^^ GENEALOGY COLLECTIQI^ M. I— 974.801 W52h 1441180 LIBRARY Ai I PN rniJNTY PUBLIC j!i|iM|i|iii|H 3 1833 02232 0821 Old Westmoreland A HISTORY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA DURING THE REVOLUTION. BY Edgar W. Hassler J. R. WEI.DIN & CO. PITTSBURG 1900 Copyright, 1900, by Edgar \Vakefield Hassler. M411S0 PREFACE. This book represents an effort to tell the revolutionary history of the Western Pennsylvania border; to describe the trials, the sacrifices, the errors and the heroisms of the frontiersmen, in their conflicts with tories, British par- tisans and savages, during the years when Washington and his generals were fighting for independence along the Atlantic seaboard. The American Revolution covered many fields of action, and the operations on each con- tributed to the grand result. The men who defended the western border against the savage tribes were doing their work essential to the cause of freedom as well as the ragged Continentals who faced British and Hessian battalions in New York or New Jersey. Naturally the operations in the East, where the main conflict raged and the issue was decided, have received the chief attention of historians ; but the struggles on the west- ern frontier have been unduly neglected. Some attention has been given to the revolutionary history of the New York and Tennessee frontiers, but no book tells, in con- nected form, of the important operations in that great trans- montane region of which Ft. Pitt was the center, during the years from 1775 to 1783. Many volumes of border history have been published but none of them has been devoted to this period. Most of them are out of print or beyond the reach of the average reader. Those that have enjoyed the greatest popularity have been collections of frontier adventures, based chiefly oh unreliable traditions, marvelous and often absurd, in many cases disproven by contemporary records made pub- lic in recent years. (3) I have tried, by a study of the original records, to find the facts and to set them forth in plain, condensed and im- partial form. The tale is sufficiently interesting and more instructive without the embellishments of fiction. A prime object of this publication is to stimulate a local interest in pioneer history. It is good for those who par- ticipate in the wondrous industrial development of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio to know how this fertile region was won and held from savagery. The inhabitants of Pittsburg and its neighborhood who feel an inclination to study the early times, enjoy, at the present day, facilities which were beyond their reach only half a dozen years ago. These facilities have come through the establishment and rapid up-building of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburg. Without that institution this work could not have been written in Western Pennsylvania. The library already contains almost every book and pamphlet that has been published, within 130 years, bearing on our pioneer history. Many of these works are extremely rare and valuable, but they are now within the reach of (all. The library contains all the authorities quoted in this volume, so that any reader who may desire to investigate for him- self will find ample opportunity. EDGAR W. HASSLER. Pittsburg, Pa., May i, 1900. LIST OF AUTHORITIES. American Archives, edited by Peter Force, gv., 1837-53. Annals of the West, James R. Albach, Pittsburg, 1856. Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Richmond, 1875. Chronicles of Border Warfare, A. S. Withers, Cincinnati, 1895. Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, Published by the State, i6v., 1851-3. Conquering the Wilderness, Frank Triplett, New York, 1883. Diary of David McClure, New York, 1899. Fort Mcintosh, Its Times and Men, Daniel Agnew, 1893. Fort Pitt and Letters from the Frontier, edited by Mrs. M. C. O'H. Darlington, Pittsburg, 1892. Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Published by the State, 2v., Harrisburg, 1896. Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky, C. W. Butterfield, Cincinnati, 1873. Historical Collections of Ohio, Henry Howe, revised edition, Norwalk, O., 1896. Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, Sherman Day, Philadelphia, 1843. Historical Register, Published Monthly in Pittsburg, 1883-4. History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Natives, etc., John Heckewelder, Philadelphia, 1818. History of Allegheny County, Published by Warner & Co., Chi- cago, 1890. History of Huntingdon County, Pa., M. S. Lytle, Lancaster, Pa., 1876. History of Indiana County, Pa., Caldwell. History of Ohio, James W. Taylor, Cincinnati, 1854. History of Pennsylvania, W. H. Egle, Harrisburg, 1876. History of Pittsburg, N. B. Craig, Pittsburg, 185 1. History of the Juniata Valley, U. J. Jones, Philadelphia, 1856. History of the Missions of the United Brethren, George Henry Loskiel, London, 1794. History of Washington County, Pa., Boyd Crumrine, Philadel- phia, 1882. History of West > oreland County, edited by G. Dallas Albert, 1882. Indian Tribes of the United States, H. R. Schoolcraft, Published by Congress, 1851-5. (i) ii OLD WESTMORELAND. Journal of Two Visits, etc., Rev. David Jones, New York, 1865. Magazine of American History. Memoirs of John Bannister Gibson. Tiiomas P. Roberts, Pitts- burg, 1890. Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Monongahela of Old, James Veech, Pittsburg, 1852-1892. Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren, John Hecke- welder, Philadelphia. 1820. Notes and Queries, W. H. Egle, Harrisburg. Notes on the Settlements and Indian Wars, etc., Joseph Dod- dridge, revised edition, 1876. Olden Time, edited by N. B. Craig. Pittsburg. 1846-8. Old Redstone. Rev. Joseph Smith, Philadelphia, 1854. Otzinachson, or a History of the West Branch Valley. John F. Meginness, 1857. Our Western Border. Charles McKnight, Pittsburg, 1875. Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, Published by the State, I2v., 1852-6. Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Published by the State, 20V., 1875-90. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Pioneer History, Samuel P. Hildreth, Cincinnati, 1848. Romance of Western History, James Hall, Cincinnati, 1885. St. Clair Papers, edited by W. H. Smith, Cincinnati, 1882. The Girtys. C. W. Butterfield, Cincinnati, 1890. Three Villages (Gnadenhuetten), William Dean Howells, Bos- ton, 1884. Washington-Crawford Letters, C. W. Butterfield, Cincinnati, 1877. Washington-Irvine Correspondence, C. W. Butterfield, Madison, Wis., 1882. Washington's Letters to the American Congress, New York, 1796. Westward Movement, Justin Winsor, Boston, 1897. Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt, New York, 1889. Writings of George Washington, P. L. Ford, New York, 1889. — CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Old Westmoreland.— Its Erection as a County.—Boundaries and Area.— Sources of Settlement.—Territorial Conflict with Virginia. Early Centers of Population.—The Men of Ulster.—Pittsburg. Leaders Among the Pioneers S-io CHAPTER n. The Outbreak of Revolution. —Delegates Sent to the Provin- cial Convention of 1774. —Sympathy with Boston.—Royalist Efforts of John Connolly.— Patriot Meeting at Pittsburg.—Association of Westmoreland Formed at Hannastown.—Military Organization. The Rattlesnake Flag.—Ft. Pitt Occupied by Virginia Militia. .11-17 CHAPTER HI. WiLLL\M Wilson's Indian Tour.—The Savage Menace to the Frontier.—Ft. Pitt Treaty in October, 1775.—Iroquois Hostility. George Morgan, Indian Agent.—Wilson Sent as a Peace Messenger to the Ohio Tribes. —His Peril at Pluggystown.—Before Governor Hamilton at Detroit.—The Unavailing Treaty at Ft. Pitt, October, 1776 18-23 CHAPTER IV. Capture of Andrew McFarlane.—First Indian Depredations. McFarlane's History.—A Prisoner of the Virginians.—Love Ro- mance and Marriage.—A Trader at Kittanning.—Without Military Protection.—The Tradition of the Lewis Family.—McFarlane Taken Prisoner.—His Captivity and Release 24-30 CHAPTER. V. Gibson's Powder Exploit.— Scarcity of Ammunition on the Frontier.—George Gibson and William Linn. —The Lambs.—Journey to New Orleans.—Oliver Pollock.—Gibson in a Spanish Prison. Return by Sea and River 31-36 CHAPTER VI. The Squaw Campaign.—Congress Takes Charge of the Frontier Defense.—Brigadier General Edward Hand Appointed Command- ant at Ft. Pitt. —Indian Raiders from Detroit.—Depredations in Westmoreland.—Expedition Up the Mahoning Valley.—Hand's Dis- appointment and Resignation 37-43 CHAPTER VII. Flight of the Pittsburg Tories.—British Agents in Western Pennsylvania.—Captain Alexander McKee.—Matthew Elliott. —Es- cape from McKees Rocks.—Simon Girty.—Renegades in Coshocton. —Baffled by White Eyes.—Welcomed at Detroit.—Traitors in the Ft. Pitt Garrison.—Their Flight, Recapture and Punishment. .44-48 (iii) — iV OLD WESTMORELAND. CHAPTER VIII. The Tories of Sinking Valley.—The Spy Among the Moun- taineers. —Conspiracy for Murder and Spoliation.—John Weston. Panic on the Juniata.—The Flight to Kittanning.—Fate of the Tory Leader.—Dispersal of the Plotters 49-53 CHAPTER IX. Fatal Voyage of David Rodgers. —Second Effort to Procure Powder from the Spaniards.—Captain David Rodgers.—His Red- stone Company.—Time Lost on the Mississippi. —The Surprise at the Licking River.—Rodgers Mortally Wounded.— Singular Experience of Robert Benham and Basil Brown 54-59 CHAPTER X. The Eighth Pennsylvania.—Brigadier General Lachlan Mc- intosh ordered to Ft. Pitt.—His Two Border Regiments.—Mack- ay's Battalion.—The Winter March Over the Mountains.—Fatalities Among Officers and Privates. —Daniel Brodhead Colonel.—Morgan's Rifle Corps.—Thirteenth Virginia 60-66 CHAPTER XI. Back to the Harried Frontier. —March of the Regulars for Ft. Pitt.—The Big Runaway.—The Massacre of Wyoming.—Eighth Pennsylvania Sent Up the Susquehanna.—Captain John Brady's Fort at Muncy.—The Killing of James Brady.—Samuel Brady, the Rifle- man.—The Eighth at Ft. Pitt 67-72 CHAPTER XII. The Alliance with the Delawares.—Mcintosh's Design Against Detroit.— Seeking Indian Allies. —The Ft. Pitt Treaty with the Delawares. —White Eyes.— Proposal for an Indian State. .. .73-79 CHAPTER XIII. Fort Laurens. —jMcIntosh Advances Vv^'estward. — Ft. Mcintosh. —Death of White Eyes. —Building of Ft. Laurens.—A Winter in the Wilderness.—Colonel Gibson Besieged. —Captain Bird and Simon Girty. — Ft. Laurens Relieved.—Resignation of Mcintosh.—Colonel Brodhead in Command.— Ft.