Part 60

At this time the subscription list was about two thousand and soon as Mr. Curtis improved the paper these few subscribers cancelled their subscriptions, when it was learned that the new owner had in fact purchased only the title and name of Benjamin Franklin.

The outlook for the future for this new venture was so gloomy that men in his employ called it “the singed cat.”

Mr. Curtis selected George Horace Lorimer, of Boston, as the editor and he got behind him, even in the face of the most discouraging criticism, but neither Mr. Curtis nor Mr. Lorimer ever for a single moment doubted that the project would make good. A half million dollars were spent upon advertising the periodical, and at one time the loss totalled nearly a million dollars, but during all this period there was being developed just the kind of a paper that Mr. Curtis wanted The Saturday Evening Post to be.

Then the circulation grew and when it reached five hundred thousand copies the advertisers began to use its pages, and Mr. Curtis had now put into the paper a million and a quarter dollars. Then the paper appeared with a “circulation of one million copies” printed on the cover, and the fight was won.

The circulation is now in excess of two million, and is, without a doubt, the greatest publication in the history of journalism.

The Curtis Publishing Company publish The Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, The Country Gentleman, The Public Ledger and The Evening Public Ledger and the output of this plant is six hundred and fifty thousand complete magazines, each working day, and all this in addition to seventy-three million newspapers each year.

More than one hundred railroad cars each month are required to circulate the magazines, as the Ladies Home Journal goes to one out of every ten women in the United States and The Saturday Evening Post goes into more than one out of every ten homes in this country. Such is the story of not only Pennsylvania’s oldest and best magazine, but the largest and most successful in the world.

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Patrick Gordon, Administrator of Penn’s Will, Died August 5, 1736

William Penn was financially involved when stricken and during the six years he suffered until relieved by death, July 30, 1718, did not place his affairs in more favorable condition.

The Province of Pennsylvania was encumbered by Proprietary’s mortgage given in 1708, and by his contract with the Crown for the sale of the government. His will, which was drawn in 1712, was in contemplation of this contract.

To his only surviving son, William, by his first marriage, he bequeathed all his estates in England and Ireland, which, producing fifteen hundred pounds sterling per annum, were estimated of greater value than his American possessions.

By his first wife, Gulielma Maria Springett, he had issue of three sons, William, Springett and William, and four daughters, Gulielma, Margaret, Gulielma and Letitia. From his American possession he made provision for the payment of his debts, and for his widow, Hannah Callowhill and four sons, John, Thomas, Richard and Dennis. To his wife, Hannah, whom he made the sole executrix of his estate, he gave for the equal benefit of herself and her children, all his personal estate in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, after paying all debts, and allotting ten thousand acres of land in the Province to his daughter Letitia, by his first marriage, and each of the three children of his son William, and to convey the remainder at the discretion of his widow, to her children, subject to an annuity to herself of £300 sterling per annum.

Doubts having arisen as to the force of the provisions of this will, it was finally determined to institute a suit in chancery for its determination. Before a decision was reached in March, 1720, William Penn, Jr., died, and while it was still pending, his son, Springett, died.

During the more than nine years of litigation, Hannah Penn, as executrix of the will, assumed the Proprietary power, issued instructions to her Lieutenant-Governor, heard complaints and settled differences with the skill and assurance of a veteran diplomat. In 1727 a decision was reached that, upon the death of William Penn, Jr., and his son Springett, the proprietary rights in Pennsylvania descended to the three surviving sons, John, Thomas and Richard, issue by the second marriage.

The Province now entered upon a period of great prosperity. The almost unbounded confidence of the Province in Governor Keith enabled him, in 1720, to establish two measures hitherto repugnant to the Assembly, and equity court, dependent on the Governor’s will, of which he was chancellor, and a militia organized by like authority.

The great influx of foreigners alarmed the Assembly, who feared their settlement on the frontier. Attempts to naturalize them were treated with coldness. Even the Governor, whose industry and utility were proverbial, could not remove the jealousy.

Many Palatines, long resident in the Province, applied for naturalization in 1721, but not until 1724 was leave granted to bring in a bill, and then conditioned upon the proviso that they should individually obtain from the justice of the peace a certificate of the value of their property, and nature of their religious faith. A bill to that effect reached the Governor the following year, but he returned it on the ground that in a country where English liberty and law prevailed, a scrutiny into the private conversation and faith of the citizens, and

## particularly into their estates, was unjust and dangerous in precedent.

The House yielded, but it was not for some time that the privilege of subjects were granted to the Palatines.

Following the death of Springett Penn and Mrs. Hannah Penn, the Assembly conceived that the authority of Governor Patrick Gordon was determined, and accordingly refused to act upon a message which he had sent them, and adjourned themselves to the last day of their term.

A new commission, signed by John, Thomas and Richard Penn, in whom the government was now vested, was received by Governor Gordon in October. When the King gave his approbation to this new commission he reserved as the right of the Crown, the government of the Lower Counties on the Delaware.

Patrick Gordon who served as Deputy Governor from July 26, 1726, to his death had been a soldier in the regular army, serving from his youth to near the close of Queen Anne’s reign, with a high reputation. He was appointed successor of Governor Keith by the family, and formally proposed to the Crown by Springett Penn, their heir-at-law.

He arrived in the Province with his family in the summer of 1726, and met the Assembly during the first week of August. In his first address he alluded to the fact of his having been a soldier, that he consequently knew nothing of the crooked ways of professed politicians and must rely upon a blunt, straightforward course in his communications with them in his administration of the government. His whole public career seems to have been characterized by this same frankness and integrity.

Governor Gordon took prompt measures to apprehend and punish worthless drunken Indians who committed outrages. He concluded several very important treaties with the Six Nations, and attended these in person. He published “Two Indians Treaties at Conestogoe,” in 1728.

Governor Gordon died August 5, 1736. His administration was in all respects a happy one. The unanimity of the Assembly, the Council and the Governor, gave an uninterrupted course to the prosperity of the Province. The wisdom which guided her counsels was strongly portrayed in her internal peace, increased population, improved morals and thriving commerce. The death of Governor Gordon was equally lamented by the Proprietaries and the people.

Upon the death of Governor Gordon, the administration of the government again devolved on the Council, of which James Logan was president. He so governed until August, 1738, when Sir George Thomas, a wealthy planter, of the island of Antigua, was appointed by the Proprietaries. Governor Thomas immediately devoted his energies toward the settlement of the boundary dispute, by which it was mutually agreed, that matters should rest along the border, until final settlement of the boundary lines.

The famous “Indian Walk” was performed by Edward Marshall, and others on September 19, 1737. This walk, according to Charles Thomson, was the cause of jealousies and heart burnings among the Indians, which eventually broke out in loud complaints of injustice and atrocious acts of savage vengeance. The very first murder committed by them after this deception was on the very land from which they believed themselves cheated.

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Colonel Bouquet Defeats Indians by Stratagem at Bushy Run, August 6, 1763

In 1763 the savages, angered by the losses of the French and by finding the English settlers pressing upon them, organized what has been called a conspiracy under Pontiac. It nearly succeeded and many English forts were captured.

In Pennsylvania there were many murders and burnings all around Forts Pitt, Le Boeuf, Presque Isle and Ligonier; many were killed at Bedford and Carlisle, and even Fort Augusta, on the Susquehanna at Sunbury, was seriously threatened.

Colonel Henry Bouquet, an energetic and capable officer, took a battalion of the Royal American Regiment and two companies of Highlanders and English and started from Philadelphia for Fort Pitt.

Upon his arrival he found Carlisle crowded with fugitives, and learned that Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango, now English forts, had fallen. Homes were burning all through the neighboring valleys.

With five hundred men Bouquet pushed over the mountain to Bedford and Fort Ligonier, which he relieved from a siege just in time. At Bedford thirty hunters with rifles joined him. He heard from Fort Pitt that the commander and nine others had been wounded.

Bouquet resolved to leave behind the oxen and wagons, which formed the most cumbersome part of the convoy. Thus relieved, the army resumed its march August 4, taking with them 350 pack horses and a few cattle, and at nightfall encamped at no great distance from Ligonier.

Within less than a day’s march lay the dangerous defiles of Turtle Creek. Fearing that the enemy would lay in ambuscade at this place, Bouquet determined to march on the following day as far as a small stream called Bushy Run, to rest there until night and then, by a forced march, to cross Turtle Creek under cover of the darkness.

On the morning of August 5, the tents were struck at an early hour, and the troops began their march through a rough country, everywhere covered with a tall, dense forest.

By noon they had advanced to within less than a mile of Bushy Run. Suddenly the report of rifles from the front sent a thrill along the ranks. The firing became terrific, while the shouts and whoops showed that the advance guard was hotly engaged. The two foremost companies were sent to support it, but far from abating, the fire grew so furious that it revealed the presence of an enemy at once numerous and resolute.

The convoy was halted, the troops formed into line, and a general charge ordered. Bearing down through the forest with fixed bayonets, they drove the yelping savages before them, and swept the ground clear.

At this very moment of success, a fresh burst of whoops and firing was heard from either flank, while noise from the rear showed that the convoy was attacked. The column fell back for its support, drove off the assailants, and formed in a circle around the terrified horses. No man lost his composure, but each displayed implicit confidence in their commander.

Now ensued a combat most discouraging. Again and again, now one side and now on the other, a crowd of Indians rushed up, pouring in a heavy fire, in their effort to break into the circle. A well directed volley met them, followed by a charge of the bayonet. The Indians fled behind trees, few of them were hurt, while the English suffered severely.

Thus the fight went on without intermission for seven hours, until approaching night, when the Indian fire slackened, and the exhausted soldiers found time to rest.

It was impossible to change their ground in the enemy’s presence, and the troops were obliged to encamp where the combat had taken place, though not a drop of water was to be found there.

Bouquet, doubtful of surviving the battle of the morrow, wrote to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in a few, clear, concise words, an account of the day’s events.

The condition of the troops was deplorable. About sixty soldiers, besides several officers, had been killed or disabled. A space in the center of the camp was prepared for the care of the wounded, and surrounded by a wall built of bags of flour. Here they lay upon the ground, enduring agonies of thirst, as well as of pain.

The situation of those who hitherto escaped was not an enviable one. In event of defeat, a fate inexpressibly horrible waited them, while even victory did not assure their safety, since so many wounded comrades made it difficult to transport them. On the other side the enemy were exulting in the fullest confidence of success.

With the earliest dawn of day there broke out a general burst of those horrid yells which form the prelude of an Indian battle. Instantly from every side the fire poured in with deadly aim.

At each furious rush the savages were repulsed. The English, maddened more by the torments of thirst than the fire of the enemy, fought furiously. But the enemy saw their distress and pressed them closer and more desperately.

The center of the camp was all confusion. The horses broke away a dozen at a time and stampeded through the wounded troops. At ten o’clock the circle was yet unbroken, but there had been many killed. If the day was to be saved, the effort must be made at once and Bouquet was equal to the emergency.

In the midst of the confusion he conceived a masterly stratagem. Could the Indians be brought together in a body and made to stand their ground, there could be little doubt of the result. Bouquet instructed the men who were in the most exposed place to give way. The Indians mistook this movement for a retreat. Confident that their victory was sure, they leaped up on all sides and rushed headlong towards the spot.

Here they found themselves between two deadly fires and with the reserve troops blocking their retreat they were utterly routed. The Highlanders, with yells as wild as their own, fell on them with bayonet. The shock was irresistible and they fled before the charging ranks, not a living Indian remained near the spot. Among the dead were found several prominent chiefs.

The battle of Bushy Run was the best contested battle ever fought between white men and Indians. It was the most serious defeat ever inflicted upon the savages down to that time.

With the loss of eight officers and 115 men, Bouquet reached Fort Pitt August 10. It was a joyous moment both to the troops and the garrison, which had been surrounded and hotly pressed by the Indians since July 28.

The next year Bouquet led an expedition beyond the Ohio, but the Indians sued for peace and he compelled them to bring all their captives to Fort Pitt, where their friends could identify them.

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Indian Council Between Governor Denny and Tedyuskung Ended at Easton August 7, 1757

The fact that the great Delaware King Tedyuskung was not present at the important council at Lancaster in April, 1757, caused much more concern in the Provincial Government than is usually the case when one person of importance fails to attend. The Delaware Indians were still chafing under the rebuke they received at the hands of Canassetoga, the great Onondaga Chief Sachem, and the Six Nations, who ordered them from the lands at the Forks of the Delaware River to the Wyoming and Shamokin Valleys.

Soon as the Lancaster council was concluded, messengers were dispatched to Tedyuskung and to the Seneca and Shawnee, inviting them to hold a treaty with the English.

On June 16, Sir Wm. Johnson held a general conference with the Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, of the Six Nations, at his estate “Fort Johnson,” in which he strongly urged these tribes to come to the support of the English in their warfare against the French. He severely censured Tedyuskung and the Seneca for their conduct.

The Indian messengers, Nathanial and Zacharias, failed to find Tedyuskung at Wyoming, and journeyed to the Seneca villages in New York where they found the King and delivered the Governor’s message. Tedyuskung and the messengers immediately set out for Pennsylvania, and on their way met Joe Peepy, Shikellamy’s son, and Tapescawen, the two messengers sent out by the Lancaster Council in quest of Tedyuskung. Nathanial and Zacharias hastened on to advise the Governor that Tedyuskung and his followers would set out from Tioga for Easton the middle of June.

Tedyuskung and his retinue arrived at Fort Allen July 3, 200 strong and waited there for the arrival of 100 Seneca. On July 8, 155 men, women and children followed Tedyuskung out of Fort Allen toward Easton, and a few days later 117 Seneca and other Six Nations’ Indians arrived at Easton, via Wyoming; among the Seneca delegation were old King Nutimus and “French Margaret.”

Governor Denny, accompanied by members of the Council, Board of Indian Commissioners and a large number of citizens, including many Quakers, arrived at Easton, July 20, and the next day the conference with the Indians was formally begun. Colonel Conrad Weiser and Colonel George Croghan were in attendance as interpreters and agents; there were more than 300 Indians representing ten nations, and Tedyuskung claimed authority over them all.

Tedyuskung demanded a clerk and refused to participate until furnished one, when a long debate ensued, but the old king won his point and chose Charles Thomson. Thomson exercised great influence over Tedyuskung and was his counsel as well as clerk.

The conference proceeded in peace. Tedyuskung declared it was time to declare mutual friendship and gave the Governor a belt of wampum. The Governor rejoiced in this expression of alliance and gave the Delaware a fine belt of wampum. This was a large belt with the figures of three men worked in the wampum, representing King George, taking hold of the King of the Five Nations with one hand, and Tedyuskung with the other, and marked “G. R., 5 N and D. K.,” for King George, Five Nations and Delaware King.

On Saturday, August 6, Paxinosa, with Abraham, the Mohegan Chief, arrived at Easton, with about sixty of their people. The Governor personally welcomed the newcomers to the council.

The most important matter broached by Tedyuskung touched on the future home of the Delaware. He then asked that persons be sent to instruct them to build permanent houses of a better class, and that other persons be sent “to instruct us in Christian religion, and instruct our children in reading and writing.”

Tedyuskung then expressed a desire that the Governor would send people to Wyoming during the coming fall or nearly next Spring, that a little fort might be built. The Indians would then move down from Tioga, about the beginning of May.

The conference came to an end on Sunday, August 7. The Governor and his attendants left for Bethlehem, enroute to Philadelphia. The following day many Indians were escorted by Conrad Weiser and a detachment of Provincials under Captain Jacob Arndt, towards Bethlehem.

The “Memorials of the Moravian Church” says, “Some of these unwelcome visitors halted for a few days and some proceeded as far as Fort Allen and then returned, undecided as to where to go and what to do. During the month full 200 were counted—men, women and children—among them lawless crowds who annoyed the Brethren by depredations, molested the Indians at Manakasy, and wrangled with each other over their cup at “The Crown.”

Tedyuskung, Abraham and Paxinosa set out from Fort Allen for Tioga, August 17, the former with a new saddle and bridle, and a supply of snuff, gingerbread, soap and other luxuries—in addition to the gifts he had received at the treaty.

When near Tunkhannock, this company was met by three Indian messengers, with a Peace Belt and four-fold string of wampum, for Tedyuskung from the two principal chiefs in the Ohio region. The King gave the Peace Belt he had received at Easton into the hands of one of his sons and messengers, directing them to carry it with a message which he dictated to the Ohio chiefs. Then he left his companions and started back to Bethlehem, where he arrived August 25. Five days later he arrived in Philadelphia and delivered the message from the Ohio Indians to the Governor and Council.

Tedyuskung urged the prompt assistance of the government in helping them locate at Wyoming, and a week later the Governor and Council decided to send proper persons to build a fort and houses for the Delaware. After much discussion it was decided to send John Hughes, one of the Indian Commissioners, Edward Shippen, prothonotary of the Lancaster County courts, and James Galbraith, also of Lancaster, and a prominent citizen to undertake the journey to Wyoming. On October 5, 1757, they set out and satisfactorily fulfilled the mission on which they were sent.

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Indians Surprise Reapers and Mortally Wound James Brady August 8, 1778

During the first several years of the Revolution no section of Pennsylvania suffered more from the incursions of the hostile Indians than along both branches of the Susquehanna River, where nearly every man capable of bearing arms responded to the call and left his home and fireside in the care of aged men or young men of his family.

The Indians had taken a heavy toll along the West Branch, so small numbers of local militia and a few provincials garrisoned the several stockades erected as places of refuge for the inhabitants, when the Indians were reported by the scouts to be approaching.

August 8, 1778, a party of Indians fell upon a number of reapers and cruelly murdered young James Brady. The circumstances of the tragic affair, and the prominence of the victim and his illustrious family make the story one of value.

Colonel Thomas Hartley had been sent by General Washington to guard the West Branch Valley, and after arriving at Fort Augusta with his command, it was determined he should proceed to Muncy, erect a stockade, and from that place distribute his soldiers to points where they were most needed.

On the fatal day a corporal and three militiamen were ordered to go to Loyalsock and protect fourteen reapers and cradlers who were assisting Peter Smith, the unfortunate man who lost his wife and four children in the massacre, at what is now Williamsport, June 10. Smith’s farm was on Bull Run, nearly three miles east of Williamsport, and on the north side of the river.

It was the custom in those days of unusual peril, when no commissioned officer was present, for the company to select a leader, who was called “Captain,” and to obey him accordingly. Young James Brady, on account of his shrewdness, dash and well known bravery, was selected to take command of the party.

“Captain” Brady stationed a few sentinels and the rest proceeded to the work at hand on Friday, August 7. At sundown four of the party left and returned to Fort Muncy. The balance of the detail commenced work early the next day; the morning was foggy.

Not an hour had passed before the workers were surprised by the stealthy approach of a large band of Indians, who were able to draw near under the cover of the fog before being discovered.