Chapter XXXVII: Section 8: provided minute directions for the distribution of the tracts (25)

Following the Pontiac War, as late as 1767, when fort after fort were destroyed and the feeble garrison put to the hatchet, Captain William Patterson called his young hunters and defied the Indians.

Pontiac had boasted that no wooden fort or stockade could escape destruction if he desired to destroy them.

When they could induce the garrison by cunning and lying to surrender, they would load a wagon with straw and hay and set it on fire and back it against the timbers and let the demon fire to do the work.

Although Patterson’s Fort was surrounded by savages repeatedly, they were driven away and kept at a safe distance by the expert riflemen under the command of Captain Patterson.

William Patterson, in 1768, arrested and safely lodged in the jail at Carlisle Frederick Stump and his accomplice John Ironcutter for committing an unprovoked massacre, the victims being Indians. This action required the greatest heroism.

The Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania at that period was so highly pleased with the prompt action of Captain Patterson that he gave him a commission as Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Cumberland County. He also was appointed a Commissioner to lay out Northumberland County in March, 1772.

Captain William Patterson is described in the Shippen papers as “a gentleman of limited education, a very good soldier and does his duty well.” He is often mentioned in Colonel Burd’s journal.

A fine bronze tablet mounted on a large boulder recently has been unveiled at the site of Fort Patterson, which will mark for this and future generations the spot made famous by the progenitors of this great Patterson family in Pennsylvania.

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Washington Joins Troops in Whisky
Insurrection October 3, 1794

The year 1794 is distinguished in American history by a remarkable revolt among a portion of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, known as the Whisky Insurrection.

In 1791 Congress enacted a law laying excise duties upon spirits distilled within the United States. This tax excited general opposition, but nowhere else was such violence exhibited in resisting the execution of the law as in the western counties of Pennsylvania, where the crops of grain were so over-abundant that, in the absence of adequate market for its sale, an immense quantity of the cereals was distilled into whisky, the far-famed “Monongahela,” called from the name of the principal river in that region.

The inhabitants insisted that an article, produced almost exclusively by an isolated people as their sole and necessary support, ought not to be taxed for the support of the Federal Government, and to this opinion they adhered with a tenacity worthy of a better cause.

Public meetings were held in all the chief towns, at which the action of Congress was loudly denounced as oppression to be battled against to the very last extremity; declaring, too, that any person who had accepted or might accept an office under the Government in order to carry the law into effect should be regarded as an enemy of his country, to be treated with contempt and officially and personally shunned.

The Federal Government was scoffed at, its coercive authority ridiculed, and with the motto, “Liberty and No Excise!” the ball of the rebellion rolled on.

One day preceding the assembling of an important meeting of malcontents in Pittsburgh, the tax collector for the counties of Allegheny and Washington made his appearance. Aware of his business, a party of men, armed and disguised, waylaid him at a place on Pigeon Creek, in Washington County, seized, tarred and feathered him, cut off his hair and deprived him of his horse, obliging him to decamp on foot in that painful condition.

In attempting to serve legal processes upon the perpetrators of this outrage, the marshal’s deputy was also seized, whipped, tarred and feathered; and, after having his money taken from him, he was blindfolded and led into the depths of the forest, where he was tied to a sapling and left to his fate. He was fortunately discovered and rescued by friends.

Another man was similarly handled who remarked that they could not reasonably expect protection from a Government whose laws they so strenuously opposed. Two witnesses of this assault were seized by an armed banditti and carried off so they could not give testimony against the perpetrators of the assault.

President Washington feared such open defiance of the laws, and issued a proclamation condemning the lawless acts and warned all to return at once to their allegiance. Bills of indictment were found against the leaders of some of the outrages, and, at the same time, process was also issued against a great number of noncomplying distillers.

The proclamation and warning did not produce the desired effect. Washington then ordered the seizure of the spirits distilled in the counties opposing the law.

Contractors for the army were forbidden to purchase spirits on which duties had not been paid. The distillers were caught between two millstones. They feared the wrath of the infuriated populace if they paid the excise tax or lost their best customers.

The factionists were encouraged by the leniency of the Executive. By violent threats they kept the marshal from serving precepts, committed numerous outrages upon the friends of the Government and perfected their organization into military bands, to resist any force that might be sent to subject them to the laws. They styled their acts, “mending the still.”

It is not to be doubted that this inflamed state of the public mind was greatly aggravated by the ambitious designs and intemperate speeches of a few leading men. Conspicuous among the malcontents were David Bradford, Colonel John Marshall, Robert Smiley, Hugh Brackenridge, William Findley and Albert Gallatin. The first named was the chief agitator.

Hostilities broke out early in 1794, when those who paid the excise tax were punished as well as those who attempted to collect the tax. Even the Government officials were attacked by armed men.

General John Neville, inspector for the county, was compelled to defend his home by force of arms, and Major Abraham Kirkpatrick, with a detail of eleven soldiers, was compelled to surrender to a mob, under the leadership of a desperado named John Holcroft.

After brisk fighting continued for nearly an hour, the insurgents set fire to eight buildings, which finally compelled brave Kirkpatrick to yield.

David Bradford assembled meetings to ascertain their secret enemies as well as to learn their own strength. Mail was searched and the Government stores attacked. There was even a plan developed which had the capture of Fort Pitt and the United States Arsenal at Pittsburgh as its objectives.

The greatest popular demonstration was at Parkinson’s Ferry, where 16,000 men were pledged to follow the leadership of Bradford.

President Washington called a cabinet meeting and had General Thomas Mifflin, Governor of Pennsylvania, in attendance. Commissioners were sent to apprise the insurgents of their grave danger.

A proclamation was broadcast August 7, which warned of the impending war, if all did not quietly return to their home by September 1.

The same day of the proclamation a requisition was made on the Governor of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania for their several quotas of militia.

During the recruiting of this force Judge Jasper Yeates, James Ross and William Bradford were sent as commissioners to the western counties to extinguish the insurrection.

David Bradford laughed at the proclamations of the President and Governors of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania for the Committee of Safety was held at Parkinson’s Ferry and appointed commissioners to wait upon his Excellency and assure him that submission and order could be restored without the aid of military force.

In the meantime, the troops responded to the call, and, in response to a second proclamation of President Washington, they rendezvoued at Bedford, Pa., and Cumberland, Md. The command of the entire army was given to General Henry Lee, of Virginia. Governor Mifflin took command of the Pennsylvania troops in person.

The President departed for the front in a drenching rain. He arrived at Harrisburg Friday, October 3. The same day a meeting of the Committee of Safety was held at Parkinson’s Ferry and appointed commissioners to wait upon his Excellency and assure him that submission and order could be restored without the aid of military force.

The insurgents by this time had come to their senses, and intimidated by the greatness of the force, fled in every direction. Those arrested were pardoned. Bradford escaped to Spanish territory. The Whisky Insurrection came to an end. As Washington said, “the contest decided that a small portion of the United States could not dictate to the whole Union.”

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Americans Defeated in Battle of Germantown,
October 4, 1777

The Battle of Germantown was one of the most spirited actions of the Revolution. It was a contest for the possession of a widely extended and strongly posted line, between the two armies, and at a time when the British had but a week earlier invested Philadelphia, driving the Continental Congress to Lancaster.

Howe’s army had crossed the Schuylkill, and was encamped near Germantown.

Washington was at Pennypacker’s Mill, between the Perkiomen and the Skippack Creeks, thirty miles from the city, where he awaited re-enforcements from the Northern Department. His army, which was mainly composed of Continental troops from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, had suffered severe punishment at Brandywine and Paoli. It was poorly equipped and poorly fed.

Washington learned, through two intercepted letters, that General Howe had detached a part of his force to reduce Billingsport and the forts on the Delaware.

He believed that a favorable opportunity was offered to make an attack upon the troops which were encamped at Germantown, and fixed the attack for the morning of October 4, 1777.

General Howe’s army was encamped upon the general line of School and Church lanes.

On the 2d General Washington advanced his army to Worcester Township. The British did not expect an attack as General Howe fully understood the drubbing the Americans had recently received, but he did not know the fighting temper of the Colonists.

Washington was well informed of the enemy’s position and prepared his order of battle with great care. The divisions of Sullivan and Wayne, flanked by Conway’s Brigade, were to enter the town by way of Chestnut Hill.

General Armstrong, with the Pennsylvania Militia, was to go down Manatawny road and get in the enemy’s left and rear. The divisions of Greene and Stephen, flanked by McDougall’s Brigade, were to enter by a circuitous route at the Market House, and attack the right wing, and the militia of Maryland and New Jersey, under Generals Smallwood and Forman, were to march by the Old York road and fall upon the rear of their right. Lord Stirling, and Nash’s and Maxwell’s brigades were to form the reserve.

General McDougall was to attack the right wing of the enemy in front and rear; General Conway to attack the enemy’s left flank, and General Armstrong to attack their left wing in flank and rear.

Each column was to move into position, two miles from the enemy’s pickets by 2 o’clock, then halt until 4, and advance and attack the pickets precisely at 5 o’clock, “with charge bayonets and without firing, and the column to move to the attack as soon as possible.”

On the evening of October 3 the army left its encampment on Metuchen Hills. It was a hard march through the darkness, over rough roads and in a dense fog.

When the action opened the Americans soon gained much ground and General Howe, who had hurried to the front, met his troop retreating. He quickly galloped back to camp and prepared for the attack. Sullivan and Wayne pressed forward, and Washington followed with the reserve.

While the advance was in progress, General Greene had made the circuit of the Limekiln road, and engaged the enemy’s right. The incompetent General Stephens became entangled with Wayne’s troops, which confusion ended the efforts of General Sullivan’s columns upon the east side of the town.

General Greene continued to advance, maintaining a line of battle as long as practicable. McDougall was marching over ground so nearly impassable that he was quite out of the action and failed to assist Greene, leaving his flank exposed.

The morning was well advanced when the two wings of the army had approached the central objective point, the Market House. But the lines were broken and disordered, by the innumerable obstacles and by the impenetrable fog, that the British had opportunity to reform their own shattered line. Howe sent strong forces to oppose each attack.

When Sullivan’s division had pushed forward nearly to School Lane, while Greene was entering the town on the east, these generals found themselves unsupported by other troops, their cartridges expended, the force of the enemy on the right collecting to oppose them, and seeing many of the American troops flying in retreat, they retired with all possible haste.

When General Grey came from his camp at School Lane and advanced to the attack, the few Americans there could not resist him, and were soon repulsed. Grey advanced across lots and pushed on toward the Chew house.

General Agnew, following in the rear of Grey, ascended the hill and received a sudden volley from a party of citizens who were concealed behind the Mennonite meeting house and he fell mortally wounded.

Wayne’s division on the east of the town had already withdrawn when General Grant moved up his Forty-ninth British regiment.

General Washington, who had remained at the head of the hill above Chew’s house, saw the failure of his well-laid plans, and issued orders for the retreat.

The American army had gone forward to gain full possession of the enemy’s camp, which was on fire in many places. Dead and wounded were strewn about everywhere. The troops were in much disorder. Those in front had been driven back by the enemy and fell upon those in the rear, which increased the confusion and rendered it impossible to again form and oppose an advancing foe.

A general retreat was inevitably necessary to save the American army from a general rout.

Lord Cornwallis, who was in Philadelphia, learned of the attack and put in motion two battalions of British and one Hessian grenadiers, with a squadron of dragoons, to Howe’s support.

They arrived at Germantown just as the Americans were being forced from the village. Cornwallis joined with General Grey, and, placing himself in command, took up pursuit.

General Greene effected the withdrawal of his forces with considerable difficulty and no slight loss, as Colonel Matthew’s gallant regiment, or what remained of it, fell into the enemy’s hands, its heroic commander and many of his officers being severely wounded by the enemy’s bayonets.

General Greene also had much trouble in saving his cannon, when Count Pulaski’s cavalry being hard-driven by the pursuing British, rode into and scattered Greene’s division.

For two hours and forty minutes the battle waged at the very doors of the inhabitants of Germantown, in their gardens, orchards and fields.

The entire loss sustained by two armies was never accurately determined.

The British did not gain much satisfaction in their victory for they soon abandoned their well-earned fields, and moved within the entrenchments directly north of Philadelphia.

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Riotous Mob Attacks “Fort Wilson” in
Philadelphia, October 5, 1779

In the year 1779 the lives of Mr. James Wilson, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the foremost practitioners of that day, and many of his friends, were put in extreme hazard by a band of frenzied partisans, under the pretext of his holding sentiments inimical to popular institutions.

At that time party spirit in Pennsylvania had taken definite shape, and the politicians were divided into Constitutionalists and Republicans. The former rallied around the Constitution of 1776, recently formed, which was reprobated by the Republicans, who believed it tended toward rash, precipitate and oppressive proceedings.

The term Republicans was embraced, as recognizing the principles of the Revolution.

Mr. Wilson was among the leading men of the Republican Party who had agreed that they would not accept of any office or appointment under the Constitution, which, in that case, they would be bound by oath, to support.

This circumstance offended and inflamed the Constitutional Party, and as Mr. Wilson had become counsel for the defense of some suspected traitors, and had succeeded in winning their acquittal, it angered the militiamen of Philadelphia and led to a most serious outrage.

The consequences of a rapidly depreciating currency were distressing to many who were incapable of tracing them to their causes. For example, every tradesman who had engaged in a piece of work felt, when paid for it, that he did not receive, except in name, the amount he had contracted to receive.

Artful and designing incendiaries persuaded many of the sufferers that the evil was owing to the merchants, who monopolized the goods, and to certain lawyers who rescued the tories from punishment, by pleading for them in Court.

Mr. Wilson had become particularly obnoxious. He was in fact a most decided friend of the popular government. He was a native of Scotland, and a Presbyterian, which should certainly stamp him as a friend of those opposed to the British authority.

The affair of “Fort Wilson,” as his house was thereafter known, flowed from this mistaken opinion, of which those who concocted the disgraceful transaction took advantage for party purposes.

September 13, 1779, a committee appointed at a town meeting, regulated the prices of rum, salt, sugar, coffee, flour, etc., a measure which was strongly opposed by the importers.

Robert Morris, Blair McClenochan and John Willcocks and a number of stanch Whigs had a quantity of these articles in their stores which they refused to dispose of at the regulated prices.

About the last of the month, a great number of the lower class collected and marched through the streets, threatening to break open the stores, distribute the goods and punish those who refused to open their warehouses.

On the morning of October 4, placards were posted menacing Robert Morris, Blair McClenochan and many other merchants.

Mr. Wilson was proscribed by the mob for having exercised his professional duty as a lawyer, and the punishment decreed for his crime was banishment to the enemy, yet in New York. But this was not the real cause which produced so lamentable an instance of popular delusion. That was to be found in the superior talents and respectability of the Republican Party.

The gentlemen threatened determined to defend themselves, and with a great number of their friends, to the amount of thirty or forty, took post at the southwest corner of Walnut and Third streets, in a house belonging to and occupied by James Wilson. It was a large old-fashioned brick building, with extensive gardens.

In the house were James Wilson, Robert Morris, Edward Burd, George Clymer, John T. Mifflin, Allen McLane, Sharp Delaney, George Campbell, Paul Beck, Thomas Lawrence, Andrew Robinson, John Potts, Samuel C. Morris, Captain Robert Campbell, General Thomas Mifflin, General Nichols and General Thompson. They were provided with arms but their supply of ammunition was very limited.

While the mob was marching down town, General Nichols and Daniel Clymer proceeded hastily to the arsenal at Carpenters’ Hall and filled their pockets with cartridges, this constituting their entire supply.

In the meantime the mob and militia assembled on the commons, while a meeting of the principal citizens took place at the coffee house. A deputation was sent to prevail on them to disperse, but without effect.

The First Troop of City Cavalry being apprised of what was going forward and anxious for the safety of their fellow citizens, quickly assembled at their stables, a fixed place of rendezvous.

For a time a deceitful calm prevailed; at the hour of noon the members of the troop retired to their respective homes for dinner, and the rebels seized the opportunity to march into the city.

The armed men in the mob amounted to 200, and were commanded by Captain Mills, a North Carolinian; one Falkner, a shipjoiner; Pickering, a tailor, and John Bonham. They marched to the home of Mr. Wilson, with drums beating, and two pieces of cannon. They immediately commenced firing on the house, which was warmly returned by the garrison.

Finding they could make no impression, the mob procured crowbars, sledges and bars, and with them proceeded to force the door. At the critical moment when the door yielded to their efforts, the First City Troop appeared and saved the lives of those in the house.

Many of the mob were arrested and committed to prison, and as the troopers used the sword very freely, many were severely wounded. One man and one boy were killed in the streets. In “Fort Wilson,” Captain Campbell was killed, and General Mifflin and Mr. Samuel C. Morris were wounded.

The Troop patrolled the streets the greater part of the night. The citizens turned out in great numbers and formed a volunteer guard at the powder magazine and the arsenal.

It was some days before order was restored and the First Troop, on account of the active part they had taken in the affair, found it necessary to keep together in small groups, and be on the alert to support each other.

The gentlemen who had comprised the garrison were advised to leave the city where their lives were endangered.

General Mifflin, and about thirty others, accordingly met at Mr. Gray’s home about five miles below Gray’s Ferry, where a council was called, and it was resolved to return to town without any appearance of intimidation.

But it was deemed expedient that Mr. Wilson should absent himself for a time. The others continued to walk as usual in public and attended the funeral of the unfortunate Captain Campbell. For some time each of them, however, was in danger of his life from the sympathizers with the killed and wounded assailants.

Thus ended the disgraceful affair known as the “Mob of 1779” and the “Attack on Fort Wilson.”

Had it not been for the spirited conduct of the First Troop, the lives of many valuable citizens, and genuine Whigs, would have been sacrificed, and an indelible disgrace entailed upon the City of Philadelphia.

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First German Immigrants Settle Germantown
October 6, 1683

The Germans have played a most important part in the history of Pennsylvania, much more conspicuous than has been accorded them. They are the progressive farmers, and leaders in politics, literature and science.

The first great teacher was Pastorius; the first paper mill was established in 1690, on a branch of Wissahickon Creek, by William Rittinghuysen; the Bible was first printed in German, by Christopher Saur, thirty-nine years before it appeared in English; the same enterprising Germans, in 1735, established the first type foundry in America in Germantown and so on, but it is of the establishment of German Town or Germantown which this story is to relate.

The first German emigration was from Crefeld, a city of the lower Rhine. William Penn conveyed 5000 acres in Pennsylvania to each of three merchants of that city, March 10, 1682, one of whom, Jacob Telner, had made a trip to America in 1678–81.

Francis Daniel Pastorius first heard of the Pennsylvania plan in 1682, and became a purchaser of land while in London between the 8th of May and 6th of June, 1683.

Eight original purchasers, November 12, 1686, formed themselves into a company which was called the Frankford Company. Up to June 8, 1683, these persons had purchased 15,000 acres, and they mostly lived in Frankfort, but Pastorius was the only one of the original company who ever came to Pennsylvania.

Thirteen families, comprising thirty-three persons, set out for London, from which city, after many delays, they embarked, July 24, 1683, aboard the Concord.

Of the original purchasers three were Mennonites, and many of the remainder of the party belonged to that sect, so it must be stated that this emigration was also the beginning of that great church in America.

The pioneers had a pleasant voyage and reached Philadelphia October 6. On the 10th of the same month a warrant was issued to Pastorius for 6000 acres “on behalf of the German and Dutch purchasers.” On the 24th, Thomas Fairman measured off fourteen divisions of land, and the next day, meeting together in the cave of Pastorius they drew lots for choice of location.

Under a warrant, 5350 acres were laid out, May 2, 1684, for Pastorius, as trustee for them and future purchasers; in addition 200 acres were laid out for Pastorius in his own right, and 150 acres to Jurian Hartsfelder, a stray Dutchman, who had been a deputy sheriff under Andros in 1676 and who now cast in his lot with the settlers at Germantown.

Immediately after the division in the cave of Pastorius they began to dig cellars and build the huts in which, not without much hardship, they spent the following winter. Thus commenced the settlement of Germantown.

Other emigrants began to appear in the little town, and soon we catch a glimpse of the home life of the early dwellers of Germantown.

Pastorius had no glass, so he made windows of oiled paper.

Bom wrote to Rotterdam October 12, 1684: “I have here a shop of many kinds of goods and edibles. Sometimes I ride out with merchandise, and sometimes, bring something back, mostly from Indians, and deal with them in many things. I have no regular servants except one Negro, whom I bought. I have no rent or tax or excise to pay. I have a cow which gives plenty of milk, a horse to ride around, my pigs increase rapidly, so that in the summer I had seventeen when at first I had only two. I have many chickens and geese, and a garden, and shall next year have an orchard if I remain well, so that my wife and I are in good spirits.”

Bom died before 1689, and his daughter, Agnes, married Anthony Morris, the ancestor of the distinguished family of that name.

The first person to die in the new settlement was Jan Seimens. The first time that fire caused a loss in the village was in 1686. A small church was built that year. It is strange but true, that this was a Quaker meeting house, and also that before 1692 all the original thirteen, except Jan Lensen, had in one way or another been associated with the Quakers.

An event of importance was the arrival of William Rittinghuysen, a Mennonite minister, who with his two sons, Gerhard and Claus, and a daughter, came from Holland. In 1690 he built the first paper mill in America on a branch of the Wissahickon Creek.

On April 18, 1688, Gerhard Hendricks, Dirck Opden Graeff, Francis Daniel Pastorius and Abraham Opden Graeff sent to the Friends’ Meeting the first public protest ever made on this continent against the holding of slaves. There was then started something which became the greatest question of all time in America.

On January 14, 1690, 2950 acres, north of Germantown, were divided into three districts, called Krishelm, Sommerhausen and Crefeld.

The village had now become populous enough to warrant a separate existence, and on May 31, 1691, a charter of incorporation was issued to Francis Daniel Pastorius, bailiff, and four burgesses and six committeemen, with power to hold a court and a market, to admit citizens, to impose fines, and to make ordinances.

It was ordered that “on the 19th of one month in each year the people shall be called together and the laws and ordinances read aloud to them.”

The seal was devised by Pastorius and he honored the weavers by selecting a clover, on one of the leaves being a vine, on another a stalk of flax, and on the third a weaver’s spool.

The corporation continued until January 11, 1707. Newcomers were required to pay £1 for the right of citizenship.

On June 28, 1701, a tax was laid for the building of a prison, erection of a market, and other objects for the public good. The prison preceded the school house, but the interval was not long.

December 30, following, “it was found good to start a school here in Germantown.” Pastorius was the first pedagogue.

As early as January 25, 1694, stocks were erected for the punishment of evildoers.

February 10, 1702, three square perches of land were given to the Mennonites for a church, which edifice was built 1708.

Little did the industrious German of that day think, as he tilled the soil, or worked at his trade, that in after years the countrymen of Penn would be fighting the Quakers and others in that very town, that the streets of Germantown would be reddened by English blood, as it was on that eventful day, October 4, 1777.

The government of Germantown lasted fifteen years. Today this old town is one of the most delightful sections of the old city of Philadelphia.

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Colonel Richard McAllister, Soldier, Statesman
and Citizen of York County,
Died October 7, 1795

Colonel Richard McAllister, a hero of the Revolution, died at his home in Hanover, York County, October 7, 1795.

During that great struggle for the independence of the colonies York County gave many of her loyal sons, and none rendered more signal service or has been held in fonder patriotic reverence than Colonel McAllister.

He was the son of Archibald McAllister, who came to this country from Scotland in 1732. Richard was born in Scotland in 1724.

About 1745 Richard moved from Cumberland County to the present site of Hanover, where he purchased a large tract of land, and made a settlement.

On February 23, 1748, he married Mary Dill, daughter of Colonel Matthew Dill, who commanded a regiment in the French and Indian War, and whose son, Matthew, founded Dillsburg.

In 1750 Richard McAllister was a candidate for sheriff of York County against Colonel Hance Hamilton, who resided near the present site of Gettysburg. The result of the vote was so close that the election was contested and the Provincial Assembly decided in favor of Hamilton.

In 1763 Richard McAllister founded the town of Hanover and soon became one of the leading citizens of York County.

At the outbreak of the Revolution he was elected a member of the Committee of Safety for York County, and in June of the same year, 1775, he served as a delegate in the Provincial Conference, which met in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia. He again served as a member of the same body in January, 1776.

When the Fourth Battalion of York County militia was organized, 1775, Richard McAllister was commissioned colonel. And during the fall of the same year, he was made colonel of a battalion of Minute Men, formed out of the militia of York County.

In July, 1776, when Congress called for ten thousand troops, Colonel McAllister marched his battalion through Lancaster and Philadelphia to Perth Amboy, N. J.

General Hugh Mercer organized the Flying Camp, and selected Colonel McAllister to command the Second Pennsylvania Regiment.

This command was soon engaged in and about New York City and Staten Island. A short time later Colonel McAllister led the regiment in the defense of Fort Washington, where a large number of them were taken prisoners, among them being two of his captains.

In the campaign of 1776 Colonel McAllister was present with his regiment, under General James Ewing, when Washington captured the Hessians in Trenton on Christmas night.

After the expiration of his term of service in the Flying Camp, in 1777, Colonel McAllister returned to his home at Hanover, and in March of this year he was elected by the General Assembly, county lieutenant.

In the discharge of this commission he recruited six different battalions of militia in York County, which then included the present Adams County.

He drilled and disciplined the troops and made them ready for the service in the field when they were required to defend the State against the invasion of the British foe.

On August 28, 1777, Colonel McAllister wrote to President Wharton that there were dissensions among the Associators in the German townships near Hanover. Two hundred freemen had assembled at one place for the purpose of opposing the draft of the militia for service in the field.

He continued by saying that he had lived in peace among these people for twenty years or more, and knew well their customs and habits, but it was very difficult to induce them to take up arms against the country to which they had sworn allegiance.

He said that notwithstanding the difficulties he had encountered in the prosecution of his duties as lieutenant of York County, he had marched five companies to the front fully armed and equipped, and would soon have three more ready to take up the march for the main army.

Nearly every man recruited was a substitute, which had obtained by Colonel McAllister.

During the years 1783 to 1786, Colonel McAllister was a member of the Supreme Executive Council, and also served as a member of the Council of Censors. In the latter position he was engaged in the disposition of the confiscated estates of Pennsylvania Tories.

Like such a great number of the soldiers of the Revolution, Colonel McAllister also took a deep interest in legal affairs. He served as a justice of the peace, and then as justice of the court of common pleas in March, 1771.

He was a member of the First Constitutional Convention, in 1776, and on February 17, 1784, he became the presiding justice of the York County Courts.

When General Washington passed through Hanover, June 30, 1791, on his way to Philadelphia, he spent several hours the guest of Colonel McAllister.

He died at his home in Hanover, October 7, 1795.

His remains were first buried in the graveyard belonging to Emanuel’s Reformed Church of Hanover, of which he was a member and one of the leading supporters.

About 1870 the remains of this distinguished patriot were removed to Mount Olivet Cemetery, in the suburbs of Hanover, where they now repose.

On every succeeding Memorial Day commemoration services are held at the tomb of this hero and patriot, by the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic and allied organizations.

Colonel McAllister had eleven children. His eldest son, Abdiel, commanded a company in Arnold’s expedition to Quebec; another son, Archibald, commanded a company in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth.

A younger son, Matthew, became first United States district attorney of Georgia, judge of the Superior Court of that State, and was Mayor of Savannah during War of 1812.

A son of Matthew, named Julian McAllister, commanded a regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War.

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King Tedyuskung Questioned at Great
Indian Conference in Easton,
October 8, 1758

Governor Denny informed the Assembly September 12, 1758, that a general meeting of Indians has been agreed upon, to take place in Easton.

Tedyuskung and some of his retinue arrived early in Easton, and started on a debauch while awaiting the important event. Whereupon Reverend Richard Peters, the Provincial secretary, was requested to go to Easton immediately to keep the Indians in order.

This conference was opened Sunday, October 8, 1758, with 500 Indians in attendance. Governor Denny, members of Council and the Assembly, Commissioners for Indian Affairs in New Jersey, Conrad Weiser, George Croghan and a large number of Quakers from Philadelphia made up the attendance of the whites.

Governor Bernard, of New Jersey, joined the conference when it had been in session three days, and promptly demanded that the Munsee deliver up captives taken from that Province.

All the tribes of the Six Nations took part in the treaty; but the Mohawk had only one deputy, Nikes Carigiatatie, in attendance, and the Cayuga were represented by a single chief, Kandt, alias “Last Night.”

Unlike the several previous conferences, Tedyuskung was not the principal speaker at this treaty, but that proud position was assumed by Takeghsatu, a Seneca. He early addressed the Governor and others in these words:

“Brethren—I now speak at the request of Tedyuskung and our cousins the Delawares, living at Wyoming and on the waters of the River Susquehanna. We now remove the hatchet out of your heads that was struck into them by our cousins, the Delawares. It was a French hatchet that they unfortunately made use of, by the instigation of the French. We take it out of your heads and bury it under the ground, where it shall always rest and never be taken up again. Our cousins, the Delawares, have assured us they will never think of war against their brethren, the English, any more, but will employ their thoughts about peace and cultivating friendship with them, and never suffer enmity against them to enter their minds again.”

Two days later, Nikes, the Mohawk, stood up and, addressing himself to Governors Denny and Bernard, said:

“We thought proper to meet you here to have some discourse about our nephew, Tedyuskung. You all know that he gives out that he is a great man and chief of ten nations. This is his constant discourse. Now I, on behalf of the Mohawks, say that we do not know he is such a great man, if he is such a great man, we desire to know who made him so. Perhaps you have; and if this be the case, tell us so. It may be the French have made him so. We want to inquire and know whence the greatness arose.”

Takeghsatu, on behalf of the Seneca, said his nation “say the same as Nikes has done.”

Then Assarandongnas spoke on behalf of the Onondaga and said: “I am here to represent the Onondagas, and I say for them that I never heard before now that Tedyuskung was such a great man, and much less can I tell who made him so. No such thing was ever said in our town as that Tedyuskung was such a great man.”

Then followed, in the same strain, Thomas King, chief of Oneida, in behalf of the Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Nanticoke, Conoy and Tutelo.

Under this concerted attack upon his kingly pretensions Tedyuskung sat like a stoic and never said a word in reply; but Governor Denny arose and denied that he had made Tedyuskung “a great man,” but said in explanation that he had represented the Delaware at appointed places and had acted for the other Six Nations only as a messenger, who were his uncles and superiors. The Governor of New Jersey indorsed Governor Denny’s speech.

Five days after this discussion Tedyuskung arose in the public conference and addressing himself to the deputies of the Six Nations, said:

“Uncles, you may remember that you have placed us at Wyoming and Shamokin—places where Indians have lived before. Now I hear that you have since sold that land to our brethren, the English. Let the matter now be cleared up in the presence of our brethren the English. I sit here as a bird on a bough. I look about and do not know where to go. Let me, therefore, come down upon the ground and make that my own by a good deed, and I shall have a home forever. For if you, my uncles, or I, die, our brethren, the English, will say they have bought it from you, and so wrong my posterity out of it.”

Thomas King, speaking for the Six Nations the following day, addressed himself to the Delaware in these words:

“By this belt Tedyuskung desired us to make you, the Delawares, the owners of the lands at Wyoming, Shamokin and other places on the Susquehanna River. In answer to which, we, who are present, say that we have no power to convey lands to any one; but we will take your request to the Great Council fire for their sentiments, as we never sell or convey lands before it is agreed upon in the Great Council of the Six Nations. In the meantime, you may make use of those lands in conjunction with our people.”

Later in the open conference Thomas King presented Tedyuskung with a string of wampum and said: “This serves to put Tedyuskung in mind of his promises to return prisoners. You ought to have performed it before. It is a shame for one who calls himself a great man to tell lies.”

Last Night and Nikes, in behalf of the Six Nations, promised to satisfy the English as to the return of captives, adding: “If any of them are gone down our throats, we will heave them up again.”

Then Takeghsatu told Tedyuskung, the Six Nations having promised to return all captives, the Delaware and Munsee must do likewise.

Thus King Tedyuskung was humiliated in the conference, but never to the point where he ceased to be a most potent factor on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, and in the eyes of the English he was the king he professed himself to be.

One of the most important matters disposed of at this treaty related to the lands purchased by the Pennsylvania Proprietaries at Albany, July 6, 1754.

During the progress of this conference one of the Seneca chiefs in attendance died. He was interred with public ceremony; all the Indians and many of the inhabitants attended the obsequies.

On October 26, the business of the treaty having been finished after eighteen days of speech-making, “some wine and punch were ordered, and the conferences were concluded, with great joy and mutual satisfaction.”

The Indians were supplied with hats, caps, knives, jewsharps, powder, lead paints and walking-sticks (the term by which the Indians referred to rum). In addition, Tedyuskung and other chiefs each received a military hat trimmed with gold lace, a regimental coat and a ruffled shirt.

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Governor William Denny Removed and
Superseded by James Hamilton, Native
of Pennsylvania, October 9, 1759

Following the destruction of the Indian town at Kittanning, September 8, 1756, by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong, and the Indian incursions which reached to every section of the frontier, a chain of forts was built the following year which extended from the Delaware River to the Maryland line. These were garrisoned by troops in the pay of the Province.

This defense was made possible only when the Assembly finally awakened to the serious danger and distress, concerted to pass a bill for raising by tax £100,000, with the exemption of the proprietary estates. They also sent Dr. Benjamin Franklin, as provincial agent, to London, to lay their grievance before the King.

Despite the wartime attitude of England, nothing was done to annoy the French or to check the depredations of the savages, until Dr. Franklin’s presence in London, and the fortunate change in the ministry, which brought the master mind of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, to assume control of the government.

Pitt was endowed with a high order of intellect, eloquent, profound and patriotic. He seemed to possess in an eminent degree the full confidence of the nation and the command of its resources.

Franklin’s exertions resulted in gaining the influence of Pitt’s comprehensive mind, and soon his attention was directed to America, when the affairs in the colonies assumed an entirely different aspect.

Pitt’s plans of operation were grand, his policy bold, liberal and enlightened, all of which seemed greatly to animate the colonists and inspire them with new hopes.

The colonists resolved to make every effort and sacrifice which the occasion might require. A circular from Pitt assured the Colonial governments that he was determined to repair past losses, and would immediately send to America a force sufficiently large to accomplish the purpose. He called upon the different Governments to raise as many men as possible, promising to send over all the necessary munitions of war, and pledging himself to pay liberally all soldiers who enlisted.

Pennsylvania equipped two thousand seven hundred men, while the neighboring provinces contributed large quotas. Three expeditions were determined upon, and most active measures taken to bring them to the field of action.

General James Abercrombie was appointed commander-in-chief and General Jeffrey Amherst second in command, aided by Brigadier Generals Wolfe and Forbes.

The French were vigorously attacked on the northern frontiers of New York. General Forbes was charged with an expedition against Fort Duquesne, to be aided by the provincial troops of Pennsylvania and Virginia, under Colonel Henry Bouquet and Colonel George Washington. These troops rendezvoused at Raystown, now Bedford.

General Forbes, with regulars, marched from Philadelphia to effect a junction with the force at Raystown, but in consequence of severe indisposition he did not get farther than Carlisle, when he was compelled to stop. He marched to Bedford about the middle of September (1758), where he met the provincial troops under Washington.

The march and investment of Fort Duquesne are told in another story and the details will not be repeated here, except to state that Washington strongly urged that General Forbes should use the road cut by General Braddock three years earlier, as it was the most favorable route. But the Pennsylvanians were bent upon the policy of securing a new road exclusively through their province, and they succeeded.

Many weeks were consumed in cutting this road; but at length the army, consisting of 7859 men, penetrated the thick forest, and on reaching the Ohio River found Fort Duquesne abandoned by the French after they had blown up a large magazine and burned the buildings.

The French had retreated down the river, relinquishing forever their dominion in Pennsylvania. The fort was rebuilt, and received the immortal name of Pitt.

The posts on French Creek still remained in French possession, but it was deemed unnecessary to proceed against them, as the character of the war in the north left very little doubt that the contest would soon cease by complete overthrow of the French.

In 1759 Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara and Quebec yielded to British arms and on September 8, 1760, Montreal, Detroit and all of Canada were surrendered by the French. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November, 1762, put an end to the war.

But in our own province, our troubles were not as easily solved as were England’s under the great Sir William Pitt. A second great Indian conference was convened at Easton in October, 1758.

Tedyuskung, the great Delaware King, at this treaty received one of those insulting taunts from the Six Nations by which they, too often, exhibited their national superiority; taunts, however, that were deeply revenged upon the whites in after years, when the Delaware had thrown off the galling yoke.

Tedyuskung again supported his station with dignity and firmness, and refused to succumb and the different Indian tribes at length became reconciled to each other.

October 9, 1759, Governor William Denny was superseded by James Hamilton. Governor Denny was removed by the Proprietary on account of having yielded to the demands of the Assembly in giving his approval to their money bill.

Governor Hamilton, son of Andrew Hamilton, was the first native of Pennsylvania to serve as Lieutenant Governor. At the death of his father, in 1741, he was left in possession of a handsome fortune, and in the appointment of Prothonotary, then the most lucrative office in the province.

He was first appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1748, serving until October, 1754, then again called to this executive position, which he filled until 1763. He held several other offices of distinction in the province, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the people, but his loyal feelings to the Crown caused him to be unfriendly to the Revolution.

The continued victories of the English put new inspiration into the people, who now returned in great number to the plantations from which they had been driven by the French and their Indian allies.

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First of Three Confederate Raids into
Pennsylvania Began October 10, 1862

The part of our great Commonwealth which lies between the South and Blue Mountains, in the fertile and beautiful Cumberland Valley, since March 11, 1809, known as Franklin County, was from the very earliest recorded history of Pennsylvania the scene of many stirring events.

Being on the southern border of the State, it shared in the land and animated border fight between the proprietary Governments of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

It was in a valley loved as the home of the Indians and on the great pathway through the Tuscarora Mountains and was the scene of many terrible Indian incursions both before and after the French and Indian War.

As the County of Franklin was not erected at the time of the Revolutionary War its activities were not written into the martial story of Pennsylvania as a division of the great State.

In the War of 1812 the county played an active role and sent to the front eight companies organized within its limits.

But it is of a latter period that this county suffered at the hands of an invading host and on three occasions had its homes raided, stores plundered and part of Chambersburg, the county seat, destroyed by firebrand.

The Civil War was hardly begun when it became potent to every one that the Cumberland Valley would be the objective of any Confederate raid into Pennsylvania.

Easy of access from the Potomac and with the fertile fields as fresh foraging grounds for guerilla cavalry, the people realized that they were uncomfortably situated. This fear was well grounded from the fact that our southern border was virtually unprotected.

The first Confederate raid into Pennsylvania was planned and successfully executed October 10, 1862, by Generals J. E. B. Stuart and Wade Hampton with about two thousand troops.

This force crossed the Potomac River and by hurried marches pushed into Pennsylvania, reaching Chambersburg on the evening of that day. With the fall of night came a drizzling rain, in the midst of which the sound of fife and drum was heard, heralding the approach of a squad of officers and men under a flag of truce, who rode to the public square and there demanded the surrender of the town in the name of the Confederate States of America.

There was no military authority in the town to treat with the invaders, so the civil authorities, represented by the Chief Burgess, formally delivered up the town into their custody, and in a few moments the streets of the borough were filled with gray-uniformed soldiers, the tramp of horses, the rattling of sabers and spurs, and the dull thud of axes busied in demolishing store doors and in felling telegraph poles, which made sad music for the frightened inhabitants.

Chambersburg could hardly have been in worse condition for a raid. No soldiers were stationed there, and an enormous quantity of military stores was within its confines.

During the night the business houses were ransacked and the office and shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company demolished.

The next morning their attention was turned to the attack on the military stores in the large brick warehouse of Messrs. Wunderlich & Nead, in the northern section of the town. These stores consisted of ammunition, shells, signal rockets and small arms, which only a short time previous had been captured from General Longstreet, and sufficient new equipment added for two full companies of cavalry, then being mustered in Franklin County.

Soon as every article of value to an army had been removed, the torch was applied to the building, and when the flames reached the powder an explosion took place which completed the entire destruction of the property. The rebels then beat a hasty retreat toward the Southland, leaving the inhabitants of Chambersburg in a terrified condition.

The following summer found the star of secession at its greatest height. Lee’s army was never in better spirits and every soldier looked with covetous eyes on the rich fields of Pennsylvania.

Lee succumbed to the temptation, and in the face of his better judgment, planned his northern campaign, and by a military movement, seldom equaled, marched his entire army across the border line of Pennsylvania, only to meet his Waterloo at Gettysburg. The approach of this great invading horde caused a mighty panic which shook with fear the very capital city of the old Keystone State, and every town and hamlet felt the alarm.

The fight at Winchester on June 13, 1863, forced the retreat of General Milroy, who stood alone as a barrier to Lee’s advance. On the following day General Couch removed his headquarters from Chambersburg to Carlisle.

About 9 o’clock on the morning of the 15th the advance of Milroy’s retreating wagon train dashed into Chambersburg, closely pursued by the rebels.

At the same moment General Jenkins with 1800 mounted rebel infantry rode into Greencastle. After a reconnoissance the town was occupied by the rebel horde and divested of everything movable, contraband and otherwise.

The rebels then pushed on toward Chambersburg, where they reached the outskirts about 11 o’clock that night.

Again the streets of Chambersburg resounded with the clatter of cavalry, and a second time the town fell their easy prey.

This visit continued three days during which time everything of value, especially horses, were taken without pretense of compensation.

General Jenkins on the 18th fell back to Greencastle, and then proceeded to Mercersburg, whence a detachment crossed Cove Mountain to McConnellsburg and down the valley. The main part of the invading force remained in the vicinity of Greencastle and Waynesboro, where plundering parties scoured that entire section.

The third terrible visitation of the Confederates in Chambersburg was the deliberate sacking and burning of the town by Generals McCausland and Johnson, on July 30, 1864.

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