther was absent, having gone up the river for personal safety ; my mother went up to the mill, and ordered the miller to clear out, informing him that the mill was her husband's property, and that she would have a company of men there immediately who would take him into custody. Just then three men rode up-one of them was Dr. Smith, my grandfather, and another was William Smith, who afterward was shot by the Pennamites-and the miller took the alarm and left. The mill stood and did good service to the settlement until the celebrated pumpkin flood, when it was car- ried away .*
* In October, 1786, a great flood occurred on the Susquehanna, which was the occasion of an immense amount of damage. The water was never known to rise so high except on the occasion of the great "ice flood." Mills, houses, barns, and stacks of hay and grain were swept away. Horses and cattle, pigs and poultry, in great numbers, were carried down the current. Corn-fields were clear- ed of such quantities of pumpkins that the raging current was com- pletely speckled with them; hence the name-the "pumpkin flood." Wilkesbarre was partially inundated, great losses were sustained,
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" The settlers returned in great numbers, but such was the exposure of the country to the savages at a distance from the fort that they crowded into Wilkes- barre until they were uncomfortably jammed together. Mr. Roswell Franklin, a brother of Colonel John Frank- lin, had a farm upon the flats below Wilkesbarre, not far from the fort. His wife said that she would go on to their farm if the Indians were as thick as the pine-trees. She carried out her purpose, but it cost her her life.
" Her daughter-a young woman-one day went to the spring for water, and was gone so long that Mrs. Franklin became alarmed, and sent some of the small- er children to see if they could find her. They soon came running back in a great fright, informing her that their sister was coming with a company of In- dians. Mrs. Franklin had been confined but two weeks before. The Indians ordered her to get up and dress herself. Difficult as was the task, it had to be done. The Indians took what they wanted, and set off with the mother and her children. As they left, she saw an Indian take a shovelful of live coals from the fire and place it between two beds. The prisoners were taken to the woods.
"Mr. Franklin was plowing upon the flats between his house and the fort. He saw his house in flames, and, judging of the instruments of the mischief, un- harnessed one of his horses, and rode to Wilkesbarre upon a jump. A company of men turned out and pursued the party, overtaking them on the mount-
and great suffering during the following winter was endured by the inhabitants of the ill-starred Valley in consequence of this fearful flood. It is a wonder that not more than one or two lives were lost.
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ain this side of Meshoppen." The Indians were worst- ed, and the prisoners brought back, excepting Mrs. Franklin and her infant child.
"We saw people gathered on the outside of the fort, and, not knowing the cause, went down to ascer- tain what it was, and there we saw Miss Franklin, who related to us the whole story. She said, when our people came so near as to fire, they called on the pris- oners to fall. They all fell; but her mother lifted up her head, and said, 'Your father is with them.' She said to her mother, 'Put down your head; there is an Indian coming to kill you.' He fired, and she breathed her last. After the first shot, our people called to the prisoners to come to them: they then ran to them, and the Indians which remained alive fled in every direction. Some one saw an Indian put Mrs. Frank- lin's child behind a log; but they must have removed it to another place, or carried it off, for it was not to be found. Miss Franklin said that when the Indians had built their fire at night, they would conduct them- selves in the most brutal manner to the child and the mother. They would not let the mother nurse the child, and would often pinch the poor little creature to make it scream.
"Frederick Follett, at the time of the battle, was stabbed nine times, and scalped, and finally recovered. Several years afterward he called upon Dr. Smith to assist him in securing a pension. They made an ap- pointment to meet at my father's house. The doctor examined his scars. He showed us where he was stabbed, and it was evident enough that he had been scalped. As to his being stabbed, he said it was done
* According to others, it was upon the Frenchtown Mountain, above Wyalusing.
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by different Indians, each one giving him a stab in passing. He endured the scalping and stabbing with- out making a motion, that they might suppose him dead. When he was scalped, he supposed the next thing would be the tomahawk; but the attention of the Indian who did the deed being probably drawn in some other direction, he neglected this part of the operation. Those following on, supposing the work completed, contented themselves with piercing what they thought a dead man with their spears.
" A Mr. Corey, who had lost a son in the war, once came to my father's house some years afterward. We had been informed that he had learned the circum- stances of his son's death. Upon my mother request- ing him to tell us the story, he said, 'Mrs. Sutton, I will.' He then said that when the roll was called on the morning of the battle, he saw his son-a boy about fifteen years of age-standing in the ranks. He said, ' Silas, go back ;' he answered, 'Father, I can do some- thing.' He told him the second time to leave the ranks, and he went out of his sight. When they came into the action he saw his son by his side; it was then. too late to send him away. This was the last he saw of him. A neighbor of his was taken prisoner, and subsequently returned, and gave him a description of the manner in which the boy came to his end. He said that after the battle some prisoners were encamp- ed in the woods with the Indians and Tories, and that one of the Tories told the Indians that this boy was a captain of a company of boys that were being trained up to kill them. They then gathered a quantity of pine knots, and dug a hole in the ground, and set therein four bayonets with the points upward. They then lifted the boy up, and let him fall down on the.
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bayonets, all of which pierced him, two just below his hips, and two near his shoulder-blades. They then built a slow fire under him with the pine knots, and thus tortured him until near daylight, when he ex- pired.
"The witness of this horrible scene said that the poor fellow uttered the most heart-rending cries, but he durst not show the least emotion upon the occasion, not doubting but any manifestation of sympathy would subject him to the same fate. While the father was giving the relation, the big tears rolled from his eyes in quick succession. The whole story, and the man- ner of the old gentleman, are all now perfectly fresh in my recollection. These terrible scenes used to prey upon my thoughts, and harass me in my dreams, un- til they were imbedded in my very nature."
PENNAMITE AND YANKEE WARS.
The scenes of the last Pennamite and Yankee war which Mrs. Bedford witnessed, or has related from her immediate family connections, are given pretty much in her own language, and contain several interesting incidents which are not in the histories, and which we have not learned from any other source.
" The wars between the Pennsylvania and New En- gland people were terrible. Dr. Smith took sides with the Yankees in the first struggle before the war with the Indians. I remember to have heard it said that, when Colonel Plunkett was about to invade the settle- ment, the doctor harangued the people eloquently. He told them that every man who had no gun or sword must make swords of their scythes, and every boy who could lift a bush must be on hand. The spirit of the people was up; men, women, and children were all
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engaged in doing something. The old rusty guns and bayonets were scoured up, and those who had no guns took their scythes and attached them to poles, with which, in a close encounter, they could do terrible exe- cution. Others seized their axes, hoes, picks, crow- bars, and whatever they had which would serve the purpose of defense, or be useful in building breast- works. My father, Quaker as he was, shouldered his gun among the rest. They took their position at the foot of the valley, on both sides of the river, and when Plunkett, with his men, reached the head of Nanticoke Falls, they were met with a deadly fire, first from one side and then from the other. They looked up the mountain sides, and the waving boughs of hemlock, pine, and laurel, and the fearful yells and shouts which echoed from mountain top to mountain top, made a terrible impression on the minds of the assailants. The woods seemed to be alive, and the very trees in motion. The idea that thousands of the 'Green Mountain Boys' had come down from Vermont and New Hamp- shire seized the mind of the gallant colonel and his men, and they retreated without making a respectable effort to accomplish their object.
" After the Indian troubles began to abate, this un- natural war was resumed. One of my uncles lived in Forty Fort, and kept an open house for the accommo- dation of 'the Yankee Boys.' I kept house for him, and always had a supply of bread, meat, milk, and vegetables, and gave them free access to the pantry, where they would help themselves. The poor fellows would come in weary and hungry, set up their guns, and rush to the table like starving wolves.
" When Armstrong and Patterson came on, they commenced a series of efforts to drive the Yankees
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out of the country. One of their schemes was to bur- den the settlers with their men. They quartered their soldiers around among the people, and gave some one of them charge of the house. Six of Armstrong's men were quartered upon us, and the meanest one of the lot was put in charge of the house. He swelled and swaggered, and gave out orders with the authority of an absolute monarch. Mother was pleasant, and did the best for them she could, not wishing to offend them. Father thought he would leave the Valley, and he took a canoe load of our goods up to Black Walnut, intending to return and take his family, but he was taken sick there, and we heard nothing from him for near six months.
" Armstrong had a very bad felon, and applied to Dr. Smith for medical treatment. The doctor told him that he would not go into the fort to attend to his case, but if he would take board among the citizens he would do what he could for him. It was finally ar- ranged that he should meet the doctor at our house. We gave him all the comforts which the house afford- ed, and his felon was soon cured. When the Yankees were all ordered off, Armstrong came to our house and said to my mother, 'Mrs. Sutton, you will not like to go with the rabble; you may stay a day or two, and then go at your leisure.' The gallant officer doubtless thought this indulgence an ample compensa- tion for our attentions during his severe afflictions. Mother was about to be confined, and father was gone up the river, and she told him she could not go. 'Oh,' said he, 'you must go, but we will make it as agreeable for you as possible.' Soon after a file of armed men came in and ordered mother to clear out. When they left they said she might have fifteen min-
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