Chapter II: History of the Early Settlers

It appears from all authentic evidence that white traders ventured into the valley as early as 1740, but always left again after transacting their business. It was about the year 1741 that bold and daring men pushed into the valley with the evident determination of making it their home. They were nearly all Scotch-Irish,--a hardy race of devout Christians, whose ancestors had been persecuted in the north of Scotland, by Charles I., and driven to the north of Ireland, and who, fearful of the provisions of the Schism Bill, in their turn fled from Ireland to America, between the years 1714 and 1720. The first of them located near or about the line (then in dispute) between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Logan, the secretary of the province, who was probably an adherent to the religion professed by the proprietors, was very much annoyed at the Scotch-Irish assumption and maintenance of "squatter's rights." In a letter to the Provincial Government, in 1724, he said, "They (the Scotch-Irish and Scotch) have generally taken up the western lands; and as they rarely approach me to propose to purchase, I look upon them as bold and indigent strangers, giving as their excuse, when challenged for titles, that we had solicited for colonists, and they had come accordingly."

Notwithstanding this, they were not molested, for they were exempted from the payment of rents by an ordinance passed in 1720, in consequence of their being frontier-men, and forming a cordon of defence to the colony.

Logan, it must be admitted, had no friendly feeling toward the new comers. In 1725 he stated that they had taken possession of one thousand acres of land, resolutely sat down and improved it without having any right to it, and he expressed himself much at a loss to determine how to dispossess them. On this occasion he admitted that among them were a number of Germans.

In 1730, Logan wrote to the government, or probably the proprietors, complaining of the Scotch-Irish, in an audacious and disorderly manner, possessing themselves of the whole of Conestoga Manor, of fifteen thousand acres, being the best land in the country. In doing this by force, they alleged that it was against the laws of God and nature that so much land should be idle while so many Christians wanted it to labor on and raise their bread. They were finally dispossessed by the sheriff and his posse, and their cabins, to the number of thirty, were burned.

These men apparently held in contempt the sham purchases of Penn from the Indians; asserted that the treaties by which the lands were secured to the proprietors were nothing more than downright farces; and they justified their course by assuming that if the Penn family had a right to "_fillibuster_" on an extensive scale, the same right to enjoy enough land to support their families should not be denied them. If the disciples of George Fox, by craft and cunning, could obtain from the Indians thousands upon thousands of acres of land by a royal grant and the presentation of baubles that shamed the idea of a purchase, the disciples of John Calvin thought they had an equal right to possess themselves of at least a portion of the acres wrested by stratagem from the Indians. They considered the Penns usurpers and pretenders, and despised their feudal prerogatives which gave them pomp and circumstance, and refused to pay them the quit-rents, which enabled them to rule by deputy, and riot in the luxury of aristocratic life in England, rather than adopt the unostentatious manners of the new world.

Logan's successor was Richard Peters. He, too, was deeply devoted to the proprietors, and used his utmost exertions to get quit-rents out of the squatters. Failing to do so peaceably, he went to Marsh Creek, then in Lancaster county, for the express purpose of dispossessing them, and measuring the lands of the manor. This occurred in 1743. The squatters assembled in great force, notwithstanding the secretary was accompanied by the sheriff and a magistrate, and forbade Peters to proceed. On his refusal, the chain was broken, and demonstrations of a riot made, whereupon the surveying party retired. The settlers were afterward indicted, but the matter was compromised by the secretary granting them leases on very favorable terms.

From the counties of Chester and Lancaster, these settlers gradually worked their way to the west, and about 1748 the Kittochtinny Valley was tolerably well settled. The influx of emigrants from Europe--embracing Irish, Scotch, Scotch-Irish, German, and a few English--was so great, that it followed, as a matter of course, that the Juniata Valley was in its turn soon invaded.

There, in all probability, the proprietors would have suffered them to remain, as they knew little of, and cared less, about the land; but the Indians made complaint of the aggressions. The Six Nations took the matter in hand, and declared that usurping the lands they had guaranteed to their cousins, the Delawares, as a sacred hunting-ground, was a breach of faith, and that the settlers must be removed; or, if the settlers persisted in their encroachments, the Delawares would take up the hatchet against them. Only too glad to get rid of their settlers in the lower counties, the government made little effort to remove them from the Indian lands. True, to satisfy the Indians, they issued proclamations warning squatters to keep off these lands, under certain penalties which they knew could not be executed.

These usurpations of land, and the contumely with which the settlers treated the Indians, at length threatened serious consequences. The Delawares, as well as the Six Nations, made complaints such as could not be misunderstood. The proprietors, at length alarmed at the probable consequences of letting their squatters usurp the lands or hunting-grounds of the Indians, sent Peters and others to dispossess them. The following is Secretary Peters's report, sent to Governor Hamilton in 1750:--

TO JAMES HAMILTON, ESQ., GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA.

May it please your honor, Mr. Weiser and I having received your
honor's orders to give information to the proper magistrates
against all such as had presumed to settle on the lands beyond the
Kittochtinny Mountains not purchased of the Indians, in contempt of
the laws repeatedly signified by proclamations, and particularly by
your honor's last one, and to bring them to a legal conviction,
lest for want of their removal a breach should ensue between the
Six Nations of Indians and this Province, we set out on Tuesday,
the 15th of May, 1750, for the new county of Cumberland, where the
places on which the trespassers had settled lay.

At Mr. Croghan's we met with five Indians,--three from Shamokin,
two of which were sons of the late Shickcalamy, who transact the
business of the Six Nations with this government; two were just
arrived from Alleghany, viz., one of the Mohawk's nation, called
Aaron, and Andrew Montour, the interpreter at Ohio. Mr. Montour
telling us he had a message from the Ohio Indians and Twightwees to
this government, and desiring a conference, one was held on the
18th of May last, in the presence of James Galbreath, George
Croghan, William Wilson, and Hermanus Alricks, Esqrs., justices of
the county of Cumberland; and when Mr. Montour's business was done,
we, with the advice of the other justices, imparted to the Indians
the design we were assembled upon; at which they expressed great
satisfaction.

Another conference was held, at the instance of the Indians, in
the presence of Mr. Galbreath and Mr. Croghan, before mentioned,
wherein they expressed themselves as follows:--

"Brethren,--We have thought a great deal of what you imparted to
us, that ye were come to turn the people off who are settled over
the hills; we are pleased to see you on this occasion; and, as the
council of Onondago has this affair exceedingly at heart, and it
was particularly recommended to us by the deputies of the Six
Nations when they parted from us last summer, we desire to
accompany you. But we are afraid, notwithstanding the care of the
governor, that this may prove like many former attempts. The people
will be put off now, and next year come again; and if so, the Six
Nations will no longer bear it, but do themselves justice. To
prevent this, therefore, when you shall have turned the people off,
we recommend it to the governor to place two or three faithful
persons over the mountains who may be agreeable to him and us, with
commissions empowering them immediately to remove every one who may
presume after this to settle themselves, until the Six Nations
shall agree to make sale of their land."

To enforce this they gave a string of wampum, and received one in
return from the magistrates, with the strongest assurances that
they would do their duty.

On Tuesday, the twenty-second of May, Matthew Dill, George Croghan,
Benjamin Chambers, Thomas Wilson, John Finley, and James Galbreath,
Esqrs., justices of the said county of Cumberland, attended by the
under-sheriff, came to Big Juniata, situate at the distance of
twenty miles from the mouth thereof, and about ten miles north from
the Blue Hills--a place much esteemed by the Indians for some of
their best hunting-ground; and there they found five cabins or
log-houses; one possessed by William White, another by George
Cahoon, another not quite yet finished, in possession of David
Hiddleston, another possessed by George and William Galloway, and
another by Andrew Lycon. Of these persons, William White and George
and William Galloway, David Hiddleston, and George Cahoon, appeared
before the magistrates, and, being asked by what right or authority
they had possessed themselves of those lands and erected cabins
thereon, they replied, by no right or authority, but that the land
belonged to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania. They then were asked
whether they did not know that they were acting against the law,
and in contempt of frequent notices given them by the governor's
proclamation? They said they had seen one such proclamation, and
had nothing to say for themselves, but craved mercy. Hereupon the
said William White, George and William Galloway, David Hiddleston,
and George Cahoon, being convicted by said justices on their view,
the under-sheriff was charged with them, and he took William White,
David Hiddleston, and George Cahoon into custody; but George and
William Galloway resisted, and having got at some distance from the
under-sheriff, they called to us, "You may take our lands and
houses, and do what you please with them; we deliver them to you
with all our hearts, but we will not be carried to jail!"

The next morning, being Wednesday, the twenty-third of May, the
said justices went to the log-house or cabin of Andrew Lycon, and
finding none there but children, and hearing that the father and
mother were expected soon, and William White and others offering to
become security jointly and severally, and to enter into
recognisance as well for Andrew's appearance at court and immediate
removal as for their own, this proposal was accepted, and William
White, David Hiddleston, and George Cahoon entered into a
recognisance of one hundred pounds, and executed bonds to the
proprietaries in the sum of five hundred pounds, reciting that they
were trespassers, and had no manner of right, and had delivered
possession to me for the proprietaries. When the magistrates went
to the cabin or log-house of George and William Galloway, (which
they had delivered up as aforesaid the day before, after they were
convicted, and were flying from the sheriff,) all the goods
belonging to the said George and William were taken out, and the
cabin being quite empty, I took possession thereof for the
proprietaries; and then a conference was held what should be done
with the empty cabin; and after great deliberation, all agreed that
if some cabins were not destroyed, they would tempt the trespassers
to return again, or encourage others to come there should these
trespassers go away; and so what was doing would signify nothing,
since the possession of them was at such a distance from the
inhabitants, could not be kept for the proprietaries; and Mr.
Weiser also giving it as his opinion that, if all the cabins were
left standing, the Indians would conceive such a contemptible
opinion of the government that they would come themselves in the
winter, murder the people, and set their houses on fire. On these
considerations the cabin, by my order, was burnt by the
under-sheriff and company.

Then the company went to the house possessed by David Hiddleston,
who had entered into bond as aforesaid; and he having voluntarily
taken out all the things which were in the cabin, and left me in
possession, that empty and unfurnished cabin was likewise set on
fire by the under-sheriff, by my order.

The next day, being the twenty-fourth of May, Mr. Weiser and Mr.
Galbreath, with the under-sheriff and myself, on our way to the
mouth of the Juniata called at Andrew Lycon's, with intent only to
inform him that his neighbors were bound for his appearance and
immediate removal, and to caution him not to bring him or them into
trouble by a refusal; but he presented a loaded gun to the
magistrates and sheriff; said he would shoot the first man that
dared to come nigher. On this he was disarmed, convicted, and
committed to the custody of the sheriff. This whole transaction
happened in the sight of a tribe of Indians who had by accident in
the night time fixed their tent on that plantation; and Lycon's
behavior giving them great offence, the Shickcalamies insisted on
our burning the cabin, or they would do it themselves. Whereupon
every thing was taken out of it, (Andrew Lycon all the while
assisting,) and, possession being delivered to me, the empty cabin
was set on fire by the under-sheriff, and Lycon was carried to
jail.

Mr. Benjamin Chambers and Mr. George Croghan had about an hour
before separated from us; and on meeting them again in Cumberland
county, they reported to me they had been at Sheerman's creek, or
Little Juniata, situate about six miles over the Blue Mountain, and
found there James Parker, Thomas Parker, Owen McKeib, John McClare,
Richard Kirkpatrick, James Murray, John Scott, Henry Gass, John
Cowan, Simon Girtee, and John Kilough, who had settled lands and
erected cabins or log-houses thereon; and having convicted them of
the trespass on their view, they had bound them, in recognisances
of the penalty of one hundred pounds, to appear and answer for
their trespasses on the first day of the next county court of
Cumberland, to be held at Shippensburgh; and that the said
trespassers had likewise entered into bonds to the proprietaries,
in five hundred pounds penalty, to remove off immediately, with all
their servants, cattle, and effects, and had delivered possession
of their houses to Mr. George Stevenson for the proprietaries' use;
and that Mr. Stevenson had ordered some of the meanest of those
cabins to be set on fire, where the families were not large nor the
improvements considerable.

On Monday, the twenty-eighth of May, we were met at Shippensburgh
by Samuel Smith, William Maxwell, George Croghan, Benjamin
Chambers, William Allison, William Trent, John Finley, John Miller,
Hermanus Alricks, and James Galbreath, Esquires, justices of
Cumberland county, who informed us that the people in the Tuscarora
Path, in Big Cove, and at Aucquick, would submit. Mr. Weiser most
earnestly pressed that he might be excused any further attendance,
having abundance of necessary business to do at home; and the other
magistrates, though with much reluctance, at last consenting, he
left us.

On Wednesday, the thirtieth of May, the magistrates and company
being detained two days by rain, proceeded over the Kittochtinny
Mountains and entered into the Tuscarora Path or Path Valley,
through which the road to Alleghany lies. Many settlements were
formed in this valley, and all the people were sent for, and the
following persons appeared, viz.: Abraham Slach, James Blair, Moses
Moore, Arthur Dunlap, Alexander McCartie, David Lewis, Adam
McCartie, Felix Doyle, Andrew Dunlap, Robert Wilson, Jacob Pyatt,
Jr., William Ramage, Reynolds Alexander, Robert Baker, John
Armstrong, and John Potts; who were all convicted by their own
confession to the magistrates of the like trespasses with those at
Sheerman's Creek, and were bound in the like recognisances to
appear at court, and bonds to the proprietaries to remove with all
their families, servants, cattle, and effects; and having
voluntarily given possession of their houses to me, some ordinary
log-houses, to the number of eleven, were burnt to the ground; the
trespassers, most of them cheerfully, and a very few of them with
reluctance, carrying out all their goods. Some had been deserted
before, and lay waste.

At Aucquick, Peter Falconer, Nicholas De Long, Samuel Perry, and
John Charleton, were convicted on the view of the magistrates, and
having entered into like recognisances and executed the like bonds,
Charleton's cabin was burnt, and fire set to another that was just
begun, consisting only of a few logs piled and fastened to one
another.

The like proceedings at Big Cove (now within Bedford county)
against Andrew Donnaldson, John MacClelland, Charles Stewart, James
Downy, John MacMean, Robert Kendell, Samuel Brown, William
Shepperd, Roger Murphy, Robert Smith, William Dickey, William
Millican, William MacConnell, James Campbell, William Carrell, John
Martin, John Jamison, Hans Patter, John MacCollin, James Wilson,
and John Wilson; who, coming before the magistrates, were convicted
on their own confession of the like trespasses, as in former cases,
and were all bound over in like recognisances and executed the like
bond to the proprietaries. Three waste cabins of no value were
burnt at the north end of the Cove by the persons who claimed a
right to them.

The Little Cove (in Franklin county) and the Big and Little
Conolloways being the only places remaining to be visited, as this
was on the borders of Maryland, the magistrates declined going
there, and departed for their homes.

About the year 1740 or 1741, one Frederick Star, a German, with two
or three more of his countrymen, made some settlements at the place
where we found William White, the Galloways, and Andrew Lycon, on
Big Juniata, situate at the distance of twenty miles from the mouth
thereof, and about ten miles north of the Blue Hills,--a place much
esteemed by the Indians for some of their best hunting ground;
which (German settlers) were discovered by the Delawares at
Shamokin to the deputies of the Six Nations as they came down to
Philadelphia in the year 1742, to hold a treaty with this
government; and they were disturbed at, as to inquire with a
peculiar warmth of Governor Thomas if these people had come there
by the orders or with the privilege of the government; alleging
that, if it was so, this was a breach of the treaties subsisting
between the Six Nations and the proprietor, William Penn, who in
the most solemn manner engaged to them not to suffer any of the
people to settle lands till they had purchased from the Council of
the Six Nations. The governor, as he might with great truth,
disowned any knowledge of those persons' settlements; and on the
Indians insisting that they should be immediately thrown over the
mountains, he promised to issue his proclamation, and, if this had
no effect, to put the laws in execution against them. The Indians,
in the same treaty, publicly expressed very severe threats against
the inhabitants of Maryland for settling lands for which they had
received no satisfaction, and said that if they would not do them
justice they would do justice to themselves, and would certainly
have committed hostilities if a treaty had not been under foot
between Maryland and the Six Nations, under the mediation of
Governor Thomas; at which the Indians consented to sell lands and
receive a valuable consideration for them, which put an end to the
danger.

The proprietaries were then in England; but observing, on perusing
the treaty, with what asperity they had expressed themselves
against Maryland, and that the Indians had just cause to complain
of the settlements at Juniata, so near Shamokin, they wrote to
their governor, in very pressing terms, to cause those trespassers
to be immediately removed; and both the proprietaries and governor
laid these commands on me to see this done, which I accordingly did
in June, 1743, the governor having first given them notice by a
proclamation served on them.

At that time none had presumed to settle at a place called the Big
Cove--having this name from its being enclosed in the form of a
basin by the southernmost range of the Kittochtinny Hills and
Tuscarora Hills; which last end here, and lose themselves in other
hills. This Big Cove is about five miles north of the temporary
line, and not far west of the place where the line terminated.
Between the Big Cove and the temporary line lies the Little
Cove,--so called from being likewise encircled with hills; and to
the west of the Little Cove, toward Potowmec, lie two other places,
called the Big and Little Conollaways, all of them situate on the
temporary line, and all of them extended toward the Potowmec.

In the year 1741 or 1742 information was likewise given that people
were beginning to settle in those places, some from Maryland and
some from this province. But as the two governments were not then
on very good terms, the governor did not think proper to take any
other notice of these settlements than to send the sheriff to serve
his proclamation on them, though they had ample occasion to lament
the vast inconveniences which attend unsettled boundaries. After
this the French war came on, and the people in those parts, taking
advantage of the confusion of the times, by little and little stole
into the Great Cove; so that at the end of the war it was said
thirty families had settled there; not, however, without frequent
prohibitions on the part of the government, and admonitions of the
great danger they run of being cut off by the Indians, as these
settlements were on lands not purchased of them. At the close of
the war, Mr. Maxwell, one of the justices of Lancaster county,
delivered a particular message from this government to them,
ordering their removal, that they might not occasion a breach with
the Indians, but it had no effect.

These were, to the best of my remembrance, all the places settled
by Pennsylvanians in the unpurchased part of the province, till
about three years ago, when some persons had the presumption to go
into Path Valley or Tuscarora Gap, lying to the east of the Big
Cove, and into a place called Aucquick, lying to the northward of
it; and likewise into a place called Sheerman's creek, lying along
the waters of Juniata, and is situate east of the Path Valley,
through which the present road goes from Harris's Ferry to
Alleghany; and lastly, they extended their settlements to Big
Juniata; the Indians all this while repeatedly complaining that
their hunting-ground was every day more and more taken from them;
and that there must infallibly arise quarrels between their
warriors and these settlers, which would in the end break the chain
of friendship, and pressing in the most importunate terms their
speedy removal. The government in 1748 sent the sheriff and three
magistrates, with Mr. Weiser, into these places to warn the people;
but they, notwithstanding, continued their settlements in
opposition to all this; and, as if those people were prompted by a
desire to make mischief, settled lands no better, nay not so good,
as many vacant lands within the purchased parts of the province.

The bulk of these settlements were made during the administration
of President Palmer; and it is well known to your honor, though
then in England, that his attention to the safety of the city and
the lower counties would not permit him to extend more care to
places so remote.

Finding such a general submission, except the two Galloways and
Andrew Lycon, and vainly believing the evil would be effectually
taken away, there was no kindness in my power which I did not do
for the offenders. I gave them money where they were poor, and
telling them they might go directly on any part of the two millions
of acres lately purchased of the Indians; and where the families
were large, as I happened to have several of my own plantations
vacant, I offered them to stay on them rent free, till they could
provide for themselves: then I told them that if after all this
lenity and good usage they would dare to stay after the time
limited for their departure, no mercy would be shown them, but that
they would feel the rigor of the law.

It may be proper to add that the cabins or log-houses which were
burnt were of no considerable value; being such as the country
people erect in a day or two, and cost only the charge of an
entertainment.

RICHARD PETERS.

July 2, 1750.

From this summary proceeding originated the name of the place called the Burnt Cabins, the locality of which is pointed out to the traveller to this day.

That these ejected tenants _at will_ did not remain permanently ejected from the fertile valley of the Juniata is evident from the fact that their descendants, or many of them, of the third and fourth generations, are now occupying the very lands they were driven from.

In July, 1750, the government was thrown into alarm by the rumor that a Mr. Delany had, while speaking of the removal of the trespassers on the unpurchased lands northwest of the Kittochtinny Hills, said, "that if the people of the Great and Little Coves would apply to Maryland they might have warrants for their lands; and if those of the Tuscarora Path Valley would apply to Virginia, he did not doubt but they might obtain rights there."

Petitions were sent to the Council from the residents of the Coves, in which it was set forth that they did not wish to be either in the province of Maryland or Virginia, and prayed permission to remain, until the boundary of the provinces was determined, on the lands purchased from the Indians.

This proposition was not accepted, and was only followed up by proclamations imposing severe penalties upon trespassers. This was deemed absolutely necessary by Governor Hamilton, for the French were assuming a menacing attitude along the frontier, and it was necessary, at all hazards, to preserve the alliance of the Indians.

The Provincial Government was strong enough to drive the settlers out of the valley, but immeasurably too weak to keep them out. This brought about the treaty at Albany in 1754, to which we have previously alluded. Thomas and Richard Penn, seeing the government unable to remove the squatters permanently, in consequence of the feelings of the people being with the latter, bought from the sachems the very considerable slice of land in which was included the Valley of the Juniata, for the trifling consideration of £400. This was supposed to act as a healing balm for the trespasses upon their hunting-grounds, and at the same time the Penns undoubtedly entertained the idea that they could realize a handsome profit in re-selling the lands at an advanced price to those who occupied them, as well as to European emigrants constantly arriving and anxious to purchase.

The Indian chiefs and sachems who were not present at this treaty were highly indignant, and pronounced the whole transaction a gross fraud; and those who were present at the treaty declared they were outwitted by misrepresentations, and grossly defrauded. Conrad Weiser, the Indian interpreter, in his journal of a conference at Aughwick, stated that the dissatisfaction with the purchase of 1754 was general. The Indians said they did not understand the points of the compass, and if the line was so run as to include the west branch of Susquehanna, they would never agree to it. According to Smith's Laws, vol. xxi., p. 120, "the land where the Shawnee and Ohio Indians lived, and the hunting-grounds of the Delawares, the Nanticokes, and the Tutelos, were all included."

So decided and general was the dissatisfaction of the Indians, that, in order to keep what few remained from being alienated, the proprietors found it necessary to cede back to them, at a treaty held in Easton, in October, 1758, all the land lying north and west of the Alleghany Mountains within the province. The restoration, however, came too late to effect much good.

But even the lands west of the Alleghany Mountains were not sacred to the Indians, mountainous as they were and unfertile as they were deemed; for westward the squatter went, gradually encroaching upon the red men's last reserve, until he finally settled in their midst. These aggressions were followed by the usual proclamations from the government, but they had little or no effect in preventing the bold adventurers from crossing the Alleghany Mountains and staking out farms in the valley of the Conemaugh. This continued for a number of years, until the government, wearied by unavailing efforts to keep settlers from Indian lands, caused a stringent law to be passed by Council in February, 1768, when it was enacted "that if any person settled upon the unpurchased lands neglected or refused to remove from the same within thirty days after they were required so to do by persons to be appointed for that purpose by the governor or by his proclamation, or, having so removed, should return to such settlement, or the settlement of any other person, with or without a family, to remain and settle on such lands, or if any person after such notice resided and settled on such lands, every such person so neglecting or refusing to remove, or returning to settle as aforesaid, or that should settle after the requisition or notice aforesaid, being legally convicted, _was to be punished with death without the benefit of clergy_."

There is no evidence on record that the provision of this act was ever enforced, although it was openly violated. It was succeeded by laws a little more lenient, making fine and imprisonment the punishment in lieu of the death-penalty "without the benefit of clergy." Neither does the record say that the coffers of the provincial treasury ever became plethoric with the collection of fines paid by trespassers.

During the Indian wars of 1762-63, many of the inhabitants of the valley fled to the more densely populated districts for safety. Up to this time few forts were built for defence, and the settlers dreaded the merciless warfare of the savages. The restoration of peace in the latter year brought a considerable degree of repose to the long harassed colonies. The turbulent Indians of the Ohio buried the hatchet in October, 1764, on the plains of Muskingum, which enabled the husbandman to reassume his labors and to extend his cultivation and improvements. The prosperity of Pennsylvania increased rapidly; and those who were compelled by Indian warfare to abandon their settlements rapidly returned to them. The Juniata Valley, and especially the lower part of it, gained a considerable accession of inhabitants in the shape of sturdy tillers of the soil and well-disposed Christian people.

For a time the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians maintained rule in religion; but, about 1767, German Lutherans, Irish Catholics, and some few Dunkards and other denominations, found their way to the valley. Meeting-houses were built, stockade forts erected, and communities of neighbors formed for mutual protection, without regard to religious distinctions.

The first settlements of the upper portion of the valley were not effected until between 1765 and 1770. True, there was here and there an isolated family, but the danger of being so near the Kittaning Path was deemed too hazardous. It was in the upper part of the valley, too, that most of the massacres took place between 1776 and 1782, as the lower end of it was too thickly populated and too well prepared for the marauders to permit them to make incursions or commit depredations.