Part 91

The Delaware and Shawnee on the Susquehanna began to waver in their allegiance to the English. They were preparing to take up the hatchet on the side of the French, and it became a matter of concern to them to withdraw their Indian brethren in the Moravian settlements beyond the reach of the whites, that the hostile savages might more freely descend upon the white settlements.

The Christian Indians for some time resolutely refused to move to Wyoming or Shamokin. At length, however, a considerable part of them were seduced by the influence of the Delaware King Tedyuskung to move.

The Mohicans who remained were joined by other Christian Delaware and soon the land upon which they lived became so impoverished that the inhabitants of Gnadenhutten removed to the north side of the Lehigh River.

The dwellings were removed and a new chapel built in June, 1754. This place was called New Gnadenhutten, and stood where the borough of Weissport now stands.

In New Gnadenhutten the Mohican lived on one side of the street, the Delaware on the opposite side. The cultivation was under the direct charge of the Moravian missionaries.

The Indians who had gone over to the French interests became incensed that any of the Moravian converts among their people should choose to remain at Gnadenhutten, and they determined to cut off the settlement.

After Braddock’s defeat, July, 1755, the whole frontier was open to the inroads of the savage foe. Every day disclosed new scenes of barbarity committed by the Indians. The whole country was in terror; the neighbors of the brethren in Gnadenhutten forsook their dwellings and fled, but the brethren covenanted together to remain undaunted in the place they believed Providence had allotted them.

In that decision they neglected no caution whatever. But it was not to be as the Moravians had planned.

Late in the evening of November 24, 1755, the mission house on the Mahoning was attacked by the French Indians, the house burned to the ground and eleven of the inhabitants murdered.

The attack was made while the family was at supper. The uncommon barking of the dogs was noticed, upon which Brother Senseman went out to the back door to ascertain what was the matter. The report of a gun was heard, when several of the family rushed to the open door, where they were confronted with the Indians who stood with their firearms pointed toward the door, who simultaneously fired upon the Moravians.

Martin Nitschmann was instantly killed, his wife and several others were wounded, but were able to flee with the rest of the household upstairs into the garret, where they barricaded the door with bedsteads. Brother Partsch escaped by jumping out of a rear window. Brother Worbass, who was ill in bed in an adjoining house, also escaped by a window, although the savages had placed a guard before his door.

The savages pursued those who had taken refuge in the garret and finding the door too strongly secured, they set fire to the house. A lad, named Sturgis, jumped from the blazing roof and escaped, but not before he was severely burned by the flames and shot in the face in making his escape.

Soon as Sturgis was seen to get away, Sister Partsch took courage and jumped from the burning roof, and escaped unhurt. Brother Fabricius attempted to flee in the same manner, but was observed by the Indians and twice wounded and captured. He was immediately tomahawked and scalped. The rest of the household were all burnt alive.

Brother Senseman witnessed his wife being consumed by the flames. The scene was terrible to behold.

Soon as the house was destroyed the savages set fire to the barns and stables, by which all the corn, hay and cattle were destroyed.

The Indians then divided the spoils, soaked some bread in milk, made a hearty meal, and departed—all this being observed by Sister Partsch looking on from her hiding place behind a tree upon a hill near the house.

This melancholy event proved to be the delivery of the Indian converts at Gnadenhutten; for upon the first crack of the guns and seeing the flames, they sensed the cause and would have rushed to the defense of the Moravians had not a missionary advised them to the contrary. Instead they all fled to the woods, and in a few minutes, Gnadenhutten was cleared of everything worth while.

Reverend David Zeisberger, who had just arrived at Gnadenhutten from Bethlehem, hastened back to give notice of this terrible event to a body of English militia which had marched within five miles of the spot, but they did not venture to pursue the savages in the dark.

The fugitive congregation arrived safely at Bethlehem. After the French and Indians had retired, the remains of those killed on the Mahoning were carefully collected from the ruins and solemnly interred.

A broad slab of marble placed there in 1788, now marks the grave, which is situated on the hill a short distance from Lehighton, and a little north of a small hamlet which occupies the site of the ancient missionary village. The following is the inscription on the marble:

“To the memory of Gottleib and Joanna Anders, with their child, Christiana; Martin and Susanna Nitschmann, Anna Catherine Senseman, John Gattenmeyer, George Fabricius, clerk; George Schweigert and Martin Presser, who lived here at Gnadenhutten unto the Lord, and lost their lives in a surprise from Indian warriors, November the 24th, 1755.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints—Psalms cxvi, 15.”

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General Forbes Invested Fort Duquesne and Named It Pittsburgh, November 25, 1758

After the humiliating defeat of Major Grant, September 14, 1758, when he disobeyed his orders and attacked the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne and was himself taken prisoner, the French, exulting over their unlooked-for victory, believed that a successful attack could now be made upon the main army of General John Forbes in camp at Loyalhanna. By this bold stroke, in which they would use their entire force, they could, in the discomfiture of the English, end all hostilities, as they had done in the fateful defeat of Braddock.

General Forbes was wiser than his predecessor, and better appreciated the talents and experience of Colonel George Washington, and did not fail to seek his counsel.

General Forbes had joined Colonel Henry Bouquet at Loyalhanna and determined to advance upon Fort Duquesne. Washington drew up the plan, illustrating the proper disposition of the troops in the line of march, so the English would not again be overwhelmed by a surprise attack.

At this moment the forces of the French and their Indian allies rushed through the woods toward Loyalhanna, dragging some light cannon with them. They reached their objective before the British army had moved. An attack was made and long sustained, but the English, under General Forbes, repulsed the French, who returned to Fort Duquesne.

The battle of Loyalhanna has never been given its proper place in history for it was a noteworthy affair, important in its consequences.

The French had beaten Braddock by the aid of their Indian allies, and they hoped to defeat Forbes in the same way, but Colonel Bouquet had adopted the provincial practice of fighting Indians, which was the means of bringing them to a realization of their inability to conquer the English, and they abandoned hopes of success and quit the French.

The strength of the French garrison in Fort Duquesne in September, 1758, was 4000 troops, but by October this number was reduced to less than 2000, including the Indians. On September 22, Christian Frederic Post, the noted Moravian missionary and friend of the English, who had visited the garrison, reported its strength as 1400, but added he believed “there would be full 3000 French and Indians, almost all Canadians, who would be ready to meet the army under Forbes.”

The militia of Louisiana and Illinois left the fort early in November and went home. The Indians of Detroit and the Wabash country would remain no longer, and, what was even worse, the supplies destined for Port Duquesne had been destroyed by Bradstreet at Fort Frontenac. Hence M. de Ligneris, the commandant, was compelled by prospective starvation to dismiss the greater part of his force, and await the approach of the English with those that remained.

The French had always depended on the aid of the Indians to hold this fort. But it was the custom of the Indians after a battle, whether successful or not, to go home.

Colonel James Smith, at that time a prisoner who had been adopted into one of the tribes, in his very valuable narrative, says that after the defeat of Major Grant the Indians held a council, in which their opinions were divided. Some believed General Forbes would now turn back and go home the way he came, as Dunbar had done after the Braddock defeat; others supposed he would press forward and make the attack. The French urged the Indians to remain, but many returned to their squaws, children and hunting.

These things were unknown to the English. But when the actual condition of affairs in Fort Duquesne reached General Forbes, he concluded, late as it was, to advance.

On November 13 Colonel John Armstrong with one thousand men was sent forward to assist Colonel Washington in opening the road, and four days later General Forbes pressed forward. He met with no opposition, but the extremely disagreeable weather impeded his progress. The wagons and all the artillery, except a few light pieces, were left behind.

The force consisted of 2500 picked men, who marched without shelter or baggage and burdened only with knapsack and blankets. There were in addition the pioneers, wagoners and provincials engaged to work on the roads. Friendly Indians were kept out as scouts, and the greatest vigilance was exercised to avoid surprise. Washington and Armstrong opened the way to within a day’s march of the fort.

On the evening of November 24, the army encamped among the hills of Turtle Creek. That night they were informed by an Indian scout that he had discovered a cloud of smoke above the fort and soon after another scout came with the certain intelligence that the fort was burned and abandoned by the enemy. A troop of horse was sent forward immediately to extinguish the fire. At midnight the men on guard heard a dull and heavy booming over the western woods.

In the morning the march was resumed, the strong advance guard leading the column. Forbes came next, carried in his litter, as he was quite ill. The troops followed in three parallel columns, the Highlanders, under Montgomery, in the center, the Royal Americans on the right and the provincials on the left under Colonels Bouquet and Washington. It was dusk when they emerged upon the open plain and saw Fort Duquesne before them, with the background of wintry hills beyond the Monongahela and Allegheny.

When the fort was invested on November 25 it presented a sorry appearance. It had consisted of two fortifications, about 200 yards apart. One, built with immense labor, was small but strong; the other stood on the bank of the Allegheny, in form of a parallelogram, but weaker than the other. There were about thirty chimneys standing, the houses being destroyed by fire.

The French had also blown up one of the magazines, but in the other was found sixteen barrels of ammunition, a large quantity of iron, gun barrels, guns and a cartload of scalping knives. It has never been made known if they buried their cannon in the river or carried them away in their hasty retreat.

A boy twelve years old who had been an Indian prisoner two years escaped during the retreat and told General Forbes that the French had carried a large quantity of wood into the fort and that they burned five of the prisoners they took at Major Grant’s defeat on the parade and delivered the others to the Indians, who tomahawked the men on the spot.

There were many dead bodies found within a short distance of the fort, and many evidences of French inhumanity.

The Indians remaining about the fort were only too eager to treat with General Forbes.

Bancroft says: “Armstrong’s own hand raised the British flag on the ruined bastions of the fortress. As the banner of England floated over the waters the place, at the suggestion of Forbes, was with one voice called Pittsburgh.”

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Captain James Smith, of the “Black Boys,” Born in Chester County, November 26, 1737

One of the first captives of the French and Indian War in 1755 was James Smith, of the Conococheague frontier, in what is now Franklin County.

He survived a long captivity and afterward wrote a remarkable account of his experiences which were published in Archibald Loudon’s “Indian Narratives.”

He was born in Chester County November 26, 1737, and spent his early youth in that neighborhood. In 1755 he was living along the frontier in the vicinity of McDowell’s Mill, in present Franklin County, where he was employed by his brother William, who was a commissioner to build a road from the above mill to the Three Forks of the Youghiogheny, over which it was intended to transport supplies for General Braddock.

When the builders reached the base of the Alleghenies a storehouse for supplies was placed in charge of Robert McCoy. The supply of meat was almost exhausted and McCoy dispatched young Smith to meet the wagons, bringing a fresh supply, and hurry along the cattle and provisions.

Before reaching the Juniata Smith met Arnold Vigorus, who advised him that the wagons were near at hand. Smith then started back with Vigorus, but when the wagons arrived at McCoy’s the wagoners reported they had seen nothing of Smith or his companion.

McCoy sent out a searching party, who soon found the boy’s hat and Vigorus’s gun, and a short distance away his scalped body.

James Smith was a captive for five years and experienced a most varied and severe ordeal.

He effected his escape and returned to the Conococheague in 1760. As his family and friends believed him dead, their surprise over his return was the greater and even his gait and manners of the Indians did not lessen their joy in his return.

Smith learned that the sweetheart of his boyhood, believing him long since dead, had married only three days before his return, when his thought was to claim her.

Smith had no sooner returned to his home than he organized a company of Indian fighters, who wore Indian clothes, and were trained to Indian methods. This company soon became known as the “Black Boys,” because they painted their faces in the Indian colors—red and black. Smith was the captain.

During the Pontiac War these “Black Boys” were put under regular pay, and two other Indian captives served as Captain Smith’s lieutenants. This company rendered effective service in the Cumberland Valley.

As Smith had served with Colonel John Armstrong and Colonel Henry Bouquet, he had become familiar with the attitude of the Provincial authorities in their treatment of the Indians.

It so happened that one day he overheard an interview in the Great Cove which revealed the arrogance of the traders and the unfairness of those at the seat of government. He took matters in his own hands, and determined food, clothing and other goods should not be sent to the Western Indians if he could prevent it.

Captain Smith assembled ten of his command. They painted their faces in the Indian fashion and waylaid a pack train at Sideling Hill, an episode in frontier history which has been misunderstood and misrepresented in history.

The engagement was brief and decisive. The horses fell one after the other until the drivers were compelled to surrender.

The goods were assembled on one side, and the drivers led off some distance, under guard. The “Black Boys” examined the contents of the packs, and, as they suspected, found them to consist of blankets, shirts, vermilion, lead, beads, wampum, tomahawks, scalping-knifes, etc. The whole lot was burned.

The English soldiers thought the “Black Boys” were rioters, but the inhabitants viewed their acts with general satisfaction.

Lieutenant Grant attempted to effect the arrest of Captain Smith and his command, but the latter soon raised a force of 300 frontiersmen and promptly captured two British soldiers of the garrison at Fort Loudoun for every one of the “Black Boys” they held as prisoners.

The result of this action was that very few pack trains passed through that valley carrying goods to the Indians along the Ohio.

In 1769, when the Indians became troublesome in the vicinity of Fort Bedford, a new company of “Black Boys” was organized, but members were arrested and confined in irons, as they were not understood.

Captain Smith determined to release the men, and by a ruse managed to apprize the British of his approach and intended attack, which was to occur at midday. But at dawn his command was under the bank of the Juniata awaiting word from William Thompson who had entered the fort as a spy.

At the given signal the little band rushed the fort and secured the arms which were stocked in the center of the parade.

The prisoners were released and the first British fort in America was then and there captured by what they termed “American rebels.”

Captain Smith was afterward arrested in Bedford and confined in jail, on a trumped up charge of murder.

His “Black Boys” would have rescued him but Smith was conscious of his innocence and stood trial. In spite of the fact they desired it otherwise he was acquitted.

Smith afterwards became a valued officer in the Revolution, attaining the rank of colonel, and was several terms in the General Assembly and a most distinguished citizen.

After the Revolution Colonel Smith removed to Kentucky where he again earned an enviable reputation as an able member of the Legislature of that State.

He died there in 1812.

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Pioneer Postoffice of Pennsylvania Established in Philadelphia, November

27, 1700

In July, 1683, a post was established from Philadelphia to Maryland by William Penn. Henry Waldy, of Tacony, had authority to run the post and supply the passengers with horses.

The rates of postage were: Letters from the Falls to Philadelphia, three pence; to Chester, five pence; to New Castle, seven pence; to Maryland, nine pence; from Philadelphia to Chester, two pence; to New Castle, four pence; to Maryland, six pence. It went once a week, notice having been placed on the meeting-house door and at other public places. Communication was frequent with Manhattan and New York, the road starting on the eastern side of the Delaware at about Bordentown, New Jersey.

But the pioneer postoffice in the Province of Pennsylvania was established in Philadelphia under an act of Assembly, November 27, 1700.

The act by which this postoffice was established recited that “Whereas, The King and the late Queen Mary, by their royal letters patent under the great seal of England, bearing date the seventeenth day of February, which was in the year one thousand and six hundred and ninety-one, did grant Thomas Neal, Esquire, his executors, administrators and assigns, full power and authority to erect, settle, establish within the King’s colonies and plantations in America, one or more office or offices for receiving and dispatching of letters and packets by post, and to receive, send and deliver the same, under such rates and sums of money, as shall be agreeable to the rates established by act of Parliament in England, or as the planters and others should agree to give on the first settlement, to have, hold and enjoy the same for a term of twenty-one years, with and under such powers, limitations and conditions as in and by the said letters patent may more fully appear.

“And whereas, The King’s Postmaster General of England, and at the request, desire and nomination of the said Thomas Neale, hath deputed Andrew Hamilton, Esquire, for such time and under such conditions as is his deputation is for that purpose mentioned to govern and manage the said General Post Office for and throughout all the King’s plantations and colonies in the mainland or continent of America and the islands adjacent thereto, and in and by the said deputation may more fully appear.

“And whereas, The said Andrew Hamilton hath, by and with the good liking and approbation of the Post Master General of England made application to the proprietary and Governor of this Province and Territories and freemen thereof convened in General Assembly, that they would ascertain and establish such rates and sums of money upon letters and packets going by post as may be an effectual encouragement for carrying on and maintaining a general post, and the proprietary and Governor and Freemen in General Assembly met, considering that maintaining of mutual and speedy correspondencies is very beneficial to the King and his subjects, and a great encouragement to trade, and that the same is best carried on and managed by public post, as well as for the preventing of inconveniences which heretofore have happened for want thereof, as for a certain, safe and speedy dispatch, carrying and recarrying of all letters and packets of letters by post to and from all parts and places within the continent of America and several parts of Europe, and that the well ordering thereof is matter of general concernment and of great advantage, and being willing to encourage such a public benefit.

“Section 1. Have therefore enacted and be it enacted, etc. That there be from henceforth one general letter office erected and established within the town of Philadelphia, from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the neighboring Colonies and plantations on the mainland and continent of America, or into any other of the King’s kingdoms or dominions, or unto any kingdom or country beyond the seas; at which said office all returns and answers may likewise be received, etc.”

Thus Governor Andrew Hamilton, of New Jersey, first devised the postoffice scheme for America, for which he obtained a patent, and the profits accruing. He afterwards sold it to the Crown.

The Assembly appropriated £20 yearly as a salary to Andrew Hamilton, “the postmaster of North America under the Crown.”

Thus was the postal system established, and the postmaster empowered to deliver mail to every corner of the Western World.

The first list of letters advertised appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette, March 21, 1738. It contained about 150 names of all the letters collected and uncalled for in the previous six months, mostly for non-residents.

In July, 1762, the following advertisement appeared in Bradford’s Journal:

“The lad who was lately employed at the Postoffice as penny post having run away, the gentlemen who expect letters are requested to call for them until a suitable person can be procured to carry them. William Dunlap.”

In November, 1756, the first stage was established between New York and Philadelphia by John Butler. The Philadelphia terminal was at the sign of the Death of the Fox in Strawberry Alley. It was to go via Trenton and Perth Amboy, and to arrive in New York in three days. Butler was started in business by the old Hunting Club, to which he had been huntsman and keeper of the kennels.

In 1765 a line of stage vessels and wagons was established between Philadelphia and Baltimore, via Christiana and Frenchtown on the Elk River. These trips were made weekly.

In 1773, Messrs. C. Bessonett & Co., of Bristol, started a stage coach line which made the trip to New York in two days and charged $4 fare.