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"As a number of volunteers from this county, on the return of Col. Armstrong, design to scout a little way into the enemy's country, our troops would gladly join the volunteers, if it's agreeable to your Honour; and as that favour, they imagine has been granted the troops on the other side of the Susquehanna, they flatter themselves it will not be refused these two companies. Their principal view is to destroy the immense quantities of corn left by the New England men at Wyoming, which, if not consumed, will be a considerable magazine to the enemy, and enable them, with more ease, to distress the inhabitants, etc." How the corn of the New England settlers could be spoken of September '63, as "left," those people being then in undisturbed possession, I cannot conceive, unless it was a delicate mode of covering their purpose, by cutting off their means of subsistence, to expel them.

Lieut. Gov. Hamilton, under date, Philadelphia, October 5th, '63,

answers:

"With regard to what you mention, touching an expedition into the Indian's country, I could have no objection to their scouting as far as Wyoming, and destroying the corn, if any left there,” etc.; but positively prohibits the troops destroying the Indian Wyalusing settlement, which was contemplated.

Another letter from Gov. Hamilton, is dated, Oct. 10th, 1763:"Having wrote to you a few days ago, I should not have any thing to add at this time, but for a letter the Commissioners and I have received from Mr. Robert Callender, acquainting us that Major Clayton has applied to him to furnish provisions for two hundred men, for twenty days, by which it is conceived that he hath an intention of going upon some expedition against the Indians, without having communicated the same to me, and received my approbation. A step I can by no means approve in an officer bearing the king's commission," etc.

On the 17th October, Commander Elder, writes:

"Your favour of the 10th, I received last night, and am sorry to find that our proceedings are any way disagreeable to the Legislature. Our two companies, fired with resentment, on hearing the barbarities committed by the savages, and willing to serve their country to the utmost of their power, signified to me their strong desire to join in any expedition that might be undertaken against the common enemy. And encouraged by your acquainting me that, 'you had no objection against our destroying the corn left at Wyo

ming, I ordered them to proceed on that service; strictly prohibiting them, in obedience to your Honour's command, to make any attack on Wialusing. The party, though small, set out from Hunter's, last Tuesday, in high spirits; so that it is impossible to suspend the expedition now, as the troops are, by this time, advanced, I doubt not, as far as Wyoming. What success they may have, I know not; but if they destroy the corn and improvements made there, by the New England men, to the great displeasure of the Indians, and in contempt of your Honour's authority, and can happily intercept the murdering party on their return from Northampton, I presume it will be of considerable service.”

Commander Elder again writes to the Governor, under date, Paxton, 25th October, 1763.

66

I acquainted your Honour, the 17th instant, that it was impossible to suspend the Wyoming expedition; the party is now returned, and I shall not trouble your Honour with any account of their proceedings, as Major Clayton informs me he transmitted to you, from Fort Augusta, a particular account of all their transactions, from their setting out from Hunter's, till they returned to Augusta. The mangled carcasses of those unhappy creatures, who had settled there, presented to our troops a most melancholy scene, which had been acted not above two days before their arrival; and by the way the savages came to Wyoming, it appears they were the same party that committed the ravages in Northampton county," etc.

Thus it would seem the expedition of Col. Clayton to Wyoming, was principally intended to destroy the grain "left" by the New England people, and also, their improvements. The Indians, two days before, had effectually prevented any resistance. The corn and buildings left, were now given up to destruction.*

Did not Col. Clayton bury the dead? It is impossible to believe otherwise of a gallant soldier!

*From the Pennsylvania Gazette, Nov. 1763.

Extract of a letter from Paxton, in Lancaster County, dated Oct. 23d.-" Our party, under Capt. Clayton, has returned from Wyoming, where they met with no Indians, but found the New Englanders, who had been killed, and scalped a day or two before they got there. They buried the dead, nine men and a woman, who had been most cruelly butchered; the woman was roasted, and had two hinges in her hands, supposed to be put in red hot, and several of the men had awls thrust into their eyes; and spears, arrows, pitchforks, etc., sticking in their bodies. They burnt what houses the Indians had left, and destroyed a quantity of Indian corn. The enemy's tracks were up the river, towards Wighaloasing."

[I am indebted for this Extract, to my friend Mr. Jordan. The cruel torture might have been inferred; but before, was unknown to me.]

Was Col. Boyd with him? There could not have been two Colonels, with two hundred men!

Capt. Lazarus Stewart was, probably, in command of one of the companies. It is not a little curious to anticipate. Col. Clayton and Capt. Stewart once more met at Wyoming, nearly ten years afterwards; the former, again, on an expedition to destroy the Yankee settlement-while Stewart was defending them.

Col. Stone supposes this deed to have been perpetrated by the Delawares, in revenge for the death of Tedeuscung, while our convictions are clear, that it was the work of the same hands that slew the king. Two men, named John and Emanuel Hoover, were at work upon a chimney, being built in a house on the flats, when they were made prisoners by the Indians, who had already another captive with them. The Indians immediately took the path northward, and ascending the hill, near where the Plains School House stands, in Wilkesbarre, they met a man coming down, thoughtless of dander, carrying a small bundle in his hand. Instantly surrounding him, they drew their spears, and before he had time to beg for life, or cry, "God have mercy on my soul," thrust him through, and he fell, covered with wounds; after scalping him they marched on. They took their prisoners to near where Geneva now stands, in the settlements of the Six Nations; from whence John Hoover and the other prisoner, whose name we do not know, attempted to make their escape ;*-the latter found his way to the white settlement at

* The following is from Mr. Stone's Work, p. 135:-" Among the individual incidents marking this singular tragedy, was the following:-Some of the fugitives were pursued for a time, by a portion of the Indians; and among them was a settler named Noah Hopkins, a wealthy man, from the county of Dutchess, in the state of New York, bordering upon Connecticut. He had disposed of a handsome patrimony in his native town, Armenia, and invested the proceeds, as a shareholder of the Susquehanna Company, and in making preparations for moving to the new colony. Finding, by the sounds, that the Indians were upon his trail, after running a long distance, he fortunately discovered the trunk of a large hollow tree, upon the ground, into which he crept. After lying there several hours, his apprehensions of danger were greatly quickened by the tread of footsteps. They approached, and in a few moments two or three savages were actually seated upon the log, in consultation. He heard the bullets rattle loosely in their pouches. They actually looked into the hollow trunk, suspecting that he might be there; but the examination must have been slight, as they discovered no traces of his presence. The object of their search, however, in after life, attributed his escape to the labours of a busy spider, which, after he had crawled into the log, had been industriously engaged in weaving a web over the entrance. Perceiving this, the Indians supposed, as a matter of course, that the fugitive could not have entered there. This is rather a fine spun theory of his escape; but it was enough for him that he was not discovered. After remaining in his place of concealment as long as nature could endure the confinement, Hopkins crept forth, wandering in the wilderness, without food, until he was on

Shamokin, and afterwards published, in the state of New York, a pamphlet, containing an account of his captivity and sufferings; a copy was in the valley in 1785, but cannot be found. Some time after his escape the body of John Hoover was found in the woods, he having, it was not doubted, died of fatigue and hunger. His brother Emanuel visited Wyoming after the revolutionary war, and related the circumstances to Cornelius Courtright, Esq., to whom I am indebted for nearly all I have been able to learn of the massacre of 1763. From these facts it is plain that the mischief was perpetrated, not by the Delawares, but by the Six Nations.

After the murder of Tedeuscung, the Christian Indians fled to Bethlehem, but upon the restoration of quiet, they returned in 1765 to the Susquehanna, and made their resting place again at Wyalusing. The people of that now highly cultivated and populous place, we cannot doubt, will be pleased to see the description of the Moravian Indian settlement. "Having, after many toilsome wanderings, reached the Susquehanna, they got a few boats, some sailing up the river, and others traveling along its banks, and arrived at Machwihilusing, on the 9th of May, after a journey of five weeks.

"Having fixed on a convenient spot for a settlement, they immediately began to erect a town, which, when completed, consisted of thirteen Indian huts, and upwards of forty houses built of wood, in the European manner, besides a dwelling for the missionaries. In the middle of the street, which was eighty feet broad, stood a large and neat chapel. The adjoining grounds were laid out into neat gardens; and between the town and the river, about two hundred

the point of famishing. In this situation, knowing that he could but die, he cautiously stole down into the valley again, whence, five days before, he had fled. All was desolation there. The crops were destroyed, the cattle gone, and the smouldering brands and embers were all that remained of the houses. The Indians had retired, and the stillness of death prevailed. He roamed about for hours, in search of something to satisfy the cravings of nature, fording or swimming the river twice, in his search. At length he discovered the carcass of a wild turkey which had been shot on the morning of the massacre, but which had been left in the flight. He quickly stripped the bird of its feathers, although it had become somewhat offensive by lying in the sun, dressed and washed it in the river, and the first meal he made therefrom, was ever afterwards pronounced the sweetest of his life. Upon the strength of this turkey, with such roots and herbs as he could gather in his way, he traveled until, after incredible hardships, his clothes being torn from his limbs in the thickets he was obliged to encounter, and his body badly lacerated-he once more found himself among the dwellings of civilized men."

"The facts of this little incidental narrative, were communicated to the author, by Mr. G. F. Hopkins, the printer of this present volume, and a nephew of the sufferer, who died at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at a very advanced age, about thirty years ago. He was a very respectable man."

and fifty acres were divided into regular plantations of Indian corn. The burying ground was situated at some distance back of the buildings. Each family had its own boat. To this place, they gave the name of Friedenshuetten, (meaning "Huts of Peace.") This new settlement soon assumed a very flourishing appearance. The inhabitants were industrious, and dwelt together in peace and unity. Many Indians visited the town, admiring the fine situation and good order maintained in the place," etc.—Christ. Library.

At Sheshequin, or as it is written by the Moravians, Tschechshequaunink, there was a large settlement of Indians, many of whom became converts, and the missionary, Rothe, attended to their spiritual wants, with pious zeal.

For six years, those two congregations under the guidance of the Moravians, continued to flourish in peace; but many causes now combined to render them uneasy in their respective situations. The Six Nations had sold the land on which they lived without consulting them, to the Connecticut people. Neighboring white settlers persisted in tempting the weaker brethren with spirituous liquors; and more than either, the Delawares on the Ohio were anxious they should emigrate and join their religious brethren in the West. In consultation with Zeisberger and Heckewelder, at Wyalusing in 1770, the final decision to remove was adopted, and the succeeding year, about 250 Indians from that place set out on their way to Ohio, divided into two parties. One chiefly of men, with eighty oxen, and other stock in proportion, went through the wilderness, suffering great privations and hardships. Another party, with the women and children, descended the river in canoes, spent a day at their beloved Wyoming, shed a tear over the graves of their buried friends, and then departed from their almost worshipped Susquehanna, to return no more forever. The fate of these poor creatures, at nearly the close of the Revolutionary war, I am happy it is not my painful duty to record.*

* In his general view of the subject, Col. Stone has expressed, with sufficient distinctness, indeed with emphasis, the fact of the mastery, absolute and unqualified, of the Six Nations over the Delawares, and neighboring tribes; but in his details, it appears to me, of the policy and conduct of those tribes, a volition and independence is described, incompatible with the idea of subserviency and coerced obedience. Hence, like every author who has written in relation to those Indians, he leaves the mind perplexed by the statement of unquestionable facts, involving inexplicable contradiction.

Admit for a moment, the Delawares yet a great people, retaining their political organization, electing their own kings, allowed to enter into council, to unite in the negotiation of treaties; their braves courted, flattered, trusted, sent upon the war path; and yet subordi

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