USA > Wyoming > Wyoming; its history, stirring incidents, and romantic adventures > Part 9
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" Resolved, That we have heard with regret the death of the venerable Matthias Hollenback, one of the as- sociate judges of the courts of this county, and that in testimony of his memory we will wear crape upon the left arm for thirty days.
" Resolved, That we will attend the funeral of the deceased on Saturday next, from his late residence in this borough.
" Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the wid- ow and family of the deceased in their late bereave- ment, and that a committee be appointed to present them with a copy of these proceedings, and to make arrangements for the funeral.
"February 19, 1829."
The following communication, copied from the Sus- quehanna Democrat, was written by the Hon. David · Scott.
"Friday, February 27th, 1829.
" The Hon. Matthias Hollenback, whose death was announced in your paper of last week, was born of
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German parentage, in Hanover, upon the Swatara, then Lancaster, now Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Here he was inured to all the sufferings and privations inci- dent to a frontier settlement at that early day. Pos- sessed of a firm and vigorous constitution, and endued by nature with a strong, active, and enterprising mind, at the age of seventeen he joined the first adventurous party who came to make a permanent settlement, un- der the authority of Connecticut, in the Valley of Wy- oming. This was in the autumn of 1769. From this period the history of his long and eventful life is iden- tified with the history of this part of the country.
"In the controversy between Pennsylvania and Con- necticut he actively and firmly adhered to the latter, under whose auspices he had embarked his youthful fortunes, and whose claims he regarded as paramount to every other, until the right of soil and the right of jurisdiction to the country were decreed, by a compe- tent tribunal, to be in the former. From that moment he yielded obedience to the Constitution and laws of Pennsylvania, and contributed all in his power to quiet the turbulent, and to reconcile the disaffected to the legitimate authorities.
"This dispute between Pennsylvania and Connecti- cut had assumed all the characteristics of a civil war, and, notwithstanding the conciliatory recommendations and remonstrances of the Continental Congress, it was continued during the Revolutionary struggle. While the poor and destitute settlers were suffering on the · one side from the common enemies of the country-the British, the savage Indians, and the worse than savage Tories-they were attacked on the other, and endured equal distress, by military parties under the authority of Pennsylvania.
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" Thus surrounded with difficulties and dangers cal- culated to appall the stoutest heart-at a period, too, . when many good but timid men doubted, hesitated, and feared, young Hollenback, in want of every thing but personal courage and patriotic feeling, was ap- proached by one of those agents of the mother-coun- try whose bland and fascinating manners, and duplic- ity of heart, marked him out as a fit emissary for 'trea- son, stratagem, and spoil.' On the one hand, the ef- forts making to free the country from British domin- ion was represented as entirely hopeless, and that, upon failure, poverty, shame, and death every where await- ed the active partisan ; on the other, by espousing the cause of the British king, money, office, and honor would be immediately conferred, and a life of ease and independence secured. The youth stood firm. He was not to be allured from the path of duty. He had taken his resolution, staked his all upon the issue, and was willing to abide the result.
"In 1776-perhaps the following year-two compa- nies were raised in Wyoming, in one of which young Hollenback was appointed a lieutenant. He was active and successful in filling up and preparing his company for active service, and shortly after joined the army, under General Washington, in the State of New Jer- sey. His merits were soon discovered and properly appreciated by the general, who frequently consulted him in relation to the frontier settlements, and the means of defending them against the incursions of the enemy. He participated in all the sufferings of our half-fed and half-clothed troops during a winter cam- paign in the State of New Jersey, and was on several occasions employed by the general in the execution of confidential agencies.
F 2
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"Such was the patriotism and spirit of the Wyo- ming settlers, that, during a short period, when they were not immediately threatened with attacks from the enemy, almost every efficient man among them joined the regular army, and left their families without pro- tection. This calm portended a storm. The defense- less state of the frontier invited aggression. The Val- ley again began to suffer from the tomahawk, scalping- knife, and firebrand, and early in 1778 it was discover- ed that a horde of British, Indians, and Tories were col- lecting upon the Susquehanna frontier, and preparing to pour down upon the Valley of Wyoming, and ex- terminate the defenseless settlers. The officers from Wyoming urged the general to send a force for its protection, or to permit the two companies drawn from this settlement to return, for the purpose of defending their aged and helpless parents, wives, and children ; but such was the situation of the army that no ade- quate force could be spared. An intense anxiety was felt among the officers: some obtained furloughs, and some resigned and returned to the Valley. Every prep- aration was made in their power to repel their invad- ers. About 350 men marched out to meet the enemy : they were drawn into an ambuscade. The result is known; Wyoming was reduced to widowhood and or- phanage. About fifty only escaped that disastrous battle, of whom the subject of this notice was one.
" Articles of capitulation, in which security and pro- tection of life were stipulated, were no sooner signed than they were violated on the part of the faithless and bloodthirsty enemy. What property could not be carried away was burned and destroyed, and the rem- nant of the settlers were driven, naked and houseless, to the surrounding mountains. Lieutenant Hollen-
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back, whose property was all destroyed, still clung to the Valley, and participated in all its sufferings till the conclusion of the war.
"Upon the settlement of the controversy between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and upon the promul- gation of the laws of Pennsylvania in the disputed ter- ritory in 1786, Mr. Hollenback was chosen and ap- pointed one of the justices of the courts of Luzerne County ; and upon the adoption of the new Constitu- tion he was reappointed an associate judge, which of- fice he sustained with reputation till the time of his decease. He was honored with the command of a regiment by his fellow-citizens-a military office, being almost the only one in Pennsylvania compatible with that of a judge.
"In all the great political struggles which have agi- tated the country, Judge Hollenback was always ac- tively and firmly attached to the cause of the people. In the recent conflict, although most of those around him with whom he had been accustomed to act enter- tained different views, and although he was exceeding- ly enfeebled by disease, he procured himself to be car- ried to the poll, and there, for the last time, exercised the right of suffrage in favor of the distinguished in- dividual who has succeeded to the presidency. He was firmly persuaded that the interests of the country demanded this preference, and he acted accordingly .*
* Colonel Hollenback's preference for General Jackson as a can- didate for the presidency was natural, there being many strong points of character which the two men possessed in common. They were both old soldiers and men of the right grit, the true successors and representatives of the brave old knights of the days of chivalry. When Colonel Hollenback's carriage arrived before the court-house a scene occurred. The late General Isaac Bowman, standing upon the steps, with a full tone of voice said, "Colonel Hollenback, the
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"It is believed that he was not a member of any Christian Church, but it is known that he reverenced the religion of the Cross. Throughout his life he con- tributed liberally to the support of that communion and its pastors, to which he was conscientiously attach- ed, and it is feared it will long feel the want of his sup- porting hand.
" His life was a life of temperance, industry, and at- tention to his business, the full fruits of which he en- joyed, in almost uninterrupted health, until his last ill- ness, and in an ample fortune. From the incidents of his life the young may draw useful lessons for the reg- ulation of their conduct, and from his death all may learn that man is mortal: that neither riches, nor hon- ors, nor virtue, nor age, can form any shield against the fell destroyer."
old soldier, who helped fight the battles of the Revolution, has left his bed to come and vote for General Jackson-the last vote which he will ever cast." The board of judges came out and took the vote. The feelings of the people were excited to a high pitch. "Hurrah for the old soldier !" "Hurrah for Jackson !" burst forth from the spectators in all directions. It is said that some who had already voted for the opposing candidate joined in the cheering, and others who came to do the same stepped up and cast their votes for "the hero of New Orleans."
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IV.
INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES RELATED BY MRS. MARTHA MYERS.
"In winter's tedious nights sit by the fire With good old folks, and let them tell their tales Of woeful ages long ago betide."
SHAKSPEARE.
THE matter contained in the present chapter was communicated to us, for the purpose of a permanent record, by Mrs. Myers, in the month of August, 1841. We have connected the personal incidents with the current history of the times to which they refer, and have often supplied dates. The facts are given, as nearly as possible, as Mrs. Myers related them, and rest upon her authority. That the reader may be able to form a correct judgment as to the amount of confi- dence which is to be placed in her stories, we here give endorsements which we are sure will be entirely satis- factory.
Hon. Charles Miner, the venerable historian of Wy- oming, says: "Some years ago, when Professor Silli- man was in the Valley, he visited Mrs. Myers, and I had the good fortune to be present at the interview. Mrs. Myers has been, and yet is, one of the clearest chroniclers of the early scenes. Though the light
""'Revisits not those orbs, that roll in vain To find its piercing ray,'
the mental eye retains all its early power and lustre. Though now-1845-eighty-two years of age, it is a pleasure to sit by her side and hear
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""'Of most disastrous chances-hair-breadth 'scapes,'
witnessed in her eventful youth."-Histor. Append., p. 14, 16.
Mr. Lossing, after visiting Toby's Eddy, says: " Thence I rode to the residence of Mr. Myers, a son of the venerable lady already alluded to, where I passed an interesting hour with the living chronicle of the wars of Wyoming. I found her sitting in an easy- chair, peeling apples, and her welcome was as cheerful and as cordial as she could have given to a cherished friend. Her memory was clear, and she related the incidents of her girlhood with a perspicuity which evinced remarkable mental vigor. Although blind- ness has shut out the beautiful, and deprived her of much enjoyment, yet pious resignation, added to natu- ral vivacity, makes her society extremely agreeable. 'I am like a withered stalk, whose flower hath fallen,' said she; 'but,' she added, with a pleasant smile, 'the fragrance still lingers.' "-Field-Book, vol. i., p. 371.
Colonel Stone says: "Near the site of the fort is the residence of Mrs. Myers, a widow lady of great age, but of clear mind and excellent memory, who is a survivor of the Wyoming invasion and the horrible scenes attending it. Mrs. Myers was the daughter of a Mr. Bennet, whose family was renowned in the do- mestic annals of Wyoming both for their patriotism and their courage."-History of Wyoming, p. 213.
This is the lady to whose story we now invite the attention of the reader.
Mrs. Myers's maiden name was Bennet. She was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, January 15, 1763. Her father's name was Thomas Bennet; her mother's maiden name was Martha Jackson. The same year
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on which Martha Bennet was born, a settlement of Connecticut people was commenced in Wyoming, and Mr. Bennet rented a valuable property in Rhode Isl- and, and removed to the Delaware, near to Strouds- burg. He took quarters there with a company of people in a stone house, which was fortified and called a fort. Mr. Bennet's object was to settle in Wyoming, and accordingly he visited that famous locality, but, finding the Indians surly, he for the time abandoned the project.
The hostile savages kept close watch of the old cas- tle, and gave the occupants no little annoyance. The armed men there sometimes assumed the offensive, and hunted down small parties of Indians who were stroll- ing about the woods for purposes of murder and plun- der. On one of these occasions a brave old colored man took the lead, and, discovering an Indian camp, he fired upon the unsuspecting party, and laid one of them dead upon the ground. The rest of them fled with great precipitation.
One instance of alarm at this fort terminated with- out bloodshed. In the dead of night a great stamping was heard around the fort, and it was presumed that a large company of mounted Indians had hemmed them in on every side. All hands within were soon broad awake and fully armed. Every man examined his priming, and was ready to make a deadly shot. They disposed their force as advantageously as possible, and sent a man to reconnoitre from the roof. It was soon found that the invading host was a company of loose horses in a nocturnal frolic. The alarm, of course, was turned into merriment.
The next year Mr. Bennet removed to Goshen, New York, and rented a farm for six years. He set his sons
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at work upon the farm, and took his gun, his axe, and hoe, and visited the much-coveted valley. Two at- tempts to effect a settlement in Wyoming were unsuc- cessful because of the hostility of the Indians, Mr. Ben- net losing all his labor, but, more fortunate than some of the early settlers, escaping with his life.
In February, 1769, Mr. Bennet joined a company of New England people, forty in all, who built a fort on the west bank of the Susquehanna, which, in honor of the forty hardy adventurers, was called Forty Fort. This fort was designed as a place of security against the Indians, but, withal was to be a Yankee fortifica- tion, where, if need should require, the New England settlers would be able to take refuge from the Penna- mites. Mr. Bennet selected a situation on the flats about a mile above the fort, and, clearing off a portion of it, put in some seed.
The following year, 1770, Mr. Bennet united with a new recruit of settlers, and paused at the mouth of the Lackawanna, where they built a block-house. Here they were all taken into custody by John Jennings, sheriff of Northampton County, Pennsylvania. As Sheriff Jennings was proceeding with his prisoners to Easton, "at Wyoming," probably Wilkesbarre, Mr. Bennet managed to escape, and returned to the east. This event took place in the summer, as in the month of September he was at the east .- See his affidavit in Pennsylvania Archives, vol. iv., p. 391. J
In September Mr. Bennet made arrangements to re- move his family to Wyoming. He had examined the ground ; he understood all the hazards of the enter- prise; his courage was equal to the danger, and the question was settled. As to property, he had now but little to lose, for he had sold his farm in Rhode Island
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on personal security, and both the purchaser and se- curity had failed, and the whole was lost. What by industry and economy had been saved in Goshen, was now put into as compact a condition as possible, and loaded upon pack-horses, and the family commenced their march toward "the land of promise." The coun- try now presented a striking contrast with the picture of Wyoming which was formed in the imaginations of Mr. Bennet's family. The grasshoppers had destroyed nearly all the vegetation, and the aspect was one of utter desolation.
They wound their way over the mountains and through the vales until they came to Shehola, on the west side of the Delaware, and here they were hospi- tably entertained by a Quaker by the name of Wires. The next morning "Friend Wires" accompanied the miniature caravan as far as "the little meadows," where they took refreshments. Mrs. Bennet was boiling some chocolate over a fire made by the side of a log. She seemed unusually sad. "I don't know," said she, "what I am about to meet: I think something pretty heavy." It was not long before several men came up from Wyoming-one bleeding from a wound made on his head by a club-and reported that the Pennamites had taken possession of the fort, and were resolved upon driving off all the New England settlers.
A consultation was now held upon the proper course to be pursued. Mr. Bennet was a man of cool courage, and he had made up his mind to try his fortunes upon the fertile soil of Wyoming, and he was not to be turn- ed aside from that purpose by any thing but stern in- vincible necessity. He was bent upon going on; but what would he do with his family ? Mrs. Bennet, who was not easily intimidated, said, "If it were not for the
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children, I would go along." "Friend Wires" said, "Leave the children with me; I will take care of them." Stimulated by the courage of Mr. Bennet and his wife, the two men who had fled from the country resolved to return and try their luck again.
Mr. Bennet was a great hunter, and the wild woods had more attractions for him than the old settled coun- try at the east: for himself, he could live any where in the Susquehanna Mountains by the aid of his rifle and hunting-knife. Mrs. Bennet was not so cool as her husband, but was equally firm in her purposes, and unterrified by danger. The company thought to find shelter for the time being with a Mr. Chapman, who had built a mill at Mill Creek, and who had been a neighbor and a friend of the Bennet family in Goshen.
When Mr. and Mrs. Bennet reached Wyoming, they found the dispute between the New England and Penn- sylvania settlers had already ripened into open war. Captain Ogden, the Pennamite leader, had built a block-house, which was called a fort, at the mouth of Mill Creek, and had in his company Deputy Sheriff Jennings. Mr. Bennet was a peaceable man, and did not enter at once into the war, but took possession of a small log house he had previously built on the flats, just above Forty Fort. The grain he had put in, be- fore his return to Goshen in the spring, presented a most delightful prospect of an abundance of provisions for the following winter.
The Yankees-that is, the fighters-invested the block-house, when Ogden proposed a parley. But no sooner had the besiegers entered the block-house to hold a conversation with the besieged, than Jennings served a writ on them, in the name of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania. They were thirty-seven in
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all; and they were all taken to Easton, a distance of sixty miles, to jail. They obtained bail, and imme- diately returned. Again they were captured and sent off to jail, and again they were released on bail, and returned. A re-enforcement of 270 or 280 Yankees, under the command of Captain Durkee, came on, and built a fort where Wilkesbarre now stands, which they named, in honor of their leader, Fort Durkee. The Yankees now held the ground, and proceeded to the work of clearing farms and building. " The children" were brought on from Shehola, and Mr. Bennet was comfortably ensconced in his log cabin with his family.
But a few months of quiet had passed before the Pennsylvanians came on with an augmented force, un- der the command of Ogden and Patterson, the latter bringing up the river in a boat a four-pounder. Og- den captured Captain Durkee, and put him in irons, and took possession of the fort.
The Yankees were now pillaged, and, as far as pos- sible, driven from the country. The house and prem- ises generally belonging to Mr. Bennet were robbed; grain, cattle, and every thing movable, which could be found, were taken from him, but he did not leave the valley.
The Pennsylvanians now considered their victory complete. Ogden went to Philadelphia, leaving a few men in the fort. In the mean time, Captain Lazarus Stuart came on with forty brave fellows, and drove out the small guard from the fort, took possession of the cannon, and turned the tide once more in favor of the Yankees. Mr. Bennet now took up quarters in Fort Durkee, both as a measure of safety and of com- fort. Here Mrs. Bennet contracted an intimacy with Mrs. Manning and her daughters, who lived on the
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flats below the fort. Her husband, by education and profession, was a Friend, and yet, for some reason, he was called Captain Manning. The Manning family were Pennsylvanians, but were non-combatants, and, consequently, could contract friendly alliances with Yankee families.
In the winter of 1771, Ogden again made his appear- ance, and invested Fort Durkee. His brother Nathan was killed by a shot from the fort, Mrs. Bennet wit- nessing the event. Stuart, finding himself unable to hold out against the superior numbers of the Pennsyl- vanians, managed to steal away, when the Pennamites took possession.
Captain Ogden was terribly enraged by the death of his brother, and, seizing several prominent Yan- kees who happened to be in the fort, sent them to Philadelphia in irons, charged with being concerned in the murder. Mr. Bennet did not belong to Stuart's party of fighting men, but had taken shelter in the fort, with his family, when he considered their lives in imminent peril. Stuart, with his men, left the fort, and Mr. Bennet fell into Ogden's hands; and he, with- out the slightest reason, excepting that he was in the fort at the time, was one of the suspected parties, and was obliged to endure the sufferings and disgrace of a suspected felon for five months in jail in Philadelphia.
The explanation of this affair is to be found in the fact that an "inquisition" was held over the body of Nathan Ogden by Charles Stuart, January 21, 1771, by which it was found that said Ogden was shot by "a certain Lazarus Stuart." - But on the back of the re- port of the inquest is found " a list of the rioters in the fort at Wyoming when Nathan Ogden was killed." There are forty-seven of these "rioters," embracing
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nearly all the respectable Yankee settlers then in the country. Thomas Bennet was among these so called " rioters," and was taken up as a party to the murder. The same evil befell several other individuals, and might have befallen any of the number upon the list. -See Pennsylvania Archives, vol. iv., p. 384.
Captain Manning had raised a fine crop of corn, which he had stored away in the garret of his log house. As he practiced upon the principles of non- resistance, he could neither be a good Pennamite nor a good Yankee, and the consequence was that he was often persecuted by both, as one or the other happen- ed to be in power. When Ogden took possession of the fort, some of "the boys" laid a plan to rob Captain Manning of his corn. The old Quaker had two buxom girls, one of whom, it was suspected, had a lover among "the Pennsylvania boys," and it was supposed that this fact would account for certain secret communica- tions which were made to the Mannings with regard to the movements of the Pennamites. By some means, no matter what, the family got wind of the plundering expedition, and were thrown into great perplexities. The old gentleman could not fight, and as to magis- trates and courts there were none to resort to. While he sat in the corner brooding over his helpless condi- tion, his two daughters, who were large, muscular, and courageous, hit upon a plan of defense ; and, upon opening it to the good old Friend, it seemed to look so little like war and bloodshed that he gave it the sanc- tion of his silence. The girls hung over the fire a large iron kettle, and filled it with water, which, when the assailants made their appearance before the door, was boiling hot. They then took an instrument, vulgarly called a squirt-gun, constructed of the barrel of an old
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musket, and through the chinks between the logs sent a jet of the boiling water into the face and eyes of the assailants. A few shots were enough to conquer the courage of the gallant band, who immediately took to their heels, and put themselves beyond the reach of the formidable engine so efficiently served. The assailants ran off frantic with pain, while the girls shook their sides with laughter; and the good old Quaker was scarcely suspected of a dereliction of prin- ciple, although no one doubted but that he enjoyed the battle-scene to a high degree.
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