The Grave Of Pvt. Etzweiler 1780

This solitary grave sits at the edge of a farmers field along Brouse Road in Mifflinburg

The stone reads:

GEORGE ETZWEILER

who as killed by the 

INDIANS

May 26th 1780

At Jacob Grosclung Mill

Near Brush Valley Narrows

in what is now Buffaloe

Township Union County

Erected by G. Alfred Schoch

Middleburg, September 10 1888

In 1939, the Selinsgrove Times Tribune ran a column that nicely encapsulates the story, as it is recorded in a number of history books.  It does not, however, explain why Schoch placed the grave marker 100 years after the event. 

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Historic Pilgrimage 
As recounted in the Selinsgrove Times Tribune, 1939

Frederic Antes Godcharles, historian, of Milton, visited Yesteryear last week, told a story of Indian activities in and around New Berlin, that have given interest to another of those historic pilgrimages in which some of us take such delight. 

Map Of the Brush Valley Narrows - The Heberling Mill, Under the S, is the location of the French Jacob Mill

At the end of Brush Valley Narrows, Union county, about one-half mile southeast of the Forest House is the location of what was known as French Jacob's Mill. The land has long been in the possession of the Wohlheiter family. There in the spring of 1780 occurred a massacre known in history as the Massacre of French Jacob's Mill. The mill was built in 1776 by Jacob Groshong, or "French Jacob," as he was called by his neighbors. Groshong's nickname, "French Jacob" is still preserved in that section in connection with a large spring a short distance above the Forest House. In 1787 he was assessed in his nickname instead of his proper name. 

 Marker Located at: N 40° 58.889 W 077° 03.960
Reads:
"Near this spot JACOB GROZING erected a grist mill in 1776, which was used as a place of refuge by the settlers during the Indian troubles, here on May 16 1780.  A patrol of Revolutionary Soldiers was attacked by a band of Delaware Indians.  The dour following men were killed:
John Forrester Jr
George Etzweiler
James Chambers
Samul McLoughlin"

On May 16, 1780, a patrol of Continental soldiers was on duty as a garrison at the mill, and was attacked by a party of Indians. Four of the garrison were killed and several wounded. Those killed were John Foster, James Chambers, George Etzweiler, and Samuel McLaughlin.

The story is that the soldiers were swimming in the mill race, having just returned from a patrol of the neighborhood and were confident no Indians were in that neighborhood. Christian Shively, who lived near the mill, heard the firing while threshing grain in his field. He immediately hid his wife and two small children near the creek. He then rolled some logs into Penn's Creek and tied them to the raft. In this way they floated down the stream to Beatty's, where New BerIin is now located.

In the Annals of Buffalo Valley, Philip Pontius relates that his father also heard the signal, unhitched his horse and made a circuit thru the woods, gun in hand, to the mill. He related how one man named William Fisher narrowly escaped. He was running to the mill during the attack. Just as he reached the door his foot slipped on a wet board and he fell into the door. The bullet intended for him struck into the building on a line where his head would have been had he not fallen.

"John Foster was an uncle of Captain John Foster, of Mifflinburg, and a brother of the old Major Thomas Foster. James Chambers was the son of Robert Chambers. "George Etzweiler, Junior, left a widow, Mary. George Etzweiler, a son of the one killed, kept hotel at McKee's Half Falls, as late as 1812. William Fisher was the grandfather of James Crossgrove and Sheriff John Crossgrove, and resided in Limestone, where James Crossgrove lately resided.

William Gill told me he heard old Mrs. Overmeter say that the e people who were killed, were brought over to the place adjoining Philip Seebold's residence, above New Berlin, and were buried in the old graveyard on the bluff at the creek, where Dry Run comes in, nearly opposite where Tuscarpa Run enters Penn's Creek, on the Snyder county side. (Philip Seebold said, in 1872, that George Etzweiler was buried on Jacob Cook's place, now Peter Slear's, in Limestone township.) Here old John Trester and the first settlers were buried. The graveyard, probably the oldest in the county, was not used after 1791, when the people commenced burying in New Berlin. It belonged to Thomas Barber, who was killed in 1792, by the timbers of an old barn falling on him...."

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READ MORE
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B is the French Jacob Mill Marker

A is the Etzweiler Grave Marker

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Hon. G. Alfred Schoch 1843-1917, Middleburg Pa

He was president of the First National bank, and President of the Board of Mangers of the Main Shoe Company. His death certificate listed his occupation as "capitalist"

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French Jacob by Bruce Teeple

One joy you get from reading historical materials is in finding the unique stories that breathe life back into long-dead characters. Enough bizarre tales about “French Jacob” Groshong fortunately survive to help us understand how one person made decisions on the Susquehanna frontier. 

We usually see French Jacob’s name associated with the 1780 Native attack at his mill north of Mifflinburg. Earlier life events, however, gave him a wide spread reputation for more than just grinding grain and sawing timbers.

 While the family name was originally “Grosjean” (or “Big John”), pronunciation along the borderlands of France and Germany follows its own bilingual logic. It was here that French Jacob was born in 1725. At the age of 26, he arrived in Philadelphia, bought several hundred acres in the Millersburg area two years later, and erected a mill. 

Stone milling is more than an “art, trade and mystery.” Millers not only had to adjust the milling process to temperature and humidity fluctuations; they needed excellent political and social skills, for the mill was the center of community life. Farmers went to mills to have their grains ground into flour or distilled into the more profitable whiskey. Waiting in line gave them the chance to get the news, discuss and vote on the issues, or buy lumber if the miller also operated a sawmill. Success required a trustworthy, engaging personality able to handle competition effectively.

 It didn’t take long for French Jacob to seek a commercial advantage by demonstrating his supernatural powers. A wave of his hand was said to control snakes and bears. His “magic words” reportedly cured disease and turned unruly children into wild animals. When a forest fire raced down Berry Mountain (near Millersburg), French Jacob drew a line in the dirt and reassured his neighbors that the fire would go no farther. Any attempts to fight it, he warned, would break the spell. Another story, about French Jacob’s secret silver mine, swirled around the valley. Neighbors swore that whenever he needed money, they saw him wait for the right phase of the moon, utter an incantation, walk into the mountain, and then return with a silver bar. 

On the eve of the American Revolution, French Jacob moved his milling operations from Millersburg, 50 miles north and west to Buffalo Township. He is listed among the inhabitants of Buffalo Township in April 1780: “Groshong, Jacob, grist-mill.” Losing a lawsuit over the site’s ownership, though, led him to relocate his mill down the road in 1783-84. He added a sawmill in 1785.

 But people no longer fell for the old gimmicks. Shrewdness and efficiency were replacing monopoly and sorcery as sustainable marketing strategies. Increasing populations, more competition and promises of opportunity always forced French Jacob farther west

. Records indicate that French Jacob Groshong worked in Centre County for a few years in the early 1790s. His name disappears from the Buffalo Township taxables list and his mill is assessed to Enoch Thomas in 1794. After that, the stories become less clear. Conflicting accounts say he died either in Kentucky in 1800 or in Missouri in 1826. As 19th century historian William Egle summed up this unusual life: "He knew whatever was to be known, and much more than he knew he'd own.”