HISTORY: Warner Beers, 1886, Part 2, Chapter 3, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER III. INDIAN HISTORY - FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR - PONTIAC'S WAR. IN this connection it will not be necessary to enter into an extended history of the Indian nations who at various periods claimed power over this region. It will be sufficient to state that when the Cumberland Valley first became known to the European races, and was looked upon as a place of future colonization, it was virtually in possession of the aggregation of tribes known as the Six Nations. It has been said that at the opening of the seventeenth century "the lower valley of the Susquehanna appears to have been a vast, uninhabited highway, through which hordes of hostile savages were constantly roaming between the northern and southern waters, and where they often met in bloody encounters. The Six Nations were acknowledged as the sovereigns of the Susquehanna, and they regarded with jealousy and permitted with reluctance the settlement of other tribes upon its margin."* The Six Nations - originally the Five Nations until the Tuscaroras of North Carolina joined them in 1712 - were the Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas, Mohawks and Tuscaroras. They were termed the "Iroquois" by the French. The "Lenni Lenape," or the "original people," commonly called the Delaware Nation, were divided into three grand divisions - the Unamis, or Turtle tribes; the Unalachtgos, or Turkeys, and the Monseys, or Wolf tribes. The first two occupied the territory along the coast and between the sea and the Kittatinny or Blue Mountains, with settlements reaching from the Hudson on the east to the Potomac on the west. The Monseys, a fierce, active and warlike people, occupied the mountainous country between the Kittatinny and the sources of the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. These three divisions were subdivided into various subordinate classes bearing distinguishing names. The Lenni Lenape tribes occupying this region soon after the first settlement of Pennsylvania were the Tuteloes and Nantecokes, formerly in Maryland and Virginia. The Shawanos, or Shawauese, a fierce and restless tribe which was threatened with extermination by a more powerful tribe in the south, sought protection from the northern tribes whose language was similar to their own, and a portion of them settled near the forks of the Delaware and on the flats below Philadelphia. Becoming troublesome they were removed by either the Delawares or Six Nations to the Susquehanna Valley, and during the Revolution and the war of 1812 their terrible deeds became matters of historic record. From them sprang the renowned chieftain Tecumseh (or Tecumthe). The historian Bancroft, in speaking of the Shawanese, says: "It was about the year 1698 that three or four score of their families, with the consent of the government of Pennsylvania, removed from Carolina and planted themselves on the Susquehanna. Sad were the fruits of that hospitality. Others followed; and when, in 1732, the number of Indian fighting men in Pennsylvania was estimated to be 700, one-half of them were Shawanee emigrants. So desolate was the wilderness that a vagabond tribe could wander undisturbed from Cumberland down to the Alabama, from the head waters of the Santee to the Susquehanna." Some historians believe the Shawanese came north in 1678. They *Day's Historical Collection of Pennsylvania, pp. 388, 389. 42 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. had a village in Lancaster County, at the mouth of Pequea (or Pequehan) Creek, and their chief's name was Opessah, and there were several Indian towns along both sides of the Susquehanna. Those who had settled at Pequea removed a quarter of a century later to lands on the Conodoquinet, within the present limits of Cumberland County, with also a village at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches Creek. They deserted the villages about 1725, when the whites began to look to it for homes, and removed westward to the Ohio. The lands on the Conodoquinet were surveyed for the use of the Indians upon a treaty of purchase being made by the proprietaries for their lands on the Susquehanna, at the mouth of the Conestoga and elsewhere. "The intrusion of the white settlers upon their hunting ground," says Conyngham, "proved a fresh source of grievance; they remonstrated to the governor and to the Assembly, and finally withdrew and placed themselves under the protection of the French. Big Beaver, a Shawanee chief, at the treaty of Carlisle in 1753, referred to a promise made by William Penn, at Shackamaxon, of hunting grounds forever." The treaty mentioned was one "of amity and friendship," made at Carlisle in October, 1753, with the Ohio Indians, by Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Morris and William Peters, commissioners. The expense there of, including presents to the Indians, was 1,400L. Treaties. - Says Dr. Wing (pp. 14-15 History of Cumberland County): "For one or two generations at least the land of Penn was never stained by an Indian with the blood of a white man. Deeds were obtained on several different occasions during the years 1682-1700 for lands lying between the Delaware and the Potomac, and south of the South Mountain. In 1696 a purchase was effected through Gov. Dongan, of New York, in consideration of one hundred pounds sterling, 'of all that tract of land lying on both sides of the river Susquehanna and the lakes adjacent in or near the province of Pennsylvania.' As the right of the Six Nations to sell this territory was not acknowledged by the various tribes living on the Susquehanna, Conestoga and Potomac Rivers, other treaties were entered into with the sachem of these tribes (September 30, 1700, and April 23, 1701), by which their sale was expressly confirmed. So vague, however, was the language used in these deeds that a question arose whether the phrases 'lands on both sides of the Susquehanna and adjoining the same,' would give any rights beyond that river, and it was thought best to effect another purchase before any settlement should be allowed on that territory. Accordingly the chiefs of the Six Nations met October 11, 1736, in Philadelphia, when they revived all past treaties of friendship and executed a deed conveying to John, Thomas and Richard Penn and their heirs 'all the said river Susquehanna, with the lands lying on both sides thereof, to extend eastward as far as the heads of the branches or springs which run into the said Susquehanna, and all the land lying on the west side of the said river to the setting of the sun, and to extend from the mouth of the said river northward up the same to the hills or mountains called in the language of said nations Tayamentasachta, and by the Delaware Indians the Kekachtannin* hills.' This deed included all the lands comprised in the present county of Cumberland, but was not executed until a few years after settlements had been commenced there." Previous to the purchase of 1736, a number of unauthorized settlements had been made upon the Conodoguinet and Conococheague, mostly by persons from the north of Ireland, and after the purchase, but before the lands were surveyed, these settlements were encouraged for the purpose of preventing intruders coming in under Lord Baltimore's title. "These settlements," says Day, "gave rise to the complaints of the Shawanese." *By other authority Kekachtanamin. 43 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Portrait of A. Bosler 44 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Blank Page 45 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. After Franklin's treaty with the Indians at Carlisle, in 1753, a dispute arose between the governor and Council, and the Assembly, over a complaint made by the Shawanese, "that the proprietary government had surveyed all the land on the Conodoguinet into a manor, and driven them from their hunting ground without a purchase and contrary to treaty." The remarks made by Big Beaver at said treaty have been mentioned. They were mentioned by the Assembly in the dispute, but "by the governor and Council it was alleged that no such thing had occurred, and that a treaty held in 1754, the same Shawanee chiefs who were at Carlisle the year before made the strongest professions of their friendship, without any complaint on account of the same tract of land. They alleged, too, that the Shawanese never had any claim to the Conodoguinet lands; for that they were southern Indians who, being rendered uneasy by their neighbors, had settled on these lands in 1698, with the permission of the Susquehanna Indians and the proprietary, William Penn." However, no compensation being made to the Shawanese, they removed as stated and put themselves under the protection of the French and became a source of terror to the colonists because of their hostility during the great French and Indian war of 1753-60. Indians belonging to various tribes were met with by the early settlers. Among them were the Shawanese, Delawares, Susquehannas (of which people but a remnant was left, the tribe having been swept away by wars and small-pox), Manticokes, Mingoes, Tuteloes, etc. A Mingo village is said to have existed on Letort Run, in the neighborhood of Carlisle and the famous Logan, whose residences were many, if all tradition be true, is said to have once occupied a cabin on the Beaver Pond, at the head of Letort Spring. The Shawanees were not so numerous as in former years, as many of them had removed westward. They had professed that the lands, being barren, or devoid of large trees were not suitable for a hunting ground, and for that reason they had left, but indiscretion on the part of some of their young men, who had in drunken frolics given offense to the Delawares, had undoubtedly been a greater reason, although both the Delawares and the Six Nations made investigations, forgave their offenses, and invited them to return, which they would not do. Even the proprietary, Thomas Penn, upon his arrival in 1732, extended the same invitation and assigned them a large tract of the land they had previously occupied provided they would return. A few of them did so, and lived peaceably with the settlers. In order to prevent whites from locating upon the land given to the Shawanese, a tract containing 7,551 acres was surveyed in 1732 and erected into a manor called Paxton. The Indians were finally found unwilling to occupy this land, and it was surveyed December 26, 1764, and given the name "Louther Manor," in honor of a sister of William Penn, who married a nobleman of that name. The order for the resurvey was given December 6, 1764, and returned May 16, 1765, the quantity being found as above - 7,551 acres. The bounds are described as follows: "Bounded on the east by the Susquehanna, opposite John Harris' ferry; north by the Conodoguinet; south by the Yellow Breeches Creek, and on the west by a line drawn a little westerly from the said Yellow Breeches to Conodoguinet Creek, containing 7,507 acres or upward." The state of mind the Shawanese were in over their pretended wrongs, and the bargaining away of their land by the Six Nations with little regard for their welfare, rendered them easy to win from their friendship to the English. "More than once," says Dr. Wing, "when messengers were sent to them by the Governor and the Six Nations, they confessed that they had been mistaken and promised that they would return, or at least live in peace where they were; 46 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. but every year it became more and more evident that their friendship was forced, and lasted only while they were in expectation of some benefits, and that their hostility might be counted upon whenever an opportunity of vengeance should occur. The Delawares had not as extensively gone beyond the mountains; the main body adhered to their chiefs, and were almost supported by the government, but an increasing number of them were wandering off and were making common cause with the Shawanees. The 'Indian Walk,' by which a portion of their lands had been acquired, seemed at least sharp practice, but the injustice had been more than compensated by subsequent dealings." The use of liquor among the Indians was the cause of much trouble between themselves, and to a certain extent between them and the whites. They knew not how to govern their appetites, and more than once Indian murders occurred which could be directly traced as the effects of the liquor the perpetrators had swallowed. It burned any humanity out of them and made their naturally savage dispositions wilder and fiercer. It is known that Sassoonan, king of the Delawares, in 1731 killed his nephew while in a drunken frenzy, and was overcome with remorse and shame when he became sober, and yet he could not bring himself to ask that the sale of the poison to the Indians be entirely prohibited, but only that it might be kept from his people, except as it was asked for by themselves. The French began their work of alienating the Shawanese from the English as early as 1730, desiring to secure their influence in the furtherance of their own purposes. The following, from a message by Gov. Gordon to the Provincial Assembly, August 4, 1731, as given in the provincial record, shows "that by advices lately brought to him by several traders (from Ohio) in those parts, it appears that the French have been using endeavors to gain over those Indians (Shawanese) to their interest, and for this end a French gentleman had come among them some years since, sent, as it was believed, from the governor of Montreal, and at his departure last year carried with him some of the Shawanese chiefs to that government, with whom they at their return appeared to be highly pleased. That the same French gentleman, with five or six others in company with him, had this last spring again come among the said Indians and brought with him a Shawanese interpreter, and was well received by them." [Rupp's History of Cumberland and other counties, page 351. The same authority says that "Hotaquantagechty, a distinguished chief, said, in a council held at Philadelphia, August 25, 1732, that last fall (1731) the French interpreter, Cahichtodo, came to the Ohio River (or Allegheny) to build houses there, and to supply the Indians with goods, etc."] Settlements by the Scotch-Irish upon unpurchased lands about the Juniata assisted in fanning the flame of Indian hostility. Yet, in what is now Cumberland County, these settlements must have been as stated by Mr. Rupp, made "by permission from the Indians, whom the first settlers conciliated," for there were no outbreaks here for more than thirty years after the pioneer locations had been made. Yet it was evident that a crisis was impending. The provincial government was hard pressed to provide presents for the Indians, in order to keep them peaceable and to maintain a line of frontier defense against French incursions. Finally war was declared between France and England,* and the storm, which had for so many years been gathering force, broke with deadly fury upon the mountain region, and sad were the experiences of the colonists before morning dawned upon a peaceful horizon. Matters began to look dark for the settlers upon this declaration of hostil- *Open hostility was declared in March, 1744, although the actual strife in Pennsylvania did not break out until 1758, when the French established posts to connect the lakes with the Ohio. 47 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. ities. The French had encroached upon territory claimed by the English, and the Six Nations were silent when messages were sent them concerning the other tribes they had previously held in check. Chartier, the Indian trader, formerly located at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, had made his home with the Shawanese and accepted a commission in the French Army. He was a half-breed with Shawanese blood in his veins, and had great influence over that tribe. A conference was held with the Six Nations at Lancaster June 24, 1744, when the latter pledged themselves to remain at pence and to do all in their power to prevent the tribes which owed them allegiance from indulging in hostile forays. But as a large portion of the Shawanees and Delawares had gone beyond their jurisdiction, the treaty could not reach them, and it became the inhabitants to cast about for means of security and defense. The foolish differences between the governor and the Assembly for years prevented steps being taken sufficient to allay fear. Finally, through the sagacity of Benjamin Franklin, aided by James Logan, 10,000 volunteer militiamen were formed into 120 companies throughout the provinces, and the expense was met by voluntary subscriptions. The regiments thus raised were called "Association regiments," and this was the beginning of a system which continued on into the Revolutionary war. Bancroft states on the authority of Logan that "the women were so zealous that they furnished ten pairs of silk colors wrought with various mottoes." The inhabitants of Lancaster County, for Cumberland was not yet formed, being largely Scotch-Irish and naturally warlike and aggressive, entered heartily into the military spirit. A number of companies was formed in the valley, the officers being chosen by the soldiers and commissioned by the governor. The several militia captains in the county were sent letters, dated December 15, 1745, stating that news had been received that "the French and their Indian allies were preparing to march during the winter to the frontiers of Pennsylvania under the conduct of Peter Chartier, who would not fail to do them all the mischief in his power. The news served to stir up the people, as may well be imagined, but the alarm proved groundless. March 29, 1748, a list of officers in an Associated regiment, raised in "that part of Lancaster which lay between the river Susquehanna and the lines of this province," was presented to the provincial council. The officers had been chosen by the men in their commands and commissioned by the governor, and were as follows: Colonel - Benjamin Chambers, of Chambersburg; lieutenant colonel - Robert Dunning, of East Pennsborough; major - William Maxwell, of Peters; captains - Richard O'Cain, Robert Chambers, of Hopewell; James Carnaghan, of Hopewell; John Chambers, of Middleton; James Silvers, of East Pennsborough; Charles Morrow, of Hopewell; George Brown, of West Pennsborough; James Woods, of Middleton; James McTeer, of East Pennsborough, and Matthew Dill; lieutenants - William Smith, of Peters; Andrew Finley, of Lurgan; James Jack, of Hopewell; Jonathan Holmes of Middleton; Tobias Hendricks, of East Pennsborough; James Dysart, of Hopewell; John Potter, of Antrim; John McCormick, of East Pennsborough; William Trindle, of East Pennsborough; Andrew Miller, of East Pennsborough; Charles McGill, of Guilford; John Winton, of Peters; John Mitchell, of East Pennsborough; ensigns - John Lesan, John Thompson, of Hopewell; Walter Davis, of Middleton; Joseph Irwin, of Hopewell; John Anderson, of East Pennsborough; John Randalls, of Antrim; Samuel Fisher, of East Pennsborough; Moses Starr, of East Pennsborough; George Brenan, Robert Meek, of Hopewell; James Wilkey, of Peters, and Adam Hayes, of West Pennsborough. No invasions of what is now Cumberland County occurred, and no murders of citizens of this immediate valley are recorded during this period. 48 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. The home government were in doubt about the legality and expediency of those associated organizations, but their doubts were easily removed, and the council, in a letter to the proprietaries dated July 30, 1748, said: "The zeal and industry, the skill and regularity of the officers have surprised every one, _____ it has been for them a hard service. The whole has been attended by s___ expense, care and fatigue as would not have been borne or undertaken by any who were not warm and sincere friends of the government, and true lovers of their country. In short, we have by this means, in the opinion of most strangers, the best militia in America; so that, had the war continued, we should have been in little pain about any future enterprises of our enemies. Whatever opinion lawyers or others not fully acquainted with our unhappy circumstances may entertain of it, it is in our opinion one of the wisest and most useful measures that was ever undertaken in any country." The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in October, 1748, did not affect the American colonies, for the French continued to erect forts and take other steps until war was precipitated in 1753. In what is at present Cumberland County, forts - in some instances mere trading-houses-were erected at various times from 1753 to 1764, and so far as now known were as follows: Fort Le Tort, a trading- house, eight miles up the Conodoguinet from Harris' ferry, where the veteran trader, George Croghan, resided: Fort Franklin, at Shippensburg, said to have been commenced in 1755; Fort Morris, at Shippensburg, 1755; Forts Dickey, Ferguson and McAllister, all in 1764. (These are on authority of an historical map of Pennsylvania issued by the Pennsylvania Historical Society.) The defeat of Gen. Braddock on the Monongahela, July 9, 1755, left the frontier in a greatly exposed condition, and the people were quick to apprehend their dan- [MISSING LINE] Gov. Morris visited Carlisle July 10, 1755, for the purpose of sending on supplies to Braddock and encouraging the people in the midst of their panic over various Indian depredations and the removal of troops for their protection from the valley, and while there learned of the disastrous end of Braddock's expedition. The troops in Pennsylvania were sent north, and the province was left to take care of itself as best it could. Large quantities of provisions had been accumulated at Shippensburg, Carlisle and other points, which the retreating army had no pressing need for, and it was well for the inhabitants of the valley. Work on the military road, elsewhere described, was abandoned, and the people looked to the future with dire forebodings. "News of contemplated attacks upon the settlements along the frontier from the Delaware to the Maryland and Virginia line came upon the people in quick succession, and some actual massacres, burnings and captivities were reported from the south, west and north. Even before Braddock's defeat, and when that general with his army had gone only thirty miles from Fort Cumberland, a party of 100 Indians, under the notorious Shingas, came to the Big Cove and to the Conoloways (creeks on the border of Maryland in what is now Fulton County) and killed and took prisoners about thirty people, and drove the remainder from their homes."* The fugitives spread the news, and terror and consternation resulted among the inhabitants of the region, not lessened when warning was given that an attack had been planned against Shearman's Valley and the settlements here. "John Potter," says Wing, "the sheriff of Cumberland County, who resided in the vicinity which had been ravaged, gathered some companies to resist the assailants, but it was only to witness the burning buildings, bury the dead and form a gathering of the fugitives; the nimble foe was *By Dr. Wing, from Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. II, p. 875. 49 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. always at a distance on some other depredations before the pursuers reached any point where they had been. James Smith (a brother-in-law of William Smith, the justice and commissioner on the road), a youth of eighteen, had been captured with several others while engaged in conveying provisions along the road, and still larger number up the river Susquehanna was slain and driven in. Twenty-seven plantations were reported as utterly desolated in the southwestern part of this valley and vicinity, and no prospect seemed to be before the people but that of being given up to the will of the savages." When Gov. Morris learned in Carlisle of Braddock's defeat he was importuned by the people to take some steps for their protection. He issued writs to summon to a meeting on the 23d of July at Philadelphia, to devise means to defend the frontier and provide for the expense; and upon request of the people laid out ground for wooden forts at Carlisle and Shippensburg, and gave orders to have them built and supplied with arms and ammunition. He at the same time encouraged the inhabitants to form associations for their own defense, and they scarcely needed a second bidding. Four companies of militia were formed and supplied with powder and lead. John Armstrong and William Buchanan, of Carlisle, Justice William Maxwell, of Peters, Alexander Culbertson, of Lurgan, and Joseph Armstrong, of Hamilton Townships, received supplies to distribute among the inhabitants. There was great danger from the enemy at the upper end of the valley, though no locality was safe. Petitions were sent to the governor by numerous citizens in the valley, showing their inability to provide adequate protection for themselves, and calling upon him for assistance. The people at Shippensburg offered to finish a fort begun under the late governor if they might be allowed men and ammunition to defend it. Dr. Egle in his History of Pennsylvania (pp. 89-90), says: "The consternation at Braddock's defeat was very great in Pennsylvania. The retreat of Dunbar left the whole frontier uncovered; whilst the inhabitants, unarmed and undisciplined, were compelled hastily to seek the means of defense or of flight. In describing the exposed state of the province and the miseries which threatened it, the governor had occasion to be entirely satisfied with his own eloquence; and had his resolution to defend it equaled the earnestness of his appeal to the Assembly, the people might have been spared much suffering. The Assembly immediately voted 50,000L. to the King's use, to be raised by a tax of 12 pence per pound, and 20 shillings per head, yearly, for two years, on all estates, real and personal, throughout the province, the proprietaries estate not excepted. This was not in accordance with the proprietary instructions, and therefore returned by the governor. In the long discussions which ensued between the two branches of government, the people began to become alarmed, as they beheld with dread the procrastination of the measures for defense, and earnestly demanded arms and ammunition. The enemy, long restrained by fear of another attack, and scarcely crediting his senses when he discovered the defenseless state of the frontiers, now roamed unmolested and fearlessly along the western lines of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, committing the most appalling outrages and wanton cruelties which the cupidity and ferocity of the savage could dictate. The first inroads into Pennsylvania were in Cumberland County, whence they were soon extended to the Susquehanna. The inhabitants, dwelling at the distance of from one to three miles apart, fell unresistingly, were captured or fled in terror to the interior settlements. The main body of the enemy encamped on the Susquehanna, thirty miles above Harris' ferry, whence they extended themselves on both sides the river, below the Kittatinny Mountains. The settlements at the Great Cove 50 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. in Cumberland County, now Fulton, were destroyed, and many of the inhabitants slaughtered or made captives, and the same fate fell upon Tulpehocken, upon Mahanoy and Gnadenhutten." As an illustration of the desperate strait the people were in, the following letter, written to the governor by John Harris, of Harris' ferry, October 29, 1755, is quoted: "We expect the enemy upon us every day, and the inhabitants are abandoning their plantations, being greatly discouraged at the approach of such a number of cruel savages, and no sign of assistance. The Indians are cutting us off every day, and I had a certain account of about 1,500 Indians, besides French, being on their march against us and Virginia, and now close on our borders, their scouts scalping our families on our frontiers daily. Andrew Montour and others at Shamokin desired me to take care; that there was forty Indians out many days, and intended to burn my house and destroy my family. I have this day cut holes in my house, and it is determined to hold out to the last extremity if I can get some men to stand by me, few of which I yet can at present, every one being in fear of their own families being cut off every hour; such is our situation. I am informed that a French officer was expected at Shamokin this week with a party of Delawares and Shawnese, no doubt to take possession of our river; and, as to the state of the Susquehanna Indians, a great part of them are actually in the French interest; but if we should raise such a number of men immediately as would be able to take possession of some convenient place up the Susquehanna, and build a strong fort in spite of French or Indians, perhaps some Indians may join us, but it is trusting to uncertainty to depend upon them, in my opinion. We ought to insist on the Indians declaring either for or against us. As soon as we are prepared for them, we must bid up for scalps and keep the woods full of our own people hunting them, or they will ruin our province, for they are a dreadful enemy. We impatiently look for assistance. I have sent out two Indian spies to Shamokin. They are Mohawks, and I expect they will return in a day or two. Consider our situation, and rouse your people downward, and do not let about 1,500 villains distress such a number of inhabitants as is in Pennsylvania, which actually they will, if they possess our provisions and frontier long, as they now have many thousands of bushels of our corn and wheat in possession already, for the inhabitants goes off and leaves all."* Gov. Morris, moved by the sad tidings from the frontier, summoned the Assembly to meet November 3, (1755), when he demanded money and a militia law, after laying before the body an account of the proceedings of the enemy. Petitions were constantly coming in for arms and ammunition, and asking for the taking of such steps as should carry out the Governor's ideas and afford protection to the inhabitants. With the Indians committing depredations on the south side of the Blue Mountains, the obstinate Assembly "fooled along" as if there were no necessity for action. The proprietaries made a donation of 5,000L., and the Assembly finally passed a bill for the issuance of 30,000L. in bills of credit, based upon the excise, which was approved by the Governor. The people held public meetings in various places to devise means to bring the Assembly to its senses, and the dead and mangled bodies of some of the victims of savage cruelty were sent to Philadelphia and hauled about the streets, with placards announcing that they were victims of the "Quaker policy of non-resistance." The province of Pennsylvania erected a chain of forts and block-houses along the Kittatinny Hills, from the Delaware to the Maryland line, and garrisoned them with twenty to seventy-five men each. The whole expense was 85,000L., and the principal mountain *Egle's History of Pennsylvania, pp. 90-91. 51 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. passes were guarded by them. Benjamin Franklin and his son William were leading spirits and raised 500 men, with whom they marched to the frontier and assisted in garrisoning the forts. October 30, 1755, about eighteen citizens met at the residence of Mr. Shippen, of Shippensburg, pursuant to a call by Sheriff John Potter, and resolved to build five forts: one at Carlisle, Shippensburg, Benjamin Chambers', Steel's meeting-house and William Allison's, respectively. Fort Louther at Carlisle, had existed in an uncompleted state since 1753, and Fort Franklin, which stood in the northeastern part of Shippensburg, was begun as early as 1740. The latter was a log structure, and its ruins were torn down about 1790. Fort Morris, commenced after the meeting of citizens above alluded to, was not finished until the 17th of December following, although 100 men worked upon it "with heart and hand" every day. It was built on a rocky hill at the western end of town, of small stones, the walls being two feet thick and laid in mortar. A portion of this fort was in existence until 1886, when it was town down. Its construction was carried on during an exciting period. Fort Franklin, the log structure, was enlarged by the addition of several sections, and in 1755 had a garrison of fifty men. Edward Shippen, writing to William Allen June 30, 1755, tells of murders committed by the Indians "near our fort." Twenty-five companies of militia, numbering altogether 1,400 men, were raised and equipped for the defense of the frontier. The second battalion, comprising 700 men, and stationed west of the Susquehanna, was commanded by Col. John Armstrong, of Carlisle. His subordinates were, captains, Hans Hamilton, John Potter, Hugh Mercer, George Armstrong, Edward Ward, Joseph Armstrong and Robert Callender; lieutenants, William Thompson, James Hayes, James Hogg, William Armstrong and James Holliday; ensigns, James Potter, John Prentice, Thomas Smallman, William Lyon and Nathaniel Cartland. Four forts were built by the province west of the Susquehanna, viz.: Fort Lyttleton, in the northern part of what is now Fulton County; Fort Shirley at Augharich, the residence of George Croghan, where Shirleysburg now is, in Huntingdon County; Fort Granville, near the confluence of the Juniata and Kishicoquillas, in Mifflin County, and Pomfret Castle on the Mahantango Creek, near midway between Fort Granville and Fort Augusta (Sunbury), on the south line of Snyder County. Capt. Hans Hamilton commanded Fort Lyttleton; Capt. Hugh Mercer, Fort Shirley, subsequent to the resignation of Capt. George Croghan; Col. James Burd, Fort Granville, and Col. James Patterson, Pomfret Castle. These forts were too far from considerable settlements to be effectual, and in 1756 John Armstrong advised the building of another line along the Cumberland Valley, with one at Carlisle. The old fort (Fort Louther) at Carlisle was simply a stockade of logs, with loop-holes for muskets, and swivel guns at each corner of the fort. In 1755 it was garrisoned by fifty men; it probably received its name in 1756. Other forts were erected in the valley outside of what is now Cumberland County, and Col. John Armstrong was at the head of the military operations. In 1757 breast-works were erected by Col. Stanwix, northeast of Carlisle, near the present Indian school (old United States barracks). Col. Stanwix wrote to Secretary Peters, July 25, 1757, as follows: "Am at work at my intrenchment, but as I send out such large and frequent parties, with other necessary duties, can only spare about seventy workingmen a day, and these have very often been interrupted by frequent and violent guests, so that we make but a small figure yet; and the first month was entirely taken up in clearing the ground, which was 52 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. full of monstrous stumps. Have built myself a hut in camp, where the captains and I live together."* An early writer (1757) upon the mode of warfare adopted by the Indians thus describes their maneuvers: "They come within a little way of that part they intend to strike, and encamp in the most remote place they can find to be quite free from discovery; the next day they send one, or sometimes two, of their nimble young fellows down to different places to view the situation of the town, the number of people at each house, the places the people most frequent, and to observe at each house whether there are most men or women. They will lie about a house several days and nights watching like a wolf. As soon as these spies return they march in the night in small parties of two, three, four or five, each party having a house for attack, and each being more than sufficient for the purpose intended. They arrive at their different destinations long before day, and make their attack about day-break, and seldom fail to kill or make prisoners of the whole family, as the people know nothing of the matter until they are thus labyrinthed. It is agreed that the moment each party has executed its part they shall retreat with their prisoners and scalps to the remote place of rendezvous which they left the night before. As soon as they are thus assembled they march all that day (and perhaps the next night, in a body if apprehensive of being pursued) directly for the Ohio. Perhaps at some of these houses thus attacked some of the people may be fortunate enough to escape; these as soon as the Indians are gone, alarm the forts and the country around, when a detachment, if possible, propose to pursue the enemy. But as the whole or the chief part of the day is spent in assembling, taking counsel, and settling out on the expedition, the Indians, having eight or ten hours the start, cannot be overtaken, and they return much fatigued and obliged to put up with their loss. Upon this the chief part of inhabitants adjacent to the place fly, leaving their habitations and all they have, while perhaps a few determine to stay, choosing rather to take the chance of dying by the enemy than to starve by leaving their all. These must be constantly on the watch, and cannot apply themselves to any industry, but live as long as they can upon what they have got. The Indians avoid coming nigh that place for some time, and will make their next attack at a considerable distance, where the people are not thinking of danger. By and by the people who had fled from the first place, hearing of no encroachments in that quarter, are obliged, through necessity, to return to their habitations again and live in their former security. Then in due time the Indians will give them a second stroke with as much success as the first." The autumn of 1755 was fraught with terror to the citizens of Carlisle and vicinity. November 2, John Armstrong wrote Gov. Morris: "I am of the opinion that no other means than a chain of block-houses along or near the south side of the Kittatinny Mountain, from Susquehanna to the temporary line, can secure the lives and properties of the old inhabitants of this county; the new settlements being all fled except those in Shearman's Valley, who, if God do not preserve them, we fear will suffer very soon." Armstrong wrote the same day to Richard Peters as follows: CARLISLE, Sunday night, November 2, 1755. Dear Sir: - Inclosed to Mr. Allen, by the last p__t, I send you a letter from Harris'; but I believe forgot, through that day's confusion, to direct it. You will see our melancholy circumstances by the Governor's letter, and my opinion of the method of keeping the inhabitants in this country, which will require all possible dispatch. If we had immediate assurance of relief a great number would stay, and the inhabitants should be advertised not to drive off nor waste their beef cattle, etc. I have *By a letter from Col. Armstrong dated June 30, 1757, it is known that Col. Stanwix had begun these intrenchments shortly previous to that date. 53 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Portrait of S. P. Gorgas 54 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Blank Page 55 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. not so much as sent off my wife, fearing an ill precedent, but must do it now, I believe, together with the public papers and your own. There are no inhabitants on Juniata nor on Tuscarora by this time, by brother William being just come in. Montour and Monaghatootha are going to the Governor. The former is greatly suspected of being an enemy in his heart - 'tis hard to tell - you can compare what they say to the Governor with what I have wrote. I have no notion of a large army, but of great danger from scouting parties. January 15-22, 1756, another Indian treaty of amity was held at Carlisle, when Gov. Morris, Richard Peters, James Hamilton, William Logan, Joseph Fox (a commissioner from the Assembly) and George Croghan (interpreter) were present. But seven Indians only were present, including one chief from the Six Nations and one or two from a portion of the Delawares. Nevertheless, it was found that the hostile savages were confined to the Delawares and Shawanese tribes, and even among them there was a considerable minority opposed to the war. After taking all matters into consideration it was decided by the Governor to issue a declaration of war against the Delawares, the Shawanese not being included, because it was hoped they might be brought back to their former homes. Therefore, on the 14th of April, 1756, a proclamation of war was published against the Delaware Indians and all who were in confederacy with them, excepting a few who had come within the border and were living in peace. By advice of the Assembly's commissioners, who deemed any steps, however extreme, wise when the punishment of the savages and the cessation of hostilities was the object, rewards were offered as follows, as shown by the colonial records: "For every male Indian enemy above twelve years of age, who shall be taken prisoner and be delivered at any fort garrisoned by the troops in the pay of this province, or at any of the county towns to the keepers of the common jails, there shall be paid the sum of one hundred and fifty Spanish dollars or pieces of eight; for the scalp of every male Indian enemy above the age of twelve years, produced as evidence of their being killed, the sum of one hundred and thirty pieces of eight; for every female Indian taken prisoner and brought in as aforesaid, and for every male Indian prisoner under the age of twelve years, taken and brought in as aforesaid, one hundred and thirty pieces of eight; for the scalp of every Indian woman, produced as evidence of their being killed, the sum of fifty pieces of eight, and for every English subject that has been taken and carried from this province into captivity that shall be recovered and brought in, and delivered at the city of Philadelphia to the governor of this province, the sum of one hundred and fifty pieces of eight, but nothing for their scalps, and that there shall be paid to every officer or soldier as are or shall be in the pay of this province, who shall redeem and deliver any English subject carried into captivity as aforesaid, or shall take, bring in and produce any enemy, prisoner or scalp as aforesaid, one- half of the said several and respective premiums and bounties." Very few rewards were claimed under this proclamation, and it was not considered probable that any Indians were killed for the sake of procuring the bounty. The proclamation issued in May, 1756, subsequent to that against the Delawares, declaring war against France, was hardly necessary so far as the American territory was concerned, for, notwithstanding the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the French had kept up their movements in this country, building forts and inciting the Indians to commit outrages upon the English settlements, and winning the savages over to their own standards by arts well plied. The year 1756 was a dark one for the colonists, to whom the terrible experiences of Indian warfare were nothing new. Murders were committed in what was then Cumberland County but now Bedford, Union, Franklin, Dauph- 56 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. in, Perry and others, the leading spirits among the Indians being Shingas and Capt. Jacobs. Samuel Bell, residing on the Stony Ridge, five miles below Carlisle, had a lively experience, which is thus told by Loudon: "Some time after Gen. Braddock's defeat, he and his brother, James Bell, agreed to go into Shearman's Valley to hunt for deer, and were to meet at Croghan's (now Sterret's) Gap, on the Blue Mountain. By some means or other they did not meet, and Samuel slept all night in a cabin belonging to Mr. Patton, on Shearman's Creek. In the morning he had not traveled far before he spied three Indians who at the same time saw him. They all fired at each other; he wounded one of the Indians, but received no damage except through his clothes by the balls. Several shots were fired on both sides, as each took a tree. He took out his tomahawk and stuck it into the tree behind which he stood, so that should they approach he might be prepared; the tree was grazed with the Indians' balls, and he had thoughts of making his escape by flight, but on reflection had doubts of his being able to out run them. After some time the two Indians took the wounded one and put him over a fence, and one took one course and the other another, taking a compass, so that he could no longer screen himself by the tree; but by trying to ensnare him they had to expose themselves, by which means he had the good fortune to shoot one of them dead. The other ran and took the dead Indian on his back, one leg over each shoulder. By this time Bell's gun was again loaded. He then ran after the Indian until he came within about four yards from him, fired and shot through the dead Indian and lodged his ball in the other, who dropped the dead man and ran off. On his return, coming past the fence where the wounded Indian was, he dispatched him but did not know that he had killed the third Indian until his bones were found afterward." February 15, 1756, William Trent, in writing from Carlisle, stated that "several murders or captures and house burnings had taken place under Parnell's Knob, and that all the people between Carlisle and the North Mountain had fled from their homes and come to town, or were gathered into the little forts, that the people in Shippensburg were moving their families and effects, and that everybody was preparing to fly."* Shingas kept the upper end of the county in a state of terror, and fresh outrages were reported daily. The Indians killed, indiscriminately, men women and children, and received rewards from the French for their scalps; they boasted that they killed fifty white people for each Indian slain by the English. Inhabitants of the Great Cove fled from their homes in November, with the crackling of their burning roofs and the yells of the Indians ringing in their ears. John Potter, formerly sheriff, sheltered at his house one night 100 fleeing women and children. The cries of the widows and fatherless children were pitiful, and those who had fortunately escaped with their lives had neither food, bedding nor clothing to cover their nakedness, everything having been consumed in their burning dwellings. "Fifty persons," so it is recorded, "were killed or taken prisoners. One woman, over ninety years of age, was found lying dead with her breasts torn off and a stake driven through her body. The infuriated savages caught up little children and dashed their brains out against the door- posts in presence of their shrieking mothers, or cut off their heads and drank their warm blood. Wives and mothers were tied to trees that they might witness the tortures and death of their husbands and children, and then were carried into a captivity from which few ever returned. Twenty-seven houses were burned, a great number of cattle were killed or driven off, and out of the ninety-three families settled in the two coves and by the Conolloway's, members of forty-seven fam- *Dr. Wing, from Pennsylvania Archives. 57 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. ilies were either killed or captured and the remainder fled, so that these settlements were entirely broken up." Small wonder that such circumstances excited the people of the Cumberland Valley! Preparations were made at Shippensburg and Carlisle, where the people flocked in such numbers as to crowd the houses, to give the enemy a warm reception, and 400 men (of whom 200 were from this part of the valley) marched under the command of Hans Hamilton, sheriff of York County, to McDowell's Mill, in Franklin County, a few miles from the scene of the slaughter, but the Indians had retreated. Rev. John Steel, pastor of the "Old White Church," of Upper West Conococheague, raised a company among his parishioners for defense of their church and individual property in 1755, and was commissioned captain. The church was afterward burned, the congregation scattered, and Mr. Steel removed to Carlisle in 1758. April 2, 1756, a body of Indians attacked and burned McCord's fort, on the Conococheague, in what is now Franklin County, killing and capturing a total of twenty-seven persons. The alarm extended to Shippensburg, and three companies were raised in various parts of the valley, for the pursuit and punishment of the marauders, commanded respectively by Capts. Culbertson, Chambers and Hamilton. Capt. Alex Culbertson's company with nineteen men from the other two, overtook the Indians west of Sideling Hill and a fight ensued which lasted two hours. The Indians, from the report made by one of their number who was captured, lost seventeen killed and twenty-one wounded. The whites suffered severely. Among those killed were Capt. Culbertson, John Reynolds (ensign of Capt. Chambers' company), William Kerr, James Blair, John Leason, William Denny, Francis Scott, William Boyd, James Paynter, Jacob Jones, Robert Kerr and William Chambers; wounded, Francis Campbell, Abraham Jones, William Reynolds, John Barnet, Benjamin Blyth, John McDonald and Isaac Miller. Another party, commanded by Ensign Jamison, from Fort Granville, under Capt. Hamilton, in pursuit of the same Indians, had about the same experiences, losing Daniel McCoy, James Robinson, James Peace, John Blair, Henry Jones, John McCarty and John Kelly, killed; and Ensign Jamison, James Robinson, William Hunter, Matthias Ganshorn, William Swails and James Louder, wounded - the latter afterward died of his wounds. Most of those men were from the oldest and most respectable families in Cumberland County. All around the settlements in this county outrages were frequent and the number of lives taken was appalling, considering the sparsely settled condition of the country. Bands of Indians even ventured within a few miles of Carlisle. The military were employed in protecting men harvesting their crops in 1756, and it was necessary for all persons to be ever on the alert to guard against surprise and attack. In June, 1756, a Mr. Dean, living about a mile east of Shippensburg, was found murdered in his cabin, his skull cleft with a tomahawk. It was supposed a couple of Indians seen in the neighborhood the day before had committed the deed. On the 6th of the same month, a short distance east of where Burd's Run crosses the road leading from Shippensburg to the Middlespring church, a party of Indians killed John McKean and John Agnew and captured Hugh Black, William Carson, Andrew Brown, James Ellis and Alex McBride. A party of citizens from Shippensburg pursued the Indians through McAllister's Gap into Path Valley, and on the morning of the third day out met all the prisoners except James Ellis, and on their return home, they having escaped. Ellis was never afterward heard from. The pursuers returned with the men who had escaped, further pursuit being useless. 58 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Many other instances of murders and kindred outrages by the Indians might be mentioned, for the history of that dread time teems with them, but it is not necessary to recount them. Enough has been said to show the terrible state the region was in, and the horrid tales are dropped to tell of an expedition in which the whites took the initiative.* Gov. Morris was superseded on the 20th of August, 1756, by Gov. William Denny, but before the latter's arrival he (Morris), in view of the constant cries for help from the frontier, and especially from East Pennsborough Township, Cumberland County, and the upper portion of the county, whose inhabitants sent in urgent petitions for aid, had arranged with Col. Armstrong for a movement against the Indian town of Kittanning, on the Allegheny River, about twenty miles above Fort DuQuesne, in what is now Armstrong County. The place was the chief stronghold of the red men, was the base of their operations eastward and toward the Ohio, and was the home of both Shingas and Capt. Jacobs.** There were also held a considerable number of white prisoners. A small army was organized under the command of Lieut. Col. John Armstrong, consisting of seven companies, *** whose captains were John Armstrong, Hans Hamilton, Dr. Hugh Mercer, Edward Ward, Joseph Armstrong, John Potter, and Rev. John Steel. The command set out in August, 1756, and at the dawn of the 7th (8th?) of September made the attack on the Indian town, which was totally destroyed, together with large quantities of ammunition. Capt. Jacobs and his nephew were killed, and few, if any, escaped the avenging hand of the officer, whose rapid march and well executed plans won for him the approval of his people. The corporation of Philadelphia voted him a medal for his exploit.**** This disaster to the Indians led them to remove to the Muskingum, in Ohio, but served only for a short time to check their operations in Pennsylvania. The year 1757 was fraught with unabated horrors. Cumberland County, with others, was kept in a state of continual alarm, although in May of that year another conference was held with the Indians at Lancaster to try and bring about peace. The western Indians *At one period (1750-55) there was a noted person in the valley who figured conspicuously in movements against the Indians. He was known as "Captain Jack," "the black hunter," "the black rifle," "the wild hunter of the Juniata," "the black hunter of the forest," etc. He was a white man, an early comer to the region, and happy and contented in his occupations of fishing and hunting, until the Indians, one day when he was absent, burned his cabin and murdered his wife and children. Then he became imbued with a spirit of revenge, and his exploits rendered him famous. He was a dead shot with the rifle, a terror to the Indians, and greatly respected and appreciated by the scattered settlers, whose lives and property he was more than once the means of saving. It is said of him that "he never shot without good cause. His look was as unerring as his aim. He formed an association to defend the settlers against savage aggressions. On a given signal they would unite. Their exploits were heard of in 1756 on the Conococheague and Juniata." - [Egle's Hist. Of Pa., p. 616.] He was also sometimes called the "Half Indian." Through Col. Croghan he proffered his aid to Gen. Braddock, in the latter's disastrous campaign, and Croghan, in recommending him to the General, said; "He will march with his hunters; they are dressed in hunting shirts, moccasins, etc., are well armed, and are equally regardless of heat or cold. They require no shelter for the night, they ask no pay." This character, it appears, in a letter written from Carlisle in 1754, as well as one the previous year by John O'Neal to Gov. Hamilton, was also known as "Captain Joel." He was given a captain's commission in 1758. The movements of himself and his band of rangers were very rapid, and the mention of his name, like those of Brady, Boone, Logston, Kenton and others, struck terror to the hearts of his painted foemen. **Capt. Jacobs was a large man, very powerful and exceedingly cruel. Shingas was not as large, but made up for his stature in ferocity. Capt. Jacobs' nephew, who with him was killed in Armstrong's attack upon Kittanning, was said to be seven feet tall. ***Most authorities place the total number of men at 300; some give it 280. ****From Col. Armstrong's report of the affair to Gov. Denny it is learned that the casualties among the volunteers were as follows: From his own company - Killed, Thos. Power, John McCormick; wounded, Lieut.- Col. Armstrong (in the shoulder by a musket ball), James Carothers, James Strickland, Thomas Foster, Capt. Hamilton's company - Killed, John Kelly. Capt. Mercer's company - Killed, John Baker, John McCartney, Patrick Mullen, Cornelius McGinnis, Theophilus Thompson, Dennis Kilpatrick, Bryan Croghan; wounded, Richard Fitzgibbons; missing, Capt. Hugh Mercer (wounded, but found to have been carried away safely by his men), Ensign John Scott, Emanuel Menisky, John Taylor, John _____, Francis Philips, Robert Morrow, Thomas Burke, Philip Pendergrass. Capt. Armstrong's company - Killed: Lieut. James Hogg, James Alderson, Holdcraft Siringer, Edward O'Brian, James Higgins, John Leeson; wounded, William Fridley, Robert Robinson, John Ferrol, Thomas Camplin, Charles O'Neill; missing, John Lewis, William Hunter, William Baker, George Appleby, Anthony Grissy, Thomas Swan. Capt. Ward's company - Killed, William Walsh; wounded, Ephraim Bratton; missing, Patrick Myers, Laurence Donnahan, Samuel Chambers. Capt. Potter's company - Wounded, Ensign James Potter, Andrew Douglass. Capt. Steel's company - Missing, Terrence Cannabery. Total - killed 17; wounded 13; missing 19 - 19 in all. Seven captives were recovered and a number of Indians taken prisoners. Thirty or forty warriors were slain, 59 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. however, would hear to nothing, and it became evident that subduing them by force of arms was the only sure method. Col. Stanwix was at Carlisle building intrenchments, and Col. Armstrong had two companies, part stationed at Carlisle and part at Shippensburg. These two officers did all in their power to protect the citizens and punish the savages, but they were handicapped in numerous regards. Murders were frequent in the upper part of Cumberland (now Franklin) County, and the lower portion was not without its visitations of bloodshed. May 18, 1757, William Walker and another man were killed near a private fort called McCormick's, on the Conodoguinet, in East Pennsborough; two men were killed and five taken prisoners near Shippensburg on the 6th of June; Joseph Mitchell, James Mitchell, William Mitchell, John Finlay, Robert Steenson, Andrew Enslow, John Wiley, Allen Henderson, William Gibson and an Indian were killed in a harvest field near Shippensburg, July 19, and Jane McCommon, Mary Minor, Janet Harper and a son of John Finlay were captured or missing at the same time; four men were killed July 11 near Tobias Hendricks', who lived on and had charge of Louther Manor, six miles from the Susquehanna, in East Pennsborough, and two men were killed or carried off near the same place September 8, while out hunting horses, July 18, in a harvest field a mile east of Shippensburg, belonging to John Cesna, Dennis O'Neiden and John Kirkpatrick were killed, and Mr. Cesna, his two grandsons, and a son of Kirkpatrick were made prisoners and carried off. Others working in the field happened to be concealed from the view of the Indians, and escaped without injury. There was little rest from anxiety until after the expeditions of 1758 and the capture of Fort DuQuesne, with the building upon its ruins of Fort Pitt, which remained under English rule while the mother country had jurisdiction over the American colonies. The troops were mostly disbanded in 1759 by act of Assembly, which body imagined the war was ended. Practically for this region it was so, although the two powers met in conflict afterward on the northern frontier. The inhabitants enjoyed for a brief period immunity from danger and rejoiced that peace smiled upon the valley. A worthless Delaware Indian called "Doctor John" who had for two years lived in a cabin near the Conodoguinet and not far from Carlisle, was killed in February, 1760, together with his wife and two children, by whites; and though he had talked contemptuously about the soldiers, and boasted of having killed sixty white people with his own arm the event was looked upon as untoward by the inhabitants of the region, who feared the vengeance of the tribe and steps were taken to apprehend and punish the murderers. Several arrests were made, but the more guilty parties fled and were not found, while the others were released as they could scarcely be convicted on hearsay evidence. Very likely the people were glad the Indians were out of the way, for they had no pleasing recollections of their fiendish fellows. Presently, however, came the dread news that a more desperate war was to be waged under the leadership of the wonderful western chieftain, Pontiac, and close upon the heels of the alarm followed actual invasion of the country bordering the valley, with a renewal of the horrid scenes of previous years. July 5, 1763, a gentleman wrote from Carlisle to Secretary Peters as follows: "On the morning of yesterday horsemen were seen rapidly passing through Carlisle. One man rather fatigued, who stopped to get some water, hastily replied to the question, 'What news?' 'Bad enough! Presque Isle, Le Beuf and Venango have been captured, their garrisons massacred, with the exception of one officer and seven men who fortunately made their escape from Le Beuf. Fort Pitt was briskly attacked on the 22d of June, but succeeded in repelling the as- 60 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. sailants.' Thus saying he put spurs to his horse and was soon out of sight. From others I have accounts that the Bedford militia have succeeded in saving Fort Ligonier. Nothing could exceed the terror which prevailed from house to house, from town to town. The road was nearly covered with women and children flying to Lancaster and Philadelphia. Rev. Thomson, pastor of the Episcopal Church, went at the head of his congregation to protect and encourage them on the way. A few retired to the breastworks for safety. The alarm once given could not be appeased. We have done all that men can do to prevent disorder. All our hopes are turned upon Bouquet." The following extracts of letters written from Carlisle in July, 1763, and published at the time in the Pennsylvania Gazette at Philadelphia, will also serve to show the condition of affairs then existing in the valley:* CARLISLE, July 12, 1763. I embrace this first leisure since yesterday morning to transmit you a brief account of our present state of affairs here, which indeed is very distressing, every day almost affording some fresh object to awaken the compassion, alarm the fears, or kindle into resentment and vengeance every sensible breast; while flying families, obliged to abandon house and possession to save their lives by a hasty escape; mourning widows, bewailing their husbands, surprised and massacred by savage rage; tender parents, lamenting the fruit of their own bodies, cropped in the very bloom of life by a barbarous hand, with relations and acquaintance pouring out sorrow for murdered neighbors and friends, present a varied scene of mingled distress. When, for some time after striking at Bedford the Indians appeared quiet, nor struck any other part of our frontiers, it became the prevailing opinion that our forts and communication were so peculiarly the object of their attention; that, till at lest after harvest, there was little prospect of danger to our inhabitants over the hills, and to dissent from this generally received sentiment was political heresy, and attributed to timidity rather than judgment, till too early conviction has decided the point in the following manner: On Sunday morning, the 10th instant, about 9 or 10 o'clock, at the house of one William White, on Juniata, between thirty and forty miles hence, there being in said house four men and a lad, the Indians came rushing upon and shot White at the door, just stepping out to see what the noise meant. Our people then pulled in White, and shut the door; but observing through a window the Indians setting fire to the house, they attempted to force their way out at the door. But the first that stepped out being shot down, they drew him in and again shut the door, after which one attempting an escape out of a window on the loft was shot through the head, and the lad wounded in the arm. The only one now remaining - William Riddle - broke a hole through the roof of the house, and an Indian, who saw him looking out, alleged he was about to fire on him, withdrew, which afforded Riddle an opportunity to make his escape. The house, with the other four in it, was burned down, as one McMachon informs, who was coming to it, not suspecting Indians, and was by them fired at and shot through the shoulder, but made his escape. The same day about dinner time, at about a mile and a half from said White's, at the house of Robert Campbell, six men being in the house, as they were dining three Indians rushed in at the door, and after firing among them and wounding some they tomahawked in an instant one of the men, whereupon one George Dodds, one of the company, sprang back into the room, took down a rifle, shot an Indian through the body who was just presenting his piece to shoot him. The Indian being mortally wounded staggered, and letting his gun fall was carried off by three more. Dodds, with one or two more, getting upon the loft, broke the roof in order to escape, and looking out saw one of the company, Stephen Jeffries, running, but very slowly by reason of a wound in the breast, and an Indian pursuing, and it is thought he could not escape, nor have we heard of him since, so that it is past dispute he also is murdered. The first that attempted getting out of the loft was fired at and drew back. Another attempting was shot dead, and of the six Dodds was the only one who made his escape. The same day about dusk, about six or seven miles up Tuscarora and about twenty-eight or thirty miles hence, they murdered one William Anderson, together with a boy and a girl, all in one house. At White's were seen at least five, some say eight or ten Indians, and at Campbell's about the same number. On Monday, the 11th, a party of about twenty-four went over from the upper part of Shearman's Valley to see how matters were. Another party of twelve or thirteen went over from the upper part of said valley, and Col. John Armstrong, with Thomas Wilson, Esq., and a party of between thirty and forty from this town, to reconnoiter and assist in bringing in the dead. Of the first and third parties we have heard nothing yet, but of the party of twelve six are coming in, and inform that they passed through the several places in Tuscarora and saw the houses in flames or burnt entirely down. That the grain that had been reaped the *See Rupp's History of Cumberland and other Counties, pp. 130-143. 61 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Indians burnt in shocks, and had set the fences on fire where the grain was unreaped; that the hogs had fallen upon and mangled several of the dead bodies; that the said company of twelve, suspecting danger, durst not stay to bury the dead; that after they had returned over the Tuscarora Mountain, about one or two miles this side of it and about eighteen or twenty from hence (Carlisle, Penn.), they were fired on by a large party of Indians, supposed about thirty, and were obliged to fly; that two, viz., William Robinson and John Graham, are certainly killed, and four more are missing, who it is thought have fallen into the hands of the enemy, as they appeared slow in flight, most probably wounded, and the savages pursued with violence. What further mischief has been done we have not heard, but expect every day and hour some more messages of melancholy news. In hearing of the above defeat we sent out another party of thirty or upward, commanded by our high sheriff, Mr. Dunning, and Mr. William Lyon, to go in quest of the enemy or fall in with and reinforce our other parties. There are also a number gone out from about three miles below this, so that we now have over the hills upward of eighty or ninety volunteers scouring the woods. The inhabitants of Shearman's Valley, Tuscarora, etc., are all come over, and the people of this valley, near the mountain, are beginning to move in, so that in a few days there will be scarcely a house inhabited north of Carlisle. Many of our people are greatly distressed through want of arms and ammunition, and numbers of those beat off their places have hardly money enough to purchase a pound of powder. Our women and children I suppose must move downward if the enemy proceeds. Today a British vengeance begins to rise in the breasts of our men. One of them that fell from among the twelve, as he was just expiring, said to one of his fellows: "Here, take my gun and kill the first Indian you see, and all shall be well." Another letter dated at Carlisle July 13, has the following: "Last night Col. Armstrong returned. He left the party who pursued further, and found several dead, whom they buried in the best manner they could, and are now all returned in. From what appears the Indians are traveling from one place to another along the valley, burning the farms and destroying all the people they meet with. This day gives an account of six more being killed in the valley, so that since last Sunday morning to this day, twelve o'clock, we have a pretty authentic account of the number slain being twenty-five, and four or five wounded. The Colonel, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Alricks are now on the parade endeavoring to raise another party to go out and succor the sheriff and his party, consisting of fifty men, which marched yesterday, and I hope they will be ale to send off immediately twenty good men. The people here, I assure you, want nothing but a good leader and a little encouragement to make a very good defense." July 28, 1763, the editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette printed the following: "Our advices from Carlisle are as follows, viz. That the party under the sheriff, Mr. Dunning, mentioned in our last, fell in with the enemy at the house of one Alexander Logan, in Shearman's Valley, supposed to be about fifteen or upward, who had murdered the said Logan, his son and another man, about two miles from said house, and mortally wounded a fourth who is since dead; and that at the time of their being discovered they were rifling the house and shooting down the cattle, and it is thought about to return home with the spoil they had got. That our men, on seeing them, immediately spread themselves from right to left with a design to surround them, and engaged the savages with great courage, but from their eagerness rather too soon, as some of the party had not got up when the skirmish began; that the enemy returned our first fire very briskly, but our people, regardless of that, rushed upon them, when they fled and were pursued a considerable way till thickets secured their escape, four or five of them, it was thought, being mortally wounded; that our parties had brought in with them what cattle they could collect, but that great numbers were killed by the Indians, and many of the horses that were in the valleys carried off; that on the 21st, the morning, news was brought of three Indians being seen about 10 o'clock in the morning; one Pummeroy and his wife, and the wife of one Johnson, were surprised in a house between Ship- 62 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. pensburg and the North Mountain and left there for dead; but that one of the women, when found, showing some signs of life, was brought to Shippensburg, where she lived some hours in a most miserable condition, being scalped, one of her arms broken, and her skull fractured with the stroke of a tomahawk; and that since the 10th inst., there was an account of fifty-four persons being killed by the enemy! "That the Indians had set fire to houses, barns, corn, wheat, rye, and hay - in short, to everything combustible - so that the whole country seemed to be in one general blaze; that the miseries and distress of the poor people were really shocking to humanity, and beyond the power of language to describe; that Carlisle was becoming the barrier, not a single inhabitant being beyond it; that every stable and hovel in the town was crowded with miserable refugees, who were reduced to a state of beggary and despair, their houses, cattle and harvest destroyed, and from a plentiful, independent people they were become real objects of charity and commiseration; that it was most dismal to see the streets filled with people in whose countenances might be discovered a mixture of grief, madness and despair; and to hear now and then the sighs and groans of men, the disconsolate lamentations of women, and the screams of children, who had lost their nearest and dearest relations; and that on both sides of the Susquehanna, for some miles, the woods were filled with poor families and their cattle, who made fires and lived like savages, exposed to the inclemencies of the weather." Letter dated at Carlisle July 30, 1763: "On the 25th a considerable number of the inhabitants of Shearman's Valley went over, with a party of soldiers to guard them, to attempt saving as much of their grain as might be standing, and it is hoped a considerable quantity will yet be preserved. A party of volunteers, between twenty and thirty, went to the farther side of the valley, next to the Tuscarora Mountain, to see what appearance there might be of the Indians, as it was thought they would almost probably be there if anywhere in the settlement - to search for and bury the dead at Buffalo Creek, and to assist the inhabitants that lived along or near the foot of the mountain in bringing off what they could, which services they accordingly performed, burying the remains of three persons, but saw no marks of Indians having lately been there, excepting one track, supposed to be about two or three days old, near the narrows of Buffalo Creek Hill, and heard some hallooing and firing of a gun at another place. A number of the inhabitants of Tuscarora Valley go over the mountain to- morrow, with a party of soldiers, to endeavor to save part of the crops. Five Indians were seen last Sunday, about sixteen or seventeen miles from Carlisle, up the valley toward the North Mountain, and two the day before yesterday, about five or six miles from Shippensburg, who fired at a young man but missed him. "On the 25th of July there were in Shippensburg 1,384 of our poor, distressed back inhabitants, viz.: men, 301; women, 345; children, 738, many of whom were obliged to lie in barns, stables, cellars and under old leaky sheds, the dwelling-houses being all crowded." Indians were also occasionally seen in the valley after Bouquet had left, and occasionally some of the inhabitants were fired upon within a few miles of Carlisle. Where is the wonder that the stricken people looked so eagerly to Bouquet for deliverance, or that they suspected and mistrusted every being in the shape of an Indian, whether professedly friendly or otherwise! Such terrible experiences were sufficient to foster all the fiendishness of revenge in the breasts of the afflicted, and the great wonder at the present day is that they did not resolve upon and enter into a war of extermination of the red race. 63 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Portrait of S. B. Kieffer A. M., M. D. 64 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Blank Page 65 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Upon the outbreak of the savages the Assembly had ordered the raising of 700 men to protect the frontier during the harvest, but almost without effect. The safety of the garrison at Fort Pitt was the cause of anxiety, and finally Col. Henry Bouquet was ordered to march to its relief. This he did with barely 500 men, the remnants of two shattered regiments of regulars - the Forty-second and Seventy-second - lately returned from the West Indies in a debilitated condition, together with 200 rangers (six companies) raised in Lancaster and Cumberland Counties. Although depending so greatly upon him, the inhabitants of Carlisle and vicinity were in such a state of terror and utter consternation that they had taken no steps to prepare provisions for him and his little army, and they arrived at Carlisle to find matters there and along the line of march in a desperate condition, though several quite heavy contributions had been raised by various congregations in Philadelphia and sent for their relief. Instead, therefore, of the inhabitants being able to lend him aid, they were dependent upon him, and he was forced to lie at Carlisle eighteen days until supplies could be sent for and received. By this time the people had regained courage and confidence in themselves, although the appearance of Bouquet's army led them to expect little from its expedition. Most happily were they disappointed, however, for the Colonel's successful march, his relief of Fort Ligonier, his terrible thirty-six hours fight at Bushy Run with the Indians, who were defeated and driven from the field, his relief of Fort Pitt, and his subsequent expedition against the Indians in Ohio, with the treaty on terms of his own dictation, and the release of many white prisoners who were returned to his own dictation, and the release of many white prisoners who were returned to their homes, are all matters of history. Bouquet became the savior of the region, and to his memory let all honor be accorded. The Indians committed outrages along the frontier in 1764, but an army of 1,000 men was raised, of which a battalion of eight companies of 380 men, mostly from Cumberland County - commanded by Lieut. Col. John Armstrong, with Capts. William Armstrong, Samuel Lindsey, James Piper, Joseph Armstrong, John Brady, William Piper, Christopher Line and Timothy Green, with a few under Lieut. Finley - was sent against them under Col. Bouquet, who pierced to the very heart of their western stronghold, and compelled them to accede the terms above mentioned. The battalion of provincial troops from this county was paid off and mustered out of service, the arms were delivered to the authorities, and the long and dreadful Indian war, with all its attendant sickening horrors, was at an end. The people had little confidence, however, in the Indians, and were not disposed to place in their hands any weapons or materials which would give them the slightest advantage over the whites, at least until their new relations had time to become fixed. It had been agreed that trade should be opened with the Indians, and large quantities of goods were gathered in places for the purpose before the governor issued his proclamation authorizing trading. This led to the destruction of a large quantity of goods in which Capt. Robert Collender, a flouring- mill proprietor near Carlisle, was part owner, the goods having been started westward. A party under James Smith, who had done service under Braddock, Forbes and Bouquet, waylaid them near Sideling Hill, killed a number of horses, made the escort turn back, burned sixty- three loads, and made matters exceedingly lively, when a squad was sent out to capture the rioters. Smith afterward acknowledged himself too hasty. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and lodged in jail at Carlisle in 1769. An attempt was made to rescue him, but he dissuaded the party, and upon his trial was acquitted. He became a distinguished Revolutionary officer and member of the Legislature. 66 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Another occurrence, which might have resulted seriously for the settlers, was the murder of ten friendly Indians in the lower part of Shearman's Valley, on Middle Creek, in January, 1768, by Frederick Stump and an employe of his named Hans Eisenhauer (John Ironcutter). The authorities captured the murderers and placed them in jail in Carlisle, although the warrant for their arrest charged that they be brought before the chief justice at Philadelphia. That step the people of Cumberland County resisted, claiming it was encroaching upon their rights to try the men in the county where the crime was committed. They were detained at Carlisle until the pleasure of the authorities at Philadelphia could be ascertained, and were rescued by a large armed party on the morning of the 29th of January, four days after their arrest. The prisoners were carried away over the mountains and were never afterward found, though it was the opinion that they got away and took refuge in Virginia. The matter was finally dropped after the heat of the affair was over.