Part 9

It is sometimes referred to as Busse’s Fort, in honor of Captain Christian Busse, who commanded the garrison there during its most active period. It was frequently referred to as the “Fort at Deitrick Six’s,” because of the Indian atrocities which occurred there and which had much to do with the decision to erect the fort on part of Six’s farm.

Fort Henry was situated on the main road to Shamokin (now Sunbury), where Fort Augusta commanded the forks of the Susquehanna, and protected the settlers resident on both the north and west branches of that river.

There was no town in the vicinity of Fort Henry, nor did it guard any mountain pass or prominent stream, but it did command the connecting highways between the Swatara Creek and the settlements near that stream. The Indians were obliged to pass through Talihaio Gap to reach any of the white settlements in that region.

The history of Fort Henry really begins with the attack from ambush made on a company of six settlers traveling to Deitrick Six’s, Saturday afternoon, November 15, 1755.

None was killed in the first attack, but as the terrified settlers hastened toward a watch-house, a half mile distant, they were overtaken by the savages and three of them killed and scalped, and one Indian was killed. During the late afternoon three other settlers were killed and three wounded.

The Indians remained in the neighborhood and the following night killed a servant of Thomas Bower and set fire to his house and barn.

Conrad Weiser informed Governor Morris of this tragic affair in a long letter and related this and many other incursions made by the Indians in the region now embraced by Berks, Lebanon, Dauphin, and part of Northumberland Counties. Weiser concluded his letter as follows:

“The Fire alarmed a neighbor, who came with two or three more Men; they fired by the way and made a great noise, scared the Indians away from Bower’s House, after they had set fire to it, but by Thomas Bower’s Diligence and Conduct was timely put out again. So, Thos. Bower, with his Family, went off that night to his Neighbor Daniel Schneider, who came to his assistance. By 8 of ye Clock Parties came up from Tulpenhacon & Heidleberg.

“The first Party saw four Indians running off. They had some prisoners, whom they scalped immediately; three children lay scalped, yet alive, one died since, the other two are like to do well. Another Party found a woman just expired, with a Male Child by her side, both killed and Scalped. The Woman lay upon her Face, my son Frederick turned her about to see who she might have been and to his and his companions Surprize they found a Babe of about 14 Days old under her, and life was yet in it, and recovered again.

“Upon the whole, there is about 15 killed of our People, Including Men, Women and Children, and the Enemy not beat but scared off. Several Houses and Barns are Burned; I have no true account how many. We are in a dismal Situation, some of this Murder has been committed in Tulpenhacon Township. The People left their Plantation to within 6 or 7 miles of my house (which was located at the present town of Womelsdorf) against another attack.

“Guns and Ammunition is very much wanted here. My Sons have been obliged to part with most of what was sent for the use of the Indians. I pray your Honour will be pleased, if it lies in your Power, to send us up a Quantity upon any Condition. I must stand my Ground or my Neighbours will all go away, and leave their Habitations to be destroyed by the Enemy or our own People. This enough of such melancholy Account for this.”

Conrad Weiser had been on a mission to the seat of government, to which place he had escorted a band of friendly Indians, and it was on his return that he learned of the terrible murders. In fact, the trusted chief Scarouady, also known as the Half-King, and a company of Delaware were still with him at his home when his sons recited the melancholy news.

It is not to be wondered that many of the settlers did not fully understand the exact position which Colonel Weiser held, both toward the Provincial Government and towards the Indians. Both had implicit faith and confidence in him. The angry settlers were so incensed at Weiser that had not the smoke of fire along the mountain scared them off he might have paid the price of his friendship toward the Indians with his own life.

These atrocities decided the position of Fort Henry, and January 25, 1756, Captain Christian Busse, with a company of fifty provincial soldiers, reported there and began the erection of a fort. Governor Morris advised Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, and Colonel George Washington that he had ordered Fort Henry built at this important place.

It was at Fort Henry where Colonel Weiser held his councils with the officers of the other forts and planned the protection of the farmers during harvest, etc.

During June, 1756, Fort Henry was honored by a visit from Governor Morris, which was occasioned by a threatened attack by the French on Fort Augusta, and at a time when the terms of enlistment of many men had expired.

The Governor directed the movement of troops to the larger fortresses. More than fifty of the inhabitants called at Fort Henry and laid their grievances before the Governor in person.

Soon after this visit the Indians committed many murders. Five children were carried off in one day and a sick man was slain in his bed. His daughter, hidden under a bed in the adjoining room, saw her father killed. Two other families were destroyed.

A French deserter was captured and held at Fort Henry. He was taken to Weiser’s home, and put through the third degree. He proved to be quite clever and nothing of value was learned. He was a lad of seventeen and had been sent from Fort Machault, on the Allegheny River, on a marauding expedition in command of thirty-three Indians, when he accidentally got lost in the mountains and he approached the sentry at Fort Henry, as he had been seven days without food.

June 19, 1757, the Indians carried away the wife of John Frantz and three of their children, who lived only six miles from Fort Henry.

The actual history of Fort Henry, except for the incidents recorded here, was one of routine military work, but it remained a garrisoned fortification for some years, surely until the summer of 1763, for at that time Governor Hamilton wrote to Colonel John Armstrong about disposition of troops for Lancaster, Berks and Northampton Counties, and mentioned Fort Henry as one of the chain of forts then occupied by provincial troops.

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James Trimble, First Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, Public Servant Sixty-seven Years, Died January 26, 1837

When James Trimble died at his home in Harrisburg, January 26, 1837, he closed a record of sixty-seven years service as an official of Pennsylvania, a record which none other has ever approached.

Another unusual feature of this record is the fact that Mr. Trimble was the first Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, beginning his service as such March 6, 1777, and being the only occupant of that important office until his death, nearly sixty years afterwards.

James Trimble was born in Philadelphia, July 19, 1755. His father, Alexander Trimble, emigrated from the North of Ireland; was a Protestant, and soon became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, then under the care of Reverend Gilbert Tennent, of whom it is believed he was a relative.

Alexander Trimble was married to Eleanor Rogers, of Abington, June 20, 1754. Alexander died about 1769.

James was the eldest of several children, and though only a lad at the time of his father’s death, he manifested all those qualities of mind and heart for which he was so justly noted throughout a long life devoted to the service of his country.

When his mother was left a widow with a store, James assisted her in the conduct of the business.

One day James Tilghman, Secretary of the Land Office under the Proprietaries, called at the Trimble store and made some purchases. Young Trimble, who waited upon him, also made out his bill, and the great gentleman was so much pleased with his writing and business style that he at once took measures to secure his services in his department. Thus James Trimble at the age of fifteen years became an apprenticed clerk in the Land Office.

The endorsement upon the archives of the Board of War and the Council of Safety indicates that James Trimble was subordinate clerk in the State Council as early as 1775, and when Colonel Timothy Matlack became the first Secretary of the Commonwealth, March 6, 1777, James Trimble became Deputy Secretary, and so continued down to Thursday, January 14, 1837.

Pending some difficulties with the Supreme Executive Council in regard to his accounts of his money trust, Colonel Matlack resigned his position as Secretary, and March 25, 1783, General John Armstrong, Jr., was commissioned in his stead.

General Armstrong was elected a member of Congress in 1787, and November 7 of that year Charles Biddle became Secretary. He served in that office until January 19, 1791, when Alexander James Dallas, Esq., was commissioned by Governor Thomas Mifflin the first secretary of the Commonwealth, under the Constitution of 1790.

On March 12, 1791, the very day the Governor approved the Act of Assembly providing for a Deputy Secretary, Mr. Dallas appointed James Trimble, who had served continuously under his several predecessors, to be Deputy Secretary, and the appointment was approved by the Governor.

Secretary Dallas resigned his commission December 2, 1801, when Thomas McKean Thompson succeeded him. Nathaniel B. Boileau became Secretary of the Commonwealth, December 20, 1808, and remained through the three terms of Governor Simon Snyder, when he was succeeded by Thomas Sergeant, December 16, 1817; he resigned July 6, 1819, when Samuel B. Ingham was commissioned; Andrew Gregg took up the reins of office December 19, 1820, serving three years, when Molton C. Rogers became Secretary; he resigned January 2, 1826, to be succeeded by Isaac G. Barnhard, who served less than two years, when Calvin Blythe was commissioned November 28, 1827; Samuel McKean was commissioned December 16, 1829, and was succeeded by James Findley who served until December 15, 1835, when Thomas H. Burrowes became Secretary of the Commonwealth, and in all this time, and with these fifteen changes in the office of Secretary, a commission and dedimus issued regularly every three years to James Trimble as Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth.

His records are models of neatness, his papers elaborately endorsed, and filed with great care, so that in those days of tallow candles, when he was wont to enter his office at night, he could, without striking a light, lay his hands on any paper he wished.

James Trimble was of slight stature, dignified, brisk in his movements and carefully dressed in solemn black knee pants, queue, long hose, and buckle shoes.

When he died, Harrisburg lost its last gentleman of the old school for Alexander Graydon, his peer in dress and address, had gone before.

In the judgment of his contemporaries James Trimble was a faithful public servant, a man of unimpeachable integrity, and obliging manners, and respected by the community at large.

On April 22, 1782, he married Clarissa, widow of John Hastings; her maiden name was Claypoole. She was a descendant of James Claypoole, an intimate of William Penn, and brother to John Claypoole who married Elizabeth, daughter of Oliver Cromwell. Mrs. Trimble died at Lancaster, February 6, 1810. Of their eleven children two only survived them—Dr. James Trimble, who died in Huntingdon County, in 1838, and Thomas R., who died in Chester County in 1868.

James Trimble helped pack and remove the State papers at the time the British occupied Philadelphia, and again when the seat of government was removed to Lancaster in 1799, and from Lancaster to Harrisburg in 1812.

After he removed to Harrisburg he was chosen trustee and treasurer of the Presbyterian Church there, in which capacity he served until his death.

That he survived his removal from office only eleven days many believed he died of a broken heart. Truly if such be the case, party spirit must have been at fever heat to cause the removal of such a public servant, without some other position for him.

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Great Indian Conference Began in Easton on January 27, 1777

The year 1777 opened for the colonists with much brighter prospects, as General Washington had defeated the Hessians at Trenton, and close upon this victory followed the action at Princeton, in which many Pennsylvania organizations displayed such valor, but in which General Hugh Mercer and a number of other officers and men fell.

On Monday, January 20, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson, with about 400 militia, composed of the two Westmoreland independent companies, of Wyoming, Pa., and New Jersey militia, defeated a foraging party of the enemy of an equal number, near a bridge at Millstone River, two miles from Somerset Court House, New Jersey, and took forty wagons and one hundred horses, a large number of sheep and cattle, and some prisoners. General Dickinson lost but five men.

To return to internal affairs: early in January, 1777, Continental Congress received information “that certain tribes of Indians living in the back parts of the country, near the waters of the Susquehanna within the Confederacy and under the protection of the Six Nations, the friends and allies of the United States,” were on their way to Easton for the purpose of holding a conference or treaty with the General Government.

Congress thereupon appointed a commission, consisting of George Taylor, of Easton; George Walton and others to purchase suitable presents for the Indians and conduct a treaty with them. The Assembly of Pennsylvania named Colonels Lowrey and Cunningham, while the Council of Safety sent Colonels Dean and Bull. Thomas Paine was appointed secretary to the commission.

On January 7, a company of Indians arrived at Wilkes-Barre to announce the coming of the larger body en route to Easton. About January 15 the main delegation reached Wilkes-Barre. There were seventy men and one hundred women and children in the party.

Among the chiefs were the following: Taasquah, or “King Charles,” of the Cayuga; Tawanah, or “The Big Tree,” of the Seneca; Mytakawha, or “Walking on Foot,” and Kaknah, or “Standing by a Tree,” of the Munsee; Amatincka, or “Raising Anything” of the Nanticoke; Wilakinko, or “King Last Night” of the Conoy, and Thomas Green, whose wife was a Mohawk, as interpreter.

The Indians held an informal conference there and received food from the Wyoming authorities.

The conference was formally opened at Easton, January 27, in the new First (German) Reformed Church, on North Third street. It is said that while the organ played the members of the commission and the Indians shook hands with each other and drank rum to the health of the Congress and the Six Nations and their allies before proceeding to business.

It was soon learned that the English, through the influence of Colonel John Butler, in the King’s service at Niagara, were making a great effort to turn the Indians against the Americans.

In an official report of the treaty, subsequently made to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, it was stated: “The Indians seem to be inclined to act the wise part with respect to the present dispute. If they are to be relied upon, they mean to be neuter. We have already learnt their good intentions.”

The members of the Supreme Executive Council, chosen under the Constitution of the State, met for the first time March 4, 1777, and proceeded to form an organization and the Council of Safety was dissolved. In joint convention with the Assembly, Thomas Wharton, Jr., was elected president, and George Bryan, vice president. To give new dignity to the executive of the new Government, the inauguration took place on the following day, March 5.

Thomas Wharton, Jr., was born in Philadelphia in 1735. He was descended from an ancient English family and was the grandson of Richard Wharton, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1683. His father, Joseph Wharton, of Walnut Grove, was an aristocrat of the day. Thomas Wharton was twice married, first to Susan, daughter of Thomas Lloyd, and subsequently to Elizabeth, daughter of William Fishbourne. He was a warm supporter of the principles of the Revolution, and on the change of government was elected to the highest office in the State.

President Wharton died suddenly May 25 of the following year of an attack of quinsy, at Lancaster. His funeral on the day following was conducted by the State authorities, and as commander-in-chief of the forces of the State he was buried with military honors, and at the request of the vestry was interred within the walls of Trinity Church in Lancaster. By his decease, the Vice President, George Bryan, assumed the executive functions.

On March 13 the Supreme Executive Council appointed a navy board, consisting of Andrew Caldwell, Joseph Blewer, Joseph Marsh, Emmanuel Eyre, Robert Ritchie, Paul Cox, Samuel Massey, William Bradford, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Samuel Morris, Jr., and J. Thomas Barclay, to which board was committed all powers necessary for that service. The board entered very promptly upon its duties, meeting with many difficulties, boats out of repair and inefficiently manned, difficulties about rank in the fleet, all of which it succeeded in overcoming.

The same day a Board of War was appointed consisting of David Rittenhouse, Owen Biddle, William Moore, Joseph Dean, Samuel Morris, Sr., Samuel Cadwallader Morris, John Bayard, George Gray and Colonel John Bull. This board served most capably in assisting to carry out the provisions of the new militia law.

The Speaker of the House being seriously ill, John Bayard was chosen Speaker March 17. On the 20th Joseph Reed was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, but he declined on account of military engagements and on July 28 Thomas McKean was named for that office.

On June 13, the Assembly required all white male inhabitants over eighteen years of age, except in Bedford, Northumberland, and Westmoreland Counties to take an oath of allegiance before July 1, and those in said counties before August 1, excepting, however, delegates in Congress, prisoners of war, officers and soldiers in the Continental army and merchants and marines in port trading from foreign powers and not becoming subjects. Any person refusing should be incapable of holding office, serving on juries, electing or being elected or even bringing lawsuits, or buying or selling lands and as was perfectly reasonable, should be disarmed.

Early in June, General Howe, commander of the British forces at New York, showed a disposition to advance by land across New Jersey, and to take possession of Philadelphia. On the 14th of that month he actually made an advance by two columns, which led General Washington to believe that this was his real intention. General Mifflin again came to Philadelphia with messages to Congress and the Assembly, and there was intrusted to him and De Coudray the arrangements of the defense of the Delaware River.

The same day General Morris appeared before Congress to say that Philadelphia was in danger.

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Massacre of Settlers Along the Juniata River Began January 28, 1756

The Delaware Indians, especially those who lived west of the Susquehanna River, were exceedingly angry because of the sale of the lands along the Susquehanna and Juniata to the whites, and declared that those coveted hunting grounds had been given to them (the Delaware) by the Six Nations, and that therefore the latter had no right to sell them.

The Six Nations admitted that they had given the region to their cousins, the Delaware, as a hunting ground, yet they did not hesitate to make the sale to the English in 1754, and to confirm it in 1758.

The Delaware received none of the 400 pounds which had been paid to the Six Nations, and it is little wonder that they sought an opportunity and pretext for that revenge against the English which they dared not show against their ancient conquerors, the Six Nations.

Such an opportunity was presented by General Braddock’s disaster on the Monongahela, July 9, 1755, immediately after which they, with the Shawnee, became the active allies of the French.

Within three months their war parties had crossed the Alleghanies eastward, and had committed atrocities among the frontier settlements.

On October 16 occurred the massacre on Penn’s Creek, in what is now Snyder County, and on the 25th, John Harris’ party was ambushed at Mahanoy Creek.

On January 27, 1756, a party of Indians from Shamokin (now Sunbury) made a foray in the Juniata Valley, first attacking the house of Hugh Mitcheltree, who was absent at Carlisle, having left his house in the care of his wife and a young man named Edward Nicholas. Both of these were killed by the Indians, who then went up the river to the house of Edward Nicholas, Sr., whom they killed, also his wife, and took seven prisoners, namely, Joseph, Thomas and Catherine Nicholas, John Wilcox and the wife and two children of James Armstrong.

The scene of the first of these incursions was on the farm of James Mitcheltree, who was a warrantee in Delaware Township in 1755, and where he died in the early part of 1803. This farm then passed into the hands of John Thompson, and it is still in the hands of his descendants. Hugh Mitcheltree, who escaped death or capture in this foray, was carried off by the Indians two months later, March 29, 1756. The Mitcheltree family lived near the present Thompsontown, Juniata County.

While the Indians were committing the murders at the Mitcheltree and Nicholas homes, an Indian named James Cotties, who wished to be captain of the party, but could not be so chosen, took with him a young brave and went to Sherman’s Creek, where they killed William Sheridan and his family, thirteen in number. They then went down the creek to the home of two old men and an elderly woman, named French, whom they killed. Cotties often boasted afterward that he and the boy took more scalps than all the others of the party.

James Cotties, in 1757, went to Fort Hunter and killed a young man named William Martin, while he was busy picking chestnuts. After the war was over, the same Cotties being again at the same fort was reproached by another Indian, named Hambus, for the death of young Martin, and a quarrel ensued in which Hambus killed Cotties.

There are letters extant which give an account of the massacre by the Indians, on the river between Thompsontown and Mexico. They reveal the fact that this was the largest butchery of the whites that ever took place in the east end of Juniata County.

A letter of January 28 proves that Captain James Patterson was with his company at his fort, on the Juniata, the day of the massacres.

Extract from a letter dated Carlisle January 29, 1756, says: