Sunday, July 12, 2020

The Central Susquehanna Valley In The Revolutionary War, 1775-1784

A Map of the Susquehanna River Valley in 1778

For years, I have struggled to get a grasp on the history of our area during the Revolutionary War.  Not because it is unknown, but because there is so very much of it that it is completely overwhelming.  Here is my feeble attempt to organize at least a part of our local history, into a time line, and to include the local stories in the context.

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence, was initiated by the thirteen original colonies against the Kingdom of Great Britain over their objection to Parliament’s direct taxation and its lack of colonial representation.  In our local valley, as men went off to fight with Washington, the settlers were attacked, over a period of two years, by indians who had sided with the British troops, while at the same time, many residents were warned, and  assisted by, indians who had befriended the new settlers.  This was nothing new.  The indians had been divided in their support of the British for decades already, as some fought with the french, and some with the British, in the French & Indian War beginning in 1754. 

1754
Did you know that Washington first fought for the British?  It's kind of obvious if you think about it, but it's not something we often consider.  

 Before America was America, there were colonies of both British, and French, citizens living here. There were about 2 million British settlers, and approximately 60,000 French settlers, at the time.  Eventually, the two settlements began to fight over land - or more specifically, water. 

The French and Indian War began as a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh.  The very first battle in that war was  the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen, under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.  Sporadic battles continued for nearly 10 years, although most of the fighting had ended by 1760.

The French & Indian War  Along The West Branch
"Large bands of French and Indians were crossing the Alleghenies to scalp and murder the settlers.  The French who wanted to conquer this section of the West Branch and set up their headquarters at Shamokin (Sunbury), sent scouts from Ohio to Great Island to stir up the Indians.

During the French and Indian war in 1755, there were frequent murders among the Pine Creek settlers.  Up to this time no protection had been offered to the settlers of the West Branch Valley,  but now the governor of the state had to pass military law and appropriate money to fight the Indians.
  

Eleven forts sprang up along the river, Fort Augusta at Sunbury, became military headquarters when the government assumed jurisdiction over the West Branch Valley
as far as Pine Creek.  Antes Fort (near Jersey Shore), Fort Horn, (Opposite Chatham’s Run) and Reed’s Fort ( A stockade at Old Town – Lock Haven – which was the very last out post on the frontier), all became focal points for the protection of the settlers." 
CCHS


1755 - 
The LeRoy Massacre near Penns Creek 

1756 - 
Fort Augusta is erected by Col. William Clapham 

The Great Island, Near Present Day Lock Haven - 
In 1756 when bands of marauding Indians who lived near Great Island had terrorized the settlers, Col. John Hambright with 40 men was sent from Fort Augusta “to attack, burn and destroy villages” and “to kill, scalp and capture” all Indians they found. Apparently they didn’t destroy any Great Island villages, for the Indians there were reported friendly, and villages were standing after this expedition. CCHS

1763
"Colonel John Armstrong, with 300 men of the Kittanning Expedition, marched through this section and destroyed the wigwam village at Monseytown Flats and a village on the island.  Monseytown (or Muncytown) home of the Wolfe Tribe, was located on the North side of the river above upper Lockport, opposite the mouth of Sugar Run. After the destruction of their towns and some 200 acres of corn along the river, the Indians never rebuilt their homes.  They stopped gathering at Great Island." CCHS

1768 - 

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix
The British colonial government purchased land from the Iroquois in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, opening new lands in Pennsylvania and New York for settlement, including what is now Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. 

Samuel Wallis came to the area as a land surveyor, and soon became known as the "Land King", having used some of his vast inheritance to purchase the land that has since become, Muncy, Muncy Creek Township, Muncy Township, Montoursville, Loyalsock Township, Williamsport, Woodward Township, Piatt Township, Porter Township and Jersey Shore. 


1776


July 2 - Independence from Great Britain Is Declared.

July 4 - The Declaration of Independence is ratified by congress


The Pine Creek Declaration Of Independence
The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans, they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly they established what was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776 beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the banks of Pine Creek. - W

August 2 1776 - The American Declaration Of Independence was signed



1777 - 


Bosley's Mill is stockaded and fortified as a Fort, in Washingtonville

WINTER-
George Washington & his army winter in Valley Forge

A letter from Wyoming, dated March 7 1777 was written by Nicholas Pickhard and sent to a John Pickard, at the home of Casper Reed in Penns twp.
"As soon as the river is clear of ice, we march from every part, therefore I would advise you as a friend to go out of the way for wee then, as soon as the river is clear of ice, intend to cut all off."

The letter was intercepted by friendly indians.  When confronted, John had gone upriver to visit his cousin Nicholas.  The two men then went on upriver to Tunkhannock to visit with friends at the home of Nicholas Phillips.  Phillips warned the men that the Indians had told him they would come down in the spring, and they would strike upon the Mohawk River and the rivers of the Susquehanna.  Phillips said there were five hundred Indians at Shamung waiting for orders from Niagara.


1778 - 

Fort Antes - a stockade was built, surrounding the home of Colonel John Henry Antes, and occupied by Militia, until Col Hunter ordered it abandoned in the Great Runaway in July

May
Armed with the knowledge that the attack was coming, the residents gathered at various forts along the river.  On May 31, Col Hunter described the locations:

All above Muncy are at Samuel Wallis'
The people of Muncy are at Capt. Brady's
All above Lycoming are at Antes Hill (near Jersey Shore) and the mouth of Bald Eagle (Lock Haven)
The people of Penns Valley are in one place in Potter township.
The inhabitants ot White Deer are assembled at three different places.
The back settlers of Buffalo have come down the river.
Penns Township people have likewise moved to the river.
All from Muncy Hill to Chilisquaue have assembled at three different places.

Jun 10 - The Plum Tree Massacre - a party of sixteen settlers were attacked in what became known as the Plum Tree Massacre. Twelve of the sixteen were killed and scalped, including two women and six children. This news caused the local authorities to order the evacuation of the whole West Branch Valley.

At what today is west fourth & cemetery streets, was once a thicket of wild plums

On June 10, 1778, a wagon full of people was passing through the area.
“At first the Indians fired two guns, then three, when they came from their place of concealment, yelling fiercely, and advanced on the wagon,” Meginness wrote. “The Indians closed in very fast and endeavored to surround the party.”
Women and children were attacked with tomahawks.  The wife of Peter Smith was found "shot through the body".  The wife of William King had been tomahawked and scalped, but was still alive.  According to Meginnes, she was sitting up when her husband approached, seemed to recognize him, leaned against him and diedKing spent may years looking for his daughters, who were believed to be enslaved by the Indians, according to Meginness.
The bodies of children lay nearby,  then had been killed and scalped.
Few items had been left in the wagon.  The bodies were buried on the spot, which is today, a cemetery. "Their internment was very likely the beginning of the cemetery, which afterward served for many years as the place of burial for original settlers." Meginness wrote.


General George Washington was unable to spare any of his troops to protect the people of the Valley, but sent Captain John Brady home to organize a group of volunteers in the Muncy area. For days, Captain Brady watched settlers from the north take boats down river to the protection offered by Fort Augusta at Sunbury.


June 19 - George Washington's Army Leaves Valley Forge

July 3 - The Wyoming Massacre
In early June, Colonel John Butler led a force of 1,000 loyalists and Iroquois allies against the 5,000 inhabitants of the valley—mostly American women and children gathered at Forty Fort. About 300 men and boys left the protection of the fort to meet the attackers. In the massacre that followed, 360 men, women, and children lost their lives, and many others who escaped to the forests died of starvation or exposure. EB


By the 5th of July, the Great Runaway began, as the pioneers along the North Branch below Wilkes Barre hastened down river.  By the 9th, Sunbury and Northumberland had become the frontier. All of the territory now known as the counties of Bradford, Sullivan, Luzerne, Wyoming, Columbia, Montour, Clinton, Lycoming, Upper Northumberland, Union, and Center had been evacuated.

Washington, who relied upon the hardy pioneers for soldiers and supplies, and if they were compelled to stay home in defense of their families, immediately sent Col Thomas Hartley to Sunbury.  Hartley, and his 200 men and 17 horses, was ordered to protect the settlers during the harvest season.  "Great rains, swamps, mountains impeded the march.  They waded or swam the Lycoming Creek 20 times"  

The men were victorious in several battles, but on the 28th as they were marching towards Wyalusing, they were under attack.  At that critical moment, Captain Boone and Captain Brady arrived, alng with Lieutenant King.  They advanced with much noise and shouting, and the indians fled, leaving their dead behind.The expedition reached Wyoming on the 1st, and Sunbury on the 5th, having made a circuit of 300 miles.


July 23 1779
23d of July, 1779, Colonel Hunter wrote to Col. Matthew Smith: "We have really distressing times at present in this county. Immediately after the evacuation of Fort Muncy the Indians began their cruel murders again. The 3d instant they killed three men and took two prisoners at Lycoming; the 8th instant they burned the Widow Smith's mills and killed one man; the 17th they killed two men and took three prisoners from Fort Brady, and the same day they burned Starrett's mills and all the principal houses in Muncy township; the 20th they killed three men at Freeland's fort, and took two prisoners."

August 8th - Rachel Silverthorn's Ride
On August 8, 1778, a band of Indians attacked a group of settlers and Continental soldiers who were protecting farmer Peter Smith while he reaped his rye fields. During the attack, they killed several men and mortally wounded Captain Brady’s son, James Brady. 


That afternoon, a survivor reached Fort Muncy with the news of the massacre. As a small group of settlers gathered around the Fort, Captain Brady asked for a volunteer to ride up Muncy Creek to warn the settlers who were next to be attacked, offering his own white mare for the journey.  Rachel Silverthorn quickly volunteered.


From a historical Lecture given by Thomas Smith in 1921, Lewisburg

But the expedition did not accomplish it's purpose.  On Nov. 9th Col Hartley wrote from Sunbury that the enemy had come down and invested Wyoming and destroyed the settlements of the West Branch as far as Nescopeck.  About 70 indians were seen advancing towards the forks of the Chilisquaque Creek.  They took prisoners the day before.

It was then that General Washington declared that the six nations must be destroyed.  Gates declined the commission, and General Sullivan was appointed.

By the 26th, Col Hunter found it difficult to raise a company of rangers, due to the number who had been appointed to the boat service conveying General Sullivan's commissary up the North Branch.  The boatmen left on the 25th, with 12 large boats loaded with provisions for Wyoming. By the 26th, only 30 men were left at Fort Augusta, and only a few at Fort Freeland. A month later, William Maclay discovered that the whole of the troops had been moved from Sunbury to join Sullivan. 




"Northumberland County is in a deplorable condition, without a single man, except the militia of the county and Capt. Kamplen with 14 men.  Nearly every young man from the frontier is engaged in boat service.  Everything above Muncy Hill is abandoned"



Construction Of Fort Muncy Begins
Captain Andrew Walker arrived with a squad of soldiers and orders to build Fort Muncy. As work on the fort progressed, soldiers were deployed to protect the settlers who were busily harvesting crops.






1779

April 11 1779 - The Death Of Capt. Brady
 Because of his capability as a frontier lighter, Brady was hated and feared by the Indians. 
Brady, like many others, left Fort Augusta and returned home in the fall of 1778.  
He lived  near the mouth of Glade Run in a stockaded house, known at the time as Brady’s Fort.  Accompanied by several men, Brady traveled to Fort Muncy for supplies. Having obtained them they started to return to his house.  Brady was riding a fine young horse and lingered some distance in the rear of the wagon and guard. Peter Smith, "the unfortunate man" who lost his family in the bloody massacre of June 10, 1778, was walking by the side of the horse and conversing with Brady. He was the same man on whose farm the cradlers and reapers were cutting his harvest at Loyalsock the day James Brady was scalped.

"When within a short distance of his home, instead of following the road taken by the wagon and guard, Brady proposed that they take another road which was shorter. They did so and traveled together until they came to a small stream now known as Wolf run. " Here," Brady observed, "It would be a good place for Indians to hide," when instantly three rifles cracked and Brady fell from his horse dead as the frightened animal was about to run past Smith he caught it by the bridle, vaulted on its back and was carried to Brady's Fort in a few minutes. The report of. the guns was distinctly heard at the fort and caused alarm. Several persons rushed out, Mrs. Brady among them, and meeting Smith coming at full speed and greatly alarmed, excitedly inquired where Captain Brady was. Smith, it is said, replied: "In heaven or hell, or on his way to Tioga" meaning that he was either killed or taken prisoner by the Indians. Tioga was the point they generally made for with their prisoners." - Meginness

April 14, 1779
 With Brady dead, the indians were "greatly emboldened"
President Reed wrote Colonel Hunter that General Washington had ordered General. Hand to march from Minisink to Wyoming " with about 600 men," which he thought would be a competent force for the protection of this valley as well as Wyoming. He recommended Hunter to apply to him for a sufficient number of men to support the post at Fort Muncy. A now company of militia was being recruited, and commissions were forwarded for Captain McElhatton

June 1779


Two men killed on Lycoming Creek, three taken prisoner (Names have been lost)

Burned the mills of Widow Smith at White Deer Creek, killing one man.

June 17th 
Indians appeared at Fort Brady, killed two men and took three into captivity.  Burned Starrets Flouring Mill (on the site of what was later Muncy Mills) and all the principal houses of the area.
Several families were taken prisoner, including Abraham Websters family.  His eldest son was killed, and two daughters and a younger son were taken captive.
"Young Freeland heard the alarm and ran towards a stone quarry, but he was pursued and speared in the thigh"  he fell near the edge of the quarry, when an indian sprang upon him, but rising with the savage on his shoulders, he pitched him over the precipice and would have escaped, had another indian not rushed up and killed him."

The Sullivan Expedition Begins
General John Sullivan, based at Fort Augusta,  was making preparations for an expedition on the North Branch of the Susquehanna. His purpose was to drive the Indians from the vicinity and, if possible, from the entire northern part of the state.  

June 21
Surprised several men at work in a corn field near Fort Freeland. Jacob Freeland and Isaac Vincent were taken prisoner, and a son of each was killed.

General Sullivan pulled the garrison from Fort Muncy to strengthen his own command.

Covenhoven Acts As Spy
Hepburn sent Covenhoven out to spy on the indians and see if they were preparing for an attack.  They most certainly were.

 "Striking an Indian path as he approached Loyalsock-probably the great Sheshequin trail-he followed it a short distance. Suddenly it occurred to him that be might meet Indians if he continued in the path, and he stepped behind a large tree to rest. He had been there but a few minutes when two Indians came jogging along and passed him, humming a rude ditty. Had he kept the path they would have met him, and as there were two to one, be might have been killed and the settlers would have been left in ignorance of what was coming." - 
Meginness

Covenhoven made it back safely, and warned the settlers that they must once again flee.

 The Little Runaway
Acting on his advice, the inhabitants were at once apprised of their danger and preparations were at once made to  flee  to Fort Augusta for the second time. Although there was much fear among the people, they were less excited than at the time of the " Big Runaway," and a panic did not seize them."

The settlers retreated to Fort Augusta in much the same manner as they had the year before.  The women, children, and household goods went down the river in rafts, boats, and canoes. The men, under the leadership of Robert Covenhoven, marched along the bank as guards.


July 26, 1779  The Enemy Arrived At Muncy
Approximately one hundred Tories and British and two hundred Indians descended on the area of Fort Muncy. The British and Tories were commanded by Captain John McDonald from Albany, New York; the Indians were led by Hickatoo, a Seneca chief. They came down Lycoming Creek to the river valley, and followed the West Branch.

Not all of the settlers had gone to Fort Augusta, some having either ignored, or not heard, the warnings.  More than half of those who remained behind were killed. The women & children were made prisoners, and the fort along with all other buildings and hay fields in the area,  was burned.  

One family that remained behind was that  of Abraham Webster. " Four of his children were attacked. The oldest, a son, was killed; the other three, two daughters and a son, were carried into captivity. Abraham Webster was an Englishman by birth and settled on what was the farm of the late Henry Ecroyd. The son who was taken prisoner was named Joseph, and was twelve years old at the time of his capture. At the end of twelve years he returned, married, and settled. He remembered the route well that his captors traveled. One of his sisters was thrown from a canoe in Seneca Lake by an enraged squaw and drowned; the other was never beard from.

Robert Guy, who had settled on a tract of land lying between what was afterwards known as Shoemaker's mill and Muncy, had been warned to leave but still lingered. On the approach of one of these marauding bands a messenger was despatched from Brady's fort to warn him again to fly as the danger was imminent. He was found at work in the field. Hastening to the house he told his wife of their peril. While she prepared a chaff tick for two of their children, he brought two horses to the door. Then ripping the tick open in the middle be removed a portion of the chaff, threw the tick over the back of a horse, placed a child on each side, and then mounted to hold it in place and rode away. In the meantime his wife, with a babe in her arms, mounted the other horse and joined him. It being too late, as they supposed, to go to the fort, they rode on down the river and did not stop till they reached Carlisle. So great was their hurry to got away, they left everything behind. They remained at Carlisle until the war was over, when they returned, but they found all their buildings in ashes."

 "Information was sent to Freeland's, Boone's, and the smaller posts to fly, as the enemy was coming. But the settlers assembled at the two latter places thought Covenhoven was magnifying the danger and refused to leave. But bitterly did they repent for their incredulity." HLC by Meginness

McDonald & his allies, enraged to find so many had escaped, then burned every cabin, granary, and haystack. In fact, everything, except for the house of Samuel Wallis, was burned to the ground.  Fort Muncy was destroyed, and livestock was confiscated.




July 29 - The Battle Of Fort Freeland
Thwarted at Fort Muncy, the enemy went on to Fort Freeland, which they had heard was still occupied.  (Meginnes   writes a great deal about the battle at Fort Freeland)

Again, they burnt everything in the area, including the Fort, and all of the buildings clear into milton, as far as Marcus Hulings blacksmith shop.  But they did not go further, afraid of the troops at Sunbury.

On the same day that indians attacked Fort Freeland, a party of about 13 men went in search of their horses five miles from Fort Muncy. They were soon fired upon, possibly by the same group that had attacked Fort Freeland.  All but one of the men were killed or taken prisoner.  Captain Walker, upon hearing the shots, turned out with a company of 34 men. He found the bodies of four of the men, all of whom had been scalped.

Sullivan was at Wyoming, and getting ready to march north.  Col Hunter implored him to return and assist them, as his leaving had left this part of the Pennsylvania frontier with no protection.Sullivan replied that him returning would be unwise:

"Nothing can so effectually draw the indians out of your country as the carrying of war into theirs.  Tomorrow morning I shall march with the whole army for Tioga, and must leave you to call up on the council of your state for such assistance as may serve to relieve you from your present perilous situation.  AS Pennsylvania has neglected to furnish me with the troops promised for this expedition, she certainly will be enabled to defend her frontiers without much inconvenience" PA Archives Vol 7 pg 594

"Much sentimental writing has been indulged by historians when speaking of McDonald.  He has been described as a very humane man, and prevented the indians on many occasions from committing deeds of atrocity.  The facts of history do not bear out such conclusions."

August 3rd
Preparations were hurriedly made to follow McDonald's command, in order to retrieve some of the horses and cattle that had been stolen. Col Matthew Smith arrived at Sunbury on August 3rd with a company of 60 Paxton boys.  By August 5th, 500 effective men had gathered to join the march up the valley. They got to Fort Muncy, where they stopped to bury the dead that were discovered there. "Finding the enemy had retired far into the depths of the wilderness, and he was not prepared to follow them."Col Smith and the men returned to Sunbury.


The Sullivan Expedition lasted through October of 1779, although the battle at Newton was the only severe battle.  The indians and british were not prepared for such a large showing of troops.  This gave  the "western frontier" of the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania some relief, as Sullivan had asserted in his response to Col Hunter.  '

"After destroying 128 houses and extensive quantities of provisions, Sullivan decided not to advance any further and began returning back east, again burning any villages or crops they had missed earlier. Sullivan considered the expedition to have been a great success, with the loss of only 40 men, his force had burned more than 40 large Indian towns or villages and destroyed 160,000 bushels of corn as well as other provisions. By October more than 5,000 Indian refugees had fled to Fort Niagara, where the British were hard pressed to feed them over the winter. Despite its apparent success the campaign turned out to be a hollow victory. The frontier raids were temporarily halted, but within a year the Iroquois were once again mounting attacks on the western settlements which continued throughout 1781. As one American officer noted “the nests are destroyed, but the birds are still on the wing.” Although the 1779 campaign did not permanently destroy the ability of the Indians to wage war, it did provide the frontier a brief respite and it also broke much of the power of the Iroquois Confederacy." HIF



Fall - Fort Rice is Built To Replace Fort Freeland

In the fall of 1779, a few men began to return to work the fields.  Henry McHenry, with ten men, came to Loyalsock from Fort Rice to thresh grain on one of the abandoned farms (thought to possibly have been the farm of the oft mentioned Peter Smith)
Sentinels were posted, including McHenry.  He took up a position in a thick clump of bushes, and before long he observed an indian creeping on his hands and feet to get a shot at the men working in the barn.McHenry shot the indian in the back.  The indian sprung up and ran a short distance before falling.  His comrades rushed to his aid and carried him away.

1780
July 14 A man and three children were murdered near the mouth of Buffalo Creek.

July 15 Captain McMahon was taken by an Indian and a tory named Caldwell.  When the indian went off to join his comrades, McMahon was able to kill Caldwell.

1781
Captain Robinson arrived and set about raising a company.  General Potter arrived around the same time.  Robinson enlisted 40 men, but they were so destitute of clothing that none of them were fit for duty.  Not a one of them owned a blanket.

March
Indians came into the Buffalo Valley and attacked an old man, his son, and daughter.  The boy was scalped and the girl was made prisoner.  The old man defended himself with a stick, managing to disarm one of the indians who had been holding a tomahawk.
Col Kelly, and a few of his neighbors were nearby, and hearing the alarm, came running to assist.   Their sudden appearance sent the indians running, leaving the girl, their blankets, and the old man with his stick, behind.

Captain James Thompson Captured, And Later Escapes
Thompson had taken his wife and children to Penns Creek, where they would be safer as the indians were attacking.In March 1781 he was headed to his home in Derrstown (today Lewisburg)  to prepare to move his family down country.  Along the way, he was waylaid by four indians, who took him prisoner.

When they came to a point in the road near the home of Col Kelly, the indians examined a track in the soft clay and exclaimed, "squaw!".  Two took off in a run, leaving the other two behind to guard Thompson.  They soon heard a woman scream, and one of the indians struck him on the back with his gun shouting "waugh", which meant run. 

At the top of the hill, they saw that the two indians now had the woman (Mary Young) as their prisoner as well.  The indians marched the two across the White Deer "and other mountains" and taking the Culbertson path, came to the river opposite Lycoming Creek.  IN canoes, they passed up the creek on the Sheshequin path, headed for Tioga point.
The first time they tied Thompsons arms tightly behind him, and fastened the ends of the cords to stakes in the ground.  But one night along the Lycoming creek, he was not tied as securely, and he managed to release his arms.  Two of the indians laid on one side of the fire with the girl, and two on the side with him.  Thompson first attempted to steal one of the tomahawks, but the indians were all lying on their arms.  He then took the stone they used for crushing corn, and attempted to bash one of the indians in the head, but he made a poor job of it, striking too high and waking the indian.

Thompson then attempted to run, but he was quickly caught by one of the savages.  The savage raised his tomahawk to strike, but then lowered it and spoke in his own language to the first indian, whom Thompson had attempted to strike.  Again he raised the tomahawk, and again he lowered it and spoke some more.  For a third time, he raised the tomahawk, but again changed his mind, apparently preferring to reserve him for a more formal execution.  A gourd containing shot was then tied to Thompsons waist to indicate that he was to be executed in some savage manner.

For awhile Thompson was tied much tighter, but when they reached where Towanda now stands, the indians became less vigilant.  In the evenings, they had him gather wood for a fire.  Each night he would wander a little further away, and finally he was far enough away that he could dash off into the woods.  He said he could have made his escape earlier, but he could not think of leaving the girl prisoner, even though she encouraged him to make his escape, she was resigned to her fate.

Thompson took a different path home, hoping to elude the indians, but he had several close calls, nearly stumbling into an indian camp at one point. When he finally arrived at the West branch, he was so exhausted he could not push the canoe into the water.  He managed to get two round sticks under it, and using a handspike, succeeded in launching it.  He discovered the other canoe sunk, and pulled it out and lashed it to the first, before setting off down the middle of the river, where bullets would be less likely to reach him.  At one point he lost one of the paddles, but in an eddy it came floating back up to him.

When he got to where Watsontown now stands, he was discovered by people on the shore.  He was so weak that he could only wave to them as he laid at the bottom of the canoe.  After he was rescued, it was several days before he was recovered enough to recount his adventures.  Eventually he was well enough to return to his family, and he soon moved them to Chester County, where they remained until the war was over.

Mary Young was carried by the indians to their town, and put to work hoeing corn with the squaws.  An old negro who was also a prisoner there told her to dig up the beans that were planted with the corn, and they would think she was too dumb to learn agriculture and would sell her to the English.  She was sold to an English Captain by the name of Young, and upon comparing their lineage, they discovered they were cousins.  She remained with him until after the war, when she returned to her family in the Buffalo Valley. "Having been so much exposed during her captivity, her constitution was greatly shattered, and she survived only a short time."

On her way out, as a captive, she had been made to wade through deep creeks, and as the weather was very cold, her clothes were often frozen into a solid mass.
When she returned, she told Captain Thompson that the indians had pursued him for two days after his escape.  The indian he had wounded with the crushing stone soon left them, and she thought he may have died, as he had been badly injured.

After the war, Thompson returned to the Buffalo Valley and purchased a farm on Spurse Run, where he lived unitl 1832, when he went to Jersey shore to live with his son in law.  He died in 1837, age 93.


March 8 
Indians came into the house of a man named Darmes, about five miles from Sunbury.  They shot Darmes, and plundered the house of all it's possessions.  However, they did not harm the four women and several children in the house.

From there, the indians headed east, and came upon Joseph Solomon and his family, on the road leading to Danville.  Solomon's wife escaped to the woods, and their daughter concealed herself in the garret, where she was not discovered.

Taking Solomon prisoner, they traveled for four days.  One of the indians was called Shenap, and he told Solomon, "Solly, you shant be hurt".  They soon joined up with another group of savages, who had a prisoner by the name of Williamson.  The two prisoners were ordered to run the gauntlet.

"To run the gauntlet is to take part in a form of corporal punishment in which the party judged guilty is forced to run between two rows of soldiers, who strike out and attack him"

Williamson refused, and he was beaten to death.  Solomon ran rapidly and received but few bruises.  When the race was over, Shenap shook his hand and said "Solly, you run like the debil; you run like a hoss!" He was exchanged a short time later and returned to his home in safety.

That fall, the area was still destitute.  All of the crops, and most possessions, had been burnt in previous attacks.   a few miles above Northumberland, John Tate was living on the farm of Judge McPherson.  A large field of flax, badly needed for making clothing and blankets, was being harvested by workers in the fields, while women spun the flax in the house.
A party of indians crouched along a path between the field and house, waiting to attack as the men returned for dinner.  The men however, took a different route that day, and the indians missed their victims. Eventually they went to the house, where they scalped Catherine Storm as she spun flax.  Another girl hid and was able to escape.
Catherine survived her injuries, and lived for many more years, wearing a silken scarf on her head.

1782 - Robinson ordered to rebuilt Fort Muncy

August 16 1782 - The Lee Massacre in Winfield

In October of 1782 a band of savages visited the house of John Martin, in the Chilisquaque settlement near the residence of Col. John Murray.  Martin and his wife were murdered, and two young women and a 7 year old girl were kidnapped.

October 24, Lee and Carothers were sent out from Fort Rice to see if any Indians were in the area.  Lee was spotted, shot, and killed. Carothers was taken prisoner.

The Klinesmith Daughters Escape
Another party of indians attacked the Klinesmith home, near present day New Berlin.  The men were at work in the fields, but the indians plundered the home and carried away two daughters ages 14 and 16.  They went to a nearby spring, where they left the girls in the charge of an elderly Indian, and returned to the fields to kill and scalp the men.
The old indian sat down with his pipe.  It soon began to rain, and Betsy, the 16 year old, intimated that she would like to cut a few branches from a tree to cover the bag of flour that had been stolen from her fathers house.  She was permitted to take one of the small hatchets, and after pretending to be hard at work, she came up behind the indian and buried the hatchet in his head.
In the meantime, the indians were returning, having found the men in the fields too strong to attack.  They were near enough to hear the old indians cry.  The girls quickly fled.  While climbing over a fallen tree, the younger girl was shot through the shoulder.  She fell, but had the presence of mind to roll under the log, which was raised a little from the ground.  The indians lept right over her without seeing her, in their pursuit of her sister.
The shot had alerted the workers in the field, and they came to Betsy's rescue.  As the indians fled, the younger girl was located, and her wound was not too serious, the ball having passed clear through her.
She grew up and married a man named Campbell, and later, as a widow, remarried to a Chambers.  Betsey also married, and "with her husband removed to one of the western states"



Moses Van Campen, and John The Mowhawk
There's a story of Van Campen and Pike, captives, fighting off their captors.  Van Campen struck John the Mowhawk Sachem with a tomahawk as he fled.  Years later in in the early 1830s, Van Campen lived in Danville.  Him and John Mowhawk met again, and shook hands.  The indian showed Van Campen his wound, and gave the tomahawk to Van Campen. (An entire book could be written about Moses Van Campen's adventures. )

August 1782 - The Murder of John Lee
John Lee lived a few miles below Derrstown (Lewisburg) in the area that is now Winfield. On a warm evening in August, Lee and his family, along with a few of his neighbors, were having supper.  A band of indians suddenly burst upon them.
Katy Stoner rushed upstairs and managed to hide behind a chimney.  Lee was tomahawked and scalped, as was an old man named John Walker.  Mrs Boatman and a daughter were also killed.

Mrs Lee and two young children were taken captive. One of Lee's sons, who had not been at the supper,  had just been returning home as the indians were leaving the house.  He was not seen, and he quickly fled to Northumberland and raised the alarm.  A party of twenty men were hastily collected by Col Hunter and they started in pursuit.

When the party arrived at the Lee home, Lee & Mrs Boatmans' daughter were alive, but in great agony.  Litters were quickly constructed, and they were sent to Fort Augusta.  Lee soon expired, but Miss Boatman recovered and lived for many years.
Without delaying to bury the dead, Col Hunters party pursued the savages, catching sight of them above Lycoming creek.   In crossing the mountains, Mrs Lee had been bitten by a rattlesnake, and her leg was greatly swollen, slowing the party down.  At the mouth of Pine Run, below Jersey Shore, she could go no further.  With the whites rapidly approaching, an indian slipped up behind her, placed his rifle at the back of her head, and shot her. The entire upper portion of her head was blown off. The indian then picked up her little child and hastily dashed it against a tree. When Col Hunter and his men came to the scene, the child was moaning, but alive, and the body of Mrs Lee was still warm.

Crossing the river as quickly as possible, they could see the savages, but as they came to the mountain swamp, there was no way to be sure the indians were not lying in the thicket waiting to ambush them. Much exhausted, they reluctantly gave up chase, and headed home, stopping to bury first Mrs Lee, then the others at Lee's house.  "A whole was dug beside walker, and his body rolled into it."

Thomas Lee, the child taken captive, was not recovered for many years.  His older brother, who had raised the alarm, made arrangements with certain indians to bring his brother to Tioga point, where he was delivered to his friends. Thomas, having been riased among indians, did not wish to leave.    The friends tied him up, and placed him in a canoe.  When near Wilkes Barre they untied him, and he ran off.  It was several hours before they caught him. Once in Northumberland, Thomas remained sullen.  Indian boys and girls his own age were made to play with him for several days before he showed any disposition to join them.  Eventually he began to inquire the names of things, and gradually "became civilized"


1784 - The Second Treaty Of Fort Stanwix

Brutal indian attacks would continue throughout the Susquehanna Valley through 1783, mostly ending with the second Treaty Of Fort Stanwix in 1784. (Note that it was this treaty that enlarged Pennsylvania.  The Western section of Pennsylvania, before 1784, making up nearly one fourth of the state, was New York during the  time of Great Runaway)

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Find More Local History & Stories Here

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JAR - The Journal Of The American Revolution


The Militia Vs The Continental Army
The militia long predated the American Revolution. As early as 1691 the Massachusetts charter empowered the royal governor to organize regiments of militia in every county. All able-bodied men between sixteen and sixty were required to serve. Each had to keep a musket, bullets and powder ready to repel an attack by the French or Indians. The militia was a kind of standing home army that met on training days to stay acquainted with handling guns and performing military maneuvers. -JAR


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THE GREAT ISLAND
From the Clinton County Historical Society
 

Great Island, located about one quarter mile east of Lock Haven in the West Branch of the Susquehanna at the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek, is the most ancient and historic landmark in the vicinity of Old Town. A famous Indian Trail from Shamokin (Sunbury) to Chinklacamoose (Clearfield) ran through it, well-worn and much traveled by many tribes.
This fertile island of about 325 acres of rich, well timbered ground surrounded by the clear water of the Susquehanna River – called Otzinachson by the Indians – became a favorite rendezvous for Indians.  Here they held tribal councils, built villages and lived, for the surrounding country afforded an abundance of game, the river an ample supply of fish and the island itself produced their staples of grain, and corn.
 

The Indians who lived on the Island in the 1700’s  were the Munsees, a branch of the Delawares. They inhabited 3 villages there, one at the eastern end, one on the western side and one opposite the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek, called Old Town Point.
Many well-known Indian paths led to and converged at the Island; one ran over the mountains to the Allegheny River, another ascended the Bald Eagle Mountain and led to the Juniata, while still another went to Lycoming Creek. It was said paths met here. These were the important thoroughfares during Indian times, worn by the dusty moccasins of countless Indians.It has been surmised that many Indian tribes visited, inhabited or passed through Great Island. An early name for Great Island was Mechek – menatey. The name is of Iroquois origin, but in 1755, the name as given on a map by Lewis Evans is Cawichnowane. Therewere other islands in the Susquehanna often referred to as “big islands”, but this was the most important one and the name meant exactly what it said, “A Great Island”.

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On the appearance of the Indians, Silverthorn notified an individual, identified by Meginess as David Aspen, to leave his cabin for a place of safety.

Aspen, who is considered to have been one of the first white settlers to camp out at what would become the borough of Hughesville, would not survive into the cooler months that year.
Aspen listened to Silverthorn and fled his cabin, making a hasty retreat to Fort Muncy. There, at the farm of Samuel Wallis, he would remain relatively safer than exposed at his cabin.

But, when Aspen ventured away from the fort and did not return, a search was made. His body was found shot and scalped in an area that would become Muncy Township, Meginness said.

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1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this fascinating information.

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