Part 55

Captain Gibson was arrested and lodged in a Spanish prison, where he was treated with the greatest consideration. While he was confined, Oliver Pollock obtained the powder and secreted it in his warehouse. The purchase amounted to 12,000 pounds and cost $1800.

The powder was divided into two portions. Three thousand pounds of it was packed in boxes, falsely marked as merchandise of various kinds, and quietly conveyed to a sailing vessel bound for Philadelphia by way of the gulf and ocean.

There was a coincidence in the fact that on the very night the ship sailed Captain Gibson “escaped” from prison, got on board the vessel and accompanied the precious powder to its destination.

The balance of the powder was turned over to Lieutenant Linn, as this was to be used on the Western frontier. This was in half casks, each containing about sixty pounds. These were smuggled during the night to the barges which were tied up in a secluded place above the city.

Lieutenant Linn hired a score of extra boatmen, mostly Americans, and on September 22, 1776, the little flotilla made a fine getaway without discovery and began its long journey up the Mississippi. The work was hard and the trip took seven months.

At the falls of the Ohio it was necessary to unload the cargoes and carry the heavy casks to the head of the rapids, when the barges were dragged over the shallow stream and reladen. Several times the expedition was forced to tie up by ice and many hardships were experienced before the return of the spring weather.

May 2, 1777, the expedition reached the little settlement of Wheeling, where Fort Henry had been erected. There Lieutenant Linn turned over his precious cargo to David Shepherd, county lieutenant of the newly erected Ohio County, Virginia.

Linn’s responsibility ended at Wheeling. County Lieutenant Shepherd sent the powder to Fort Pitt, under heavy guard, where it was turned over to Colonel William Crawford and safely stored in the brick magazine of the fort. The safe arrival of this powder was the cause of great rejoicing and nothing was too good for Lieutenant Linn and the fearless “Lambs.”

Virginia paid for the powder, but it was turned over for “the use of the continent.” Portions were distributed to the frontier rangers and to the two regiments then being mustered in Southern Pennsylvania for continental service. It was from this powder that Colonel George Rogers Clark drew his supply, in the spring of 1778, for his famous and successful expedition to the Illinois country.

George Gibson was promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel in the Virginia service and Lieutenant Linn was made a captain and placed in command of the “Lambs.” To each of these officers the Virginia Legislature made a grant of money in addition to their regular pay.

Both these brave men performed other acts of heroism during the Revolution and both were killed by the Indians. Linn made a settlement ten miles from Louisville. While riding alone, March 5, 1781, on his way to attend court, he was surprised by a small party of Indians in the forest. Next morning his mutilated body was found, with his horse standing guard over it. Colonel Gibson was mortally wounded at St. Clair’s defeat in Northwestern Ohio, November 4, 1791.

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Virginia Sends Captain John Neville to Command Fort Pitt, July 17, 1775

By the original charter of Virginia the northern boundary of that colony was supposed to be at the end of the fortieth degree, which was as far north as Philadelphia. This charter was dissolved in 1624, and instead of narrowing the limits of Virginia it apparently increased them.

Virginia became a royal province without any definite boundaries, and she considered herself as a keeper or trustee for the King of England of all contiguous territory not lawfully granted to another colony.

The Maryland grant to Lord Baltimore was taken out of the domain of Virginia, and she acquiesced in it. But west of Maryland she insisted that her ownership extended for an indefinite distance northward and westward, and she had made it good by occupation as far north as Pittsburgh.

This was certainly a broad claim of title, and the only remnant of it now is that curious narrow strip of land, called the Pan-Handle, which extends northward between Pennsylvania and Ohio for some distance above the fortieth degree.

The Indian trade at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela had always been an object of Virginia’s desire. In 1752 Virginia determined to erect a fort there, and Pennsylvania was willing because the fort would stop the advance of the French, their common enemy, but she reminded Virginia that the land belonged to the Penns.

The French, in 1754, had seated themselves at Logstown, and the Governor of Virginia began to construct a fort on the site of Pittsburgh, but the French surprised the little garrison, captured the works, finished it, and named it Fort Duquesne.

The French held the fort until English forces, under General John Forbes, invested it November 25, 1758. It was abandoned in 1771.

Some time prior to 1756 Virginia erected the District of West Augusta, covering the territory of Pennsylvania west of the Laurel Hills and south of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers, and in that year divided it into three counties, viz: Monongalia, Yohogania and Ohio.

Pennsylvania also erected upon this disputed territory Bedford County, in 1771, and Westmoreland County, in 1773 Penn’s Manor of Pittsburgh, too, was surveyed for the proprietaries early in 1769, and in the beginning of 1771 magistrates were appointed by Pennsylvania and for some time discharged the duties of their offices without having their authority questioned.

The new Governor of Virginia was John, Earl of Dunmore, or Lord Dunmore, of whom Bancroft says: “No royal governor ever showed more rapacity in the use of royal power.” He at once determined on seizing control of the “Forks of the Ohio,” for Virginia and for himself. He appointed Dr. John Connolly, a man of much energy and talent, but without principle, to be “captain commandant of Pittsburgh and its dependencies.”

Connolly arrived in Pittsburgh late in December, 1773, and early in January, 1774, took possession of the dismantled fort, which he renamed, calling it “Fort Dunmore,” required and commanded the people to assemble themselves there as a militia.

He mustered the militia under Virginia law, intimidated the Pennsylvania magistrates, marched some of them off to prison and established the authority of Virginia throughout all the region between the Monongahela and the Ohio.

While a large part of the inhabitants of that region were Virginians by birth and predilection, there were some fearless and loyal Pennsylvania adherents who did all in their power to resist Connolly’s high-handed proceedings.

One of these, Arthur St. Clair (afterward General St. Clair), then prothonotary of the new county of Westmoreland, issued a warrant against Connolly and had him committed to jail at Hannastown, from which he was soon released on giving bail for court appearance there.

Connolly returned to Virginia, was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace for Augusta County, and when court met at Hannastown, he appeared with his militia, armed and with colors flying, and refused to admit the Pennsylvania magistrates. He arrested three of the magistrates and sent them to Staunton, where they were confined in jail.

Subsequently, Simon Girty led a mob to Hannastown, stormed the jail and released such prisoners as were Virginia partisans.

The Tory conduct of Connolly at Pittsburgh became so bold and obnoxious that in June, 1775, he was seized by twenty men, under orders of Captain St. Clair, and carried to Ligonier, with the intention of delivering him to the Continental Government at Philadelphia. He was released, however, and fled from Pittsburgh by night and made his way to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he joined Lord Dunmore on a man-of-war, taking refuge in Canada.

Virginia had revolted from Dunmore’s tyranny at home, but showed no disposition to repudiate his aggressions in Pennsylvania nor the machinations of Connolly.

The boundary dispute was maintained, although, in view of the troubles with the mother country fast approaching, the Virginia and Pennsylvania delegates in Congress, including such men as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin, had united in a circular urging the people in the disturbed region to mutual forbearance.

This action of Congress and the constant fear of an Indian uprising persuaded the Virginia Provincial Convention, in session at Williamsburg, July 17, 1775, to pass a resolution which sent Captain John Neville with one hundred men from the Shenandoah Valley to take possession of Fort Pitt.

The following year the Virginia counties in the disputed territory were organized with their loyal and administrative machinery, but the rancor of the contest had, however, somewhat diminished and there were no such acts of violence committed as during the regime of Connolly and his master.

Captain John Neville continued to command until the Continental Congress determined to take Fort Pitt under its care and provide a garrison at the continental expense. The offer was accepted by Virginia and General Washington selected Brigadier General Edward Hand to relieve Captain Neville of his command.

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Susquehanna Company Organized in Connecticut, July 18, 1753

Early charters granted to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia and the Carolinas made the Pacific Ocean the nominal western boundary of those colonies. Prior occupancy by the Dutch and the settlement of the boundaries had created an exception in favor of New York and New Jersey, but all the country west of the Delaware River within the same parallel of latitude with Connecticut was still claimed by that colony as part of her domain.

The southern boundary was to be a straight line beginning at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. The line extended west would have entered Pennsylvania near Stroudsburg and crossed the North Branch of the Susquehanna at Bloomsburg, the West Branch at Milton, and passing through Clearfield and Newcastle would cut the State nearly through the middle. Penn’s charter fixed the northern boundary of his province at the forty-second degree of latitude. A large strip of territory was thus granted to both Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

On July 18, 1753, about 250 men, mostly from Connecticut, met at Windham, that State, and organized “The Susquehanna Company.” Then, with the consent of the Connecticut Assembly, application was made to the Crown for leave to plant a new colony west of the Delaware. It was granted, and the company sent agents to the Indian treaty at Albany, June, 1754, who succeeded in obtaining from representatives of the Six Nations the cession of a tract of land on the northern branch of the Susquehanna River, where eleven years before King Tedyuskung and his tribe had built the town of Wyoming.

The Proprietaries of Pennsylvania protested against this purchase, and claimed that this land was within the limits of their charter. They also claimed that the purchase had not been made in open council, but had been effected after making the Indians drunk.

As this council at Albany had been called to form a union of the Colonies with the Six Nations as their allies against the French, the purchase was not then seriously opposed. Besides, Pennsylvania bought a large tract of land from the Six Nations at the same treaty, and in a way not satisfactory to the Indians.

The French and Indian War prevented any attempt at settlement of the Wyoming Valley until 1762, when about 200 colonists and their families entered the valley and commenced building and planting near the site of the present Wilkes-Barre. Before winter set in, extensive fields of wheat had been sown upon lands covered with forest trees in August. But owing to the scantiness of provisions, the settlers returned to Connecticut for the winter.

About the same time another Connecticut association, called the “Delaware Company,” had begun a settlement on the Delaware River. Proclamations were issued and writs of ejectment were placed in the hands of the Sheriff of Northampton County.

Early in the month of May, 1763, the settlers returned, accompanied by many others. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of Northampton County, to which the Wyoming Valley then belonged, settlements were made at Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Plymouth and Hanover.

Several hundred acres were improved with corn and other grain, and a large quantity of hay cut and gathered, and everything was moving forward in a prosperous and happy manner when, without the least warning, on October 15, the settlers were attacked while dispersed and engaged in their work, and about twenty of them slain.

Men, women and children fled to the mountains, from which they saw their homes plundered and burned and their cattle taken away. They abandoned their settlement and made their way back to Connecticut or to Orange County, New York. This is known in the history of Pennsylvania as the first massacre of Wyoming. It was the work of the Delaware Indians, led by Captain Bull, son of King Tedyuskung.

Some believe the Iroquois convinced the Delaware that the white settlers had murdered Tedyuskung and that this massacre was committed in retribution.

For six years after this assault no settlement was attempted. The Indians, anticipating revenge for the massacre, left the valley.

Meanwhile the Penn family made every effort to prove that the title given to the Susquehanna Company was not complete and that their charter was valid. Finally some chiefs, assisted by Sir William Johnson, openly disclaimed the sale to the Susquehanna Company. Then the Six Nations assembled in council at Fort Stanwix and on November 5, 1768, gave a deed of the disputed lands to the Penns.

Meanwhile Pennsylvanians took possession of the Wyoming Valley and built a fortified trading house there. They laid out two manors, one on each side of the river, and extending over the farms abandoned by the New Englanders.

In February, 1769, the Susquehanna Company sent forty men into the valley, to be followed shortly by 200 more. They were given land and 200 pounds Connecticut currency to provide themselves with farming tools and weapons, on condition that they would stay in the valley and defend it against Pennsylvania. They built a blockhouse called, from their numbers, Forty Fort. Their leader was Colonel Zebulon Butler, a hero of the French and Indian War, a brave partisan commander.

A civil war prevailed for some years known as the “Pennamite and Yankee War.” Forts were constructed and many sieges and skirmishes followed. Both parties led men to prison, drove women and children away and committed other outrages.

The Connecticut men were generally successful in this strife. They organized a separate State, but could not maintain it. So in 1774 they attached themselves to Connecticut, as the town of Westmoreland, in the County of Litchfield.

During the Revolution there was a lull in the strife in Wyoming. However, as soon as the war ended the old feud broke out in all its former fury.

Pennsylvania having, in 1779, succeeded the heirs of William Penn, now appealed to Congress to settle the dispute. A commission met at Trenton in 1782 and, after five weeks of deliberation, decided that Connecticut had no right to the land, and that the jurisdiction of the same belonged to Pennsylvania.

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Tom Quick, the Indian Killer and Picturesque Character, Born July 19, 1734

Early in the year 1733 a Hollander, named Thomas Quick, came to the colony of New York, a few months later located on the Delaware River, on what afterward became known as Upper Smithfield, near where Milford, Pike County, now stands. He appears to have been the pioneer settler on the Pennsylvania side; here he cleared lands, erected a log cabin and barns, and raised wheat and maize. A son was born July 19, 1734, named Thomas, and he was familiarly known in after years as Tom Quick, the Indian killer.

He was the pet of the household, and even the Indians who roamed over that region frequently visited Quick’s place and much admired the fine looking, stout lad, and often made him presents of plumes, feathers, skins and other articles.

Tom grew up among these Indians, learned their language, and was taught by them how to hunt wild animals, and fish after the manner of the Indians. He grew fond of the Indian life, and became such an expert hunter, trapper and fisherman, that his father could never induce him to follow any other occupation. He even refused to attend school with his sisters, and in fact became almost an Indian by nature.

In the meantime Thomas Quick, Sr., had become the prosperous owner of a grist and saw mill on a small stream entering the Delaware near Milford, called the Vandemark. But Tom, Jr., never became an employe, but did learn much of the beautiful Minisink Valley, with its high cliffs on the Pennsylvania side and receding hills on the New Jersey side, as it extends from Port Jervis to the Delaware Water Gap. The romantic water falls and rocky glens were his hunting and fishing grounds. This knowledge afterward served his purpose in waylaying and murdering Indians.

The Delaware Indians viewed with alarm the steady encroachments of the whites, and many had already taken up arms against the English. The Quick family, however, had always lived on friendly terms with them, but the Indians were not unmindful of the fact that this sturdy Hollander had been the very first to push that far into their favorite hunting grounds.

The prospect of plundering an opulent man like Quick overcame any feelings of gratitude that might linger in the savage breast.

When the French and Indian War commenced, the Quicks were uneasy and their alarm increased as the Indians grew less sociable, and finally withdrew altogether from the Delaware River.

Quiet reigned until the Quicks became careless and one day the father crossed the river to grind grist, accompanied by Tom and his brother-in-law, all unarmed. As they rounded a point near the river they were fired upon from ambush, and the old man fell mortally wounded.

The young men endeavored to carry him across the frozen river but as they stepped on the ice they were fired on and Tom was hit in the foot. They soon got out of danger, but not before they saw the savages take Tom Quick’s scalp.

Young Tom was frantic with rage and grief, and that moment swore that he would never make peace with the Indians as long as one remained upon the banks of the river.

From this time forth the demon of unrelenting savage hatred entered Tom’s heart and he became more like the savages he pursued than like a civilized man. He never entered the army but took Indians at all times, whether in peace or war, and without regard to age or sex.

He seems to have operated about the close of the Indian War, at a time when they began to again visit their former haunts, supposing they would be well received.

Among the Indians who returned was a drunken vagabond named Muskwink, one who had assisted in murdering Tom’s father.

Tom met Muskwink at Decker’s Tavern, on the Neversink, where he had become very bold and abusive, claiming Tom’s acquaintance and desiring him to drink with him. Tom refused and cursed him, which caused a heated exchange of words, during which Muskwink boasted of the part he played in the murder of Tom Quick, Sr. He bragged that he scalped him with his own hands, and at the same time mimicked the grimaces of the dying man, to corroborate his assertion, exhibited the sleeve buttons worn by his victim at the time.

Tom seized a musket, which was hanging in the bar room, and ordered Muskwink to leave the place. He arose slowly and departed, pursued by Tom until they had gone about a mile, when Tom overtook the savage and shot him dead. Tom returned to the tavern, gave up the musket, drank a glass of rum, and left the neighborhood.

His next exploit was when he espied an Indian family in a canoe near Butler’s Rift. Tom concealed himself in the tall grass and as the canoe glided nearer he recognized the Indian as one who had committed many outrages on the frontier.

Only a few words were exchanged when Quick shot the man and tomahawked the woman and three children. He sank the bodies and destroyed the canoe, and did not tell of this crime for years, when he was asked why he killed the children. He replied, “Nits make lice.”

There are many stories told of Tom Quick, which have been preserved by tradition and which are firmly believed by descendants of the older families of Pike County.

One story is told in which several Indians caught him splitting rails and told him to go along with them. Tom asked them to assist him split open the last log and as they put their fingers in the crack to help pull it apart Tom knocked out the wedge and caught them all. He then killed each one at his leisure.

He went on a hunting trip with an Indian and they killed seven deer. He took the meat but gave the Indian the skins. He threw them across his shoulder, Tom fell behind and shot the Indian and took the skins as well as the meat, saying he had shot a buck with seven skins.

He was hunting with another Indian and pushed him off of the high rocks.

Tradition says that on his death bed he claimed to have killed ninety-nine Indians, and that he begged them to bring an old Indian, who lived near, in order that he might bring his record to an even hundred.

In his old age he was regarded as a hero by the pioneer hunters and trappers. He died at James Rosencrantz’s in 1795, and was buried on his farm.

The time has long since passed when such a revengeful murderer can be exalted to the rank of a hero, yet Tom Quick, the Indian slayer, weather-beaten, and with wornout accoutrements and costume in keeping, presented a picturesque and Rip Van Winkle-like appearance that would have formed no bad subject for an artist’s pencil.

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William Maclay, First United States Senator, Born in Chester, July 20, 1737

William Maclay, son of Charles and Eleanor Query Maclay, was born July 20, 1737, in New Garden Township, Chester County, Pa. He attended the classical school of the Reverend John Blair, in Chester County. He studied law and was admitted to practice at the York County bar in 1760. During the French and Indian War he served as a lieutenant in Colonel Hugh Mercer’s battalion, and distinguished himself during General Forbes expedition in 1758. In 1763 he participated at the Battle of Bushy Run, and during the subsequent progress of Colonel Bouquet’s campaign was stationed in command of a company at one of the stockades on the route of the expedition.

On account of this service he never practiced his profession. Much of his time was taken up in surveying lands allotted to officers, but at a later period Governor John Penn was instrumental in having him admitted to the Cumberland County bar, and for a short time he acted as Prothonotary.

At the close of the French and Indian War he visited England and had an interview with Thomas Penn, one of the Proprietaries, relative to surveys in parts of the Province, and on his return became an assistant of Surveyor General Lukens on the frontier.

In April, 1769, he married Mary McClure Harris, daughter of John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg.

On the organization of Northumberland County March 21, 1772, he was appointed Prothonotary and Clerk of the Courts.