DOCSLIB.ORG

The Ohio Company of Virginia, Empire Building, and The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Ohio Company of Virginia, Empire Building, and The COMPANY, COLONY, AND CROWN: THE OHIO COMPANY OF VIRGINIA, EMPIRE BUILDING, AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1747-1763 A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Emily Hager Kasecamp December 2019 ©Copyright All right reserved Except for previously published materials A dissertation written by Emily Hager Kasecamp B.A., Frostburg State University, 2009 M.A., West Virginia University, 2011 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2019 Approved by Dr. Kim Gruenwald , Chair. Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Kevin Adams , Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Kevin Kern Dr. Richard Feinberg Accepted by Dr. Kevin Adams , Chair, Department of History Dr. James Blank , Dean College of Arts and Sciences Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................ IV INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE: POLITICKING FOR THE BORDERLAND .............................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER TWO: MAPPING THE OHIO VALLEY: CRESAP, GIST, AND CELERON (1748-1752) ..................... 73 CHAPTER THREE: BUILDING THE EMPIRE: STRUCTURES AND ALLIANCES, 1750-1753 ........................... 128 CHAPTER FOUR: NEGOTIATING FOR THE BORDERLAND: DINWIDDIE, WASHINGTON, AND TRENT .. 173 CHAPTER FIVE: THE OHIO COMPANY: MILITARIZING THE OHIO VALLEY. .................................................... 224 CONCLUSION: CRUMBLING THE COLONIAL COALITION ......................................................................................... 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 282 APPENDIX A: CHRISTOPHER GIST’S ROUTE 1750 .................................................................................................... 291 APPENDIX B: CHRISTOPHER GIST’S ROUTE 1751 .................................................................................................... 292 APPENDIX C: WASHINGTON AND GIST ROUTE IN 1753 ......................................................................................... 293 APPENDIX D: WASHINGTON IN THE OHIO VALLEY 1754-1759 .......................................................................... 294 APPENDIX E: BRADDOCK’S ROUTE 1755 ..................................................................................................................... 295 APPENDIX F: FATHER BONNECAMPS MAP OF CELERON’S ROUTE ..................................................................... 296 iii Acknowledgements This dissertation and its argument have grown organically over many years, and many individuals have aided and influenced this project. I am indebted to several people, whom I cannot possibly thank enough. My father, Dr. Charles Hager, introduced me to old books on the history of our home, western Maryland, and through these readings on Thomas Cresap, Christopher Gist, and Fort Cumberland, it became evident to me that the Ohio Company drove westward expansion. I wrote my first and second papers on these subjects in 2007 and 2009 at Frostburg State University, and I am especially thankful to those faculty, Dr. David Dean, Dr. John Wisemen, Dr. Alum Abbay, and Dr. Sally Boniece, who fostered my academic development and confidence. I am also indebted to Dr. Tyler Boulware and Dr. Joseph Hodge at West Virginia University for expanding my knowledge of British colonial America and guided me through my Masters’ Thesis. I am immensely grateful for the input of my dissertation committee. Dr. Kevin Kern encouraged my research and let me know that academic history was allowed to be enjoyable. Dr. Richard Feinberg, as an anthropologist, pushed me past my assumptions, and the assumptions of the field, to reveal both problems and insights into my work. Dr. Kevin Adams, as well as providing a comprehensive reading list, questioned my arguments, and pushed my conclusions to the betterment of this dissertation. To my advisor, Dr. Kim Gruenwald, I am enormously indebted. Interested in my subject from the beginning, she fostered my academic creativity and reassured me of the importance of my project. As a mentor, she simultaneously supported and pushed me as I coped with the ups and downs of life outside academia, and for that I thank her more than I can say. iv This dissertation was fostered, financially and logistically by a few key institutions. I am thankful to the Michael Cresap Museum, Jilla Smith, Bob Bantz and, Ranger Rita Knox at the C & O Canal National Historical Park for showing me the local history behind the road signs. I want to thank the staff at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Swem and Carnegie Libraries at William and Mary for their help. A special thanks to the staff at the University of Pittsburgh archives for their help in navigating the many different collections with similar-sounding names. I could not have finished this dissertation without my family and dear friends. I want to thank Michelle Curran Cornell for being with me each step of the way, her friendship and love means the world to me, and I am richer for having her in my life. Thank you to my mother-in-law, Dr. Terry Kasecamp, who provided childcare and compassion throughout this process. My parents have supported me financially, emotionally, and physically thought out this project. My mother, Pamella Weir Hager, has loved and supported me and my children throughout this entire project, and for her unconditional love and constant understanding, I will be eternally grateful. My father, Dr. Charles T. Hager, provided historical knowledge and interest in my subject and never doubted that I could complete this project. He provided motivation and endless proofreading, and I cannot thank him enough. To Ella and Brice, you were both born alongside the project, and you both bring infinite joy and love into my life. Lastly, I must thank my husband, Brian Kasecamp, Esq. although thanks do not seem enough. He read drafts, went on “vacations” to archives, and gave his support to me and this project in every way. His love and faith in me are humbling, and I am forever thankful that he stood with me through this process. v Introduction “Fathers, Both you and the English are white, we live in a Country between; therefore the Land belongs to neither one nor t’other: But the Great Being above allow’d it to be a place of Residence for us so Fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have done our Brothers the English; for I will keep you at Arms length: I lay this down as a Trial for both, to see which will have the greatest Regard to it, and that side we will stand by, and make equal Sharers with us.” -Half-King Tanaghrisson1 This speech made to the French Captain Marin speaks volumes about the situation in the Ohio Country in the mid-1700s. As Tanaghrisson, the Iroquoian Half-King, so eloquently phrased, the “Country between” was highly contested, and no one involved, neither the Iroquois, the French, nor the British, felt inclined to let it go without a fight. Due to the diversity and number of people interested in the Ohio Country, empire-building 1 George Washington, “Journey to the French Commandant: Narrative,” Founders Online, National Archives. Accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-01-02-0003-0002. [Original source: The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 1, 11 March 1748 – 13 November 1765, ed. Donald Jackson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976, pp. 130–161.] The Iroquois at Onondaga would appoint a “Half-King” to be their representative for the Ohio Valley peoples living under the “control” of the Iroquois. The Iroquois council intended for the Half-King to speak for local bands, negotiate with outsiders, and accept diplomatic gifts, but the Half-King could not enter into binding treaties without the consent of the Onondaga Council. This was the arrangement the Iroquois wanted, as this dissertation explores in later chapters. The on-the-ground reality was that the Iroquois relationship with the Ohio Indians and Tanaghrisson’s role of Half-King were much more complicated and constantly changing. 1 there was neither monolithic nor consistent; each empire and colony had its own method and reason for pushing into the Ohio River Valley. Although the British government was interested in the region in the late 1740s, colonization efforts remained decentralized until the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War.2 Each British colony acted individually, often in competition with all the others. So, who did Tanaghrisson mean when he says “English” in the above quotation? He may have meant those “English,” or rather British individuals, who had pushed west into the Ohio Valley without permission from the Crown or plan for permanent settlement. Rogue imperialists spread the influence and reach of British trade networks but conducted their work outside the purview of the British government.3 Most traders and trappers ventured into the Ohio Valley without threating to take Native American land or establish permanent settlements. Ohio Indians and Iroquois did
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Political Change in Dominica, the Commonwealth West Indies. Cuthbert J
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1973 From crown colony to associate statehood : political change in Dominica, the Commonwealth West Indies. Cuthbert J. Thomas University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Thomas, Cuthbert J., "From crown colony to associate statehood : political change in Dominica, the Commonwealth West Indies." (1973). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1879. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1879 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ^^^^^^^ ^0 ASSOCIATE STATEHOOD: CHANGE POLITICAL IN DOMINICA, THE COMMONWEALTH WEST INDIES A Dissertation Presented By CUTHBERT J. THOMAS Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 1973 Major Subject Political Science C\ithbert J. Thomas 1973 All Rights Reserved FROM CROV/N COLONY TO ASSOCIATE STATEHOOD: POLITICAL CHANGE IN DOMINICA, THE COMMONWEALTH WEST INDIES A Dissertation By CUTHBERT J. THOMAS Approved as to stylq and content by; Dr. Harvey "T. Kline (Chairman of Committee) Dr. Glen Gorden (Head of Department) Dr» Gerard Braunthal^ (Member) C 1 Dro George E. Urch (Member) May 1973 To the Youth of Dominica who wi3.1 replace these colonials before long PREFACE My interest in Comparative Government dates back to ray days at McMaster University during the 1969-1970 academic year.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trail Through Shadow of Ljcaut C"P. from a Phoiogrnph Made by the Author in September, 1909
    The Trail through Shadow of lJcaUt C"p. From a phoiogrnph made by the Author in September, 1909. The Wilderness Trail Or The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsyl­ vania Traders on the Allegheny Path With Some New Annals of the Old West, and the Records of Some Strong Men and Some Bad Ones By Charles A. Hanna Author of .. The Scotch-Irish" With Eighty Maps alld Illustratiuns In Two Volumes Volume One G. P. Plltnam's Sons New York and London ltDe 1T1111c~erbocllec lIlreo6 1911 CHAPTER XII THE OHIO MINGOES OF THE WHITE RIVER, AND THE WENDATS IERRE JOSEPH DE CELORON, Commandant at Detroit in 1743, P wrote in the month of June of that year to Bcauharnois, the Governor-General of Canada at Quebec, respecting some Indians" who had seated themselves of late years at the White River." These Indians, he reported, were Senecas, Onondagas, and others of the Five Iroquois villages. At their urgent request, Celoron permitted some residents of Detroit to carry goods thither, and had recently sent Sicur Navarre to the post, to make a report thereupon. Navarre's account was trans­ nUtted to Quebec with this letter. Celoron's letter has been printed in the New York Colonial Doc1tments, but the accompanying report of Sieur Navarre has not heretofore been published. Following is a portion of that report: "Memoir of an inspection made by me, Navarre,l of the trading post where the Frenchman called Saguin carries on trade; of the different nations who are there established, and of the trade which can be de­ veloped there.
    [Show full text]
  • The Principal Indian Towns of Western Pennsylvania C
    The Principal Indian Towns of Western Pennsylvania C. Hale Sipe One cannot travel far in Western Pennsylvania with- out passing the sites of Indian towns, Delaware, Shawnee and Seneca mostly, or being reminded of the Pennsylvania Indians by the beautiful names they gave to the mountains, streams and valleys where they roamed. In a future paper the writer will set forth the meaning of the names which the Indians gave to the mountains, valleys and streams of Western Pennsylvania; but the present paper is con- fined to a brief description of the principal Indian towns in the western part of the state. The writer has arranged these Indian towns in alphabetical order, as follows: Allaquippa's Town* This town, named for the Seneca, Queen Allaquippa, stood at the mouth of Chartier's Creek, where McKees Rocks now stands. In the Pennsylvania, Colonial Records, this stream is sometimes called "Allaquippa's River". The name "Allaquippa" means, as nearly as can be determined, "a hat", being likely a corruption of "alloquepi". This In- dian "Queen", who was visited by such noted characters as Conrad Weiser, Celoron and George Washington, had var- ious residences in the vicinity of the "Forks of the Ohio". In fact, there is good reason for thinking that at one time she lived right at the "Forks". When Washington met her while returning from his mission to the French, she was living where McKeesport now stands, having moved up from the Ohio to get farther away from the French. After Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity, July 4th, 1754, she and the other Indian inhabitants of the Ohio Val- ley friendly to the English, were taken to Aughwick, now Shirleysburg, where they were fed by the Colonial Author- ities of Pennsylvania.
    [Show full text]
  • In Search of the Indiana Lenape
    IN SEARCH OF THE INDIANA LENAPE: A PREDICTIVE SUMMARY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THE LENAPE LIVING ALONG THE WHITE RIVER IN INDIANA FROM 1790 - 1821 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS BY JESSICA L. YANN DR. RONALD HICKS, CHAIR BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA DECEMBER 2009 Table of Contents Figures and Tables ........................................................................................................................ iii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Research Goals ............................................................................................................................ 1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 2: Theory and Methods ................................................................................................. 6 Explaining Contact and Its Material Remains ............................................................................. 6 Predicting the Intensity of Change and its Effects on Identity................................................... 14 Change and the Lenape .............................................................................................................. 16 Methods ....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Now Have Taken up the Hatchet Against Them”: Braddock’S Defeat and the Martial Liberation of the Western Delawares
    We “Now Have Taken up the Hatchet against Them”: Braddock’s Defeat and the Martial Liberation of the Western Delawares N 1755 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA became the setting for a series of transforming events that resonated throughout the colonial world of INorth America. On July 9, on the banks of the Monongahela River— seven miles from the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne—two regi- ments of the British army, together with over five companies of colonial militia, suffered a historic mauling at the hands of a smaller force of French marines, Canadian militia, and Great Lakes Indians. With nearly one thousand casualties, the defeat of General Edward Braddock’s com- mand signified the breakdown of British presence on the northern Appalachian frontier. This rout of British-American forces also had an immense effect on the future of Indians in the Ohio Country, particularly the peoples of western Pennsylvania referred to as the Delawares. I would like to thank the anonymous readers and my teachers and trusted colleagues, Dr. Holly Mayer of Duquesne University and Dr. Mary Lou Lustig, emeritus West Virginia University, for their constructive criticisms and helpful suggestions as I worked through the revision process for this article. THE PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY Vol. CXXXVII, No. 3 ( July 2013) 228 RICHARD S. GRIMES July From late October 1755 through the spring of 1756, Delaware war parties departing from their principal western Pennsylvania town of Kittanning and from the east in the Susquehanna region converged on the American backcountry. There they inflicted tremendous loss of life and cataclysmic destruction of property on the settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Conflicting Visions: England's Seventeenth-Century Colonies
    C H A P T E R 2 CONFLICTING VISIONS: ENGLAND’S SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY COLONIES SUMMARY In the seventeenth century, different and sometimes disparate groups of English settlers established several colonies in North America. The English way of colonization differed from that of the Spanish in that English colonization did not emanate from a desire to create a centralized empire in the New World. Breaking Away English migration to the New World was part of a larger pattern of mobility—the New World was just another destination. Some Englishmen migrated to the New World for economic reasons, leaving poverty and seeking land. Others came seeking religious opportunity or to avoid political strife and conflict in England. The Chesapeake: Dreams of Wealth In the early to mid-seventeenth century, the English established two successful but diverse colonies around the Chesapeake Bay—Virginia and Maryland. Entrepreneurs in Virginia In 1607, the London Company, a joint stock company, built Jamestown in Virginia. This colony, however, experienced numerous problems arising from a hostile natural environment, conflict with local Native Americans, the colonists’ failure to work for the common good, and unclear goals. Spinning Out of Control To save the colony, Captain John Smith took over the management of the town and imposed military order. The London Company also restructured the government and sent more people to keep the colony going. “Stinking Weed” One key to the eventual success of Virginia was the development by John Rolfe of tobacco as a commercial crop. London Company directors further attracted settlers by giving land grants (headrights), establishing elective local government (the House of Burgesses), and bringing women to the colony.
    [Show full text]
  • The Present State of Virginia, Rev. Hugh Jones, 1724, Excerpts
    National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox Becoming American: The British Atlantic Colonies, 1690-1763 Library of Congress “capable of great Improvements still” * Rev. Hugh Jones The Present State of VIRGINIA 1724__EXCERPTS Hugh Jones was an English clergyman called to serve in Virginia for two years as a “Mathe- matickal Professor” in the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. On his return to England he discovered that “few people . have correct notions of the true state of the Herman Moll, A New Map of the North Parts of America , 1720, detail plantations [colonies].” Thus in 1724 he Herman Moll, A New Map of the North Parts of America, 1720, detail published The Present State of Virginia to “few people in England . have correct Notions inform his English audience of the colony’s “few people in England . have correct Notions government, peoples, economic and religious of the true State of the Plantations” of the true State of the Plantations” state, etc., and to promote his plan to transport the English “poor and vagabonds” to Virginia as a non-African labor supply. INTRODUCTION_____ When I considered the great Benefit that arises to the Public from the large colony of Virginia, I observed that though it be thus advantageous, yet it is capable of great Improvements still, and requires several Alterations, both with Regard to its own Welfare, and the Interest of Great Britain. Observing moreover, that few people in England (even many concerned in public affairs of this kind) have correct Notions of the true State of the Plantations, and having been eagerly applied to frequently by Persons of the greatest Figure, Experience and Judgment in political and national Concerns, for Information concern- ing all the Circumstances of Virginia, I was requested to digest methodically and publish what I knew and thought of these Matters; and being in a great Measure enjoined to it by a noble Patron, I have here complied with his Commands, with the best of my Knowledge and Judgment.
    [Show full text]
  • Washington's Journal of 1754
    Part A: Young George Washington For Part A, Level Two As background information, give students use Resource Pages 1–8, 10, copies of Resource Page 2: Washington as a and Images 1–6 on the Record Keeper. CD-ROM. 4 Explain that 16-year-old George Washington wrote these journal entries about his first trip Level Two (Grades 7-12) to the wilderness. Washington and others were surveying land on the Virginia frontier Getting Started for Lord Fairfax, an important landowner. 1 To stimulate discussion of what students Ask students to read the adapted versions of already know about George Washington— the journal entries. Discuss what practical their perceptions and misconceptions—hold skills Washington would have gained as a up a one dollar bill (and if possible display surveyor. (Learning how to determine land other classical images of Washington—alone boundaries, how to survive in the wilderness, and on horseback). Ask the class to imagine how to work as part of a team.) him as a boy, a teenager, and a young man 5 Engage the class in a short discussion “just starting out.” On a wall chart titled The about Washington’s character traits based on Young George Washington, record their prior these excerpts and add them to the wall knowledge of Washington (both events in his chart. Have them consider whether life and his personality traits) before he Washington was concerned with doing a became widely known. good job and impressing others. (Elicit an 2 As background information, distribute understanding that this was a determined Resource Page 1: Timeline: Young George young man.
    [Show full text]
  • Anguilla: a Tourism Success Story?
    Visions in Leisure and Business Volume 14 Number 4 Article 4 1996 Anguilla: A Tourism Success Story? Paul F. Wilkinson York University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/visions Recommended Citation Wilkinson, Paul F. (1996) "Anguilla: A Tourism Success Story?," Visions in Leisure and Business: Vol. 14 : No. 4 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/visions/vol14/iss4/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Visions in Leisure and Business by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@BGSU. ANGUILLA: A TOURISM SUCCESS STORY? BY DR. PAUL F. WILKINSON, PROFESSOR FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY 4700KEELE STREET NORTH YORK, ONTARIO CANADA MJJ 1P3 ABSTRACT More than any other Caribbean community, the Anguillans [sic )1 have Anguilla is a Caribbean island microstate the sense of home. The land has been that has undergone dramatic tourism growth, theirs immemorially; no humiliation passing through the early stages of Butler's attaches to it. There are no Great tourist cycle model to the "development" houses2 ; there arenot even ruins. (32) stage. This pattern is related to deliberate government policy and planning decisions, including a policy of not having a limit to INTRODUCTION tourism growth. The resulting economic dependence on tourism has led to positive Anguilla is a Caribbean island microstate economic benefits (e.g., high GDP per that has undergone dramatic tourism growth, capita, low unemployment, and significant passing through the early stages of Butler's localinvolvement in the industry). (3) tourist cycle model to the "development" stage.
    [Show full text]
  • "Our Own Flesh and Blood?": Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2017 "Our Own Flesh and Blood?": Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country. Jennifer L. Miller Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Miller, Jennifer L., ""Our Own Flesh and Blood?": Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth- Century Ohio Country." (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8183. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8183 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Our Own Flesh and Blood?”: Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country Jennifer L. Miller Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences At West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Tyler Boulware, Ph.D., chair Melissa Bingmann, Ph.D. Joseph Hodge, Ph.D. Brian Luskey, Ph.D. Rachel Wheeler, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: Moravians, Delaware Indians, Ohio Country, Pennsylvania, Seven Years’ War, American Revolution, Bethlehem, Gnadenhütten, Schoenbrunn Copyright 2017 Jennifer L.
    [Show full text]
  • Read the Introduction
    The land west of the Susquehanna River and north of the Blue Mountains was the new frontier in 1750 Colonial America. It was a virgin unspoiled land of oak, maple, and pine forests with seemingly endless supplies of deer, bear, and turkey. It was a land of untold riches and unlimited opportunity. By treaty with William Penn this was Indian Territory. Intrepid and adventurous European settlers just couldn’t resist the opportunity and started to move into the area in the 1740s and throughout the 1750s. The Native Americans continually complained and the Provincial Government responded by arresting trespassers, removing them from their illegally claimed lands and burning their cabins. This would not deter the settlers and they moved further into Shermans Valley and then north into Tuscarora Valley. 1 At the entrance to Shermans Valley was a trader’s cabin and tavern owned by George Croghan. Croghan had been legally trading with the Indians for many years and was highly respected by them. Some of the meetings between the Indians and the Provincial Officials were held at his homestead in Pennsboro and others at his cabin on top of Blue Mountain, then called Kittatinny. He later sold the mountain property to William Sterritt. Today this gateway to the north and west retains his name and is known as Sterrets Gap. Later in history the property was owned by James Buchannan, the 15th President of the United States. Traders licensed by the government could legally enter the territory and conduct business with the Indians. These traders followed old Indian trails that became the main routes of travel in the new territory.
    [Show full text]
  • Gist Family of South Carolina and Its Mary­ Land .Antecedents
    The Gist Family of South Carolina and its Mary­ land .Antecedents BY WILSON GEE PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY JARMAN'S, INCORPORATED CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA 1 9 3 4 To THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER PREFACE Among the earliest impressions of the author of this gen­ ealogical study are those of the reverence with which he was taught to look upon the austere to kindly faces in the oil portrai~ of his Gist ancestors as they seemed from their vantage points on the walls of the room to follow his every movement about the parlor of his boyhood home. From his mother, her relatives, his father, and others of the older people of Union County and the state of South Carolina,_ he learned much of the useful and valorous services rendered by this family, some members of which in almost each gen­ eration have with varying degrees of prominence left their mark upon the pages of history in times of both peace and war. Naturally he cherished these youthful impressions concerning an American family which dates far back into the colonial days of this republic. As he has grown older, he has collected every fragment of authentic material which he could gather about them with the hope that they might be some day permanently preserved in such a volume as this. But it is correct to state that very likely this ambition would never have been realized had not his cousin, Miss Margaret Adams Gist of York, South Carolina, who for thirty-five years or more has been gathering materials on the Gist family, generously decided to turn over to him temporarily for hi~ use her rich collections of all those years.
    [Show full text]