Part 33
While this conversation was going on, and without the slightest previous intimation, a volley was suddenly fired from a thicket some sixty or seventy yards off, by which Patrick and Adam were instantly killed and the horse shot from under Mr. Holliday. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that a flash of lightning and peal of thunder from a cloudless sky could not have astonished him more. The echoes of the Indian rifles had scarcely died away before the Indians themselves, to the number of eight or ten, with a loud “whoop!” jumped from their place of concealment, some brandishing their knives and hatchets and others reloading their rifles. Appalled at the shocking tragedy, and undecided for a moment what course to pursue, Holliday was surprised to see McDonald leap from his horse, throw away his rifle, run toward the Indians, and, with outstretched arms, cry “Brother! Brother!” which it appears was a cry for quarter which the savages respected. Holliday, however, knew too much of the savage character to trust to their mercy—more especially as rebel scalps commanded nearly as good a price in British gold in Canada as prisoners; so on the impulse of the moment he sprang upon McDonald’s horse and made an effort to get his daughter up behind him. But he was too late. The Indians were upon him, and he turned into the path which led down the ravine. The yells of the savages frightened the horse, and he galloped down the path; but even the clattering of his hoofs did not drown the dying shrieks of his daughter, who was most barbarously butchered with a hatchet.
In a state of mind bordering on distraction, Holliday wandered about until nearly dark, when he got upon the Brush Mountain trail, on his way to Sinking Valley. His mind, however, was so deeply affected that he seemed to care little whither he went; and, the night being exceedingly dark, the horse lost the trail and wandered about the mountain for hours. Just at daybreak Mr. Holliday reached the fort, haggard and careworn, without hat or shoes, his clothes in tatters and his body lacerated and bleeding. He did not recognize either the fort or the sentinel on duty. He was taken in, and the fort alarmed, but it was some time before he could make anything like an intelligible statement of what had occurred the day previous. Without waiting for the particulars in detail, a command of fifteen men were despatched to Holliday’s farm. They found the bodies of Patrick and Adam precisely where they fell, and that of Janet but a short distance from the shed, and all scalped. As soon as the necessary arrangements could be made, the bodies of the slain were interred on the farm; and a rude tombstone still marks the spot where the victims of savage cruelty repose.
This was a sad blow to Mr. Holliday; and it was long before he recovered from it effectually. But the times steeled men to bear misfortunes that would now crush and annihilate the bravest.
After the declaration of peace, or, rather, after the ratification of the treaty, Gordon came back to Pennsylvania and claimed his land under its stipulation. He had no difficulty in proving that he had never taken up arms against the colonies, and Congress agreed to purchase back his lands. The Commissioners to adjust claims, after examining the lands, reported them worth sixteen dollars an acre; and this amount was paid to Adam Holliday, who suddenly found himself the greatest monied man in this county—having in his possession sixteen or seventeen thousand dollars. Adam Holliday lived to a good old age, and died at his residence on the bank of the river, in 1801. He left two heirs—his son John, and a daughter married to William Reynolds.
After the estate was settled up, it was found that John Holliday was the richest man in this county. He married the daughter of Lazarus Lowry, of Frankstown, in 1803, and in 1807 he left for Johnstown, where he purchased the farm, and all the land upon which Johnstown now stands, from a Doctor Anderson, of Bedford. Fearing the place would never be one of any importance, John Holliday, in a few years, sold out to Peter Livergood for eight dollars an acre, returned to Hollidaysburg, and entered into mercantile pursuits.
William Holliday, too, died at a good old age, and lies buried on his farm by the side of his children, who were massacred by the Indians. In the ordinary transmutation of worldly affairs, the lands of both the old pioneers passed out of the hands of their descendants; yet a beautiful town stands as a lasting monument to the name, and the descendants have multiplied until the name of Holliday is known, not only in Pennsylvania, but over the whole Union.
[Note.—There are several contradictory accounts in existence touching the massacre of the Holliday children. Our account of it is evidently the true version, for it was given to us by Mr. Maguire, who received it from Mr. Holliday shortly after the occurrence of the tragedy. It may be as well here to state that the original Hollidays were Irishmen and Presbyterians. It is necessary to state this, because we have heard arguments about their religious faith. Some avow that they were Catholics, and as an evidence refer to the fact that William called one of his offspring “Patrick.” Without being able to account for the name of a saint so prominent in the calendar as Patrick being found in a Presbyterian family, we can only give the words of Mr. Maguire, who said: “I was a Catholic, and old Billy and Adam Holliday were Presbyterians; but in those days we found matters of more importance to attend to than quarrelling about religion. We all worshipped the same God, and some of the forms and ceremonies attending church were very much alike, especially in 1778, when the men of all denominations, in place of hymn-books, prayer-books, and Bibles, carried to church with them loaded rifles!”]
GEORGE CROGAN AND AUGHWICK, HUNTINGDON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
BY JAMES S. O’NEILL, ELIZABETH, N. J.
George Crogan was born in Dublin, Ireland. He came to Aughwick Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, about the year 1742 and soon after took up the business of an Indian trader. At first he located at Harris’ trading house, now Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna, and from there moved over the river into Cumberland, some eight miles from his first place. From there he made excursions to Path Valley, Aughwick and finally to the Ohio river by way of the old Bedford trail. His long residence among the Indians not only enabled him to study Indian character thoroughly, but he acquired the language of both the Delaware and Shawnee tribes.
The history of Aughwick and of Crogan are identical during the years 1754–55–56. Aughwick was not originally an Indian town, as is generally supposed, but was a settlement of whites to which the Indians came after Crogan had made it his residence, the time of their coming being clearly shown by official records. It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, to give any reliable information concerning the origin of the name. There is no certainty that it belongs to any of the Indian languages; the probability is that it is derived from one of the European tongues. The first settlers there, as in nearly all parts of Huntingdon County, were Irish. They could furnish a name, or the town which they may have proposed founding, without resort to any other vocabulary than their own. Aughwick is said to resemble in sound two Irish words which mean literally “Swift running steed.” In early times the orthography of the name was almost as various as were the hands by which it was first written. Crogan at first wrote it “Aughick,” afterwards “Aughick Old Town” and finally “Aughwik Old Town.” Crogan—first letter—published in the Colonial Records, is dated “May 26, 1747,” and is directed to Richard Peters. It was accompanied by a letter from the Six Nations, some wampum and a French scalp, taken somewhere on Lake Erie. In a letter from Governor Hamilton to Governor Hardy, dated July 5, 1756, in speaking of Crogan, who was at one time suspected of being a spy in the pay of the French, Hamilton says: “There were many Indian traders with Braddock—Crogan among others, who acted as a captain of the Indians under a warrant from General Braddock, and I never heard of any objections to his conduct in that capacity. For many years he had been very largely concerned in the Ohio trade, was upon that river frequently, and had a considerable influence among the Indians, speaking the language of several nations, and being very liberal in his gifts to them, which, with the losses he sustained by the French, who seized great quantities of his goods, and by not getting the debts due to him from the Indians, he became bankrupt, and since has lived at a place called Aughwick, in the back parts of this province, where he generally had a number of Indians with him, for the maintenance of whom the province allowed him sums of money from time to time, but not to his satisfaction. After this he went by my order with these Indians, and joined General Braddock, who gave the warrant I have mentioned. Since Braddock’s defeat, he returned to Aughwick, where he remained till an act of assembly was passed here granting him a freedom from arrest for ten years. This was done that the province might have the benefit of his knowledge among the Indians; and immediately thereupon, while I was last at York, a captain’s commission was given to him, and he was ordered to raise men for the defence of the western frontier, which he did in a very expeditious manner, but not so frugally as the commissioners for disposing the public money thought he might have done. He continued in the command of the companies he had raised, and of Fort Shirley, on the western frontier, about three months; having a dispute with the commissioners about some accounts between them, in which he thought himself ill-used, he resigned his commission, and about a month ago informed me that he had not received pay upon General Braddock’s warrant, and desired my recommendation to General Shirley; which I gave him, and he set off directly for Albany, New York.”
Crogan settled permanently in Augwick in 1754, and built a stockade fort, and must have been some kind of an agent among the Indians, disbursing presents to them for the government. In December of that year he wrote to Secretary Peters, stating the wants of his Indians, and at the same time wrote to Governor Morris as follows:
“I am Oblige to advertize the Inhabitance of Cumberland county in ye honours Name nott to barter or sell Spirituous Liquors to the Indians or any other person to bring amongst them, to prevent ye Indians from Spending there Cloase, tho I am obliged to give them a bag Now and then my self for a frolick, but that is Attended with no Expense to ye Government nor bad consequences to ye Indians as I do it Butt onst a Month. I hope your honour will approve of this Proceeding, as I have Don itt to Prevent Ill consequences attending ye Indians if they should be always be kept Inflamed with Liquors.”
That Crogan and his Indians were of some service would appear from the fact that the assembly passed a law exempting him from arrests—for debt it is supposed—for ten years, and commissioning him a captain in the Colonial service. The supposition that Crogan was a spy in the service of the French was based upon the idea that he was a Roman Catholic, inasmuch as he was born in Dublin, Ireland. His loyalty was first brought into question by Governor Sharpe, in December 1753, who wrote to Governor Hamilton, informing him that the French knew every move for defence made in the Colonies, and asked his opinion of Crogan. In answer, Governor Hamilton said: “I observe what you say of Mr. Crogan; and, though the several matters of which you have received information carry in them a good deal of suspicion, and it may be highly necessary to keep a watchful eye upon him, yet I hope they will not turn out to be any thing very material, or that will affect his faithfulness to the trust reposed in him, which, at this time, is of great importance and a very considerable one. At present I have no one to inquire of as to the truth of the particulars mentioned in yours but Mr. Peters who assures me that Mr. Crogan has never been deemed a Roman Catholic, nor does he believe that he is one, though he knows not his education, which was in Dublin, Ireland, nor his religious profession.” To keep the Indians loyal, he advanced many presents to them and the company of Indians he commanded was fitted out at his own expense; and it was the attempt to get what he advanced on that occasion that led to his quarrel with the commissioners and his resignation.
From Philadelphia, Pa., he went to Onondago, in September, 1756, and soon after was appointed deputy-agent, and again he took an active part in Indian affairs. After the French had evacuated Fort Duquesne, in 1758, Crogan resided for a time in Fort Pitt. From there he went down the river, was taken prisoner by the French, and taken to Detroit. Soon after his liberation he went to New York, where he died in 1782.
Thus ended the career of George Crogan, who was an old acquaintance of George Washington.
EXTRACTS FROM AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHIES.
BY DR. MICHAEL F. SULLIVAN.
The history of a people, like the history of the literature of a people, depends upon the historian’s accumulation and verification of knowledge and the manner in which this knowledge is presented to the reader.
It would be an extraordinary thing, indeed, if all writers of history and biography were to speak and write the truth; it would still be a most remarkable condition if many people would overcome their prejudices and recognize the truth when they saw it.
It is lamentable to see how persons of the best intentions will let themselves be deceived when they have taken a false position and try to maintain it.
Some British and pro-British writers have taken a prejudiced position into which they will admit only such truthful ingredients as meet their views and shut out all the rest; just as much truth, as much sincerity, as much justice, as will allow them to call themselves fair and unbiased. It cannot be said that all act wittingly and purposely, but it seems to be the favorite practice of many writers of American history and biography to write events and conditions as they would like to have had them occur rather than as they really were.
What real historian, or writer of historical truths, will deny to the Celts the credit due them for the wonderful part taken by them in the constructing, upbuilding and general welfare of our great country? What people have done more than the warm-hearted and susceptible Celts, the hereditary fervor of their patriotism, the sacrifices which they have made and which—unchecked by defeat and disappointment, and hope deferred—they are daily making for their country and every country of their adoption; their Celtic veneration for ancient usages, and more than Celtic tenacity of ancient recollections; above all, their still unextinguished spirit of nationality and imperfect amalgamation even to this day with English interests and English feeling, could not fail, one would suppose, to find an echo in the heart of the most prejudiced writer of history. England has not only stolen the country of the Celt, but she has often stolen her genius. The biographical history of Ireland cannot be contemplated without pride and satisfaction to every one who feels an interest in her glory and sympathy with her sufferings.
Reduced to a condition of slavery such as no other nation on earth has endured—her name a by-word—her miseries a mockery—herself the amphitheatre upon which the dishonest ministers of England exhibited their games of blood and rioted in drunkenness and corruption,—it is, nevertheless, consoling to discover that from her condition she has
## partially recovered and is not completely cursed, but that the master
spirits whom she produced may well take their stand beside the highest minds of any other nation, whether in poetry or literature, in eloquence or statesmanship, in camp or court.
Oppression, however it may debase the physical and mental energies of a people, cannot thoroughly destroy them; those very periods that to the ordinary observer seem less likely to be illuminated by distinguished minds, genius has often most splendidly adorned.
Mrs. Stopford Green, in her book, “The Making and Undoing of Ireland,” says: “There is no more pious duty to all of Irish birth than to help in recovering from centuries of obloquy the men of noble birth, Irish and Anglo-Irish, who built up the civilization that once adorned their country.
“It is by the study of this history alone that Irishmen will find a just pride restored and their courage assured. In this effort, however, Irishmen are confronted with a singular difficulty.
[Illustration:
JOHN O’SULLIVAN, ESQ.,
Of New York City.
A Member of the Society. ]
“In no other country in the world has it been supposed the historian’s business to seek out every element of political instability, every trace of private disorder, every act of personal violence, every foreign slander and out of these alone neglecting all indications of industry or virtue to depict a national life.
“Irish annals are still in our own days quoted by historians as telling merely the tale of a corrupted land,—feuds and battles, murderings and plunderings; with no town or church or monastery founded, no law enacted, no controversy healed by any judgment of the courts. If the same method had been found for England, what an appalling story we should have had of that mediæval time, of its land-thefts, its women lifting, its local wars, the feuds handed from father to son with their countless murders and atrocious devastating for generations whole country sides.
“The Irish have long been famed for their love of learning. By their missionaries they gave to the English the alphabet and the Christian faith. When the English made returns by breaking the Irish schools and destroying their libraries, they were still forced to recognize the talents of the people—‘sharp-witted lovers of learning, capable of any study to which they bend themselves,’ lovers of music, poetry and all kinds of learning.”
Bancroft says, in Volume 5, in referring to the Irish in 1763: “Their industry within the kingdom was prohibited or repressed by law, and then they were calumniated as naturally idle. Their savings could not be invested on equal terms in trade, manufactures or real property; they were called improvident. The gates of learning were shut on them and they were derided as ignorant. In the midst of privations they were cheerful. Suffering for generations under acts which offered bribes to treachery, their integrity was not debauched; no son rose against his father, no friend betrayed his friend. Fidelity to their religion, to which afflictions made them cling more closely, chastity, and respect for the ties of family remained characteristics of the down-trodden race.”
Gordon’s Civil War in Ireland speaks of the literature of Ireland as follows: “The literature of Ireland has a venerable claim to antiquity; for, as has been already mentioned, in the centuries immediately following the introduction of Christianity, many writers arose, whose works principally consist of lives of Saints, and works of piety and discipline, presenting to the inquisitive reader many singular features of the history of the human mind. The chief glory of the ancient Irish literature, arises from the revival of the rays of science, after it had almost perished in Europe, on the fall of Roman Empire in the west. The Anglo-Saxons, in particular, derived their first illumination from Ireland; and in Scotland, literature continued to be the special province of the Irish clergy, ’till the thirteenth century.”
Greece and Egypt, in very remote antiquity, were seminaries of learning to the rest of the world; and Ireland, in latter days, seems to have answered the same description to the other nations of Europe. When the ravages of the Goths and Vandals had desolated the improvements of Europe, and reached also to a considerable extent on the African continent, learning appears to have flourished in Ireland. Spencer says it is certain that Ireland had the use of letters very anciently, and long before England; he thought they were derived from the Phœnicians. Bede speaks of Ireland as the great mart of literature, to which they resorted from all parts of Europe. He relates that Oswauld, the Saxon King, applied to Ireland for learned men to instruct his people in the principles of Christianity. Camden says, it abounded with men of splendid genius, in the ages when literature was rejected everywhere else; according to him and others, who wrote at the same time, the abbeys Luxieu in Burgundy, Roby in Italy, Witzburg in Frankland, St. Gall in Switzerland, Malmsbury and Lindisfern in England, and Jona in Scotland, were founded by Irish Monks. The Younger Scaliger, and others, say, at the time of Charlemagne, and two hundred years before, almost all the learned were of Ireland. The first professors in the University of Paris were from this Island; and the great Alfred even brought professors to his newly founded college of Oxford from this country. It would be too tedious to enumerate the benefits diffused through various parts of Europe, by the numbers of distinguished and learned men from Ireland, who imparted the early lights of Science and of Christianity, and founded monasteries in various parts of Britain, France and Italy. At this day, the Patron Saints, as they are called, of several nations on the continent, are acknowledged to be Irish; hence we may see, how Ireland obtained the name of Sanctorum Patria. We have also the testimony of venerable Bede, that, about the middle of the seventh century, whole flocks of nobles and other orders of the Anglo-Saxons, retired from their own country into Ireland, either for instruction, or for an opportunity of living in monasteries of stricter discipline; and the Scots (as he styles the Irish) maintained them, taught them, and furnished them with books, without fee or reward; “a most honorable testimony,” says Lord Lyttleton, “not only to the learning, but likewise to the hospitality and bounty of that nation.” Dr. Leland remarks, “that a conflux of foreigners to a retired Island, at a time when Europe was in ignorance and confusion, gave peculiar lustre to this seat of learning; nor is it improbable or surprising, that seven thousand students studied at Armagh, agreeable to the accounts of Irish writers, though the seminary of Armagh was but one of those numerous colleges erected in Ireland, and the grand ruins of them, to this day, stand as so many learned monuments of the ancient and literary fame of the country. Ireland retained the name of Scotia, till so late as the fifteenth century, with the addition of Major, or Vetus, to distinguish it from Caledonia or Albania, that is, the present Scotland, which, in the eleventh century, began to be called Scotia Minor, as deriving its improvement immediately from hence. The ancient Scotch writers, of the greatest repute, are so far from denying their Irish extraction, that they seem to glory it; and King James I, in one of his speeches, boasts of the Scottish dynasty being derived from that of Ireland.”