USA > Wyoming > Wyoming; its history, stirring incidents, and romantic adventures > Part 15
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WYOMING.
utes to leave in. She told them she could not go at all. Soon after they returned, and found mother lying on a bed on the floor. They told her to get up and be off immediately. She flung the clothing off, and, rising up, said, 'Here I am, take my life as soon as you please.' A ruffian pointed his bayonet at her, and swore he would kill her, taking a step toward her as though he would execute his threat, when one of them stepped up and turned his gun away, saying, 'Come along, and let the woman alone.'
" The Yankees were on Redoubt Hill, and our house was in range between that point and the fort, and they told us they should burn all the houses between the fort and the hill. They commenced firing the houses, and the bullets began to whistle around us. We then found we must flee, or lose our lives either by the bullets or the flames. We gathered up what we could carry and went to my uncle Bailey's-the location now occupied by Steele's hotel. Our house was burn- ed and all there was left in it. We remained at my uncle's undisturbed.
" When father returned we removed across the riv- er, and built a house in Forty Fort. Here we were during the conflict between Pickering and Franklin. When the people were called together to vote upon the question of submitting to the laws of Pennsylva- nia, my father was appointed moderator, and it de- volved upon him to receive the votes and report the result. The Franklin men, beginning to doubt their strength, took father away, and carried him into the woods. A general melee followed. The men rushed into the thicket and cut clubs: it was an awful scene. The young hickories bent and fell before the great jack-knives of the men, and the heavy green clubs
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were lifted and brandished in all directions. Father was found and brought back; and, after a slight brush, in which no one was killed or very seriously injured, the men scattered and went home. Poor Franklin came along with his face bleeding from wounds re- ceived in the squabble.
"This was the winding-up of the civil wars of the famous Valley of Wyoming. Grievous and cruel wars and destructive floods desolated this lovely spot until many were driven to despair, and finally abandoned the place and settled elsewhere. Under the severe losses and untold hardships which we were compelled to endure from the causes which I have endeavored to describe, we had passed through a discipline which had its favorable influence through after-years. We were taught the vanity and uncertainty of all human things, and had received many lessons in relation to God's providential dealings.
" We returned to our place in Hartsift's Hollow, and remained there a while. Then my father, in con- nection with Dr. Smith, built a forge at Lackawanna ; but, not succeeding as he desired in making iron, he returned to Exeter, where he and my mother both fin- ished their earthly career.
"In 1788 I became interested in a new religious movement, commenced at Ross Hill, in Kingston, un- der the labors of Anning Owen. Nearly all my fa- ther's family fell under the same influence, and from that time we were identified with the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
"In 1799, May 16th, I was married to Jacob Bed- ford, Esq. He died August 23d, 1849. I am now in my 85th year, July 13th, 1857."
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VI.
INCIDENTS OF THE WARS IN THE LACKAWANNA POR-
TION OF THE SETTLEMENT, RELATED BY MRS. MARTHA MARCY.
THE incidents recorded below have been communi- cated to us by the venerable JOSEPH MARCY, now- 1858-seventy-one years of age. He is the only sur- viving son of the lady upon whose authority they are now transmitted.
Ebenezer Marcy came to the Valley from Fishkill, on the Hudson, and settled upon the lands now owned by his grandchildren, situated below the Lackawanna bridge, and about three miles above the village of Pittston. A block-house was built by the settlers in 1770 on the plain, in what is now called Upper Pitts- ton. After the Indian troubles had subsided, Mr. Marcy took possession of his house, which by some strange providence had escaped the flames. It was " a double log house," built in the style of the times, with a "back wall," against which, during the cold season, a large fire, made of logs, was kept burning day and night. In the corner, near the fire, stood that necessary article of Yankee furniture, "the dye-tub," in which the "blue stockings" were "dyed in the wool" or "in the yarn." The dye-tub usually consti- tuted a seat for some one, and it was upon this seat that the lad Joseph learned his lessons in the history of the olden time.
When Mrs. Marcy had visitors who wished to hear" about the Indians and the Pennamites, Joseph would
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take his favorite seat, and listen with all the ears he had. After he had heard the stories a thousand and one times, they still produced the same excitement in his mind. He knew what was coming next, yet he listened, and gazed, and gaped with as much eagerness as if he had been listening to the romantic tales of a new novel. Ah! they were tales of the sufferings and adventures of his father, mother, brothers, and sisters. These stories he now relates with the greatest particu- larity, and seems as familiar with them as with any portion of his own history.
When John Butler arrived at Sutton's, he sent a scouting party down the river, who secured all the water-craft belonging to the Lackawanna people, and deposited them at the head of the island. The settlers at that point were consequently left without the means of crossing the Susquehanna, and this is the reason why several able-bodied and brave men were not in the battle, but were with their families in the fort on that fatal day. The fort consisted of a block-house, or probably three block-houses, surrounded by pickets made of split logs set in the ground and standing eight feet above the surface. Here the families who had settled on the Lackawanna, near its confluence with the Susquehanna, were quartered on the 3d of July, 1778 .*
Soon after the tide of battle had turned against the patriots, a man who had been wounded in one foot,
* The following " Articles of Capitulation for three Forts at Lacu- wanack," dated "July 4, 1778," are published by Mr. Miner :
" ART. 1st. That the different commanders of the said forts do im- mediately deliver them up, with all the arms, ammunition, and stores in the said forts.
"ART. 2d. Major Butler promises that the lives of the men, wom- en, and children be preserved entire."
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and had managed to swim the river, brought over the sad tidings of the defeat and slaughter of the little army. After a few words upon the subject, he mount- ed a horse which belonged to Mr. Marcy, and laid his course across the mountains. All was stir, alarm, and confusion in the fort. The darkness of night came on, but not to hide from the eyes of the Lackawanna peo- ple the horrors of the scene which was being enacted on the west side of the Susquehanna. They saw across the river the Indians making preparations for their fiendish orgies. They kindled fires, and filled the air with their terrible yells. At length two prisoners were brought up. One was tied to a tree in a sitting posture, with his hands and feet bound to stakes driven in the ground, and a train of pine knots laid, extend- ing some twelve feet, and terminating at his bowels. The farther end of the train was fired, and then the Indians commenced dancing around the poor creature, while the flame gradually approached him, and he was filled with the most indescribable horror at its prog- ress. Splinters of pine knots were stuck into the flesh of the other and set on fire. The poor victims of sav- age cruelty shrieked, and called on God for help. Their wailings and the unearthly yells of the savages mingled together, and were wafted by the breeze across the plains, and echoed back from the hills. That was an awful night for the Lackawanna people. What would be their fate they could not foresee, but imme- diate flight was impossible. The best they could do was to throw themselves upon the mercy of the con- querors.
The morning came, and they raised a sheet upon a pole on the river bank. The "flag of truce" was dis- covered, and several British officers, attended by a
LOSSING .BARRITT
THE INDIAN TRIUMPH.
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posse of Indians, came over and demolished the pick- ets around the block-house, and the Indians painted the prisoners. The people had hid their provisions in secret places ; their flour and meal were concealed in hollow logs, and their meat was buried in the ground. A wretched old squaw soon came over, having seven- teen scalps strung on a stick. She spoke broken En- glish, and talked of being " dreadful tired," having, as she said, " been out all night scalping the Yankees." A plan was soon set on foot still further to torture the feelings of the prisoners. An old mare belonging to Mr. Marcy was brought up, and Mrs. Marcy's side-sad- dle placed upon her back, with the hind part before, and the crupper tied in the mane. The squaw was then seated upon the saddle astride, a looking-glass being held in one hand and the string of scalps in the other. In this plight the animal was led by one In- dian and driven by another back and forth before the fort, while the Indians hooted and laughed, and other- wise insulted the prisoners. There were men there who, if their wives and children had not been in the power of the savages, and they had had in hand their trusty rifles, would have sent a ball through the heart of the old limb of Satan, and run the hazard of dying - the next moment. But, grinding their teeth, they smothered their wrath as well as they could.
Parties of the enemy went and collected the horses and cattle, and turned them into the fields of grain ; this saved them the necessity of destroying the crops by other and more laborious means. The officers or- dered the prisoners to milk the cows and bring in the milk for their use. It was soon found that, without a resort to some stratagem to save a portion of the milk, the children in the fort must starve; then the cows K 2
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were left but half milked, and the operation was finish- ed under cover of the night.
At evening the Indians made large fires of the pick- ets, and lay down before them, and soon fell into a dead sleep. This was the time for the prisoners to take their meal. The men stole away and finished milking the cows, while the women proceeded to bake their johnnycakes. The milk brought in and the cakes baked, the prisoners proceeded to take the only meal which they had the privilege of enjoying during the twenty-four hours. All this process of cooking and eating had to be conducted with the utmost silence and care. The prisoners were not cared for at all by the British officers, and could only furnish themselves and their helpless children with food, and avoid utter starvation, by stealth. Were not these British and Tories magnanimous conquerors ?
On one occasion the prisoners were left by them- selves, and the wife of Zebulon Marcy resolved upon trying to bake a loaf of light bread. Just as her loaf was well done, it was announced that "an Indian was coming." The loaf was rolled in a towel, and hid in the foot of the bed. The Indian came in, and, snuffing and looking about, he said, "Me want bread." One of the women replied, "We have none." Continuing his snuffing, he said, " Ah! me smell 'em;" and, going di- rectly to the place where the loaf was deposited, he took it out. Mrs. Marcy cried, "You sha'n't have that bread: I want it to keep the children from starving;" and, springing forward, she seized the stolen loaf by one end, and in the contest it was broken in two, she retaining her half, while the Indian seemed satisfied with his portion. Well, thought the brave lady, "Half a loaf is better than no bread," and so it was.
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Butler and his men left the Valley a few days after the battle, but parties of Indians were prowling about, plundering property, and burning the houses of the settlers as opportunity served and their feelings in- clined them. About two weeks after the battle an Indian came to the fort and said, "Wild Indians come soon: kill Yankee and eat'em." The settlers had grad- ually disappeared, and few besides the family of Eb- enezer Marcy were left. Mrs. Marcy was in a delicate state of health, and, besides, was lame in her feet from rheumatism; but there seemed no alternative: she must undertake the journey across the mountains on foot.
Mr. Marcy's family consisted of himself, his wife, and five small children, the oldest a girl of eleven years of age. There was but one other individual in the company, and that was an old lady still more of a crip- ple than Mrs. Marcy. The exigencies of the journey would necessarily require covering at night, and hence the necessity of taking along blankets. Mr. Marcy was the only individual in the company who could carry any burden. He made a large bundle, in which he had carefully stowed away a family Bible, which Mr. Joseph Marcy has now in his possession, and pre- serves as a precious relic. It contains the family rec- ords, and settles some facts of public interest. All be- ing ready, Mr. Marcy shouldered his burden, and or- dered all hands to move on.
The little company commenced their perilous and doubtful journey probably on the 20th of July. Their course lay through Jacob's Plains, up Laurel Run to the path from Wilkesbarre to Stroudsburg, which they fell into on the mountain. They had nearly exhaust- ed their provisions, and had to be put on short allow-
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ance. They fed themselves mostly on the twigs of sassafras bushes, roots, and berries. Mrs. Marcy had a cane in one hand and a spikenard root in the other, and would frequently take a little of the root in her mouth and chew it, swallowing the juice, making it serve, as she ever after maintained that it did, the double purpose of food and medicine. On the even- ing of the 22d of July, " on the Tobyhanna Hill," Mrs. Marcy was taken ill, and Mr. Marcy left her and the old lady, while he went forward a short distance with the children, and deposited them in the bushes. He then returned, and soon he was the father of another child. The new-comer was a daughter, and was wel- comed and provided for as well as the circumstances would admit. Early in the morning Mrs. Marcy arose, and set off upon her journey with good courage, and, for her, at a brisk pace. The little piece of humanity which had been sent to them in the mountain was added to Mr. Marcy's burden, and that day they trav- eled the astonishing distance of sixteen miles, which brought them to Captain Spaulding's encampment. The captain kindly sent on two soldiers, each having a horse, to help on Mr. Marcy and his family as far as the Delaware.
When they came to "Dingman's Ferry," they asked for lodging, but were told in reply, by the good man of the house, that "the Wyoming people had eaten him out of house and home," and he could not keep them. Mrs. Marcy sat on a log before the door nurs- ing her baby. "How old is that child?" asked the man. "Not quite two days," was the answer. "Good woman," said he, "you look tired; you ought not to go any farther, but I can not keep you." Then tak- ing from a shelf a loaf of bread, he gave them "the
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half of a slice apiece," and said, " About two miles ahead you can get entertainment." They moved on, and found hospitality in the house of a farmer.
In the evening a man drove briskly by in the di- rection of the Delaware. It was a man whom Mr. Jonathan Spencer-Mrs. Marcy's father-had sent on to meet Mr. Marcy and his family. The man, learning at the ferry that he had passed the company, returned the next morning, and now the severest of the labors and trials of the pilgrims were ended. Eight days after the birth of her child Mrs. Marcy reached her father's house, near Fishkill, in much better condition, both physically and mentally, than could have been expected.
Mrs. Marcy "was very tired," and took her bed ; but how long may it be supposed that she kept it? A month or two, with good nursing and skillful med- ical aid? No, indeed ; it was only "for the greater part of the next day." The condition of her children brought her to her feet again after a few hours of rest. When they left the Valley their clothes were "mend- ed up and were comfortable," but the long journey through the wilderness, often penetrating the thick brush and briers in quest of berries to save them from absolute starvation, reduced their garments to shreds and tatters. Mrs. Marcy's old friends and neighbors made large contributions in "old clothing," and "the girls" came in and helped her sew, and "in about a week" the little folks were all " decently clad."
The little "woods girl," as she was called, was an object of no little curiosity. Mrs. Marcy " felt thank- ful to God for her strange preservation and that of her infant, and for the deliverance of herself and family from the tomahawk and scalping-knife; and, in accord- ance with her feelings, she called her girl Thankful."
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The child lived to the age of seventeen, and then died with measles.
The Marcys were among the persecuted Yankees during the Pennamite and Yankee wars. Mrs. Marcy used to tell a ludicrous story of some of Armstrong's men, who came up to Lackawanna in the way of ful- filling their mission. They seemed to be hard pressed for provisions. They found "an old sow with a litter of young pigs ;" they butchered and devoured the whole family. Not yet satisfied, or desiring something in the line of poultry and eggs, they took "an old hen that had been setting seven days," and they cooked and devoured the hen and her stock of eggs. There must have been a little touch of the savage in these zealous votaries of the land-jobbers of Pennsylvania.
At the time Armstrong was disarming the Yankee settlers, two of his officers visited Lackawanna, and, entering Mr. Marcy's house, inquired for arms. There were seven guns in the house, which they proposed to disable by taking off the locks. Mrs. Marcy remon- strated against their proceedings, informing them that " the men folks" were not at home, and declaring that it was not handsome for them to take advantage of the circumstances. At that moment young John Carey, one of her boarders, came in. Seizing his rifle, he cocked it, and, pointing the muzzle toward the unwel- come visitors, he said, with a firm tone, "Stop your work, or you will have what there is in my rifle." The rifle was not loaded, but the threat was enough. The gallant subalterns turned about and left. The arms which were thus saved from being made useless subsequently did good service in the Yankee cause.
Mrs. Marcy outlived her husband, and finally died full of years and much respected.
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MRS. SYLVIA SEYBOLT.
VII.
MRS. SYLVIA SEYBOLT'S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE AND FLIGHT.
[Taken from the Presbyterian.]
MRS. SYLVIA SEYBOLT, who now resides with her son-in-law, Joshua Mullock, Esq., of Mount Hope, Orange County, New York, was one of the occupants of Forty Fort at the time of the massacre. She was then fourteen years old, making her now eighty-seven. In the spring of 1775, her father, Jedediah Stephens, with his family, consisting of five sons, five daughters, and two sons-in-law, removed from Canaan, Connecti- cut, and settled in the Valley of the Susquehanna. Here he prospered abundantly for a little more than three years, when this beautiful vale was laid waste.
During the progress of the Revolution, the boys re- siding in the Valley of the age of sixteen and under had voluntarily formed themselves into a military company, and had elected from their own number William Mason for their captain, and for lieutenant, Rufus Stephens, a brother of Mrs. Seybolt. These heroic boys formed part of that ill-fated band that left the fort under Colonel Zebulon Butler, and fell a prey to Tory and Indian barbarity. While the battle was raging, an Indian, pleased with the appearance of Ma- son, took him under his protection, intending to save his life ; but, being afterward told by a Tory that he was captain of a rebel company, the Indians kindled a fire, and, with fiendish delight, placed him on it, and held him there with their bayonets until life was ex-
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tinct. Lieutenant Stephens was found dead, his body being literally covered with bullet and tomahawk wounds.
An older brother, Jedediah Stephens, was among the few who escaped. While running toward the river, two Indians sprang suddenly out of the bushes and fired upon him, one bullet passing through his clothes between his side and arm. One of the In- dians then commenced reloading his gun, while the other gave full chase. The latter soon overtook and attempted to seize him, but Stephens, eluding his grasp, felled him by a blow with the breech of his gun, and struck him a second blow after his fall, which doubtless killed him. He soon reached the river and plunged in; here he was again fired at, and again es- caped unhurt. He swam across the river, and secreted himself under the boughs of a tree that had fallen into the water. In this shelter he remained until after dark, when he recrossed the river and entered the fort.
The next day after the surrender of the fort, an In- dian, with a large knife in his hand, came up to Ste- phens, and, taking hold of him, says to him, "White brother, in the battle yesterday you killed my brother, now me kill you." Stephens denied, at the same time saying, "We are all good brothers now." The Indian then examined him thoroughly to see if he was not wounded; but, with all his thirst for vengeance, he fail- ed to recognize him as the slayer of his brother, say- ing as he let him go, "Well, me don't know; he look like him."
While the plundering was in progress, Mrs. Sey- bolt saw an Indian break open her sister's trunk, in which he found a bottle of camphor. He took it up, and, smelling of it, asked if it was poison. The owner
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replied that it was not; he then made her taste it, after which he drank it off, and went and lay down by the river. The doctor was soon informed of the cir- cumstance, and, on examining him, pronounced him in a dying state.
Five days after the massacre the survivors were or- dered to leave the valley. They all set out on foot across the Great Swamp, in which they lay during two nights; on the third they arrived at Stroudsburg, near the Delaware. In this company was a sister of Mrs. Seybolt, with a child only two weeks old. From Stroudsburg they proceeded to the Hudson, near Newburg, where they obtained a conveyance as far as Sharon, Connecticut, in wagons employed in carrying provisions to the American army. From Sharon they again traveled on foot until they reached their former homes.
The incidents related above I received from the lips of Mrs. Seybolt a few days since, and as every thing connected with the Revolution is filled with interest, I hope they may prove acceptable to your readers. Al- though there is here and there a survivor of the Rev- olution, yet we must soon cease to hear these thrilling tales from the lips of those who were participants or eye-witnesses. May we prize as we should the pre- cious boon of liberty which cost our forefathers so much suffering .- W. F. M.
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VIII.
THE CAPTIVE GIRL, FRANCES SLOCUM.
MAKING captives, particularly of children, and adopting them as their own, is one of the laws of In- dian warfare. Usually the little captive is adopted by a mother who has lost a child. If a son falls in battle, . or a daughter perishes by hunger or fatigue, or dies by disease, the vacancy, if possible, is supplied by some pale-faced prisoner, who is imagined to bear some dis- tant resemblance to the lost one. An attachment form- ed in the mind of a savage female for a beautiful child which she had been accustomed to fondle in time of peace, has led to the capture of the coveted object when war has broken out. But it is probable that the main ground of this species of plunder is a part of the system of cruel vengeance with which the savage heart delights to glut itself for real or supposed wrongs. The unedu- cated minds of the Indians enter into no analysis of civ- il society, distinguishing between the innocent and the guilty, but lay to the charge of the whites in general all the wrongs which they may have received at the hands of individuals, and often, by the mode of redress here referred to, strike the innocent-even break the hearts of unoffending mothers. The savage mind con- demns in the gross; and for robberies and murders in- flicted on them by lawless banditti, heartless specula- tors, or oppressive governmental expatriation, they hold the white race, generally and singularly, respon- sible. Hence they take sweet vengeance upon all
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white individuals or communities, as occasion offers, for their numerous and grievous wrongs.
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