LOCAL HISTORY: Tarring S. Davis, History of Blair County, Volume I, 1931, Blair County, PA - Chapter 3 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ html file: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/1picts/davis/tdavis1.htm _______________________________________________ A HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA UNDER EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF TARRING S. DAVIS LUCILE SHENK, ASSOCIATE EDITOR HARRISBURG: NATIONAL HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, INC., 1931 VOLUME I CHAPTER III WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 14 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY WHITE men came through the present boundaries of Blair County before 1740. They were traders for the most part and one of them, Frank Stevens, settled two miles east of Hollidaysburg, on a branch of the Juniata River, about 1734. His trading station became known as Frankstown and was to be a well known stopping place for Indians, traders and provincial emissaries. The name Frankstown was eventually applied to the branch of the Juniata on which Stevens located and to part of the Kittanning Indian Trail. The Juniata Valley as a whole was not settled until 1741. By that time the restless Scotch-Irish filtered in. Some twenty years earlier, in 1720 to be exact, residents of the frontier had been relieved of the responsibility of paying rent to the provincial proprietors. This freedom from financial responsibility was granted them because they acted as a cordon of defense, a kind of buffer against the Indians. In all the colonies that had frontier outposts and to which the Scotch-Irish moved they held similar positions. This tendency to move to unsettled and virtually unopened territory was not always well received by all officers of the provincial government. Logan, secretary of the province, opposed their settlement because they were in the habit of taking up lands without planning to pay any rent or principal. Frequently they held lands long enough, without the knowledge of provincial officers, so that when they were questioned as to their rights to it, they claimed ownership on the ground of possession or squatter rights. They were bitterly opposed to the Quakers' government, too, and laughed in derision at the claim of Penn and his friends that they owned the land, having received a grant from the King of England that was substantiated by actual purchases from the Indian inhabitants. The Scotch-Irish were usually Presbyterians, and as followers of Calvin and John Knox, disclaimed the authority of the Quakers to take away from any man the right to settle on undeveloped lands that might yield food and shelter for him. In some sections of the Juniata Valley sheriffs with their posses dispossessed settlers and burnt their cabins. In Morrison's Cove, Blair County, the Scotch-Irish were thus driven out. The "Burnt Cabins" in Fulton County received that name in one of these raids. But events such as this did little to deter settlement. Indian depredations made more serious inroads than did provincial laws. The development of the manor system, as planned and carried out to some extent by the Penns, smacked of the old feudal systems of Europe, which the Scotch-Irish abhorred. One of the chief difficulties that the members of the proprietary family met, in their efforts to dissuade these Scotch-Irish from settling on the frontier, was the sympathy extended to the latter by their contemporaries in eastern settlements. The Treaty of Albany in 1754 has been referred to earlier. Through it a great section of land including the valley of the Juniata was purchased from the sachems of the Six Nations for 1,000 pieces of eight or 400 English pounds. The WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 15 Penns hoped that this purchase would serve to satisfy the Indians and make it possible to realize a profit on the purchase by reselling the land to those settlers already occupying it, and to new immigrants who were constantly streaming into the ports of New York and Philadelphia. They failed to reckon with the tenacious, freedom-loving Scotch-Irish or absent Indian chiefs. The latter were angry at the transaction and claimed that it was fraudulent. Conrad Weiser was of the opinion that the dissatisfaction among the Indians was general. Some of them claimed that they could not understand the points of the compass as explained to them by the provincial representatives, and that if the new boundary line was run so as to include the west branch of the Susquehanna they would not consent to it. The restlessness apparent among them, as a result of the Albany Purchase made another treaty necessary. Accordingly, at a conference at Easton in October, 1758, all the land lying north and west of the Allegheny Mountains within the province, was restored to them. Frontiersmen disregarded this return of lands to the Indians and continued to move west. The government attempted to warn them off the restored territory by issuing proclamations against settlement there. Those settlers who refused to move within 30 days after the proclamation was issued were liable to legal conviction, punishable by death without benefit of clergy. This act was openly violated and it can be readily understood what difficulties were encountered by a government acting several hundred miles east in Philadelphia. There is no evidence that the legal requirements were ever enforced. Other laws were enacted, less violent in punishment, providing fines or imprisonment instead of the death penalty. The subsequent experience of the federal government almost forty years later, in attempting to collect an excise tax from these same settlers and their western neighbors, leads to the conclusion that few if any fines were ever collected on this count in 1758 and thereafter. Settlers of the valley fled to more densely populated sections in the east during the Indian wars in 1762 and 1763. They returned after October, 1764. The Scotch-Irish who had predominated prior to 1767 found German Lutherans, Irish Catholics, some Dunkards and a few representatives of other denominations settling among them. The Dunkards play an important part in the Indian attacks of this and the later Revolutionary War period and will be considered in more detail in the latter part of this chapter. Among all of these religious groups, including the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the need for meeting-houses or churches and stockade forts was supplied first. Between 1765 and 1770 actual settlements in the upper valley and consequently in Blair County were effected. Isolated families had moved in before that time, but the Kittanning Trail, upon which warriors passed continually was too near the inhabitable parts for regular settlement during the French and Indian Wars. During the Revolutionary War between the years 1776 and 1782, settlers in the upper valley were continually harassed by Indian outrages. Much valuable information on this early period was collected by U. J. Jones in his volume "History and Settlement of the Juniata Valley," published in 1856. Mr. Jones had the foresight to call upon one of the 16 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY last of the old pioneers, Michael Maguire, and get from him a verbal account of the experiences met by settlers between the years 1776 and 1782. Edward Bell, of Antis Township, kept a memoir from which some other information was gleaned. Many of the tales in the following pages are those collected by Mr. Jones. It is Mr. Jones' contention that the Indians of the valley were not noticeably hostile until the influence of the French, in the upper Ohio Valley, crept in. This seems a logical conclusion when one adds the growing hostility between the Delawares and Shawnees on the one side, and the friendly Iroquois on the other. Even when the French began to gain a foothold among the Pennsylvania Indians they could not control all of them. Some remained to join the British in the Revolution, and still others remained peaceful, taking arms on neither side, throughout the war. After 1761 and 1762, there were too many whites in the Juniata Valley for the comfort of the Indians. As a result they gradually left and from 1764 to 1777 they were absent. In the latter year they were destined to return as British allies and prey upon the settlers. The British encouraged Indian inroads and massacres just as the French had done. There are records available to show that British agents at Detroit paid the Indians for each scalp of a white settler brought to the Canadian frontier. The tribes engaged in these depredations in Revolutionary times were allied as Delawares and included Delawares, the Munsee clan particularly, Shawnees, Nanticokes and Tuscaroras. A romantic figure embodying much of the pathos, tragedy and strength of the frontier, lived in the vicinity of Blair County as early as 1752. He was known as the Wild Hunter, the Black Rifle, Captain Jack and as the Black Hunter of the Juniata, and is immortalized in James Oliver Curwood's novel of the latter name. The family of the Black Hunter were the victims of an Indian massacre, and as a result he devoted his life to slaying Indians. His home was originally in the Aughwick Valley in the present Huntingdon County but after misfortune overtook him he lived a nomadic life. There is little doubt that part of it was spent in the confines of our county. His ability to put to flight marauding Indians induced Governor Hamilton to give him a kind of roving commission to hold in check Indians on the frontier. When Braddock made his famous expedition against the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne the Black Hunter and a company of his fellows offered their services, through George Croghan, to the British general. Croghan explained that it was the wish of these frontiersmen that they be taken as volunteers, free, without plans for shelter or pay. Braddock refused the offer probably because he had little faith in frontier methods of fighting, expecting to use European ones successfully instead. Moreover, it is likely that the British general was averse to sharing any honors that might be won, with volunteers from the frontier. One is inclined to speculate on the possible results of the Braddock expedition had the Black Hunter and his men accompanied it. The services of such men as this valient frontier leader toward the development of the great United States can never be overestimated. In 1756, settlers in the vicinity of Frankstown were endangered by Indian attacks. Severe inroads had been made in the present Fulton County where WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 17 more settlers were living and the attacks extended to almost every outpost in the western valley. Shingas, a Delaware chief, at one time King of the Delawares, and Captain Jacobs, another Delaware chief, were the leading instigators of the Indian raids. Colonel John Armstrong was dispatched from the east, with an army, to go against the Indians at Kittanning. Seven companies of men were included in the expedition that left Fort Shirley (Aughwick), Huntingdon County, on August 30, 1756. On September 3rd, the advance party met the remainder of the force at Beaver Dams, a few miles from Frankstown, on the north branch of the Juniata. This point of meeting is on the present site of the Gaysport section of Hollidaysburg. There the Kittanning Path takes its route back of the old Presbyterian graveyard, round a gorge into the flats immediately back of Hollidaysburg, and then runs to the mouth of the gorge which is five or six miles to the west. There it begins the ascent of the Alleghenies near the present Horse Shoe Curve and winds northwest to Kittanning. The presence of this expedition improved the morale of the settlers and alarmed the Indians in the neighborhood. In his official account written September 14, 1756, from Fort Littleton, Colonel Armstrong wrote in part: "We were, there (at the Beaver Dams) informed that some of our men, having been out upon a scout, had discovered the tracks of two Indians about three miles this side of the Allegheny Mountain and but a few miles from the camp. From the freshness of the tracks, their killing of a cub bear, and the marks of their fires, it seemed evident they were not twenty-four hours ahead of us, which might be looked upon as a particular providence in our favor that we were not discovered. Next morning we decamped, and in two days came within fifty miles of Kittanning." Among the early settlers in Blair County were those in Scotch and Canoe Valleys, parts of Catharine and Frankstown Townships. They were of Scotch descent and bore such names as Moore, Irwin, Bell, Crawford, Frazier, and Stewart. In Logan Township lived the Coleman family who had experienced many hardships at the instigation of Indians while living in the valley of the west branch of the Susquehanna River. There were three brothers in the family and one of them was horribly massacred by the Indians while his brothers were temporarily absent. The survivors, Thomas and Michael Coleman became characters to be conjured with by Indian marauders. They played conspicuous parts after the murders of the Dunkards in Morrison's Cove. In order to get a clearer picture of the roles played by the Colemans and other frontiersmen it is necessary to consider the Dunkard settlers in Morrison's Cove. This section, located in the southeastern part of Blair County was settled first by Scotch-Irish about 1749, who were dispossessed at the same time that the Burnt Cabins episode occurred. The land is limestone of excellent quality for farming, so some of the early settlers, unperturbed by the provincial regulations, returned to it. They began to improve the land before it was finally purchased from the Indians. In 1755, or thereabouts, a colony of Dunkards settled in the southern portion of the cove. They were found to be of no assistance in putting off hostile Indians because of their peculiar religious convictions. They were strictly non-resistant 18 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY and during the Indian wars, that followed immediately upon their coming, they refused to take up arms in their own defense, or to contribute financially to the support of an armed force to protect them, until the government forced them to do so. They maintained this same attitude during the Revolutionary War, refusing to shoulder rifles, to contribute money or to furnish supplies unless money were promised them. It is difficult to establish just when they were first attacked. Mr. Jones' account leads one to believe that it must not have been until the Revolutionary period because the Lieutenant-Colonel of Bedford County urged them to defend themselves and Bedford was made a county from part of Cumberland in 1771. These appeals were of no avail whenever made, for they were determined in their pacific stand. There were massacres in the cove during 1762 as the following letter from John Martin, whose family were carried into captivity at that time, to the provincial authorities, will explain. "August 13, 1762. "The Humble Petition of Your Most Obedient Servant Sheweth, Sir, may it pleas Your Excellency, Hearing me in Your Clemancy a few Words. I, one of the Bereaved of my Wife and five Children, by Savage War at the Captivity of the Great Cove, after Many & Long Journeys, I Lately went to an Indian Town, viz., Tuskaroways, 150 miles Beyond Fort Pitts, & Entrested in Co. I Bucquits & Co. I Croghan's favor, So as to bear their Letters to King Beaver & Capt. Shingas, Desiring them to Give up One of my Daughters to me, Whiles I have Yet two Sons & One Other Daughter, if Alive, Among them - and after Seeing my Daughter with Shingas he Refused to Give her up, and after some Expostulating with him, but all in vain, he promised to Deliver her up with the Other Captives to Yr Excellency. "Sir, Yr Excellency's Most Humble Serv't, Humbly & Passionately Beseeches Yr Benign Compassion to interpose Yr Excellencies Beneficent influence in favor of Yr Excellencies Most Obedient & Dutiful Serv'. "JOHN MARTIN." After General John Forbes made his successful campaign against the French at Fort Duquesne, by way of Bedford, then Raystown, there were no atrocities in the vicinity of the cove until the Revolutionary War. French spies had learned of the arrival of Boquet, with part of Forbes' army, at Bedford, and thought it discreet to keep at a distance with their Indian allies. The first Indian depredations during the Revolution seem to have occurred in 1777. By that time a chain of frontier forts had been erected, and they served as havens for the families of the neighborhood. In Blair County, there were five of these stockades, some more important than others in point of supplies and arms, known as Fetter's, Roller's, Lowry's, Holliday's, and Roberdeau's or the Lead Mine Fort. Fort Fetter was a blockhouse, erected about 1777, for local use, not under the direction of the provincial government. It was located near the present site of Hollidaysburg, southwest on a creek flowing north into the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata. It was near the Indian path that led from Bedford by Hollidaysburg. WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 19 In 1777, there were 25 men there who bore arms and belonged to the Frankstown district. Among them were two families of Colemans. In November of this year a band of about 30 Indians, armed with British rifles, ammunition, and their own scalping knives and tomahawks entered Morrison's Cove. They were expected, but their arrival served to excite some of the settlers at any rate. The knowledge that Tories were in the neighborhood did not alleviate matters, and the numbers of Indians in any hostile party were usually greatly exaggerated. The party of Indians was probably divided into two bands of 15 members each when they met near Neff's Mill in the cove. On the way one group killed a man named Hammond, who lived along the Juniata, and the others took the life of a man named Ullery while he was riding home from Neff's Mill. They also captured two children. Alarm at the appearance of the Indians was soon spread throughout the county. Most of the settlers fled to the forts at once. The majority of Dunkards stood their ground. A few of them hid themselves but the greater number stood by and saw their wives and children murdered, saying, "Gottes wille sei gethan" (God's will be done). Approximately 30 Dunkard scalps were carried to Detroit. The savages loaded themselves with plunder, including all available horses, and according to Jones, "under cover of the night the triumphant warriors marched bravely away." This statement seems ironical when one considers that the Dunkards were purposely defenseless. The expression "Gottes wille sei gethan," must have been made repeatedly for it is said that some of the Indians remembered it until 1812. At that time some old Indians on the frontier asked Huntingdon County volunteers if the "Gotswiltahns" still lived in the cove. The volunteers did not understand the question at first, so were unable to make an explanation. After the massacre at the cove, the Indians moved toward the Kittanning war path. Some of the more blood-thirsty ones lagged toward the rear, and a young Indian, with an accomplice, stopped at Neff's Mill (Roaring Spring). Neff was a Dunkard who differed from most members of his sect in that he was willingly resistant and constantly kept a loaded rifle in his mill. On the morning of the attack on his brethren he went to the mill as usual knowing nothing of harrowing events. He set the water wheel in motion and then discovered two Indians in a small woods within 100 yards below the mill. He shot the older one whereupon the younger came toward Neff. The latter ran out the back door and up a hill, followed by the Indian who fired at him but missed. The chase continued up a cleared path when both Neff and the Indian began reloading rifles. They stood facing one another about 40 yards apart on the open ground where there was no opportunity for concealment. The chances were equal, for the first to load would win. They rammed the bullets in simultaneously, watching one another. Then they drew their ramrods at the same time, but the Indian more excited than Neff drew his more slowly. This excitement is evidence that the Indian was not able to fight as well in the open as from ambush. Here Neff had the advantage. He primed and took aim. The Indian realizing the danger of his position began to gyrate and contort, so as to confuse Neff, and at the same time have a chance to 20 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY prime. He threw himself on his face, jumped to the right, then to the left and down again. Neff saw through his plans and when the Indian rose again shot him through the head. He realized that other Indians might be about, so he left the mill and went to the nearest fort. A force of men was raised and they revisited the mill to find it a heap of smouldering cinders and ashes. The bodies of the dead Indians were no where to be found, their fellows having probably missed them, returned, and taken their bodies with them. This seems to have been an Indian custom generally. Neff was excommunicated by the Dunkards for defending himself, and although he rebuilt the mill, the patronage of these people upon whom he had depended was withdrawn, and he finally left the business. The attack upon the Dunkards brought the settlers of the county to a realization that the Indians had allied themselves with the British. This outbreak caused them to get together and consider means of defense other than that provided by the province. Some of the more conservative persons wanted to abandon their farms and return to the eastern settlements. The knowledge that a good many Juniata Valley settlers would remain loyal to the king led them to carry out this intention. The more daring and radical, however, were willing to remain and defend their homes at any risk. It was at this time that actual fortifications, referred to earlier as frontier forts, were begun. After the Indians had murdered the Dunkards they met a mile east of Kittanning Point, encamped there and waited for the arrival of their scattered forces. The Coleman families were ensconsed at Fort Fetter at the time. Thomas and Michael Coleman and Michael Wallack left the fort to hunt deer to replenish their larders. On the way three or four inches of snow fell and as they returned by way of the gap they crossed the Kittanning Trail and noticed fresh Indian tracks. They decided to follow them, learn their numbers and then alarm the fort. After proceeding for a half- mile they saw a group of Indians around a fire. They estimated the number to be thirty and on their return to the fort decided not to raise undue alarm by quoting it. Sixteen men at the fort returned with them in the pursuit of the savages through the cold, dark night. The party included besides the Colemans and Wallack, Edward Milligan, William Moore, George and John Fetter, William Holliday, Richard Clausin, John McDonald and others. They saw 10 or 12 Indians around the fire and they halted within 60 yards of them. Some of the Indians were mixing paint while others talked. Their rifles were leaning against a nearby tree. Thomas Coleman, who always led any group like this that he happened to be in, wanted the men to make a rush for the rifles, and then attack. But none of his party would volunteer. Instead they agreed to fire simultaneously, each settler picking out an Indian to attack. When this happened three or four Indians fell while the others got their rifles. Coleman urged the men to load and fire again, quickly, before the Indians could locate them. Suddenly Coleman discovered that all of the men but Wallack, Holliday and himself had fled, frightened by the number of the Indians. The remaining men realized that there were too many of the enemy for them to cope with, so when the Indians, not knowing how many whites were in the attacking party with- WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 21 drew from the firelight into the shadows to await further firing, they returned to the fort. The following morning all the available men in the locality set out to find the Indians. They provided themselves with food and ammunition to last for several days. Thomas Coleman was in command when the party found the deserted camp where the Indians had halted the preceding night. It was evident that they had left hurriedly, forgetting to take with them some of their implements including the paint pot, scalping knives, powder horns and a whetstone. Those who had been wounded the previous night, left bloody tracks in their wake; so that it was not difficult for the whites to follow them. They trailed them for six or eight miles to the mouth of the gap and Coleman was eager to go as far as Kittanning if necessary. But by this time the whole country side had been alarmed and were barricaded in the stockades and forts. Coleman and his party returned and he took command of Fetter's Fort. Adam Holliday, for whom the county seat of Blair County is named, was active in erecting the defense at Fetter's Fort. In addition, he was instrumental in converting Titus' stable, just below Hollidaysburg, into a fort. This stockade, known as Fort Holliday, and Fetter's Fort, served to protect settlers of the upper Frankstown district. Holliday drew on his own resources to buy provisions and was influential in bringing arms and ammunition from the east. He acted courageously in restraining anxious settlers from going to Cumberland County for protection during the more serious raids. In December, 1777, he went to Philadelphia and there secured funds, for the use of his neighborhood, from an appropriation made by the government for the defense of the frontier. A letter, addressed to President Wharton from Colonel John Piper of Bedford County, was carried to Philadelphia by Holliday. It read as follows: "Bedford County, December 19th, 1777. "Sir: Permit me, Sir, to recommend to you for counsel and direction, the bearer Mr. Holliday an inhabitant of Frankstown, one of the frontier settlements of our county, who has at his own risk been extremely active in assembling the people of that settlement together and in purchasing provisions to serve the militia who came to their assistance. As there was no person appointed, either to purchase provisions or to serve them out, necessity obliged the bearer, with the assistance of some neighbors, to purchase a considerable quantity of provisions for that purpose, by which the inhabitants have been able to make a stand. His request is that he may be supplied with cash, not only to discharge the debts already contracted, but likewise to enable him to lay up a store for future demand. I beg leave, Sir, to refer to the bearer, for further information, in hopes you will provide for their support. Their situation requires immediate assistance." William Holliday, a brother or cousin of Adam aforementioned, who accompanied Thomas Coleman against the Indians, was one of those who constructed Fort Holliday. Early in 1779, many Indians came into the vicinity of the fort in such numbers that only a few of the settlers had the courage to remain there. The Hollidays were among those who stayed, nurturing the hope that the Execu- 22 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY tive Council of Pennsylvania would aid them. On May 29, 1779, William Holliday sent the following petition to that governmental body. "To the Honorable President and Council: "The Indians being now in the county, the frontier inhabitants being generally fled, leaved the few that remain in such a distressed condition that Pen can hardly describe, nor Your Honours can only have a faint idea of, nor can it be conceived properly by any but such as are the subjects thereof, but while we suffer in the part of the county that is most frontier, the inhabitants of the interior part of this county live at ease and safety. And we humbly conceive that by some immediate instruction from council, to call them that are less exposed to our relief we shall be able under God to repulse our enemies and put it in the power of the distressed inhabitants to reap the fruits of their industry. There fore we humbly pray, you will grant such relief in the premises as you, in your wisdom see meet, and your petitioners shall pray, &. "N. B. - There is a quantity of lead at the mines in this county council may procure for the use of said county, which will save carriage and supply our wants with that article. Which we cannot exist without at this place, and our flints are altogether expended, therefore we beg council would furnish us with those necessities as they in their wisdom see cause. "P. S. - Please to supply us with powder to answer lead." Failure to answer this petition at once made it imperative that the fort be evacuated. When relief did finally arrive the Indians had made severe inroads on the settlements. The majority of families had found Fetter's Fort and Fort Roberdeau in the Sinking Valley the best places for protection. Scouting parties were formed to make possible the gathering of crops. Extreme caution had to be taken during harvest time. The reapers were guarded by half-grown boys who followed in their very footsteps, bearing rifles, loaded and primed for defense. Sentinels were posted at each corner of the field and in this way a little grain was harvested. The cattle grazed at large and were rarely molested. Hogs were free too, feeding upon roots and acorns. When meat was needed, and hunting wild game too precarious, a party of men would hunt out a heifer or a hog and butcher it for the common use of the fort. Such luxuries as coffee, tea, and sugar were not missed. Jones tells us that sometimes children were born in the forts and rocked in sugar troughs. The clothing of the men, including their shoes were made entirely from buckskin. Edward Bell, prominent in early Blair County history, tells in his memoirs of having made his own shoes at Fort Lowry. He is quoted as saying "and I made them so well that I soon became shoemaker to the fort. There is no doubt but that I could have followed the business to advantage; but I never liked it, so I served a regular apprenticeship to the millwrighting." Fort Lowrey or Lowry was located in Canoe Valley, three miles southwest of Water Street in Catharine Township. It was, as many others, a blockhouse or private fort, very small and inconvenient. It was built on the path from Fort Bedford where Petersburg later stood. The property was then Lowrey's farm and Captain Simonton was the Fort's Commander. The house of Matthew WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 23 Dean which stood a mile away was also converted into a blockhouse. These two fortifications served the people living in Canoe Valley and around Water Street. A letter dated August 20, 1894, from Columbia, Pennsylvania, written by Samuel Evans, a great-grandson of Colonel Alexander Lowrey gives some interesting information concerning Fort Lowrey. It follows: "I noticed in the Press a list of Indian forts prior to 1783. I see no mention of Lowrey's Fort, which stood along the north bank of the Juniata, not far from Williamsburg. James Lowrey and Daniel Lowrey owned large tracts of land at and around Frankstown, below Hollidaysburg prior to the Revolution. They were Indian traders, as early as 1740. Lazarus Lowrey, son of Col. Alex. Lowrey, Indian trader of this neighborhood, inherited all of James and Daniel Lowrey's land, from his father Alexander, who was a brother of James and Daniel. Lazarus Lowrey was living on this land during the Revolutionary War. I do not know whether the fort was built by Daniel or Lazarus, or by the children of the two former. There are still some of the Lowrey descendents at Hollidaysburg, and at Hopewell, Bedford County, Pa. I believe the mill and all the land at Frankstown has passed out of the family name." In 1779 and 1780, the settlers divided their time between working their farms and protecting the fortifications. Even in those troublous times family quarrels and jealousies prevented some persons from making the best use of these protective measures. Captain Simonton and Matthew Dean, whose respective stockades made them neighbors, were close friends. The latter was an influential pioneer and on one occasion when Simonton warned him of possible Indian attacks he did not take the warning seriously. A day afterwards, while working in one of his fields, he saw flames coming from his house. By the time he reached it he found Mrs. Simonton there with one of his children, an eight-year-old daughter, who was lying scalped on the doorstep. The neighborhood was alarmed and several sons of the Beatty family, well known frontiersmen, led a force in search of the Indians but could not find them. Dean's house was razed to the ground and Mrs. Dean with three of their children and a son of the Simonton's died as a result of the raid. Fort Roberdeau, commonly known as the Lead Mine Fort, was built in 1778 in the Sinking Spring Valley. It was located in the northeastern section of the county in Tyrone Township, several miles above Arch Spring. It was not primarily erected as a frontier defense but merely to house and defend the miners. The better fortification that it afforded, manned by armed men, made it a more secure haven for the much harrassed settlers, than the ordinary blockhouses. General Daniel Roberdeau of the Continental Army superintended the building of the fort. It was occupied by Major Cluggage with a regular company from Cumberland County. Two cannon were mounted on the ramparts and there was plenty of small arms and ammunition in the fort. It had the advantage of being strengthened by the government. The lead discovered there has been mentioned in an earlier chapter, and it was this commodity so scarce and consequently so high in price that led to the erection of the fort. Fear that the supply 24 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY might fall into the control of the enemy gave the government sufficient reason to provide it with the best possible means of defense. The lead mines there are believed to have been located by the French as early as 1750. It is known that they were on the lookout for minerals and the Indians may have told them of the Sinking Spring Valley lode. On the other hand the discovery would have been difficult because the Indians were always consciously vague in describing sources of valuable minerals to the white men. The Indians knew of the value of the lead, because after they were supplied with firearms they were never without it. It is thought that most of them in Pennsylvania got this commodity in the Sinking Spring Valley. Jones is of the opinion that the French knew of the lode, for when Roberdeau erected his fort, several old drifts or openings and an irregular trench, running for six miles from the upper to the lower lead mines, were discovered. The diggers probably hoped to find silver and an inexhaustible supply of lead. Settlers, living in the valley without legal title to the land, learned of the lead deposits in 1763. As a result, exaggerated reports of the great mineral wealth to be found there reached the east. The proprietary family employed George Woods to survey the valley before the Revolution. On February 23, 1778, Major-General John Armstrong called the attention of President Wharton to the lead deposits, in a letter written from Yorktown (York). Part of the letter follows: "At present there appears to be a scarcity of the important article of lead, and it is certain a Mr. Harman Husbands, now a member of Assembly for our State, has some knowledge of a lead mine situate in a certain tract of land not far from Frankstown, formerly surveyed for the use of the proprietary family. "General Gates, President of the Board of War, having signified his earnest desire to see and converse with Mr. Husbands on the subject of the mine, and being greatly hurried with business, I have, at his instance, undertaken the present line, that you would please to use your influence with the House of Assembly and with Mr. Husbands, that he, as soon as possible, may be spared to concert with the Board of War on the best measures for making a trial of and deriving an early supply from that source. "The general is of opinion with me, that the mine ought to or may at least for the present be seized by and belong to the State; and that private persons, who, without right, may have sat down on that reserved tract, should neither prevent the use of the lead nor be admitted to make a monopoly of the mine. I am of opinion that a few faithful laborers may be sufficient to make the experiment, and that the lieutenant of the county, or some other good man, may be serviceable in introducing the business. "I cannot doubt the compliance of the honorable Assembly and Council. "P. S. - It may be proper that a summary consideration be first taken, whether the State will make the effort alone or leave it to the conduct of the Board of War; that, at any rate, the salutary effects, if any, may be gained to the public. The water-carriage is a great thing. Query - Whether the ore should be run into portable bars at the bank, or at Middleton?" WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 25 When the letter was written a few of the immediate settlers had gotten small supplies of lead ore from the mines and smelted it, although they lacked the proper appliances for reducing it. Armstrong's suggestion was considered by the Council and General Roberdeau was put in charge of building the fort and overseeing the mines. The character of General Roberdeau and his interest in his work are such that they should be considered here. The men must have been well provided with the necessaries of life if General Roberdeau had anything to do with that matter. Unpublished letters of the general, written before the erection of the fort and not concerning it, show that he was vitally interested in the welfare of his men, and in the commissary of the army. On January 26, 1777, he wrote to President Wharton concerning the use of flour instead of hard bread among the soldiers. It was his opinion that the use of the former caused the deaths of thousands of men. He wrote again and again in 1777 and 1778 about the lack of provisions in the army, of the discontent and the overdeveloped individualism on the frontier which he said expressed itself in a tendency to accumulate personal wealth rather than to sacrifice and cooperate for the best interests of the country. His letters are usually dated from Yorktown (York) where he was stationed and he must have been in a position to imbibe much of the spirit of the restless frontier. He believed absolutely in the future of America and his intense patriotism is expressed in the following excerpts taken from his letters. On December 26, 1777, he wrote to President Wharton lamenting the lack of supplies among 2,800 men. "For the Lord's sake let us exert every nerve to save our country, which must now be done by immediate supplies from this State until we get things into order." A month later he wrote, "I could weep over my suffering country - cramped (?) at this season for vigorous exertion, by the want of provisions, with which our country abounds, and I wish I could clear our own State of the horrid sin of the commissarial department from which at the very time of that most mischievous arrangement, carried I believe but by one voice. I predicted the injuries we have and still suffer, for God's sake, for our country's sake never let a Dellegate represent the state from any consideration, one moment longer than he is faithful, or one moment after he is the subject of just suspicion." Some of his contemporaries were of the opinion that Roberdeau exaggerated the actual conditions among the soldiers and on the frontier. Be that as it may, he may have found it necessary to express himself strongly in order to cut through the usual red-tape of governmental machinery. Roberdeau was a member of Congress and was given temporary leave of absence from that body in order to carry out the plans for working the mines. At Carlisle, while enroute to the mines he wrote to President Wharton on April 17, 1778. His letter follows. "The confidence the honorable the representatives of our State have placed in me by a resolve, together with the pressing and indispensable necessity of a speedy supply of lead for the public service, induced me to aske leave of absence of Congress to proceed with workmen to put their business into a proper train, 26 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY and have reached this place on that errand; and, having collected men and materials, and sent them forward this day, propose to follow them tomorrow. My views have been greatly enlarged since I left York on the importance of the undertaking and hazard in prosecuting it, for the public works here are not furnished with an ounce of lead but what is in fixed ammunition; on the other hand, the prevailing opinion of the people, as I advance into the country, of Indian depredations shortly to commence, might not only deter the workmen I stand in need of, but affright the back settlers from their habitations, and leave the country exposed and naked. To give confidence to one and the other, I have drawn out of the public stores here twenty-five stand of arms and a quantity of gunpowder, and intended to proceed this morning, but was applied to by John Caruthers, Esq., Lieutenant of the County, and William Brown, Commissary of Provisions for the Militia, who advised me on the subject of their respective departments, and, by the account they gave of the orders from your honorable board to them as to calling out and supplying the militia, I find the State is guarding against the incursions of the savages. This confirmed me in a preconceived intention of erecting a stockade fort in the neighborhood of the mine I am about to work, if f could stir up the inhabitants to give their labor in furnishing an asylum for their families in case of imminent danger, and thus prevent the evacuation of the country. Mr. Caruthers, convinced of the necessity of the work for the above purposes, condescendingly offered one company of militia, which he expected would consist of about forty men, under my command, to cooperate in so salutary a business - as it consisted with the orders of Council respecting the station, being only a deviation of a very few miles - and that one other company, of about the same number, should also join me, for the greater expedition, until the pleasure of Council was known, which he presumed might coincide with such dispositions, otherwise it might be deranged by an immediate express; and, that the pleasure of Council might be known without delay, I give this intelligence. If these measures are for the good of the public wheel (weal), I hope to be honored with a confirmation, and orders to the militia to exert themselves in carrying the design into immediate execution; if otherwise, I rely on the well-known candor of Council that I shall not be suspected of any sinister design in leaning to an offer freely made as above, from, I believe, the best motives, much less that I have presumed to interfere with the arrangements of Council, as this early notice is full proof to the contrary, as the whole is in their power as much as if nothing had passed between the lieutenant and myself. I have only to add, on this subject, that your design of patroling-parties of good riflemen shall be encouraged by me. The commissary, Mr. Brown, being destitute of money, I would have spared it out of my small stock, but that, by my interference, 1,200 dollars - all he asked - was supplied by a public officer here; but further sums will, he said, be soon necessary, and he expressed much concern for the scarcity of provisions. I was advised very lately, by judge McKean, of a quantity of salted beef in the neighborhood of Harris's Ferry; and before I left York, I applied to him by letter to advise me of the quantity and quality, with WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 27 a design to purchase, as I intended to employ a much greater number of men than are already employed at the lead mine, to carry on the business with vigor. If Council should think proper to order a quantity of said provisions up the Juniata for the militia, I should be glad of being favored with what I want through the same channel. I intend to build such a fort as, with sufficient provisions, under the smile of Providence, would enable me to defend it against any number of Indians that might presume to invest it. If I am not prevented, by an opportunity of serving the State eminently by a longer stay in the wilderness, I purpose to return to my duty in Congress in about three weeks. Will Council favor me with the exemption of a number of men, not exceeding twenty-if I cannot be supplied by the adjutant-general, who has orders co- extensive with my want of smelters and miners from deserters from the British army - to suffer such to come to this part of the country, contrary to a preceding order? If Council should think such a measure of exemption for the public good, I should be glad to receive their orders on that head. I would not intrude my sentiments on Council, but am of opinion that, besides the supplying of provisions to the militia in Bedford, it is very important that the intended stockade should be seasonably furnished with that article; therefore, if it should not be thought advisable to improve the above hint, that the provisions already mentioned in the neighborhood of Harris's should be left unnoticed until I shall have an opportunity of furnishing my own supplies from that stock. If I shall be advised by Mr. McKean, it is in my offer. My landing is at Water Street, in (on the) Juniata; but I could on notice, receive my supply from Standing Stone." He arrived at Standing Stone in Huntingdon County just after Tories had organized in the Sinking Spring Valley and marched toward Kittanning. Roberdeau's duties, aside from those of general superintendent of the mines, made it necessary for him to enforce law and order, and stimulate the disheartened settlers to interest in the American cause. A Scotchman named Lowrie actually directed the work in the mines, and by the time Roberdeau arrived had begun to sink shafts and raise ore at the upper mine. No attempt has been made by Jones to connect this miner Lowrie with the settlers near Fort Lowrey, and since the latter were traders among the Indians near Frankstown much earlier it is not probable that there was any connection between them. After Roberdeau arrived at Standing Stone he wrote to Carothers at Carlisle as follows: "Standing Stone, April 23, 1778. "Sir: - The enclosed was put into my hands, to be forwarded to you by express. The intelligence it contains is abundantly confirmed by several persons I have examined, both fugitives from the frontiers and some volunteers that have returned for an immediate supply of ammunition and provisions, to be sent forward to Sinking Spring Valley, as the troops will be obliged to quit the service except they are supplied without delay. Want of arms prevents those who would turn out. I shall furnish what I brought from Carlisle as soon as they come forward; but it is very unfortunate that these arms, and the ammunition, which is coming 28 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY by water, have been retarded by contrary wind, and probably the lowness of the water. To remedy this, I have dispatched two canoes this morning to meet them on the way. I am giving Mr. Brown, who is here, every assistance in my power; but your aid is greatly wanted to stimulate the militia, and furnish arms, ammunition, pack-horses, and every thing necessary in your line of duty. The insurgents from this neighborhood, I am informed, are about thirty. One of them (Hess) has been taken, and confession extorted, from which it appears that this banditti expect to be joined by three hundred men from the other side the Allegheny; reports more vague mention one thousand whites and savages. The supply of provisions for so great a number renders it improbable; but in answer to this, I have been informed by the most credible in this neighborhood, that strangers, supposed to be from Detroit, have been this winter among the disaffected inhabitants, and have removed with them. If you have authority to call out the militia, in proportion to the exigence of the times, I think it of great importance that a considerable number of men should be immediately embodied and sent forward to meet the enemy; for it cannot be expected that the volunteers will long continue in service, and I find that the recruiting the three companies goes on too slowly to expect a seasonable supply from them of any considerable number. If you have not authority to call the necessary aid of militia, you, no doubt, will apply to the honorable the Council, and may furnish them with my sentiments, and to the Board of War for arms and ammunition. With ten men here, under the command of Lieutenant Cluggage, in Continental service until the 1st of December next, I intend to move forward as soon as the arms, ammunition, and other things come forward, to afford an escort to Sinking Spring Valley, where I shall be glad to meet as great a number of militia as you will station there, to enable me to erect a stockade, to secure the works so necessary to the public service and give confidence to the frontier inhabitants, by affording an asylum for their women and children. These objects, I doubt not, you will think worthy your immediate attention and utmost exertion, which, I can assure making the fullest allowance for the timidity of some and the credulity of others is a very serious matter; for without immediate aid the frontiers will be evacuated, for all that I have been able to say has been of no avail with the fugitives I have met on the roads - a most distressing sight, of men, women, and children, flying through fear of a cruel enemy. "I am, respectfully, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, "DANIEL ROBERDEAU." The enclosure to which Roberdeau referred in the opening sentence of his letter was the following note from Robert Smith to Robert Cluggage. "Sir: Be pleased to send expresses to Lieutenant Carothers by the first opportunity, to give him some account of insurrections on the South Mountain, and likewise to inspect very closely into those abroad at this time and upon what occasion, as there is a suspicion, by information, of other insurrections rising in other parts of the county of Cumberland; and in so doing you will oblige your friend to serve. "ROBERT SMITH. WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 29 "April 23,1778." Carothers sent these letters to President Wharton on April 27th. He had written to Council earlier on April 24th and the following is part of his letter. "The marching classes of the fifth battalion I have been obliged to send up to Sinking Valley and Bald Eagle, which will amount to near seventy privates. The frontiers in those parts have been greatly alarmed of late by a number of Tories who have banded together, threatening vengeance to all who have taken the oath of allegiance to the States. This moment I have received an express from Kishicoquillas for a supply of arms, and that Colonel McElevy, of Bedford County, came there express himself, with an account that a body of Tories, near three hundred and twenty, in and above Standing Stone, had collected themselves together and driven a number of the inhabitants from Standing Stone Town. Immediately Colonel Buchanan and Colonel Brown marched off with a few men who could be got equipped, and we are waiting with patience the issue." The reports of Tory uprisings or insurrections stirred the State to action. Major Cluggage could not leave the fort at the lead mines and his force was thought to be too small to make a successful attack against the supposedly great number of Tories. Captain Thomas Blair was dispatched with as many volunteers as he could muster in the vicinity of Standing Stone and Frankstown. Jones obtained a list of names of these volunteers from Mr. Maguire and although the latter remembered all of them his advanced age made it difficult to understand any but the following: Brotherton, Jones, Moore, Smith, two brothers named Hicks, Nelson, Coleman, Wallack, Fee, Gano, Ricketts, Caldwell, Moore, Holliday, and one of the Rollers. It is necessary, for the sake of clarity, to digress here and consider the Tory uprising in the Sinking Spring Valley. To some persons who have been laboring under the delusion that all men living in the thirteen colonies, except a few wealthy persons in seaboard cities, were intensely loyal and devoted to the American cause, the knowledge that a Tory group became active on the frontier will seem fantastic. On the other hand a consideration of the facts at hand, the psychology of the frontier, the economic and social conditions involved should make clear how possible it was for frontiersmen to remain loyal to England. Many of them were Scotch-Irish and whether they were in the Tory group is not clear. They were independent, hardy, God-fearing people who had grievances against the government of Pennsylvania. That government, under the proprietary family, had repeatedly attempted to turn them out of their homes, burned their cabins and put gigantic fines upon them for failing to obey. They bore no love for the Quakers and the fact that the Presbyterians of the western counties had overthrown the government and established a much more republican one in 1776 had failed to affect them as yet. Through the early struggles with the Indians and in the Revolutionary period the government had not striven to protect them by building forts. Then too, the only real government that they had ever known was that exercised over them by England. It seems likely that they were the type of men who would respect an authority that was able to 30 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY dominate them. British agents from Niagara and Detroit arrived in these mountain settlements at the psychological moment. They promised the settlers that any man who deserted the American cause and came over to the British would be granted 200 acres of land after peace was declared. A group of British sympathizers were collected under John Weston and were advised to join a combination of British and Indian forces on the Allegheny River in the spring of 1778. Then these combined forces would raid frontier towns and the local Tories share in the plunder. Meetings were held during February and March of 1778 in Sinking Spring Valley. It was possible to hold meetings secretly without much danger of rumors leaking out because Roberdeau had not yet come to the lead mines. The English representatives left after promising the people that 300 Indians and other Tories would meet them at Kittanning in April. By April 1st, Weston had 30 followers. A man named McKee from Carlisle joined them. He had been in communication with a British officer who was imprisoned there and carried a letter from him to any British officer, vouching for the loyalty of McKee and any of his followers. This letter was to be a sort of introduction to the British who would meet the Tories at Kittanning. After word reached them that Indians were gathering at Kittanning, the Tories under Weston, set forth. They crossed the main range of the Alleghenies at Kittanning Point and followed the Kittanning Indian Trail after that. On the second day of their march they met a band of about l00 Iroquois on a plundering raid. The latter believed the Tories to be enemies and although Weston ran toward them, gesticulating and shouting, "Friends! Friends!", they were ignorant of the conspiracy, scalped him, and disappeared. McKee rushed toward them too, waving a handkerchief in one hand and the letter in the other, and shouted "Brothers! Brothers!" Weston was buried where he fell and his followers decided to abandon the rest of the journey. Some of them are said to have perished in the wilderness; others reached British posts in southern colonies; five returned to their homes and were later imprisoned at Bedford. Of the five who returned Richard Weston, a brother of John, was caught in the Sinking Spring Valley by a party of Americans, taken to jail in Carlisle, but he escaped before brought to trial. Those who fled were charged with treason and their estates forfeited. After the Revolution a few of them came back to Pennsylvania and succeeded in having the attainder removed and subsequently came into control of their land. The men under Captain Blair were fortunate in having among them Gersham and Moses Hicks from the Canoe Valley. These brothers were excellent scouts and interpreters having lived, with others of their family, in captivity among the Indians for six or seven years. Blair's company followed the Kittanning Trail and camped on the present site of Loretto. The Hicks brothers were captured by Indians, while foraging, and taken to Detroit. Several Tories were captured by Blair and the group returned, fearing that there might be too many Indians near the Allegheny for his men to fight successfully. When he returned to the Sinking Spring Valley General Roberdeau wrote the following letter to Council. WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 31 "Sinking Spring Valley, April 27, 1778. "Sir: - I have little more time to refer you to the enclosed examination, taken in great haste, but correct as it respects the testimony. The confiscation of the effects of the disaffected in these parts is very irregular, and the brutality offered to the wives and children of some of them, as I have been informed, in taking from them even their wearing apparel, is shocking. I wish the magistrates were furnished with the late law respecting confiscation, and that they were more capable ministers of justice; the one I have seen is such a specimen of the popular election of these officers as I expected. I am happy to inform you that a very late discovery of a new vein promises the most ample supply; but I am very deficient in workmen. Mr. Glen is with me, to direct the making and burning of bricks, and is to come up to build a furnace, by which time I expect to be in such forwardness as to afford an ample supply to the army. The want of provision I dread notwithstanding the active endeavors of Mr. Brown, for it is scarcely to be got; therefore I beg leave to refer you to a hint on this subject in my letter from Carlisle. Of forty militia, I have, at most, seven with me, which retards building a stockade to give confidence to the inhabitants, who were all on the wing before I reached this. I send Richard Weston, under guard, to Carlisle jail, to wait your orders. He is conducted by Lieutenant John Means, of the militia. The inhabitants are hunting the other insurgents, and hope they will all be taken, but wish any other the trouble of examing them, as my hands are full. I am, with respectful salutations to Council, sir, "Yr most obt, humbl servt, "DANL. ROBERDEAU." It is uncertain how long the mines were carried on by the government but they were probably abandoned in the autumn of 1779. Quantities of lead were issued to the militia at various times. One of the sub-lieutenants of Bedford County (?) received an order for 500 pounds. The arrangement made between Roberdeau and the government seems to have been a drain on the general's finances for he says, "My late engagement in the lead works has proved a moth to my circulating cash, and obliged me to make free with a friend in borrowing." President Reed of the Council received a letter dated November 10, 1779, from Roberdeau. This is the last correspondence on the matter of the lead mines and it is probable they were abandoned shortly afterwards. "Sir Permit me to ask the favor of you to make my request known to the honorable Board of your Presidence that they would be pleased this day to order me payment for the ten hundred pounds of lead delivered to your order some months ago. The price of that article is so enormous that I should blush to make a demand, but my necessity keeps equal pace with the rapid depreciation of our money; and particularly as I purpose leaving the city tomorrow, dependence has been had on the money in question, for my advances are insupportably great, for my defected purpose of supplying lead to Continent, which, entirely through default of Congress in not furnishing the necessary defences, has been entirely 32 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY stopped, as the honorable, the Assembly have been informed. After the most diligent inquiry, I cannot find less than six dollars per pound demanded for lead by the quantity - a price which, Mr. Peters just now informed me, the Board of War was willing to give." Fort Roller, the fifth frontier fort in Blair County, was erected about the same time that Roberdeau was working the lead mines. It was erected as a private enterprise by Jacob Roller, Sr., who was prominent in the locality of Hollidaysburg. He was another typical frontiersman, energetic, daring and hardy. The fort was a sort of stockade for the protection of the Roller family and their neighbors against the Indians. Roller is said to have been one of a group of petitioners from the Juniata Valley who sought protection from the Pennsylvania Assembly as late as February 14, 1781. The fort was at the head of the Sinking Spring Valley and was the only asylum in the vicinity for settlers. Many tales are told of the daring activities of Jacob Roller, Jr., during periods of Indian depredations. He finally fell a victim of the savages late in the fall of 1781. It is said that at that time three Indians came down the mountain, avoiding the Roller Fort, and passed on into the valley to the house of a settler named Bebault. They stopped there, tomahawked and scalped Bebault, then moved on to the house of Jacob Roller, Jr. Roller was alone, his family having gone to the elder Roller's Fort. The Indians murdered young Roller and scalped him, while he was working in a corn field. His absence from the fort caused an alarm to be spread, and the discovery of his horribly mangled body and later that of the living Bebault frightened the settlement. A large body of men went in search of the Indians and followed their trail for nearly fifty miles, then gave it up. The anxiety of the people of the valley was such that the crops then unharvested remained to rot in the fields. One of the outstanding names in the county, that has already been mentioned, is that of Adam Holliday. He was one of the first settlers and had come from the Conecocheague settlement in Franklin County. His farm was southwest of the railroad bridge and near the town which bears his name. He came there with others early in the Revolutionary period. Examples of the hardships that they endured have been described. It is said of Holliday that on one occasion he failed to use the fort when rumors of Indian attacks were rife but was laboring in a field when several savages appeared. His family fled and he jumped on a horse taking two of the smaller children, John and James, with him. Pat, an older son and Jeanette, a daughter, were killed while in flight. After 1779, Holliday and his family spent most of their time at Fort Roberdeau. Occasionally they went to their farm to gather crops. On one of these journeys they were attacked by Indians and some of them killed. Holliday had a narrow escape and when he returned to the fort his clothing had been torn from him and his body bore the marks of a terrific conflict. He lived until 1801 and was survived by two children, John who married a daughter of Lazarus Lowrey of Frankstown, and a daughter who married William Reynolds. Another family whose name appears continually in frontier annals is the WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 33 Coleman family. The adventures of Thomas and Michael Coleman have already been referred to. Both served in Captain Blair's expedition to overtake the Tories. Thomas Coleman's reputation as an Indian fighter lived long. During the War of 1812, on the Canadian frontier many Indians inquired of the Huntingdon County soldiers concerning "Old Coley." One of them who said he was a son of Shingas, showed the scar of a severe gash on his forehead, saying that by it he would remember "Old Coley" always. Coleman's hatred of the Indians became almost traditional in the valley. He lived, a respected citizen, until his death in 1840. A list of settlers in the valley, between the years 1777 and 1790, was obtained by Jones from Major Bell's Memoir, from Mr. Maguire and from an old ledger kept by Lazarus Lowrey while he conducted a store in Frankstown in 1790. In the neighborhood of Water Street and Canoe Valley lived John and Matthew Dean, Jacob Roller, John Bell, Lowry, seven Beatty brothers, Moreheads, Simonton, Vanzant, John Sanders, Samuel Davis and Edward Milligan. Near Frankstown where the reservoir was located in 1855, lived Joseph McCune, McIntyre, John McKillip, McRoberts and John Crouse. On the flat west of Frankstown lived Peter Titus and John Carr. In the Loop lived A. Robinson and W. Divinny. John Long also had a farm near these people. Where McCahen's mill stood in 1855 a family named Foster lived in 1777, and a little distance west, a Presbyterian minister named David Bard. In the neighborhood of the present Altoona dwelt Thomas and Michael Coleman, Michael Wallack, James Hardin, David Torrence and a Mr. Hileman. These are only some of the names of those hardy pioneers who fought to protect their families from the dangers of the frontier. The history of Blair County is so much bound up in the history of Bedford and Huntingdon Counties that more information on the Revolutionary period the reader will doubtless obtain it by consulting a history of one of these counties. Fetter's Fort, a mile west of Hollidaysburg, was near the scene of the massacre of the Bedford Scouts, said to be the most successful Indian raid upon the white people of the Juniata Valley during the Revolution. George Ashman, a sub- lieutenant of Bedford County, sent the first report of the occurrence to Arthur Buchanan at Kishicoquillas (Lewistown). "Sir: - By an express this moment from Frankstown, we have the bad news. As a party of volunteers from Bedford was going to Frankstown, a party of Indians fell in with them this morning and killed thirty of them. Only seven made their escape to the garrison at Frankstown. I hope that you'll exert yourself in getting men to go up to the Stone; and pray let the river-people know, as they may turn out. I am, in health, "GEORGE ASHMAN. "Bedford County, June 12, 1781. "Sir: - I have to inform you that on Sunday, the third of this instant, a party of rangers under Captain Boyd, eight in number, with twenty-five volunteers under Captain Moore and Lieutenant Smith, of the militia of this county, had an engagement with a party of Indians (said to be numerous) within three miles 34 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY of Frankstown, where seventy-five of the Cumberland militia were stationed, commanded by Captain James Young. Some of the party running into the garrison, acquainting Captain Young what had happened, he issued out a party immediately, and brought in seven more, five of whom are wounded, and two made their escape to Bedford - eight killed and scalped - Captain Boyd, Captain Moore and Captain Dunlap missing. Captain Young, expecting from the enemy's numbers that his garrison would be surrounded, sent express to me immediately; but, before I could collect as many volunteers as was sufficient to march to Frankstown with, the enemy had returned over the Alleghany Hill. The waters being high, occasioned by heavy rains, they could not be pursued. This county, at this time, is in a deplorable condition. A number of families are flying away daily ever since the late damage was done. I can assure your Excellency that if immediate assistance is not sent to this county that the whole of the frontier inhabitants will move off in a few days. Colonel Abraham Smith, of Cumberland, has informed me that he has no orders to send us any more militia from Cumberland County to our assistance, which I am surprised to hear. I shall move my family to Maryland in a few days, as I am convinced that not any one settlement is able to make any stand against such numbers of the enemy. If your Excellency should please to order us any assistance, less than three hundred will be of but little relief to this county. Ammunition we have not any; and the Cumberland militia will be discharged in two days. It is dreadful to think what the consequence of leaving such a number of helpless inhabitants may be to the cruelties of a savage enemy. "Please to send me by the first opportunity three hundred pounds, as I cannot possibly do the business without money. You may depend that nothing shall be wanting in me to serve my country as far as my abilities. "I have the honor to be, "Your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant, "GEORGE ASHMAN, Lieut., Bedford County." Ashman was not at the fort at the time and Indian attacks were usually exaggerated by settlers so that his reports of the events are understandable. The facts of the raid are these. Early in 1781, seventy Cumberland County militia were sent to Standing Stone and then to Frankstown. Colonel Albright and Captain Young commanded them and they came for the purpose of guarding the gaps in the Allegheny Mountains and thus prevent the Indians from entering. For some reason not clear the militia from Cumberland County did not imbue the frontier inhabitants with much confidence. They are charged with inefficiency by some authorities, and by an unwillingness to serve as well as inability to check the Indians. No matter what the reasons for the evident failure to drive the enemy away, the fact remains that the inhabitants of the county felt impelled to organize themselves in some way so as to check the savages. A scouting party was arranged to range through Bedford County over a period of two months. This movement on the part of the settlers was favorably received by Colonel Ashman who agreed to furnish a company of rangers to WHITE SETTLERS, INDIAN WARS, AND THE REVOLUTION 35 join them. Captain Moore, of Scotch Valley, and a man by the name of Smith, who lived near Frankstown, proceeded to enroll volunteers. On June 2, 1781, the force met at Holliday's Fort which had been abandoned for want of provisions. There the rangers, under Captain Boyd and Lieutenant Harry Woods, of Bedford, met them. There were only eight rangers and the two above-mentioned officers, instead of the company that the volunteers expected to meet. They left Holliday's Fort and marched to Fetter's where they planned to spend the Sabbath. Then they intended to march to Kittanning Gap, to an old road, which was abandoned long before Jones wrote his history, and then to Pittsburgh, returning home by way of Bedford. While at Fetter's Fort spies reported that an abandoned Indian encampment in which the fires were still burning and at which 25 or 30 braves must have stopped, was discovered nearby. The volunteers and rangers were eager to meet the Indians that day for the better woodsmen among them knew that the savages would not attack the settlement until the following day. On Sunday morning the men rose early, and without the help of Colonel Albright and his men, started for the mountain. The group included, the two Colemans, the two Hollidays, two brothers named Jones, a man named Grey, one of the famous Beatty brothers, James Somerville, Michael Wallack and Edward Milligan. They followed a path along the Juniata to a flat within 30 rods of the mouth of Sugar Run. There they were greeted with loud war whoops and a band of Indians fired from the bushes to the left of the road. Fifteen of the scouts fell dead and the rest fled to Frankstown and to Fetter's Fort. One of the Jones brothers reached Fetter's Fort first and reported the number of Indians to be so large that Colonel Albright refused to allow any of his militia to go to the relief of the unfortunate scouts. The Colemans escaped and on their way to the fort found the brother of Jones behind a log, scalped. Another man lay scalped nearby so that with fifteen who had been shot the number of dead scouts reached seventeen. Five others were wounded and were carried to the fort. Others, including Harry Woods, James Somerville and Michael Wallack were missing for a time. Somerville's moccasin became untied and an Indian approached with tomahawk uplifted. Woods aimed an empty rifle at the Indian who recognized him as the son of George Woods, of Bedford, who had been friendly to the Indians. The savage then jumped behind a tree shouting, "No hurt Woods! No hurt Woods!" The three scouts were willing to return to the fort after their experiences and by taking a circuitous route reached it in the late afternoon. The following day Captain Young went out with a small body of men to bury the dead. Most of them were interred where they fell and after the party became tired of grave digging they are reported to have merely covered the remaining bodies with bark and leaves. On Tuesday, after the attack, the surviving Jones went in search of his brother's body and found only the crushed remains of some bones where wolves had fed. The news of the massacre was sent by express in every direction. People from Standing Stone gathered at Fetter's Fort and on Tuesday after the event 36 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY a hundred men went in pursuit of the Indians. None of them belonged to Colonel Albright's command. They returned, after a time, unsuccessful in their pursuit. Colonel Albright and his company became very unpopular in the community and when his time of service there expired he was not urged to remain. After this attack on the Bedford scouts, men, arms and ammunition were provided in abundance but they were little needed for this was the "last formidable and warlike incursion into the Juniata Valley." Many years after the event, when Woods, who has been referred to earlier, was living in Pittsburgh, he chanced to see several canoes, filled with Indians, come down the Allegheny River. They had scarcely time to land when one of them, a distinguished chief, rushed up to him and grasped his hand in very friendly fashion saying, "Woods, you run like debble up Juniata Hill." The chief was the young Indian who pursued the three scouts, Somerville, Wallack and Woods, at the time of the massacre of the Bedford scouts in 1781.