276 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
with its annual receipts from members'
dues, interest, sale of
publications, etc., will keep it on a
plane with the best societies.
in the country and enable it to do its
full share of usefulness.
The General Assembly has provided for
the purchase and
preservation of that remarkable
earth-work--Fort Ancient-in
the Little Miami valley. It is the
largest and most extensive
prehistoric remains now in Ohio. The
move was most com-
mendable, and will result in its
preservation, whatever may be
the use of the grounds enclosed by the
embankments. The
Society was invited by the Legislative
Committee to visit the
place with them, and many members did
so. The Society will
assume the care of the "Fort,"
and place it under such use as
the General Assembly may direct. We
would also say that by
resolution of the members, such
legislation is requested as will
represent the state on the Board of
Trustees of the Society.
FRANCIS C. SESSIONS, President.
S. S. RICKLEY, Treasurer.
A. A. GRAHAM, Secretary.
By order of the Board of Trustees.
THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE.
[A paper read at the Sixth Annual
Meeting of the Society at Columbus,
by William M. Farrar.]
It is now more than a century since what
is known to history
as "The Moravian Massacre,"
occurred at Gnadenhutten, on
the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum
river; so long ago
that all those concerned in that affair
have long since passed to
their graves and been forgotten. This
sad affair was unique in
character, from any thing of the kind
recorded in ancient
or modern history, and has been more
persistently misrepre-
sented than any other event relating to
the early history of the
country, many of those
misrepresentations have passed into
history and been accepted as true.
It is the duty of this society to
vindicate the truth of history
and place upon record any facts that
time may have developed
The Moravian Massacre. 277
tending to explain, or throw light upon,
what has always been a
subject of much controversy.
This expedition which originated in the
western townships
of Washington, County, Pennsylvania,
during the fall and
winter of 1781, has been represented as
a military one, author-
ized by the lawfully constituted
military authority of that county,
commanded by a regularly commissioned
militia officer, and called
out in the regular way. And yet no such
order has ever been
found, nor is there any muster roll* in
existence giving the list
of names of the officers and privates
composing the expedition,
showing to what companies or battalion
of the enrolled militia
of the country they belonged, nor has
any claim for services
rendered, damages sustained, provisions
furnished, arms pro-
vided, or property lost, ever been
presented either against the
State or general government, by any
person claiming to have
been a member of the expedition. Neither
is there any official
report of the expedition extant, made by
either Col. Williamson
the officer in command, by James Marshel
the lieutenant of the
county who was responsible for it, if
any such expedition was
ordered out, or by Brigadier General
Irvine the commandant at
Fort Pitt in whose department it
occurred.
It is true that so accurate and careful
a historian as Mr.
Butterfield has pronounced otherwise,
but a review of the author-
ity upon which he relies does not seem
to justify his conclusions,
based as they are upon a single
statement made by Gen. Irvine
in a letter written from Fort Pitt, May
3, 1782, to President
Moore of the executive council of
Pennsylvania.+
Brigadier Gen. Wm. Irvine was appointed
to the command
of the Western Military Department,
October 11th, 1781. At
that day the Ohio river marked the
dividing line between
barbarism and civilization, east of it,
the hardy pioneers, after
making their way across the Alleghany
mountains with Fort
Pitt as their objective point, had
extended their settlements
north and south along the rich valleys
of the rivers forming the
Ohio, and pushed them westward until the
smoke of their cabins
* See Crumrine's History, Washington
County, Pennsylvania, page 110.
+ See W. & I. cor. 239 and 245.
278 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
could be seen, and the sounds of their
rifles and axes heard by
the red men who dwelt among the deep
forests beyond. To
guard this frontier line and protect the
settlements against
Indian raids, was the work assigned to
the commanding officer
of the Western Department, and for that
purpose small garrisons
of regular troops were stationed at the
several forts built along
this frontier line, and companies of
militia drawn from the
counties of Westmoreland and Washington
kept constantly rang-
ing along the border, to give timely
notice of the approach of
hostile bands of savages.
To assist the commandant at Fort Pitt in
this work, an
officer with the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel, and known as the
County Lieutenant, was appointed by the
Supreme Executive
Council of the State of Pennsylvania,
for each of the several
counties embraced in the Department,
whose duty it was to attend
to the enrollment and equipment of the
militia of the county,
and provide for their subsistence when
called into actual service;
also to make return of the number and
names of those subject
to military duty, together with the
names and rank of the officers
commanding the different companies
composing the several
Battalions to the commanding officer at
Fort Pitt, upon whose
requisitions they were called into
active service as necessity
required, whether by battalions,
companies, or in smaller details,
the officer in each and every case being
required to wait upon
the commandent at Fort Pitt for
instructions as to the kind
of service required and his own duty in
the premises.*
The orders of Congress and the Executive
Council, which
were the law in the case, together with
the explicit instructions
See History Washington County,
Pennsylvania, by Crumrine, page 136.
See Res. of Congress assigning General
Irvine to command of Fort
Pitt and his instructions dated
September 24, 1781.
See order Supreme Executive Council,
Pennsylvania, October 11, 1781.
See Letters Marshel to Irvine, November
20, 26 and 28, 1781.
See Requisition of Irvine to Marshel,
January 10, 1782.
See Letter of Irvine to Cook, January,
1782.
See instructions to Lieutenant Hay,
November 28, 1781, and January,
1782.
See Instructions to Major Scott, April,
1782.
See Letter, Marshel to Irvine,
Washington County, April 2, 1782.
The Moravian Massacre. 279
given to the general and subordinate
officers employed in this
frontier service, and the uniform manner
of calling out the
militia, are so plain and so consistent
with good military sense,
that it seems strange that any person
could be misled as to the
true character of the Moravian
Expedition, and yet Mr. Butter-
field has taken a single expression used
by General Irvine in his
letter of May 3, 1782, to President
Moore, of the Executive
Council, as "unequivocal"
evidence that the militia who went
to the Muskingum were "ordered
out" by Colonel James Mar-
shel, the Lieutenant of Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
The letter reads as follows:
FORT PITT, May 3, 1782.
Sir: Immediately on receipt of your excellency's letter of
the 13th of April, I wrote to Colonel
James Marshel, who or-
dered out the militia to go to Muskingum
(to that branch known
as the Tuscarawas) for his and Colonel
Williamson's report of
the matter, Colonel Williamson commanded
the party. Inclosed
you have their letters to me on the
subject, by way of report. I
have inquiries making in other quarters;
when any well authen-
ticated accounts come to my knowledge,
they shall be trans-
mitted. WM. IRVINE, B.
Gen'l.
It is somewhat difficult to reconcile
the statements con-
tained in the foregoing letter with the
facts and circumstances
of the case, for, if true, Marshel, as
County Lieutenant, had
been guilty of a palpable violation of law,
in calling out the
militia of the county without authority,
and sending them upon
an unauthorized expedition beyond the
limits of the state, with-
out the proper instructions, where they
had committed excesses
unheard of in civilized warfare,
excesses that were being very
generally condemned as a lasting
reproach to the good name of
the state, and yet he was never
court-martialed, investigated, or
even called upon by the Executive
Council of the state from
whom he held his appointment for an
explanation of his conduct.
That General Irvine wrote to Marshel and
Williamson for
their reports of the matter, and
transmitted the letters received
from them in reply to the President of
the Council, "by way of
report," as stated, is no doubt correct. But to assume that
these
were the official reports of the
transaction is not warranted.
280 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
The President of the Council, in acknowledging their receipt, speaks of them as not reports, but as "the representations made by Colonel Williamson and Colonel Marshel." It is greatly to be regretted that these letters cannot be found, as they would no doubt settle the question whether Mar- shel had anything to do with calling out the militia that went to the Muskingum, and would show to what extent, if any, he was responsible for the movement. James Marshel survived the massacre forty-seven years, and for almost twenty years thereafter was continuously in public office; Lieutenant of Washington county in 1781-2-3; Register in 1781; Recorder in 1791; Coroner from 1794 to 1799; and |
|
Sheriff from 1786 to 1787, when he was succeeded by Col. Williamson, whose election was opposed because of his connec- tion with the massacre, while no such objection was ever made against Marshel, who was certainly more to blame for ordering out the expedition, if he did so. But no such charge was made during his lifetime, nor until more than fifty years after his death, when the letter of May 3, 1782, was found among the Pennsylvania Archives and given to the public by Mr. Butter- field. (W and I cor. p. 239). About 1799, Col. Marshel removed to Wellsburgh, Virginia, where he died in 1829. For many years he was the neighbor and friend of Doddridge, the historian, and during the time his history was being written and published (in 1824) they were intimate personal friends, and it is at least reasonable to suppose that if Marshel had ordered out the militia that went to the Muskingum it would have been known to the historian and so stated. Had it been a military expedition, acting in pursuance of any competent authority, would Doddridge have stated (after detailing the events that led to it, as he does on page 248) "ac- cordingly between eighty and ninety men were hastily collected together for the fatal enterprise?" That "each man furnished |
The Moravian Massacre. 281
himself with his own arms, ammunition
and provisions." * * *
That "many of them had
horses;" that "the murder of the
Moravians was intended;" that
"no resistance from them was
anticipated" (page 253); that
"in the latter end of the year
1781, the militia of the frontier came
to a determination to break
up the Moravian villages on the
Muskingum" (page 259); and
that "it (the massacre) was one of
those convulsions of the
moral state of society, in which the
voice of the justice and
humanity of a majority, is silenced by
the clamor and violence
of a lawless minority." (Page 261.)
His son, John Marshel, who died in 186-,
was for many years
a well known resident of Washington,
Pennsylvania, cashier of
the old Franklin Bank, a man of much
intelligence and integrity
of character, with whom the writer often
conversed about the
Moravian Massacre, and he repeatedly
said that his father always
spoke of it as the outgrowth of a
mistaken belief that prevailed
at the time; as a matter of course his
father's connection with it
was not spoken of, because he was not
implicated.
It may, and does seem strange, that an
officer like Gen.
Irvine should write such a letter unless
there was some founda-
tion for it, and yet to take the
statement as correct, shows a dis-
regard of the instructions contained in
his letter of January 10,
1782, so gross and inexcusable, that it
would not have been
passed over with so much indifference.
By that letter the Lieu-
tenants were notified of his intended
absence, that Colonel Gib-
son would be left in command, that he
would be the best judge
of the necessity for calling out the
militia if one should arise,
and that they should "on his
requisition," order out such mem-
bers of the militia as he will call
for.
These orders Colonel Gibson exercised
during his absence,
by making a requisition upon the
Lieutenant of Westmoreland
county for militia to protect the frontier,
and to presume upon
no better authority than the statement
contained in the letter of
May 3, 1782, that a much larger and more
important expedition
to extend beyond the borders of the
State, was ordered out by
the Lieutenant of Washington county,
upon his own motion and
without even consulting Colonel Gibson,
would be very un-
reasonable, and yet, Colonel Gibson's
letter of May 9, 1782,
282 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
written to the Rev. Nathanial Seidel at
Bethlehem, Pennsyl-
vania, shows that he had no knowledge of
such an expedition,
and that if he had, " he should
have prevented it by informing
the poor sufferers of it."
Gen. Irvine left Fort Pitt on the 16th
day of January, 1782,
on a visit to his family at Carlile, and
did not return until the
25th day of March following, and it was
during his absence on
the 8th day of March that the massacre occurred.
Nineteen
days after his return, on the 12th day
of April, he wrote his wife
a letter, showing that he then knew all
that could be learned of
the massacre, as he details all the
terrible features of the affair,
including the fact that " Many
children were killed in their
wretched mothers' arms." And
then adds, " Whether this was
right or wrong, I do not pretend to
determine." But the key to
such inexcusable indifference on the
part of General Irvine is
found further along in the same letter,
as follows: " Whatever
your private opinion of these matters
may be, I conjure you by all
the ties of affection, and as you
value my reputation, that you will
keep your mind to yourself, and that
you will not express any
sentiment for or against these deeds;
as it may be alleged the
sentiments you express may come from
me or be mine. No man
knows whether I approve of killing
the Moravians."
It is evident from this correspondence
that General Irvine
was much alarmed about his own
reputation; that he withheld
from the council the information written
to his wife on the 12th
of April; that in his reply to Pres.
Moore, of May 2d, he sought
to give the impression that he was in
possession of no news
upon the subject, and on the 9th of May,
after due consultation,
he joined with Pentecost in advising
against an investigation.
The first news the people residing to
the east of the Alle-
gheny mountains received of the
massacre, was from a notice
published in the Pennsylvania Packet, of
April 9th, 1782, one
month after it had occurred, and which
came through Moravian
sources by way of Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, and read as follows:
" A very important advantage has
lately been gained over
our savage enemies on the frontiers of
this State, by a party of
back-country militia; we hope to give
particulars in our next."
But before the next issue of the Packet
came to hand, fuller
The Moravian Massacre. 283
information received through the same
sources, showed a very
different state of affairs; the killing
was confirmed, but instead
of the victims being "savage
enemies," they were found to have
been Christian Indians, reclaimed from
savage life by the Mora-
vian missionaries, who ten years before
had planted their mis-
sions in the deep wilderness, and
succeeded in christianizing
several hundred of the rude and warring
savage tribes, who had
become converts, abandoned savage life,
and made considerable
progress in civilization. It was these
converts who had been
killed, their villages destroyed, and
the missions broken up, and
what was worse, even the women and
children, the old and in-
firm, had been cruelly slaughtered in a
manner that was shocking
to humanity, and a lasting disgrace to
civilization. And as the
details of the massacre became more
fully known east of the
mountains, a strong public sentiment
developed in condemnation
of an outrage so manifestly in violation
of the rules and usages
of civilized warfare. Whereupon, Dorsey
Pentecost, a member
of the executive council from Washington
county, left his post
of duty and hastened home, to stay, if
possible, the tide of popu-
lar indignation that seemed to be
setting in so strong against his
constituents. He reached Pittsburg on
the 2d of May, and on
the 8th wrote his chief as follows:
"PITTSBURGH, May 8th, 1782.
Dear Sir :--I arrived at home last Thursday without any
particular accident. Yesterday I came to
this place; have had a
long conference with General Irvine and
Colonel Gibson on the
subject of public matters, particularly
respecting the late excur-
sion to Kushocton. * * That affair * is
a subject of great
speculation here-some condemning, others
applauding the
measure; but the accounts are so various
that it is not only
difficult, but almost, indeed, entirely
impossible to ascertain the
real truth. No person can give
intelligence but those that were
along; and notwithstanding there seems
to have been some
difference amongst themselves about that
business, yet they will
say nothing; but this far I believe may
be depended on, that
they killed rather deliberately the
innocent with the guilty, and
it is likely the majority was the
former. I have heard it insin-
uated that about thirty or forty only of
the party gave their con-
sent or assisted in the catastrophe. It is said here,
and I believe
284 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
with truth, that sundry articles were
found amongst the Indians
that were taken from the inhabitants of
Washington county.
DORSEY PENTECOST.
Before this letter had been forwarded,
and on the next day,
he wrote again as follows:
" PITTSBURGH, May 9, 1782.
"Dear Sir: --Since writing the letter that accompanies
this, I have had another and more
particular conversation with
General Irvine on the subject of the
late excursion to Kushoc-
ton, and upon the whole, I find that it
will be impossible to get
an impartial and fair account of that
affair; for although sundry
persons that were in the company may
disapprove of the whole
or every part of the conduct (of those
engaged in the killing),
yet from their connection they will not
be willing, nor can they
be forced to give testimony, as it
affects themselves. And the
people here are greatly divided in
sentiment about it; and on in-
vestigation may produce serious effects,
and at least leave us as
ignorant as when we began, and instead
of rendering a service
may produce a confusion and ill-will
amongst the people. Yet
I think it necessary that the council
should take some cognizance
or notice of the matter, and in such a
time as may demonstrate
their disapprobation of such parts of
their conduct as are cen-
surable; otherwise it may be alleged
that the government,
tacitly at least, have encouraged the
killing of women and chil-
dren; and in a proclamation of this
kind, it might be well not
only to recommend but to forbid, that in
future excursions that
women and children and infirm persons
should not be killed-
so contrary to the law of arms as well
as christianity. I hope a
mode of proceeding something like this
would produce some
good effects, and perhaps soften the
minds of the people, for it
is really no wonder that those who have
lost all that is near and
dear to them go out with determined
revenge and extirpation of
all Indians. DORSEY
PENTECOST."
By way of contrast to these apologetic
letters of Mr. Pente-
cost, we have that of Col. Edward Cook,
Lieutenant of West-
moreland county, who was called upon
during General Irvine's
absence from his post of duty for a
detail of men for frontier
service, by Colonel Gibson, and
furnished the same, the officer
in command waiting upon Colonel Gibson
for instructions. It
bears date September 2, 1782, and
addressed to President Moore
of the Executive Council, as follows:
The Moravian Massacre. 285
"I am informed that you have it Reported that the Massacre of the Moravian Indians obtains the approbation of Every man on this side of the Mountains, which I assure your Excellency is false; that the better part of the community are of Opinion the Perpetrators of that wicked Deed ought to be brought to Condein Punishment; that without something is Done by Government in the Matter, it will disgrace the Annuls of the United States, and be an Everlasting Plea and cover for British cruelty."* These letters of Pentecost serve to show the difference in public sentiment that then prevailed east and west of the Alle- gheny Mountains in regard to the massacre. Pentecost was a politician, and therefore anxious to avoid a public investigation of the matter, and Irvine, in great alarm for his own reputation, readily joined him in advising against one. |
|
Colonel David Williamson, who commanded the expedition, has probably received a great deal more than his share of public censure, because of the prominent part he acted in the affair. Whether he held a commission at the time as a militia officer is uncertian; he certainly did soon after, and if so, that was about all the military character the expedition had. the fact that Williamson was chosen commander after they had assembled at Mingo, goes to show that he commanded by virtue of that authority, whatever it was, rather than because of any he exer- cised as a militia officer. The expedition was neither infantry nor cavalry, mounted nor dismounted, but a mixed crowd made up from that reckless and irresponsible element usually found along the borders of civ- ilization, boys from eighteen to twenty years of age, who joined the expedition from love of adventure, and partly of such well-known characters as Captain Sam Brady, of West Liberty, Virginia,
* See Crumrine's History Washington County, Pennsylvania, page 110. |
286 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
and at least one of the Wetzels from near Wheeling, who, from their experience and well-known bravery as frontiersmen, are said to have exercised very great influence in deciding the fate of the Indians. It has always been a matter of some surprise that the brothers, Andrew Poe and Adam Poe, were not members of the expedition. They were well known as stout, hardy, fearless backwoodsmen, experienced leaders in Indian warfare, and on hand wherever courage and endurance were required. But for some reason, now unknown, they were not along, and, so far as known, do not appear to have been advised of the movement. Their absence is all the more unaccountable as they had, in the September previous, greatly distinguished themselves by a vigorous pursuit of a Bigfoot party, which was overtaken at the Ohio River and dispatched, after a struggle that has made the name of Poe famous in pioneer history. |
|
The greater portion of the crowd were mounted, the others on foot; each man provided his own horse, arms and provisions, and it was noisy, turbulent and disorderly from the start,1 and the authority exercised by Williamson over it, about equivalent to that usually conceded to the leader of an ordinary mob. Who suggested that the question, whether the Indians should be killed or taken prisoners to Fort Pitt be submitted to a vote, is not known, but the fact that he did so only serves to show the extent of Williamson's authority. It has never been claimed, however, that he cast his own vote or participated in the slaughter. He is represented by those who knew him per-
Note 1.- Statement of a member of the expedition. |
The Moravian Massacre. 287
sonally as a man of naturally pleasant
and agreeable disposition,
six feet in height, rather fleshy in his
make-up, of florid com-
plexion, and of "too easy a
compliance with public opinion," as
Doddridge says.
In the Sandusky expedition that followed
closely upon the
Moravian massacre, Williamson was in
command, and it was
largely to his unremitting activity,
courage and judgment, that
any considerable number of the men were
kept together after
the defeat and brought back in even
tolerable order. He after-
ward filled a number of important and
responsible offices in
Washington County, Pennsylvania, and in
1787 was elected
sheriff of the county after a warm
canvass, during which his
connection with the Moravian expedition
Was strongly urged
against him. He was born in Carlile,
Pennsylvania, in 1752,
was thirty years of age in 1782, and
died at Washington, Penn-
sylvania, in 1814, aged sixty-two years,
and is buried in the old
graveyard on North Main street, but no
stone or other monu-
ment marks his last resting place. He
married Polly Urie, the
daughter of Thomas Urie, a well-known
family of Washington
County, Pennsylvania, and left a family
of four sons and four
daughters. Two of his daughters married
into the well-known
McNulty family, of West Middletown,
Pennsylvania, and Caleb
J. McNulty, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, who
died on his way to
Mexico during the war with that country,
was his grandson.
He was the one member of the expedition
who, by reason of the
position he filled, could not hide from
public censure, and hence
his undue share of it. During a large
part of his lifetime he re-
sided on Buffalo creek, near to the
Virginia line, where he was
personally acquainted with the
historian, Doddridge, whose
statements concerning his character and
disposition may be
safely taken as correct.
John Carpenter has always been quoted as
an authority
whose statements go to extenuate the
massacre. The story is
that about the time of the Wallace
tragedy, or very soon after-
ward, he was captured on the waters of
Buffalo creek by six In-
dians, two of whom spoke good Dutch, and
called themselves
Moravians; that he was carried a
prisoner to the middle Mora-
288 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
vian town, where, among other things, he
saw the bloody dress
of Mrs. Wallace.
This was accepted as proof positive that
the Moravians were
in the habit of raiding the settlements,
or of harboring and
trading with those who did, and
therefore should be exter-
minated.
The value of this evidence, however,
depends upon the date
of Carpenter's capture. If it occurred
prior to the Wallace
tragedy, the conclusion is inevitable
that he did not see the
bloody clothing of Mrs. Wallace at the
Moravian town, as stated.
John Carpenter was among the first, if
not the very first,
white man to settle on the west side of
the Ohio river. He lived
for some years on Buffalo creek, ten or
twelve miles east of the
river, and in his hunting excursions
often crossed to the west
side, where game was more plentiful, and
believing, as many
settlers did, that the Indian titles
would, ere long, be extin-
guished and the rich lands on that side
of the river come into
possession of the government, and be
opened to settlement, he
determined to secure a claim by making
an improvement in ad-
vance, and therefore in the summer and
fall of 1781, he pro-
ceeded to clear a piece of ground and
build a cabin near the
mouth of Rush Run, the same that was
afterward strengthened
and became Carpenter's Fort. It was this
work he was engaged
upon in the month of September, 1781,
when the second Indian
attack upon Fort Henry (at Wheeling)
took place, and barely
received warning of their approach in
time to escape to the east
side of the river and remove his family
to a place of safety.
After the raid was over and all again
quiet, Carpenter re-
turned and continued his work, which he
finished late in the
fall, when he removed the game he had
killed across the river,
where it was loaded upon horses and
carried to his home on
Buffalo.
Having done this, he took a pair of
horses and started to
Fort Pitt in order to secure a supply of
salt, and while on his
way was captured, taken to the Moravian
town, and started from
there in charge of two of his captors,
from whom he escaped
and made his way back to Fort Pitt as
has been related, but all
this took place two months or more prior
to the 17th day of
The Moravian Massacre. 289
February, 1782, when the Wallace cabin
was destroyed and his
wife and children carried into
captivity.
In 1801, Edward Carpenter, the oldest
son of this John
Carpenter, took a government contract to
open a road from
Steubenville to the Wills creek crossing
on the Zane Trace, and
while so engaged entered a quarter of
land in section 26 of
township 11 of the 6th range, where he
continued to reside until
his death, January 12, 1828. And upon
the same quarter section
of land his son, Edward, lived until
March 22d, 1882, when he
died at the age of 80 years, and it is
from him that the facts
stated concerning the capture of his
grandfather were obtained.
He was a gentleman of much intelligence,
served for many
years as a justice of the peace, took
much pride in the history
of his ancestry, and had learned many of
the incidents relating
to his grandfather from the pioneer
himself, and many more
from his own father, both of whom were
very reliable men,
whose statements are much more likely to
be correct than the
indefinite rumors published in the
Pennsylvania Packet at that
time, based as they necessarily were
upon the most meagre
information concerning a transaction
that occurred several hun-
dred miles distant, the true character
of which it was the interest
and purpose of those implicated to
conceal.
Another misrepresentation that has
passed into history
and been often repeated, even as late as
1882 in Crumrine's
history of Washington county,
Pennsylvania,1 is, that the mas-
sacre was an after-thought, the result
of frenzied feelings, pro-
voked by finding the dead body of Mrs.
Wallace impaled on the
wayside, directly leading from Mingo
bottom to the villages on
the Muskingum, and also by finding in
possession of the
Indians, property stolen from the
plundered cabins of the set-
tlers, trinkets and clothing of murdered
relatives, at the sight of
which they became exasperated and forgot
themselves. In all
such statements, which have times
without number been urged
in excuse of the massacre, there is no
truth whatever.
The site of the Wallace cabin was a
short distance north of
NoTE 1. See Crumrine's History,
Washington county, Pennsylvania,
page 104.
Vol. 111-19
290 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
what was long known in the early
settlement of the country as
Briceland's cross-roads, and the Indians
that committed the out-
rage reached it by crossing the Ohio
river at the mouth of
Yellow creek and thence following the
well known trail along
the dividing ridge between the waters of
King's creek on
the south, and those of Travis creek on
the north, until the
advanced settlements were reached, when
having killed the
stock and plundered the cabin they set
it on fire and retreated by
the same route, carrying with them as
prisoners, Mrs. Wallace
and her three children, one being an
infant. This soon became
too much of an incumbrance for the
mother to carry and keep up
with the party as they feared pursuit
and were anxious to reach
the river and cross to the west side,
but when they attempted to
take it from her, or dispatch it in her
arms, she resisted so vigor-
ously that the Indian having her in
charge became enraged and
struck his tomahawk into her own skull.
The bodies of mother
and child were then carefully hidden,
that they might not aid the
pursuit, and remained concealed until
found years afterward.
The Indian trail followed by this party,
and within a few
rods of which the remains of Mrs.
Wallace* were afterward
found, was as much as twenty-five or
thirty miles further north
than the one followed by the Moravian
expedition through
Mingo, hence the absurdity of finding
the body of either mother
or child impaled by the wayside.
At the date of the massacre, Robert
Wallace did not know
that his wife was dead, but supposed her
to be a prisoner among
the Indians, nor did he learn otherwise
until nearly three years
afterward, when an Indian trader who had
been among the
Wyandots at Sandusky, learned that his
younger son (Robert)
was still living, but that the elder one
was dead, and that the
mother and youngest child had been
killed before reaching the
Ohio River, as has been stated. In a
letter written by the Lieu-
tenant of Washington county,
Pennsylvania, addressed to Gen-
* NoTE--Her maiden name was Jane McKay,
and Mr. Wallace always
insisted that she could easily have kept
up with the party and carried her
babe, had it not been that an old pair
of shoes she happened to have on
that day impeded her, as she was a strong, hearty woman.
(Statement of
her surviving son, Robert.)
The Moravian Massacre. 291
eral Irvine, and dated October 21st, 1782, it appears that at that time, more than eight months after the capture, Wallace believed his wife to be living, and was making efforts, through General Washington, to find out where she was and effect her recovery. He finally secured possession of the younger boy, and ascer- tained about the locality where the mother and child had been killed, when he made search and found the remains, which he gathered up carefully, carried back to his home and buried in the graveyard at Cross Creek, Pennsylvania. In 1792 he married Mary Walker, by whom he had five children, and died in 1808 at the age of seventy-three years. He is buried in the old cross-roads burying ground at Florence, Pennsylvania. |
|
The son Robert, redeemed from the Wyandotts, lived to be seventy-seven years of age, and died in 1855. He had a large scar on his right ear, given him while a prisoner, made by a squaw who became offended and swore she would kill him, but was prevented by another Indian from doing so. Whoever follows the affair carefully from beginning to end, will be convinced that the massacre was no accident or after-thought, but the result of a fixed and predetermined pur- pose, of which there is conclusive evidence, traditional, to be sure, but of the most reliable character. The Lyles removed from Northampton county, Pennsyl- vania, to the headwaters of Cross Creek, in 1784, two years after the Moravian massacre took place. East of the moun- tains the affair was almost universally condemned as being an inhuman outrage, and Robert Lyle so continued to speak of it after his removal west, but was soon given to understand that he must not so express himself, as public opinion would not permit it. In 1792, Robert Lyle and Joseph Vance, the proprietor of Vance's Fort, who had become brother church members and |
292 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. VOL. 3
fast friends, were riding together in advance of the funeral pro- cession of David Hays, when Lyle asked his friend if the de- ceased had not been a member of the Moravian expedition, to |
|
which Vance replied, "No, he was not," and after a few min- utes' silence said, "Did you ever know how that affair hap- pened?" and then went on to say that it originated in Vance's Fort in the fall of 1781, at a time when some twenty-five or thirty families were forting from the Indians. The opinion had long prevailed among the frontier settlers that the half- way houses, as they characterized the villages on the Mus- kingum, were simply resting places for the Sandusky war- riors on their plundering raids into the settlements, and that the settlers would get no permanent relief until those villages were broken up and destroyed. The military authorities at Fort Pitt knew better, knew that the Moravian missions were not only what they pretended to be, but that they had frequently received information from them of Indian expeditions into the settlements that enabled them to counter- act and defeat them. But they dared not communicate the same to the settlers, as it would have exposed the Missions to sure destruction by the Sandusky warriors, as eventually hap- pened. Driven from their homes and shut up within the fort, the men became very impatient and frequently discussed the situation with much earnestness. Prayer meetings were held daily, and often in the Vance cabin, which stood outside of but near to the stockade. After one of these meetings, Vance and two of his neighbors remained after the others had returned into the fort, and while talking over their troubles one of them said, "There is no use in talking, this thing will never be better until the half-way towns are destroyed." "Yes," replied another, "and I will be one of a company to go and wipe them out," to which the others assented, and that then and there the Moravian Massacre originated. The proposition was thereupon stated to |
The Moravian Massacre. 293
those in the fort, who approved it and
pledged their assistance
to carry it into execution, but what
steps were taken to com-
municate with the other frontier
settlements and secure their co-
operation is not known. The organization
was, however, com-
plete, and the intention to move
promptly on the half-way towns
about to be carried out, when the
movement was frustrated for
the time being by two companies sent out
by the commandant
of the Western Department, under Colonel
Williamson, for the
purpose of taking the Indians at the
Muskingum towns back
to Fort Pitt. The Pennsylvania Archives,
page 753, contains
what is believed to be a complete roll
of these companies, in-
cluding the names of two captains, two
lieutenants, one ser-
geant and fifty-one privates, but it
bears no date and only con-
tains the names of four persons known to
have been present at
the massacre in March following. But
Williamson found him-
self anticipated by an expedition from
Detroit that had already
removed the Missionaries and their
converts to Sandusky, and
finding but half a dozen Indians there,
who had either strayed
into the place or found their way back
after the removal, they
were taken back and delivered to the
authorities at Fort Pitt,
who soon after released them, thereby
giving great offense to
the settlers, who thought they should
have been killed. The
authorities were denounced, Williamson
severely censured, and
the frontier filled with exaggerated
rumors of Indian depreda-
tions and plots that were really without
foundation.
The expedition to the Muskingum was not
abandoned, only
in abeyance, when the Wallace tragedy
set the frontier in a blaze
of excitement, the word was passed
around, and on Monday,
the 4th of March, men in couples, squads
and singly, on horse-
back and on foot, appeared suddenly on
the east bank of the
river at Mingo, crossed over to the west
side, where, when all
had assembled, they chose officers, and
on the next morning dis-
appeared, going west along the old
Moravian trail up Cross
Creek. Doddridge says,1 "They
chose their own officers, fur-
nished their own means, and conducted
the war in their own
way." On Wednesday evening they
encamped within one mile
NoTE 1.- See Doddridge's Revised
History, p. 256.
294 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
of the middle Moravian village, but
carefully concealed.their ap-
proach until the next morning, when,
having discovered that
some of the Indians were at work on the
west side of the river,
they divided their force, part of which
crossed the river, when
they approached the town from different
directions. To show
the purpose with which they went there
to be murder, and mur-
der only, the party that crossed to the
west side killed and
scalped the first Indian they saw, while
he was pleading with
them not to kill him, that he was the
son of John Schebosh, a
well-known Christian convert. Others
were shot and killed be-
fore, the town was entered, proving that
it was not the sight of
what was found in the town that induced
the killing.
They deliberated all day of the 7th
while waiting for the re-
turn of the parties sent out to bring in
the Indians from Salem
and Schoenbrun, and it was during this
delay that some of the
better element among them began to
relent, to realize that they
had misjudged the Moravians, and that it
would not do to kill
them.
Among others who had joined the
expedition burning with
revenge, was a young preacher whose
affianced bride had been
carried off a prisoner by Indians, but
the prayers and songs of
the poor creatures softened his heart
and turned aside his wrath,
until he not only voted to take them
prisoners to Fort Pitt, but
remonstrated against the killing; all in
vain; the demon had
been roused, and only blood could stay
his hand. Whether
Colonel Williamson witnessed the
slaughter or retired from the
scene with those who voted against it,
we are not told, but to
those who have visited the place and are
familiar with the local-
ity, that excuse is valueless.
The river on the west side of the
village runs deep in the
earth, and it was under the bank where
the eighteen retired,
distant by measurement not more than
seventy-five yards from
the church out of which the victims were
dragged to the slaugh-
ter houses. Standing there, they could
not see, but could dis-
tinctly hear all that was going on
above. And one of those who
stood there and lived to be the last
survivor of the eighteen, has
told persons yet living, that while so
waiting, a young Indian
escaped from his murderers, and all
covered with blood, came
The Moravian Massacre. 295
running to the river, plunged in and
swam to the other side and
was already clambering up the bank, when
one of the party
raised his gun and shot him through the
body.
Of the details of the massacre little is
known. The sur-
vivor of the eighteen referred to, who
died in 1839 at the age of
ninety-six years, said that after all
was over, Robert Wallace
came to where several of the company,
including himself, were
standing, and bursting into a flood of
tears, said: "You know
I couldn't help it!" His clothing
was soiled and bloody, and he
was laboring under great excitement and
exhaustion.
Gathering together the plunder found at
the village, and
fastening it upon the backs of their
horses, they set fire to the
houses and set out upon their return.
They must have traveled
nearly all night, for they reached Mingo
late in the afternoon of
Saturday, where they halted only long
enough to readjust the
packages of plunder to their horses,
when they recrossed the
river and disappeared from the public
notice almost as com-
pletely as if they had perished in
crossing the stream.
Whether they had agreed among themselves
to say nothing
is not known, but it is more than likely
that on the way back
to the river they had begun to realize
what they had done, that
they would be called to account for it
by the military authorities
at Fort Pitt, and therefore the less
said about it the better. And
no expedition of equal importance,
military or civil, so suddenly
and so entirely disappeared from public
notice. Even the fam-
ilies of many of the members being
entirely ignorant of their
connection with the affair.
One example may be given; a colored man
(the slave of
one of the parties) who died in 1812,
was wont to tell that upon
going to the stable one Monday morning,
he discovered that the
horse his master usually rode when
absent on hunting or scout-
ing expeditions, was missing from his
accustomed place, but as
such things were not uncommon, nothing
was thought of it, nor
did any member of the family speak of
it. But on the next
Sunday morning, upon going to the same
place, the horse was
found in his stall, bearing marks of
hard usage, and his sides
and flanks streaked with blood; that
nothing was seen of his
master until the following morning, when
he shaved, washed
296 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
and dressed himself carefully and ate
his breakfast, after which
all the family were called in to
prayers, and that during the day
his master busied himself in stretching
a couple of scalps upon
a hoop, which was then hung up in the
great wooden chimney
to dry.
Although born and raised in the
community from which the
expedition was mostly raised, the
writer, in a peried of forty
years, has only been able to collect the
names of about thirty
persons that he has reason to believe
were members of the ex-
pedition, and as to only a few of those
is there absolute
certainty.
A gentleman born in 1796 said that he
was present at Bur-
gettstown, Pennsylvania, in August,
1812, upon the day when
volunteers were raised to march to
Detroit to repel the British
and Indians reported to be marching upon
the frontiers in con-
sequence of Hull's surrender of the post
at Detroit. It was a
day of great excitement, and called
together a large crowd of
people from the surrounding country.
That among other sights
that drew the attention of a boy of
sixteen years, he came
across a crowd being entertained by an
old man much the worse
for liquor, who was singing maudlin
songs, when some person
said, "Now, Uncle Sol, show us how
they killed the Indians."
That at once the old fellow's whole
manner changed from the
gay to the grave, and he began crying
and cursing the cowards
who killed women and children. Presently he ran forward,
making motions as if throwing a rope
over the heads of those in
front of him, and then running backwards
as if dragging an
object after him, seized the large stick
held in his hands, and be-
gan beating an imaginary object, all the
time howling and curs-
ing like a demon, when somebody pulled
him away, saying it
was a shame. That having but imperfectly
comprehended what
he saw, my informant made inquiry, and
learned that Uncle Sol
had been at the Moravian Massacre, and
when in his cups, as he
had seen him, would show how they killed
the Indians, but
when sober could not be induced to open
his mouth upon the
subject.
But little more remains to be said. None
of the excuses
urged in extenuation of the affair are
tenable. No murder was
The Moravian Massacre. 297
ever so well kept. The early historians
were meagre and in-
definite in their accounts of it,
because there was nothing known
to tell, and it was only after half a
century that a few details
leaked out and became known, as already
stated.
The Sandusky expedition followed so soon
after, with Col-
onel Williamson second in command, that
many of the same
persons joined it and took part in the
disastrous defeat at San-
dusky, resulting in the terrible death
of the commanding officer,
who was burned at the stake in
retaliation for the Moravian
Massacre, and in the shocking details of
his sufferings and death
the Moravian affair was lost sight of
and forgotten.
The men concerned in the affair returned
to their homes,
where many of them lived to a good old
age and spent exem-
plary lives, a number having become
ruling elders and leading
members in the churches at Cross Creek,
Upper Buffalo, and
other places. And it is a curious fact
that in the great religious
movement that swept over Western
Pennsylvania during the
latter part of the eighteenth and
beginning of the nineteenth
centuries, many of these same men were
active and leading par-
ticipants; and that the great religious
movement had its origin
at Vance's Fort* and among the same men
with whom the
Moravian Massacre originated. But time
has drawn the veil of
oblivion over their names and nothing
could now be gained by
removing it.
Ninety years after the occurrence of
this sad event the
Moravian brethren met at Gnadenhutten,
and with appropriate
ceremonies dedicated a monument to the
memory of the poor
Indian converts who perished there with
a heroism worthy of all
praise.
This monument stands upon the site of
the old Mission
Church, and the shaft, which rises 25
feet above the base, was
unveiled by four Moravian Indians, one
of whom was the great-
grandson of Joseph Schebosh, the first
victim of the Massacre.
On its western face the shaft bears this
inscription:
* See historical discourse of Rev. John
Stockton, D. D., on fortieth
anniversary of his ministry at Cross
Creek, Pa., page 7.
298 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
HERE
TRIUMPHED IN DEATH,
NINETY
CHRISTIAN INDIANS,
MARCH 8, 1782.
In the address of Bishop DeSchweinitz,
delivered on that
occasion, the names of the victims were
given and are herein
copied that they may go upon record and
never be forgotten.
NAMES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE MASSACRE.
Members of the Gnadenhutten Mission.
1. JOSEPH SCHEBOSH, a half-breed, son of
John Joseph
Schebosh or John Bull (which was his
real name), a white man
and assistant Missionary.
2. CHRISTIANA, his wife, a Sopus Indian
from New Eng-
land.
3. JOHN MARTIN, a distinguished national
assistant.
4 and 5. LUKE, and his wife, LUCIA.
6, 7 and 8. PHILIP and his
wife, LOVEL, and their little
daughter, SARAH.
9. ABRAHAM, surnamed the Mohican.
10 and 11. PAUL and ANTHONY, John
Martin's sons.
12. CHRISTIANA, a widow, educated in the
Moravian
schools at Bethlehem, a refined and
cultured woman.
13 and 14. MARY, another widow, and her
little daughter,
HANNAH.
15, 16 and 17. REBECCA, RACHEL and
MARIA ELIZABETH,
a young daughter of Mark.
The Moravian Massacre. 299
18 and 19. GOTTLIEB and BENJAMIN, two
little sons of
Joanna.
20 and 21. ANTHONY and JOHN THOMAS, two
other little
boys.
Members of the Salem Mission.
1. ISAAC GLIKKIKAN, one of the most
illustrious of Mora-
vian Indians, formerly a great warrior,
and after his conversion
a faithful assistant of the
Missionaries, baptized on Christmas
eve, 1779, by Zeisberger, at
Friedenstadt.
2. ANNA BENIGNA, his wife, who took the
pony of one of
the Sandusky warriors and rode all night
in order to notify the
garrison at Fort McIntosh of the Indian
movement upon Fort
Henry.
3 and 4. JONAH, another assistant, and
his wife AMELIA.
5 and 6. CHRISTIAN and his wife, AUGUSTINA.
7.
SAMUEL MORE,
a Jersey Indian.
8. TOBIA, a venerable sire.
9. ISRAEL, a celebrated Delaware chief,
known as Captain
Johnny.
10. MARK, surnamed the Delaware.
11 and
12. ADAM,
and his wife CORNELIA.
13 and
14. HENRY, and his wife, JOANNA.
15,
16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. SALOME, PAUL, MICHAEL,
PETER, GOTLEIB, DAVID.
21 and 22. LEWIS, and his wife, RUTH.
23 and 24. JOHN, and another John, a
young man who
was shot after swimming the river.
25. HANNAH, Joseph Peepis' wife.
26. JUDITH, an aged gray-haired widow,
the first killed
among the women.
27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. CATHARINE,
MARIA SUSANNA,
JULIANA, ELIZABETH, MARTHA, ANNA ROSINA,
SALOME, to-
gether with the following little boys
and girls:
34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,
44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,
50. CHRISTIAN,
JOSEPH, MARK, JONATHAN, CHRISTIAN, GOTT
LIEB, TIMOTHY, JONAH, CHRISTIANA, LEAH,
BENIGNA, GER-
300
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL 3
TRUDE, CHRISTINA, ANNA CHRISTINA, ANNA,
SALOME, and
ANNA ELIZABETH.
Besides these there were five adults,
one man, SCHAPPIHIL-
LEN, the husband of Helen, together with
four women and thir-
teen babes not yet baptized, and the
following members of the
Mission at Schoenbrun, who happened to be at Gnadenhutten,
to-wit: NICHOLAS and his wife, JOANNA
SABINA, ABEL, HEN-
RY, ANNA, and BATHSHEBA, the last two
daughters of Joshua,
the founder of Gnadenhutten; in all,
twenty-eight men, twenty-
nine women, and thirty-three children.
Two boys, Thomas and
Jacob, escaped.
I cannot better close this paper than by
quoting the words
of Charles McKnight, who, in his
centennial work entitled,
"Our Western Border One Hundred
Years Ago," says:
"The whole massacre leaves a stain
of deepest dye on the
page of American history. It was simply
atrocious and execra-
ble-a blistering disgrace to all
concerned, utterly without ex-
cuse, and incapable of defense. It damns
the memory of each
participator to the last syllable of
recorded time. All down the
ages the Massacre of the Innocents will
be its only parallel."
WM. M. FARRAR.
THE MILITARY POSTS, FORTS AND
BATTLEFIELDS
WITHIN THE STATE OF OHIO.
The centennial is approaching of the
greatest battle fought
on the soil of Ohio, the battle between
the Indians and the army
under General Arthur St. Clair, November
4, 1791. It is well
to note in detail the important military
posts in our State. An
examination of the map accompanying this
article will show
that not many northwestern states have
such a military record.
The accompanying sketches are compiled
from so many
sources that it is impossible to give
credit to all, and hence none
will be mentioned. The description of
each is brief, and con-
fined to the important facts connected
with each. On each of
these places pages could be written, but
the object of this
article, however, is to place in compact
form the salient points