necticut people. If he had not, we shall succeed without doubt. He must have liberty to bring one or more Indians with him. If all wont do, and that Hendrick will not come, we must send to Onondago next spring, &c.

According to the invitation so pressingly given, Hendrick and ten other Indians came to Philadelphia.

"IN COUNCIL, January 15, 1755. The council advised the Governor, that after thanking Hendrick and the Indians accompanying him, for this undertaking, etc., to mention these several points, viz: to state sundry matters relative to the grant of Pennsylvania, their deed from Governor Dungan, their deed or promise of the right of pre-emption, 1736, etc., and lastly, of the deed to the Connecticut people from the Six Nations, that it is incumbent on them to represent this matter to the government of Connecticut, and to insist that the deed be delivered up by Lydius, by order of that Government, as a fraud and imposition."

"Extract of Hendrick's Speech, January 15, 1755. We have considered what you said to us about the deceitful deed which John Lydius inveigled some of us to sign. We agree with you that the deed should be destroyed. We agree with you that it is a false proceeding. We will give you our assistance; but you know that we cannot destroy the deed ourselves. That would be another mistake. It would be to do as bad as they have done. It must be the act of the Council of the Six Nations. We will think of the proper means. We advise the Governor to send for two deputies from each, or of every nation, to meet here, or at Albany, to kindle a council fire, to find out a way to oblige Connecticut to discountenance the deed," etc.

"IN COUNCIL, January 17, 1755. The Governor, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Weiser, had many conferences with the Indians, in which it was considered, what might be the proper methods for the Indians to take, in order to invalidate the deed of Lydius, etc. Among other things, it was proposed, that at the Council of Onondago, this affair should be mentioned, and Lydius's deed declared to be no deed of the Six Nations; and to prevent this, and other like attempts, that it should be proposed by the Council of Onondago, to convey to the Proprietaries, by a formal deed, the lands lying within the province of Pennsylvania, etc. The Indians consented to this, and engaged to confer with Col. Johnson first, and to settle everything with him, of which he should acquaint the Governor; and when the matter should be brought to effect, then Mr. Weiser and Mr. Peters might come to Col. Johnson," etc.

Extract of a letter from Gov. Morris to Col. Johnson, dated Philadelphia, January 22, 1755.

"SIR,-I am favored with yours by Hendrick, and heartily thank you for the part you have been so good as to take in the Connecticut affair. Hendrick has been very explicit on the subject; and I have entertained him and his companions in the best manner I could. You will give me leave to refer you to a letter you will receive with this, from Mr. Peters, for the particulars that have passed here, and for the plan that we have agreed to prosecute, to put an end to this affair; in which I hope for the continuance of your friendly offices. You will observe, we propose that the Six Nations should be invited to send deputies to your house early in the spring, with full powers to treat and agree upon this matter, relative to the purchase of Lydius, and to prevent the like for the future, when I shall send commissioners to meet them, and it will give me particular pleasure, if you will permit me to name you in the commission."

Extract of a Letter from Richard Peters to Col. Johnson, dated January 23, 1755.

"He (speaking of Hendrick) told me you had made him a hearty friend to this Province, and would join with and support him in any measures, which the Government of Pennsylvania should advise, to get rid of this Connecticut Deed.—I heartily thank you for this singular kindness. In consideration of this hearty concurrence of yours and the Mohock, his Honour, the Governor, gave Hendrick a belt, with a string of wampum tied to it. By the belt he was asked to undertake, along with you, the breaking of the Connecticut Deed. And for that purpose, and because there is no other way in the world to get rid of it, he was further desired to consider with you, what will be the best method to procure the meeting of a Council at your house, as soon as possible, to consist of two or three Deputies from each nation, and no more, in order to consult together of the most effectual manner how to do it. And by the string you are desired to convene such a Council.

"We further intimated to Hendrick, and now inform you, that to get rid of this Deed, we cannot devise any other method that will be effectual, unless the Six Nations in Council, will execute a conveyance to the Proprietaries, of all the lands lying within their grant, on such conditions, and in such manner, as shall be agreed on, at your house. And to show the Indians, and yourself their just inten

tions, they propose to name you one of the Commissioners, with Mr. Penn and myself.

"Hendrick seems to approve much of this proposal; and I believe the more you think of the matter, the more you will be persuaded that no other way can do the thing effectually. If it meets with your approbation, which I hope it will do, the Governor begs the favour of you to summon a Council, at your house, and leaves it to you to fix the time, and to take such measures with the Indians previous to the meeting, as you and Hendrick shall think proper. It is thought that more than three deputies need not come from any one nation; but that there should be three from each."

The purpose so sedulously pursued was not finally accomplished until Nov. 5th, 1768, when at a treaty held at Fort Stanwix, the Proprietaries obtained a deed from the Six Nations, of the Susquehanna lands, being the same previously claimed to have been conveyed to the Susquehanna Company.

Pennsylvania was no longer in pursuit. She had carried off the prize. Victory perched on her standard: And forthwith all concerned in the Connecticut claim, opened in full cry to run down the Indian Deed of Fort Stanwix. "That wicked Priest of Canojoharry," as he is termed by Mr. Weiser, the Rev. Jacob Johnson, appears first upon the tapis, and makes the following affidavit:"That some time in the month of November, 1768, he was present at a Treaty, held at Fort Stanwix, with the Indians of the Six Nations, and that Sir William Johnson, Superintendant of the Six Nations, John Penn, Governor of Pennsylvania, Gov. Franklin, of New Jersey, Col. Elizur Fitch, of Windham, and the chiefs of the Six Nations, Seguanathua, a Tuscarora chief, and chief speaker, and many other persons were present-that the business of the treaty was to settle a division line between the claims of the King and the Indians, and to distribute a donation sent by the King, as Sir William Johnson informed the deponent, by letter and express-that this deponent was at that time a missionary to the Indians of the Six Nations, and resided at the Oneida Upper Castle-that Gov. John Penn, at this time, by the agency of Sir William Johnson, endeavored to obtain from the Indians a deed of the lands on the Susquehanna-that several private consultations were had with the said chiefs, from which this deponent was excluded, and that there was no agent present at said treaty, to represent the State of Connecticut or the Susquehanna Company. That this deponent, during the treaty, was

informed by several of the Indians present, that Gov. Penn wanted the Indians present to give him a deed of the lands on the Susquehanna, and they replied that they had given the New England white people, a deed of the same lands, and had received their pay for the same, and could not sell the same again. But they said they had agreed to give Gov. Penn, a deed of the same land, because Sir William Johnson had told them that their former conveyance to the New England white people was unlawful—that they had no right to purchase that land, which was within Penn's Charter, and Penn alone had the right of purchasing the same-that near the end of the treaty the deponent well recollects to have heard Seguanathua, chief speaker, in a public speech declare the same reasons as above saidfor selling the land a second time, which was publicly interpreted by Sir William Johnson."

Col. Elizur Fitch, of Windham, was present in the Penn interest. I am not able to learn whether this gentleman was the Governor of Connecticut, of that name, who, in 1761, had bounded that colony, west, by New York, or a relative. If either, the fact may throw a ray of light on that transaction.

The Rev. Mr. Kirkland, an Indian missionary, also deposeth"That he attended the Treaty with the Five Nations, held at Fort Stanwix, in the year 1768, for several of the last days of the treaty, and that on his arrival on the ground, the Rev. Jacob Johnson, then a missionary to the Oneida's, told the deponent that he had been forbid by Sir William Johnson to sit in Council with the Indians, and that Col. Butler, and several others had given him the same information-that several Indian chiefs told the deponent, at that time, that they had sold the Susquehanna land to the Pennsylvanians, and that they were finally induced to do it, by the council and advice of the Commissioners, urging that the Connecticut people had done wrong in coming over the line of Pennsylvania, to buy land of the Indians— that it was, however, not effected without great difficulty. At the close of the business, the Indians were called upon to execute the writings, which were not publicly read in the English language, but one of the Mohock chiefs gave a brief statement of their general purport in the Indian language; and the deponent further saith, that one of the Christian Indians, of the Oneida nation, by name, Theondintha, or Thomas, some months after said treaty, voluntarily and of his own mere motion, told the deponent that some undue influence had been made use of, at said treaty, respecting said land; that he,

himself, namely, Thomas, had been the subject of this undue influence, and nine or ten more Indian chiefs were in the same predicament, and that he felt much troubled in his mind about it."

One of the fairest and ablest writers in favour of the Susquehanna company, observes: Conscious that the purchase at Fort Stanwix was radically defective, they resolved to make one more effort, to procure from the Indians a public disavowal of the Connecticut deed, and an acknowledgment of their own. In 1775 a treaty was held at Albany, with those Indians, under the authority of Congress, by Messieurs Woolcot, Schuyler, Edwards, Francis and Dow, to explain to them the causes of the American war. Col. Francis was a Pennsylvanian, a claimant of large tracts of the contested land, a leader of the opposition to the Connecticut settlers, and a principal agent of Penn. Notwithstanding, the Commissioners, by their interpreter, had told the Indians that nothing was to be said or done at the treaty, concerning lands, yet Col. Francis, towards the close of it, sent for Tegohagwanda and two other Onondago chiefs, to his lodgings at Mr. Bloodgood's, together with Thomas Fulmer, the Interpreter employed by the Commissioners. Mr. Fulmer, in his affidavit, swears, that after some preleminary conversation about the Susquehanna lands, "Col. Francis said, did you not sell those lands to the Pennsylvanians, and receive a Beaver skin full of dollars for them? To this one of the chiefs made answer, and said, no, we sold them to the Westernlonians (that is Bostonians, the name by which the New England provinces were called among the Five Nations) and we received the Beaver skin full of dollars from them. There was not any person present at this private meeting but Col. Francis, this deponent, and the three Indian chiefs before named. At the close of this meeting Col. Francis enjoined it upon the Indians, and the deponent likewise, not to tell any one that he had said this to them about the Susquehanna lands," The said Fulmer, in another place, swears further, concerning this interview, "that they smoked and discoursed together for some time, until the Indians appeared to this deponent to be considerably in liquor, when Col. Francis told them Gov. Penn had requested him to ask the Onondagos, who had first bought the lands called Wywamick, the said Gov. Penn, or the New England people? that the said Indian chief thereupon answered, that he had heard, from his uncle, that Gov. Penn had bought the lands on the east side of the Susquehanna, and that he did not know whether the New England people had bought any lands or not. That the said Col. Francis further asked the said Indian chief,