Part 39
On the morning of May 18 the Assembly met after a long conference with the Council. They once more endeavored to extort the records from Robinson, who was brought into the House in the custody of the Sheriff, but in vain. Robinson threw himself on the floor and refused to arise or answer any questions put to him. The House, therefore, hastened to make an end of the business. They expelled More, resolved to ask that Robinson should be removed from office, hastily gathered together their evidence, and presented themselves before the Council.
More again absented himself, but the evidence against him was sufficiently serious. He was proved to have acted in a summary and unlawful way in summoning juries; to have perverted the sense of the testimony; to have unduly harassed a jury into finding an unjust verdict, etc., and finally of having used “several contemptuous and derogatory expressions ... of the Provincial Council and of the present state of Government by calling the members thereof fooles and loggerheads,” and by saying “it was well if all the laws had dropt and that it never would be good times as long as ye Quakers had ye administration.”
The speaker requested that both More and Robinson be dismissed from office, and the Assembly withdrew.
The Governor and Council were puzzled how to act. Robinson was retained until he became so insolent that he was dismissed. But More had incurred the displeasure of public opinion, yet they could not proceed against him. The further prosecution of his case was postponed month by month by trivial excuses, till more important matters took its place in the public mind.
It is reasonable to conclude that Judge More must have been possessed of some sterling qualities and considerable natural parts to warrant Penn in his appointment. His dismissal from office ended his career as a public man.
Dr. More was the founder of the Manor of Moreland. He died after a languishing illness in 1689.
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Massacre at French Jacob Groshong’s in Union County, May 16, 1780
In the spring of 1780 occurred an Indian massacre at what was then known as French Jacob’s Mill. The site of this fatal attack is on a farm long in the possession of the Wohlheiter family, situated about one-half a mile southeast of the Forest House, at the end of Brush Valley Narrows, in what is now Union County.
Here in 1776 Jacob Groshong, or French Jacob, as he was called by his neighbors, built a log mill, which was patronized by the settlers for many miles around.
On May 16, 1780, a patrol of Continental soldiers on duty as a garrison at the mill, was attacked by a party of Indians, and four of the defenders were killed and several wounded. Those killed were John Foster, James Chambers, George Etzweiler and Samuel McLaughlin.
The soldiers were outside the mill at the time of the attack washing themselves. They had just returned from patroling that neighborhood and were confident the immediate country was free of redskins.
Christian Shively heard the firing as he was threshing grain in a field. He immediately concealed his wife and two small children near the creek, then rolled some logs into the stream and tied them into a raft, put his wife and children on, and floated down stream to safety. Henry Pontius, a neighbor, also heard the shots, secured his gun, hurriedly mounted a horse and made a circuit through the woods, and came to the mill just in time to see the Indians fleeing with their plunder.
An appeal for assistance was sent to the seat of Government, and the following day messengers set off for Philadelphia. A detail started for New Berlin, bearing the bodies of the murdered soldiers, but when John Clark’s farm was reached the party was divided. Those carrying the bodies of John Foster and James Chambers were compelled to make burial in the Lewis graveyard, as the weather was too excessively hot. The other party, bearing the body of George Etzweiler, buried it on the farm of John Brook, where his grave was suitably marked. The body of Samuel McLaughlin was carried to New Berlin and buried in the Dry Run Cemetery.
Colonel Matthew Smith sent a letter to General Joseph Reed, president of the State, dated Northumberland, May 18, 1780, in which he complained bitterly of the defenseless frontiers, and begged for immediate assistance. He said:
“Sir, unless some support can be instantly afforded, the State must shortly count one county less than formerly—which God forbid. I refer you, Dear Sir, to the bearer, General Potter, for further information, as he waits on horseback, whilst I write this imperfect, distressed account. Provisions none; cash none, nor can it be had in this place. General Potter’s account from this place to the Honorable Assembly, which I doubt not you will see, will fully satisfy you of the state of this place.”
This mill, where the Indian fight occurred, was a favorite place for visitors as long as it stood.
Some time between 1776 and 1779 Jacob Groshong built a little log mill on a site long afterward known as Solomon Heberling’s. He thought he had a clear title to the location, but he was defeated in a law suit for possession.
Groshong later moved up into the Nittany Mountain, in now Center County, and then went West. His name, or rather his nickname, is still preserved in connection with a rather large spring a little above the tavern, on the Bush Valley road. He is the hero of many of the wild tales of Indian troubles in that part of the valley.
On July 14, following this attack at French Jacob’s, the Indians attacked the family of Allens living at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, now Lewisburg. The woman succeeded in making her escape across the creek, but the husband and three children were killed.
The same day Baltzer Klinesmith was killed and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine, were carried off. This was in the vicinity of the present Dreisbach Church, Union County.
The Indians and their prisoners arrived at a spring north of New Berlin, where they left the girls in charge of an old Indian and went down Dry Valley. It soon began to rain and the Indian made the girls gather brush to cover a bag of flour they had stolen. He laid down under a tree with his tomahawk under his head. The girls, passing with brush, gradually worked it from under him as he slept. Elizabeth secured it and motioned to her sister to run. She then sank it into the old Indian’s head and made her escape.
The Indians returned about this time and pursued the girls, reaching them when they neared the house. A rifle ball passed through Catherine’s shoulder, which maimed her for life, but the girls succeeded in reaching their home and the men, already alarmed and prepared, gave chase to the savages.
Two days after these attacks Colonel John Kelly enrolled a company of Northumberland County militia, with James Thompson as captain; Joseph Poak, lieutenant, and Alexander Ewing, ensign.
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Indian War Known as Pontiac Conspiracy Opened May 17, 1763
General John Forbes and his invincible army invested the ruins of Fort Duquesne, November 24, 1758. There was no attempt made to restore the old fortification, but about one year later work was begun on a new fort, under the personal direction of General John Stanwix, who succeeded General Forbes, which has since been known as Fort Pitt.
It was built near the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela unite their waters, but a little farther inland than the site of Fort Duquesne. The exact date of its completion is not known, but on March 21, 1760, Major General Stanwix, having finished his work, set out on his return journey to Philadelphia.
The effect of this stronghold was soon apparent in the return of about 4000 settlers to their lands on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, from which they had been driven by their savage enemies, and the brisk trade which at once began to be carried on with the now, to all appearance, friendly Indians. However, this security was not of long duration. The definite treaty of peace between England, Spain and France was signed February 10, 1763, but before that time, Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, was planning his conspiracy, which carried death and desolation throughout the frontier.
The French had always tried to ingratiate themselves with the Indians. When their warriors came to the French forts they were hospitably welcomed and liberally supplied with guns, ammunition and clothing. The English, on the contrary, either gave reluctantly or did not give at all.
In a spirit of revenge and hatred a powerful confederacy was formed which included all the Western tribes, under the command of Pontiac, alike renowned for his warlike spirit, his wisdom and his bravery, and whose name was a terror to the entire region of the lakes. The blow was to be struck the middle of May, 1763. The tribes were to rise simultaneously and attack the English garrisons. Thus a sudden attack was made May 17, on all Western posts.
Detroit was saved after a long and close siege. Forts Pitt and Niagara narrowly escaped, while Le Boeuff, Venango, Presque Isle, Miami, St. Joseph, Ouachtown, Sandusky, and Michillimackimac all fell into the hands of the savages. Their garrisons were either butchered on the spot, or carried off to be tortured for the amusement of their cruel captors.
The Indians swept over the surrounding country, carrying death and destruction wherever they went. Hundreds of traders were slaughtered without mercy, while their wives and children, if not murdered, were carried off captives. The property destroyed or stolen amounted, it is said, to five hundred thousand pounds.
Attacks were made at Forts Bedford and Ligonier, but without success. Fort Ligonier was under siege for two months. The preservation of this post was of the utmost importance, and Lieutenant Blaine, by his courage and good conduct, managed to hold out until August 2, 1763, when Colonel Henry Bouquet arrived with his little army to relieve him.
In the meantime, every preparation was made at Fort Pitt for an attack. The garrison at that post numbered 330, commanded by Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a brave Swiss. The fortifications were repaired, barracks were made shot-proof and a rude fire-engine was constructed to extinguish any flames kindled by the fire arrows of the Indians. All the houses and cabins outside the walls were leveled to the ground. The fort was crowded with the families of the settlers.
Several weeks elapsed before there was any determined attack from the enemy. Only July 26 some chiefs asked for a parley with Captain Ecuyer, which was granted. They demanded that he and all in the fort should leave it immediately or it and they would all be destroyed.
On the night succeeding this parley the Indians approached in great numbers, crawling under the banks of the two rivers, in which they were completely sheltered from the fire of the fort. On the one side the entire bank was lined with the burrows, from which they shot volleys of bullets, arrows and fire-arrows into the fort. The yelling was terrific, and the women and children in the crowded barracks clung to each other in abject terror. This attack lasted for five days. On August 1, the Indians heard the rumor that Colonel Bouquet was approaching with a large force of troops, which caused them to give up the attack and move off, thus relieving the garrison.
When the news of this sudden Indian uprising reached General Amherst he ordered Colonel Bouquet to march with a detachment of 500 men to the relief of the besieged forts. This force was composed of regulars and six companies of Provincial Rangers.
Bouquet established his rendezvous in Carlisle, where he arrived the latter part of June, 1763. Here he found every building, every house, every barn, every hovel crowded with terrified refugees. He wrote to General Amherst, July 13, as follows:
“The list of people known to be killed increases every day. The desolation of so many families, reduced to the last extremity of want and misery; the despair of those who have lost their parents, relations and friends, with the cries of distracted women and children who fill the streets, form a scene painful to humanity and impossible to describe.”
Strange as it may seem, the Province of Pennsylvania would do nothing to aid the troops who gathered for its defense. Colonel Bouquet, in another letter to General Amherst, said: “I hope we shall be able to save that infatuated people from destruction, notwithstanding all their endeavors to defeat your vigorous measures.”
While Bouquet, harassed and exasperated, labored on at his difficult task, the terror of the frontier people increased, until at last, finding they could hope for but little aid from the Government, they bestirred themselves with admirable spirit in their own defense. They raised small bodies of riflemen, who scoured the woods in front of the settlements, and succeeded in driving the enemy back. In many instances the men dressed themselves in Indian fashion, painted their faces red and black, and adopted the savage mode of warfare.
Forts Pitt, Niagara and Detroit were saved. Colonel Bouquet relieved Fort Pitt; Niagara was not attacked, and Detroit, after a long siege by Pontiac in person, was relieved by Colonel Bradstreet in 1764.
The Indians were speedily subdued, but Pontiac remained hostile until his death in 1769.
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Meschianza, Stupendous Entertainment for Sir Wm. Howe, May 18, 1778
The British spent the winter of 1777–78 in Philadelphia, and while the Americans were suffering at Valley Forge, Sir William Howe’s army enjoyed one long round of pleasure in the capital city. The officers entertained themselves with fetes, dances and theatre parties, and they played cricket and had cock-fights. As Franklin said: “Howe did not take Philadelphia—Philadelphia took Howe.”
Howe was criticized at home, where he was regarded as indolent in command and he resigned. Sir Henry Clinton superseded him.
On May 18, 1778, before Howe’s departure, a fete at the home of Thomas Wharton, at Walnut Grove, was arranged for him by Major John Andre, a talented man, attractive to the ladies, who was later hanged as a spy. It was called the Meschianza, and comprised a regatta, tournament, feast and ball. It was a splendid folly in itself, and is notorious in American history.
After all, the performance must have been crude and some of the features of it in bad taste and incongruous. The elements of the medley would not mix. Major Andre says the cost of the entertainment was defrayed by twenty-two officers of Howe’s staff.
The Meschianza began with a regatta, which was in fact a military procession along the waterfront; boats, barges and galleys, filled with guests and officers, including Lord Howe, General Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, Lord Rawdon and General Knyphausen, moving in three divisions down the river, the surrounding vessels decked with flags and the wharves teaming with spectators.
As the company disembarked at the Wharton mansion they marched through files of grenadiers and light horse. On the lawn the bands in massed formation played favorite airs. Triumphal arches were erected on the lawn near the mansion, under which the ladies were received as at a royal court.
Here were seated seven of the principal belles dressed in Turkish habits and wearing in their turbans the favors with which they meant to reward the several knights who were to contend in their honor. At a blast of the trumpets, a band of knights, dressed in ancient habits and mounted on gray horses, with rich trappings, dashed into the court. Each knight was accompanied by an esquire on foot. There were heralds and others, all in robes of ceremony.
Lord Cathcart, superbly mounted, appeared as the chief of the White Knights. His lady was Miss Auchmuty. Then came Captain Cathcart, the first knight, in honor of Miss N. White; Lieutenant Bygrove and Miss Jane Craig; Captain Andre and Miss Peggy Chew; Captain Horneck and Miss Nancy Redman; Captain Matthews and Miss Wilhelmina Bond, Lieutenant Sloper and Miss Mary Shippen.
A herald then proclaimed a challenge for “The Knights of the Blended Rose,” which was accepted by “The Knights of the Burning Mountain,” led by Captain Watson, of the Black Knights, whose particular lady was Miss Rebecca Franks. These knights and their ladies were Lieutenant Underwood and Miss Sarah Shippen, Lieutenant Winyard and Miss Peggy Shippen, Lieutenant Delaval and Miss Becky Bond, Monsier Montluissant and Miss Rebecca Redman, Lieutenant Hobart and Miss Sophia Chew and Major Tarleton and Miss Wilhelmina Smith.
These ladies wore costumes uniformly similar to that adopted by their knights. The ladies of the Blended Rose each wore white silk, pink sash and spangled shoes and stockings. The ladies of the Burning Mountain wore white silk gowns trimmed with black and white sashes edged with black.
The Black Knights threw down the gauntlet to the White Knights. It was picked up. Then the knights fixed their lances and shields and, galloping at full speed, encountered several times. The third such charge was ended by the firing of pistols, then the sword of combat, and at last the two chiefs engaged in single combat, till the marshal, Major Gwynne, rushed between them and declared that the fair damsels of the Blended Rose and the Burning Mountain were satisfied with the feats of valor of their respective knights, and favors were then distributed, and the knights rode off the field.
They then reappeared riding through the triumphal arch and presented themselves to Lord Howe, which was followed by a grand procession. The entertainment then continued in the mansion, which had been transformed for the occasion into an Egyptian palace. The ballroom contained eighty-five large mirrors, and was lighted with thirty-four branches of wax-lights.
The four drawing rooms where the refreshments were served were decorated and lighted in the same style and taste as the ballroom.
The ball by the knights and their ladies, and the dancing continued until 10 o’clock when the windows were thrown open and a magnificent bouquet of rockets began the fireworks.
This part of the elaborate entertainment was designed by Captain Montressor, the chief engineer, and consisted of twenty different exhibitions, displayed under his direction and to the delight and satisfaction of all present. The conclusion was the illumination of the triumphal arch, with a display of all the trophies.
At midnight supper was announced, and large folding-doors, suddenly thrown open, disclosed a magnificent salon 210 feet by 40. Here again many mirrors, artificial flowers and clusters of lights were made to produce a wonderful effect. Covers were laid for 430 guests.
Toward the end of the supper the herald of the Blended Rose attended, entered the saloon and proclaimed the King’s health, the Queen, royal family, army, navy, their commanders, the knights and their ladies and the ladies in general, each of these toasts being accompanied by a flourish of music. Dancing was then continued until 4 o’clock.
While this revelry was at its height the sound of cannon was heard in the North. The English officers explained to their frightened partners in the dance that it was part of the ceremony. But it was not. Captain McLane, a dashing officer, hearing of the Meschianza, at the head of 100 infantry and Clow’s dragoons, reached the line of redoubts between the Delaware and Schuylkill, painted everything within reach with tar and, at a given signal, set it on fire. The sudden blaze took the British by surprise, the long roll was beaten, every cannon in the redoubts was fired. The British cavalry dashed out into the night, but the daring Americans were nowhere to be found.
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Colonel Pluck Parades His Celebrated “Bloody Eighty-Fourth” Regiment,
May 19, 1825
An amusing sensation started in 1824 continued to attract attention in Philadelphia during the following year.
There had been more or less laxity in the various militia organizations in the election of their officers and this was much more evident in Philadelphia than elsewhere in the State.
John Pluck, an ignorant hostler, was elected colonel of the Eighty-fourth Regiment as a joke and to ridicule the militia system, which at that moment was very unpopular with the members.
This election had been resisted by many who were disinclined to treat so serious a matter jocularly, and the board of officers set aside the election as illegal, and ordered a new election.
At the next election John Pluck received 447 votes; Benjamin Harter, 64; and John Ferdey, commonly called “Whistling Johnny,” 15.
The successful candidate treated the matter seriously and issued an order for a parade of the First Battalion on May 1, on Callowhill Street, the right resting on Sixth Street; and the Second Battalion was ordered to parade at the same place on May 19.
The order further directed that Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Norbury was to command the training of the First Battalion. The colonel himself was to take charge of the Second Battalion.
The papers of that day do not notice the parade of the First Battalion, which was scheduled for May 1, but they have much to say about the big parade of May 19.
It seems that by this time most of the militiamen in the regiment fully sensed the ridiculous position they were in with such an ignorant commander, and on the occasion of this much heralded parade the members appeared in fantastic costumes.
Many of the militiamen were armed with ponderous imitations of weapons, and a large number of the populace turned out in the parade, dressed in every imaginable sort of costume, such as would even cause a ripple of laughter at Hallowe’en; these were armed with brooms, rakes, hoes and every conception of weapon.
Philadelphia had never before witnessed such a “military” parade, and was quite unaccustomed to such a display, and this regimental review of “horribles” attracted much attention.
Colonel Pluck was mounted on a fine steed, and Adjutant Roberts, also well mounted, were the moving spirits of the parade and did not seem to fully realize the burlesque features of it.
The regiment marched out to Bush Hill, followed by thousands of people on foot and hundreds on horseback.
The press was either silent or expressed dissatisfaction. It could not have done otherwise.
A few days following the parade Colonel Pluck issued new orders. He said: “Well, I am an honest man, anyhow. And I ain’t afraid to fight, and that’s more than most of them can say.”
The United States Gazette said, “Pluck is the head groom at the corner of Third and Callowhill Streets. Some months ago he was chosen commander-in-chief of the ‘bloody Eighty-fourth;’ but the powers that be refused to commission him. * * * The Militia system is a farce. Demagogues have been using commissions in the militia as stepping-stones to offices of profit and honor. A cure must be found for the evil, which is to make fun of it.”
The “Pluck Parade” rendered one other good service to Philadelphia. When the regiment paraded to Bush Hill and wound up the day in disorderly frivolities, the grand jury in June declared Bush Hill a public nuisance. This was a large open field on the north side of Callowhill Street, between Schuylkill Fourth and Schuylkill Fifth.
The presentment of the grand jury states that men and women resorted there on various days, as well as on the Sabbath, “drinking, tippling, cursing, swearing, etc.” The grand jury further said that it had “particular reference to the days on which regiments and battalions of militia parade, when numerous booths, tents, and gaming tables are there erected.”