The second husband of Mary Jemison, the celebrated Indian captive known as “The White Woman of the Genesee” was Chief Hiokatoo, who she describes as the most cruel human being of whom we have any authentic record.
When Mary Jemison was an old woman she related the thrilling narrative of her long life among the Indians. Nothing told by the venerable captive was more thrilling than the life of Hiokatoo, also known as Gardow.
She says: “He was an old man when I first saw him, but he was by no means enervated. During the nearly fifty years that I lived with him, I received, according to Indian customs, all the kindness and attention that was my due as his wife. Although war was his trade from youth till old age and decrepitudedecrepitude stopped his career, he uniformly treated me with tenderness, and never offered an insult.
“I have frequently heard him repeat the history of his life from his childhood; and when he came to that part which related to his actions, his bravery and his valor in war; when he spoke of the ambush, the combat, the spoiling of his enemies and the sacrifice of the victims, his nerves seemed strung with youthful ardor. The warmth of the able warrior seemed to animate his frame and to produce the heated gestures he had practiced in middle age. He was a man of tender feelings to his friends, ready and willing to assist them in distress. Yet, as a warrior, his cruelties to his enemies perhaps were unparalleled, and will not admit of a word of palliation.
“Hiokatoo was born in one of the tribes of the Six Nations that inhabited the banks of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. He belonged to a tribe of the Seneca nation. He was a cousin to Farmer’s Brother, a chief who has been justly celebrated for his worth. Their mothers were sisters, and it was through the influence of Farmer’s Brother that I became the wife of Hiokatoo.
“In early life Hiokatoo showed signs of thirst for blood by attending only to the art of war, in the use of the tomahawk and scalping knife and in practicing cruelties upon everything that chanced to fall into his hands which was susceptible of pain. In that way he learned to use his implements of war effectually and at the same time blunted all those fine feelings and tender sympathies that are naturally excited by seeing or hearing a fellow being in distress.
“He could inflict the most excruciating tortures upon his enemies and prided himself upon his fortitude in having performed the most barbarous ceremonies and tortures without the least degree of pity or remorse. Thus qualified, when very young he was initiated into scenes of carnage by being engaged in the wars that prevailed among the Indian tribes.”
In 1731 he was appointed a runner and assisted in collecting an army to go against the Catawba, Cherokee and other Southern Indians. In one great battle of this war the Northern Indians ambushed their enemies and in two days massacred 1200 of their Southern enemies.
During the French and Indian War Hiokatoo was in every battle that was fought along the Susquehanna and Ohio Rivers. At Braddock’s defeat he took two white prisoners and burned them alive in a fire of his own kindling.
Mary Jemison says he participated in the battle at Fort Freeland, on Warrior Run, Northumberland County, July 28, 1779. She says:
“Hiokatoo was in command of the 300 Seneca Indians, and that Captain John MacDonald commanded more than one hundred British regulars. Hiokatoo, with the help of a few Indians, tomahawked every wounded American while earnestly begging with uplifted hands for quarter.”
In an expedition against Cherry Valley, N. Y., Hiokatoo was second in command. This force of hundreds of Indians was determined upon the total destruction of the whites.
Besides these instances, he was in a number of parties during the Revolution, where he ever acted a conspicuous part.
When Tory Colonel John Butler and Chief Joe Brant were making their terrible incursions against the settlers in lower New York and Pennsylvania they frequently resided with Chief Hiokatoo and his wife, Mary Jemison, at their home in the German Flats.
During General Sullivan’s expedition against the Indians in the summer of 1779, Hiokatoo was most active in his attempt to frustrate his plans. During this march Lieutenant Thomas Boyd was captured by the Indians in ambush. While Chief Little Beard was in command at Boyd’s cruel execution, Hiokatoo was a close second.
Hiokatoo was one of the leading actors in the diabolical scene following the capture of Colonel William Crawford, July, 1782, when he was put to death after the most inhuman barbarities were inflicted upon him.
The cruel Indian chief was assisted in these fiendish scenes by Simon Girty, the white savage renegade and outlaw Tory. Hiokatoo was the leading chief in the battle which destroyed Colonel Crawford’s command and personally directed the colonel’s execution. He painted Dr. Knight’s face black with his own hands and had him conducted to the place where he was to be executed. Dr. Knight escaped during the night and was able to reach his home and give the horrid details of Crawford’s execution.
Chief Hiokatoo served in seventeen campaigns during the period of the Revolution, until his death, which occurred on November 20, 1811, at the advanced age of 103 years.
Hiokatoo was about six feet four inches tall, large boned and rather inclined to leanness. He was very powerful and active for a man of his unusual size, and his wife said of him that he never found an Indian who could keep up with him in a race or throw him wrestling.
His eye was quick and penetrating and his voice was so harsh and powerful that amongst the Indians it always commanded attention. His health was uniformly good, and he was never confined by illness until attacked with tuberculosis when quite 100 years of age.
During his married life as the husband of the White Woman of the Genesee he was the father of four daughters and two sons. The elder of the two sons, John, killed his half-brother, Thomas, in a family feud which had existed between them since John was born, although Thomas was a fine character and John dissolute.
John a few years later, May, 1812, killed his own brother, Jesse, in a drunken frenzy, inflicting no less than eighteen wounds with a knife, each so deep that it would have been fatal. Jesse was twenty-seven years old and had been more like his mother than the other children. He shunned the Indian frolics, dressed and acted more like a white man and was sober and industrious.
Thus we see the cruelty of old Chief Hiokatoo inherited by his own son and inflicted upon his own blood in a most fiendish manner.
On November 5, 1788, General Thomas Mifflin succeeded Dr. Benjamin Franklin as president of the Supreme Executive Council. Dr. Franklin was now eighty-two years old and desired to be relieved of so exacting a responsibility and declined the re-election, which was assured him. At the same time George Ross, of Lancaster, was elected vice president.
The first election for electors of President and Vice President of the United States, under the new Constitution was held January 7, 1789. The Federal ticket was successful. The ten votes of Pennsylvania were given to General George Washington as President, and eight votes for John Adams, and two for John Hancock, for Vice President.
The National Government, feeble at first, had no buildings and no home. During seven years of Washington’s term as President the capital was at Philadelphia. Congress met at Sixth and Chestnut Streets. The Supreme Court met at Fifth and Chestnut Streets. The President lived on Market Street below Sixth Street. The Government of the United States has never paid the rent for these public buildings and in its infancy and weakness, Pennsylvania gave our National Government a home without compensation therefor.
The Constitution of Pennsylvania as adopted in 1776, had long since proved inadequate for the requirements of a useful and effective government, and its revision was demanded. The Assembly, March 24, 1789, adopted resolutions recommending the election of delegates to form a new Constitution. The Supreme Executive Council refused to promulgate this action of the Assembly. In September following the Assembly adopted resolutions for calling a convention.
At the election in October delegates were chosen and on November 21, 1789, the convention assembled in Philadelphia, and organized with the election of General Thomas Mifflin, Chief Executive of the State, as President of the convention. The sessions of the convention were long and tedious, and an adjournment was had for a time in 1790, but their labors were concluded, and the new Constitution adopted September 2, 1790.
The most radical changes were made in the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The Assembly ceased to have the sole right to make laws, a Senate being created. The Supreme Executive Council was abolished. A Governor was directed to be elected, to whom the administration of affairs was to be intrusted.
The former judicial system was continued, excepting that the Judges of the higher courts were to be appointed during good behavior instead of for seven years. The Bill of Rights re-enacted the old provincial provision copied into the first Constitution respecting freedom of worship, rights of conscience and exemptions from compulsory contribution for the support of any ministry.
The recognition of God and of a future state of rewards and punishments was still demanded of all holding office, but a belief in the divine inspiration of the Old and New Testaments was not included. The Council of Censors ceased to have authority, and Pennsylvania conformed in all important matters to the system upon which the new Federal Government was to be administered.
The first election held in Pennsylvania under the new Constitution of the Commonwealth—that of 1790—resulted in the election of General Thomas Mifflin, then president of the Supreme Executive Council, who had presided at the forming of the new instrument. Mifflin had little or no opposition. His election was evident from the start, for there were no real issues. The result turned chiefly on his better-known personal qualities. Parties had not yet become crystallized with definite issues.
General Arthur St. Clair, his opponent, was highly esteemed as a citizen and brilliant soldier, but the popularity of Mifflin carried him in triumph, and for three terms he was chosen to the chief magistracy of Pennsylvania. His success was his own; he builded his own house.
Governor Mifflin’s chief political adviser was Alexander J. Dallas, who was appointed to the office of Secretary of the Commonwealth. That was a wise selection. Dallas was young, but brilliant and deeply interested in politics. He knew the leading men of the State and maintained a close relationship with them.
With the new Constitution functioning, the course of legislation turned in various channels. The promotion of internal improvements which have since become so important in Pennsylvania, and other enterprises of a less public character, soon demanded the attention of the General Assembly.
One of the first measures was that urged by the Society for the Improvement of Roads and Canals, and which contemplated the construction of highways and artificial waterways at the expense of the State. This suggestion aroused such a storm of opposition that the Legislature was compelled to reject the original proposition and to pass bills providing only partial and doubtful encouragement for their establishment by private enterprise.
A long and valuable report was made February 19, 1791, which embodied the results of examinations made previously. The committee reported that the Delaware River could be made an important channel for the trade of New York by the construction of a portage canal of nineteen miles; that a safe boat and raft navigation might be made to the northern boundary of the State for £25,000. They gave an estimate of the grain which was brought down the Susquehanna and the Juniata and they reported on the probable trade along the Allegheny River and how it could be increased by canals at certain places.
They recommended that the Governor should issue a proclamation inviting proposals for building canals and locks in and near the waters of the Tulpehocken and Quittapahilla; for a canal from Frankstown to Poplar Run, and for clearing the Susquehanna from Wright’s Ferry to Havre de Grace. They also wanted proposals for a turnpike from Philadelphia through Lancaster to the Susquehanna and for other roads throughout the State.
A bill was passed April 6, 1792, and in August Governor Mifflin apprised the Legislature that he had made contracts for the improvements of certain streams, but that “several propositions had not yet met with persons willing to undertake the specified work.”
During the year 1793 the Bank of Pennsylvania was incorporated by the Legislature, the opinion being expressed that it would “promote the regular, permanent and successful operations of the finances of the State and be productive of great benefit to trade and industry in general.”
The State subscribed for one-third of the entire stock and branches were established at Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Easton and Pittsburgh. These were discontinued in 1810; in 1843 the State sold its stock, and with the great financial crisis of 1857 the Bank of Pennsylvania sank in ruin.
About the close of the Revolutionary War a notorious character named Disberry lived between Selinsgrove and Sunbury. He was possessed of great physical strength and had few superiors in running, jumping and skating. But in thieving and lying he was considered a match for the prince of darkness himself.
So bold was he that, according to reminiscences preserved by early settlers, he was known to enter the kitchen of a dwelling when the family were in bed, start up a fire, cook a meal and eat at his leisure. If disturbed in this agreeable occupation he relied on his swiftness of foot to escape.
At length Joe became so notorious on account of his thieving propensities that the whole settlement was up in arms against him, and he was finally arrested November 22, 1783, and imprisoned in the jail at Sunbury. But as the jail—which was the first one built in Northumberland County—was not secure he quickly escaped, and Sheriff Antes offered a reward for his apprehension.
On another occasion Disberry took refuge on the “Isle of Que” and concealed himself in a thicket of bushes, where he fancied himself secure. He might have remained undiscovered and escaped but for his inordinate love of perpetrating jokes.
Lying on the watch near the road cut through the thicket Joe heard the footstepsfootsteps of a horse and, slyly peeping from his covert, espied the Sheriff’s wife approaching on horseback. He at once stepped into the road and, pulling off his hat, made a polite bow, when he suddenly disappeared in the bushes. The lady hurried to Selinsgrove and gave the alarm.
A party headed by George Kremer was immediately formed and went to the island in pursuit of Joe. Guided by the lady’s instructions, Kremer went to the spot and soon had the culprit in custody. He was taken back to jail, tried and sentenced, and his sentence is one of the strangest found in the annals of criminal history of Pennsylvania.
In the Quarter Sessions docket of Northumberland County the record shows that Joe Disberry was arraigned on the charge of felony, tried and found guilty. The jury was composed as follows: Peter Hosterman, Adam Grove, George Shaffer, Philip Frick, John Harrison, Michael Grove, William Clark, Adam Christ, Robert Irwin, Paul Baldy, John Shaffer, Alexander McGrady. The sentence of the Court, which still stands out boldly on the record, was as follows:
“Judgment that the said Joseph Disberry receive thirty-nine lashes between the hours of 8 and 9 o’clock tomorrow; to stand in the pillory one hour; to have his ears cut off and nailed to the post; to return the property stolen or the value thereof; remain in prison three months; pay a fine of £30 to the honorable the president of this State for the support of the Government, and stand convicted until fine, fees, etc., are paid.”
This remarkable sentence shows the estimate that was put on Joe as a criminal. The whipping post and pillory stood in the public square in Sunbury.
Colonel John Henry Antes was the Sheriff at that time and directed the whipping, if he did not do it himself.
There is no record to show who did the ear chopping, but as the surgical operation fell to the Sheriff also, it is probable that he did it.
John Buyers was the president of the court at that time, assisted by associates, and the duty of imposing the sentence fell on him. The Court met, according to the entry in the docket on the fourth Tuesday of August, 1784, and as the trial took place at once, the sentence was carried out on Wednesday.
Among the jurors were several men who were prominent as Indian fighters and participants in the war for liberty.
Peter Hosterman, foreman, was active as a militia officer and had command of a body of militia to watch and repel savage attacks.
Adam and Michael Grove were famous as Indian scouts, and the latter only a short time before he served on this jury, was one of a company that pursued a party of marauding Indians up the Sinnemahoning. Discovering their camp they stealthily approached at night, rushed upon them, surprised them, captured their arms and killed several. The balance escaped. The Grove brothers then lived in Buffalo Valley, now Union County.
This severe sentence, it seems, did not cure Joe Disberry of his thieving propensities, for the Quarter Sessions docket for August term, 1798 (Northumberland County), shows that he was arraigned and tried on three indictments for burglarizing the houses of Philip Bower, Peter Jones and Isaiah Willits, and convicted on each.
The jurors who found him guilty on each count were John Clark, John Metzgar, John Friesbach, George Clark, John Armstrong, John Cochran, Thomas Murray, Christian Gettig, John Dewart, George Bright, Peter Disher and Hamelius Lomison.
Judge Jacob Rush was President Judge assisted by Captain William Wilson, John McPherson, Thomas Strawbridge and Colonel William Cooke as associates. Robert Irwin was high sheriff of the county. Judge Rush, on sentencing Disberry, said:
“That the prisoner, Joseph Disberry, forfeit all and singular his goods and chattels, lands and tenements, to and for the use of the Commonwealth, and undergo a servitude of seven years for the burglary committed in the house of Peter Bower, and be committed to the house of correction, pay the cost of prosecution, &c.”
The Court then sentenced him on the two other indictments, seven years each. Joe, who was listening very attentively remarked rather jocosely: “Why, Your Honor, three sevens make twenty-one!”
Judge Rush then continued: “That the defendant be conveyed to the gaol and penitentiary house of the city of Philadelphia to undergo the servitude aforesaid for the term of twenty-one years. And that the said Joe Disberry be kept for the space of two years in solitary cells out of the term of twenty-one years.”
This remarkable criminal served his long sentence and returned in 1819 to his old haunts, about Sunbury and the Selinsgrove, an aged man, but as merry as a cricket. Being a natural-born thief, he could not resist the temptation to steal everything upon which he could lay his hands.
The date of his death is unknown. But the late Dr. Robert Harris Awl, of Sunbury, said that some time after his return from serving his long sentence, he went one night to a mill in Union County to steal flour and falling through a hatchway sustained injuries which resulted in his death. It is said that when they came to bury him, the owner of the mill insisted that he should be buried deep. “For,” said he, “if it is not done he will return and steal mill, dam and all!”
It is not positively known whence this remarkable man came. Tradition says that he was a native of Connecticut. In that event he might have been among the emigrants to Wyoming, but on account of his evil propensities was banished to Sunbury as a punishment to Dr. Plunket and his people, for whom the Wyomingites bore no love. Neither is it known whether he had any family or property. His criminal record, however, would furnish material enough for a first-class romance.
There was great conflict between the several Lords Baltimore, Proprietaries of Maryland, and the Penns, Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, over the boundary of their respective provinces, which lasted from the time William Penn first received his grant until the Mason and Dixon boundary line was surveyed in 1763–67.
Conestoga Township, in what is now Lancaster County, was originally organized about 1712. Prior to 1719 it was divided into East and West Conestoga. The western boundaries of the latter were not defined until 1722, when Donegal Township was erected and Chicques Creek was made its eastern boundary. Pequea Township seems to have been to the northeast of Conestoga, with not very well defined boundaries, and was probably erected about the year 1720.
Lord Baltimore selected a pliant and bold adventurer for his agent in this disputed territory named Thomas Cresap, aged twenty-six years, a carpenter by occupation, and in religious faith a Roman Catholic, same as the Calverts of Maryland. He was to go to Conejohela Valley and settle, where he built a cabin and established a ferry, on March 16, 1730, near James Patterson’s land.
In a joint statement made by James Patterson to Justices John Wright and Samuel Blunston they issued a warrant and wrote to Governor Patrick Gordon, October 30, 1732, and said:
“About two years Since, Thomas Cresap, and some other people of Loose Morals and Turbulent Spirits, Came and disturbed the Indians, our friends and Allies, who were peaceably Settled on those lands from when the said Parnel and others had been removed, Burnt their Cabbins, and destroyed their goods, And with much threatening and Ill-usage, drove them away, and by pretending to be under the Maryland government, sought to Evade ours. Thus they proceeded to play booty. Disturbing the Peace of the Government, Carrying people out of the Province by Violence, Taking away the guns from our friends, the Indians, Tying and making them Prisoners without any offence given; and threatening all who should Oppose them; And by Underhand and Unfair practices, Endeavoring to Alienate the minds of the Inhabitants of this Province, and Draw them from Obedience to their party. Their Insolence Increasing, they killed the horses of Such of our people whose trade with the Indians made it Necessary to Keep them on that Side of the river, for Carrying their Goods and Skins; assaulted those who were sent to look after them.”
Cresap’s house was a convenient refuge for runaway servants and debtors. Samuel Chance, a runaway debtor of Edward Cartlidge, an Indian trader who lived in the Manor, took up his abode with Cresap and assisted him to row his ferryboat. A son of Cartlidge laid a plan to capture Chance by decoying him to the east side of the river.
Cresap and Chance got into their boat and rowed over to the Blue Rock, where they found Edward Beddock, Rice Morgan, and a Negro servant of Mr. Cartlidge. After being taken into the boat, and rowed out into the stream a few yards, Beddock and Morgan threw Cresap into the river, and took Chance to shore with them. Cresap made his escape to an island nearby, where he remained until after dark, when he was discovered by an Indian and rescued.
Cresap made complaint to the Maryland authorities, and a sharp correspondence between the Governors of the two Provinces resulted.
In the fall of 1733, Cresap came up to Wright’s Ferry and commenced to build boats and erect a house. Wright and Blunston had placed a number of men in the ferryhouse, who sallied forth and took Cresap’s men prisoners.
John Emerson, a lawyer, who lived in Lancaster, was appointed ranger and keeper of the Conestoga Manor. He also owned a ferry at Blue Rock. On January 29, 1734, accompanied by Knowles Daunt and five others, Emerson went down to Cresap’s house to arrest him. Cresap shot Daunt in the leg, from the effects of which he died. They failed to capture Cresap and he afterward made frequent raids into Kreitz Valley with bands of armed men.
In July, 1735, when John Wright was harvesting his grain, Cresap appeared with twenty men, women and lads, armed with guns, swords, pistols, blunderbusses and drums beating.
Wright approached Cresap and demanded the reason of their military display. Cresap replied that they came to fight the Pennsylvanians, drew his sword and aimed his pistol at Wright’s breast, who, by his courage, completely cowed Cresap and captured his wagons. Wright and his men then made a fort of the ferryhouse on the west side of the river.
Cresap reported these doings to Governor Ogle, who ordered out the Maryland militia. Wright learned of this martial movement and engaged Benjamin Chambers to ascertain their designs. Chambers was suspected as a spy and arrested, but escaped to Wright’s Ferry and made a full report. He then went to Donegal and collected a number of Scotch-Irish, and marched them to Wright’s Ferry, where they repelled two or three hundred Marylanders, under Colonel Hall.
Cresap built a fort from which bands of armed men went out to raid plantations, destroy houses and take the settlers prisoners to Maryland. Joshua Minshal and John Wright, Jr., were the only two men left in Kreitz’s Valley.
Cresap had surveyed forty tracts of land, which were owned by Germans. This state of affairs became so critical that Provincial Council concluded to have Cresap arrested for the murder of Knowles Daunt.
On November 23, 1736, a warrant was placed in the hands of Sheriff Samuel Smith, who lived at Donegal. He called upon John Kelley, Benjamin Sterratt, Arthur Buchanan, Samuel Scott, David Priest, John Sterratt, John Galbraith, James, John and Alexander Mitchell, James Allison and nineteen others to assist him.
On the night of November 24, 1736, they surrounded Cresap’s house, in which he had a number of armed men, who fired upon Sheriff Smith and his party. Laughlin Malone, of Cresap’s party, was killed, and John Copper, of the Sheriff’s party, was wounded.
Finding that Cresap would not surrender, the Sheriff set his house on fire, when Cresap attempted to escape, but was overpowered and carried in triumph to Philadelphia and placed in prison.
Colonel Hall and Captain Higgenbotham came to Cresap’s fort with 300 men, and at different times marched through the valley in martial array. In January, 1737, a company attacked these Marylanders in Cresap’s fort, but were repulsed with the loss of eight men.
The Governor of Maryland offered £100 reward for the arrest of John Wright, Samuel Blunston, Sheriff Samuel Smith, John Ross, Michael Tanner, Joshua Minshal and Charles Jones. The last three persons were arrested and taken to Annapolis jail.
The Marylanders were finally driven back to their State, and all efforts to colonize that part of Pennsylvania with Marylanders was abandoned in 1738, and the Cresap invasions into Pennsylvania ceased.
The first settlement in what is now Carbon County was made by the Moravian missionaries in the year 1746.
The converted Mohican Indians having been driven out of Shekomeko, N. Y., near the border of Connecticut, and from Pochgatgach, in the latter State, found an asylum for a short time at Friedenshutten, near Bethlehem.
The missionaries considered it unwise to maintain a large Indian congregation so near Bethlehem, and they purchased two hundred acres on the north side of Mahoning Creek, about a half mile above its junction with the Lehigh. Here the Indian town of Gnadenhutten became a regular fixture, and in it each Indian family possessed its own lot of ground.
The paths to Wyoming and other Indian towns passed through the settlement. A church stood in the valley, the Indian houses formed a crescent upon the higher ground, and on the open end stood the home of the missionary and the burying ground.
In September, 1749, Baron John de Watteville, a noted bishop of the Moravian Brethren, went to Gnadenhutten and laid the foundation of a new church, replacing the one built in 1746, which was too small for the growing congregation, which then consisted of 500 Indians.
About this time Reverend David Brainerd and several Indian converts visited Gnadenhutten. The congregation continued in this pleasing and regular state until 1754.
The Delaware and Shawnee on the Susquehanna began to waver in their allegiance to the English. They were preparing to take up the hatchet on the side of the French, and it became a matter of concern to them to withdraw their Indian brethren in the Moravian settlements beyond the reach of the whites, that the hostile savages might more freely descend upon the white settlements.
The Christian Indians for some time resolutely refused to move to Wyoming or Shamokin. At length, however, a considerable part of them were seduced by the influence of the Delaware King Tedyuskung to move.
The Mohicans who remained were joined by other Christian Delaware and soon the land upon which they lived became so impoverished that the inhabitants of Gnadenhutten removed to the north side of the Lehigh River.
The dwellings were removed and a new chapel built in June, 1754. This place was called New Gnadenhutten, and stood where the borough of Weissport now stands.
In New Gnadenhutten the Mohican lived on one side of the street, the Delaware on the opposite side. The cultivation was under the direct charge of the Moravian missionaries.
The Indians who had gone over to the French interests became incensed that any of the Moravian converts among their people should choose to remain at Gnadenhutten, and they determined to cut off the settlement.
After Braddock’s defeat, July, 1755, the whole frontier was open to the inroads of the savage foe. Every day disclosed new scenes of barbarity committed by the Indians. The whole country was in terror; the neighbors of the brethren in Gnadenhutten forsook their dwellings and fled, but the brethren covenanted together to remain undaunted in the place they believed Providence had allotted them.
In that decision they neglected no caution whatever. But it was not to be as the Moravians had planned.
Late in the evening of November 24, 1755, the mission house on the Mahoning was attacked by the French Indians, the house burned to the ground and eleven of the inhabitants murdered.
The attack was made while the family was at supper. The uncommon barking of the dogs was noticed, upon which Brother Senseman went out to the back door to ascertain what was the matter. The report of a gun was heard, when several of the family rushed to the open door, where they were confronted with the Indians who stood with their firearms pointed toward the door, who simultaneously fired upon the Moravians.
Martin Nitschmann was instantly killed, his wife and several others were wounded, but were able to flee with the rest of the household upstairs into the garret, where they barricaded the door with bedsteads. Brother Partsch escaped by jumping out of a rear window. Brother Worbass, who was ill in bed in an adjoining house, also escaped by a window, although the savages had placed a guard before his door.
The savages pursued those who had taken refuge in the garret and finding the door too strongly secured, they set fire to the house. A lad, named Sturgis, jumped from the blazing roof and escaped, but not before he was severely burned by the flames and shot in the face in making his escape.
Soon as Sturgis was seen to get away, Sister Partsch took courage and jumped from the burning roof, and escaped unhurt. Brother Fabricius attempted to flee in the same manner, but was observed by the Indians and twice wounded and captured. He was immediately tomahawked and scalped. The rest of the household were all burnt alive.
Brother Senseman witnessed his wife being consumed by the flames. The scene was terrible to behold.
Soon as the house was destroyed the savages set fire to the barns and stables, by which all the corn, hay and cattle were destroyed.
The Indians then divided the spoils, soaked some bread in milk, made a hearty meal, and departed—all this being observed by Sister Partsch looking on from her hiding place behind a tree upon a hill near the house.
This melancholy event proved to be the delivery of the Indian converts at Gnadenhutten; for upon the first crack of the guns and seeing the flames, they sensed the cause and would have rushed to the defense of the Moravians had not a missionary advised them to the contrary. Instead they all fled to the woods, and in a few minutes, Gnadenhutten was cleared of everything worth while.
Reverend David Zeisberger, who had just arrived at Gnadenhutten from Bethlehem, hastened back to give notice of this terrible event to a body of English militia which had marched within five miles of the spot, but they did not venture to pursue the savages in the dark.
The fugitive congregation arrived safely at Bethlehem. After the French and Indians had retired, the remains of those killed on the Mahoning were carefully collected from the ruins and solemnly interred.
A broad slab of marble placed there in 1788, now marks the grave, which is situated on the hill a short distance from Lehighton, and a little north of a small hamlet which occupies the site of the ancient missionary village. The following is the inscription on the marble:
“To the memory of Gottleib and Joanna Anders, with their child, Christiana; Martin and Susanna Nitschmann, Anna Catherine Senseman, John Gattenmeyer, George Fabricius, clerk; George Schweigert and Martin Presser, who lived here at Gnadenhutten unto the Lord, and lost their lives in a surprise from Indian warriors, November the 24th, 1755.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints—Psalms cxvi, 15.”
After the humiliating defeat of Major Grant, September 14, 1758, when he disobeyed his orders and attacked the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne and was himself taken prisoner, the French, exulting over their unlooked-for victory, believed that a successful attack could now be made upon the main army of General John Forbes in camp at Loyalhanna. By this bold stroke, in which they would use their entire force, they could, in the discomfiture of the English, end all hostilities, as they had done in the fateful defeat of Braddock.
General Forbes was wiser than his predecessor, and better appreciated the talents and experience of Colonel George Washington, and did not fail to seek his counsel.
General Forbes had joined Colonel Henry Bouquet at Loyalhanna and determined to advance upon Fort Duquesne. Washington drew up the plan, illustrating the proper disposition of the troops in the line of march, so the English would not again be overwhelmed by a surprise attack.
At this moment the forces of the French and their Indian allies rushed through the woods toward Loyalhanna, dragging some light cannon with them. They reached their objective before the British army had moved. An attack was made and long sustained, but the English, under General Forbes, repulsed the French, who returned to Fort Duquesne.
The battle of Loyalhanna has never been given its proper place in history for it was a noteworthy affair, important in its consequences.
The French had beaten Braddock by the aid of their Indian allies, and they hoped to defeat Forbes in the same way, but Colonel Bouquet had adopted the provincial practice of fighting Indians, which was the means of bringing them to a realization of their inability to conquer the English, and they abandoned hopes of success and quit the French.
The strength of the French garrison in Fort Duquesne in September, 1758, was 4000 troops, but by October this number was reduced to less than 2000, including the Indians. On September 22, Christian Frederic Post, the noted Moravian missionary and friend of the English, who had visited the garrison, reported its strength as 1400, but added he believed “there would be full 3000 French and Indians, almost all Canadians, who would be ready to meet the army under Forbes.”
The militia of Louisiana and Illinois left the fort early in November and went home. The Indians of Detroit and the Wabash country would remain no longer, and, what was even worse, the supplies destined for Port Duquesne had been destroyed by Bradstreet at Fort Frontenac. Hence M. de Ligneris, the commandant, was compelled by prospective starvation to dismiss the greater part of his force, and await the approach of the English with those that remained.
The French had always depended on the aid of the Indians to hold this fort. But it was the custom of the Indians after a battle, whether successful or not, to go home.
Colonel James Smith, at that time a prisoner who had been adopted into one of the tribes, in his very valuable narrative, says that after the defeat of Major Grant the Indians held a council, in which their opinions were divided. Some believed General Forbes would now turn back and go home the way he came, as Dunbar had done after the Braddock defeat; others supposed he would press forward and make the attack. The French urged the Indians to remain, but many returned to their squaws, children and hunting.
These things were unknown to the English. But when the actual condition of affairs in Fort Duquesne reached General Forbes, he concluded, late as it was, to advance.
On November 13 Colonel John Armstrong with one thousand men was sent forward to assist Colonel Washington in opening the road, and four days later General Forbes pressed forward. He met with no opposition, but the extremely disagreeable weather impeded his progress. The wagons and all the artillery, except a few light pieces, were left behind.
The force consisted of 2500 picked men, who marched without shelter or baggage and burdened only with knapsack and blankets. There were in addition the pioneers, wagoners and provincials engaged to work on the roads. Friendly Indians were kept out as scouts, and the greatest vigilance was exercised to avoid surprise. Washington and Armstrong opened the way to within a day’s march of the fort.
On the evening of November 24, the army encamped among the hills of Turtle Creek. That night they were informed by an Indian scout that he had discovered a cloud of smoke above the fort and soon after another scout came with the certain intelligence that the fort was burned and abandoned by the enemy. A troop of horse was sent forward immediately to extinguish the fire. At midnight the men on guard heard a dull and heavy booming over the western woods.
In the morning the march was resumed, the strong advance guard leading the column. Forbes came next, carried in his litter, as he was quite ill. The troops followed in three parallel columns, the Highlanders, under Montgomery, in the center, the Royal Americans on the right and the provincials on the left under Colonels Bouquet and Washington. It was dusk when they emerged upon the open plain and saw Fort Duquesne before them, with the background of wintry hills beyond the Monongahela and Allegheny.
When the fort was invested on November 25 it presented a sorry appearance. It had consisted of two fortifications, about 200 yards apart. One, built with immense labor, was small but strong; the other stood on the bank of the Allegheny, in form of a parallelogram, but weaker than the other. There were about thirty chimneys standing, the houses being destroyed by fire.
The French had also blown up one of the magazines, but in the other was found sixteen barrels of ammunition, a large quantity of iron, gun barrels, guns and a cartload of scalping knives. It has never been made known if they buried their cannon in the river or carried them away in their hasty retreat.
A boy twelve years old who had been an Indian prisoner two years escaped during the retreat and told General Forbes that the French had carried a large quantity of wood into the fort and that they burned five of the prisoners they took at Major Grant’s defeat on the parade and delivered the others to the Indians, who tomahawked the men on the spot.
There were many dead bodies found within a short distance of the fort, and many evidences of French inhumanity.
The Indians remaining about the fort were only too eager to treat with General Forbes.
Bancroft says: “Armstrong’s own hand raised the British flag on the ruined bastions of the fortress. As the banner of England floated over the waters the place, at the suggestion of Forbes, was with one voice called Pittsburgh.”