liWi] WHoriii i"iW / '^\m C^sm WISHES. iaORAT«5.^Wi! vAdtiS i;sA)^r, 'aE/aEReviais. WHLiAH SARKE'. if ^H^,';']]^,-. I Class _Ei: Book -(./ COPyRIGHT DEPOSm History of the Minisink Country 1^ by Horace E. Twichell u Copyright July, 1912 by Horace E. Twichell, Port Jervis, N. Y. Printed by The Schilling Press U7-U9 East 25th Street, New York £CI.A319274 t BelJtcation Bp&tratpi» tn tijr iEpmarg of \^t Urattp Oliilnnpl ©uHtPtt, uil^n Ml in tijp brfptia? oi l|t0 mnuniipb rnmjiantnnH, at l|nflpttal Sork, in tljp lattlp af JMiniaink. 3nla twrntg-arrnn&, arwrntprn l^nnliirrb anil Bpnrntg nint. INTRODUCTORY In sending out this "History of the Minisink Coun- try," the author desires not only to preserve to posterity annals of the forgotten past, but to stimulate coming generations to a greater love of country, a more ardent devotion to duty, and a more earnest zeal toward the promotion of true Christian character. Our forefathers, by their struggles, privations and tears, have left us a great and glorious heritage — this land of freedom. Let us stand with nerves of steel in defense of our blood-bought privileges and consecrate our lives to the Almighty whose powerful arm has preserved us a free nation. Let us teach our children to honor the flag that this day floats over and unites a happy and prosperous people. I trust that many of my readers, especially those who have borne the "heat and burden of the day," will find in the perusal of these pages a stimulus to greater en- ergy in the battle of life and an impetus to higher and nobler living. May the revival of these reminiscences illuminate the pathway of the future and brighten the hope of immor- tality. Horace Edgar Twichell. Port Jervis, N. Y. SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS CHAPTER I. Earliest Minisink Record, 1659 — Capt. Arent Schuyler's Visit, 1694 — Copy of Journal — Historical Address of Dr. Mills — Early Historical Facts. CHAPTER H. MiNisiNK Settlement, 1787 — ^Letters by Samuel Preston — Minisink Once a Lake. CHAPTER III. A Story of Pioneer Children. CHAPTER IV. How A Mother Saved Her Children — The Wyoming Massacre — Gen. Sullivan's Raid — Orange County — An Inci- dent of Captivity from Orange County — Middletown Settled — Sullivan County Formed from Ulster — Some Kingston Rec- ords — Indian Settlements — An Orange County Settler — Cap- ture of Stony Point — Settlement of Wyoming and Cochecton — The Fate of a Foolish Girl. CHAPTER V. Story of Capt. Cuddeback — Prisoners taken from Paupack by the Mohawks — Liberty, N. Y. Settled — A Bear Hunt — An Incident of the Settlement of White Lake, Sullivan County — Monticello Settled — Children Lost in the Forest — How Provi- dence Made Provision for the Pioneers from Connecticut — Shehawken Founded- — Description of Joseph Brant — A Mo- hawk Chief — Incidents of Branfs Raid on Minisink — Address by the Author on the Invasion and Battle of Minisink Feb. 22, 1911 — Tusten Marches to Defense of Minisink — An Acrostic to Benjamin Tusten — Confusion of Dates in Reference to the Mini- sink Invasion and Battle — The Minisink Battle — Death of Judge Wisner — British Exaggerate Hathorn's Defeat — A Pris- oner's Peril — The Gathering of the Bones of the Slain — The Indian Dead — Bones Discovered Around a Spring — Incidents of the Rout and Retreat — Gen. Hathorn's Address at the Burial of the Bones at Goshen, July 22, 1822— Survivors of the Battle — The Old Monument Replaced by a New One. CHAPTER VI. Goshen Celebration of 1862 — The Battlefield — Address of Welcome by J. W. Johnston — The Monument — Prayer by Rev. J. B. Williams — Oration by Hon. Wm. J. Groo — Address by Hon. Arthur C. Butts — Address by Hon. Geo. H. Rowland — Address by Hon. Thomas J. Lyon. CHAPTER VII. Indian ELoauENCE — Extracts from Tecumseh's Speech — Tribute to Gen. Jackson — Lord Dunmore's Victory — Logan's Defense — Purchasing the Minisink Battlefield — 200th Anni- versary of the Settlement of Minisink — Address by C. E. Cudde- back — Speech by Rev. Dr. Talmage — Address by Hon. Hiram Clark — Address of Rev. A. A. Haines — Address by J. H. Van Etten. CHAPTER VIIL Pioneer Life — A Story of the Pet Fawn. CHAPTER IX. A Story — Washington's Reward of Fidelity — Gen Hath- orii's Official Report of the Battle of Minisink. CHAPTER X. Narrative or the Captivity by the Indians of Mrs Har- bison. CHAPTER XI. Poems by the Author — The Triumvirate — The Maine in the Harbor of Death— The Lonely Soldier's Grave— The Mo- hawk Maiden — Teachers' Column — Rules in Rhyme — Bric-a- Brac — The Old Replaced by the New — Reminiscences — Pleas- ures and Perils of the Delaware— The Idlewild— Relics of the War— Eulogy on Senator Wagner— The Empty Chair— Col- umbo El Dorado — Vivo Sapiends — The Aborigines — The Mys- terious Indian Maiden— A Lyric Poem— The Sullivan County Pioneer— The Hunting Scene— The Battle of Minisink. CHAPTER I. EARLY HISTORY OF MINISINK The earliest record we have of the history of Mini- sink is 1659. It was during that year that some copper ore was brought to Albany by the Indians, who said it was found in the Minisink country, and a record was entered on the geological books. Next a rumor in some way reached the Governor's ears that the French have been trying to induce the Minisink Indians to unite with other hostile tribes against the Dutch. He sends Capt. Arent Schuyler from Xew York through the wilderness to JNIinisink to investigate the truthfulness of the report. It appears from statements in the t Schuyler jour- nal that there was some fur-trading carried on at this early date, or at least a trading post was about to be opened at Minisink; for he ascertained just what time of year the "Shauwans" would arrive there with their furs. fCAPT. SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL. "]May it please your Excell: In pursuance to yr Excell. commands I have been in the INIinissinck Coun- try of which I have kept the following Journal, viz. : 1694 ye 3d of Feb. I departed from New Yorke for Eeast New Jersey and came that night att Bergen- town, where I hired 2 men and a guide. Ye 4th Sun- ■j-This is supposed to be the Schuyler who accompanied the five Mo- hawk chiefs to England in the year 1710 who visited Queen Ann's court. It is claimed that a settlement was made at Minisink four years before Capt. Schuyler's visit, as mentioned elsewhere in this book; but he does not say anything about any white settlers being in the Minisink valley in 1694. It is certain, however, that the issolated settlement was flourishing in 1697, for a patent issued to them bv the Colonial Governor of New York bears date, Oct. 14th, 1697. 11 day morning I went from Bergentown and travelled about 10 English miles beyond Haghkingsack to an In- dian place called Peckwes. Ye 5th Monday From Peckwes North and be west I went about thirty-two miles — snowing and rainy weather. Ye 6th Tuesday I continued my journey to JNIaggaghamieck (Neversink) river and from thence to within half a day's journej^ to the JNIinissinck. Ye Wed. about 11 o-clock I arrived att the Minissinck and there I met with two of their Sach- ems and several other Indians of whom I enquired after some news, if the French or their Indians had sent for them or been in ye JNIinissinck Country. Upon which they answered that noe French nor any of the French Indians were, nor had been in the JNIinissinck Country, nor there abouts and did promise yt if ye French should happen to come or yt they heard of it, that they will forthwith send a messenger and give yr Excellency no- tice thereof. Inquiring further after news they told me that 6 days agoe three Christians and two Shauwans Indians who went about 15 months agoe with Arnout Yielle into the Shauwans Country were passed by the Minissinck going to Albany to fetch powder for Arnout and his Company and further told them that sd Arnout in- tended to be there with seven hundred of ye said Shau- wans Indians loaded with beaver and peltries att ye time ye Indian corn is about 1 foot high (which maj^ be in the month of June ) . The Minissinck Sachems further said that one of their Sachems and other of their Indians were gone to fetch beavor and peltries which they had hunted and having heard noe news of them are afraid yt ye Sinne- ques have killed them for ye lucar of the beavor or be- cause ye JNIinissinck Indians have not been with ye Sinneques as usual to pay their dutty and therefore de- 12 sire yt Your Excellency will be pleased to order the Sinneqiies may be told not to molest or hurt ye Minis- sincks, they be willing to continue in amity with them. In the afternoon I departed from ye Minissincks the 8th, 9th & 10th of Feb. I travelled and came to Bergen in ye morning and about noon arrived att New Yorke. This is, may it please your Excellency, the humble report of your Excellency's most humble servt, Arent Schuyler.'^ The following address is given at this point on ac- count of its historical value: OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, REV. DR. S. W. MILLS, OF PORT JERVIS, N. Y. Members of the Minisink Valley Historical Society and all who are here present, I extend to you in the name of the So- ciety a cordial gi'eeting. To the resident members and to those who have come to us from a distance ; to those who participate in these exercises or seek in any way to give interest to this occasion ; to the wives and daughters of the members present as well as to all who are here assembled, I give a hearty, joyous welcome. This second semi-annual celebration of our Society brings us together again in this beautiful grove, which a year ago, at the request of its owner, we dedicated by the appropriate and historic name of Caudebec Park, under circumstances of more than ordinary interest. The day itself is one that should ever be held in remembrance by the people of this valley and of the whole surrounding country. It was on the 22d of July, more than a century ago, that a most fierce and terrible conflict was waged between the defenders of their homes in this valley and their savage invaders — a conflict in which not only those in- habiting the valley whose dwellings, church and other buildings, twenty-one in all, were burned, participated; but their neigh- bors across tlie mountain and lower down along the Delaware, making common cause with them, rallied to their aid to overtake and if possible exterminate the murderous band. The battle that followed and which was fought some twenty miles west from the place where we are now assembled was one which, while disastrous to our patriot sires and bringing sorrow to many homes, yet witnessed deeds of valor and courage that may well be ranked among the many heroic ones of that long seven years' struggle for our country's independence. Possibly some of these may be related in your hearing to-day. We do well to commemorate the 22d of July and to recall the deeds of noble daring then performed and to hand them 14 down to coming generations, that those who come after us may learn something of the costly price paid by their forefathers in treasure and blood and long privation and suffering to secure the liberties which they enjoy. Every one in the beautiful val- leys of the Minisink Country, or of its surrounding mountains and hills or wherever their lot may be cast, in whose veins flows the blood of the men who engaged in the strife of that hot July day, may well have a just and honest pride in the deeds of their ancestors and may tell them to their children and their children's children. Another interest, however, attaches to our gathering at this time. We commemorate to-day an event which took place long anterior to those scenes of strife and blood — one in which peace- ful men came quietly and peaceably seeking for themselves a home in this beautiful valley, one of the fairest and loveliest upon which the sun shines. Just when the white man first set foot upon the soil here we cannot say positively. We are in- clined to the belief that as early as 1659 or 1660 the Holland- ers had traveled over this entire valley and had constructed what has been called the "Old Mine road" leading from Esopus or Kingston on the Hudson through the Rondout and Mama- kating valleys, on through this valley of the Neversink and down the Delaware to the copper mines of Pahaquarry in War- ren county, N. J., this side of the Delaware Water Gap. This is not the time, neither is it the place, to give reasons for what some have disputed.* But assuming that such a road had been constructed and used as has been claimed, it was for a special purpose and its use ceased when the control of the country passed from the Dutch to the English. No permanent settle- ments resulted from it except at its terminus at the mines. The first settlement, we have reason to believe, was two hun- dred years ago, in 1690. Mr. Gumaer, in his "History of Deer park," gives this as the year and assigns, as we think, good reasons for the statement. It is certain that a patent for 1,200 acres was granted to the first seven settlers October 14, 1697. Petitions addressed to the Colonial Government asking to be protected in their title, of about the same date on record at Albany, confirm his view. Mr. Gumaer says the first settlers *In the Albany Records under date of April 25th, 1659, is an entry relating to copper mine at the Minisink. 15 were here occupying their land for some years before Jacob Codebec, one of their number, was sent to the Governor of the New York Colony to procure a patent. This seems to bear out his statement as to the year, and when his character for truthfulness, accuracy and candor, and his opportunities for obtaining information, are considered, we are disposed to be- lieve that 1690 was the time of their location. These settlers were seven in number : Jacob Codebec, Thomas Swartwout, An- thony Sw^artwout, Bernardus Swartwout, Jan Tys, Peter Gimar and David Jamison. The spot upon which they located was a little over a mile south of where we are now assembled, across the flats east from the house now occupied by Cornelius Caskey and around a hill which may be seen there. About this same year it is probable one William Titsoort, blacksmith, located in this same valley a little further south, about one mile from Port Jervis. Titsoort had been driven out of Schenectady by the fearful massacre there in 1689, barely escaping with his life to Esopus where he had friends, and being known to the friendly Indians, he was invited by them to take up his residence in the Minisink Country. They voluntarily granted to him a tract of land situate and being at Maghagkemek known by the name of Schaikackamick in an elbow. This description Avould seem to locate it about where the late Simon Westfall lived, including probably the property now owned and occupied by Benjamin Van Fleet. Titsoort obtained license to purchase October 15, 1698, and did so purchase. After remaining here some years, he sold to Jan Decker two parcels of land in 1713 and moved to Dutchess County. The site selected by the first seven settlers was called Peenpack, which was the name given to district extending from Cuddebackville to Huguenot, and by which it was known until a comparatively recent date. About twenty years after the first settlers located here, others came to the valley and settled a few miles further south and nearer Port Jervis, in what was called the Lower Neighbor- hood, extending from Huguenot to Port Jei-^is, and on both sides of the Neversink. These were all Hollanders or of Hol- land descent, coming here directly from Ulster County. From these two settlements the Delaware Valley below Port Jervis became settled, as well as portions of Sussex County, N. J., in 16 the Clove and at Deckertown, a large portion of whose inhabi- tants are of Holland or Huguenot descent. It was no light undertaking at that time to come to a coun- try such as this. It required a resolution and courage and energy equal to that now required to settle in Oregon or even in Alaska. This whole valley for forty miles in either direc- tion from this point was an unbroken wilderness through which the red man roamed unrestrained. No dwelling for civilized man Avas to be found in all its length and breadth and for many long miles in any direction — not even a log cabin — nothing but the wigwam of the Indian was to be seen. Of the .first seven whose names appear in the Codebec and Guimar patent, all but one were Huguenots and Hollanders. Jamison was a Scotchman who it seems never settled perma- nently in the valley, since from 1697 to 1714 he served as Vestryman or Warden in Trinity Church, New York. He prob- ably joined with the others in the purchase for speculative pur- poses, but did not remain nor ever located here. Codebec and Guimar were Huguenots who were driven out of France by the persecution wliich followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, by Louis XIV. By this inhuman and despotic measure 500,000 of the best, most intelligent, moral and indus- trious citizens of France were driven out of the country; 400,000 perished by hunger, fatigue, cold and the sufferings inflicted in one form or the other by their bloody persecutors, sixty millions of francs in specie were lost to her as well as her most flourishing manufactures. The people fled to Eng- land, to Switzerland, to Holland, to Prussia, to Denmark, to Sweden and to America. Many of the best and most honored names in our country are those of persons who at this time fled here for refuge where they could have freedom to worship God and enjoy the rights of conscience. They came to South Carolina, to Delaware, to Maryland and Virginia, to New Jersey and to Westchester and Ulster Counties in this State. The settlement at New Paltz was composed entirely of Huguenots. Among those who left France at this time never to return to it were Jacob Codebec and Peter Guimar. Going at first to Holland br England they came at length to Maryland and, after a short stay there to this State and finally located in this 17 valley. The families to which they belonged in France were in comfortable circumstances. They could have retained all their possessions had they but renounced their faith and embraced Romanism. They chose, however, to forsake all — home, country, kindred and worldly substance rather than renounce their re- ligion. They fled, or one of them at least, with their perse- cutors in close pursuit barely escaping with their lives. The others were Hollanders, coming themselves or immediately descended from those who came from a country in which, unlike France at tliat time, the rights of conscience and full religious liberty were enjoyed. They came from a noble country and were descended from a noble race — from men who by their industry, their indomitable courage and perseverance had re- claimed large portions of their country from the dominion of the sea, and whose love of liberty was such that when besieged by their enemies, as their last resort, rather than submit to them they opened the flood-gates and caused the waters again to flow over the land, exclaiming: 'Better a lost land than lost liberty' ; a country that for eighty years maintained a struggle against the armies of Spain, at that time the proudest and most powerful kingdom of Europe and who triumphed over them ; a country that fought, and that successfully, the battles of civil and religious liberty for the world ; that was the first of modern nations to guaranty the rights of conscience in matters of religion ; where the New England Pilgrims when driven out by oppression from their own country found shelter and pro- tection for eleven years before coming to Plymouth Rock; a country in which two centuries before our own Declaration of Independence, its very principles had been boldly proclaimed and where by the compact of Utrecht the seven provinces of the Netherlands were formed into a free government in 1579, with their motto 'Eendragtmarkt macht,' (Union makes strength), which is but another and even more expressive form of our own American motto, 'E Pluribus Unum,' and where two years later in 1581 their Declaration of Independence was promulgated in these memorable words which rulers and politicans of every land would do well ever to bear in mind : 'The people were not made for the prince but the prince for the people who always have the right to depose him if he should oppress them' ; a country that had its free schools supported by the State as 18 recommended by John of Nassau, brother of William of Orange, and which the New England Pilgrims found in existence while in Holland, and which they brought with them to Plymouth Rock and here established as one of the glories of our country ; a country that had its universities "whose doors were open to students of all creeds and nationahties at a time when all other seats of learning were closed to those who denied their dogmas in religion or did not commune with their church. Free thought, free speech, inquiry, discussion and the open Bible were un- known except in this little corner of Europe which its indomit- able people had rescued from the sea and waged perpetual battle with the ocean to keep." It was from races such as these, Huguenots and Hollanders, men who loved liberty, both civil and religious, and who en- dured untold sufferings and sacrifices for its maintenance, that the first settlers of this valley descended. We do well to recall this day their history to remind ourselves and others of all that was noble and excellent in them. We honor, and that justly, the New England Pilgrims who for conscience sake crossed the ocean in the Wintry month of December and landed at Plymouth Rock. They have never wanted for those to cele- brate their deeds and virtues in prose and verse, in eloquence and song. Without detracting one iota from all that is due to them we claim for the Huguenot and Hollander equal honor and praise for all that they have done and endured in the cause of human liberty, but whose modesty in speaking of themselves has been such that the world has never yet learned how much it is indebted to them. Ye descendants of the Huguenot and the Hollander, here and elsewhere, hold in high honor and esteem the races from which you have sprung. Cherish the memory of your ancestors. Let their religious principles and their love of liberty be deeply engraven on your minds and hearts. Imitate the virtues which they practised and count them a possession more priceless and enduring than any worldly substance Inherited from them. 19 CHAPTER II A GLIMPSE OF THE MINISINK SETTLE- MENT IN THE YEAR 1787. From Letters Written by Samuel Preston, Esq., Dated June 6 and 14, 1828. "In 1787 the writer went on his first surveying tour into Northampton County; he was deputed under John Lukens, Surveyor General, and received from him by way of instruction the following narrative respecting the settlement of Minisink on the Delaware, above the Kittanny and Blue Mountains: "That the settlement was formed for a long time before it was known to the Government of Philadelphia. That when the government was informed of the settle- ment they passed a law in 1729 that any such purchase of the Indians should be void, and the purchasers in- dicted for forcible entry and detainer, according to the law of England. That in 1730 they appointed an agent to go and investigate the facts; that the agent so ap- pointed was the famous Surveyor Nicholas Scull; that he (James Lukens) was N. Scull's apprentice to carry chain and learn surveying; that they both understood and could talk Indian. They hired Indian guides and had a fatiguing journey, there being no white inhabi- tants in the upper part of Bucks or Northampton County. That they had great difficulty to lead their horses through the water gap to Minisink flats, which were all settled with Hollanders; with several they could only be understood in Indian. 21 "At the venerable Depuis' they found great hospital- ity and plenty of the necessaries of life. J. Lukens said that the first thing which struck his attention was a grove of apple trees of size far beyond any near Phila- delphia. * * * That S. Depuis told them when the rivers were frozen he had a good road to Esopus, near Kingston, from the Mine holes, on the Mine road, some hundred miles. That he took his wheat and cider there for salt and necessaries, and did not appear to have any knowledge of where the river ran — Philadel- phia market — or being in the Government of Pennsyl- vania. "They were of the opinion that the first settlement of Hollanders in Minisink was many years older than Wm. Penn's charter, and that S. Depuis had treated them so well they concluded to make a survey of his claim, in order to befriend him if necessary. When they began to survey, the Indians gathered around; an old Indian laid his hand on N. Scull's shoulder and said, 'Put up iron string; go home.' They then quit and re- turned. "I had it in charge from John Lukens to learn more particulars respecting the Mine road to Esopus, etc. I found Nicholas Depuis, Esq., son of Samuel, living in a spacious stone house in great plenty and affluence. The old Mine holes were a few miles above on the Jer- sey side of the river, by the lower point of the Paa- quarry Flat; that the Minisink settlement extended forty miles or more on both sides of the river. * * * "I then went to view the Paaquarry Mine holes. There appeared to have been a great abundance of labor done there at some former time, but the mouths of the holes were caved full and overgrown with bushes. I concluded to myself if there ever had been a rich mine under that mountain it must be there yet in close con- 22 finement. The other old men I conversed with gave their traditions similar to N. Depuis, and they all ap- peared to be grandsons of the first settlers and very ignorant as to the dates and things relating to chronol- ogy. In the Sunmier of 1789 I began to build on this place ; then came two venerable gentlemen on a survey- ing expedition. They were the late Gen. James Clin- ton, the father of the late Dewitt Clinton, and Chris- topher Tappen, Esq., Clerk and Recorder of Ulster County. For many years before they had both been surveyors under Gen. Clinton's father, when he was Surveyor General. In order to learn some history of gentlemen of their general knowledge, I accompanied them into the woods. They both well knew of the Mine holes. Mine road, etc., and as there were no kind of documents or records thereof, united in the opinion that it was a work transacted while the State of New York belonged to the Government of Holland; that it fell to the English in 1664; and that the change in gov- ernment stopped the mining business and that the road must have been made many years before such diggings could have been done. That it must have been the first good road of that extent made in any part of the United States." MINISINK ONCE A LAKE That the mysterious Minisink Country was once a vast inland lake, covering upward of a hundred square miles, is evident from the fact that we find sedimentary deposits in the form of sand and gravel several hundred feet higher than the present bed of the Delaware and far remote from any stream. The outlet of this vast lake from the Water Gap southward was the Delaware River, forming a cataract hundreds of feet higher than the falls of Niagara; and while this great body of water was held in check the 23 work of formation was going on underneath the sur- face, dej^ositing sediment which we at the present time treasure in the rich bottom land of the Delaware Valley. The ice gorge for which the Delaware has always been celebrated acted as a battering-ram all the way down through the centuries until the gigantic mountain wall tottered and fell before it. The waters thus set free continued to be lowered by the hand of time until the beautiful Delaware, fed by its numerous tributaries, found an undisputed course to the sea. Time sets his impress on the hardest rock And bids it crumble from the mountain side ; He wears the rock-walled chasm block from block, Until it levels with the ocean tide. Another Minisink mystery was the settlement, iso- lated as it were from the outside world of civilization and surroimded by the barbarous red men of the forest. In fact, there was such a commingling that in many cases the descendants of the Hollanders spoke the In- dian language exclusively, while their own tongue was sadly neglected. And years after the founding of a permanent settle- ment, when the children of these sturdy pioneers real- ized that there was an outside world, they were obliged to travel so far for the purpose of market or trade that life must have been almost a burden. M CHAPTER III A STORY OF PIONEER CHILDREN. AN INCIDENT OF THE HARDSHIPS OF EARLY PIONEER LIFE WILL SERVE TO ENLIGHTEN MY READERS. One autumn in the early settlement of the Delaware Valley it became necessary for both the father and mother of a family to go a distance of thirty miles to trade while they left the children alone in the house. As most of the pioneers went to town with a yoke of oxen and a wood-shod sledge on account of poor roads, these parents made slow progress and were obliged to stay all night in town. During the afternoon the children discovered some Indians, who had evidently learned that the parents were away, watching the house and acting very sus- piciously. They knew that after dark the savages in- tended to visit them and probably carry them away as captives, and some children would be so frightened as to wander off in the woods; but in those days of great danger children were taught to be brave and use judg- ment in every critical emergency. The oldest was a girl of some twelve or thirteen years, and she had been told that Indians were very superstitious, so she formu- lated a plan of escape. She took several large pumpkins from the wood- house, and having cut hideous faces in them, set a tal- low candle in each one, ready to light. There was a cave near the house which was used for a vegetable cellar, and just before night she sent the other children into this cave and put the jack-'o-lan- terns on top and at the sides of the entrance. As soon as it was dark she Hghted the candles and covered every face with a cloth. It was not very long before the children heard the dog bark and knew the Indians were around the house. Our heroine then cautiously uncovered the pumpkins and began beating the door furiously with a club for several minutes. She heard an outcry, and listening a moment, she heard one of them say in broken Dutch, "Paleface ghost watch white man's wigwam! Me no go in." The savages were soon heard retreating through the forest, uttering bitter threats mingled with cries of alarm. The next day the parents returned, and when they were told about the children's trick on the redmen they embraced them with grateful hearts to a kind Provi- dence, who had given their little ones courage and wis- dom in the hour of peril, and the father reverently re- peated from God's word, "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight?" 26 CHAPTER IV HO^V A MOTHER SAVED HER CHILDREN. AN INCIDENT OF PIONEER LIFE IN ORANGE COUNTY. It was customary for the early settlers to procure a large portion of their meat from the forest, and in the autumn large hunting parties were organized to procure bear meat and venison to pickle in salt and smoke for winter use. One day, just before dark, one of the sturdy house- wives stood looking for the return of her husband, when she discovered some Indians dodging behind the log barn and apparently prej)aring for a raid on the house. She knew they would soon enter and that the appe- tite of an Indian often frustrates his plans, so she placed some cold victuals on the table and told the children to hurry up-stairs, as the men were coming with a big black bear and she feared it would frighten them. The heroic mother soon followed and shortly after- ward heard the Indians coming in the door which con- sisted of a bearskin hung over an opening in the front. She then hastily threw all the feather-beds out of the back window in a pile, and bidding the little ones be quiet for fear of the bear, she dropped them one after another on the beds and then jumped out herself. By keeping on the side of the dwelling wliich had no win- dows the mother managed to reach the forest, and in a grove where she watched as a guard ovej* her sleeping little ones, she witnessed the burning of their buildings, the light of which gave warning to the other settlers and gave them time to flee. 27 In the morning she awoke her children, and after much fatigue and suffering they found their way to a distant village. The father returned from the hunt, and finding his buildings in ashes was smitten with grief, not only for the loss of his buildings, but he supposed his family had been burned to death while asleep. He was, however, greatly relieved the next day by a messenger who came and told him his family were safe in a distant town. THE WYOMING MASSACRE. About July 1, 1778, great numbers of Indians and Tories began to appear on the banks of the Susque- hanna River, under command of Col. John Buttler, from Fort Niagara. It has been claimed by some his- torians that Col. Brant was with the expedition, but the best authorities assert that he was not at Wyoming at all during the raid on that settlement. The raiders carried the first fortification they came to, and Col. Zebulon Buttler, who had charge of the forts, withdrew with his forces to Fort Kingston, a much stronger position, and disposed of his men to the best advantage to defend the fort. Col. John saw he could not take the fort without great slaughter, so being a cousin of Zebulon, he took the advantage of relationship by arranging for a parley. Col. Zebulon believed the flattering words of Col. John and consented, notwithstanding the place named for the conference was quite a long distance from the fort, and marched out an armed force of four hundred men to the place of appointment. When Col. Zebulon arrived at the appointed place, not an officer or soldier was in sight. He finally discovered a man'with a flag in 28 the adjoining forest, motioning for him to proceed; which he did without mistrusting any stratagem. He proceeded some distance in the forest, when sud- denly a terrible warwhoop sounded and he discovered that he was entirely surrounded by the enemy, who be- gan firing from all directions. Col. Zebulon displayed great military skill and imme- diately drew U23 his men into a hollow square to protect the center. By this skilful maneuver he gained a great advantage and was at the point of carrying destruction into the very heart of the invaders, when some officer who had taken too much rum before the engagement shouted, "Col. Zebulon has ordered a retreat. Fall back." With this countermanding of orders, the militia broke and the Savages, taking advantage of the confusion, rushed forward and began a terrible slaughter with tomahawks and knives ; so that out of the four hundred that went out only sixty reached the redout on the oppo- site side of the river. The victors then went back and surrounded Fort Kingston. To terrorize the occupants of the fort, they threw about two hundred bleeding scalps over the wall. Col. Dennison, who commanded the fort, sent a flag of truce to Col. John Buttler to ask what terms should be granted if he surrendered the fort. The answer he returned was, "The Hatchet." The soldiers defended the fort until they were nearly all killed, when they surrendered. Many of the women and children were made prisoners, but some escaped and made their way across the wilderness to the Delaware Valley. The father of the late Dr. Merritt H. Cash, of Orange County, N. Y., was in the massacre. The doc- tor was a small boy and his mother led him through the 29 dense forest to the Minisink settlement (now Port Jer- vis ) . They spent several gloomy nights sleeping in the wilderness under some overhanging rock or at the foot of some high tree, the mother gathering berries through the day for their subsistence and keeping guard at night over her child while he slept. The forest in those days was full of wolves and other fierce wild beasts, and this heroic mother related, in after years, many thrilling ad- ventures of that never-to-be-forgotten journey. In 1779, the next year after the Wyoming massacre, Gen. Washington fitted out two armies to invade the Mohawk Country. One was led by *Gen. James Clin- ton, who ascended the Mohawk River to the vicinity of Fort Plain orCanajoharie and then transferred his boats and baggage overland to Otsego Lake. The army lay encamped for some time at Cooperstown, awaiting orders. GEN. SULLIVAN'S RAID. The other army was in command of Gen. Sullivan. This celebrated General left Easton about the middle of July and arrived at Wyoming July 22d, the same day the disastrous battle of Minisink was fought in Ulster (now Sullivan) Count5% N. Y. He had one hundred and twenty boats, two thousand horses and two thousand five hundred men. With this vast army he proceeded up the Susquehanna River, while Gen. Clinton came down to meet him. Gen. Sullivan found the enemy, about one thousand strong, collected at or near Newton on the Tioga River. They were strongly entrenched behind a breastwork. On the 29th of August he attacked them and drove them from their defenses across the river, from whence they scattered and fled. * G^n. Clinton wrote his wife from Cooperstown, "I busy myself fishing in the beautiful Otsego, while awaiting for further orders. I have suc- ceeded in catching some of the most beautiful perch I ever saw." 30 Sullivan then marched through the Indian country and destroyed thirteen villages and vast fields of corn. He also chopped down all the Indian orchards of thrifty fruit trees as far as the Genesee Valley. After teaching the savages a never-ending lesson, his vic- torious army returned by way of Tioga Point and Wyoming, thence to Easton. The Indian Confederacy never recovered after this raid. It existed in name only, with here and there a shattered branch, as if the "great trunk" which had stood the storms of centuries was riven by a mighty thunderbolt, and the ground for miles in all directions was strewn with the splinters of the wreckage. *ORANGE COUNTY. An order was issued by Gov. Bellmont in 1698 that the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace should pro- ceed to take a census of the several counties of the State of New York. Orange County was found to contain twenty-nine men, thirty-one women, one hundred and forty children and nineteen negro slaves. An ordinance for holding Courts of Common Pleas was signed by Queen Anne, April 5, 1703. The first courts were held at Orangetown, in what is now Rock- land County. Goshen became a small, thriving settle- ment about 1725, and in 1727 it became the county seat and the first session of the Orange County Court was held there. The Wawayanda Patent was granted to Christopher Denn in 1712. He Hved in New Jersey, just across from Staten Island. Denn could not move upon the * Orange County has produced some very prominent men. Dewitt Clin- ton, a former Governor; Wm. H. Seward, a former Secretary of State, and Henry G. Wisner, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence, were formerly from this county. 31 land himself nor get anyone else who would agree to settle, and he was about to lose his patent. Finally his adopted daughter, Sarah Wells, a girl sixteen years old, offered to settle on it. She spent some time in making arrangements, and after learning from her stepfather about Avhere the land lay and what was the best way to reach it, she set out in a boat on the Hudson River with some servants and landed near New Windsor, where she employed some friendly Indians and proceeded on foot to the Otter Kill. When they prepared to encamp for the night the In- dians gathered some pine boughs, and having bended some saplings down to the ground, fixed a bed for Miss Wells by spreading their furs on these saplings after fastening them together with thongs and crossing them with the downy pine boughs. They then lay down at her feet and kept guard wliile she slej)t. It must have taken extraordinary courage for a girl of sixteen to undertake such hardships and endure so much fatigue to acquire a tract of land. After several days she suc- ceeded in selecting a site on the patent which was suit- able to build upon and she at once set her force to work building a log house. The logs were simply notched and piled up some- thing in the manner of building a rail fence. They were then plastered with clay to close the openings, and the whole covered with bark, laid on pole rafters. A stone fireplace Avas built in the rear of the building by piling up stone something after the pattern of a black- smith's forge, and extending it above the roof. Two holes were cut into the logs, over which a cloth or greased skin was spread for windoAvs, and an opening left in the front from the ground to the roof, over which a bearskin or wolfskin was hung for a door. In this 32 primitive dwelling, surrounded by wild animals and de- pendent upon her Indian neighbors for much of her food and clothing, this resolute heroine founded the first settlement of Wawayanda. She afterward married one William Bull and owned and occupied a one hundred acre tract set off to her by her stepfather as a recompense for her sacrifice and ser- vices. She lived to be over one hundred years old. AN INCIDENT OF CAPTIVITY FROM ORANGE COUNTY. Two brothers named Coleman lived together in a log house with their wives and children. One Sabbath after- noon, just after harvest, one of the brothers, while ab- sent looking for a horse, was shot and scalped by In- dians, who then proceeded to the house and shot the other brother, who was sick in bed, by firing through between the logs. They then entered the house by forcing the door and dragged their other victim from his bed and scalped him. They then set fire to the house and taking the women and children captives, started westward. One of the women had recently been sick and was unable to walk. She was fastened astride an old horse and then given her infant child, but the savages, fearing the cries of the child would reveal their whereabouts, soon took it from her and dashed it against a tree. On coming to a ford, Mrs. Coleman's horse was sent through first to ascertain the depth of the stream. News of the outrage had spread through the neigh- borhood that night and the next morning a posse of men were in hot pursuit. The Indians, finding they were about to be overtaken, turned aside into a tliicket and the pursuers passed so near that their voices were dis- tinctly recognized. The captives were threatened, so they did not dare give any outcry, and allowed their friends to pass on out of hearing. 33 After the Indians were satisfied that the wliites had been foiled and that the danger of attack was over, they took Mrs. Coleman from her horse for the first time, and encamped for the night. On Tuesday morning they resumed their journey without any of the party tasting food, because up to this time the Indians were afraid to fire a gun on account of their pursuers. Short- ly after they resumed their journey they considered the danger of attack over, and one of the Indians shot a deer and the starving captives were given some roasted venison. Their progress through the forest was very slow and on Wednesday night they arrived at their camp somewhere west of the Delaware River. In this camp there were several other Indians and they built a great fire to celebrate their triumph. They then stripped all the children naked and whipped them around the fire and also inflicted other cruelties. Mrs. Coleman, being worn out with fatigue and un- able to endure the sight of her children suffering while she was powerless to help them, crept off unobserved into the forest to die; but after wandering about for some time, discovered a light at a distance and decided to make her way to it. After a fatiguing journey, groping her way over rocks and fallen trees, she drew near the light and found that it shone from an Indian wigwam. She could see through the opening that it was occuj)ied by an aged squaw, and not knowing what else to do, threw herself on Indian hospitality. She was very agreeably sur- prised when the squaw addressed her in broken Eng- lish and made her welcome. Mrs. Coleman learned that the Indian woman had lived for a time among the white people and was partially civilized. She then related her sad experience to her hostess, who tried every way to make her comfortable. This squaw was known by the 34 Indians as "Peter Nell" and lived all alone in her wig- wam in the wilderness. Peter Nell understood Mrs. Coleman's weak condi- tion and made her some venison soup after the manner of white people, and after supper arranged a bed of leaves spread with skins for her to sleep on. The squaw assured her that the Indians should not harm her, and she spent several days in the wigwam. When she was strong enough, Peter Nell made prepa- ration and accompanied her back to her friends in Orange County. The fate of the other woman and the children remains a mystery. MIDDLETOWN SETTLED. One of the first settlers in Middletown was Capt. Dan- iel Stringham, w^ho married Abigail Horton 1794. They had a family of ten children and all of them were born in that, then small hamlet. One of their sons, Silas Horton Stringham, born 1797, became a noted naval officer, serving on the frigates "President" and "Guer- rier" and rising to the rank of Admiral. He is said to have taken an active part in three wars: the war of 1812, the Mexican war and the Rebellion. He died in 1876. Some of the refugees who fled across Long Island at the time of Gen. Putnam's defeat in 1776, settled in Orange and Ulster Counties, some in the vicinity of Middletown and some near Bloomingburgh, which was then in Ulster County. SULLIVAN COUNTY FORMED FROM ULSTER. Up to the year 1809, Sullivan County was a part of Ulster, and Deerpark was a part of Mamakating; thus Brant's raid on Minisink was in Ulster County and the battle of JNIinisink was fought in that County while it extended from the Hudson to the Delaware. 35 SOME KINGSTON RECORDS "Rec'd in Kingston 15th Dec'r 1794 of Henry Put- nam one of the Collectors of Mamacoting by the hands of Albert Roosa, Ten pounds, seven shillings and five pense, on county tax of the current year. E. Wm. El- mendorf, Co. Treas." INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. In the year 1776 there were known to be three Indian settlements in Ulster County^one about a mile south of Bloomingburgh, ruled over by a chief called Tot-a- paugh ; another about a mile north of Wurtsboro, known as the "Little Yaugh House"; and a third near West- brookville, about four miles south of Wurtsboro. A road was constructed by Ananias Sacket from Mamakating westward, passing about three-quarters of a mile south of Lord's Pond and continuing to Nathan Kinne's Flatts. From that place Capt. Dorrance made a road to Cochecton for five pounds per mile, a distance of about thirty- three miles. AN ORANGE COUNTY SETTLER Henry Reynolds became a clerk in a store in Peeks- kill and afterward owned a store of his own. He was there in the trying days of the Revolution. In the year 1777, when Peekskill was invaded by the British, his store, among other buildings of the settlement, was burned, and he was forced to flee with his wife and five children. He next settled at Smith's Cove, Orange County, and engaged in farming. He early joined the "Minute Men" and was with Gen. Wayne in the attack on Stony Point. S6 He suffered many outrages from *Claudius Smith and his famous Tory band, who were afterward appre- hended, and several of them, including their leader, were hanged in Goshen on the 22d day of January, 1779, for robbery, sedition and murder. CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. Washington sent Gen. Wayne, who made a night at- tack on the fort July 16, 1779. Wayne divided his forces in two divisions to make the attack from opposite direc- tions. He was discovered, however, by the guard, who called out tauntingly, "Come on, you rebels, we are wait- ing for you!" Wayne answered, "We'll be there!" Both divisions charged doublequick and gained an entrance before the garrison could be propertly posted. Wayne was wounded, but called to his men to bear him into the fort. There was sharp fighting, but the British soon surrendered and six hundred prisoners and valuable army stores fell into the hands of the colonists. SETTLEMENT OF WYOMING AND COCHECTON. James I. granted a vast strip of land in America to the Plymouth Comj)any in the year 1620, which was afterward confirmed by Charles II. to the Connecticut colony in 1663. According to the description, this strip was sixty miles wide and extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, with the exception of a part of New York which intervened between Connecticut and the Delaware River. In 1753 about 200 people of Connecticut formed a Company, and sent an agent to attend the council of the * It is said that Smith kicked off his shoes while standing on the gal- lows, because he said he wished to make a liar of his mother, she having prophesied his sad end. 87 Six Nations at Albany, July, 11, 1754, to purchase the Wyoming lands of the Indians. This association of people, called the Susquehanna Company, proceeded to the Wyoming region and formed a settlement. They hid their tools and farming implements in the Fall and returned to Connecticut to spend the Winter. The next Spring they drove cattle, hogs and sheep through the wilderness and resumed their farming. About the same time an association calling themselves the Delaware Company, from Connecticut, purchased a vast tract of land in the Delaware Valley of the same Indian tribes, and in 1755 proceeded to found a settle- ment on both sides of the river at Cochecton. In 1768 the Six Nations at a council held at Fort Stanwix conveyed the same lands to the Pennsylvania proprietors that they had sold to the Susquehanna and Delaware Companies; thus much trouble arose not only between the two colonies of Connecticut and Pennsyl- vania, but between the settlers and the Indians. The Iriquois claimed a supremacy over the Delaware tribes and to settle an old grudge, burned their chief, Teedyuscung, in his cabin and then made the Delawares believe that the Yankees did it. This treachery greatly irritated the different tribes in the vicinity, and in 1763 they unearthed the hatchet and drove the people from the Wyoming settlement. Some of these refugees fled to Cochecton and warned the in- habitants that the Indians were coming, and all the women and children were collected in the block-houses. The attack on the fort was delayed for some time, but the Savages finally came and surprised and killed two men, Moses Thomas, Sr., and Hilkiah Willis, who were outside the block-house. Then they attacked the fort, but found it so well defended that they relinquished the 38 siege, after which the}^ pursued and killed some cattle, burned the grist-mill, saw-mill and some other buildings. After the destructive band had left, the settlers were very much discouraged and would have abandoned the settlement if a tribe of friendly Indians had not volun- teered their assistance in case of another invasion. These Indians, who were known as the Cushetunk, made their pledge good in 1777 during the Revolution, when word reached the settlement that a band of In- dians and Tories were advancing up the river. An English woman by the name of Land took her infant in her arms and with the aid of her oldest son drove her cattle off into the woods, where she remained all night, leaving her other four children alone in the house. The Indians broke into the house very early in the morning and awoke the two girls by tickling their feet w^ith a sjDear. A certain chief of the Tuscaroras by the name of Capt. John had often visited the settlement, and one of the girls by the name of Rebecca, supposing it to be he, held out her hand and said in a very cheerful voice, "How do you do, Capt. John?" The chief then asked her if she knew Capt. John. She answered, "I know him, but I see I am mis- taken." The innocence and frankness of the child touched the heart of the Savage and he informed her that they were JNIohawks who had come to drive the people from the valley, and told her to put on her clothes and go and warn the people to flee before they were all killed. The girl did as she was told and many rushed to the river and fled in boats down to jNIinisink. 39 THE FATE OF A FOOLISH GIRL. One mother succeeded in getting all her children into the boat but one foolish girl, who did not realize the danger and sauntered beliind. After the boat was started down stream some distance, this mother dis- covered her child standing on the bank of the river, wringing her hands and crying piteously. The woman was frantic with grief and tried to induce the men to stop the boat and take in the child ; but they argued that the boat was already overloaded and besides some of the Savages were coming in their canoes in hot pursuit. All the pleadings of the mother did not get the boat stopped, so the settlers soon disappeared, leaving the weeping child standing on the shore. That was the last the mother ever saw of the child, and although she succeeded in making her escape, and lived for many years she never could erase from her memory the sad image of her deserted girl crying on the river bank. When Rebecca came back home after warning the people and witnessing several scenes of murder and pil- lage, she found the Indians had bound her little brother, Abel, and taken him captive with them. The Savages, finding that an armed force was collect- ing at the block-house, fled up Calkin's Creek, where they encountered a body of the Cushetunk Indians, who were not only friends of the whites but of the cause of liberty, and they tried to get the Mohawks to release the boy, but without avail. The friendly Indians arrived at Land's house about the time Mrs. Land and her other son came home with the cattle and reported the route the raiders had taken. A pursuing party was quickly formed, consisting of sev- eral settlers from the fort and all the Cushetunk Indians 40 that could be mustered. John, the brother of Abel, also joined the pursuers, and by rapid travelling overtook the band and their captive at a place called Oghquaga, where the enemy was drawn up in line of battle. There was, however, very little fighting and the belligerents soon came to a parley, when it was agreed to let Abel return home after he had run the gauntlet, for they claimed he had been very boisterous and made them much trouble. After the captive had submitted to their barbarous j)unishment he returned with the party to the Delaware, much to the joy of his mother and friends. Many of the settlers fled through the forest to Mini- sink. One Mrs. Evans, being belated to cross in the boat with her neighbors, swam across the river with her in- fant, holding the child's head above water, and joined her friends in their flight. 41 CHAPTER V STORY OF CAPT. CUDDEBACK. HE TELLS OF THE SERVICES OF THE VIGILANCE COMMIT- TEE—EXPERIENCE ON A TRIP TO COCHECTON. "Word came to Minisink from Cochecton that some of the Brooks family of that place had been murdered by the Indians and that a certain Tory was accused of having something to do with it. The vigilance com- mittee accordingly set out late the same day for that dis- tant settlement. There were three of us in the party and as it was in the spring of the year the streams were very high and we had much trouble in crossing many of them. Night overtook us on the Old Cochecton Trail before w^e were half way, and as we were passing an old Indian camping ground, I decided that we should spend the night there. While passing a pond on our way, we had shot some ducks, and we made ready to roast them for our supper. We saw a black cloud in the west about the time we had finished our supper, and as there was some bark which the Indians had used for a wigwam piled near, we thought it was best to build some kind of shelter, so as to keep dry. "We put up some poles and spread the bark on them as best we could, making it high enough to sleep under but not high enough to stand in. "After we had settled down for the night the rain fell in torrents and it became very dark. We could hear the wolves howHng all around us. They, no doubt, had been attracted by the entrails and roasted bones of the ducks which we had thoughtlessly thrown outside, and 43 one of our party, a slave, became very much frightened. We all fell asleep, along toward morning, when a huge panther gave a hideous yell within a few feet of our tent, and the slave jumped up with such force that he knocked the tent down on top of us. There we were in the drenching rain, with our guns wet so they were no use to us, and the only thing left for us to do was for each one to pick up a pine-knot torch and our other things and travel on. We traveled the remainder of the night and part of the next day and reached* Cochecton about noon. I w;ent to the Brook's home and asked the family what had caused the Indians to attack them. I asked them if they had been practicing the Golden Rule with the Indians, and they answered they thought they had. By questioning them I found that one of their oxen had destroyed the Indian's corn on the flats. I asked them if they had any corn. They answered that they had. I said. "Did you agree to give the Indians some corn in place of what had been destroyed?' This they refused to answer. One of the boys said, 'A Tory told the Indians that the beast was good for the damage and a band of them came and drove the ox away with them. My father followed and one of the Indian boys fired an arrow which wounded father, and he died sev- eral days after." "I finally apprehended the Tory and was proceeding with him to Minisink, when the Brooks boys interfered, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in sav- ing his life, they were so determined and so revengeful. "The Tory afterward made me a present of a very handsome powder-horn and bullet-pouch for interfering and protecting him." 44 PRISONERS TAKEN FROM PAUPACK BY THE MOHAWKS. Just after the battle of Wj^oming, four men, Reuben Jones, Jasper and Stephen Parish, and Stephen Kim- ble, were surrounded at Paupack Eddy and taken pris- oners into the Mohawk Country and suffered many hardships. Stephen Kimble, not being very strong, gave out under the burden of plunder the Indians compelled him to carry, and died on the journey. Jasper Parish mar- ried an Indian wife and remained with the Iriquois. Stephen Parish became an Indian doctor and returned after peace was declared. He practiced in his own com- munity as such, but finally went back among the Sav- ages and died there. Reuben Jones was a very large and powerful man and was treated with nuich respect by the Indians. He stayed only a few months, for he began early to plan a mode of escape. In relating his experience after he reached home he said, "I found the young braves were very fond of running foot-races, and I began practicing with them. Although I found I could outrun most of them, I generally allowed them to beat me. All the time I was saving up a portion of my allowance of dried venison for my anticipated long journey. Finally one day I having filled my pockets and clothing with veni- son, I challenged a young Indian to a decisive race. "We started and I allowed the youth to keep up until we got out of sight. I then left him far behind and never saw that Indian again. I struck out for the headwaters of the Delaware and followed down to Big Eddy (Narrowsburg) , thence across to Paupack. I had many narrow escapes from wild animals, and although I ate nothing but the venison I did not suffer much from hunger." 45 Jones claimed that an Indian by the name of Canope, who pretended to be friendly to the whites, led him and his companions into the trap and the Mohawks sprung it. Canope was secretly murdered after the war was over, and, although the crime was laid to a man by the name of Haines, it was thought that Jones had some- thing to do with it. Jones' Eddy on the Delaware is said to be named after this adventurous pioneer. LIBERTY, N. Y., SETTLED. Isaac Horton built a mill at Liberty Falls, 1828, and began making flour. The wolves were so plentiful and bold that many of the settlers became discouraged. Mr. Horton salted his flock of sheep and left them se- cure, as he supposed, for the night. In the morning great was his surprise to find his entire flock gone. The wolves had attacked them at night and he found some of them along the fences and in the adjoining woods, partly devoured. The descendants of the *Horton fam- ily are very numerous and very many of them are promi- nent citizens of several States of our country. The family held a reunion at the Centennial of 1876, where the descendants gathered from nearly all parts of the Union. One of their number, a minister, preached a sermon at that reunion from a Bible which was brought over in the "Mayflower." * Some of their ancestors had settled on Long Island prior to the Revo- lution and when Gen. Putnam was obliged to retreat across the island, leaving no protection for the patriots against the English, many of those people fled from their homes, following in the wake of the army, until they could find suitable land for settlement in Sullivan (then a part of Ulster) and Orange Counties. Very many made their way through the then tangled wilderness by the light of their burning homes. 46 A BEAR HUNT. In the year 1819 a man known as "Uncle Billy" lived in Forestburgh, which was formerly included in Thomp- son. He was returning home one evening and discov- ered a large bear track in the snow. A hunt was planned and the next morning he and two other young men started in 23ursuit. The trail was soon found and easily followed westward toward the Mongaup. "Uncle Billy" carried his rifle and one of the others had an ax. As they drew near the Mongaup River, they found the snow very much trodden and the pion- eer hunters soon discovered a large dark and dee23 hole under a ledge of rocks. "Uncle Billy" procured a pole and having split the end began prodding and twisting it in the opening. He then withdrew it and found hair on it, but could not ir- ritate Bruin enough to bring him out. He then sharp- ened the pole, and using it for a spear, soon brought about the desired effect, for Bruin grabbed the end of the pole in his mouth and started for the opening, forc- ing "Uncle Billy" before him. The old pioneer then seized his rifle and when the bear's head appeared, he fired, causing the fierce animal to drop to the bottom with a growl and thud. His two companions now ad- vised him to return home, declaring that if either of them should attempt to enter the den it would be cer- tain death, as Bruin was just wounded enough to be- come ugly. But the old hunter, after some reflection, decided to have his companions lower him into the den by the feet, at the same time giving them instruction to pull him up quickly should he sound an alarm. The plan was successful, for he found the bear was dead. He then laid hold on his game and his compan- ions drew both "Uncle Billy" and the bear to the top. 47 They were arranging to depart when they were at- tracted by a noise in the den, and in a few minutes the head of a smaller bear appeared at the opening. "Uncle Billy" was ready with his gun and a well- directed bullet caused the mate also to fall back into the hole. She, too, was soon dragged out. They then tied the feet of the bears and the large one was carried on a pole between two, and the small one by the other member of the party. In this way they reached the road where they met a man with a sled. They induced him to take them and their game home, where they and their families enjoyed a bear steak for supper. AN INCIDENT OF THE SETTLEMENT OF WHITE LAKE, SULLIVAN COUNTY. A family by the name of Glass settled at what is now White Lake, early in the nineteenth century. In the year 1806, their little son James, then ten years old, was sent to carry a basket of dinner to some wood choppers about a mile distant in the forest. In going, he found his way all right, but in returning home he missed the path and became lost. He wandered about all the after- noon and sank down at night on a bed of leaves entirely exhausted. He travelled for ten days, sleeping on a leafy bed each night, and proceeding the next morning in search of his home. One night he was awakened by the bleat of a deer; but in a moment heard the loud shriek of a catamount and saw the fierce animal pursu- ing a little fawn, which, no doubt, fell a prey to the sav- age beast and satisfied his hunger, thus saving the hfe of the poor lost boy. Although the child was weak with hunger, having nothing but wild fruit to eat, he con- tinued his search, often dragging himself along on his hands and knees on account of blisters on his feet. 48 Something seemed to whisper, "Onward! James, On- ward!" Finally, on the eleventh day, he listened and thought he could hear a cowbell. He raised his feeble form and saw a clearing, and finally a log dwelling. He crawled in sight of the cabin and then sank down exhausted. Old Mrs. Lair saw him and came to his rescue and car- ried his bruised, emaciated form to her house, which was one of the first buildings of Callicoon, New York. She laid him on a bed, dressed his wounds and administered carefully a little nourishment. He fainted away, but recovered, and soon slept in a disturbed slumber. In his dreams he called for his uncle and his mother. The next morning the old hunters that gathered around hastened to carry the news of his recovery to White Lake. His parents and friends sought him, searching the forest in all directions for eight days, when they gave him up for dead. They declared some wild beast must have devoured him. Great was their joy and surprise when the old hunters came in sight, shouting, "The dead is alive and the lost is found!" The noble- hearted pioneers gathered around to hear the news and rejoice with his parents. After James was sufficiently recovered he was taken across the wilderness from Callicoon to his home. He lived to be an old man, but never recovered fully from his sad experience. MONTICELLO SETTLED. About 1804 two families of Joneses bought a vast tract of land and settled in Monticello, naming it after Thomas Jefferson's home, who was President of the United States at that time. They offered gifts of land as an inducement to settle- 49 ment and Piatt Pelton, from Putnam County, located there and started a tannery, grinding his bark by horse power. Major Abraham Brownson and several others came from Connecticut about the same time and in- creased the settlers. As soon as the Newburg and Cochecton turnpike was completed, in 1810, many ad- ditions were made to the pioneer settlement. The town of Thompson was settled at Thompsonville by Judge Wm. A. Thompson in 1795, and named in his honor. He was Judge of Ulster County, and in 1809, when Sullivan was set off, he was appointed the first Judge of Sullivan County. CHILDREN LOST IN THE FOREST. Mrs. Mumford, of Wayne county, Pa., once sent her two little girls, aged six and four years, to a neighbor's, and in returning they lost their way and wandered off in the woods. The parents became very much fright- ened when it began to grow dark the few settlers collected and spent the entire night searching for them, but without success. The next day and the next night the search was resumed, and finally, on the third day, Mr. Mumford heard "Trip," the httle dog that was with the girls, bark, and called him. The dog came to his master, but the girls, fearing the voice was that of an Indian, hid in a clump of bushes. The anxious father then began calling, "Debora!" "Sarah!" and soon the little ones recognized the voice as that of their father, and came from their hiding place. They were nearly naked and so weak they could scarcely walk. They were taken home, where the mother's tears of grief were changed to acclamations of joy and thanks- giving to the Heavenly Parent who watched over and 50 saved her dear little ones, notwithstanding the fact they were sleeping in the wilderness, surrounded by ravenous wild beasts. The children told how they had made a bed of leaves beside a large log each night and after they lay down to sleep, how little "Trip" had lain down at their feet to keep watch. One night they were awakened by hear- ing little "Trip" growl. They looked up and saw two large wolves looking over the log at them. Their little guard barked so savagely that the "big dogs," as the children called them, ran away. They told how they had found berries to eat when they were so tired and weak with hunger that they could travel no further. HOW PROVIDENCE MADE PROVISION FOR THE PIONEERS FROM CONNECTICUT. Although these early settlers were far from anj'^ mar- ket, they were well supplied with meat from the forest, fish from the river and lakes, and sugar from the abund- ant maple groves. Mr. Drinker, a Quaker, sent a box of maple-sugar to Robert JM orris of Philadelphia with a request that it be forwarded to the President of the United States. His- tory does not state how it was sent ; but no doubt it went to Philadelphia on a raft of spar timber. The box was forwarded as requested and the President courteously acknowledged the gift as follows : "New York, June 18, 1790. "Sir: — Mr. Morris has presented me, in your name, with a box of maple-sugar, which I am much pleased to find of so good a quality. I request you to accept my thanks for this mark of attention; and being persuaded that considerable benefit may be derived to our country from a due prosecution of this promising object of in- 51 dustry, I wish every success to its cultivation, which the persons concerned in it can themselves desire. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, "George Washington." The Quaker remarked to a friend, "So thou seeth how I am advanced to a correspondence with the King of America." SHEHAWKEN FOUNDED. Shehawken (Hancock), the salt emporium, was founded at an early date and other settlements grew out of the perseverance of the sturdy Connecticut pioneers. An association of settlers returned to Connecticut one autumn to spend the Winter and left one family by the name of Stanton in their log cabin, twelve miles from any neighbor. The family were reduced almost to star- vation in the Winter, when a hunter by the name of Church came along and found them. At first he did not know what to do to relieve the sufferers, but he re- membered seeing an elk-track on the road, and as the snow was very deep he soon overtook and shot it and gave it to the destitute family, and thus saved their lives. DESCRIPTION OF JOSEPH BRANT— A MOHAWK CHIEF. His personal appearance and bearing were well calcu- lated to inspire the respect and obedience of his savage followers. Captain Jeremiah Snyder, who, with his son, Elias, was made prisoner near Saugerties, and taken to Niagara, thus described this famous chief : "He was good looking, of fierce aspect, tall and rather spare, well-spoken and apparently about thirty years of age. He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leggings and a breech-cloth of superfine blue, a short green coat, with two silver epaulets, and a small round laced hat. By his side was an elegantly silver mounted cutlass; and his blanket of blue cloth (purposely 52 \V vf'^ayn. dropped into the chair on which he sat to display his epaulets) was gorgeously adorned with a border of red. His language was very insulting." Brant has been denounced as an inhuman wretch. Even an English author attributes to him the atrocities of Wyoming. But great injustice has been done him. The charge of cruelty he always repelled with much indignation and a great number of instances can be ad- duced to show that although in battle he generally gave full scope to the murderous propensities of his follow- ers, he endeavored to mitigate the horrors of war when- ever he could do so without destroying his influence with his own race. When he invaded Minisink in 1779, he marked the aprons of little girls with his totem, and thus kept them from harm. By stratagem he saved Col. Harper, an old schoolmate, from the gauntlet. Even in battle he was ruled by the principles of Masonry. In 1780 he returned from a raid on Harpersfield by the way of the Delaware, when he rebuked the Oneidas, who remained friendly to the Americans, for cruelty to non- combatants. He then wrote them the following letter in the Iroquois language : Be it known to you Bostonians that all the Inhabitants here of whom I had taken captives, I carry but few of them with me, and much greater part, who are feeble and incapable of war, I have set them at Liberty. It is a great shame to abuse the feeble ones. I have ahvays said so ever since we commenced to kill you. Many prisoners I have released, therefore you have greatly roused my wrath, in that you continue to abuse those who are like prisoners. Let it be no longer. So far you are men as well as we, and if you still persist to do so, I know not what may happen hereafter. (Signed) Joseph Brant. On the Delaware, April 15, 1780. Previous to August 21, 1788, Colonel Brant wrote a 53 letter from Oquaga to Colonel Jacob Klock, commander of a regiment of Tryon County militia,* from which we make this extract : "I am sorry, notwithstanding all the gentle usage we have from time to time given the prisoners we have taken from you and even letting many of them go home after we made (them) prisoners, that you who boast of being a civilized people have treated our people who were so unfortunate as to fall in your hands in a most inhuman manner, beating them after you had bound them ; but if you persist in waging M^ar after that manner, we will ere long convince you that our lenity proceeded from humanity, not fear." Providence made Brant an adroit strategist, and his native talent was strengthened and sharpened by the society and the learning of Europeans. He fell like a thunder-bolt upon his enemies and destroyed them. His blows were equally unexpected and disastrous. We do not propose to give a full account of his acts here. It is sufficient for our purpose to record no more than has a direct bearing on our own locality. In October, 1778, he crossed the wilderness from the Delaware to the Neversink, and passing down the latter, on the thirteenth of the month invaded Peenpack. His approach was discovered and a majority of the inhabi- tants fled to the blockhouses. Many were killed, among them w^as an old man named Swartwout and four of his sons. James, another son, escaped. In the Peenpack blockhouse were many women and children, and but nine men. Captain Abraham Cuddeback, the commander, caused the women to don men's attire and parade with his squad of militia in such a way that the enemy were led to believe that the "fort" was strongly garrisoned. ^Changed 1784 to Montgomery Co. 54) Brant, having no artillery, did not attack many of the blockhouses. INCIDENTS OF BRANT^S EAID ON MINISINK. The school was surprised, the teacher, Jeremiah Van Auken, taken some distance away and killed, and the scholars scattered in all directions. Two Indians were shot from the Van Auken fort, which was probably the cause of tliis outrage on the schoolmaster. Brant saw the little girls weeping by the dead body of their teacher and he came and dashed some black paint on their aprons, bidding them hold it up, when- ever they saw an Indian, as it would save them. The girls began to think about the safety of their brothers, and the boys were quickly assembled and the mark trans- ferred to their garments. Thus many of the children were spared, although some were made captives. James Swartwout, whose father and brothers were killed the following year, narrowly escape. He was in a blacksmith shop with a negro, when he discovered the Indians close at hand, and immediately climbed up into the chimney over the forge. The Indians entered the shop and, after taking such things as they fancied, one of them went to the bellows and began blowing at a rate that proved very uncom- fortable to Swartwout, who was nearly strangled with the charcoal smoke. Finally the negro induced him to do something else and Swartwout's life was saved. A man named Rolif Cuddeback was pursued some dis- tance into the woods by an Indian, who hurled his toma- hawk after him but missed the mark. The savage soon overtook him and they both grappled. They fought furiously, each striving to get possession of a knife that was in the Indian's belt. The knife fell to the ground and neither dared stoop to pick it up. They continued 55 the struggle until the savage was glad to retreat. It is said that the same Indian was shot at Lackawaxen on a horse stolen from Minisink. ADDRESS BY THE AUTHOR ON THE INVASION AND BATTLE OF MINISINK BEFORE THE M. V. H. S. FEB. 22, 1911. During the Revolutionary war the Indian confederacy, con- sisting of the Six Nations, was located in Central New York and in the Mohawk and Genesee valleys, and during the pre- liminary differences between England and the Colonies, which led up to that war, they remained neutral. To use their own expression : "The big tree was planted at Albany to which the chain of friendship was made fast and the council fire of the Indian con- federacy continued to buni until tlie breaking out of the war in 1775." The most powerful and warlike of these Indians were the Mohawks, who were subdivided into three tribes — the Wolf, the Bear and the Tortoise. Among the Wolf tribe there was a young chief known as Brant's Joseph, who had been educated at the Wheelock school in Connecticut, which developed into Dartmouth College. He had also visited England and studied the parliamentary rules and war tactics of the mother country. In England he received marked attention and, upon being promoted to the rank of Colonel in the British army, was easily persuaded to return to this country and raise an army among his own nation, who were inclined to side with England, on account of reports circulated among them by English traders that the Colonial army was about to invade the Mohawk Country. This army was commissioned at Fort Niagara, to make foraging expeditions in the surrounding country and secure supplies from the enemy. Brant at times associated with Buttler, a Tory who had escaped from an Albany prison and was very much embittered against the colonists. He had made several destructive raids at Oriskany, Cherry Valley and Wyoming, burning buildings and murdering inhabitants ; and in the Summer of 1778 ex- tended his depredations as far as the Delaware Valley, where he procured some plunder from Cochecton and Minisink, the only towns of any note at that time in the upper Minisink valley, and escaped without molestation. 56 Early in July, 1779, a very strong expedition was fitted out under the same wary chief, who, by his deeds of barbarity among the colonists, chilled the very blood in their veins, wherever the name of Brant was mentioned. This expedition was also commissioned at Fort Niagara and consisted of a strong troop of Indian and Tory cavalry, and a large band of Indian runners and these were to be followed by a large fleet of canoeists, who followed up the Genesee valley to the Susquenhanna carrying place, carried their canoes over and descended the Susquehanna to the Delaware carrying place ; thence down the Delaware valley to Minisink. There is no certainty, however, that the canoeists proceeded any further down the Delaware than the old Lackawaxen ford. Several spies who lay near Brant's army the night following the battle of Minisink, report that they saw the enemy on the next day removing their wounded in canoes up the river. On account of the raid on Minisink the year before, Count Pulaski had been stationed there with a troop of cavalry and had endeared himself to the people by nearly a year of watch- fulness among them. He was, however, recalled in the early Summer by Gen. Washington, to aid in suppressing hostilities along the southern coasts. This left the isolated villages of Cochecton and Minisink unprotected, except through a vigi- lance committee, which traveled the old Cochecton trail between the two hamlets occasionally, watching for signs of Indian out- rages and Tory atrocities. Minisink at that time was a small scattered hamlet of about twenty families, with several forts or blockhouses, to which the people retreated in case of an Indian outbreak or invasion. These hardy pioneers lived mostly by farming and stockrais- ing, most of them keeping slaves to perform the manual hard labor. On the 20th of July, 1779, when Brant and his savage horde came in sight of the place, the people were attending a funeral of one of their number and the first warning they had of the approach of an enemy was the smoke rising from their burning buildings. The women and children made a rush for the blockhouse and the men made a feeble defense, only to fall a prey, many of them, to the tomahawk. Many of the slaves who sought to con- ceal the stock on the farms were made captives and forced 57 to aid as stock drivers and plunder bearers. No less than twenty buildings, including the church, several sawmills, houses and bams, were burned and many of the people killed and scalped. The enemy having secured much plunder, such as bedding, provisions, horses and cattle, seized several captives, mostly women, children and slaves and began a hasty retreat up the Delaware River. They sent their prisoners and plunder in advance and encamped the night of the 20th at Grassy Brook, a small stream flowing into the Mongaup about five miles above Port Jervis. The speaker then digressed to tell the contemporaneous events transpiring with the Colonial forces, particularly as to the taking of Stony Point. Col. Hathorn's militia was at Warwick, following that victory, when word came from Mini- sink that the Indians were ravaging and burning the place and he gave orders for a forced march to their aid. He continued : TUSTEN MARCHES TO DEFENSE OF MINISINK. Col. Tusten, who was in command of the Goshen militia, re- ceived a similar dispatch fi'om Minisink and not only ordered his entire force to hasten to the defense, but called for vol- unteers ; and citizens left their shops, farms and stores to join in pursuit of Brant and his murderous band. Col. Hathorn says in his official report to Gov. Clinton that when he arrived at Minisink, the following day he found an army of about 120 men consisting of Col. Tusten's force from Goshen and Maj. Meeker's from New Jersey. A small force which had come down the river joined him later, increasing his forces to about 150 men. The force from Cochecton and vicinity was of inestimable value to Hathom's army, because they had a very thorough knowledge of the country, roads, streams, etc., of the upper Delaware Valley. Hathoni was informed about noon on the 21st of July by the Cochecton scouts that Brant was march- ing up the river with prisoners and plunder and resolved on im- mediate pursuit. The Delaware being a very crooked stream and the scouts knowing of the old Cochecton trail running nearly direct over the hills, it was determined to push forward along the trail and if possible reach the Lackwaxen ford first, to give battle at that point and secure the prisoners and plunder. 58 TUSTEN MARCHES TO DEFENSE OF MINISINK. The valiant army put forth ever3^ effort and by marching until twelve o'clock at night succeeded in reaching Skinner's Mills, now the beautiful Lochada and encamped for the night within three and one-half miles of the enemy, who had reached the mouth of Halfway Brook, now Barryville, and were within four miles of the ford.t The next morning, July 22, after a hurried breakfast, the Colonial militia pushed forward and came upon the enemy's camp fires, which were still smoldering, indicating that the foe was but a short distance in advance. They were, however, surprised to find that such a vast extent of ground had been occupied by Brant and for the first time realized that he had a much larger force than their own. A council was again held among the officers, questioning the wisdom of proceeding farther, but a bravado movement, led by Maj. Meeker, soon caused the pursuers to resume their march. Hathorn, knowing the treachery of Indian warfare, ordered his men to leave their horses and heavy equipage behind and keep on the high ground and they accordingly picked their way along the mountain side overlooking the Delaware Valley. They had not proceeded far when they discovered Brant's forces about three-fourths of a mile in advance, hurrying toward the ford. Capt. Tyler and some others advanced the idea that, as there is a great bend in the Delaware just below the ford, they could make time by going directly over the hill and they accordingly turned to the right and followed a small ravine known as Dry Brook, and made a last strenuous effort to head off the raiders. The Orange County militia was again disappointed, for when the men arrived in sight of the ford some of the Indians and much of their spoil was across in Pennsylvania. A part of the stock, guarded by a strong force in the rear, was yet on the $ This march must have nearly exhausted the little army. The pur- suit was commenced some time in the night. The papers left by Captain Abraham Cuddeback, and now in the possession of his descendants, show that the party reached the house of James Finch, at what is now Finch- ville, on the east side of the Shawangunk, in time for breakfast, and that he supplied them with salted provisions. From here they crossed the mountain, and reached the house of Major Decker, and then pushed on over the Indian trail seventeen miles farther. How many men of Orange and Sullivan, in these effeminate days, can endure such a tramp, encum- bered with guns and knapsacks? 59 east side of the river and Hathorn decided upon an immediate attack. He hurriedly divided his army into three divisions, placing one about 300 yards distant on his right flank, with Col. Tusten in command, and one on his left flank, with Col. or Judge Wisner in command. The division of the center Hathom commanded in person, with Capt. Tyler leading an advanced picket line. The captain unfortunately discharged his rifle, causing the Indians to discover their pursuers before the flank divisions could be properly posted and necessitated an im- mediate advance by the division of the center. Hawthorn ordered his men to fix bayonets and advance, and when within about 300 yards shouted "fire." The volley was very effective and caused many of the wounded to rush into the river without returning the fire. Hathorn, by his brilliant dash had recovered some of the stolen cattle and was proceeding to secure them, when he heard firing behind him and learned, much to his alarm, that the wary Brant had thrown himself in their rear and had attacked the two flanked divisions, driving one entirely out of the en- gagement and the other down the hill precipitately toward the river. Brant then came out in full view and addressing himself to the Colonial commander, demanded the surrender of the entire army. Before the Mohawk had finished his demand a bullet from one of the militia pierced his belt and he immediately withdrew, but was soon afterward heard in tones of thunder calling to his retreating forces across the river to return and join in the battle. The forces from Pennsylvania were soon seen recrossing the river and having collected in force began a sort of bush firing. Hathom was now obliged to collect all liis forces in one division and both armies began a series of flank movements, each striving to gain the higher ground, until they reached an eminence nearly a mile from the river. The brave Capt. Tyler was killed in one of these flank movements and several were wounded. Hathom perceived at this juncture that his men, who were suff'ering from heat and thirst, were also very much fatigued and withdrew to a small plateau. Here he hastily collected his wounded, drew up his army into a hollow square and threw up 60 some rough breastworks. This ground, although of a rough, rocky structure, on account of its depressions on all sides except the north, proved to be a very advantageous battleground. The Indian forces tried every stratagem to carry these works, which they completely surrounded and often charged from opposite directions to within forty or fifty yards, when they were repulsed with great slaughter. Here several men were killed and many wounded, and Dr. Tusten, who was an army surgeon, improvised a hospital under a rock, and having col- lected the wounded, who were suffering much from loss of blood and heat, began to administer to their needs, notwith- standing the fact that he had also received a serious wound in his hand. This depleted army, reduced to about forty-five men, officers included, defended this ground for three and one-half hours and the Indians began to show signs of preparation to withdraw their forces. Col. Hathorn, knowing the ammunition must be nearly exhausted, from a constant firing of more than five hours, ordered his men not to fire a shot unless they were sure of their mark. This cessation of the firing caused the enemy to make another charge, and just before sunset Brant massed his entire strength on Hathom's north, which was the only place where a charge could be made without climbing a hill, and with terrorizing threats against the Yankees and hideous yells they swooped down into the very midst of the square. Here the exhausted lit- tle army received them with fixed bayonets and clubbed muskets, holding them in check for some time. Col. Tusten, seeing the advantage the Indians had gained, called Capt. Cuddeback and requested him to try to stop the retreat. This was impossible, for it had become too general. Here I wish to pay a tribute to one of the greatest of Revolu- tionary heroes, Col. Benjamin Tusten, for what requires greater heroism than to stay on the field of battle and die for friends? I can imagine I see that faithful physician standing at his post, where such a high and important duty had placed him, watch- ing the receding forms of the routed army as it retreated pre- cipitately down the hill toward the river. That this brave man never left his post of duty was made evident by the fact that forty-three years after the battle the bones of eighteen skeletons were found at the Hospital Rock on the field where he died de- fending his wounded companions. 61 Prof. Twichell, in closing, read an extract from the report of Col. Hathorn to Gov. Clinton* depicting the terrors of the battle and commending the bravery of the men. He also quoted from his own forthcoming book, "History of the Minisink Country," the follow- ing: "There was no glorj^ in the battle of Minisink. For the Colonists there was naught but defeat and disaster, and for their foe a partially satisfied thirst for human blood. Although the Colonists fought in a just cause and with unparalleled heroism to drive a plundering foe from their homes and recover their stolen stock, there was no glory in the battle for them. For they felt their army was destroyed and many of their comrades slain. All who heard the Mohawk chief, when the battle was pressing hard on his braves, calling for those guarding the spoils across the river to return and reinforce him, never forgot the thunderous tones of his powerful voice. And there was no glory in the battle for the Savages and Tories, for although they gained a victory, in a sense of the word, yet the cries of their wounded and the bodies of their dead on and about the battlefield convinced them that the victory was dearly bought. *"Dear Governor, it's not in my power to point out to you the disagree- able situation I was in, surrounded by a foe, with such a handful of valu- able men, not onh' as soldiers but as fellow citizens and members of society, and nothing to be expected but the hatchet, spear and scalping- knife. The tremendous yells and whoops! All the fiends in the confines of the Infernal Region, with one united cry, could not exceed it. Add to this the cries and petitions of the wounded around me, not to leave them, was beyond parallel or idea. My heart bleeds for the unfortunate wounded who fell into their hands. However, circumstances give me a little con- solation. Mr. Rodger Townsend of Goshen received a wound in his thigh: being exceedingly thirsty, making an attempt to go to find some water, was met by an Indian, who, very friendly, took him by the hand and said he was his prisoner and would not hurt him. A well directed ball from one of our men put the Indian into a dose and Mr. Townsend ran back to the lines. I hope some little humanity may yet be found in the breasts of the savages. I should be at the greatest loss was I to attempt to point out any officer or soldier who exceeded another in bravery during the time of the general action. Too much praise cannot be given them for their attention in receiving orders and alacrity in executing them." 62 For there were nearly as many of Brant's army slain as the entire number of Colonial troops engaged in the conflict. And although the Revolution lasted for four years after tlus battle they never made a subsequent raid on Minisink. They had made a raid on the unprotected inhabitants of the Minisink valley the year before and escaped with their plunder immolested. But the battle of Minisink was such an effectual chastisement to them that they were glad to get back to Fort Niagara. Had the ammunition of the whites held out a little longer they would have won a decisive victory and re- covered their own. Their hearts were bleeding from the fact that all of their wounded whose suffering was not ended by the merciless tomahawk were left unat- tended and unguarded to die a lingering death far from home and friends. And the disaster cast such a gloom over the entire Minisink region that it was many years before even an effort was made to collect and bury the dead. The fact that the whites M'^ere unable to recover their property depressed them ver^'^ much; but what wrung their hearts most and caused the bitterest sorrow was bearing the news to those bereaved that their loved ones were slain or dying of wounds in a dense wilderness and left to the mercy of a savage foe or the ravages of wild animals. ACROSTIC To Benjamin Tusten, by the Author. Bravery is not in sounding words but deeds; Every man should do, not say, his part. Not every one that strives succeeds, Just in the consumation of his art. Answer every query of your busy life, Making those who question more sincere; In the din or lull of battle strife. Naught but gallant spirits give good cheer. Tusten laid his sword and gun aside 63 Under the shadow rock upon the field, Soothed his wounded and, himself, denied 'Till his long lamented fate was sealed. Every son should drop, for him, a tear 'Neath Hospital rock, where was his bier. CONFUSION OF DATES IN REFERENCE TO THE MINISINK INVASION AND BATTLE. According to records recently found by Victor M. Drake there must have been at least a warning of Brant's coming to Minisink as early as the 17th, or three days before he actually appeared. The order is as follows: "To Caleb Goldsmith, Sergt. : You are hereby requested to warn your class and march to Minisink, hereof fail not as you will answer the county. Given under my hand this 17th day of July, 1779. Samuel Jones, Captain. The fact that Benjamin Dunning, one of the class, was killed in the battle is evidence that this order was carried out. The alarm which caused this order may have come from some outposts where Brant had made his appearance. THE MINISINK BATTLE. There are several reasons why the Minisink battle was one of the most noted battles of the Revolution. In the first place the alarm of Brant's invasion and the call for Hathorn's army to march to Minisink came just after *Gen. Washington had ordered that commander *Gen. Washington had planned the capture of Stony Point and Gen. Anthony Wayne (Mad Anthony) by a brilliant dash had taken the fort and captured 600 prisoners. As this happened only 5 or six days before the battle of Minisink it is supposed that Washington was sending a por- tion of these prisoners to the Easton prison on the Delaware, when he sent the order to the Warwick commander for him to furnish a guard of 100 men to accompany them to their destination. This order was very unfortunate for Hathorn and his army and there is not the slightest doubt but the "Father of his Country" would have countermanded the order, had he known of the urgent need of these three companies at the impending battle which took place a few days later. 64 to detail one hundred men of his regiment for a guard to escort British prisoners to Easton. This deprived Col. Hathorn of one company that he should have had in the battle, and it is evident that if he had marched against Brant with his entire army he would have won the battle and destroyed the devastating band. As it afterward proved, according to Hathorn's official re- port, if the ammunition had not run short, or if Col. Seward, who was hurrying to his aid with ninety-three men, had not been detained by a mutiny which arose among the soldiers, he most assuredh^ would have been a victor. In the second place the battle was fought in a rocky wilderness where the Indians who were accustomed to stratagem could take every advantage. The incident of the battle related by Daniel Myers, one of the survivors of the battle, gives some of the ad- vantages taken by the Savages. Tliis incident also bears out Col. Hathorn in what he says in his report about Brant being reinforced from Cochecton, for the Tories of that settlement had numerous slaves. Daniel Myers lived many years after the battle and was one of the committee appointed to gather the bones in 1822. He said, "The tightest place I got into in the battle was just after Brant's reinforcements came. I was sta- tioned behind a tree with considerable open space around me on all sides, firing at the enemy whenever a head or even a feather appeared from behind a rock or tree. All at once I saw a negro dart behind a large tree, after he had fired a shot at me which was evidently a running shot and went wide of the mark. This caused me to move further around the tree and in an instant a ball from another direction struck the tree, which not only glanced and wounded me but filled my eyes with bark and dust. There I was for several moments between 65 two fires: an Indian on one side and a negro on the other, but I managed by taking advantage of the one with the empty gun to kill them both." When the re- treat begun I managed to make my way to the river and swim across, holding my gun up with one arm." Another reason why this battle was noted was the fact that, although the Indians and Tories succeeded in routing the Orange County militia and murdering so many of them as prisoners, the enemy's loss in killed and wounded was so great that Brant himself acknowledged, afterward, the battle was a great calamity to his army. Col. Seward and others who lay near Brant's en- campment the night following the battle, and saw the Savages the next day bearing away the wounded in canoes, reported that his loss was very great. They said the ground where the enemy encamped the night of July 22d was strewn with bloody rags and plasters and clots of blood so that the whole surroundings gave evi- dence of great suffering and a great number of dead and wounded. There has been a tendency among historians to pic- ture Hathorn's retreat as a rout bordering almost on annihilation ; but from that commander's own statement in reference to the retreat, the conditions have been mis- represented. He said, in speaking about the enemj^ having forced the north line of the hollow square: "Here we gave them a severe gaul. Our people, not being able to sup- port the lines, retreated down the hill precipitately toward the river. The enemy kept up a constant fire on our right, which was returned." And in another part of his report he tells about rescuing some of the stolen cattle and returning them to the owners at Minisink. m DEATH OF JUDGE WISNER. Brant killed *Gabriel Wisner with his own hand. In after years, while on a visit to New York, he declared that he found Wisner, when the battle was over, so badly wounded that he could not live or be removed; that if he was left alone on the field the wild beasts would devour him; that he was in full possession of all his faculties ; that for a man to be eaten while alive by ravenous beasts was terrible; and that to save Wisner from such a fate he engaged him in conversation and, when unobserved, struck liim dead. Such barbarous mercy may seem strange to us ; but it is not inconsistent with the character of a semi-civiHzed Savage. Captain Benjamin Vail was wounded in the battle, and after the rout was found seated upon a rock and bleeding. He was killed while in this situation by a Tory. Several of the fugitives were shot while attempting to escape by swimming the Delaware. Of those en- gaged in the battle, thirty escaped and forty-five, it is known, were killed. The balance were taken prisoners or perished while fugitives in the wilderness. Among the killed was Moses Thomas, 2d, a son of the pioneer of that name, who was shot near the old Cushetunk blockhouse. The son was slain by a Tory named Cor- nelius Cole. Major Wood of the militia, though not a Mason, ac- cidentally gave the Masonic sign of distress. This was observed by Brant. Faithful to his pledge, the red Master saved Wood's life and gave him his own blanket to protect him from the night air while sleeping. He *Gabriel Wisner was a verv eccentric man and years before the battle 01 Minisink he made himself very obnoxious to the British crown by takina: a sledge and breaking a keystone which the English king had sent over from Europe for the arch in the jail building the people of Orange County were constructing at Goshen. 67 two fires: an Indian on one side and a negro on the other, but I managed by taking advantage of the one with the empty gun to kill them both." When the re- treat begun I managed to make my way to the river and swim across, holding my gun up with one arm." Another reason why this battle was noted was the fact that, although the Indians and Tories succeeded in routing the Orange County militia and murdering so many of them as prisoners, the enemy's loss in killed and wounded was so great that Brant himself acknowledged, afterward, the battle was a great calamity to his army. Col. Seward and others who lay near Brant's en- campment the night following the battle, and saw the Savages the next day bearing away the wounded in canoes, reported that his loss was very great. They said the ground where the enemy encamped the night of July 22d was strewn with bloody rags and plasters and clots of blood so that the whole surroundings gave evi- dence of great suffering and a great number of dead and wounded. There has been a tendency among historians to pic- ture Hathorn's retreat as a rout bordering almost on annihilation ; but from that commander's own statement in reference to the retreat, the conditions have been mis- represented. He said, in speaking about the enemj^ having forced the north line of the hollow square: "Here we gave them a severe gaul. Our people, not being able to sup- port the lines, retreated down the hill precipitately toward the river. The enemy kept up a constant fire on our right, which was returned." And in another part of his report he tells about rescuing some of the stolen cattle and returning them to the owners at Minisink. 66 DEATH OF JUDGE WISNER. Brant killed *Gabriel Wisner with his own hand. In after years, while on a visit to New York, he declared that he found Wisner, when the battle was over, so badly wounded that he could not live or be removed; that if he was left alone on the field the wild beasts would devour him; that he was in full possession of all his faculties; that for a man to be eaten while alive by ravenous beasts was terrible; and that to save Wisner from such a fate he engaged him in conversation and, when unobserved, struck liim dead. Such barbarous mercy may seem strange to us ; but it is not inconsistent with the character of a semi-civilized Savage. Captain Benjamin Vail was wounded in the battle, and after the rout was found seated upon a rock and bleeding. He was killed while in this situation by a Tory. Several of the fugitives were shot while attempting to escape by swimming the Delaware. Of those en- gaged in the battle, thirt}^ escaped and forty-five, it is known, were killed. The balance were taken prisoners or perished while fugitives in the wilderness. Among the killed was Moses Thomas, •2d, a son of the pioneer of that name, who was shot near the old Cushetunk blockhouse. The son was slain by a Tory named Cor- nelius Cole. Major Wood of the militia, though not a INIason, ac- cidentally gave the INIasonic sign of distress. This was observed by Brant. Faithful to his pledge, the red Master saved Wood's life and gave him his own blanket to protect him from the night air while sleeping. He *Gabriel Wisner was a very eccentric man and years before the battle or Minisink he made himself very obnoxious to the British crown by taking a sledge and breaking a keystone which the English king had sent over from Europe for the arch in the jail building the people of Orange County were constructing at Goshen. 67 subsequently discovered that Wood was not one of the brotherhood and denounced him as dishonorable, but spared his Hfe. (After his release, Wood assumed the obligations of this ancient and honorable fraternity.) The blanket was accidentally damaged while in the pris- oner's possession, which made Brant very angry. He then treated Wood w^ith much harshness. One of the militia attempted to escape with the others, but was so exhausted he was obliged to turn aside to rest. In a httle while he saw one Indian after another running in the direction liis friends had gone. They continued to pass until a very powerful Savage discovered him, when the man fired his last shot and fled. The red man did not follow. He was probably disabled by the shot, if not Idlled. The name of this militiaman we beheve was Cuddeback. * Samuel Helrri, of the Mamakating family of that name, and a grandson of Manuel Gonsalus, the first settler of that town, was wounded, but being an expert woodman as well as Indian fighter, escaped. He was stationed behind a tree, when he saw an Indian thrust his head from behind a neighboring trunk and peer around as if looking for a chance to shoot a patriot. The Sav- age had on his neck what appeared to be a black silk handkerchief. At this Helm fired. Much to his satis- faction, the Indian fell upon the ground, apparently From Quinlin's Sullivan County. * Helm, in relating the adventure to our informant (Lawrence Masten) said the astonishment of the redskin when he was imexpectedly confronted with the muzzle of the gun was truly ridiculous. Helm then managed to get to a piece of low land near the battlefield, and finally to the river. His trail was made plain by his own blood. He knew he would be fol- lowed and killed if he did not baffle his pursuers. He therefore plunged into the river and managed to pass down some distance with the current. Then he got ashore and hid among the rocks. As he anticipated, the Sav- ages tracked him to the river bank, where he saw them hold a brief con- sultation and look up and down the stream. Not seeing him, they turned back, and he saw them no more. Here he managed to stop the flow of blood from his wound and remained until it was safe to commence his lonely and weary journey back to the valley of the Neversink. He reached it after much suffering. 68 dead; but not much to his satisfaction, he himself was immediately shot through one of his thighs by another of Brant's men. The wound seemed to take away sen- sation and strength from the limb, and Helm dropped to the earth, but kept behind his natural breastw^ork. The Indian did not at once rush up to scalp Helm, being- anxious to ascertain first w^hether it was safe to do so. This gave the wliite man a chance to reload his rifle. After dodging around a little, the other made a dash for Helm's scalp; but instead of getting it, received a bullet which put an end to his life. Benjamin Whitaker, who afterwards lived and died at Deposit, was wounded during the day, but kept on fighting until he became sick and faint from the loss of blood. He then retired to a safe place, where he staunched the blood with tow from his cartridge box, and binding up the wound with a handkerchief, again joined eagerly in the fight. John Whitaker (a brother of Benjamin) was in the hottest of the battle, and, although he received nine bul- let holes through his hat and clothes, escaped uninjured. Allusion has been made to Sullivan's expedition against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations in the Sum- mer of 1779. He passed through Warwarsing, Mama- kating and Deerpark; crossed the Delaware; follow^ed it down to Easton; then w^ent to Wyoming, where his army numbered three thousand ; from the latter place he conveyed his artillery and stores up the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, where he arrived about fifteen days after the battle, near the mouth of the Lackawaxen. Here he waited for the division of his army under General James Clinton. Clinton marched by the way of Canajoharie, Lake Otsego and the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, which he reached on the 22d of August. Brant, in re- turning to Canada, was too shrewd to follow the road 69 blocked by these forces. A few days after the battle on the banks of the Delaware, and while Clinton was delayed at Lake Otsego, he fell upon a village in the JNIohawk Valley. Therefore, he must have avoided the Susquehanna and continued on up the Delaware, prob- ably following the West or Mohawk branch, and around Clinton's rear. Abraham Bennett was a boy at the time of the battle of jNIinisink; but when Tusten was leaving Goshen he became very anxious to join the expedition against Brant; and having had some experience in the fife and drum corps, he begged his father, *Benjamin Bennett, who was one of the militia, to let him go as drummer boy. The drum corps did not go any farther than jNIini- sink. There they were advised by Capt. Tyler and his men, who had come down the Delaware Valley from Cochecton, to return home, as the march of the army would be through a vast wilderness and the hardships would be too great for their endurance. BRITISH EXAGGERATE HATHORN'S DEFEAT. The British in New York published a very exagger- ated account of the Minisink battle, which is, in part, as follows: "A person just arrived from Joseph Brant and * Benjamin Bennett was severely wounded in the thigh, and when the retreat began, after the battle, he besought one of his companions to aid him in making his escape. The wounded inan clung to his friend, thinking that if he could reach water and slake his thirst he would have strength sufficient to get away into the forest and hide for the night and proceed toward home the next morning. They succeeded in getting as far as a spring (supposed to be the large one east of the plateau on the Twichell farm) when they heard the enemy coming close upon them. Mr. Bennett, being very much exhausted and knowing what his fate would be, drew his pocketbook from his pocket and handing it to his friend, said, "Flee for your life and, if you reach Goshen, give this to my wife." His companion, reluctantly, took it from his hand and fled, but before he was out of hearing, the death yell reached his ears' and he knew Benjamin Bennett was dispatched by the cruel tomahawk. His friend reached home after great suffering to deliver the pocketbook and bring the sorrowful news to Mrs. Bennett that she was a widow and her children orphans. 70 his brethren stated that Erant had with him only sixty Indians and twenty white men." The same account gives the following returns: "Among the principaL inhabi- tants killed were Col. Benjamin Tusten, Jr., Capt. Sam'l Jones, Capt. Jno. Little, Capt. Jno. Wood, Capt. Duncan, Capt. Benj. Vail, Capt. Reat Tyler, Adj. Nath'l Fink, Lieut. Benj. Dunning, Lieut. Sam'l Knapp, Lieut. Jno. Wood, Lieut. Abraham Shepherd, Justice Gab. Wisner, Justice Roger Townsend, Justice Wm. Barker, Com'r Jas. Knapp, Com'r Jas. Moshier and Gilbert A'^ail. Wounded, Maj. Hans Decker, ]Maj. Sam'l JNIeeker of the :Minisink Militia. Out of 149 that went out 30 returned — missing 119." Hathorn's report of the missing gives 21 men. It seems a delicate task to reconcile either of these reports with the names inscribed on the old Goshen monument, which are 44 in number. It has also been claimed that some of the 44 names there inscribed have been found on old deeds and records which were executed by them long after the battle was fought; but as the commander himself was there when the old monimient was erected and laid the cornerstone, and was, no doubt, consulted with reference to the num- ber of the slain, we cannot dispute the record on the enduring stone. It would seem that Col. Hathorn made his report from the soldiers and citizens who were missing from Warwick, Goshen and the immediate vicinity, and after- ward learned of the other 23 men; because he does not seem to have included JMatthew Terwilliger, of Mini- sink, and several others of Cochecton and vicinity in his report. Another version which might afford a rea- sonable conciliation, is that during the forty-three years which elapsed between the battle and the burial all those who may have died from their wounds received in that 71 engagement may have been counted worthy to have their names placed on the monument to perpetuate their memory. A PRISONER'S PERIL. In the evening after the battle the monster Brant was proceeding to tie JMaj. Wood by brute force. The Major remonstrated, said: "I am a gentleman and promise not to escape." He was not tied but laid be- tween two Indians, and told that should he attempt to escape he should be tomahawked. The blanket on which he lay took fire in the night, but he dared not move lest the tomahawk should cleave liis brain. He lay still until the fire reached his feet. He then kicked it out, without disturbing his guard. It was Brant's blanket and ever after the Chief treated him very harshh\ When INIaj. Wood asked Brant why he maltreated him so. Brant, flying into a passion, replied with an oath, "Because you burnt my blanket!" Wood's life was spared by accidentally giving the Masonic sign to Brant, who was a member of that order. When the Mohawk learned that Wood was not a ]\Iason he treated the prisoner with withering scorn. Wood lived to return to his family in Goshen after the close of the war. Through the courtesy of Att'y J. W. Gott of Goshen, who is a descendant of Col. Tusten, the author is able to give the legible parts of Wood's Journal which he brought back with him from Canada. "I left home July ye 20, 1779, and was taken the twenty- second, about eighteen miles above Menesing after a severe conflict which laster almost the whole day. I received two wounds, one before I was taken and one after I was taken, and had the mortification of seeing several of my countrymen tomahawked and one after he had been a prisoner some time — • the 23 marcht to Kashaton — from thence up the Kukhous 72 Branch to Kukhous, where we arrived 27 — from thence to the Susquehanah River — At this place Capt. Brant left us and went up the river with a small scout and I was left with Capt. Wm. Johnson, an Indian, who used kindly. We set off down the river and ye 31 *Tuscororor John, an Indian chief died of his wounds, —a Chomong an Indian town His gun — I lay at this place till ye 10 of August, during which I suffered much with hunger. I was obliged to eat hides that was S . I was sent away in the night to another Indian town called Shokonot. At this place I was left in care of Capt. huff, a white man. Left this place ye 13 in the morning and was made to run 5 or six miles withdut stopping, with three Indians be- hind me and two before — accuse of this was an alarm. I ar- rived at Catherine town the same day I was again put in care of a white man and left this place ye 16. Met Buttler's rangei's and a number of Indians goin to meet the American army, ye 17 reached an Indian town called nnel Orchard." (At this point the page is illegible.) The unfortunate prisoner speaks of a lake — an Indian town and a boat near a river under the command of Lieut. Fry, and allowance of half a pint of oatmeal each day. Here received some clothing, for he was stripped when taken. Was made to row when weak with hunger. Saw Col. Stacy, who was taken prisoner at Cherry Valley- Drew cloth for shirt but was a long time before he could get it made. Was for some time clad with all articles of clothing except pants. Finally arrived at Fort Niagara was escorted to large stone house by guard. Complains of being confined in dungeon with several others with very bad air. Was removed to Montreal and from thence to St. Johns. (The latter part of book is gone, but it is known from history that Wood was exchanged for a prisoner who was confined at Albany and returned to Goshen about 1783 at the close of the Revolu- tion. It is intimated by some letters, wi-itten by ]Maj. Wood wliich are also in possession of ^Ir. Gott, tliat the Continental Congress by a special act made provision for the widows and orphans caused by the battle of Minisink and some otlier battles of the Revolution by offering large tracts of Government land to such as would move on it and occupy it. * Tuscororor John, no doubt, was the chief who was wounded and mis- taken by Col. Hathorn for Brant; for the Commander says in his report to Gov. Clinton, "The Indians were under the command of Brant, who was either killed or wounded in the action." THE GATHERING OF THE BONES OF THE SLAIN. The following extract is from the Independent Re- puhliean of Goshen, dated April 29, 1822: "All the bones that could be found of the brave men who fell in the battle of Minisink were collected from the battle- ground on Wednesday last and brought to the village on the day following. They are now in possession of the committee, with whom they will remain until the aniversary of the day upon which the battle was fought. In securing the bones, neither pains nor expense were spared. The party traveled about forty miles the first day and half of that distance was a complete wilderness. They put up for the night at Mrs. Watkins', who lived about six miles from the battle ground to which they proceeded the next morning. Some left their horses behind, it being very difficult to get along with a horse. The country around was a complete wilderness, scarcel}^ ex- hibiting a trace of human footsteps. The battle was commenced on the bank of the Delaware op- posite the mouth of the Lackawack and terminated about three- quarters of a mile from the river. It was a matter of astonish- ment to many of the party when they were shown the course taken by our troops. Some of the descents are really fright- ful. Most of the bones were found on the ground where the battle was fought ; but some were found some distance away, which undoubtedly belonged to the wounded who had died from hunger and fatigue." All of the bones of the unburied slain were not found by the Orange County Committee in April, 1822, for about twenty years after some hunters reported to the citizens of Barry ville, N. Y., that other bones had been located, and these citizens organized a party to go to the battleground and collect them and bring them to that town. They then set apart a certain day and ar- ranged for public services in which many public men took part. After the ceremonies and in accordance with the programme the bones were then interred in the old 74 burying ground in the rear of the Congregational Church. Several years afterward, about 1847, the time of the enlargement of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, an- other skeleton was found by the late Isaac Mills of Lackawaxen. He was searching for N. B. Johnston's cows in the mountainside about opposite the mouth of the Lackawaxen River, when he discovered a complete skeleton under a ledge of rocks. There was no doubt about tliis being one of the unfortunate w^ounded of the Minisink militia, because there still remained sufficient traces of his army equipment to determine that he had been a soldier. Mr. INIills reported to his employer what he had found, and acted as a guide to a party of canal em- ployees who brought the remains to Lackawaxen, where they made a coffin and placed them in their final rest- ing place in the old burying ground on the river bank in front of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Lackawaxen. THE INDIAN DEAD. It was not positively known where the Indians buried their dead until the Delaware and Hudson Canal was constructed in 1828, when the workmen accidentally dug into their trenches as they were excavating for the locks in front of the DelaM^are House, near Lacka- waxen. Traces of these old locks may yet be seen on the point at the confluence of the two rivers. The dead warriors were not only found in these trenches, but many of the weapons of their savage warfare, such as spear-heads, arrow-heads, tomahawks, etc. BONES DISCOVERED AROUND A SPRING. A number of years after the battle, while many of the survivors were still living, a scouting party was or- 75 ganized at Minisink to visit the place of the conflict. In returning they stopped in the house of Joseph Cowen at Handsome Eddy and related what they had seen on the battleground. In some places parts of skeletons were preserved by being in swampy places, in others by being under ledges. One body was dis- covered near where the present monument now stands, with a rude wall around it, as if honored by a rude burial on account of some gallant deed. Joseph Carpenter, who lived on the Beaver brook, where the old "Cochecton Trail" crossed that stream, and who helped the Orange County Committee in gath- ering the bones, told of this particular incident, and pointed out the rude sepulchre to the late Samuel West of Yulan, N. Y. Traces of this enclosure were quite plain until 1879, the workmen, through some misunder- standing, used these stones as well as other parts of the breastworks in building the monument. The author has every reason to believe that the heroic *Dr. Tusten may have been honored by Brant and his followers and their appreciation of bravery shown in that way. INCIDENTS OF THE ROUT AND RETREAT. Capt. Abraham Cuddeback was called to consult with Dr. Tusten about trying to rally the men just as the retreat began, and consequently was the last man to leave the ground. He was very hotly pursued by the Savages and ran in the direction his men had gone until he was entirely exhausted. He then stepped a short distance out of the path, cocked his gun and waited for some time without being discovered. He saw the In- * Dr. Tusten was Surrogate of Orange County at the time of his death and held other prominent positions in society. He left a wife and several children, the yoimgest of which never saw her father. 76 dians one after another running in the direction the white had gone. Finally a large and powerful Savage turned and caught a glimpse of him, when he fired his last shot and fled. The Indian did not follow, so he was supposed to be either killed or severely wounded. The Captain continued his course toward the river until he came to very steep rocks. He then slid down where he found a good place of concealment. Here he stayed until it grew dark, when he proceeded home. John Wallace, of JMinisink, was severely wounded and became separated from his. captain, in the retreat. During the battle these two men managed to keep to- gether and each acted as a guard of the other. Occa- sionally the captain would warn his companion to keep back, but he would exclaim as he sallied out seeking an- other opportunity to fire. "I want to get at them." "If I can only get sight of them." The next day Captain Cuddeback reached Minisink and reported all he knew of John Wallace to the anxious wife and children. For three days they mourned for the missing man, when unexpectedly he came home with three deerskins on his back, to the great joy of his family and friends. He had hunted on his way home and feasted on roasted venison. GEN. HATHORN'S ADDRESS AT THE BURIAL OF THE BONES AT GOSHEN, JULY 22, 1822. At the end of three and forty years, we have assembled to perform the sad rites of sepulture to the bones of our country- men and kindred. But these alone are not sufficient; policy has united with the gratitude of nations in erecting some memorial of the virtues of those, who died in defending their country. Monuments to the brave are mementoes to their descendants ; the honors they record are stars to the patriot in the path of glory. Beneath the mausoleum whose foundation we now lay, repose all that was earthly of patriots and heroes. 77 This honor has been long their due, but circumstances, which it is unnecessary for me to recount, have prevented an earlier display of the gratitude of their country. Having command on that melancholy occasion, Avhich bereft the nation of so many of its brightest ornaments — having been the companion of their suffering in a pathless desert, and a witness of their valor against a savage foe of superior numbers, I approach the duty assigned me with mingled feeling of sadness and pleasure. May this monument endure with the liberties of our countrv ; when they perish, this land will be no longer worthy to hold within its bosom the consecrated bones of its heroes. ADDRESS OF DR. WILSON (ORATOR OF THE DAY), DE- LIVERED TO ABOUT 15,000 PEOPLE ON THE SAME OCCASION. Forty-three years ago this day and at this very hour of the day, the brave men, whose bones are enclosed in these coffins, were not only hazarding, but sacrificing their lives for the protection of their wives, their children, their homes, and their country. You have before you, fellow citizens, the re- mains of some of those heroes, whose blood paid the price of our freedom and independence ; for they fell in battle, at that period, when this nation, through perils the most tremendous, was struggling into existence — at a time when an old and gigantic monarchy in the title spirit of despotic power, was putting forth all her energies, to hold us in a state of vassalage and destroy for ever the cause of liberty, at the moment of its dawn on the new World. But I do not now recount the deeds of valor, nor the counsel of wisdom, which were made the means of procuring for our country all the blessings, which she now enjoys in such pro- fusion. On this topic a thousand tongues were eloquent, on the late anniversary of our Independence. Nor do I now call your attention to the benign providential administration of "the Prince of the kings of the earth," whose arm wrought for us deliverance ; though an ample theme that well deserve to occupy more of the public attention, and to awaken more gratitude, in the celebration of our great national festival. There is one feature of tlie policy of our enemy, in manag- ing her most unjust and unnatural warfare against us, which - 78 merits special notice, as immediately connected with the dis- astrous event over which we are called to mourn — I mean her more than inhuman emplo3'ment of the tomahawk and scalp- ing knife of the Savages to butcher our peaceful citizens — a policy which stains forever the pride of British glory. In ancient times when war was waged against any nation, hoary-aged women and children were equally the object of its destructive fury with the warrior in the field of battle. The cruel feature of war has been softened, or rather obliterated, by the progress of civilization ; and by common consent of civil- ized nations, the soldier in arms only is the object of attack, while the unarmed citizen of evei-y class remains unmolested — a law of nations which divests war of more than half its hoiTors. But this amelioration in the laws of war has not reached the savages of our wilderness who spare no age nor sex — all are the objects of their indiscriminate butchery. Their tomahawk sinks into the head of the sucking child, while reeking with blood of the mother. Such was the warfare to which the British cabinet allied itself, "shaking hands with the savage scalping knife and tomahawk." Notwithstanding the loud 'remonstrance of its most enlightened statesmen, the parliament of Great Britain employed the savage hords to murder in cold blood the unoffending women and children of our western frontiers. All that the most sanguinary tyrant could have desired, did the savage allies of our enemies perpetrate. The blood of murdered thousands yet cries for vengeance on the British throne. Who can imagine, much less recount, the terrors and sufferings of our western people, while the Indian tomahawk was raised over their heads or bathed in their blood.'' Yet, I see the pillars of smoke ascend from their burning cottages along the western border fi*om the plains of Kentucky to the mountains of the Minisink — the flames of their houses glaring on the darkness of midnight, and hear the screams of women and children awakened from their slumbers by the blaze of tlieir dwellings, and the warwhoop of the Savage. Yes, all this was more than realized. One chieftain was distinguished above all others, in this murderous carnage — I mean Col. Joseph Brant. His father was a German and his mother a Mohawk Indian. He, was at an early age placed in Dartmouth College, where he received many kind attentions, and possessing no ordinary powers, ac- 79 quired a good education ; and thus he was dandled on the knees, and sucked the breast, of that country, whose sons and daugh- ters he was by Britished cruelty, commissioned to massacre. Early in the Revolutionary War, he received from George III a Colonel's commission, appointing him to the command of the six, in the northern and western parts of New York. It was he who is styled by Campbell, in a note to his "Gertrude of Wyoming," "the monster Brant" and who was a leader in the dreadful massacre, which desolated the blooming fields of fair Wyoming in the Autumn of 1778. The ferocity of his savage nature was not tamed by educa- tion — in him the blood of the barbarian extinguished every spark of civilization that might have been kindled in his con- stitution. He was more cunning than the fox and fiercer than the tiger. With three hundred of his warriors he set'out from Niagara in June, 1779, to fall upon the western frontiers of this state. There was also under his command, painted like Indians, about two hundred Tories, who, through courtesy, we often hear called, "disaffected," "the friends of the British Government," etc. I prefer to call them by the good old Revo- lutionary name, "Tories." After the middle of July, they appeared on the west of Mini- sink, like a dark cloud hanging on the mountain top, ready to break on the plain below, in thunder and lightning, tempest and hail. On the morning of the twentieth, the inhabitants were awakened from their slumbers by the flames of their dwellings, and fled in consternation. Their farms were laid waste and their cattle and other property plundered by a detachment of his execrable band, whom Brant had sent out for the work of robbery and murder. On the evening of the same day. Col. Tusten of Goshen, re- ceived b}^ express, intelligence of the events of the morning, and issued orders to the officers of his regiment, to meet him on the morning of the twenty-first, with as many volunteers as they could raise, at Minisink, which he had fixed as the place of rendezvous. The officers, generally, with the small force which they could raise and equip on so short a notice, met the Colonel at the place appointed, where they held a council i>f war, and discussed the question whether they should pursue the Savages or not. Col. Tusten wisely opposed the pursuit, as Brant, a skillful warrior, was probably the com- 80 mander, as the enemy's force appeared to be much superior to them, and as they had with them many Tories who were well acquainted with the woods ; while they had only a small force, were ill supplied with ammunition, and at the same time ex- pected reinforcement. The majority, however, were in favor of pursuing the Indians, who they said would not fight, and from whom they should endeavoi to recover the plunder. In the midst of these deliberations, Maj. Meeker mounted his horse, flourished his sword, and said, "Let the brave men follow me; the cowards may stay behind." As may be readily thought, this decided the question ; they all took up the line of march and proceeded that evening seventeen miles and encamped for the night. On the next morning they were joined by a small reinforcement under Col. Hathorn of the Warwick regiment, who, being an older officer than Col. Tusten, took the com- mand. When they had advanced a few miles to Halfway Brook, they came upon the place where the Indians had en- camped the preceding night, and another council was held there. Cols. Hathorn, Tusten and others whose valor was governed by prudence, were opposed to advancing farther, as the number of Indian fires, and the extent of ground occupied by their encampment, removed all doubt as to the superiority of the force of the enemy. Here the same scene which broke up the former council was re-acted, and with tlie same effect. Capt. Tyler, who had some knowledge of the woods, was sent foinvard at the head of a small scouting party, to reconnoitre the movements of the enemy, and give notice of the best grounds for attacking him. But he had not advanced far be- fore he was killed, a circumstance which created considerable alarm. As our troops were marching north on the hills west of the Delaware, about nine in the morning, they discovered the Indians, advancing leisurely along the bank of the river, about three-quarters of a mile distant. Brant had sent forward the plunder under an escort to a fording place of the Delaware, near the mouth of the Lacka- wack, wlierc lie intended to cross tlie river. Col. Hathorn wished to intercept him before he reached that place. Owing to intervening woods and hills, the two aitnies soon lost sight of each other, and Brant, instead of advancing along the bank of the Delaware, wheeled to the right, and passing up a deep ravine, over which our troops had marched, and thus he, cros- 81 sing our line of march, showed himself on our rear, about ten o'clock. By this skillful manoeuver he not only took us by surprise but chose his own ground for commencing the attack. Col. Hathorn, as the men were ill supplied with ammunition, issued an order like that of Gen. Putnam at Bunker Hill, not to fire a single shot until the enemy was near enough to make it take effect. Just at that moment an Indian was seen riding a horse that had been stolen from Minisink on the twentieth, and was known to one of our men who immediately fired on him and killed him. The fire soon became general. At the commencement about fifty of Col. Hathoni's men were cut off from the main body and could not be brought into the engagement, leaving between eighty and ninety men only to contend with the whole force of the enemy, five times their number. Every thing that the most determined bravery could effect was effected. Soon after the commencement of the battle they were completely surrounded by the Savages on the summit of the hill, descending on all sides, and the ground which they occupied among the rocks and bushes was about an acre in extent, which they maintained in an obstinate conflict from be- tween ten and eleven in the morning, until late in the after- noon. The wounded were collected in a secure place under a rock, to the number of seventeen ; where Col. Tusten, who was a skilled surgeon, dressed their wounds. So deadly was our fire, that had it not began to slacken on account of the failure of ammunition, Brant afterward ad- mitted that he would have been compelled to retreat. Several attempts to break into our lines had failed, but just as the fire began to slacken, one man who had guarded the northwest angle of the hollow square and who had kept up from behind a rock, a destructive fire upon the enemy fell, and the Indian and Tory crew broke in upon our troops like a resistless deluge. The yell of the Savages, the screams of the wounded calling upon their companions not to forsake them, and the groans of the dying presented a scene of horror which beggars all description. Col. Tusten probably fell, determined not to abandon the wounded. All the rest fled in every direction, and more were killed in the flight than fell in the battle. Some swam across the Delaware, while others were drowned in at- tempting to cross. 82 Out of eighty, who were in the engagement, forty-four were killed, chiefly militia officers, the most respectable citizens who had offered themselves willingly before their men could be equipped. Some were wounded, who died by a lingering and protracted death, whose wounds were not in themselves mortal, but they were forced to suffer under them, inflamed by the heat of the weather and from want of dressing, while they were distressed with hunger and burning fever, no one to administer them a drop of water, or cheer the protracted agonies of death by a sympathizing word or look — Thus died a father, a husband or a brother far from his home in the cheerless solitude of the mountains. Sternitur infelix alleno xmluere coelumque Aspicit, et dulces moriens remimscitiir agros. (Hapless he falls by wounds which the cruel foe inflicted; looks to Heaven for aid, and dying remembers his sweet native place.) What horrors surround such a death ! How ungrateful that they should be thus suffered to perish for want of aid ! For forty-three years, too, their bones were suffered to whiten among the rocks of the mountain, after their flesh had been devoured by wild beasts, and of some, perhaps, before they were dead. It was not that widows, of whom there were thii*ty-three in the Presbyterian congregation, were regardless of the re- mains of their husbands, who were dear to them as their own lives ; for they engaged and paid a man to conduct them to the fatal woods of slaughter, where they intended to collect and bury them. They set out on horseback, but had not proceeded far before they were forced to return. How could females ride over the rugged and pathless mountains ? The man went on, promising to perform the duty which they had piously attempted, but he violated his promise and never returned to tell them that he had done so. But in the county it had long been known that the bones of these heroes were thus ungratefully neglected. Were their sufferings, their agonies, their deaths, for the pro- tection of their wives, their children, their country forgotten? This day we mourn their death and acknowledge our ingrati- tude. Oh! ye spirits of the brave who fell in defence of our liberty, our land, too long have we neglected vour re- 83 mains, too long have we been ungrateful, we acknowledge. But oh ! my voice cannot reach you ; you cannot hear me ; I ought not thus to address you. The living my voice can reach ; you will permit me to address the noble sentiments of your souls and invite you to emulate the example of these heroes in deeds of noble daring, should your country ever call. The young and those now around me under anns, may see our country in- volved in danger, that will require even the sacrifice of life for her safety. But you will suffer me to remind you, that in order to sacri- fice life rationally, though in our country's righteous cause, re- quires more than what is called patriotism and heroism. To meet death boldly, in any cause, while the soul is in its natural enmity against Heaven, is no better than the rashness of a mad man ; it is rushing upon misery unutterable and eternal, from some blind impulse or the light applause of an hour. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ who died for the salvation of sinners, that any human being can face death calmly, collect- edly and rationally. Who can tell what consolation religion may have ministered to those who expired in the long agonies of death, after the battle of Minisink, without any human aid? None other could have done. Great as their bodily pains must have been, future prospects may have imparted much allevia- tion. How intense would their anguish have been, had the prospects beyond the hour of death been onh^ dark and alarming. But, fellow citizens, though you should never be called to expose your lives in the field of battle, though you should con- tinue to the close of life amid scenes of peace, in the bosoms of your families and die having your cheeks bathed with the sympathetic tears of the most affectionate, the most tender- hearted relatives, and my hope and prayer is, that you enjoy all these, yet they are poor and frigid consolations for a dying man, if he has none other. Whether, then. Heaven has destined your country to peace or war in your days, it is wise to be pre- pared for death, applying in time to the atoning blood of the son of God for redemption, and the sanctification and consola- tion of the Eternal Spirit, to carry you in triumphs, may I say) more than real, through death — yes, through death, "for it is appointed unto all men once to die." In a few years these thousands who now stand around us, shall all sink into the 84 earth on wliich you stand; the clods of the valley shall cover you and not on^ be left alive. Whilst this day it is your de- corum, that you remember with sympathetic emotions oi sor- row the fall of the excellent citizens whose bones you now inter — remember yourselves. 1.14. You know that when you die your souls survive, and that your bodies, too, shall live again. These dry bones can live, they will live again, they await, and your remains soon to fol- low to the tomb, shall await there the call of that Creator who formed the soul and the body to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. , 1 i ts -^es wdl teU L passer-by one hundred years hence how men here two hun dred Mrs before, had offered up their lives on the altar of then, countrv; and how there were men one hundred years afte,_ w,tl enough ;f gratitude to mark the spot by yonder pyramid. It now points to that Heaven wherein we trust these brave de- parted spirits have all assembled. Yes, gentlemen and lad.es, on hund'r d years hence yon monumental pile will stand m all >ts beluty, unJs destroyed by earthquakes or sacnlegmus arm yTi Irust some good guardian angel will palsy the Vandahc hand, should one be raised for its destroct.on Let us hope that this our country ; the last refuge of liberty, may he« forever endure; for alas! should the lamp here go out it may never be relighted. "Westward the course of empire takes its way— The first four acts already past ; A fifth shall close the drama with the^day, Time's noblest offspring is the last." We have a right to hope for the durabihty of our country anrwhile the lales lend their presence at such gathenngs and in such numbers, we, assuredly, will not hope m vam. ADDRESS BY HON. THOMAS J. LYON OF PORT JERVIS. N. Y. FK..OW CmzEKs: As I have been unexpectedly called upon to say something on this memorable occasion, -^h^^^ a _t's preparation, and as I came here to hear and no to Teak my remarks, of necessity, will be disconnected and few^ As I L-e been listening with delight to the speakers who have preceded me, my mind has been irresistably carried back to the early days of our country — a hundred years back, when upon this spot where now we stand, the best blood of our Revolution- ary Fathers was spilled for us and for the liberties we now enjoy. It was a day in the history of our revolutionary struggle which will never be forgotten. It was a period when subjugation stared our little army in the face^ — -when a successful foe lined the banks of your beautiful Delaware, at the base of this moun- tain, where we now stand, when the enemies of freedom were exulting in the anticipated overthrow of our destitute and almost exhausted army. But the patriotism of a Washington again cheered their drooping spirits, animated anew their en- feebled bodies, and kindled in their bosoms an inextinguishable flame of liberty and love of independence, that nothing could subdue. There is no need, after what you have already heard, for me to allude in detail to the brave deeds of those whose memories we to-day meet to honor and embalm. Their heroic deeds, their dauntless courage, their zealous patriotism will never be for- gotten so long as American hearts live and America is a nation. The names of Tusten and Hathoni, with their equally heroic comrades of the rank and file, are the inheritance of us all, and we honor ourselves in thus paying our patriotic tribute to their memory. "After life's fitful fever they sleep well" ; and here where this lofty peak kisses the clouds, here where the bones lay for years, here where the sunbeams first glow in the morning, it is fitting that a monument to their memory should be erected ; it is to meet that we should celebrate their fame. But in the few moments allotted to me, I cannot forbear saying a few words on a subject beautifully alluded to by your distinguished orator, in relation to the vigilance and fostering care necessary to retain our civil and religious liberty. If you would secure these blessings as an inheritance to your children a hundred years hence, you cannot too strongly guard against corruption in all its fomtis. My own observation, and a warning voice coming from the sepulchre of many nations, leads me to apprehend that unless we are zealous in this direction, we may yet fall from our high estate. Look at the facts as they now exist around you, and tell me if there is not danger. Consider 110 the nature and tendency of the means so often employed to de- feat the popular will in the choice of our rules. While men of all parties have united in the cry of bribery and corruption, all have been, to a greater or less extent guilty. I speak of all parties, and I affinn that notwithstanding the care and vigilance of the real friends of truth and virtue, the right of suifrage has been shamefully abused, the ballot-box has been prostituted, the Constitution and the laws have been violated, the principles of morality and the character of the Nation have been dishonored. Such are the effects of that reck- less spirit which, if not restrained and kept within proper bounds, may yet shake the temple of liberty from the foundation to the top stone, and extinguish its sacred flames on American altars. I apprehend that in these latter days too many of us go for our party, too few for our counti-y. There was a time when our fathers were noted for an inflexible determination to sustain the Constitution and the laws of the land, but I strongly suspect that another and diff^erent standard exists in many places and especially in our most populous cities. The individual who will give the most money to secure the success of his party, will occupy the highest place in the estimation of many of the voters of his own political creed. Indeed, the man who can obtain the largest number of votes by political intrigue or de- ception, is thought by many to possess an enviable distinction. Such a prominence is one that noble minds should scorn. The man who employs such means to eff'ect the triumph of his party, strikes a daring blow at the institutions of his Coun- try. He is a shameless assassin of virtue and liberty. He would pull down the great pillars of the Constitution, and cast to the winds the scattered pages of his Country's laws. But I must close. I need not, I cannot speak particularly of the duties which, as individuals, you owe to your Country, but I pray you, see to it, that they are discharged with incor- ruptible integrity. A great responsibility rests upon us. Our influence will be felt by those who shall come after us. The manner in which we live and act, and improve the privileges we possess, will tend to shape the character and destiny of the rising generation, and if we discharge our whole duty, we shall be a hundred years hence what we now are, a free and inde- pendent people. Ill Away then with that time-serving poHcy which would live but for the passing hour. We should act with reference to the best interests of humanity, irrespective of personal ease or grati- fication. It is for us to live for truth and virtue, for liberty and our Country. Thus live and thus act, and America shall be in the future, as in the past, great, prosperous and free. 112 CHAPTER VII INDIAN ELOQUENCE. SUPPOSED SPEECH OF RED JACKET IN HIS OWN DEFENCE- HE IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH BY THE COUNCIL. "Red Jacket is about to depart to the Spirit Land. He has offended the powers of the Council and they have decided he must die. But never let it be said Red Jacket feared death, for he is a brave man. "His heart is strong. He has no tears to shed. He has done harm to none. He stands under the great black clouds of anger. They are shutting out the light of truth. "That he has been a friend of his nation, he calls upon the sun, the moon and the stars to witness. "His nation has joined the customs of the palefaces — the furtraders — against his advice. But the tongue of Red Jacket is not silent. He will speak in his defence. "The Great Spirit gave these happy hunting-grounds to our fathers, who lie buried beneath the shade of these sturdy oaks. Many great suns have looked down upon them. The snows of many winters have covered them. The Great Father filled the waters with fish, and the forest with game for your meat. Pie made the cool springs in the valleyS for your drink. He called the song-birds together to make music in the treetops for your pleasure. "You w^ere happy until the white man was seen to alight, like a great white-winged bird in front of your wigwam. He then gave you firewater and made you 113 drunken, that he might take away your land, that he alight possess your furs. "The palefaces bought land to a certain mountain and claimed miles beyond when they came to possess it. "Our fathers smoked the pipe of peace in this forest. I call on them as my witnesses. "Because I have given my voice against the palefaces and their firewater you have bound me with thongs and the war-club is about to descend on my head. But while the great 'father of waters' continues to flow, you and your children will mourn over the innocent blood of Red Jacket. You and they will meditate on the truth of his Council. "He sought to remove from your midst your greatest enemy, that your warriors might be strong in battle, that your chiefs might be wise in council, and that your young men might be swift in the chase. "He has done his duty. He has given warning against the destruction of his people by firewater, and they have refused to listen to his voice. "Red Jacket will look on the sun for the last time. He is now ready to depart. His father will meet him and commend him. His tongue will be forever silent. There will be no tears shed over his grave. "But the dripping dews from the weeping-willow shall perpetuate his memory, and the song-bird of the forest sing praises of his worth." (It is needless to say Red Jacket was acquitted.) EXTRACTS FROM TECUMSEH'S SPEECH. This great Chief happened to be stamping his feet in anger at the time a great earthquake occurred. Ever afterward when an earthquake shook the Indian wig- wams they said, "Tecumseh is stamping his foot," and 114 at night when they saw a meteor shoot across the sky they said, "It is the soul of Tecumseh, which cannot rest until the palefaces are driven from his hunting- grounds." He was heard to chide his people with the command: "Lay aside the soft blankets of wool and don the skins of the forest. The Great Father is angry when he hears the noise of your muskets. Put away the thunder of the white man and take up again the bow and the hatchet!" TRIBUTE TO GEN. JACKSON. During the Creek war on one of the battlefields, an Indian baby was found clinging to its dead mother. The squaws in the camp said, "Kill the papoose, for all its kin are dead." But the General took the babe to his own tent and mixed some sugar and water and kept it alive until it could be sent to "the hermitage." It there found a home and was loved like a son until he died at the age of seventeen years. LORD DUNMORE'S VICTORY. While Lord Dunmore was Governor of Virginia, that Province extended to the Ohio River. During the early part of the Revolutionary troubles, a Cayuga Chief named Logan and his tribe remained neutral, but in May, 1774, a party of land-jobbers were robbed of some horses near the Ohio River, and it was laid to the In- dians. The Captain, Michael Cresap, sought revenge by murdering many Indians who evidently had nothing to do with the theft. They in turn began retaliation by attacking the pioneers on the frontier, burning their buildings and murdering many white people. Lord Dunmore sent Gen. Lewis with 3,000 Provincial troops who attacked the red warriors at the confluence of the 115 Kanhawa and Ohio Rivers, and the Indians were severely defeated in what is known as the "battle of Kanhawa," after which they were forced to sign a treat}'' of peace. Logan refused to attend the conference, but addressed a speech by the mouth of Col. Gibson to Lord Dunmore. LOGAN'S DEFENCE. "I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him not. Dur- ing the last and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate of peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed to my wigwam as they passed and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white man.' "I had ever thought to have lived with you but for the injury of one man — Capt. Cresap. The last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, he murdered all the re- lations of Logan ; not even sparing his woman and chil- dren. There runs not a drop of his blood in any living creature. "This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. "For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace, but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one. "Logan will no longer oppose making peace with the white man. You are sensible. He never knew what fear is — that he never turned his back in the day of battle. "No one has more love for the white man than I have. The war we have had with them has been long and bloody on both sides. Rivers of blood have run on both 116 sides, and yet no good has come to any. I once more repeat it, 'Let us have peace with those men.' "I will forget our injury; the interests of my country demand it. I will forget, but difficult, indeed, is the task. I will forget that Capt. Cresap, cruelly and in- humanly, murdered, in their canoes, my wife, my chil- dren, my father, my mother and all my kindred. "This roused me to deeds of vengeance. I was cruel in spite of myself. I will die content if my country is once more at peace. "But alas! when Logan shall be no more, who will drop a tear to the memory of Logan?" PURCHASING THE MINISINK BATTLEFIELD. The Minisink Valley Historical Society of Port Jer- vis has purchased six acres wliich comprise the JNIini- sink battlefield of the Revolutionary War, for the pur- pose of preserving it in its natural state to their pos- terity. This society deserves great praise for what they have already accomplished in rescuing from oblivion so much of the interesting and instructive history of the Colonial period of our State. The collection of relics and mementoes in the form of public records, books, etc., which they are preserving in a fireproof vault, built in connection with the Free Li- brary building of Port Jervis, can scarcely be surpassed by the historical societies of any State. They erected a monument in 1896 at Cuddebackville Cemetery to Benjamin Eaton, who was one of Wash- ington's bodyguard and a resident of the Minisink Val- ley. 117 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF MINISINK. {From the Port Jervis Evening Gazette, July 23, 1890.) The second annual mid-summer meeting of the Mini- sink Valley Historical Society at Caudebec Park, Tues- day, was even more of a success than that which we were privileged to chronicle last year. To commence with, the weather was most propitious and the descendants of the Huguenots and the Hol- landers beheld the lands of their forefathers under the most favorable circumstances. The first train, of seven cars, left the Main street depot precisely on time and rolled up the valley of the Neversink without accident or incident of an unhappy nature. In that train were many whose ancestors had been residents of this valley for generations in years gone by; had traversed this now happy and peaceful valley terror-stricken at the dreaded alarm of "The In- dians are coming!" Hatless and coatless, in their brawny arms clasping their long flintlocks, peering into wood and thicket for stealthy ambuscades, dreading yet expecting the war-whoop and the gleam of the glistening tomahawk in the hands of a stealthily red-skinned brave, they fled with their weeping families swiftly yet noise- lessly through fields blue with flax or waving with broom corn, to the forts scattered among the long sepa- rated settlements. Such were the scenes of long ago. Now the scythe sweeps over the graves of the sleeping red men, thicket and wood have given place to wide and fertile fields, and the war-whoop rings no more in the ear of brave men or weeping women. Extended as may be the train of thought induced by the ride to Caudebec Park, the ride itself is a short one, and the whistle of the engine soon wakes the slumbering echoes in the hills about Cuddebackville. The cars are quickly unloaded and the silent monu- 118 merits in the cemetery on the hill where "The rude fore- fathers of the hamlet sleep" look down on another but peaceful invasion of this historic ground. Those who compose this party are habituated to the sober mien which comes with years and there is little straggling till the Park is reached. Dinner was the next and most natural step in the proceedings of the day, and while baskets were unloaded and tables selected, those who were unemployed lounged lazily under the tall trees or strolled in social conversa- tion to and fro. The grave and reverend seigniors grouped themselves on the platform and attended to the brief but interest- ing business meeting. Dinner was on the respective tables at the time ap- pointed and from the looks of the laden baskets one would have appreciated for a time the privileges of a busy bee. Up at the hotel. Landlord Levi Cuddeback and a corps of assistants in cool-looking white and light-col- ored costumes, ministered to the wants of successive tables full of hungry guests, with every good thing which the season produced. Trains from Summitville and Port Jervis brought in additional hundreds, and carriages and wagons of all sizes added their mickle to the muokle, till at the begin- ning of the literary exercises the seats on the platform were all well filled and groups of congenial spirits had appropriated all the shaded spots within the sound of the speakers' voices. ADDRESS BY C. E. CUDDEBACK. In 1861 an estimate was made by Peter E. Gumaer, Esq., author of the "History of Deerpark," of the increase of the population from the original settlers of that town. He states 119 that his enumeration was carefully made from his own knowl- edge down to the third generation to which generation he be- longed, and upon a slightly diminished rate of increase for the succeeding generations. As a result of his investigation, he con- cluded that the number of families of such descendants then on the stage of action, was not less than 3,200. A new generation has come upon the scene since that calcula- tion was made, and upon the same ratio of increase which he adopted, the number of families must now be not less than 10,000, and the actual living descendants of the first settlers of the town of Deci-park, not less than .50,000 ; a number nearly sufficient to form the population of a new State. Those now in this valley, and the contiguous neighborhoods, are but a handful compared with the multitude scattered through all the States and Territories. An illustration is found in the family whose name I bear, and whose numbers remaining in the valley are perhaps greater than of any other family of the original stock. Jacob Cuddeback, the patentee, had five sons and eleven grandsons, yet all of the name now residing in this town or anywhere in this vicinity, have descended from but two of his grandsons, Abraham and Benjamin, and many even of their descendants have found homes in distant places. The emigration from this vicinity commenced about one hun- dred years ago, soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. It was at first directed principally to the fertile military lands of central New York, and the settlers by emigration, sought to do as their fathers had done, endeavor to improve the condition of themselves and their families by locating in less crowded districts. It was at that time, a long six weeks' journey through the wilderness, performed slowly over hard roads and through gloomy forests with ox-teams and prairie schooners. The whole district in the vicinity of Owasco and Skaneatales Lakes, was thus colonized by emigrants from this section. The settlers carried with them the habits and faith of their fathers, and in due time a church of their denomination was erected among them. Notwithstanding this exodus, by reason of which many who might claim kinship with us, and a right to participate in this celebration are absent, the Minisink Valley was not depopulated 120 of its ancient stock. It is no collection of strangers to the blood of the Huguenot and the Hollander, who have assembled to do honor to this occasion. The bottom lands of the Never- sink and of the Delaware, are still for the most part in the possession of the descendants of those who were attracted to them when still they were covered with the coarse grass of the prairie, and we, their descendants, cherish a pardonable pride in recalling the heroism, the endurance, the lofty devotion to principle and the patient perseverance of those into the fruit of whose labors we have entered. For nearly a hundred years, theirs was a frontier settlement. Exposed to the attacks of savage Indians, at times friendly, and then without cause, hostile, not only against them, but against hostle claimants under New Jersey titles, were they obliged to defend their possessions. No right except the ability to defend was recognized by their assailants, and for a long time the contest was one of physical supremacy. Far away from markets, they traveled over rough roads, usually on foot, sometimes on horseback, and in lumber wagons or sleds. Their fanning implements were of the rudest and simplest construction ; manufactured as was their clothing, principally from the productions of their own fields and by the labor of their own hands. Their toil was of the severest and longest, and abounded in hardships from which we shrink even in the recital. Gumaer's little volume, in its account of the daily life of these settlers, of their privations, of their perseverance, of their in- dustry and of their habits, tells a tale which should fill us with admiration ; and not in the least for their devotion to the moral and spiritual welfare of themselves and their children. In their poverty and in their labors, they did not forget their fathers' God, and the duties which they owed to him. Theirs was a re- ligious community. In the earliest times, and before the organi- zation of their church, and afterwards in the intervals when they were without the services of a minister, reading services were maintained, and among the items of expenditures for the church on one occasion we find l£ 12s for two volumns of Davies Sermons. This and the selection of a young man from their number, and educating him at the common expense, that he might subsequently become their minister; his return and service among them for fifteen years, tells a tale of simplicity i2i and sincerity and honesty, which is refreshing in these later times. As might have been expected, the war of the Revolution found the inhabitants of the valley, almost to a man on the side of popular rights and against the oppressions of the mother country. The most of the present town of Deer Park was then included in the precinct of Manakating. John Young, Presi- dent of the Committee of that town, reported that the Revo- lutionary Pledge sent out by the Provincial Convention, to all the precincts and counties of the State, for signatures, had been unanimously signed by all the freeholders and inhabitants of the precinct. All of its leading men, were members of the Com- mittee of Safety ; of their bravest and best young men, some went out to the conflict with the British invaders and the Indians, never to return. Three of the residents of the town, Jacob R. Dewitt, Abraham Cuddeback and Abraham Westfall, carried Captains' commissions in the defence of their country. In the peaceful years which have elapsed, since that great struggle, not much opportunity has been given for the display of those great qualities of leadership which great crises call out. The descendants of the early settlers have perhaps, with diminished zeal, followed in the path of their ancestors. We may safely say that no more peaceful, honest, and industrious or honorable farming community exists than that which has continued to occupy the Minisink Valley. We do not claim that among them are to be found any great soldiers or statesmen who have excited the world's admiration, but what we do say is this : — and upon such persons depends, after all, the happiness of communities and of commonwealths, that they have supplied a succession of men who, in private station, in furtherance of public interests, as officers of the church, in the discharge of their duties in the various offices of town and county adminis- tration, and occasionally in Legislative Halls, have worthily filled the duties of their day and generation. Their name and memories we revere and honor. SPEECH BY REV. DR. TALMAGE. Mr. President, Members and Friends of the Minisink Valley Historical Society : It affords me peculiar satisfaction to meet you to-day, on 122 gi'ound so historic, and on an occasion of such thrilling in- terest — to participate with you in the festive celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the settlement of this valley. Your hearts must throb with joy and thankfulness. The day is well chosen, it being also the 111th Anniversary of an event to be commemorated by the people of this region of country forever. The 4th of July belongs to the whole Nation. On that day the men of the Revolution put down in black and white and published to the world the principles upon which this free government was established. Every boy in the land from Maine to California is entitled to bum his fingers and scorch his eye- brows for his country's glory. But the 22nd of July, may be said especially, to belong to the people of Sullivan and Orange and Sussex and the sections contiguous. You have wisely arranged to use this day to show to the rising generation what stamp of men they were who settled in this valley — their hardy frames, their patient en- durance of privations, their stalwart virtues, their heroic suf- ferings, that their posterity might enjoy what under a gracious Providence has been secured to them. The battle of Minisink was waged against vast odds — under great disadvantage of position — under the scorching rays of a whole day's mid-summer sun, without food or water. To be sure it was disastrous, in one sense, to the patriots who fought it, yet it inscribed their names on a scroll of honor, which will cause them to be held in everlasting remembrance. This society has a grand mission and is nobly fulfilling it. You are reviving names which ought never be permitted to die. You are searching out the manly characteristics of the fathers, which may well be imitated by your children. You are putting on record thrilling events, and marking the places where they occurred so plainly that they can never be lost. You are tracing out by means of ancient documents and reliable traditions, the progress of the people in domestic comforts and pubhc morals and religious privileges and agricultural improvements, as well as in matters mechanical, educational and professional. You have undertaken to put all this in permanent form for the benefit of those who come after you. I have come from my distant home purposely to congratu- late you Mr. President, and your co-laborers, on the fidelity 123 and enthusiasm in which you are doing your work and the magnificent success wliich has attended your efforts in the short period of your existence as a Society. Similar organizations in different parts of the country have heard of your success and are rejoicing in your prosperity. Your undertaking was not begun a moment too soon. Much that would have been of intense interest to posterity has already been irrevocably lost. But so much of the past, can yet be reached and preserved, which a few more years of neglect would consign to oblivion, that you have every inducement to push on your inquiries. Your motto is a grand one, and could not be more expressive of your work "Et patribus, et posteritate" ; concerning both the fathers and the children. The value of the past to the present and the future, begins to be appreciated. Its influence upon character, upon insti- tutions, upon inventions, upon discoveries — nay, upon every- thing that pertains to human progress. We are stimulated by that which is good, and warned against that which is bad. We are now amazed at the general indifference which formerly prevailed with regard to the generations which have gone before us. Some of us seemed content to remain wholly ignorant of our progenitors. There are scores of men now who know nothing even of their grand-parents — where they lived, what they did, or where they were buried. They are fortunate to be able even to tell you their names. Many of the old grave-yards have gone into forgetfulness and decay. Moss and brambles, and upheaving frosts have been permitted to destroy precious memories. Names and dates, which would have been valuable to the present age, have been undecipherable. Important documents, full of history have been counted as rubbish — stuffed into old barrels and conveyed to the garret. Ultimately they fell into the hands of tlie boys, with which to make a bon-fire to celebrate a Democratic or Republican victory; or else they were given to the rag-man in exchange for a tin whistle or a Christmas horn or other jim-cracks — old books of rare type and rarer contents have gone the same way. Even the old family Bible with its metal tipped cover and clasps, its crude pictures, and its precious records, was care- lessly thrown into a heap of rubbish; and replaced with some- 124 thing that glittered more, but was read less. In many in- stances old church records, invaluable, have gone up in smoke. There has never been anything more destructive of neigh- borhood history than house-cleaning. I am sorry to confess, that in my boyhood I took a hand in this kind of unholy vandalism. We must not blame the women, good souls ! It was born in them, at least twice a year, to haul out the rubbish, and scrape things clean. They had no Historical Societies in those days to take charge of what was to them a terrible nuisance. A wonderful change has come over us in this regard within the last twenty-five or thirty years. Intelligent men have woke up to the value of the past. Great learning and vast sums of money are now expended in exploring expeditions. They are exhuming the old, long buried cities — deciphering the hieroglyphics of the obelisks — diving into the catacombs — revealing the secrets of libraries where the books were made of bricks — searching the tablets and monuments of Palestine and Egypt, and Rome, and Greece. Even Nineveh and Babylon have been compelled to disgorge their secrets. The treasuries of the past are everywhere un- locked, and made to deliver up the knowledge they contain for the benefit of the future. Historical societies have called a halt to the destruction of history. They are gathering up and preserving in their archives what remains for the enlightment of the future. We welcome back "Old Mortality" to our grave-yards that he may chisel afresh, and render legible, the time-worn inscriptions, giving us the names and births and deaths and virtues and works of the fathers. The relics of the past are now accorded the sacredness to which they are entitled. We even bring the old spinning wheel from the garret (if it has not gone already into kindling wood), and garnish it for a place in the parlor. We can look at it with pride and reverence, though we don't know exactly how the old thing worked. Grandfather's tall clock is rejuvenated and brightened with gilt and counted as good as a fortune. There have been men in various communities, men of rare forethought and intelligence and observation, who dotted down the important events of their day, together with the prominent 125 actors connected with them. Their records of the men and women of their time are invaluable to us. Blessed among you be the memory of Peter Gumaer. He deserves a grand and imperishable monument. The Minisink Valley Historical Society could not have done a better thing than it has done — in according to that noble man the honor of which he is worthy — putting his writing in permanent form to be read and admired throughout the country. The Cuddebacks and Swartwouts, and Gumaers and Van Ettens, and Van Vliets, and Van Gordons, and Van Inwegens, and Van Aukens (and all the other Vans), as well as the Dewitts and Coles, and DePuys, and Terwilligers, and Kuykendalls, and Deckers, and Hornbecks, and Westfalls, and Cortwrights, and Schoonovers, and Westbrooks — and everybody else, ought to keep that author's name and character, and works in everlasting remembrance. I have perused that book with profound admiration, both of the writer and the contents. I regard it a great misfortune that the Talmage name does not once occur between the lids. I do not ask you, Mr. President, to print another edition for the purpose of supplying the omission, but you will permit me to show you that my family name would have been there but for a sad dispensation of Providence which caused the re- moval of my progenitors from the lower part of this valley in 1780. They lived in Montague in Revolutionary times, tak- ing a very active part in the defense of this region against the bloody invasions of the Indians and refugees. If you ever have opportunity to print Judge Clark's account of the relation of the men of Sussex to the people of this valley, the Talmage name will no doubt have a place in the book. My great-grandfather (Thos. Talmage), was advanced in years, but managed to take some care of his farm while his sons were away with their muskets. My own grandfather, then (Thos. Talmage Jr.), was a young man who lived with his father on a farm located, as he describes it, "on the West Branch of the Pepper Cotton, about two miles above Westbrook's Mills" (wherever that may be), ^iy grandfather was a very smart young man. He had a splendid little wife before he was twenty years old, and a fine baby before he was twenty-one, and twelve more children afterward. He beat his father in that respect, for the old man, though he had two wives, yet only 126 had eleven children all told. My own father, David Talmage, kept up the reputation of the family by giving twelve children to the world. INIy grandfather came of age in the stirring times of 1776. He, with an older brother, was enrolled with the militia, and was often in camp with your fathers waiting the attacks of the Indians. He was the orderly sergeant of his company and faithfully warned out his comrades when notified by his commander to gather them at the rendezvous, because "the Indians were coming." In June, 1778, he records that he was "on the fields" with his company some twelve days, daily expecting an attack. They were dimissed to their homes, but in July there was another call. With a burning fever upon him he threaded his way through the wilderness on horseback, to warn out his company, but became unconscious by the way, and was brought home by the instinct of his horse — was lifted from the saddle in delirium, and was in a dying condition for nearly three months, with what was then called the "long fever," after- wards the typhus. His father and three sisters were smitten with the same malady, and though the old man recovered, the sisters, aged fourteen, seventeen and twenty-one respectively, within three months were buried in a grave-yard near West- brook's Mills. My grandfather Providentially escaped the fate of many of his neighbors in the dreadful struggle of those times. His oldest brother, however, was with the men of Minisink, and laid his body with theirs on the fatal battle of July 22, 1779, a testimony to his fidelity to his country in the days of her peril. Some of you are doubtless aware that Talmage blood mingled with the blood of your fathers near Lackawaxen. You have read my uncle Daniel's name with those of his comrades on the monu- ment at Goshen. The family became so disheartened by the misfortunes that befell them, that in 1780 they sold out and returned to the region whence they had come; though Daniel left a widow and four sons in Sussex, and from them have doubtless descended the Talmages of that county. This grandfather, whom I well remember for I was a good deal with him in my early boyhood (I was thirteen years old when he died), was a sort of Peter Gumaer. A carpenter by trade — having erected a number of prominent buildings in his time, one of which was the Court House at Somerville in 1798. Yet for the most of his life he was a plain 127 farmer, but made much use of his pen. Of course In those days only comparatively few writings were published. It is only lately that I became informed that many of his manuscripts both in prose and verse have been preserved. Their literary ability has astonished me. I have no doubt that much of the contents of his garret, went the way of all garrets. But the records of his own and his father's family, births, residences, deaths and places of burials are marvelously minute and are proved to be correct all the way to 1829 only five years be- fore his death. Now you need not put this and that together and figure out my age for I am a young man yet. By one of his MSS. I lately went to the Presbyterian church yard of New Brunswick and found the graves of my great-grand parents — whose names and places of interment I had never known be- fore — although they had lain there since 1785 and '90 and I had passed near them one hundred times while in college and the Theological Seminary of that city. One of his papers penned in 1814 gives an account of what he terms ''The extraordinary Providences which happened to me in the course of my life." He says he wrote them out for the benefit of his children, he being then sixty years of age and in a feeble state of health and anticipating that his dissolution was near at hand though he lived nearly twenty years longer. Many of the incidents he noted down are of public interest and may yet be of profit to some Historical Society. Such men are valuable in their generation and their methods ought to stimulate us to put on paper for posterity our ex- periences and the notable events of our respective neighborhoods. Mr. President, 3^ou will pardon my apparent egotism in appropriating so much time whicli might have been better occupied. I thank the audience for indulging me so long and hearing me so patiently. My apology for this protracted speech is my kinship with the people of this valley as a natural inheritance from my ancestors and the delightful memories connected with my nearly ten years residence among you. Ma}' the revived associations and the grand festivities of this day unite our hearts more closcl}' together as citizens of a com- mon civil heritage and give decided impetus to the work (achievements) of the Minisink Valley Historical Society. 128 ADDRESS BY HON. HIRAM CLARK. The following is the full text of the interesting speech of Hon. Hiram C. Clark, of Sussex County, N. J., delivered at the Bi-Centennial celebration of the Settlement of the Minisink Valley, at Caudebcc Park, on the 22nd of July : Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : When your honored Secretary, Dr. Cuddeback, wrote me in reference to this celebration, he stated, as I remember it, that I Avas expected to represent in part, the lower ]Minisink, or Delaware Valley, or more especially the townships of Montague, Sandyston and Walpack, in Sussex County, N. J. I am happy, Mr. President, in having the pleasure of greeting you to-day, and with you joining in the festivities of this bi-centennial. I would much prefer speaking extemporaneously, but fearing that under the inspiration and enthusiasms of the occasion, I might possibly become imbued with the guilt of continuance, I have hastily committed to paper the words that I would speak to-day, and sincerely trust that I shall not wear}^ you. My theme is "Montague, Sandyston and Walpack, and their relations to the Minisink Valley and Port Jervis." The busi- ness and social relations of the lower Delaware Valley, embraced in these townships and the Minisink Valley, have been closely identified with each other as far back as we have any history. The construction of the "Old Mine Road," more than 200 years ago, which extended from the Water Gap, on the Delaware, through the townships of Walpack, Sandyston and Montague, to Esopus, now the city of Kingston, on the Hudson, was the first link in the chain that "bound these valle3^s together, and 100 years afterwards, during those troublesome times with the Indians, that tried men's souls, this bond of union was cemented by the blood of the brave men, who fell in both valleys, while defending their wives and children from their merciless and com- mon foes. While Major Swartwout and Captain Cuddeback were fight- ing the Indians in this historical valley. Colonel Abram Van Campen, Capt. Johannes Westbrook, Capt. Abram Shimer, Capt. James Bonnell and their brave comrades, were fighting the same, or other hostile bands, in the lower Delaware Valley. Half a century later when Port Jervis became the commercial center of this whole valley, the business relations between the 129 farmers of Walpack, Sandjston and Montague, and the mer- chants of Port Jervk, assumed greater proportions and have continued in •constantly increasing amount until the present day. The names of the Farnums, the Conklings, and the St. Johns were familiar to every school boy and girl in the lower Dela- ware Valley, forty or fifty years ago, because it was to them that their fathers sold the products of their farms, and from them they purchased in exchange such general merchandise as their needs required. These townships, described by your historian, Peter E. Gumaer, as the "lower neighborhood," are also historic ground, both in local reminiscences and in public history. The town- ship of Walpack was the home of Judge Timothy Symmes, and the birth place of John Cleve Symmes, Jr. Judge Symmes presided in Sussex Common Pleas from 1777 to 1791, succeeding his brother John, who also resided in Walpack, and resigned the position of Judge to accept an appointment on the bench of the Supreme Court. Maria, a daughter of Judge Symmes, was the wife of President William Henry Harrison, and the grandmother of his excellency, Benjamin Harrison, our present Chief Magistrate. Here too, in 1737, Rev. George Wilhelm Mancius organized one of the four Reformed Dutch churches, of the Minisink Valley ; the Walpack church situated in the bend of the Delaware River and on the "Old Mine Road," be- fore refen-ed to, and is the same spot upon which the present Reformed church now stands. The township of Sandyston was made historical because of the fact, that within her boundaries there were committed some of the most horrible Indian atrocities in the Delaware Valley. Here lived the brave Captain Johannes Westbrook on the farm owned by the late Jacob Westbrook, Esq., and who erected thereon a stone dwelling house, which was also used as a fort, and in which were numerous port-holes, from which they could fire upon an approaching enemy. Montague is also rich in historical reminiscences. It was the home of Captain Shimer, Captain Bonnell and Captain Peter Westbrook — the latter falling a victim to Indian atrocities in 1779. In later years it was the birthplace and home of that distinguished statesman and journalist, the late ex-Gov. Wm. Bross, of Illinois. Here, too, in 1737, was organized the Re- 180 formed Dutch Church of Minisink, and in this township is located the famous Minisink Island, in the Delaware River, from which possibly your Historical Society takes its name; nor is this all ; in still later years some of the best blood and brain of the successful men of your growing city of Port Jervis has come to you from the farm homes of Montague, Sandyston and Wal- pack. They have furnished to you laborers, mechanics and brainy business men ; they have funiished to you merchants and editors, lawyers and judges, bank presidents and doctors, while that noble institution, the "Hunt Memorial Hospital," will long remain as an enduring monument to a Sandyston boy. They have furnished to some of 30ur young men excellent wives and sweethearts; to some of your young ladies excellent husbands and homes, and last, though not least, they have furnished that many-sided business man, the present Mayor of your rival city of Tri-States, the Honorable William A. Drake. But more than all this they have furnished for your own city of Port Jervis, one, or two, of the best Mayors you have ever had, in the persons of my distinguished friends, Honorable William H. Nearpass, and the Honorable Abram Shimer. Without controversy, therefore, Mr. President, great are the townships of Montague, Sandyston and Walpack ; great are the rival cities of Tri-States and Port Jervis, and one of the great- est and grandest organizations of them both is the Minisink Valley Historical Society. Mr. President; may I be indulged in a brief personal remi- niscence.? While for more than twenty years I have been a resi- dent of the town of Newton, the Delaware Valley has to me tender recollections and associations. It was the land of my birth, and the home of my father and mother, and in that beauti- ful valley for many long years have they been quietly resting and sleeping, on the grassy banks of the Delaware Valley, and that old Reformed Dutch Church, of Minisink was my father's church home, and there, away back in the days of my childhood, I listened to the first gospel sermon that I ever heard from the lips of the devoted Christian minister, Rev. Cornelius E. Elting, whose memory I revere to-day. A few years later, when left an orphan, I found a happy and hospitable home, for four years, in that same valley, with one who was for many years one of your best citizens, and his amiable companion, who was to me as kind and good as a mother. One year ago to-day that 131 friend, and benefactor cordially grasped my hand, in this beauti- ful grove, bade me welcome to the festivities of that celebration and sat by my side on this platform ; but to-day, he too is quietly resting and sleeping in your city of the dead, on the bank of that same Delaware River, near which he was born eighty years ago. Mr. President, I reverence the memory of Amos Van Etten and commend to the young men to-day his life and character as worthy of emulation. I thank you Mr. President, and gentlemen of the Committee, for the privilege of looking in your faces and joining m the festivities of to-day, on this historical spot. I extend to you the cordial greetings of your sister County of Sussex and close with the hope and expectation that in the years that are to come, your beautiful city of Port Jervis, and the Minisink Valley Historical Society, will continue to prosper as in the past, and the young men of to-day, and those that follow them, will emulate your example in maintaining this organization and thereby perpetuate the memory of the heroic dead of the Mini- sink Vallc}' for all future time. ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. , Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : The American people are soon to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the dis- covery of this continent by Columbus. The memorable voyage of 1492 revealed a new world to civilized nations and made the records of modern history far different from what they other- wise would be. We can scarcely estimate the influence of the landing of Columbus upon society and upon the world's pro- gress. And if a great historical event deserves recognition, few have greater importance. Halfway back between the coming of the great discoverer and our own times, took place the event we are now commemorating. The settlement of this then secluded valley has had its influence in shaping the great facts of American history. For two hun- dred years after the continent was revealed this region remained unchanged, its primeval forests undisturbed save by the wild beasts which abounded in them and the red hunters who regarded this as their very Paradise. They shot the deer, killed the wild fowl, and drew the abundant fish from the waters. The smoke 132 which curled beneath the mountain shadows came only from their wigwams. Settlements had been made along the seaboard in many places in the early part of the seventeenth century, but Minisink must wait until the century draws near its close, before the first settlers arrive with their families, coming on foot along the great Indian trail that leads from the Hudson River to the DelaMare. Some have called the rifle the precursor of civilization in wild unsettled regions. But rather may we take the woodman's axe as the true emblem. There is no civilization until the giant trees of the forest are made to lower their heads, fields are cleared and cabins erected. The rifle may be an improvement upon all Indian weapons, but never until the axe swings, is the work begun of reclaiming a district of country from barbarism. The coming of the little company who settled in Peenpack was the earliest dawn of civilization here. I am glad that you have assumed a date no further back than two hundred years, for I have little confidence in the traditions of an older settlement of the Minisink Valley. The four centuries from Columbus's discovery to our own times are each marked by their peculiarities. Thus the sixteenth century was especially that of discovery, when the Cabots dis- covered New Foundland and coasted as far down as Florida; Cortez conquered Mexico ; Balboa Central America, and Pizarro overran Peru, the Portuguese seized on Brazil and the French claimed Canada. The seventeenth century is characterized by the forming of the settlements in which we are more specially interested, when the Protestant countries of Europe sent their colonies and estab- lished them at points along the coast from Massachussetts on the north, to the Carolinas on the south. Then the eighteenth century beheld the gi'owth of these colonies, until they became thirteen Provinces, then thirteen States of the American Union. In this century was nurtured the lovers of fi^eedom who possessed that sturdy character which marked the men of the Revolution and has given us the noblest examples of patriots and citizens. That was the century forma- tive for men and character which delivered us from the Yoke of Britain, and with the ending of the Revolution, established our independence. The nineteenth century has been one of Constitutional Govern- 133 ment, under which our Republic has grown to become the mighty Nation it now is. Doubhng every twenty-five years, we have grown from 3,000,000 to 65,000,000, and by the strides of pro- gress we are making will soon be unsurpassed by any Nation of the globe. As we gaze on the National map, with its forty- four States, our hearts swell with admiration, and we bless God that America is the land of our birth and our home. The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and we have a goodly heri- tage. From the favored position we now occupy we may gaze back upon these two centuries closing, and pronounce them to be wonderful in the highest achievements of men. The first was formative, ending with the wondrous gain, for ourselves and for humanity, of a Republic on a grand scale, whose Government was for the people and not the benefit of some royal family. For a whole century we have been a living protest against the tyranny of kings and proclaiming that a great people may be happy and prosperous without a human sovereign. The world is growing better through the influence that American example exerts. That good will never perish. The world cannot go back to the old ideas of the divine right of kings. No soul that has nurtured into being some great thought has existed in vain. No brave arm that has parried the blow of tyranny has been uplifted uselessly. The broken shackles can never be placed again on the limbs of the slave, but when progress is made it stands forever. The little rills of inffuence, which had their origin in Secluded neighborhoods and remote years, have be- come the mighty stream that must yet bear down every system of oppression and evil. Under the shadow of these mountains the youths of a past century developed into men, and learned their highest lessons from the forests and from God. Cities . could never have produced them — these yeoman of the land, who owned the soil and cultivated it with their own hands. Small events become mighty in their results. The little rivulet as it continues its flow becomes the unchecked river. The old Indian trail and the footway of the settler are made the wide public highway or give place to the railway with its engines and swift moving trains. The past has its influence upon the present, as the present will upon the future. As we go onward we feel the pressure of by-gone days, as well as the attractions of the here- after glory our hearts anticipate. The gathered strength of the years behind is ours to-day. While we emulate the virtues of 134 our ancestors, we have ten-fold advantages above them to plan and do, and in proportion to all our opportunities must we live for God and our fellow men. The pioneers who came two hundred years ago sleep beneath the shadow of the mountain. Theirs is the long and peaceful sleep of men who acted well their part. Their dust is holy, their names are honored, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude for all they did for us. They labored and we have entered into their labors. They sowed the harvest and we are reaping the bene- fits. Are they permitted from the spirit world to look back and behold the scenes of to-day? Then ma}^ they and we re- joice together — they who planted and we who are reaping the fruits of their toil. Could they forcast the future.-^ They an- ticipated all this which our eyes have seen. Their hearts may never have thrilled with the jubilation of triumphant success. Yet they saw the victory from afar, and started the march of events which turned the wilderness into a fiaiitful field, and the Indian hunting grounds into the homes of a teeming popula- tion. They were men of faith, they had love to God, and for their religion's sake had been exiled from their homes ; but here, on this new continent, they claimed the land for Jesus and felt the guiding hand of Providence. God was sustaining them, and using them for his own great and wondrous purpose. We cannot believe that all this was unperceived by them. They lived, they died, by dying like Moses on Pisgah's top with eye not dim nor their natural force abated. Moses saw all the goodly land and Lebanon, and from Gilead to the utmost sea. We can-' not say our pilgrim fathers who came from England, Holland and France, for freedom to worship God, conceived all the great- ness of this Republic stretching from ocean to ocean, yet the mighty kingdom was in their hearts and they believed that God would save the world through America. We have exceeded the fondest hopes whichever our ancestors entertained, but the future of our land, the future will as much exceed all the past and all the present. Glories untold await the young men of our favored land. They have come to the king- dom at such a time as this when opportunities the most mag- nificent are presented to us, and the avenues of usefulness and goodness are open on every side. Attainment is within the grasp of their arms, and the full securing of all to which a sanctified ambition prompts them. May the pious spirit which 135 filled the breasts of our ancestors pervade the whole American Nation and then shall it be said of us, "Happy the people whose God is the Lord. The Lord shall be our God, and we shall be his chosen heritage and a holy generation." ADDRESS BY J. H. VAN ETTEN. The following is the address of J. Hixon Van Etten, Esq., of Milford, Pa., delivered at Caudebec Park, July 22, at the Bi- Centennial celebration of the settlement, by the Hollanders and Huguenots, of the Minisink Valley : Involuntarily we begin making history with our earliest breath. The very fact of our existence changes the currents of some life, animates some mind with new thoughts and aspira- tions, and restrains, while it kindles, other desires and ambi- tions. A mere figment of the imagination — a word casually spoken, or omitted — a slip of some pen, and a new impress is stamped on the generation and goes deepening and widening down through time. Jacob Jansen and the good Fraulein, Annetje Adrianse, soon to be Frau Jansen, when they stood before the Dutch Dominie, had little thought of the result of that union — beyond the sharing of each others joys and sor- rows — the better and the worse of the present, or that within five years their offspring, Jacob, would, by baptism, accident- ally, or some freak, or momentary design, become the founder of a new name, and place a descendant in the predicament you now see him, 225 years afterwards. Upon such a slender thread hangs the fact that I humbly represent one of the oldest settlers of this Minisink Valley. It is not my purpose to trace the wanderings of my ancestors or to point out the places they inhabited or the deeds for which they were conspicuous. However interesting this might be to their immediate descendants, I do not forget that there are many here who can also point to renowned ancestry and trace through many generations, a vein of valor and of humor. The historian dealing with cold facts traces the course of the past and gives just estimate to the virtues of all. We sometimes cherish traditions handed from father to son roseate with tinges of pride and rounded and smoothed by tongues too kind to transmit the failings and follies or vices of those whom they revere. 136 Not long since I received a letter iia regard to an early settler of the valley and this loving sentiment has been breathed in the ears of his descendants until it has become a household word. "He was a verj^ great farmer; employed thirty mowers and twelve span of horses. He was remarkable for fervent piety and would often read the Bible and sing psalms 'till late at night." And when I turn to the Pennsylvania archives I find under date of 24 ^ e z w o CHAPTER IX A STORY. WASHINGTON'S REWARD OF FIDELITY. One of Captain Cuddeback's slaves had betrayed a trust, and after the family had gathered around the fireside in the evening, the Captain called the slave and bid him be seated, as he was about to relate a story for his benefit, and proceeded to entertain the company with the following incident of the Revolution : "When I was stationed at Fort Montgomery, and for days before the fort was taken, the call came to our Colonel for a detachment of men to guard the fastenings of a huge chain, which had been forged and stretched across the river to prevent the enemies ships from going up from below. Our Colonel came to me and in his good-natured way said, 'Abe, I have not an officer I can spare to take charge of that chain across the Hud- son River. It is a very important duty and I know you are a very good waterman. I am going to send you, and intrust to you the oversight of these men. Take these fourteen men, go to the river and see that none of the enemy's spies loosen that chain and remain on duty until reheved by my orders.' I took the men and pro- ceeded to the river. All we had with us were our guns, axes, and one day's rations. Arriving at the river we were unable to find a boat to cross over to the east side, where we were to station ourselves, and the question of crossing became a very serious one. There were three large logs lying on the shore and I ordered some of my men to cut some poles and some others to look 147 up some spikes, which they did, and we made a float of the logs on which we crossed to the other side. Dur- ing the day some of the boys had caught some fish and in the evening built a fire to roast them. Although the fire was well covered, there must have been some light which attracted the enemy's attention to our position, for all at once a cannon ball struck in the bank beside us, and a loud booming noise in the distance revealed the fact that we were a target for the enemy's guns. "All my men sprang up in a terrible state of excite- ment and ran up the river. I followed them for some distance and tried to halt them, but there was no use, they had deserted their post and left me. I returned to my place and performed the duties of the guard alone, which on account of the chain being supported in the middle by logs to keep it from sinking, it was necessary to tighten and loosen the windless with the rising and falling of the tide. In the morning Fort INIontgomery was taken and I found myself within the enemy's lines. They made me a flattering offer to join them, but I retreated and found my way back to our camp, where I reported my experi- ence to my Colonel. A short time after that Washing- ton arrived at the camp, and I was very much surprised when one of his bodyguard came to our tent and in- quired for me. I, reluctantly, went to headquarters, fearing that the men deserting their post at the river might be laid to my negligence in some way, but I was greatly relieved when my Colonel met me at the entrance and informed me that I had won great favor with Gen. Washington for my faithful performance of duty. He then took me in and introduced me to the one man of the Revolution, whom I had so much desired to see. Gen. George Washington. The General came forward and with a hearty shake of the hand said, 'Cuddeback, I 148 want to thank you at this time for a strict adherence to duty and recommend that you receive the promotion you justly deserve. If we had more men Hke you this great country of ours would soon be free.' Then turning to the Colonel, he addressed him as follows: 'Colonel, you will see to it, that this man Cuddeback is promoted to the rank of Captain and given a company the first op- portunity.' Washington then mounted his horse and galloped away; his manly form swaying in the saddle and his sword clicking against his spurs at every bound. GEN. HATHORN'S OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF MINISINK. Warwick, July 27, 1779. Gov. Clinton : Dear Sir — In conformity to the Military Law, I embrace this first opportunity to communicate to your excellency my proceedings on a late tour of duty with my regiment. On the evening of the 21st of this instant, I received an order from his excellency. Gen. Washington, together with a requisitiou of the commissary of prisoners, to furnish one hundred men of my regiment for to guard the British prisoners on their way to Easton, at the same time received an express from Minisink that the Indians were ravaging and burning the place. I ordered three companies of my regiment, including the exempt company, to parade for the purpose of a guard. The other three companies to march immediately to Minisink. On the 22nd I arrived with a part of my people at Minisink, where I found Col. Tusten, of Goshen, and Maj. Meeker, of New Jersey, with parts of their regiments, who had marched with about eighty men up the river a few miles. I joined this party with about forty men, the whole amount- ing to one hundred and twenty men, officers included. A spy came in and informed me the enemy lay about four hours be- fore at Mongaup, six miles distant from us. Our people ap- peared in high spirits. We marched in pursuit with an inten- tion either to fall on them by sui-prise or to gain in front and ambush them. We were soon informed that they were on their 149 march up the river. I found it impracticable to surprise them on the ground that they no\y were and took my route along the old Keshethton path. The Indians encamped at the mouth of Halfway Brook. We encamped at 12 o'clock at night at Skin- ner's saw mill, three miles and a half from the enemy, where we lay the remainder of the night. The mountains were so ex- ceedingly rugged and high we could not possible get at them as they had passed the grounds the most favorable for us to attack them on before we could overtake them. Skinner's is about eighteen miles from ^linisink. At daylight on the morn- ing of the 23rd, after leaving our horses and disengaging of everything heavy, we marched on with intention to make the at- tack the moment an opportunity offered. The Indians, prob- ably from some discovery they had made of us, marched with more alacrity than usual with an intention to get their prison- ers, cattle and plunder, taken at Minisink, over the river. They had almost effected getting their cattle and baggage across, when we discovered them at Lackawack, twenty-seven miles from Minisink, some Indians in the river and some had got over. It was determined in Council to make an attack at this place. I therefore disposed of the men into three divisions, ordered Col. Tusten to command the one on the right and to take post about three hundred yards distance on an eminence to secure our right ; sent Col. Wisner with another division to file out to the left and to dispose of himself in the like manner. In order to prevent the enemy from gaining any advantage on our flank,, the other division under my command to attack them with that vigor necessary to Strike Terror in such a foe. Capt. Tyler with the advanced guard unhappily discharged his piece before the division could be properly posted, which put me under the necessity of bringing on the action. I ordered my division to fix bayonets and push forcibly on them, which or- der being resolutely executed, put the Indians in the utmost confusion, great numbers took to the river, who fell from the well directed fire of our riflemen, and incessant blaze from our musketry, without returning any fire. The divisions in the rear, not subject to order, broke some advancing down the hill toward me, others fled into the woods. I soon perceived the enemy's rally on our right and recrossing the river to gain the heights I found myself under the necessity to rally all my force^ 150 which by this time was much less than I expected. The enemy by this time had collected in force and from the best accounts that can be collected received a reinforcement from Keshethon, began to fire on our left. We returned the fire and kept up a constant bush firing up the hill from the river, in which the brave Capt. Tyler fell; several were wounded. The people be- ing exceedingly fatigued obliged me to take post on a height, which proved to be a strong and advantageous ground. The enemy repeatedly advanced in from forty to one hundred yards distance, and were as repeatedly repulsed. I had now but forty-five men (officers included), who had lost their command naturally drew toward me. The Spirits of these few, notwithstanding their fatigue, situation, and unal- laying thirst, added to the cruel yelling of those bloody mons- ters, the seed of Anak in size, exceed thought or description. We defended this ground near three hours and a half, during the whole time one blaze without intermission was kept up on both sides. Here we had three men killed and nine wounded. Among the wounded was Lt.-Col. Tusten, in the hand; Maj. Meeker in the shoulder, Adj. Finch in the leg, Capt. Jones in the foot and Ensign Wood in the wrist. The chief of our peo- ple was wounded by angle shots from the Indians from behind rocks and trees. Our rifles here were very useful. I found myself under the necessity of ceasing the fire, our ammunition from the con- tinual fire of more than five hours naturally suggested that it must be exhausted, ordered no person to shoot without having his object sure, and that no shot be lost. This gave spirits to the enemy, who formed their whole strength and forced the northeast part of our lines. Here we gave them a severe Gaul. Our people not being able to support the lines, retreated down the hill, precipitately toward the river. The enemy kept up a constant fire on our right, which was re- turned. The people by this time were so scattered I found myself un- equal to rally them again. Consequently every man made choice of his own way. Thus ended the action. The following are missing in the whole from the last ac- counts : Col. Ellison's Regiment — Lt.-Col. Tusten, Capt. Jones, Capt. Wood, Capt. Little, Capt. Duncan and twelve privates. 161 One private of New Jersey,- Adj. Finch, Ensign Wood and one private of my regiment. In the whole twenty-one men. Several wounded men are in. I hope others will yet be found. I received a wound on my head, one in my leg and one in my thigh — slightly. The one in my thigh from inattention is a little troublesome. Several spies that lay near the enemy the night following the action, informed us that they moved off their wounded in canoes on the day following ; that on the ground where they lay there was great quantities of blood, and the whole encampment was marked with wounded men. Great numbers of plasters and bloody rags was found. Although we suffered by the loss of so many brave men, the best for the number without sensible error in the precinct. It's beyond doubt the enemy suffered much more. From the various parts of the action can be col- lected a greater number of Indian dead than we lost, besides their wounded. The number of Indians and Tories is not as- certained; some accounts say 90, others 120, others 160. Col. Seward, of New Jersey, with 93 men was within five or six miles of the action on the Pennsylvania side, did not hear the firing, approached and lay near the Indians all night following, and from their conduct and groaning of the wounded gave rise to the belief that they had been in some action where they had suffered, and would have attacked them around their fire, but a mutiny arose among some of his people which pre- vented — a very unfortunate and to be lamented circumstance. If in their situation he had attacked them, with the common smiles of Providence, he must have succeeded and put them to total rout. Dear Governor, it's not in my power to point out to you the disagreeable situation I was in, surrounded by a foe, with such a handful of valuable men, not only as soldiers but as fellow citizens and members of society, and nothing to be ex- pected but the hatchet, spear and scalping-knife. The tremen- dous yells and whoops, all the fiends in the confines of the In- fernal Region, with one united cry, could not exceed it. Add to this the cries and petitions of the wounded around me, not to leave them, was beyond paralled or idea. My heart bleeds for the unfortunate wounded who fell into their hands. How- ever circumstances give me a little consolation. Mr. Roger Townsend, of Goshen, received a wound in his thigh, being ex- 152 ceedingly thirsty making an attempt to go to find some water was met by an Indian who very friendly took him by the hand and said he was his prisoner and would not hurt him.. A well directed ball from one of our men put the Indian into a dose, and Mr. Townsend ran back into the lines. I hope some little hu- manity may yet be found in the breasts of the Savages. I should be at the greatest loss was I to attempt to point out any officer or soldier that exceeded another in bravery during the time of the general action. Too much praise cannot be given to them for their atten- tion in receiving orders and alacrity in executing them. I have acquiesced with Col. Woodhull in ordering one-eighth of our regiments to Minisink as a temporary guard until your excellency's pleasure is known on the subject. The Indians were under the command of Brant, who was either killed or wounded in the action. They burnt Major Decker's house and barn ; Sam'l Davis's barn and mill ; Jacob Van Vleck's house and bam; Dan'l Van Okers bam (here was two Indians killed from a little fort around the house which was saved) ; Esquire Kuykindall's house and barn ; Simon West- fall's house and bam ; the Church ; Peter Kuykindall's house and bam ; Mertinus Decker's fort, house, bam and saw mills, and Nehemiah Patterson's saw mill; killed and scalped Jere- miah Vanoker, Daniel Cole, Ephraim Ferguson and one Tavern, and took with them several prisoners, mostly children, with a great number of horses, cattle and valuable plunder. Some of the cattle we rescued and returned to the owners. I hope your excellency will make allowances for the im- perfect stile, razures and blotts of this line, whilst I have the honor to subscribe myself, with the most perfect esteme, in haste. Your Excellency's Most Obedt. Sevt., "John Hathorn, Col." 153 CHAPTER X NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTIVITY BY THE INDIANS OF MRS. HARBISON. "On the return of my husband from Gen. St. Clah-'s defeat, and on his recovery from the wound he received in battle, he was made a spy and ordered to the woods on duty, about the 22d of March, 1792. The appoint- ment of spies to watch the movements of the Savages was so consonant with desires and interests of the in- habitants, that the frontier now resumed the appearance of quiet and confidence. Those who had for nearly a year been huddled together in the blockhouses were scattered to their own habitation and began the cultiva- tion of their farms. The spies saw nothing to alarm them or to induce them to apprehend danger, till the fatal morning of my captivity. They frequently came to our house to receive refreshments and to lodge. On the 15th of May, my husband, with Capt. Guthrie and other spies, came home about dark, and wanted supper, to procure which, I requested one of the spies to accom- pany me to the spring and springhouse, and Mr. Wm. Maxwell complied with my request. While he was at the spring and springhouse, we both distinctly heard a sound like the bleating of a lamb or fawn. This greatly alarmed us and induced us to make a hasty retreat into the house. Whether this was an Indian decoy or a w arn- ing of what I was to pass through, I am unable to determine. But from this time and circumstance, I be- came considerably alarmed and entreated my husband to remove me to some more secure place from Indian 1-5.5 cruelties. But Providence had designed that I should become a victim to their rage and that mercy should be made manifest in my deliverance. On the night of the 21st of May, two of the spies, Mr. John Davis and Mr. Sutton, came to lodge at our house and on the morning of the 22d, at daybreak when the horn blew at the block- house, which was in sight of our house, and distant about two hundred yards, the two men got up and went out. I was also awake and saw the door open and thought when I was taken prisoner, that the scouts had left it open. I intended to rise immediately, but having a child at the breast and it being awakened, I lay with it at the breast to get it to sleep again and accidently fell asleep myself. The spies have since informed me that they returned to the house again and found that I was sleeping; that they softly fastened the door and went immediately to the blockhouse ; and those who examined the house after the scene was over, say both doors had the appearance of being broken open. The first thing I knew from falling asleep, was the Indians pulling me out of bed by my feet. I then looked up, and saw the house full of Indians, every one having his gun in his left hand and tomahawk in his right. Beholding the danger I was in, I immediately jumped to the floor on my feet, with the young child in my arms. I then took a petticoat to put on, having only the one in which I slept; but the Indians took it from me, and as many times as I attempted to put it on, they succeeded in tak- ing it from me, so that I had to go just as I had been in bed. While I was struggling with some of the Savages for clothing, others of them went and took the two chil- dren out of another bed and immediately took the two feather beds to the door and emptied them. The Savages immediately began their work of plunder and devasta- tion. What they were unable to carry with them, they 156 destroyed. While they were at their work I made to the door and succeeded in getting out. With one child in my arms and another by my side, but the other little boy was so much displeased by being so early disturbed in the morning, that he would not go to the door. When I got out I saw Mr. Wolf, one of the soldiers, going to the spring for water, and beheld two or three of the Savages attempting to get between him and the block- house ; but Mr. Wolf was unconscious of his danger for the Savages had not yet been discovered. I then gave a terrific scream, b}^ which means jNIr. Wolf discovered his danger and started to run for the blockhouse; seven or eight Indians fired at him, but the only injury he received was a bullet in the arm, which broke it. He succeeded in making his escape to the blockhouse. When I raised the alarm one of the Indians came up to me with his tomahawk as though about to take my life, a second came and placed his hand before my mouth and told me to hush, when a third came with a lifted tomahawk, and attempted to give me a blow; but the first that came raised his tomahawk and averted the blow, and claimed me as his squaw. The Commissary, with his waiter, slept in the storehouse near the block- house, and upon hearing the report of the guns, came to the door to see what was the matter, and beholding the danger he was in made his escape to the blockhouse, but not without being discovered by the Indians, several of whom fired at him, and one of the bullets went through liis handkerchief, which was tied about his head and took off some of his hair. The handkerchief, with several bullet holes in it, he afterwards gave to me. The waiter on coming to the door was met by the Indians, who fired upon him and he received two bullet holes through his body and fell dead by the door. The Sav- ages then set up one of their tremendous and terrifying 157 yells, and pushed forward and attempted to scalp the man they had killed, but they were prevented from exe- cuting their diabolical purpose by the heavy fire which was kept up through the portholes from the blockhouse. In this scene of horror and alarm I began to meditate an escape, and for that purpose I attempted to direct the attention of the Indians from me to the blockhouse, and thought if I could succeed in this, I would retreat to a subterranean rock with which I was acquainted, which was in the run near where we were. For this pur- pose I began to converse with some of those who were near me, respecting the strength of the blockhouse, the number of men in it, etc., and being informed that there were forty men there, and that they were excellent marksmen, they immediately came to the determination to retreat, and for this purpose they ran to those who were besieging the blockhouse and brought them away. They then began to fiog me with their Aviping sticks — a stick for wiping a gun — and to order me along. Thus what I intended as the means of mj^ escape was the means of accelerating my departure in the hands of the Savages. But it was no doubt ordered by a kind Providence for the preservation of the fort and the inhabitants in it; for when the Sav- ages gave up the atta