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!According to the book, "Willis, Eytchison & Beal", "Big Jim" WILLIS took his son Jacob WILLIS hunting & when they returned they found their ruins of their cabin smouldering & his wife burned at the stake. The book further states the act was done by Cherokee Indians. It appears that Jim WILLIS was in Kentucky with Daniel BOONE. Jacob WILLIS (my ggrandfather) married Mary EVANS & later organized a wagon train and headed for the Oregon territory. He only had one arm. His son, William Calvin WILLIS (b 17 Mar 1817 in Washington Co, IN) married on 6 Oct 1836 in Putnam Co, IN. Nancy Caroline ETCHISON (b 1820 in NC. They both died in Blair, Clay Co, IL. Jacob WILLIS & Mary EVANS had 2 other sons - Benjamin Franklin WILLIS & Samuel WILLIS (b 1816). I'm looking for the name of "Big Jim's" wife & dates for both of them as well as dates for Jacob & Mary Evans WILLIS. Any help or possible leads appreciated. Thanks and happy hunting to all of you.
Mathews FLOURNOY b VA 6-21-1732 s/o Jean-Jacques FLOURNOY b 1686 Geneva, Switzerland and Elizabeth WILLIAMS b 1695 VA. Mathews m Patsy PRYOR and > to Scott CO KY. He conducted 13 parties of settlers over the mountains and on his 13th trip was ambushed (1785)and killed by Indians in the Cumberland Gap. I have eyewitness details as printed in VA Mag of History and Biography; please contact direct if you want this information.
Conrad SYCKS Family Indian Encounter - Greene County, PA
The following is condensed from a four page narrative by L. K.
Evans in the publication "Pioneer History of Green County, Pennsylvania",
published by the McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV.
In the year 1760 Conrad SYCKS emigrated from Germany and located in Monongahela
Township, on the waters of what is now known as "Rocky Run", not over two miles
from the mouth of Dunkard. He built a house and married a Miss BONNETT, who was
a sister to the mother of Lewis WETZEL, the most celebrated pioneer and Indian
fighter of American history. Here they lived and raised a family of ten children
- among whom were Henry and Christina.
When Henry was 18 years old, Enoch ENIX lived in a cabin nearby north of the
SYCK's lands. Leonard SYCK lived a half a mile westward. Other neighbors were:
Lane ROBINSON, the SELSOR family, who resided in their fort, as did the
SWEARENGEN's in their fort.
Some days prior to the eventful night, rumors of prowling Indians had been rife
in the settlement. GARRISON,with commendable precaution, had removed his family
to a place of safety, and SYCKS, rather than abandon his peaceful home,
preferred to hazard the danger of remaining. GARRISON
arranged with Christina, then ten or eleven years old, to milk his cows.
One evening the little girl went to the GARRISON house and procured the milking
pail, and hearing the cow bell tolling about three hundred yards away in the
direction of the sugar camp, went thither and was driving the cows homeward when
she looked quickly around and beheld two stalwart Indians running towards her.
In a moment one Indian had grasped her and the hopeless prisoner was spirited
away.
When Christina had not returned by evening, her father rounded up his neighbor,
Enoch EXIX, who left his wife and babe, to help in search of SYCKS daughter. But
soon two shots were fired and EXIX fell, mortally wounded. SYCKS eluded the
Indians and arrived to his home. The alarm was sounded and a party was organized
to heed the frontier, finding several homes already in flames.
At the home of Lane ROBINSON's, his wife and babe in arms fled to the fort, but
the husband was shot at the meadows. The SELSOR Fort had been unmolested.
Young Christina at this time had crossed the Ohio at Grave Creek and was on her
way to a large Indian town where she remained for twenty two years, being
liberated by arrangement with the Government at Detroit, and returned to
friends. Being an adopted child of the forest, she became so conformed to Indian
customs and habits as to lose her identity as a civilized being. Though she
lived to a ripe old age among friends, she never unlearned her Indian education,
and expressing herself satisfied with the treatment she had received at their
hands. She was ever ready to defend them from any unkind aspersions. Christina
SYCKS died and was buried at or near Clarksburg WV.
A Capt. Enoch ENIX, who died near Mt. Morris, was the babe four weeks old, the
night his father was slain.
The only one of Leonard GARRISON married Mary SYCKS, a "babe" of the lone
cradle, and for a time forgotten and deserted by her parents and friends, on
that same eventful occasion. They had twelve children, and after her death, he
remarried and a second wife bore him 12 more.
Henry SYCKS married Barbary SELSOR, one of the brave hearted girls who led the
way from SELSOR Fort
Robert CARROLL, his wife and two small children, and his
brothers, John and Hamilton CARROLL, lived on a branch of Wheeling Creek in the
border of what is now Washington County, PA. One night while Robert was absent
from home an alarm of savages reached the family. Preparations were made to
start early the next morning to seek safety at LINDSEY's Fort. At dawn the two
brothers went out early to gather firewood in which to cook a hasty breakfast,
when they were both shot shot dead by ambushed Indians.
The mother with her two year old child in her arms and one four year old by the
hand, glided unobserved into a field of maturing corn near by, while the Indians
plundered the house. But Mrs. CARROLL with her two children made good her escape
by fleeing about ten miles to LINDSEY's Fort, where within a few days she gave
birth to another child.
from a history of Greene County, PA.
from a Greene County, PA history;
In 1770 William CRAWFORD, COOK his negro, John CRAWFORD, William SHEPHERD and
wife Rebecca, made improvements in the wilderness near Carmichaels, Greene
County, PA.
Some time during the summer William CRAWFORD, leaving COOK at the SHEPHERD's to
keep watch over the growing corn started back to Conocacheague for his wife and
daughter. At the mouth of Muddy Creek he met Thomas CRAGO, an old acquaintance.
CRAGO had with him two cows but no churn. CRAWFORD directed him to his cabin,
proposing to loan him a churn. In a few days CRAGO went and got the churn and
whilst returning with it met a party of Indians - two men and two women. They
attempted to take his horse for one of them to ride who had been wounded in a
skirmish with some whites near Laurel Point, on the Monongahela. CRAGO resisted
and he and the well Indian got into a scuffle. Having thrown the Indian CRAGO
was shot dead by one of the squaws. The next day COOK and a man named John MOORE
found CRAGO and had him buried. CRAGO was certainly an odd adventurer. He had
two little sons with him - Thomas and Robert, the eldest was but eleven years.
He had built no cabin and was camping by the side of a big log. The youngest had
badly burned his hand, and the two went each day to have Mrs. SHEPHERD dress the
sore. The night after CRAGO was killed these two little fellows remained alone
in the woods, nor dreamed that they were indeed fatherless as well as homeless.
MARTIN's Fort is located just south of present Greene County,
Pennsylvania in now West Virginia.
In June 1779 the inhabitants of the fort were oblivious of any immediate danger
from Indians and the majority of the males had gone forth early in the morning
to hunt. The women were milking the cows outside the gate when thirteen Indians
attacked.
Those killed were James STUART, James SMALLEY and Peter CROUSE. The Indians made
captives of John SHRIVER and his wife, two sons of SMALLEY, and a son of CROUSE.
WORLEY Fort was located just south of Greene County, Pennsylvania near the state line in Blacksville, (W)Virigina. Brice WORLEY's settled on a tract in 1778 and his house was stockaded and known as the WORLEY Fort. At this fort Nathan WORLEY, brother of Brice, was killed by the Indians.
My fifth great uncle, Philip Doddridge, grew up in Maryland. In
about 1767/68, at the age of 30, he married Mary Bickerstaff Mercille. They,
probably with their first child, emigrated from Maryland in 1770 and settled
near the mouth of Dunkard Creek, a tributary of the west branch of the
Monogahela in Virginia (now Greene County, Pennsylvania). He and his family
lived there for about seven years. Here he had a comfortable cabin and an
improved farm. His household consisted of a wife and four young children (three,
perhaps four who were born there in Virginia). Also living with them were his
wife’s father and mother, and a nephew, a lad of 12 years of age.
About 1777, for reasons not expressly known, Philip moved with his family
further into the northwest, to Washington County, Pennsylvania. It is speculated
that the principal reason for the move at this time was the fact that his
younger brother, John Doddridge, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Teter had each
taken up land in Washington County in 1773, and Philip no doubt found the
conditions more to his liking than was his original location.
According to Earle Huff, author of “The Doddridge Family in England and
America,” Philip built a cabin at the new location on the high banks of
Chartier’s Creek and within the northern boundary of Washington County, near
Statler’s Fort. To this home he moved his family. The land was good, his cabin
comfortable, and Philip was no doubt elated with his evident prosperity and the
fact that he was not too far distant from his relatives. Also, his home was
larger than his previous one which was needed to accomodate his nine-member
family: himself, his wife, his four children, his wife’s parents and his wife’s
young nephew, Augustine Bickerstaff.
At the mouth of Chartier’s Creek to the north, where it empties into the Ohio
River, a very powerful band of Indians had a permanent encampment. As these
Indians had not been on the war path since the end of Lord Dunmore’s War (1770),
the whites believed themselves safe from attack, although at times the Indians
became very restless, and the settlers felt the situation tense from time to
time.
Chartier’s Creek flowed through a very beautiful and fertile valley, and it was
along its banks that Philip had built his new cabin. It was here that their
fifth child, a daughter, Hannah, was born and was just a babe in arms. It was
then that tragedy hit.
There are slightly different versions of the story behind the tragedy, but they
differ only in the details. No doubt the subject in later years was too painful
to be talked about by the parents, but the children probably later pieced
together scraps of conversations they had heard between their parents, relatives
and friends which resulted in the slightly differing versions which have come
down to us.
Generally speaking, the versions goes like this: Early one morning Philip, with
his wife’s nephew, Augustine Bickerstaff, went into his fields to work planting
spring crops, some distance from the home. His wife also was absent. She had
taken her infant and gone some miles to the house of a friend to do some weaving
for her family. Philip and Mary’s three daughters and son were left in the care
of her aged parents. The children’s names and ages were: Sabra, age nine, Nancy,
age seven, Rachel, age five, and John, about age three.
Without warning, the surrounding hills and valleys were swarming with painted
redskins, their blood-curdling yells breaking the morning stillness, and their
shrieks and war whoops echoing across the valley. As the Indians approached, one
group rushed for the cabin, while another group attempted to surround Philip and
the boy, Augustine, but they (Philip and Augustine) succeeded in escaping to the
hills. Some of the redskins snatched the three girls from the cabin along with
the small son and the grandmother and carrying them to their ponies, made off
with them toward their encampment. Shortly thereafter, the son, John, either
fell or was thrown from a pony and he died as the result of the fall. However,
the three girls and their grandmother disappeared. Other redskins entered the
house, tomahawked and scalped the aged grandfather, took such articles from the
cabin as they fancied, and then set fire to it, leaving the body of the murdered
grandfather to be consumed by fire. Philip and Augustine were pursued by the
redskins. However, they made it sucessfully within the walls of Statler’s Fort
where they asked for help.
The fate of the grandmother was never ascertained. However, over time it was
learned that Nancy, the second daughter, died some years after the capture from
the results of an injury done her by a drunken Indian who had kicked her in the
side while on a forced march to Detroit. Family tradition differs in terms of
Sabra. One tradition states that she married an Indian chief; another version
states that she was sold to a French officer (or trapper) who later married her
and took her to France with him to live.
The youngest daughter, Rachel, married Chief White Eyes of the Delaware Indian
Nation. A cousin of the captured children, the Honorable Philip Doddridge, had
seen who he suspected to be his cousin Rachel accompany her husband, Chief White
Eyes to the trading post to trade shells and beads and other artifacts. Becuase
of his suspicions, Philip spoke to her and ascertained that in fact, she was his
cousin, Rachel. However, she did not express any interest in meeting her blood
relatives. In fact, she became displeased and ceased to converse. Although she
had been at the trading post a number of times previously, she was never seen
there again.
Soon after this catastrophe, Philip, with his wife and remaining child, Hannah,
left the neighborhood of the Monongahela, moving to the house of his brother
John Doddridge, who had, in 1773, settled in the western part of Washington
County, Pennsylvania, not far from the present village of West Middletown in the
same county.
Philip and Mary had four more children which they named John, Sabra, Nancy and
Rachel, repeating the names of their lost or deceased children, as was the
custom in those days.
Philip subsequently purchased from his uncle, Captain Samuel Teter, a farm near
his brother’s, on which he resided until about 1818, when he moved with his
family, then consisting of one son and five daughters, to the State of Indiana.
History of Cumberland County Pennsylvania 1886, p 57.
All around the settlements in this county outrages were frequent and the number
of lives taken was appalling, considering the sparsely settled condition of the
country. Bands of Indians even ventured within a few miles of Carlisle. The
military were employed in protecting men harvesting their crops in 1756, and it
was necessary for all persons to be ever on the alert to guard against surprise
and attack. In June, 1756, a Mr. DEAN, living about a mile east of Shippensburg,
was found murdered in his cabin. On the 6th of the same month, a short distance
east of where BURD's Run crosses the road leading from Shippensburg to the
Middle Spring church, a party of Indians killed John McKEAN and John AGNEW and
captured Hugh BLACK, William CARSON, Andrew BROWN, James ELLIS and Alex McBRIDE.
A party of citizens from Shippensburg pursued the Indians through McCALLISTER's
Gap into Path Valley, and on the morning of the third day out met all the
prisoners except James ELLIS, and on their return home, they having escaped.
ELLIS was never afterward heard from. The pursurers returned with the men who
had escaped, further pursuit being useless.
History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 1886, pp 56,57.
February 15, 1755, William TRENT, in writing from Carlisle, stated that "several
murders or captures and house burnings had taken place under PARNELL's Knob, and
that all the people between Carlisle and the North Mountain had fled from their
homes and come to town, or were gathered into the little forts, that the people
in Shippensburg were moving their families and effects and that everyone was
preparing to fly." (PA Archives) SHINGAS kept the upper end of the county in a
state of terror, and fresh outrages were reported daily. The Indians were
receiving awards for their acts from the French. Inhabitants of the Great Cove
fled from their home in November with the crackling of their burning roofs. John
POTTER, formerly sheriff, sheltered at his house one night 100 fleeing women and
children and who had fortunately escaped with their lives, but had neither food,
bedding nor clothing. Fifty persons were tortured, killed or taken prisoners.
Only a few prisoners returned. Twenty seven houses were burned, a great number
of cattle killed or driven off, and out of the ninety three families settled in
the two coves by the CONOLLOWAY's, members of forty seven families were either
killed or captured and the remainder fled, so these settlements were entirely
broken up. Four hundred men under the command of Hans HAMILTON, sheriff of York
County, marched to McDOWELL's Mill in Franklin County, a few miles from the
scene of the slaughter, but the Indians had retreated. Rev. John STEEL, pastor
of the "Old White Church" of Upper West Conococheague, raised a company among
his paishioners for defense of their church and individual property in 1755, and
was commissioned captain. The church was afterward burned, the congregation
scattered and Mr. Steel removed to Carlisle in 1758.
Columbian Herald or the Independent Courier of North America
(Item from
2/14/1788 issue):
Charlestown, Feb. 4.
By a gentleman from St. Mary's we are informed, that on the 6th December
last, a party of Indians came down on the main (Georgia) in the county of
Camden, and carried off two women, and three children and a Negro man.---A
party from Cumberland island went in pursuit of them, but before they could
arrive, the Savages had made off.
On the 17th of January an alarm was given at the island of a party having
come down to the same place, and that they had murdered a Mr. Taylor and Mr.
Fordyce, and carried off about twenty head of cattle.
Georgia Department of Archives and History (Georgia Indian Depredation
Claims):
Appendix Document # 175
State of Georgia
A General Return of the Losses sustained in Glynn County in the Indian Warr.
No. What Name or Men Women Children Negroes Negroes Horses
Killed Family Killed
Stole
1 Slaves 1
John Tompkins
2 John Burnet 2
5 25
Unity Goff
2
Jeremia Brantley
1
John Cole
1 1
George Jenkins
3
Martin Palmer
11
Stephen Carker
1 1
Christopher
Hillary
2
Samuel Harris
1
Edward Pilcher
4
Lenard Harper 1
2
Stephen Dampier
1
1 Jacob Havilston 1
William Williams
1
Ray'd Demere
2
Edward Carker
2
William
Sumerland 1
John Johnston 1
2
3 Wm McCormack 3 1
McFee 1 1
John Scart 1
7 7 4 1
2 7 61
Additional losses in Glynn County (Values given in Pounds
Sterling.) John Burnet - 20 cattle lost, 30 hogs lost, 25 houses burnt,
15,000 feet lumber, 3 of family wounded Value of property destroyed: 867:10
John Tompkins - 9 houses burnt, Value: 100
Unity Goff - 17 hogs lost, Sundry goods lost or stolen, Value: Sundry goods:
14:3:8 - hogs 50:8:8
T. Spalding & Wm Steven - Lumber: Value: 150
Jeremia Brantley Value of horse lost: 20
John Cole value of stolen Negro and horse: 100
George Jenkins - 2 houses burnt, Value: 30
Martin Palmer - 60 hogs, 2 houses burnt, Value: 135:14:12
Stephen Carker, Value lost 75
Christopher Hillary - 2 houses burnt, Value: 150
Samuel Harris - 15 cattle, 25 hogs, Sundry Goods Value: 53:20
Moses Cru - 140 cattle, 30 hogs, Sundry goods, Value: -:5:6, Other loss -
300:-:6
Elizabeth Harris - 10 cattle, Value: 33
Edward Pilcher - 61 cattle, 88 hogs, Value: 267 2 members of family wounded
Lenard Harper - Value: 42:12:6
Stephen Dampier - 1 cattle, 15 hogs, Value: 35
Jacob Halviston - 2 houses burnt, 11 sheep lost, Value: 80
William Williams 39 cattle, 1 house burnt, Value: 100
Ray'd Demere - 2 cattle, 16 hogs, Value: 34
Edward Corker - 24 cattle, Value: 44
William Sumerland - 1 cattle, 11 hogs, Value: Sundry goods: 14:17, other:
19:17
John Johnston - 14 cattle, Value: 58
Total Value of Losses in Glynn County: 2744:1:25
Island of St. Simon
Before James Spalding one of the Assistant Justices for the County Glynn,
Personally appeared John Braddock, Commanding Officer of the County Regiment
Militia who being duly sworn maketh Oath that the above general return is
truely, justly and literally taken as far as respects Substance from the
Particular returns so made to me previous to digesting the same under one
General return were duly attested and vouched for, which vouchers now remain
in my hands
Sworn to before me
this 15th day of July 1788 John
Braddock Major G Cm
James Spalding A. J.
personally appear'd before James Spalding one of the assistant Justice's for
the County of Glynn William Steven Esquire, who being duely Sworn says he
assisted Major Braddock in digesting the annexed General Return, which this
deponent declares is truely, Justly and Literally taken as far as respects
substance from the particular return of individualls
Sworn before me
William Steven
15 July 1788. James Spalding A. J.
Mifflin Twp, History of Cumberland County, PA
"The Williamson massacre, as to date and details they occurred either in 1753 or
1754. The family lived on the farm adjoining the Andrew McELWAIN tract on the
east side. The evening preceding the massacre several men from the CARNAHAN Fort
were stopping at Andrew McELWAIN's, distant three miles from the fort. About
dusk Mrs. McELWAIN neared the stock-yard and heard sounds of footsteps getting
over a fence. She returned to the house and informed the inmates. The men from
the fort remained keeping watch during the night. About daylight the sound of
guns was heard from beyond the hill in the direction of the WILLIAMSONs, nearly
a mile distant. Immediately all started for the fort, and after proceeding a
little way it was discovered that a babe had been left in the cradle. Two of the
men returned, brought the child away and all reached the fort in safety. Shortly
after their affival a number of men was sent out from the fort to look for the
Indians. Reaching the WILLIAMSON farm they found that the whole family - some
eight or nine persons, Mrs. WILLIAMSON exempted - had been murdered. Some
versions of the story do not tell that Mrs. WILLIAMSON and her child escaped."
"Footnote: The rescued babe, reported by Rev. James B. SCHOULLER, a noted local
historian, was the grandmother of James M. HARLAN, of Mifflin."
Old Westmoreland:
Soon after the attack of Hannastown, seat of Westmoreland County, PA, where
eleven white persons were killed and four persons carried off into capitivy, a
strong detachment of savages fell upon MILLER's station, two miles south of
Hannastown. This station took its name from Samuel MILLER, a captain in the
Eighth Pennsylvania regiment, who had been killed by the Indians in July 1778,
along with seven companions. His widow married Andrew CRUIKSHANK, but the
settlement retained MILLER's name. A wedding took place at the CRUIKSHANK's
house on July 12, and on the following day many persons were gathered there for
the celebration. Upon this gay party the Indians swooped down.
About a dozen persons barely escaped to the grain fields and forest thickets.
Several men were shot dead while preparing for defense, and 15 men, women and
children were taken prisoners. The houses were plundered and burned.
Among those taken captive were Lieutenant Joseph BROWNLEE, his wife, and several
children, Mrs. Robert HANNA and her daughter Jennie, a Mrs. WHITE and two of her
children. Lt. BROWNLEE had served in the Eighth Pennsylvania, but had been
discharged due to a wound. As the prisoners were being driven through the woods,
Mrs. HANNA addressed BROWNLEE as "Captain", and at once the Indians fell upon
him and killed him, as well as a little son whom he was carrying and nine others
of the captives. Mrs. Elizabeth BROWNLEE and her infant and Mrs. HANNA and her
daughter were spared and taken to Canada, and were later released when the war
was over. Mrs. BROWNLEE may have married a Mr. GUTHRIE. Tradition says that
Jennie HANNA married a British officer in Canada.
MASSACRES EARLY in 1756
Shingas Burns McCord's Fort:
"On April 1st, 1756, SHINGAS attacked and burned Fort McCord, a private fort,
erected in the autumn of 1755, and located several miles north-east of Fort
Loudon, Franklin County (PA), and not far from the Yankee Gap in the Kittatinny
Mountains, west of Chambersburg. All the inmates of the fort, twenty-seven in
number, were either killed or captured. After the destruction of the fort,
Shingas' band was pursued by three bodies of settlers and soldiers. One body,
commanded by Captain Alexander CULBERTSON, overtook the Indians on Sideling
Hill. Here a fierce battle was fought for two hours, but Shingas being reinfoced,
the white men were defeated with great loss, twenty-one killed and seventeen
wounded.
Among the killed were: Captain Alexander CULBERTSON, John REYNOLDS, William
KERR, James BLAIR, John LEASON, William DENNY, Francis SCOTT, William BOYD,
Jacob PAINTER, Jacob JONES, Robert KERR and William CHAMBERS. Among those
wounded were Francis CAMPBELL, Abraham JONES, William REYNOLDS, John BARNET,
Benjamin BLYTH, John McDONALD and Isaac MILLER. The Indians, according to the
statement of one of their number who was caaptured, lost seventeen killed and
twenty-one wounded in this engagement.
Another body, commanded by Ensign JAMISON, from Fort Granville, went in pursuit
of the same band of Indians, and was also defeated. Among the killed were:
Daniel McCOY, James ROBINSON, James PIERCE, John BLAIR, Henry JONES, John
McCARTY and John KELLY. Among those wounded were: Ensign JAMISON, James ROBINSON
(there were two James ROBINSONs in the party), William HUNTER, Matthias GANSHORN,
William SWAILS and James LOUDER.
On Sunday, July 14, 1782, the day following the destruction of Hannastown, Westmoreland County, PA and the same day as the destruction of Miller's Station, a band of Indians attacked FREEMAN's settlement, on the Loyalhanna Creek, a few miles northeast of Hannastown, killed one of Freeman's sons and captured two of his daughters.
History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 1886, by Paul A.W.
Walker, pp 58,59.
The year 1757 was fraught with unabated horrors. Cumberland County, with others,
was kept in a state of continual alarm, although in May of that year another
conference was held with the Indians at Lancaster to try to bring about peace.
The western Indians, however, would hear nothing, and it became evident that
subduing them by force of arms was the only sure method. Col STANWIX was at
Carlisle building intrenchments, and Col ARMSTRONG had two companies, part
stationed at Carlisle and part at Shippensburg. These two officers did all in
their power to protect the citizens and punish the savages, but they were
handicapped in numerous regards. Murders were frequent in the upper part of
Cumberland (now Franklin) County, and the lower portion was not without its
visitations of bloodshed. May 13, 1757, William WALKER and another man were
killed near a private fort called McCORMICK's, on the Conodoguinet, in East
Pennsborough; two men were killed and five taken prisoners near Shippensburg on
the 6th of June; Joseph MITCHELL, James MITCHELL, William MITCHELL, John FINLAY,
Robert STEENSON, Andrew ENSLOW, John WILEY, Allen HENDERSON, William GIBSON and
an Indian were killed in a harvest field near Shippensburg, July 19, and Jane
McCOMMON, Mary MINOR, Janet HARPER and a son of John FINLAY were captured or
missing at the same time; four men were killed July 11 near Tobias HENDRICK's,
who lived on and had charge of Loutaher Manor, six miles from the Susquehanna,
in East Pennsborough and two men were killed or carried off near the same place
September 8, while out hunting horses. July 18, in a harvest field a mile east
of Shippensburg, belonging to John CESNA, Dennis O'NEIDEN and John KIRKPATRICK
were killed, and Mr. CESNA, his two grandsons, and a son of KIRKPATRICK were
made prisoners and carried off. Others working in the fields happened to be
concealed from the view of the Indians, and escaped without injury.
Peter Chartier later went south among the Creek Indians where he was known by the colonies in the south as "Peter Shirty". The father of Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet was a member of his band. The name was Piere Chartier and his father, who had traveled with La Salle from Canada before deserting, was Martin Chartier. Martin had married two Shawnee ladies. I am currently writing a novel based on the lives of the father and son, the research for which was gathered for my Ph.D. dissertation in the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University.
An error in the above message I wrote. Tecumseh's mother was a Pekowiitha Shawnee of Chartier's band in Alabama where they had gone after moving to the Ohio River in northern Kentucky. Tecumseh's father was a Kishpokotha Shawnee a number of which resided among the Creek Indians and he joined Chartier's band when they moved back north. Some have said that Tecumseh's mother was descended from Oppessa (Wapathi 'Swan').
in regards to peter chartier,i could possibly be the great and great-great grand daughter of these two men.i know that my grand father was married to an indian and they came to michigan from canada,they then changed thier last name to sharkey any help would be greatly apprieciated.please e-mail me at sweetnuttin0311@aol.com thanks again, tina sharkey
The spring of 1782 was unusually early. Mild weather began the
first of February and with it came the marauding Indians. The first blow in
Southwestern Pennsylvania fell on February 8, when JOHN FINK, a young man, was
killed near Buchanan's Fort, on the upper Monongahela. (PA Archives)
On Sunday, February 10, a larger body of Indians visited the dwelling of ROBERT
WALLACE, on Racoon Creek. The head of the family was away from the home. The
savages killed his cattle and hogs, plundered the cabin of household utensils,
bedding, clothing and trinkets, and carried away MRS. WALLACE and her three
children, a boy of 10 years, another boy of 3 years named ROBERT, and an infant.
(PA archives).
In the evening ROBERT WALLACE returned to his desolated home. In the morning and
with the help of his neighbors an effort was made to follow the trail, but snow
had falled an obliterated the tracks. Enough was seen around the cabin to show
that the Indians numbered about forty.
Later, in March, when ROBERT WALLACE was on a militia mission, he came upon the
remains of his wife and baby.
In Bockstruck's "Virginias Colonial Soldiers," (p.198) I found the name Robert Pewsey of Pittsylvania Co. who was taken captive by the Shawnees (along with his wife & child) in 1758 and held a long time before returning. In 1775 he filed a petition--he had lost everything.
"Fort McIntosh: Its Times and Men"
Fort McIntosh was fated to remain not long unoccupied by the United States
troops. In 1784 the government concluding to treat with the western Indians it
became necessary to reoccupy the fort. The treaty was contempleted at first to
be held at Cuyahoga (now Cleveland) but was changed to Fort McIntosh (30 miles
distant from Fort Pitt down the Ohio River). This can be told to the words of
Col. Josiah HARMER's letter:
......"The treaty consummated by the United States is not important to the
present subject, excepting its first article, which provided for the surrender
by the Indians, of all prisoners "white and black" held by them. Many of the
prisoners were delivered to Fort McIntosh in 1785, and among them, an early and
most respected citizen of Beaver (PA), the late JAMES LYON Esq. He had been
captured when quite a child, in the year 1782, near to Turtle Creek,
Westmoreland County (PA), upon his father's farm, through which the Pittsburgh
and Greenburg Turnpike afterwards ran."
JOHN WASSON was murdered by the Indians in Pennsylvania and at the same time his wife, ANN WASSON, was captured. She was delivered up to Governor Hamilton by the Delaware chief, Teedyuscung, on December 1, 1759, and later returned to the neighbood in which she had been captured.
Perhaps in Berks County, Pennsylvania a boy named JOHN SCHOEP
was captured and taken seven miles beyond the Blue Mountains where, according to
the statement of SCHOEP, the Indians kindled a fire, tied him to a tree, took
off his shoes, and put moccasins on his feet. They then prepared themselves some
mush, but gave him none. After supper they took young SCHOEP and another boy
between them, and proceeded over the second mountain. During the second night of
his captivity, when the Indians were asleep, young SCHOEP made his escape, and
returned home.
On June 1, 1757, John HOGAN, who had been taken prisoner by the Indians at the capture of Fort Granville, made a deposition before Colonel John Armstrong at Carlisle (PA), in which he said that there were one hundred Indians and fifty French in the band that captured this fort; that all the prisoners were taken to Kittanning (PA); that he was at Kittanning only a few hours during which time JOHN TURNER was burned at the stake, and then, he (HOGAN) was taken to Fort Duquesne and later to Logstown; that he remained at Logstown until he made his escape some time later, when the Indians there were drunk on a keg of brandy which the French had given them in exchange for one of the captives taken by the Indians; and that he brought another captive with him when he escaped, MARTIN BORROWELLY, both arriving at the south branch of the Potomac in three weeks from the time of their escape. HOGAN's deposition also gives the information that Shannopin's Town contained fifty or sixty natives, twenty of whom were able to bear arms.
In June 1788 Captain James BOOTH and Nathaniel COCHRAN were at work in a field on Booth's Creek (W)VA when a party of Indians came upon them, killing BOOTH and taking the other prisioner.
The family of James PURDY, a worthy and industrious settler on a
hill just above Bedelion's Mill, Wheeling (W)VA, consisted of the parents and
four children.
Shortly after dark, four Indians entered the cabin and commenced to butcher the
family. James PURDY was felled with repeated blows by the tomahawk, and Mrs.
PURDY was knocked down with a war club. She later recovered. The two sons were
also killed by the tomahawk and the two daughters were made prisoners. The girls
were released after ten years.
"In the month of April in the year 1785 or 1786, the Indians
crossed the Ohio at or near the mouth of Fish Creek and found a family by the
name of SIMMS, to wit, one old man and one old woman, a young man, a young
woman, and two lads perhaps about twelve or thirteen years of age. The old man
and one of the lads were on the high bottom. The old man was grubbing sumac, and
one of the lads cutting a log within a few rods of him. The young man, his
sister, and the other boy were planting corn in the lower bottom.
The Indians separated, part to the higher, and part to the lower bottom. The
three in the lower bottom were all taken prisoners. The other party killed the
old man with a war mallet, and shot the boy. The two parties then met at the
house, took the old woman a short distance, and killed her with the war mallet.
The three were taken to the Indian town, and the young man SAMUEL SIMMS found a
means to escape, mounted a Canadian pony and retraced his steps to Ohio. The
young woman (it was said) got married to a Frenchman at Detroit. The lad, THOMAS
SIMMS, was with the Indians ten or eleven years. He then returned to the Ohio,
married and located in Newport until the winter of 1822, when he departed this
life leaving a widow and three children."
In March 1782, Captain BOGGS, living third below Wheeling (WV) at Boggs Run, saw signs of two Indians near his house and sugar camp. BOGGS had two soldiers from Wheeling stationed with him, HUGH CAMERON and another. BOGGS immediately moved with his family to Wheeling. The soldiers remained of their own accord in the camp to make molasses. The two Indians crept upon them and shot them. CAMERON was wounded in the hand and was taken. The other soldier escaped. Subsequently, CAMERON's remains were found near the sugar camp.
JACOB ROWE, being about ten years old in the fall of 1776, when
in the company with his mother and three brothers and his father, ADAM ROWE, on
their way to Kentucky, made a hairbreadth escape from the Indians at a point not
far from the mouth of Grave Creek (near Wheeling, WV). Here the little caravan
was attacked by a party of marauding savages who killed Mrs. ROWE and her eldest
son and captured DANIEL, the youngest son. JACOB escaped by running into a
thicket of willows.
After his escape, JACOB traveled for two days before finding his way back to
Buffalo Creek and was received in the arms of his sister, Mrs. ANN HUPP.
ADAM ROWE and his son, ADAM also returned to the neighborhood and afterwards
emigrated to Kentucky, but JACOB remained with his sister
David JOLLY Family, 1792 Indian Attack, Wheeling (WV)
In June of 1792 DAVID JOLLY's family was attacked. The family was residing on the hills on Wheeling. While the old man was hunting cows the Indians were hid in the rye. They shot Jolly in the forehead, then killed Mrs. JOLLY, took WILLIAM JOLLY and a grandson, JOSEPH McCABE, prisoners. The latter being weakly, they soon killed, but WILLIAM JOLLY was a captive for seven years
The following encounter in 1779 is told by Alexander Withers and
Capt. Henry Jolly:
The Indian Army, destained to operate against North Western Virginia, was to
enter the country in two divisions of one hundred and fifty warriors each; the
one crossing the Ohio near below Wheeling, the other at the mouth of Racoon
Creek, about sixty miles farther up. Both were avoiding the stronger forts to
proceed directly to Washington (PA), then known as Catfish-town, between which
place and the Ohio, the whole country was to be laid waste.
The division crossing below Wheeling was soon discvered by Scouts, who giving
the alarm, caused most of the inhabitants of the more proximate settlements, to
fly immediately to that place, supposing that an attack was mediated on it. The
Indians, however, proceeded on the way to Washington, making prisoners of many,
who though apprized that an enemy was in the country, yet feeling secure in
their distance from what was expected to be the theatre of operations, neglected
to use precautions and became prisoners to the savages.
At Catfish Camp the men tied to trees, tomahawked and scalped were WILLIAM
HAWKINS, JACOB LINK, and BURNETT. They had two young men prisoners at the same
time, JACOB MILLER and PRESLEY PEAK, and some females. MILLER escaped from them
that night and PRESLEY PEAK was taken to Detroit, and after some time came home.
In the spring of the year 1779, Captain Samuel BRADY, with a
party of veterans from the 8th Regiment of Pennsylvania, left Pittsburg for the
purposes of scouting on the frontier between Hannas-town (Greensburg), Ligonier,
and the Allegheny River. After traversing for sometime the wilds between the
frontier and the said river, he came on the trail of a party of Indians, going
from the frontier settlement.
He pursued with all possible speed until night caused them to lie down until
daybreak, when they resumed their pursuit. When he heard the sounds of the
Indians near the River he immediatley formed his men into a curve, and being
undiscovered, charged rapidly leaving the Indians no possible chance of escape,
except by swimming.
Brady and party returned to Pittsburg with the HENRY children, two horses and
other plunder.
In May 1774 near the Monongahela area the noted Indian chief LOGAN came with a party and killed a man by the name of SPICER with his wife and five children and took two of his children prisoner - BETSY SPICER, a girl of eleven years, and WILLIAM SPICER, nine years old.
Further mention of the SPICER Massacre is noted in a history of
Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Betsy SPICER was later released from captivity when a treaty was entered with
the Indians. She returned to her home in Greene County, married a Mr. Bowen and
died in the year 1845. At the time of the treaty, her brother, William, had been
borne to another tribe farther away and was never retrieved. He continued to
live with the Indians.
Adam BURNS Family, Indian Captives, Reading, PA
The Indians entered this region and carried off the wife and three children of ADAM BURNS, the youngest being only four weeks old.
There is a story of a family who lived in Canoe Valley Pa that
was captured by Indians in the mid to late 1700's. They lived with the Indians
for so long they adopeted thier dress and customs. When release at Fort Pitt,
Moses and Gersham were guides for the army and captured a second time. They also
had a sister who was captured but I do not know anything else of her. Levi, the
third son, brought either a half/breed or full Indian wife with him. He was
later scalped and killed by Indians at his home in Water Street Pa. His wife and
children then went to a fort in the area. I am trying to find out what happened
to her and the children. My gggfather was Levi Hicks who settled in Hicks Run
Pa. I believe he may have been the son of the Levi who was captured and later
killed at water street.
Linda
The following is to answer queries concerning Forts in
Cumberland County, PA from the "History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
1886", pp 50,51.
With the Indians committing depredations on the South Side of the Blue
Mountains, the province of Pennsylvania erected a chain of forts and block
houses along the Kittatinny Hills, from the Delaware to the Maryland line, and
garrisoned them with twenty to seventy-five men each. The whole expense was
£85,000. Benjamin FRANKLIN and his son William were leading spirits and raised
500 men, with whom they marched to the frontier and assisted in garrisoning the
forts.
October 30, 1755, about eighteen citizens met at the residence of Mr. SHIPPEN,
of Shippensburg, pursuant to a call by Sheriff John POTTER, and resolved to
built five forts: one at Carlisle, Shippensburg, Benjamin CHAMBERS', STEEL's
meeting house and William ALLISON's. Edward SHIPPEN, writing to William ALLEN
June 30, 1755, tells of murders committed by the Indians "near our fort".
Twenty five companies of militia, numbering 1,400 men, were raised and equipped
for the defense of the frontier. The second battalion comprising 700 men, and
stationed west of the Susquehanna, was commanded by Col. John ARMSTRONG, of
Carlisle. His subordinates were, captains, Hans HAMILTON, John POTTER, Hugh
MERCER, George ARMSTRONG, Edward WARD, Joseph ARMSTRONG and Robert CALLENDER;
lieutenants, William THOMPSON, James HAYES, James HOGG, William ARMSTRONG and
James HOLLIDAY; ensigns James POTTER, John PRENTICE, Thomas SMALLMAN, William
LYON and Nathaniel CARTLAND.
Four forts were built by the province west of the Susquehanna, viz.: Fort
LYTTLETON, in the northern part of what is now Fulton County; Fort SHIRLEY at
Augharich, the residence of George CROGRAN, where Shirleysburg now is, in
Huntingdon County; Fort GRANVILLE, near the confluence of the Juniata and
Kishicoquillas, in Mifflin County; and the POMFRET Castle on the Mahantango
Creek, nearly midway between Fort GRANVILLE and Fort AUGUSTA (Sunbury) on the
south line of Snyder County. Capt. Hans HAMILTON commanded Fort LYTTLETON; Capt.
Hugh MERCER, Fort SHIRLEY, subsequent to the resignation of Capt. George CROGRAN;
Col. James BURD, Fort GRANVILLE; and Col. James PATTERSON, POMFRET Castle. These
forts were too far from considerable settlements to be effectual, and in 1756
John ARMSTRONG advised the building of another line along the Cumberland Valley,
with one at Carlisle, as the old fort (Fort LOUTHER) at Carlisle was simply a
stockade of logs, with loop holes for muskets and swivel guns at each corner of
the fort.
The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania, p 266.
"On March 24th, Captain William Patterson with a scouting party had an encounter
with a party of Delawares on Middle Creek, in what is now Snyder County.
Frontier Forts of Penna, Vol 1, pp 549-595.)
"Patterson's Fort near which some of the murders of January 27th, were
committed, was the fortified residence of James PATTERSON, situated where the
town of Mexico, Juniata County, now stands. The residence was fortified before
the close of 1755. Captain James PATTERSON was the father of Captain William
PATTERSON. The son lived opposite Mexico, and had a fortified residence, also
called Fort PATTERSON, but it seems that the son's fort was not erected until
the time of PONTIAC's War.
"There has been much confusion as to these two forts. By instructions given by
Benjamin FRANKLIN to George CROGHAN, on December 17th, 1755, the latter was to
"fix on proper places for erecting three stockades, one back of Patterson's".
This stockade "back of Patterson's" was to be called POMFRET CASTLE, and was to
be erected on Mahantango Creek, near Richfield, Juniata County, but within the
limits of Snyder County. Many historians doubt whether POMFRET CASTLE was ever
erected. Governor MORRIS wrote on January 29th, 1756, saying it was erected.
Then, hearing of the massacre on January 27th, he wrote to Captain BURD, on
February 3rd, reprimanding him and Captain PATTERSON for remiss in NOT having
erected the fort that was "ordered to be built at Machitongo". (Pa. Archives,
Vol. 2, pp 556-557.)
The murder of Noah FREDERICK, and the capture of his three
children is referred to in a letter written by Samuel WEISER, son of Conrad
WEISER, to Secretary Richard PETERS dated at Reading on October 14, 1756:
"The Indians committed a murder on the 11th of this Instant, near Adam READ,
Esq., where they killed a man that was in his Field, and took three Children
Prisoners (according to the information of Captain Frederick SMITH)." (Pa.
Archives, Vol. 3, p 11.)