George Peck's WYOMING. 1858 - Pennsylvania - Chapter 13 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja jbanja@comcast.net USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities, when written permission is obtained from the contributor, so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ________________________________________________ HTML with illustrations: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/peckwyo/peck-wyo.htm WYOMING; ITS HISTORY, STIRRING INCIDENTS AND ROMANTIC ADVENTURES. By GEORGE PECK, D.D. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE, 1858 330 WYOMING. XIII. BENJAMIN B1DLACK - CAPTURE BY THE PENNAMITES AND SINGULAR ESCAPE. "Therewith, in all this world, no nightingale Ne coude by an hundred thousand dell Singen so wonder merrily and well." "Full faire was Mirthe, full long and high, A fairer man I never sigh; As round as apple was his face, Full roddie and white in every place." WICLIF. MR. BIDLACK came to Wyoming at an early period with his father, mother, and several brothers. He served his country under General Washington through nearly the entire period of the Revolutionary war. He was at Boston when Washington took charge of the patriot army to oppose General Gage. He was at Trenton on the taking of the Hessians. He was at Yorktown on the occasion of the surrender of Cornwallis; and was in Washington's camp, at Newburg, when the army was disbanded. One of Mr. Bidlack's brothers was captain of a company of volunteers in the Indian battle, and fell at the head of his men. The year after, his father was taken prisoner by the Indians from Plymouth. After his father's imprisonment, his mother earnestly requested that her son Benjamin might be permitted to return home on furlough, to assist her in her lonely and helpless condition; but such were the necessities of the country that it was thought the example would be dangerous, and her prayer was not granted. BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 331 When peace was concluded, Captain Bidlack was released from his captivity; and when the army was discharged, his son Benjamin returned home; and now those who remained of the family were once more together. They were a family of patriots - were all tall, large-boned, powerful men, and good soldiers. Mr. Bidlack passed through the perils of the war without seeming to realize his exposure to death, until, about the time of its close, he came near being killed by the accidental explosion of a bomb-shell, which ignited on being flung from a wagon. The fragments flew, apparently, within a hair's-breadth of him on every side, and yet he escaped without harm. The event led to much serious reflection, which he never forgot. He assisted in building "the Temple of Liberty," and in constructing a causeway across the marsh which lay between the two lines of the encampment at Newburg. The "temple" lingered in his memory as a great institution; he almost seemed to regard it with superstitious veneration. There they had religious worship, and the "splendid singing," in which he took a prominent part, was with him the beau ideal of harmony. "I never," said he to us, "heard such singing in my life. Some of the officers from New England were trained singers, and many of the men could sing well, and they made the temple ring with sweet and powerful melody." "For the armony And sweet accord was so good musike, That the voice to angels most was like." CHAUCER. "She said, In air the trembling music floats, And on the winds triumphant swell the notes; So soft, though high - so loud, and yet so clear, Ev'n listening angels loan from heaven to hear." - POPE. BIDLACK AT SHICKSHINNY. [illustration] 332 WYOMING. He here witnessed the debates of the officers upon the subject of disbanding the army. They spoke in their uniform, with their swords by their sides. On one occasion, one of them, laying his hand upon the hilt of his sword, demanded, with great vehemence, "Gentlemen, are you prepared to give up these swords, which have procured freedom for the country, and for yourselves glory and renown? Can you retire to your farms or shops, and ingloriously abandon the profession of arms? Will you not rather spill your hearts' blood in defense of rights which have been so dearly bought in the camp and upon the field of battle?" Here "the Armstrong Letters" originated, and here the feelings of General Washington were sorely tried. We once took a stroll over the ground of the old encampment, saw the rude masonry and portions of the foundations of the huts, and some vestiges of "the Temple of Liberty," and here the whole story, so eloquently told by "Father Bidlack," as he was then called, before his intellect had begun to fail, was revived in our recollection. We imagined we saw him before us, describing the scenes which took place during that interesting and critical period of our national history, shaking his venerable head, and remarking, with deep gravity and with great earnestness, "Ah! that was a trying time; but the wisdom, firmness, and patriotism of General Washington were equal to the emergency. He might have kept the army together and have been king of the country, but he preferred to be the farmer of Mount Vernon under a republican government." Some time before the conclusion of the last Pennamite and Yankee war, young Bidlack undertook some sort of a commercial expedition down the river in a boat. At Sunbury he was made a prisoner by the BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 335 Pennsylvanians, and confined in a place which they called a jail. He was a splendid singer and a merry fellow. Like many of the old soldiers, he was "addicted to strong drink," and on evenings, when jolly circles love to assemble to while away an hour, to shake off the burdens of business, or to stimulate their exhausted nerves by the exhilarating draught, a company were accustomed to gather upon the stoop and hear Bidlack sing songs, of course affording him a sufficiency of the desired stimulant. The numbers of those evening gatherings increased from evening to evening, and the songs, the romantic stories, and the jokes of the soldier became increasingly interesting, until he had become an object of more absorbing interest in the little town of Sunbury than a company of minstrels is now in one of our large cities. The company were finally not quite satisfied with seeing the face of their interesting prisoner through the grates of the prison, but wished to view him at full length as he poured out his harmonious and powerful numbers. The door was accordingly opened, and he stood upon the threshold; but here he was too much cramped, and his gestures were evidently impeded by his position. "What's the use?" said one; "let him have room." And he was then allowed to come out and give himself free scope in gesticulation. He was a tall, straight, majestic figure. The more room he had, the more fully did his sallies, cuts, and thrusts illustrate and enforce the sentiment - either sense or nonsense - of the poetry, and the higher was the excitement and the louder the bursts of laughter among the merry companions of the gathering. Evening after evening passed away in these exercises without the least abatement of the interest, when, 336 WYOMING. at a late hour, the gallant hero of the farce would throw himself upon his pallet of straw, and sleep away the excitement of the maddening bowl. As Bidlack seemed to enjoy the company of his new associates, they began to regard him as a sort of fixture of the place, and to suppose that perhaps to be lionized would be thought a fair compensation for the loss of his liberty; but they did not know the man. He was always ready to make the best shift possible when under pressure. He would be merry in prison if in prison he must be, but it was not a place to his taste at all. Liberty had cost him too much to be bartered away for a mess of pottage. Understanding perfectly his position, and noticing that the sympathies of his nightly visitors and the confidence he had inspired in their minds had completely put them off their guard, he began to meditate turning the advantages of these circumstances to his account. He studied the matter thoroughly, and arranged his plans. "Now, since I have performed every part Of thy command as near as tongue can tell, Content thee yet, before my sense depart, To take this sonnet for my last farewell." GASCOYNE. He finally came out with a new song, entitled "The old Swaggering Man." "That's the song for me," said one. "The best one yet," said another. "Let's have that over again," roared a third. "Well," said the performer, "let me rest a little, and take a good drink." "Yes, yes," all responded. After a few minutes' intermission, and the " rink," of course, "Now," says the actor, "if you want a rouser, I must have a cane, and room to act it out. I want the whole length BIDLACK'S ESCAPE. [illustration] BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 339 of the stoop." "Bring on the cane! clear the way! clear the way!" bawled a dozen. He sung one stanza, and then came on the chorus, "Here goes the old swaggering man." He brandished his cane, and staggered and plunged from end to end of the stoop. A roar of merriment and shouts of applause resounded through the whole neighborhood. He now faced about, breathed hard, took another drink, and this time his movement was in the direction of Wyoming. He sang another verse, and then he roared out the chorus, "Here goes the old swaggering man," and in a trice sprang from the stoop, leaped the six-foot rail-fence which surrounded the premises, and was out of sight. Some were petrified with astonishment, others cursed and swore, while others laughed immoderately. "After him! after him!" cried the jailer. Half a dozen ran a few rods in the dark, and then, pausing to listen, heard his heavy, hurried tread dying away in the distance. "There's no use," said they; "he can outrun a deer." They returned to have a hearty laugh over the romantic adventure of the jolly Yankee prisoner. They separated, more regretting the loss of the amusement which Bidlack had afforded them while detained as a prisoner, than the success of the ruse he had practiced upon them. As may well be supposed, the fugitive made great progress during the night. He had fifty miles to travel, and the dawn of day found him on the homeward half of his journey. He often laughed to himself at the mere fun and romance of his escape so loud as to scare the night-birds of the mountains and glens. He repeated over with great glee the talismanic chorus, "Here goes the old swaggering man," and then he would skip and bound like the buck which had 340 WYOMING. swum the river, reached the shore, and left the hounds on the other side. As he hies along the bank of the river, over the flats and through the narrows, we may imagine him singing Hudibras, slightly altered, to suit the occasion. He that sings and runs away. May live to sing another day; But he that doth in jail remain, May never sing at home again. Chorus. Here goes the old swaggering man. The next day our hero safely arrived at his father's house in Plymouth. It was soon noised abroad that "Ben Bidlack had sung himself out of jail, and was at home safe and sound." Young Bidlack married an Alden, a descendant of a family by that name which came to this country in the May-Flower. He struggled hard with poverty, and still harder with his army habits, but made no progress, and there seemed no human probability of his improving either his character or his fortune. At length he became awakened through the instrumentality of the pioneers of Methodism, and finally became a Methodist preacher. He sustained this character to the termination of a protracted life. He had great power in the pulpit, and was as great a singer of the songs of Zion as he had been of the old patriotic ballads. He was for many years a most laborious and successful minister of the Gospel. He lost his wife while engaged in the active duties of the ministry, and was united in marriage to the widow of Lawrence Myers, Esq., of Kingston. He lived for many years in that place, a superannuated minister, much respected and beloved by all his neighbors. He finally died from a cancer on his nose. BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 341 In the year 1825, we think, the citizens of Wilkesbarre called upon the venerable man for a Fourth of July oration. The surviving soldiers of the Revolution were invited in from all the region round about, and they constituted quite a respectable company. Each had a sprig of laurel attached to the left breast of his coat. The orator was then as straight as an arrow, and marched to the music like any trained soldier, keeping the step while the band poured out the old national air, Yankee Doodle, in the very best style. The oration consisted principally of a narrative of the events of the Revolutionary war as they came under his own observation. His text or motto was, "For consider how great things the Lord hath done for you." His doctrine was that the hand of God was evidently concerned in the events of the Revolution. He kept General Washington constantly before the audience. "When the Hessians were captured," said he, "the general rode round among the men, who were falling upon the spoils, and said, 'My brave fellows, don't drink and become intoxicated. God has given us the victory, but the enemy, in large force, is just at hand, and, should they find any of you lying upon the ground, which they will be sure to visit in a few hours, you will lose your lives.' He rode from company to company, repeating the same caution with the greatest earnestness." His description of the cannonading of the British works at Yorktown was most thrilling. "For fourteen days and nights," said the orator, "there was one continual thunder and blaze. At night it was so light that you could see to pick up a pin. A white flag was raised from the British breastworks, and the firing ceased. It seemed as though the wheels of nature 342 WYOMING. stood still; the silence was really distressing. Cornwallis proposed to leave the ground with the honors of war, with colors flying, and to embark his army on the English ships in the nearest harbor. 'No,' was the answer, and the parley closed. 'Now,' said Washington, 'give it to them hotter than ever.' And, sure enough, the storm of the battle raged more terribly than ever. They soon came to terms, and the heart of the war was broken." [illustration] BENJAMIN BIDLACK. 343 The illustration is a truthful representation of the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack in his preaching attitude in a private house, behind an old-fashioned chair. The sketch was executed by the Rev. Marmaduke Pearce, it is supposed, after hearing the old patriarch preach a funeral sermon in his own neighborhood.