ti'i )vK. .11. ; f! . ' , r i ,, , i , -
mil ii mi TiMaia-MjajumuLiJlJiiiMniJMM'iTiPii
JeSersok
The wholk aut ok Government iconsistsjiiothe-. art obsbeing honest
rf .ti fin-.'
Jl land aiilisiier .
IMcliard Nugent, Editor
STROUD SBURG, MONROE COUNTY, PA:, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11; 1840.
T no
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YOL. I.
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DELAWARE ACADEMY.
The Trustees of this Insiitution, have the
pleasure of announcing to the public, and par
ticularly to the friends of education, that they
I Hive engaged Ira B. Newman, as Superinten
dent and Principal of their Academy.
The Trustees invite the attention of parents
-md guardians, wbo have children to send from
home, to. this Institution. They are fitting up
the building in the first style, and its location
from its retired nature is peculiarly favorable
for a boarding school. It commands a beauti
ful view of the Delaware river, near which it
is situated, and the surrounding scenery such
as the lover of nature will admire it is easily
accessible the Easton and Milford Stages pass
it daily, and only 8 miles distant from the latter
place," and a more salubrious sectioa of coun
iry can nowhere be found. No fears need bo
-entertained that pupils will contract pernicious
habits, or be seduced into vicious company it
is removed from all places of resort and those
inducements to neglect their studies that are
furnished in large towns and villages.
. Board can be obtained very low and near the
Academy. Mr. Daniel W. Dingmait, jr. will
take several boarders, his house is yenrconve
,.ipnt antl students will there be underfhe im-
mediate care of the Principal, whosefcnjta
tion, deportment and guardianship overras"u
pils, afford the best security for their proper
conduct, that the Trustees can give or parents
and guardians demand.
The course of instruction will be thorough
adapted to the age of the pupil, and the time
Jie designs to spend in literary pursuits. Young
men may qualify themselves for entering upon
ihe study of the "learned professions or for1 'an
idvanced stand at College for mercantile pur
suits, for teaching or the business of common
life, useful'will be preferred to ornamental stud
ies, nevertheless so much of the latter attended
in as the advanced stages of the pupil's 'educa
ion will admit. The male and female depart
ment will be under the immediate siiperinlend--dence
of the Principal, aided by a competent
snale or female Assistant. Lessons in music
will be oiven to young ladies on the Piano
Forte at the boarding house of the principal, by
an experienced and accomplished Instructress
Summer Session 'commences.'May 4th;
EXPENSES..,,.. ;i ;;;;. '
Board for Youns Gcntlemamo'r. Ladies with
the Principal, per week, ' 0 tV, . $1 50
Pupils from 10 to 15 years of age from-Sl to,
Tuition for the Classics, i3ellps-Lettres, French
&c, per quarter, 0.0
Extra for hiusicrper quarter, .5 00
N. B.' A particular course of study will be
marked out for those who wish to, qualify, them--flvft.s
for Common SchM'teaciieTS with ref,
;rence to that object ; applicdtioh made- for
. ' "..:n
teachers to tlie trustees ,or principal wm meei
immeaiaie aiienuun,
Lectures on. tlie Various subjecisofstudy wil
lie tlelivereu ny auie speuivuis, uiiuujii m
course of vear
NOTICE.
F day of July dnsuing, when subscriptions Will be
received for the balance oi stocic wnicn remains
-vet open. At thej same timo, and place theStock
holders will trlect'a board of Directors.
Charles Trump,
f " John S. Comfort, f
Henry W. Drpikpr
. William P. 'Clanlv,
'. . ' , Oommissionera
' June lG18i0, j,. . . ,
Hi Proposals will-be received :at Stpddarts.
ville.xm Thursday the JOth day Oof, July ensuing,
for doing the work either wholly ortin jpbsj-.equi;,
red by building a lock and inclined plane with jibe
accessary grading, fixtures and machinery for
paissmg rafts descending the Lehigh over the Falls
U'Stbddartsvillo. It is expected that the work'
will be' commenced ss soon asrpracticable and be
completed .with.ds'spatclur .-n
mnnr. rr.... -T-OLirC nrT UlinUtll III atlVilTlCC-
""".wiv-ond if not paid before the end of
Uy ordoro! trie ijoaru, m r
TjANIJSL1 Wj DINGMAN;.- Tres't
Dingman's Ferry, If ike co.vl'a., Mar fns-iu,.
The Bookpf SubspriptTgn'to the Stocji of the
J'Dner .chifh NaviVation 'Company, will. "be re-
ttStoddartsvllle, on Wednesday, thcrlSth
WyoiiaiMg , Sltetclies.
We to day commence-the publication of His
torical Sketches of the Valley of "Wyoming,
from the pen of the author of the "life of Brant'
who last year devoted much time and attention
o the collection of materials for an accurate ac
count of the battle of July 3, 1778, usually term
ed the "Wyoming massacrel" It will be seen,
that the version of ihat untoward event,4 pub
lished in the journals of the .day, and' adopted
by Chief Justice Marshall in his first edition of
the life of Washington, is' entirely incorrectand
the numerous errors therein are here corrected.
Owing to the vicinity of this part of the country
to the scene of action the most lively interest
has always been felt by us in this matter, and in
addition, almost every one of our principal in
habitants was formerly interested in claims to
lands in the valley, founded either on Pennsyl
vania or Connecticut titles. We commence"
with the author's remarks on the first impres
sions produced by a view of the Valley, from
the river bank.
" On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming I"
Our hotel was upon the margin of the river,
the waters of which are as ciear! as those of
Lake St. Sacrement, the Lake George of the
English,and the Horicon of the Indians. But a
few rods above, a noble bridge spans the river,
leading from Wilkesbarre to the opposite town
of Kingston. From the observatory of the
hotel, alullview of the whole Wyoming valley
is obtained or rather, in a clear atmosphere.
the steep wild mountains by which the valley
. . . i i
is completely shut inr, Jise on every nauu wnu
a distinctness which' accurately defines its di
mensions, while the valley itself, especially
on the"western, or opposite side of thd river,
nresented a view of several small towns, or
scattered villages, planted along, but back from (
the lriver, at the distance of a lew miles apart,
the whole intervening and contiguous terri
tory being divided into farms, and gardens, with
fruit and ornamental trees. Comfortable farm
houses are thickly studed- over tho 'Valley;
among which are not a few more ambitious
dwellings, denoting by their air, and the dis
position of their grounds, both 'wealth and taste.
Midway through the valley winds the rive"r its
banks for the most part adorned with graceful
and luxuriant foliage, and disclosing, at every -j
turn, some bright spot of oeauty. On the eas-
tern side, in the rear of the borough, ana lor a
few miles north, the deaddevel'ot the valley is
rendered .still more picturesque by being broken
into swelling elevations and lesser valleys,"
adorned in spots with groves, and clumps of
trees, with the ivy and other creeping parasites,
as upon the river's brink, clingiug to their
branches. Tne village, or oorougu, pi winces-
barre, so far: as the major part of the buildings
ate to be taken into the account, is less beauti
ful than it might, be. Nevertheless there, arc a
goodly number of well built and genteel houses,
to which, and the pleasant gardens attached,
.the pretty couplet of the . poet might be ap:i
plied: ,
Tall trees o'ershade them, creepers fondly grace "
Lattice and porch, arid sweetest flb'wers:embrace.
'The people are the sons and daughters of
lNew-England, and have brought with them in
to this secluded region the simple mariners and
liabits,' and the piety of their fathers. -It was
the Sabbath morning when wc first took the
survey we have been attempting to describe,
and the' stillness and quiet which prevailed,
awakened long trains of associations and sym
pathies in unison with the day, and the holy
calmness and beauty of the scene fit home
-indeed for hdly thoughts; Indeed, .
The country here
Seemed God's own country,' for'tHe use'df man 1
ihjtghde'd, and by man's abuses '-unstained ; ' ,
Wp"ds for his hearth, and pasturesTor his board.
And yet the landscape, in its simple wpalth,
Had something, of. a lordly aspect, top .
A fine' ;Nev England look.; ,
'. This valley of Wyoming is rich in .its histor
ical associations, even of days long preced
ing the events of the American revolution,
which wexje the occasion of its consecration in
the deathless song of Campbell. The length
of the valley from the Ladkawannock Gap,
where the Susquehanna 'plunges through, be
tween a narrow defile of high jocky mountains at
the north, to a like narrow pass called the Nan
ticoko Gap, atthe south, is nearly twenty miles
averaging about three miles in -width. As
already mentioned, it is walled in by ranges of
steep mountains of about one thousand feet m
height. These mountains arc very irregujar
in their formation, having elevated points, and
deep ravines, or openings, which are called
gaps. They are for the most part as wild as'
when discovered, and are clothed with pmesj
dwarf oaks and laurels, interspersed with oth
er descriptions of woods deciduous and ever
green. By the Delaware Indian; its original
proprietors, so far as its history is known, the
valley was called Maughwauwumc, or the Large
,Meadflws. ,TJie five nations, who conquered, it
from the Delawares,, palled it J$g$hpntowanp or
the Large Flatts. , i ,
Acc.or.ding to the .traditions of the Delawares,
when they came from, toward the setting sun,
they found this country in the possession of a
powerful nation f .Indians, who liad strong
fortification's, and means of .defence previously
unknown to' them. Tliese Indians,, after many
sanguinary battles, were vanquished ,by the
Delawares'. Whether there '.e any just foun
dation for this legend or .not, it Is certain from
the. character and extent, of the tumuli existing
fn the valley when taken' possession of by the
pale ?aces, and from the. fret that large oaks1
were growing upon some of the mounds, that
the country, Vemurics before, had been in thb
possession of a';race of men far in advance oi
the Delawares in the arts of civilization' and
war.
There was a time when Hie Shawanese Indi
ans occupied' a portion of territory at the forks
of the Delaware, . (formed by the junction of
tne .benign, at jastDn,; but iinumg uiem iu uc
troublesome neighbors, the Delawares, then re
ding farther down the river, compelled theni to
remove assigning io their use the valley of
Wyoming and a portion of the territory farther
down tlie Susnuehanna. at Shamokin. Thither
j
the Shawanese removed planting themselves
anew at both points. ,In Wyoming they built
their town upon, the west side of the riverA be
low the present town of Kingston," upon what
are to this day called tlih Shawanese Hats. In
1.746, at an Indian Council held with tlie pro
prietors of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, to
adjust a question, qf disputed tertory, trie chiefs
of the Six Nations charged the Delawares with
having sold certain territory winch was hot their
own, and old Cannasseetego sternly ordered
the Delawares to remove from their own river
to the valley of Wyoming This order they
dared not esjst; and as 'the Shawanese were
iii possession of the west bank of the river,
they planted themselves down on the east side
locating their town on the spot where Wilkes
barre now stands." Meantime the Nantik'okes
had removed from the eastern shore of Mary
land, to the lower part of Wyoming, which yet
retains their, name.
It was during the same year the celebrated
Moravian Missionary, Count Zinzendorf, visi
ted the Indians of this valley, and for a season
pitched his tent therein. The tradition of his
life having been saved' by the interposition of
a serpent, is wen Known. .Becoming jeaiutib
of him, the Indians had determined upon his
assassination." The count had kindled a fire,
and was in his tent, deep in meditation, when
the Indians stole' upon him to' execute their
bloody commission. Warmed" by the fire, a
large rattle snake had, crept forthj and approach
ing the fire for its greater enjoyment, the ser
pent glided harmlessly over one of the legs of
1 1 ' 1 i. i--: - 'pl tJi:
tne noiy man, unperceiveu uy 111111. xue mui
ans, however, were at the very moment looking
stealthily into the tent, and saw the movement
of the serpent. Awed by the' aspect and the
attitude of .the count, and imbibing the notion
from the harmless movements of the poisonous
reptile, that their intended victim enjoyed the
special protection of tie Great Spirit; the exe
cutioners desisted from their purpose, and re
tired. The story was related, thought not writ
ten. by the count himself.
' Soon after this incident, a war arose between
the Delawares of Wyoming and their Shawa
nese neighbors, which resulted in the expulsion
of the latter! No cause so trifling ever before
produced a war'J It was this: On a certain
day, the warrior' of both clans being engaged
in chase upon the' mountains, a- party of the
Shawanese women and children1 crossed to the
Delaware side to rather wild fruit. 1 In this oc
cupation they weW joined by some of the Del
aware squaws,-with their children. In the
course of ' tfie da'the harmony of the children
was interrupted by' a dispute respecting the
possession of -a' large grass' liopper, probably
with parti-colored wings. A 'quarrel ensued,
in which the mothers took' part with' their chil
dren respectively. ' The Delaware women be
ing the most numerous, the Shawanese were
driven home, several being killed upon both
sides.. On tle return of their 'husbands from
hunting, the Shawanese instantly espoused the
cause!, of their, ivives and arming themselves,
crossed-the river to give the Delawares battle.
The, latter 'were not 'unprepared, and a battle
ensued, which was long and obstinately 'con
tested, and whiclr, after great slaughter upon
both sidesf. ended in the defeatj.of the Shawanese,-and
their , expulsion .from , -that yalleyJt
Theyetired. among their more powerful breth
ren oh the, Ohio.
A vuriety of Indian troubles continued to
agitatetlio valley duringthe whole of the French
war of 1755-G3, at the close of which, the val
ley was purchased, by the colonists. (But the
departure, of the Indians brpught not' peace to
a country that might have been rendere'da'little
paradise by their' successors.) The territory of
Wyptnjng.was claimed by the cplony of Con
necticut,, under a patent granted by James L to
the Earls of Arundel, Warwick, and their as
sociates., tinder this patent, an" association
called the ugusquehimntt' dompdny, was, formed,
in jCpiine.Qticpt,! jn the year 1753,. for ;the pur
pose of settling this beautiful section of coun-
try; and for the obiect of rendering their title
' . ; 1 i 11 e
the more secure, tney purcnasea tne vauey 01
the Six Nations in July bt the following year.
Thi-'Connecticut, 'or Suscjuehanna company,
as it was called, was very numerous, emoracmg
more than six: hundred persons. They at-
. 1 . . i ..'1 'i.. -w : :
tempteu to piant a settlement m wvuimug m
1754a but the Indian troubles incident to the
French war, frustrated the design, Meantime
the proprietors of Pennsylvania' interposed a
claim to the same territory, under the grant ol
the crown to William Perm, and also under an
alleged purchase of the Indians, and a rival
company was formed, called the Delaware com
pany, bv whom a settlement was begun, at a
place called tho L-oshetunk, on tne Delaware,
but within the territory claimed by the Susque
hanna company., The Indian wai having been
hushed in 17G2, about two hundred people from
Connecticut entered the Wyoming valley, and
began preparations for a settlement, by clear
ing land, erecting log.house.s, sowing wheat, &c.
returning to Connecticut for Ihe winler.
In the following year these adventurers re
turned to the valley with their families, and re
sumed jheir laborstheir location being on the
west side of the river, about four miles above
the. Indian town,.. which had not. been evacua
tedthe Indians remaining, appearing to be
perfectly friendly. The principal Delaware
chief at this time was the celebrated Tadeus
cund, who was deservedly a favorite with his
peoplej but who had incurred the enmity of the
Six Nations'. A party of the latter, during this
vear. stole into the valley and murdered Tade-
uscund, by setting lire to nis aweumg, in wmcu
' ' , . 11? : L 1.
he was consumed, and charged the deed upon
the Connecticut settlers. The latter, uncon
scious of the charge, and trusting to the friend
ly disposition thus far manifested by the lndt
ans. apprehending no danger, were entirely un
Drbvided with arms. But on the 15th of Oc-
tober, while at work in their nelds, tne mends
of Tadeuscund suddenly' fell upon them, with
misdirected vengeance, killed about twenty,
and entirely broke up the settlement the sur
viving men, women and children being obliged
to ily across tne dismal mountains, neretoiore
described, by the light of their own dwellings,
which were plundered and burnt.
Six years now intervened, before the Con
necticut company attempted to resume the set
tlement of the valley. Meantime the proprie
taries of Pennsylvania anticipated them, by
granting the lands of the valley to sundry indi
viduals, among whom were Charles Stewart
Amos Ogden, and John Jennings. Mr. btew
art was a surveyor, and he repaired to the val
ley and laid out the whole in two manors. One
of which, on the East side of the river, was
called the manor of Stoke, and the other, on
the West side, the manor of Sunbury. They
also took possession of the old Connecticut im
m t vrr t
provements. ;ims was m January, i,foy
. 1 1 t r f
In
the following month, a detachment of forty set
tiers from Connecticut arrived in the valley, and
findino-'their locality occupied by the repre
scntatives of the,- antagonist company, they
planted themselves down upon other lands in
the neighborhood. Stewart and his party had
prepared defences as though apprehensive 0
an attack. 1 he uonnecucui peopie am iiKe
wise. J
And now commenced a bitter civil war,
which lasted, with the alternate success of the
different panics, for upward of six years. In
vain were the two colonial governments of Con
necticut and Pennsylvania engaged in negotia
tions, to adjust the question of jurisdiction. In
vain had the crown been appealed to for the
sam.e purpose. And in vain was the interpo
sition of other colonial authorities invoked for
that object. Now the; colonists from Connecti
cut were incrqased by fresh arrivals, and ob
tained the mastery; and nqw again, either by
numbers or stratagem, did the Pennsylvanians
become lords of tho manor. Forts, block-houses
and redoubts were built upon both sides, some
of which sustained regular sieges. The settle
ments of both parties were 'alternately broke up
the men led off to. prison the women and
children driven away, and other outrages com
mitted. Blood was several times shed in this
strange civil. strife; but considering tho temper
that was exhibited, in far less quantities than
mifdit have been anticipated. Deeds of valor,
and of surprising stratagem, were performed.
But, strange to relate, notwithstanding these
troubles, the population of the valley rapidly in
creased, and as the Connecticut people waged
the contest with the most indomitable resolu
tion, they In the long run came the nearest to
success. The Pennsylvanians having sent a
large force against the settlement under Col.
Plunkitt, which was ingloriously defeated, no
farther military operations against it were at
tempted from that quarter. Meantime tho set
tlements had been greatly extended, and seve
ral towns designated and surveyed.
Until the year 1774, the people had lived
under laws of their own enacting. But their
population had now become so considerable
that a more efficient government was judged ex
pedient An application to be taken under the
imipeAiate,government of Connecticut was at-,
tpnded with success, and under the general
name of Westmoreland, the valley of Wyomingj
was annexed to the county of Litchfield, in the
state of Connecticut. Zebulon Butler, Esq. a.
gentleman of character, who had served with;
credit in the French, war, and Nathan Denni-,
son, Esq., also a gentleman of character, wereK
appointed justices of the peace.
The causes of the American revolution were
: 1"
plain and palpable to all. The first conse
quence was that every man became a volunteer
in the conflict. But in desultory sketches like
these.,- it ,is no part of our duty to inquire intoj
catises Come we then at once to effects-
one of the saddest of which was that this beau-.
tiful natural paradise, wis doomed to become the
scene of one of the deepest and darkest trage
dies' attending that momentous revolution.
For a season after the breaking out of the
war of the revolution, the valley of Wyoming
was allowed a state of comparative repose.
The government of Pennsylvania was changed
by the removal of the proprietaries, or succes
sors of Penn, and both Connecticut and Penn
sylvania had other and more important demands
upon their attention than the disputes of rival
claimants for a remote and sequestered territo-
ry. A, census was taken, ana tne wnoie pop
ulation of the several towns of the valley now
acknowledging the jurisdiction of Connecticut
was computed at about five thousand souls.
Thus it is stated in Chapman's history, and by
Marshall; but in a recent appeal to the legisla
ture by a committee from Wyoming, only half
that number ii allowed. But this estimate
seems by far too small, inasmuch as the Wyo
ming militia, in 1776, numbered eleven hundred
men capable of bearing arms, from which num
ber two companies of regular troops were raised,
urider resolutions, commanded by Captains
Ransom and Durkee, of eighty-two men each.
These companies were mustered and counted as
part of the Connecticut levies, and attached to
the Connecticut line. They were, moreover,
efficient soldiers, having been engaged in the
brilliant affairs of Millstone, the bloody arid un
toward battles of Brandy wine and Germantown,
and in the terrible cannonade of Mudbank.
Notwithstanding the remoteness of its posi
tion, and its peculiar exposure to the attacks of
the enemy, rendered more perilous from its con
tiguity to the' territory of the Six Nation's, and
the readiness with whiclt a descent could be
made upon them by the way of thp.,Susqiiehan
na, the people were prompt to espouse the cause
of their country, and as early as "the first of
August, 1775, in town meeting, they voted "that
we will unanimously join our brethren of Amer
ica in the common cause of defending our coun
try." In the month of August in the following
year, it was voted "that the people be called
upon to work on the forts, without either fee or
reward from the town." And in 1777, the peo
ple passed a vote empowering a committee of
inspectors "to supply the soldiers' wives, and
the soldiers' widows and their families, with
the necessaries of life." These old, and curi
cus, and precious records of the isolated and
patriotic democracy of Wyoming, were shown
to us by our estimable friend Charles Miner, of
whom we shall have more to say hereafter.
But the unanimity asserted in the first reso
lution cited above, must have been a figurative
expression, since, unhappily, there were loyal
ists in Wyoming, as elsewhere. The civil
wars, moreover, at which a rapid glance nas
been cast, had left many bitter feelings to
rankle in the bosoms of those who had been
actively engaged in those feuds. Added to
which m the exuberance ot their patriotism,
between twenty and thirty suspected citi
zens were seized by the Whigs, and dragged
over the woods and mountains into Connecti
cut, for imprisonment. These men were ulti
mately discharged, and speedily thereafter found
their way into the ranks of the enemy in Cana
daamong the Tory rangers of Sir John John
son and Colonel John Butler. These points
are stated thus minutely, because they are es
sential to a just understanding of the darker
features of the history that is to follow.
Tho Indians of the Six Nations were not
brought actively into the field against the colo
nies until the summer of 1777. , From that mo
ment, the whole extended frontiers of the col
onies, reaching from Lake Champlain round
the Northwest and South to the Floridasi were
harassed by the savage foe. There was a con
ventional understanding with the people of Wy
oming, that the regular troops enlisted among
them should be stationed there, for the defence
of the valley; but the exigencies of the service
required their action elsewhere, and not only
were they ordered away, but other enlistment
were made, to he number, in all, of about thn-f
hundred. Theuily means of defence rqnini:
ing consisted of militia men, the greater proj r
tion of whom wereoo old or too young for i Ir
regular service. Arid yet upon these men de
volved the duties of cultivating tho lands to oJ
tain subsistence for the settlements, and like
wise of performing regular garrison duty in tho
little stockade defences which, were dignified
by the name of forts, and of patrolling the out
skirts of the settlements, and exploring the
thickets, in order to guard against surprise. from
the wily IndiaHs, and their yet more vindictive
tory allies.
t'V
- - - ----- - t ' - .