The border warfare of New York, during the revolution; or, The annals of Tryon county

Front matter

974.701

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1136754 cSenealoov collection

Preface

XI

! thanks. Some of the accounts, merely traditionary, have been obtained from persons conversant and on intimate terms with the actors ; but most of them from those who could say to me, “ pars magna fui.” Under these circumstances, it is possible there may be errors. I have, however, in all cases, compared the statements where they varied ; and I flatter myself that I have generally arrived at the truth. I may be mistaken ; but I have written nothing which I do not believe to be true.

WILLIAM W. CAMPBELL.

New York, August 16tb, 1831.

Contents

INTRODUCTION,

Containing a summary view of the Iroquois or Six Nations

Page

Chapter I

First Settlement of Cherry Valley — Population of the Province of New York at the commencement of the Revolution — Limits of the County of Tryon, and Districts in the County . ... 21

Chapter II

Position of the Province of New York — The gathering of the Storm of the Revolution on the Frontiers — The Johnson Family — Butlers and Brant — The first Committees of Safety in Tryon County, and their noble and patriotic resolves, that they would live free or die — Correspondence with Col. Guy Johnson, Indian Superintendent — Departure of the Superintendent for Canada, accompanied by the Mohawks, never to return again to their homes on the banks of that river which bears their pame 40

Chapter III

Powers and difficulties of the Committees of Safety — Influence of the Tories in Tryon County — Character of the Members of the Committee — Their patriotism — Sir John Johnson — Correspondence with him relative to fiis fortifying Johnson Hall — Capitulation— Afterwards breaks his Parole and goes to Canada — Interview between General Herkimer and Brant at Upadilla, and singular termination of it ........... 12 xiv CONTENT^’.

CHAPTER IV. Page

Opening of the Campaign ofl'7'7^ — Fort Stanwix, or Fort Schuyler— Rumored advance of St. Leger — Militia of Try on County called out by General Herkimer — Siege of Fort Stanwix — Battle of Oriskany — Bravery and Death of General Herkimer — Retreat df St. Leger — Battle of Saratoga, and brilliant success of American Arms S5

s

Chapter V

Cherry Valley — The Religious Character of its Committee of Safety — Its exposed situation — Fort built there by order of La Fayette — Brant and^Capt. M‘Kean— Massacre and entire destruction of Cherry Valley, 11th November, 17^7 8 — Melancholy Death of all the^.Wells family, except the late distinguished lawyer, John Wells, of New York — Condition of those who were taken prisoners^by the Indians . . .120

Chapter IX

The life of an Officer at Fort Stanwix saved by the sagacity of his dog — La Fayette in the valley of the Mohawk — The ravages of the valley of the Mohawk by Sir John Johnson in 1780 — His retreat — General condition of the border settlements . . . . 189

CONTENTS.

XV

CHAPTEfe X.

Page.

Mohawk Valley in 1^78 1 — Fort Dayton — Col. WillePs and Capt. MXean’s battle with the Indians and Tories in the Cedar Swamp at Durlach, near the Sharon Springs — Death of the brave M‘Kean — Battle of Johnstown — Retreat of the British under Major Ross — Death of Walter Butler . 202

Chapter XI

The residence of Mrs. Jane Campbell, wife of Col. Samuel Campbell, of Cherry Valley, among the Indians as an Indian prisoner— Also a prisoner at Fort Niagara — Her return to Albany and Cherry Valley — Tie return of the inhabitants at the close of the war — Visit to Cherry Valley of General Washington- Eccentric Character of Mr. Shankland — Conclusion. . . . 214

Appendix

Speech of Mohawk Chiefs to the Magistrates of Albany, in 1689. 235 Sketch of the Life of Sir William Johnson — King Hendrick . . 241

Sketch of the Life and Character of Joseph Brant 248

Skenando, the white man’s friend 264

Dr. Moses Younglove — Poetic Description of Indian Customs . 268

Biographical Sketch of Governor George Clinton 277

Biographical Sketch of General Philip Schuyler 283

Battle and Massacre at Wyoming SOO

A Letter, containing an invoice of Scalps taken by the Senecas . 807

Song, reciting the brave deeds of one Christian Shell 812

The Sacrifice ot the Senecas 316

Number of Indian Warriors employed by the British in the Revolutionary War 319

The Direct Agency of the English Government in the employment of the Indians 321

Life and Services of General James Clinton 888

Centennial Address, delivered at Cherry Valley, July 4, 1840 . 367 i-

V-

Ar

Introduction

New York, at the time of its discovery and settle^ ment by the Europeans, was inhabited by a race of men distinguished, above all the other aborigines of this Continent, for their intelligence and prowess,

1 Five distinct and independent tribes, speaking a Ian- I guage radically the same, and practicing similar I customs, had united in forming a confederacy which, for durability and power, was unequalled in Indian history. They were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, called the Iroquois by the French, and the Five Nations by the English. In cases of great emergency, each tribe or nation acted separately and independently ; but a general I council usually assembled at Onondaga, near the centre of their territory, and determined upon peace i or war, and all other matters which regarded the interests of the whole. The powers of this council appear to have been not much dissimilar to those I of the United States Congress under the old confederation.

Their language, though guttural, was sonorous.

I Their orators studied euphony in their words and in their arrangement. Their graceful attitudes and ges- 2

INTRODUCTION.

tures, and their flowing sentences, rendered their discourses, if not always eloquent, at least highly impressive. An erect and commanding figure, with a blanket thrown loosely over the shoulder, with his naked arm raised, and addressing in impassioned strains a group of similar persons sitting upon the ground around him, would, to use the illustration of 1 an early historian of this State, give no faint picture i of Rome in her early days.* j

They were very methodical in their harangues. When in conference with other nations, at the con-^ elusion of every important sentence of the opposite speaker, a sachem gave a small stick to the orator^ who was to reply, charging him at the same time to remember it. After a short consultation with thell others, he was enabled to repeat most of the discourse,! which he answered article by article. f jl

These nations were distinguished for their prowess; [ in war, as well as for their sagacity and eloquence in council. War was their delight. Believing it to be the most honorable employment of men, they infused! into their children in early life high ideas of military; glory. They carried their arms into Canada, across the Connecticut, to the banks of the Mississippi, and almost to the Gulf of Mexico. Formidable by theirj numbers and their skill, they excited respect and awe in the most powerful tribes, and exacted tribute and , obedience from the weak. ^

In 1608, the first efficient settlement was made in | Canada by Governor Champlain, who founded Que-

* Smith’s History of New York. f Ibid.

INTRODUCTION.

bee. At this time the Five Nations were waging a desperate war with the Hurons and Algonquins, who inhabited a part of that province. Champlain, unfortunately for the colony, entered into an alliance with the latter tribes, and by furnishing them with men and fire-arms, enabled them to gain a temporary j ascendency.* The confederates, who had always I been victorious, and who considered the Hurons and Algonquins as little better than vassals, could not brook this defeat. They applied to, and courted the friendship of the Dutch, who found their way up the Hudson River, and established themselves at Albany, soon after the settlement of Quebec. From them they obtained arms and munitions, and soon regained the influence and power which they had lost. This opportune arrival and assistance of the Dutch, together with their mild, concilatory manners, endeared them to the Five Nations, who afterward looked up to them for advice and direction in their own affairs, and protected and fought for them with cheerfulness and courage. But the interference of the French aroused I the indignation of these haughty warriors ; for almost i a century they harassed their infant colonies, and visited with a dreadful vengeance both the authors of f their disgrace and their descendants. This, if not the I iron, was the golden age of the Iroquois. During I this period, the hardy German passed up the Mohawk I in his light canoe, and penetrated into the remote bounds of their territory, where he exchanged his ie|

INTRODUCTION.

merchandise and munitions of war for the peltry of the Indians.*

In 1664 the province of New York was surrendered to the English by Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors. The English, perceiving the importance of being on friendly terms with the Indians, exerted themselves to preserve that good understanding which had existed between the latter and the Dutch. Conventions were frequently called at Albany, at which the governors met and conferred with them ; presents were distributed liberally, and no opportunity was neglected to impress them with ideas of the wealth and power of the English monarch. The French were not idle. Jealous of the growing power and influence of the English colonies, and desirous of monopolizing the Indian trade, they adopted various plans to detach the Iroquois from their alliance with the English. They endeavored to break up the confederacy, that they might conquer the nations in detail. They attacked the English, in hopes that, by gaining some splendid victories over them, they would convince the Indians of the weakness of their allies, and of the strength of their enemies. They sent missionaries among them, more desirous of making allies for France than converts to Christianity ; in this they partially succeeded ; and in 1671, persuaded the Caughnawagas to remove from their settlements on the Mohawk, and to establish themselves in Canada.

In 1688 the vengeance of the Five Nations was

* Memoirs of an American Lady.

INTRODUCTION.

again aroused by a stratagem of the Dinondadies, a tribe at war with them, and in alliance with France. The Dinondadies killed several of their ambassadors while going to hold a conference in Canada, and falsely pretended that they had been informed of their journey by the French governor. Incensed at what they considered a great breach of faith, about twelve hundred warriors of the Five Nations landed at Montreal on the 26th July, 1688, and killed about a thousand French — men, women, and children, and carried away twenty-six prisoners, whom they afterward burned alive. The French retaliated for these aggressions by making incursions into the Indian country, and burning their villages.

In 1690 the French made an attack upon Schenectady ; took the place by surprise, as it was in the dead of winter, and no danger was apprehended ; the whole village was destroyed ; about sixty of the inhabitants were killed, and most of the remainder perished, as they fled naked through the snow toward Albany.^

This was the first intimation the colony of New York received that a war was meditated on the part of the French ; it was the more perfidious, as negotiations were then pending in Europe for the purpose of settling the claims of the two governments in America. During this war the confederates remained attached to the English, and rendered important services by harassing the frontiers of their enemies. About 1701 a general treaty of peace was made be-

* See Appendix — ^Note A.

INTRODUCTION.

tween the French and Five Nations, which put an end to these long and afflicting wars, in which both parties had been sufferers. In the early part of this century, (about 1712,) the Monecons, or Tuscaroras, a tribe of Indians living in the Carolinas, made war upon the inhabitants of those colonies ; they were vanquished by the colonists, and forced to abandon their country ; they are thought to have been allies of the Five Nations in some of their southern expeditions. From a similarity in their language, the confederates supposed them derived from a common origin ; they received them* into the confederacy, assigned them a section of their territory to dwell in ; after this they were called the Six Nations. The Tuscaroras never possessed the energy and courage of the other confederates. Tradition says that they were obliged to wear a woman’s pocket for a tobacco pouch, as a mark of their effeminacy and want of courage.

From the commencement of this century down to 1750, the French missionaries and agents were very successful. That body of men, the French Jesuits, who by their zeal put to shame many men engaged in a better cause, entered upon this field of labor with great ardor. At one time they doffed the clerical habit, and putting on the Indian garb, accompanied the warriors on distant and hazardous expeditions ; and at another, they astonished their savage audience with the splendid and imposing rites and ceremonies of the Romish church. They spoke in glowing terms of the resources ^Sd magnificence of le grand Monarqucy as they termed the King of France.

INTRODUCTION.

They obtained permission for the French to build forts in their territory ; and in short, when the last French war broke out in 1754, the four western tribes went over to the French, and took up the hatchet against the English. This war terminated by the complete subjection of Canada, and the annexing it to the British dominions. The Indians,* however.

* In l'7'74 Governor William Tryon, the royal governor of the province of New York, made a return to the British government, embracing the general condition of the province, its civil history, political and judicial, the general features of the country, rivers, mountains, cities, forts, population, commerce ; in short, giving a complete view of the province. This document is among the papers at Albany, obtained by Mr. Brodhead, and ought to be published at length. It was the closing account of the province of New York, which was soon thereafter to give place to the state.

One of the questions relates to the Indians, and was answered by Gov. Tryon, upon information derived from Sir William Johnson, and the statement may be implicitly relied on. It shows of course the numbers and situation of the Indians at the commencement of the war.

What number of Indians have you, and how are they inclined ?”

“ The Indians who formerly possessed Nassau or Long Island, and that part of this province which lies below Albany, are now reduced to a small number, and are in general so scattered and dispersed, and so addicted to wandering, that no certain account can be obtained of them. They are the remnants of the tribes Montocks and others of Long Island, Wappingers of Dutchess County, Esopus, Papagonk, <fec. in Ulster County, and a few Skachticokes. These tribes have generally been denominated River Indians, and consist of about three hundredfighting men.

“ They speak a language radically the same, and are understood by the Delawares, being originally of the same race. Most of these people at present profess Christianity, and as far as in their power adopt our customs. The greater part of them attended the army during the late war, but not with the same reputation as those who are still deemed hunters.

24 INTRODUCTION.

witnessing the defeat of the French, had many of them returned, before the close of the war, to the English, by whom they were again received as allies.

“ The Mohawks, the first in rank of the Six Nation confederacy, though now much reduced in numbers, originally occupied the country westward from Albany to the German Flats, a space of about ninety miles, and had many towns, but having at different times been prevailed on to dispose of their lands, they have little property left ex- | cept to the northward, and are reduced to two villages on the Mohawk | river, and a few families at Schoharie. The lower Mohawks are in number about one hundred and eighty-five, and the upper, or those of j Canajoharie, two hundred and twenty one, making together four hundred and six. This nation hath always been warm in their attachment to the English, and on this account suffered great loss during the late war.

“ The nation beyond and to the westward of the Mohawk, is the Oneidas. The villages where they reside, including Onoaughquaga, are just beyond the Indian line or boundary established at Fort Stanwix, in 1768, and their property within that line, except to the northward, has been sold. This nation consists of at least fifteen hundred, ' and are firmly attached to the English.

“ The other nations of that confederacy, and who live further beyond ! the Indian line, are the Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras, and are well inclined to the British interest. The whole Six Nations consist of about two thousand fighting men, and their number of souls according to their latest returns at least ten thousand ; the Seneca nation amounting alone to one half that number.”

“ What is the strength of the neighboring Indians ?”

“ The Indians north of this province near Montreal, with those living on the river St. Lawrence, near the 45th degree of northern latitude, form a body of about three thousand five hundred. They are in alliance with, and held in great esteem by the rest ; are good warriors, j and have behaved well since they became allies to the English previous to the reduction of Canada.

“ The tribes of Indians within the province of Massachusetts Bay, and the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, <fec. are under similar circumstances with those denominated River Indians ; and the Stock-

INTRODUCTION.

Major General William Johnson* rendered very important services during this war ; his complete victory over Baron Dieskau, Sept. 1757, at the head of Lake George, and the capture of Fort Niagara by him, had aided materially in bringing the war to a successful termination. He was created a baronet, and Parliament voted him five thousand pounds sterling ; he was also appointed general superintendent of Indian affairs : he had settled upon the Mohawk in 1734, having emigrated there from Ireland, and thus rose to rank and affluence. Stern, determined in purpose, at times even arbitrary, sagacious and bridge Indians, living on the eastern borders of New York, may be considered as within it, as they formerly claimed the lands near Albany, and still hold up some claim in that vicinity. They served as a corps during the late war, and are in number about three hundred.

“ Of the Susquehanna tribes many have retired further westward, among which are some not well affected to the British government. They are all dependents and allies of the Six Nations.

“Within the department of Sir William Johnson, His Majesty’s Superintendent of Indian affairs, there are twenty-five thousand four hundred and twenty fighting men, and may be about one hundred and thirty thousand Indians in the whole, extending westward to the Mississippi.”

It is thus seen that the Indian warriors of the Six Nations were as numerous as the able-bodied men of Tryon County, while the warriors under the superintendence of Sir William Johnson, and afterwards under that ofi Col. Guy Johnson, were equal nearly to the militia of the whole province. The whole body of warriors could be called out if necessary. Being under the pay of England, and having no domestic labors, and war being their delight, it was evident that it would be a fearful event to the Colonies if the Indians took part in the controversy.

* See Appendix— Note B.

2*

INTRODUCTION.

penetrating, but when necessary, urbane and conciliatory in his manners, he was eminently qualified for the station to which he was appointed. No person has ever exerted an equal influence over those unlettered children of the forest. He lived at Johnstown, where he had a beautiful residence, and was surrounded by the Mohawks. The Indians looked up to him as their father, paying the utmost deference to his advice, and consulting him on all occasions. Out of compliment to them, he frequently wore in winter their dress ; he received them cordially at his house, where sometimes hundreds of them assembled. So great was the respect they had for him, that though , | the house contained many valuables, nothing was purloined from it, even in their carousals. Being a widower, he received into his family an Indian maid- | en, a sister of the celebrated sachem Joseph Thayendanegea, called the Brant.

The influence of Sir William continued until his death, about the commencement of the revolutionary war, when the principal events took place, which I design hereafter to relate, ;

Chapter I

Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore.

Who danced our infancy upon their knee,

And told our marvelling boyhood legend’s store Of their strange ventures happ’d by land or sea ;

How they are blotted from the things that be !

How few, all weak, and withered of their force,

Wait on the verge of dark eternity.

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse,

To sweep them from our sight ; Time rolls his ceaseless course.”

It is always a pleasing task to rescue from oblivion the names, and to record the deeds, of those individuals, however humble, who were the pioneers of our country, who purchased the wilderness from the savage, and afterward disputed the dominion over it with the wolf and the bear.

The pleasure is increased, and a deep and thrilling interest is awakened, as we trace out those individuals ardently engaged on the side of their country in that revolution which terminated in our entire independence ; in the planting of that tree of liberty, whose beautiful foliage and wide-spreading branches have excited universal admiration, and a scion from which may yet be engrafted into all the nations of the east.

This is the object of the following imperfect sketch, which, if it add little to the materials for the future history of our State, may be a source of some pleasure and satisfaction to those connected with the actors themselves; and to the survivors, those venerable relics of other times, a few of whom have come down to us, but who, one by one, are daily dropping into eternity.

In 1738 a patent for 8000 acres of land, lying about ten miles south of the Mohawk River, and fifty-two west from Albany, was granted by George Clark, then lieutenant governor, with the consent of the council of the then province of New York, to John Lindesay, Jacob Roseboom, Lendert Gansevoort, and Sybrant Van Schaick. This patent is situated in the extreme north-eastern part of the now county of Otsego, embracing a part of the town and village of Cherry Valley. The face of the country generally, in this county, is uneven ; a great number of valleys run nearly north and south, in which are Otsego and Schuyler Lakes, and through which fiow several streams, forming the eastern branch of the Susquehanna. These valleys are bounded on the north by a ridge of table land, in which many of the smaller streams take their rise, and from whose northern declivity flow several unimportant tributaries of the Mohawk ; there are indentations or passes at the northern extremities of all these valleys ; differing, however, in their elevations and in the distances between the sources of the tributary waters of the two rivers. None of these valleys are very extensive, but the soil is fertile, and the rolling land between them produces all kinds of grain, and furnishes excellent pasturage in great abundance. The valley, through which runs Cherry Valley Creek, is about sixteen miles in length, and varies from one quarter to a mile in breadth ; at the village it is 1335

ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.

feet, and where it terminates in its pass about a mile north, 1418 feet, above tide water. Chains of highland stretch along both sides of this valley ; that on the east may properly be considered a spur of the Catskill. It terminates abruptly about three miles north-east of the village, in Mount Independence, from whose top the land slopes gradually to the north ; its summit is more than 2000 feet above tide water, and 1700 above the valley of the Mohawk; from hence a beautiful prospect opens in some directions nearly one hundred miles in extent. The Mohawk valley, with a large portion of the northern part of the State, is spread out as a map ; while far in the north-east are dimly seen the tops of the Green Mountains, as they mingle with the horizon.*

Early in the eighteenth century, nearly three thousand German Palatinates emigrated to this country under the patronage of Queen Anne ; most of them settled in Pennsylvania ; a few made their way, in 1713, from Albany, over the Helleberg, to Schoharie Creek, and under the most discouraging circumstances succeeded in effecting a settlement upon the rich alluvial lands bordering upon that stream. Small colonies from here, and from Albany and Schenectady, established themselves in various places along the Mohawk ; and in 1722 had extended as far up as the German Flats, near where stands the village of Herkimer ; but all the inhabitants were found in the

* Upon this northern slope, and about three miles from Moimt In> dependence, is built the famous “ Pavilion ” at Sharon Springs, from the piazza of which the prospect is both beautiful and grand.

neighborhood of these streams ; none had ventured out in that unbroken wilderness which lay to the south and west of these settlements.

Mr. Lindesay, having obtained an assignment from the three other patentees to himself and Governor Clark, in 1739 caused the patent to be surveyed and subdivided into lots, and chose for himself the farm afterward successively owned by Mr. John Wells and Judge Hudson, and gave to it the name of Lindesay ^s Bush. In the following summer he left New York with his family, consisting of his wife, and father-inlaw, Mr. Congreve, a lieutenant in the British army, and a few domestics, and settled upon his farm. He was a Scotch gentleman of some fortune and distinction, having held several offices under government, and anticipated much pleasure from a residence in this high and rolling country, whose valleys, "and hills, and lakes, would constantly remind him of the wild and romantic scenery of his native land. A luxuriant growth of beach and maple, interspersed with the wild cherry, covered the valley, and extended along up the sides of the hills, whose tops were crowned with clusters of evergreen ; elk and deer were found here in great numbers, as were bears, wolves, beavers, and foxes ; it was a favorite hunting-ground of the Mohawks, who erected their cabins near some little spring, and hunted their game upon the mountains. Mr. Lindesay, as well as all the early settlers, found it important to cultivate their friendship ; he received them into his house, and treated them with such hospitality as circumstances would permit ; this kindness was not lost upon the high-minded savages, one of

ANNALS OF TRYON COUNTY.

whom gave proof of no ordinary friendship during the first winter after his removal to Lindesay’s Bush. Whatever of happiness and independence Mr. Lindesay may have looked forward to, he knew little of the privations of the settlers of a new country, especially such a country as he had selected ; his farm was fifteen miles from any settlement, difficult of access from that settlement which was on the Mohawk River, by reason of its elev_ation above it ; and the intervening country was traversed only by an Indian footpath.

In the winter of 1740, the snow fell to a great depth; the paths were filled up; all communication with the settlers upon the Mohawk was stopped ; Mr. Lindesay had not made sufficient preparation for such a winter; he had but a scanty supply of provisions; these were almost consumed long before spring; a wretched and lingering death was in prospect for him and his family. At this critical time an Indian came to his house, having travelled upon the snow with snow-shoes ; when informed of their situation, he readily undertook to relieve them ; he went to the settlements upon the Mohawk, and having procured provisions, returned with them upon his back, and j during the remainder of the winter, this faithful child of the forest thus continued to relieve them, and thus preserved the lives of the first inhabitants of our town and county.

In New York, Mr. Lindesay became acquainted with the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, and prevailed upon him to visit his patent, offering him a tract of land of several hundred acres, on condition that he would settle upon it, and would use his influence with his his friends, and persuade them to accompany him. Pleased with the situation, and the generous proprietor of the patent, he accepted of the proposal. He was i an Irishman by birth, but had been educated in Edinburgh ; had spent several years in the provinces, having travelled over most of those at the south ; and at j the time of his first acquaintance with Mr. Lindesay, was on a tour through those at the north. He went to Londonderry in New Hampshire, where several of his countrymen were settled, whom he persuaded to remove, and in 1741 David Ramsay, William Gallt, James Campbell, William Dickson, and one or two others, with their families, in all about thirty persons, came and purchased farms, and immediately commenced making improvements upon them. They had emigrated from the north of Ireland several years anterior to their removal here ; some of them were originally from Scotland ; they were called Scotch Irish — a general name given to the inhabitants of the north of Ireland, many of whom are of Scotch descent; hardy and industrious, inured to toil from their infan- j cy, they were well calculated to sustain the labors necessary in clearing the forest, and fitting it for the abode of civilized man.