The Wyoming Monument

The Wyoming Monument stands  over the mass grave of settlers from Connecticut who were at war with settlers from Pennsylvania in the Yankee Pennamite War when the American Revolution began.  British commander John Butler convinced the Pennamites [Pennsylvania settlers] to side with him in the revolution, promising that they could finally chase the Connecticut Yankees off the land.

The result was an atrocious bloody massacre.  More than 300 were killed.  Many others fled.

 When the settlers could finally return to bury the dead, the dead were not identifiable. One man identified his father by the buckles on his shoes. 

The bones were gathered and buried in a mass grave.

And then over time, the grave was forgotten. 

Marian Czarnowski of the Wyoming Monument Association spoke to the Degenstein History Buffs in Sunbury in June of 2024. She said that a sort of contest was held, and the grave was located.

In 1832 the bones of 83 skeletons were exhumed in public ceremonies. "See, Fellow citizens, the sacrifice which was made by the first civilized tenants of this valley. The grave containing their bones is uncovered before you. You see for yourselves the marks of the tomahawk and scalping knife on the heads which are here uncovered, after having rested for more than fifty years. Peace be in this grave Sacred be the memory of them that sleep here.." Wyoming Herald, July 1832

The Swetland Store

At the 1832, subscriptions were being taken for a monument. The bones were placed in 3 boxes and kept at the Swetland store located nearby.

On July 3rd 1833, the cornerstone was laid for a monument. Samuel Carey, a survivor of the massacre, laid the corner stone and also re-interred a box containing the human remains of those killed at the base [underground] of the monument.

"The scene as interesting and solemn. It was unlike the ordinary laying of a corner stone of a Monument, where meditation upon some patriotic event alone inspired feeling. The bones of those who were massacred in to attempt to defend their country, and their families, and to whose memory a Monument is to be erected, had been dug from the earth, and were exhibited to the assembled multitude, lo look upon a great number of skulls, and other human bones, some bearing the marks of the tomahawk and scalping knife, and others perforated with balls, awakened a sense of the sufferings of those Wyoming Heroes, and led the mind to reflect upon the cause in which they lost their lives.

Casting the eye over the fertile Valley, viewing the luxuriant fields, the fine habitations, and other indications of prosperity, happiness, and plenty, & then looking upon the huge mass of the bones of those who fell in attempting to defend it, it was too much to meditate upon without feeling the most solemn emotions. Nor did this alone make the scene solemnly interesting. There were present several aged veterans who were in the Battle and several who fifty five years before had assisted in gathering and burying the families, the remains of which were now before them. There were present several whose fathers were slain, and whose bones were in the mass and a number of others who had lost brothers or other connections, and whose remains they were permitted to look upon, after they had laid beneath the sod more than half a century. There were present many who in looking upon a bone, knew not but the eye was resting upon the naked fragment of a parent, a brother, or some other connection. Truly the scene was solemn and interesting beyond description" - The Wyoming Herald July 1833

 The list of those who died is incomplete and possibly inaccurate. Those who fled went in different directions - it's not precisely known who may have died in the woods, or who may have escaped to live elsewhere. So the list that is on the monument? It might be accurate, it might not. They did the best they could with the information they had.  Below is an example of how the information was collected:

Due to lack of funds, the monument was only partially constructed.  In 1841 The Ladies Wyoming Monumental Association spearheaded fundraisers, raising enough money to complete the monument.

1860

From 1833 into the 1860s, agricultural exhibits were held at the monument, in September, by the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society.  Railroad companies offered free excursions to the exhibits.

Beginning in 1878, a commemoration ceremony was held on July 3rd of each year.  President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first featured speaker in 1878, followed by other presidents including Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 and Jimmy Carter spoke during a Memorial Day event on May 27th 2013.

President Rutherford Hayes, seated second from left, was the featured speaker at the Wyoming Monument ceremony held July 3, 1878.

The monument was 35 years old in 1878, having been completed in 1843.

Teddy Roosevelt gave a speech at the monument in 1905.

1928 

In 1928, for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Wyoming, President Calvin Coolidge hosted the officers and board members of both the Wyoming Commemorative Association and the Wyoming Monument Association at the White House.

In 1942, a group of Indians attended the ceremony.

The ceremony has been cancelled two times - once in 1972 for the Agnes flood, and then in 2020 for the coronavirus outbreak.

President Jimmy Carter, May 2013

On August 2 2008, the monument was struck by lightening. Dr. Joseph Mattiolli donated $100,000 towards the repairs.   President Jimmy Carter spoke at the monument on May 28th 2013, after the repairs were completed.

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1823

1844

July 1878