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1777-the dead of winter-to join Washington's army. Ransom's company consisted of 82 men, and Durkee's was equal, both being full. In September following, the company had 62; but Gaylord, father of C. E. Gaylord; two Sawyers, brothers of the former sheriff Slocum, had died, as had Spencer.-Underwood had a rupture and was discharged. Porter was killed at Millstone-Colton, Worden, Austin, and James Smith had returned or were on furlough. These particulars are adverted to for the purpose of showing beyond doubt, that the two companies of Durkee and Ransom were large-having more than 80 in each. They went by Stroudsburgh and reached Morristown early in the evening.

Thence they marched to Millstone-they were attached to no regiment or Brigade-but were called the Independent Companies and acted as a distinct corps in the most active and dangerous position, between the lines of the two armies. The enemy was at Brunswick-our men at Millstone, within little more than an hour's march. As might have been expected, they were immediately engaged. The enemy came out in considerable force to forage, and had three or four pieces of cannon. General Philemon Dickerson (brother of John Dickerson, author of the Farmer's Letters), commanded a detachment of New Jersey militia, who, with the two independent companies, attacked the British. A sharp engagement ensued-the enemy were routed; forty-seven wagons and one hundred and thirty horses were taken. In this engagement Justice Porter was cut in two by a cannon ball, and fell dead close by the side of Serj. Thomas Williams. Porter is spoken of by all who knew him, as a remarkably fine fellow. Pleasant of countenance, well formed, extremely active and withal buoyant and gay-a most cheerful companion as well as an excellent soldier. One of the wagons, a trophy of victory, was brought to Wyoming by Capt. Ransom, but with almost everything else was consumed by the fire of the savages. The value of the property taken must have been considerable, as each soldier shared four dollars of the proceeds. Two of the militia were killed and a number of the British. It was a gallant affair; the two companies were commanded by Durkee as the eldest captain. In spring they were ordered to Boundbrook, and placed with other portions of the army under Gen. Lincoln. Just at day, the morning after their arrival, the enemy came upon them by surprise, on three sides. Lincoln's horse was saddled-he mounted-ordered a retreat to a hill about a mile distant. Little execution was done by the fire of the enemy, although they were quite near, and hallooed, "Run, you damn'd rebels, run.' If our men knew when to run away, they also knew when to fight-as the regulars well knew, and kept at a respectful distance when we had taken up a suitable position. The summer was sickly; the two companies suffered from the camp distemper. Those also were inoculated for the small-pox who had not previously gone through the disease. The companies were in constant service during the ensuing eventful and severe campaign-wherever there was danger to be met or honour to be won.

They were in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At the bombardment of Mud Fort, the companies being stationed at Woodbury, detachments were drafted for duty on the works and sustained the hottest of the enemy's fire. Constant Matthewson, belonging to Ransom's, being with a detachment under the command of Lieut. Spalding, was killed in the fort.

Now the companies were attached to the 1st Connecticut regiment-Lieut. Col. Russell. As, when they first marched, they were kept as a distinct corps, there is reason to believe it was intended to keep them from Wyoming (where, by the resolution of Congress for raising them, they were to be stationed), no longer than the pressing emergency, under which they were called away, demanded; but the pressure of circumstances, superior to all law or contract, compelled the government to keep them below, leaving Wyoming wholly defenceless. They wintered at Valley Forge.

Rumours now of the meditated attack of the savages upon Wyoming came down. The officers respectfully but firmly urged on their superiors that the enemy were preparing to strike Wyoming-that there was no force there to defend it-that these companies were raised under a solemn pledge that they should be stationed there for the defence of the inhabitants; and asking to be marched back. But they could not be spared. Some resigned and returned, and the two companies

were consolidated into one under the command of Capt. Simon Spalding; and orders given to hasten to the relief of the settlement. Young Ransom was with Capt. Spalding. They marched first to Lancaster-then to Reading, Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Wind-Gap, to Shoup's, four miles from Merwine's, where they were on the 3d of July-the day of the battle. What countless woes might have been averted had they not been ordered away, or permitted sooner to return! The first order was to march in, and take possession of Wilkesbarre fort, as a rallying point; and they advanced to the creek where the gate, this side of Pocono, stands. Meeting the flying inhabitants, who told them, with their force they would do no good, Capt. Spalding sent scouts to see, who returned with news that the whole valley was in possession of the savages. They returned to Stroudsburgh-gave all the assistance in their power to the suffering fugitives, waited for reinforcements, and under the command of Col. Butler, marched in, early in August, to Wyoming.

The battle-ground presented a melancholy spectacle. Most of the bodies were so much decayed they could not be recognized. Mr. Ransom's father was wounded in the thigh, taken prisoner, and carried into Wintermoot's fort, and his head cut off. There was the most tiger-like ferocity exhibited against all who had been into the service from Wyoming, especially the officers. Every species of torture was practised upon them. Such was the state of the bodies that it was impossible then to gather and bury them. In the ring near Perkins' tavern, at Bloody Rock, where the prisoners were murdered, Mr. Ransom counted 27 bodies.

In 1779, when Gen. Sullivan invaded the Indian country, Capt. Spalding's company accompanied him, and Mr. Ransom was at his post. He was in the battle of Newtown, and gives a very interesting account of that memorable invasion. The case of Lieut. Boyd is one of thrilling interest, but our space does not allow of its detail here. We shall recur to that and other incidents hereafter.

In December, 1780, Mr. Ransom was taken prisoner by a party of Butler's Rangers and Indians. Old Mr. Harvey was taken at the same time, with Bullock, Frisby, Cady, and Elisha Harvey, son of the old gentleman.

They were taken to Niagara. On their way they suffered much from cold and hunger; but at Tioga-point they killed a horse, and then fared sumptuously. Next summer the old men were released, young Harvey, Frisby, and Ransom kept prisoners, and sent to Montreal during the summer. In the fall they were reomved to Prisoner's Island, where there were 167 American captives.

A sketch, not a biography-an outline is all that my limits permit; but there is one incident, so characteristic of American spirit, and so honourable to the firmness and patriotism of our soldiers, that I beg leave to relate it somewhat at length. "In February, 1781,"-I take Mr. Ransom's own words "I was in Canada, 45 miles up the St. Lawrence river from Montreal, on an island with about 166 American prisoners. We were guarded by the refugees, or what was called tories, that belonged to Sir John Johnson's 2d regiment. The commanding officer of the guard, on the island, was a young Scotch officer, by the name of MacCalpin, about 18 years of age. The winter was very severe, and a great snow storm came and drifted before the door of the guard, who sent for some of the American prisoners to shovel it away. They refused, saying they were prisoners of war, and he had no right to set them to work for his pleasure. Enraged at this, the officer ordered them into irons, and directed others to take the shovels and go to work; these also refused, and were ironed. So he went on commanding and meeting with resolute disobedience to what they considered a tyrannical order. They had taken up arms and periled their lives to resist British tyranny, and would not now, though prisoners, submit to it. Some were ironed two together-some to a bar four together; thus he kept putting into irons as long as he had hand cuffs left. Among the last who refused, were myself and one Wm. Palmeters. We were then put into an open house, without door, floor, or windows, and directions given that we should have neither victuals, brandy, nor tobacco; but our faithful friends contrived to evade the guard, and we were furnished with all. There we remained all night, suffering extremely from the cold. The next morning MacCalpin came, thinking our spirits were broken, and demanded if we would not shovel snow. One word all answered- Not by order of a d-d Tory.' He then took

us out of that place, and put us in a hut just finished, with a good floor, and we sent for a black man, a good fiddler, for we had two on the island. We then opened our ball, dancing to keep ourselves warm, jigs, hornpipes, four and six handed reels. Where four were ironed to one bar, they could dance the cross-handed, or what we called the York reel. We continued in this merry mood until our Scotch gentleman found the place was too good for us. He then took us out and put us into a loft of one of the huts, which stood so low that a man could stand up only under the centre of the ridge. Here we were kept in extreme suffering two days and nights. In the mean time MacCalpin sent for Charles Grandison, our fiddler, and ordered him to play for his pleasure. The black went, but firmly declared he would not play while his fellow-prisoners were in irons. The officer then ordered a sort of court martial, composed of tories, who of course brought in the poor negro guilty. The sentence of the court was that he should be stripped-tied up, and receive ten lashes on his naked back-which was done. Smarting with the lash, the officer then demanded if he would fiddle as he was ordered. 'No, not while my fellow-prisoners are in irons.' Again he was tied up, and ten lashes laid on, but his firmness was not to be shaken, and the officer sent him to his hut.

"But I left my story to tell about the fiddler. MacCalpin then sent a party of soldiers to bring up some of the prisoners, several of whom were flogged severely; and one, against whom the tories had a particular spite, was tied neck and heels, a rope put round his neck, and he was thus drawn up to the chamber floor and kept until he was almost dead-let down, and then drawn up again. One John Albright, a young continental soldier, was flogged almost to death for being a kind-hearted man speaking his mind freely. But not one American was found to shovel snow.

"We remained here till the 9th day of June, when myself and two others, James Butterfield and John Brown, made our escape from the Island and laid our course for Lake Champlain. The 11th at noon, we came to the lake, and three days after we got to a settlement at Hubbertston, Vermont-the next day to Castleton, to a fort from that to Pultney, where I had an uncle living. My companions went on to Albany, and there proclaimed the cruelty of the Scotch officer; it was published in the papers-a flag was dispatched to remonstrate against such abuse of our men; and we had the pleasure to hear, not long after, that MacCalpin was tried and broke-the prisoners being called as witnesses against him."

After visiting his relations at Canaan, Litchfield county, Connecticut, of which he was a native, Mr. Ransom returned to Wyoming, and soon after joined his company, attached to Col. Butler's regiment, stationed at West Point, where he remained till honourably discharged, at the close of the war.

From that time to this, Mr. Ransom has resided at Plymouth, upon the beautiful Shawnee flats, perhaps the richest portion of Wyoming. He has been called by the votes of his fellow-citizens to command the regiment, which his knowledge of military tactics well fitted him to manœuvre and discipline. Having served his country during the dark hours of the revolutionary contest long and faithfully, unambitious of office, he has lived, and still lives respected and beloved. Hardships endured while in the service combined with age, have much affected his limbs, so that he helps himself along with two short staves or crutches. He could scarcely dance now, though his heart, I will answer for it, is as light, and his spirit as firm for liberty and his country, as in '81.

He was strongly made, broad chested, and active in early life. He sprang quick and moved fast who got ahead of him then. His life and cheerfulness in the most gloomy hour diffused itself in good humour and spirit, through the whole company. The death of his father-the losses and sacrifices in the Revolutionary contest, for the savages and tories spared nothing of theirs when they swept the valley by fire and sword-left him poor at the close of the war, and imposed the necessity of constant industry. Children and grandchildren, among the most respectable in the valley, are living and growing up around him, and may be proud to claim descent from such ancestors. Without being wealthy, he is yet comfortable in his old age. No one takes a livelier pleasure in beholding the freedom and prosperity of his beloved country, the fruits of his father's and his own toils

and sufferings. Rare indeed is the case presented of a son's serving through the whole of the Revolutionary contest, and of his father serving several years and laying down his life in the same noble cause. Verily the services and the blood of the Ransoms have been a portion of that seed from which have sprung up the independence, freedom, and prosperity, which make happy our favoured land. Long may these blessings continue-long may the veteran soldier and patriot live to enjoy them. And may the young men of the present generation take pattern from these noble spirits, and resolve to give everything, even life itself, to defend the glorious cause of Liberty and Law.*

1845. Col. Ransom is still in the enjoyment of very tolerable health, except his lameness, though his age is 82. A grandson, George Palmer Steele, has just closed his term of office as sheriff of Luzerne. Capt. Ransom, his father, was born in Canterbury. He and Capt. Durkee had both been in the old French war. Durkee, at the time of his death, was 50, Capt. Ransom 41. Col. Durkee, an older brother, who is frequently spoken of, 1769, and afterwards as colonel of one of the Connecticut regiments, died at Norwich, more than 40 years ago, and was buried with extraordinary display.

NO. XIV.

COL. JOHN JENKINS.

"COL. JOHN JENKINS was a very prominent man for many years in Wyoming. He was the son of John Jenkins, Esq., a respectable magistrate, an accurate surveyor, and an ardent patriot. You have probably seen an account of a town meeting, legally warned, of the inhabitants of Westmoreland, at the beginning of the troubles with England, at which votes were passed, that make the blood thrill through the heart even now, declaring their decided hostility to the unconstitutional measures of the British Parliament-denouncing them as ruinous to American liberty, and pledging themselves to stand by the Continental Congress in the steps taken to vindicate the cause of freedom and their country.* John Jenkins, Esq., had the honour to preside as moderator of the meeting when those glorious resolutions were adopted."

"I have heard of them, but have not seen them. It required good and stout hearts thus early to take so bold a stand. They were patriots, indeed: and for myself, I would rather have those patriotic votes to show, as the work of an ancestor of mine, than the proudest patent of nobility ever granted by a king. His descendants ought to have them beautifully copied, framed, and hung up as a parlour ornament."

"You are right-they should. It would show a just and patriotic pride. The old gentleman took an active part in the transactions of the times until the expulsion of the inhabitants, in 1784, when he removed to Orange county, New York, and there died.

"John Jenkins, the son, of whom I now speak, had been appointed collector of taxes, but that did not exempt him from military duty. In November, 1777, he was on a scouting party up the river, near fifty miles. Mr. York (father of the late Rev. Miner York) was one of his companions. Lemuel Fitch was another; they were ambushed not far from Wyalusing, captured by a party of Indians, and taken to the British lines. I am told there is somewhere in existence a journal of Mr. Jenkins, kept during his captivity, but my searches for it have been unavailing.t An Indian chief of some celebrity was a prisoner to the Americans in Albany, and Col. John Butler sent Mr. Jenkins, under an escort of Indians, to be exchanged for the chief. On the way he suffered exceedingly, and had it not been that a young savage had become warmly attached to him, Mr. Jenkins thought he should have been massacred, and was almost sure he should

* Mrs. Bertha, consort of Col. John Jenkins, died in 1841, aged 84 years. She is several times mentioned in our annals.

+ Since found.

have been starved. Ardent and constant in his attachments, as implacable and cruel in his resentments, the savage presents a character in which vice and virtue are strangely mingled and strongly contrasted. The young Indian, amidst rum and riot, for his sake kept himself sober and calm, fed him-protected him; and Mr. Jenkins was prompt, at all times, to do justice to his faithful friend, though, from the cruelties practised here, the savages generally were objects of horror and detestation.

"Arrived at Albany, the chief for whom he was to have been exchanged had just died of small-pox. The Indians insisted on taking Mr. Jenkins back with them. From their conduct and character he felt certain that they would take his life in revenge for that of their chief the moment they were beyond reach of pursuit. He was protected, and found his way home to a cordial welcome from friends and bride, for he had been recently married. After the massacre and expulsion of our people, Mr. Jenkins joined Capt. Spalding's company, and came in with him under the command of Col. Zebulon Butler, having the provisional appointment of lieutenant, subject to confirmation by Congress. When the troops had advanced to the second mountain, within five or six miles of Wilkesbarre, two parties were detached, of ten men each, one under Ensign M. Hollenback, to go down between the mountains and strike the valley opposite Nanticoke falls; the other, under Lieutenant Jenkins, to go northerly and strike the river at Lackawanna. Ensign Hollenback saw a party of savages, who fled to their canoe; a shot from one of his rifles wounded an Indian who sprang into the river, but was buoyed up by his friends till they reached the opposite shore, when he was carried off-whether dead or alive, could not be ascertained. One of our men, bravely, perhaps rashly, swam the river, found marks of blood, took the canoe as a trophy, and returned to his companions. Ensign Hollenback then marched up to Wilkesbarre and met the main body. Lieut. Jenkins, on arriving at the river at Pittston, wheeled to march down, when he encountered a party of the enemy. His orders were prompt-his conduct spirited. At the head of his men he advanced; they fired on the Indians, but their retreat was too rapid. A person with him assured me that the conduct of Jenkins showed that he was of true courage, an undoubted soldier; a character which he sustained throughout the war. Congress confirmed his appointment-issued his commission-and he continued in active service till peace.

"In 1779, when General Sullivan advanced into the Indian country, Lieut. Jenkins was selected, for his activity, zeal, and knowledge of the country, for one of his guides; the arduous and responsible duty he performed in a satisfactory manner. Lieut. Jenkins was in the decisive battle of Newtown, and among the most efficient and useful officers of his grade in that campaign.

"As this is meant as a sketch rather than a biography, you will hardly expect me to trace Mr. Jenkins through the war. He was always at the post of duty, of danger, and of honour; and left the service, at its close, with the reputation of a faithful patriot and good soldier.

"When peace came Mr. Jenkins became an active surveyor, and followed his compass, both in the Genesee country, and on the waters of the Susquehanna. In civil and political affairs he took an active part, and possessed a large share of public confidence. He held various civil and military offices in Luzerne-was commissioner of the county, member of assembly, colonel of militia, &c. When the great division in parties took place, Col. Jenkins zealously espoused the Democratic side-while his distinguished friend and rival, Col. Franklin, took an active part with the Federal party. For many years these two famous champions maintained a prominent lead, and were, in a good measure, the rallying points of the different parties. It was huzza for Col. Jenkins! Huzza for Col. Franklin! If I had time I would run a parallel between them; but not now. Both were respected both beloved-both were men of unquestionable public virtue, capacity and patriotism.

"Col. Jenkins died in April, 1827, aged 73. In person he was of middle height, stout, well proportioned, framed for strength, endurance and activity combined; extremely hospitable, remarkably clever; yet grave, almost to austerity, in his looks when in thought or not speaking; but when animated in conversation there

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