the indians of berks county pa ocr

7/28/2019 The Indians of Berks County PA OCR

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14 3 1. 01 160I. W. Keim, .. ... .. ....... ....... .... ....... 2 2 2 100 10"D. B. Brllnner, .. ....... ..... ........ ......... 6 20 52 58 21 4350 4507Society (If Natural Science, Reading.................... 21 101 200 212J. H. Bubp, Stollchsbllrg.......................... ...... 10 I 20 48 10001 1078Willialll Rieth, ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 'j 20 13 170 210Frallklin B. Rieth," . .. ... ........................... 8 I 2 18 300 1 32H. L. Illig, l\lillhach.................... .................. I 12 500 513

Howard J. Herueill, Sinking Spri llg.................... 1 6 40 ! 50Ahrahm H. De Tnrk, L e e ~ p o r l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 "1 i 1200 120iiW. J. D r e i b e l u i ~ , V i r g i n ~ v i l l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 56Alfreu S. D r e i b e l b i ~ , " ... .......... . .............. 6 3 50 59Abrahalll U. ~ [ e n g e l , " ....................... .. . .. 1 1 I 1 100 103,Jonas J. Hilyer, " ..... .. .............. ..... .. I 2 1 13]6L. H. Ll'"her, Perry.......... ............................... 3 60Dr . C. \ranll er, KlItztown................................. 1 105 133E. J. Sll:Iradill, " ...... ......... ....... ........ .. . 41 950 973SHllllleI C. Bast, KlItztoWIl ............................... I 500 513

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ofBerks County, PaDavid B. Brunner


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THE INDIANSOF

BERKS COUNTY, PA.,BElKO A SUMMARY OF ALL THE TAXGIBLE R E C O R ] ) ~

OF THF.

ABORIGINES OF BERKS COUNTY,AN D CONTAINING CUTS AXD DESCRIPTIONS OF ' rHE VARIETIES OJ.'

RF.LIC'S FOFXD W I T H L ~ THE COUNTY.

WHl'ITEN FOR THF.

SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES,READING, PA.,

t,... RY.... '0-D. B. BRUNNER , A. M.,

-" - ' - - - - - -Huperintenuen.t vf the SchoolR of the City of Reading".

READING, PA.:The Spirit of BerkR Book and Job P r i n t i l l ~ Otti("l>,1881.

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Entered, according to Aet of Congress, in the year 1881, byD. B. B R U ~ S E R ,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at 'VashinJl;tOlI.

q;, 7(}7RECE . I VBD. JUl 1 - 1896WIS. HIST. SOCIETY.

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PREFACE.

- '. In writing the HISTORY (W THJ.; INDIAXH OJ.' BJ.;R1-:s COPXTY, PA., I attempted to gather all the reliable information upon the subje('t. I t wouldbe more satisfactory if some of the incidents could have bem more definitelylocated, and If the dates of others could have been given with greateraccuracy, . while many interesting transactions between the Whites. andIndians, which would add mueh to this narrative were never writtell, andare now beyond our 'reach.

The relics in the county are very numerous, and had cut;; been given toexhibit all the peculiarities, it would have been necessary to multiply theillustrations. All the important features of the stone implements of theIndians are figured, and will aid the people of' our advanced state of civili:'7.ation to form an approximate idea of' the life of the Indian;;, when theylived in their original style, before they came in contact with the whitt'people and changed some of their cnstoms hy rea;;oll of' the improved l l tCl I -"ils and weapons obtained from them.

D. B. B H U ~ . x E RREADING, PA" April, 1881.

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INTRODUCTION.We live in an age of research. The genius of man is assiduously strivingto discover some new principle in philosophy, or to invent a machine to givea new impulse to our varied enterprises. Thp geologist, anxious to know thehistory of the formation of the earth, enters the deepest r e c e s . ~ e s , exarr.ill(.'S therocks and fossils, and reads in them the changes through which our globe

p a . ~ before it became fit for the habitation ofman. The student of historyis no less diligent in his researches. Not content with a general knowledgeof' events, he gOC-'O through all the avenues of the past to trace out the successive changes of a place and is often compelled to lament that so many important items of local history are buried in oblivion. The history of States audCounties have been written, containing full descriptions of their organization,progress and development. Even families trace their genealogy back as fllras they can; and these records do not only afford intel'esting reading for theirdescendants, but frequt!ntly preserve important historical incidents.Several histories of' Berks County have been published, but some importantevents connected with our early settlements were omitted, and especially thatpart which relates to the Indians that peopled this connty before its o(,'cllpa-tion by the Europeans. There can scarcely be anything more interesting tous thau the thrilling events that occurrEd in the immediate vicinity of ourbirthplaces. How intensely interesting it would be to read a detailed accountof our county, from its first occupation by the aborigines to the present time,giving all its vicissitudes while under the dominion of the Indians, and al\the hardships, trials and suff.:rings of our fore'lthers and their dreadful conflict.., with them. 'Some of the priucipal transactions during a period of thegreatest commotion, have been preserved ill the Colonial Records, but some ofour old citizens still give us other inter('sting rehearsals of trials and escapesfrom Indian barbarity to which there is no allusion made in the Records,and, yet, when compared with authentic history, the time is correct and thereis reason to believe that they are suhstantially true.We long to get the exact details, hut they have lost some of' their reliability and many impliltant particulars have becn lost by having passed through!leveral generations. We strive to learn more of the fact.s. but we inquire invain because many trllditions filil to give liS mililltely what we wish to learn.\Ve search anxiously in books and old doenments, but, alas! a large part ofthe history of the past wa.'! never written, and now it is gOlle fal heyond ourreach. We stand behind the cl1l't.ain that divides the past frOlD the present.and we wish that the cUltain could be raised that we might reseue from oblivion the unwritten history of the trials, s u t f e r i l l g ~ and lllurders of the earlysettlers of" Berks, hut the pal'lt is irrevocable, and our wishes cannot be g1'lltified.Therp are, however, fragments of the early history of OUI' county extantwhich, when read in connection with the study of the relics, will gi\'c us thl'most accurate kllowledge of the past, that it is possible to obtain and will ena-

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6 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUKTY, PA.ble liS to form some idea of'the aborigines of' Pennsylvania and the sanguinaryconflicts between civilization and barbarity in Berks county.In compiJing the aboriginal history of Berks county, it would be very in-complete without cuts and descriptions of' the Indian relics still fonnd abull-dantly in localities where the Indians had their villages. They are invalua-. ble to the historian, because in the absence of the writtpn history of the Dela-wares, they are instrument.'! by which we can conjecture with some certabtywhat were many of their habits of life and modes of warfare. I desire to. mll the attention of all persons of Berks county to the importance of collectingand preserving these relics. They are sometimes found, and broken or throwninto places where the eyes of man will never see them again, by men who onnot value them as relics worthy of preservation. Let me entreat every persdoto pick up and preserve all specimens, and if he has no desire to preserve themfrom destruction, let him give them to some enthusiastic collectOl' in thecounty, who will take good care of' them. Agent.'! have passed through tIrecounty and purchased lots of them for a mere pittance. These relics are dis-appearing rapidly, and unless we put a higher value upon them and preservethem for the future citizens of our county, these histOl'ieal memPlltos of theaborigines of' Berks county will pa'3s into the hands of collectors outside ofthe county, and no money will be able to restore them.A few year::1 ago I became deeply interested in the stndy of the IndianRelic.'> of Berks county and immediately commenced to make a collection. Iwas ::1urprised to find so great a variety and ahunclance of them. .My enthu-siasm increased as rapidly as my collection was augmented, until I deemed it a

s n l ~ j e c t wOIthy of' a description in which many persons would be interested.:\Iy first design WM to give a mere de::1cription of t.he rclil..." but this wouldhave co,ered only that part of' the Indians most involved in mystery andwould have failed to give what is really known of them and what might provemost interesting to many readels. The interest that I felt in till, s u l ~ e c t anda desire to awaken an enthusiasm in the minds of t.hE' young people to preservethe Indian relics and also the landmarks of OIlr fill'efilther::1, still ill existence,indtwed me to undertake the ta'!k of writing the History of the Indians ofBelks eQunty, which, had it heen written a generation or two ago, would con-tain intcrE'sting infi.)rmation of a local character thut is 1I0t to be ohtainednow.

If I succeed even partly in the object J have ill vicw, I shall feel com-pensated for the time and labor expended in colleeting the infi1rmation and i1-Instl'ating the \vOlk.I t may seem odd to sec thc early part of the history at the end of' a book, buthy going from the known to the nnknown. some of' the surmises that may bemade in describing the implcnJCnts will be lllore plausible, and the real Ol'igi-lIal life of the Lcnni Lellape can be imugined with morE' certainty.

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~THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PENN'A.

Then and Now.-Pr ior to the year 1682, when William Penn made histamous treaty with the Indians, which was "never sworn to nor broken," theDelawarps had undisputed sway ill the eastern part of Pennsylvania. Few,if any, Europeans ventl1red any distance from the settlements on the DelawareRiver. \Vhere an observer might then h:lVe seen a little smoke ascendingfrom the rude wigwams, are now seen clouds of smoke and steam issuing fromfurnaces and machine shops. Where the Indian brandished his scalping. knife and tomahawk, and where his war whoop echoed frolU hill to bill, thefarmer plows his field and reaps hifo1 golden harvest in peace and quietness,nnd the whistle of the locomotive and "the sound of the church-going bell,"I'everherate throngh the heautifhl valley of the Schuylkill. Where now thecity of Reading is situated, with all its hum of machinery, palatial buildings,fine >;treet8, splendid stores, magnificent churches and excellent schools, wassituated not two centuries ago a large Indian village, and 011 the spot where alarge quantity of the finest hardware is made, the Indian artisan chipped hisflint ar,'ow-heads and ground his axes; and where the "gay belles of fashion"promenade streets illuminated by gas "the In


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8 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.Early Bistory.-In oroel' to understand more clearly the relation between die early settlers aud the Indians, and to see whether there were anycauses for the sanguinary conflicts and heart-rending murders that occurred in

Berks, it will be lIecessary to give a brief' statement of that part of the historyof Pennsylvania, with which the history of our county is intc!'p-arably connected, and without which it would have no connecting link with the past,When the Europeans first landed upon the shores of America the Indianswere the owners of the land and it would have been hll7..aI'dous to make at1\'settlements in the wilds of Pennsylvania with()ut first obtaining their l . ' O n s e ~ tand goodwill, Penn sent his cousin William Markham to America. in ad-vance of his arrival, who, under the i n ~ t r u c t i o n of Penn, commenced that conciliatory course with the Indians by which Penn afterwards gained their un-wavering confidence and unh'ersal esteem."On the 27th of OctoJler, 1682, nine weeks after the dpl:mrture from Deal,the Welcome mooroo off New Castle, in the territories lately C'-eded by theDuke of York, and Willium Penn first set foot in the New World"* 'Vhenhe arrived in Philadelphia soon afterward, one of his fil'8t acts w l ' ~ to hold afriendly intercourse with the Indians. He was of a peaceable disposition andproposed to conquer their savage natures by means of humane treatment andequitable dealings. He aCl.'Ordingly appointed a day to meet them at one oftheir famous resorts under an elm tree ilt Shackamaxon (Locality of Kings) fOl'the purpose of making a treaty with them. When the Indians were seatedin a aemicircle Penn aodressed them and stated to them that he would nottake any of their land from them, but that he would pay them f()r i t; thatthey and their children would be friendly anil brot.herly toward each other;that all the paths shoulo he free to the white men and Indian!; ; that the doorsof the white men should be open to the Indian, and those of' the Indian shouldbe open to the white men; that if a white man harmed an Indian, or an In-dian a white man, both parties ~ h o u l d unite to apprehend the offellder' andpunish him; that they would assist each othel' in every thing, and that theywould &ell their children of this league and friendship, and wOlll.d keep it inviolate as long as "the sun and moon endured,"Not long after the treaty Penn purchased a number oi'tra('ts in the vicinityof Philadelphia and paid the Indians promptly therefor, and thus by his actshe confirmed the principle so ~ t r o n g l y enunciated in the treaty that the intercourse between t.he settler and the Hed Men was as frienoly, their dealings ashonest and equitable as they could possibly have been between two civilizedraces.The boundaries of m o ~ t of Penn's purchases had no definite limits, andneither bearings nor distances of the courses being given, and thus it is impossible tf) glean any satisfactory infJfluation wit.h reference to this mattei'from the old records.In 1683 Penn purchased froOl King Kel,el'appan "that half of all his landslying betwixt the Susqnehanna and Delaware;" on Junp. 15, 1691, a "tractlying between Neshamany ann Potquissing upon the river DelawaJ'e, aud extending backwards to the utmost bounds of tht: said provinee," aud on the5th of July, 1697, anothet' tract "lying aud being bet.ween the creek calledPenuypack and the C1'eek mlled Neshamany, ~ o fill' as a horse mn travel in

"Dillon's Life of Penn 198.Digitized by Google


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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 9two summer days." When we consider the great differeuce in the speed ofhorses, and how little the people knew of the topography of the country, itbecomes evident that these tracts were not limited in certain dirretions, andineluded Berks county beyond a peradventure. Oley was settled between1704 alH) 1710, and Amity ahout the same tinw, alld since Peim would nothave per;nitted an.v settlement npon land for whi('b the Indians were not sati!


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10 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COlTNTY, PA.under ,\ye got within a TlllDehocken aboutclock ml;rning, and abDut Governor wentfrom to ManatawnD and the nextdelphia, (lid Philadelphia Stonersvilleville, great highway beforerailrond was laid out by It is notlong this road had used by the Indians, but it was a direct routefrom Philadelphia to Shamokin, and alI the delegations of Indians fromBerks and the counties north and northwest of it, traveled on this road tothe seat of government; and in alI probability it was an Indian thoroughfare hundreds of years before it was trodden by the foot of a white man.

AmiiT township wa,l ;1mous dweIlin;;Indians, flaIled by them . changed intawhich Illnguage signified ih'lfnk liquor; butafterwiii'ds by the English changed toplied to the str through thatt o w n s h i p ~ is the Indian llnother stream inand signifies a stream with large bends. It was originally speIled )fC'llalusse.

Lieut.-Governor Gookin reported to the Provincial Council on May 13,1712, that "he received a letter from Mounce Jones, of Manatawny, datedMay 4th, purporting that four Indian Kings were there and desired theGovernor to meet them on the 8th at the said Jones' house, which lettercame but to the Governor's hand on the "t These Indians were aboutto the Five in New York,

deemed it imlt with theof wampum proposed to give:of renewed in order notroute lms, they desired to meet themThe to meet them ut he did notreceioeuntil the 9th. At the advice of the Council he remained at home on account of a press of business, and WiIliam Wivall was sent to the IndianKings to request them to appoint a place nearer to Philadelphia, for theconference. He reported to the Council May 16, that the Indians desiredthe Governor to meet them at Edward Farmer's, some distance north ofPhiladelphia, The business for !!'hleh eeme was not tiiins/leted .waited at least for the Governoi'was only in a delay in tletter that he did tbem in time.

betweenthe represented by we, therefore,claim the transactions of this meeting as a part of the history of Berks county.011 May 19, 17 I 2, the "Provineial Council met at White HaIl, at the houseof Edward Farmer. "Sassoonan, their chief, Scollitchy, Ealochelan andeleven others waited on the Governor." Jones mentioned four Kings,the other seven were undoubtedly Manatawny Indians. Scollitchy, their

speaker, said "they were about to visit the Five Nations, and they thoughtfit first the Governor to lay beforetCo!tCoL i ~ i ' e 405.569.

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INDIANS OF PA.lection they had made of their tribute to offer, and to have a conferencewith the Governor upon it; they, thereupon, laid upon the floor thirty-twobelts of wampum of various figures, and a long Indian pipe called theCalumet, with a stone head, a wooden or cane shaft and feathers fixed toit like wings, with other ornaments." They gave the Governor a bundleof skins as a mark of their appreciation of his kindness, and closed theirinterview their calumet or pipe withlighted it, it so lighted andCouncil smoke a few the token ofest f r i e n d ~ ; h I T l Id be shown. the calumetIndians' {;f their friendsh;p, w;;s more rigidlyand more


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12" THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.Four or six strings joined in ODe breadth, and fastened to each other with finethreadst make a belt of wampum, being about three or four inches wide, andthree feet long, containing perhaps- four, eight, or twel ...e fathoms of waml'Ulllyin proportion to its. required length ano hrealth,"The money of the Indians had no intrinsic vullle. Wood and shells were>abundant, but they bemme valuable only in proportion to the amOllnt. of labor bestowed upon them to put them in a desirable shape. I f om'speeiewere made of the same rnatel'ial as that of the Iudians; there would he no endto mints and few persons would have any reason fi,r being "hurd up" at anytime, but in this event coin would be so abundant as to I() . all its value,

Schuylki l l Ind ians . -The chief..'l' of the Delaware It!1d Sdmylkill Indians visited the Council June 14, 1715. I t appears Ihat a report. was circulated that reflected "pon the fidelity of the Indians in their compacts with thf'white men. When this reached their e a r ~ , the chiefs at once repaired to Philadelphia ~ ' t o pre"eJlt any misunderstanding,t' and thus set. nil example whichis often overlooked in similar cases, by men snperi()J' tothell) in intdlect andintelligence. Sassoonall, the grand sachem, "opening the ealllmet with greatceremony of theil' rattles and song, uffered it t() the GOVl'l'Ilnr, Council ami anothel's, and then with the same ceremony pnt it away again," To !!ive additional assnrance of their sincerity, they gave the fi,lIowing prt'sent:-;: 45 I'Ilwfitlldeel' skins, 8 snmmer deer skins, 53 dressed, 84 w\t(}le f i t x e ~ , 12 I'UCCOOIIS and3 ordinary fishers, It is not stated how many of these the King- of theSchuylkill Indians took from Berks. Presents \,ere gh'en them in retumthe following day. When a week afterward they had oCl.'!}sion to lUeet theCouncil again, they had evidently been led a ~ t r n y and imbihpll too ntueh"fh'e-water," because the Govel'llor said 'hat he "coilid have wi&hpd that tlwyhad more effectnally taken the advice that was given them to fiwllt'ar exl'c:;sive drinking and especially to avoid l'I"n; since it disordel's them so ,'crymuch., and ruined their health, thev ought to shun it as poison."

Ami ty . -The Firs t Con1lict with the Indians . -While there existed the most amicable relationship b"tween the officers of the gove ...mentaud the different tl'ibes of Indians, there! wel'c occasional conflicts hetween individuals and !;Illlull parties of Indians, w h i ( ~ h , if the Governor had not adjusted speedily, might have led to vCl'y serious l'csnIts. The first of' thCl;e 011record oceurt'ed in Manatawny, or Amity, whieh Illay at that time have extended considerably beyond its prel'lellt limits.

This skirmish took place in the beginning of May, li28. Intelligence wasbrought hy expl'ess to Lieut,-Governor Patrick Gordon on the mOrtling of t.he10th of May, that a party of' foreign Indians had att.aekl'


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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 13of twenty, a few of whom ,vere armed with guns and swords, went in searchof the said Indians, and coming up with them they sent two of their numberto treat with the captain, who instead of receiving them civilly, brandished hissword and commanded his men to fire, which they did and wounded two ofour men, who, thereupon, returned their fire, upon which they saw the saidmptain fall, but he afterwards got up and ran into the woods after his party,having Jet his gun and matchcoat behind him and since that time they hadbeen seen no more.""The Governor said that though he had this account from one of those whowere then present, he could not help thinking our people had given someprovooation, and wished that it might not appear so when the Indians shouldgh'e there relation of this matter."*

Before the Governor came to investigate this affair a message with a smallpresent, was sent to Civility, one of the chiefs of the Conestoga Indians inLancaster, to assure them that the Govern'lr deprecated the unfortunate encounter, and that he would give a full acoount of it at a treaty at Conestoga,which was held SOOI1 afterwards.These Indians disappeared mysteriously. They were sent by KakowWatchy, the chief of the Shanawese, who having heard that the F l a t h e a d ~had come into this province to attack the Delawart:S, sent them to inquireinto the truth of the rumor. Their version of the affair wa.'! that after theirprovision had heen exhausted they a.-sked the white people for foo


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14 THE,INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.west of the Schuylkill wa.'! in Chester county, and all east of it was in Phila-delphia county. Warrants were also issued for the arrest of Morgan Herbertand John Roberts, who were found to be implicated in the affair. The Win-ters and Herbert were captured, Roberts was not."The coroner was dispatched to take an inquisition of the dead bodies, andto bury them wrapt in linen, and was furt.her directed that in caRe any of theirrelative:. should be there, he should present them with four strouds to coverthe dead bodies and to give two stl'ouds to the Indian girls, and to employsome person to cure their wounds, and further to ossure them that the offenders shonld not go unpunished."!Messengers were also sent to the chiefs of the different trihes to apprize themof this unhappy occurrence and to appease their revengeful spirit by givingeach of them two strouds. A stroud was an article of clothing in the shape ofa blanket.On the twelfth day of May Walter Winter was arraiglled before EdwardFarmer, one of the justices of Philadelphia county, and testified "that on thetenth day of this instant he had heard by a Dutchman who lives at Tulpo-hooken, that the Indians had killed sundry Dutchmen, viz., had killed twoand wounded three Christians, whereupon the said Walter went about theneighborhood, and desired the people to get together to his house to defendthemselves against the Indians, and returning again to his own honse, wherehe was making fast the windows, in case any attempt should be made uponthem. One John Roberts's son, came to the house of the said Walter, anddesired the said Walter to go to his father's house and ossist him, for thatthere were some Indians at his father's honse with a bow and a great numberofarrows, and that his father was in danger of being killed, whereupon the saidWalter, with his father-in-law, Morgan Herbelt, each having a gun, wentaway to the house of the said John Roberts, (the gun of the said Walter beingloaded with one bullet and ten swan shot.,) and as the said Walter and MorganHerbert were going to John Roberts's they met with John Winter, who hadwith him a shot gun, and thereupon John Winter took the large gun and gavethe small gun or pistol to Morgan Herbert, and when the said Walter withMorgan Herbert and John Winter came over the log that lies over the rllnjust before Roberts's door, he saw John Roberts standing in his own door, hesaw him have a gnn in his hand, but whether he had it in his hand before thisexaminant came up to the house, or whether he went in for it afterwards, thisexaminant cannot say, and this examinant saw an Indian man, some womenand some girls sitting on a wood-pile before Jonu Roberts's door. And theIndian mall getting up and took his bow and stepping backwards took anarrow from his back, putting it to the string of the bow, whereupon this ex-aminant apprehending the Indian was going to shoot at him, this examinantpresented his gun and shot at the Indian man, that he believes the Indianwas wonnded, for he saw blood upon his breast, that John Winter at the sametime shot one of the Indian women, and then ran up and knocked anotherIndian woman's brains out, that two Indian girls ran away, that the examinant fi)llowed one and with a bow and arrow which he took up where thesaid Indians were sitting. he shot at one of the Indian girls and then overtookher and brought her back: and he then saw the Indian man get up and wentteo!' Rec., vol. 3, p. 322

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'THE INDIANS 'OF BERKSCOlJNTY, PA . 10'Staggering in a swamp near the house, that John Winter and the examinantwith Morgan Herbert, the next morning found the ~ t h e r Indian girl inTocacolie"s eabin; she was much hurt aboyt the head and face, and .she wasoQrdered to() go to Walter Winter's house, where.t!he went accordingly.I t is Dot known what was the doom of Walter Ilno John Winter, btlt it isprobable that they suffered the extreme penalty of the law. On June I, 1728,a jury at the collrt in Chester rendered a vet"dict that MQrgan HeI'bert was"lawflllly convicted for aiding and aJ.etting Walter Winter and John Winterin the mllrder of certain native Indians, and though in strictness 'Of law his()ffense may be adjudged murder, yet it appears to us that he was not activein perpetrating it." 011 aecount of his former good behavior they recommended him to tIle compassion a.nd mercy of the Governor, who yielded to thewishffi of the jury and COllSlllted them as to the best mannel' of carrying outtheir recommendation. The remainder of this case is not recorded, bu.t thereis sufficient reason to justify the beliefthat Herbert was acquitted.

Douglassvil le.-The message that the Governor sent to the Indian chie'3,expl8ining the murder at Cacoosing, was received and accepted by them in afriendly manner; they i!ntirely acquitted the government ofallY complicity init and offered to meet the Governor at Molatton. The Govern'Or seems not tohave been aware of the appointment of this meeting until Alll1mapees, Opekasset, Kings of the Delawares, and Mallawkyhickon, King of the Shawanese,with other Indians, were at Molatton. The Governor sent a messenger to invite them to come to Philad'lphia, because "a long and hard w i n t e ~ had madecorn antI provision scarce," and he feared they would "want what's necessaryat Molatton," bllt at Philadelphia they could "provide well for them." TheIndians went to Philadelphia, and after they had gone through the usual formalities of those days, and made their speeches for the renewal and strengthening of thp.ir friendship; the tragedy of Cacoosing was ended by giving theIndians the following presents, viz: ten stroud matchcoats, five blankets, fiveuuffels (coarse woolen cloth), five shirt." twenty-five pounds of powder, 60 lbs.of lead, 100 flints, two dozen knives, two dozen scissors, two dozen tohaccoboxE::s. two dozen tobacco tongs, one dozen looking glasses and one pound ofvermilion; three strouds. three blankets, three duffels, three shirts and sixhandkerchiefs for the relatives of the oPad.Douglassville was settled by the Swedes, by whom it was called Molatton.

Disputes about :3oundaries.-In describing some of the purchasesmade by Penn, in my endeavors to show when he bought the land of Berksfrom the Indians, allusion was made to the indefiniteness of some of the boundari('S. The settlers spread over the country with great rapidity and occupiedthe land. The Indians seeing this, believed that the white people settled onland for which they had not been paid. The Kings who had gone to Molatton, thence to Philadelphia, to treat about the Cacoosing affray, took occasionto visit the Provincial Council June 5 . 1728, and infi)rmed the Governor thatthe English subjects were gl)ing beyond the limits of Penn's territory. TheSecretary produced a number of deeds, and convinced them that none of theirland was taken. whereupon they signed a release of "all the land situated betweeu the two rivers Delaware and SU9quehallna, from Duck creek (in Dela~ P e n n a . Arch., vol I, p. 226.

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THE tND1ANS O I < ~ BE.'RKS COUNTY, PA.~ a r e ) , to the DlOuntain& on thi& side or the Lechay (Lehigh)."'" ' ~ o o n l J r 1(Allumapees) said that the land beyond these bounds had never been paid for,that they reached no furtbet than a few miles beyond ~ but that theil."lands on the Tulpebooken were seated by the Chrietians."Mr. Logan (the Secretary), answerM that he understood at the time that>the deed wa'S drawn and ever since that Lechav hills Ol" mountains stretchedaway from a little below Lecbay Ol ' forks of tlie Delaware to those hills on theSusqoehanna that lie about ten mile& above Paxton. Mr. Farmer said thosehills passed frJm LeC'hay a few miles above ~ and reached no furtherand that Tulpehocken lands lie beyond them.' tIt ,,,as decided then that the Tulpehocken lands belonged to the Indians.The oommissioner& said that they authorized no one to settle there and seemedsurprised to learn that slJch Walt the fact. Sassoonan said that he could notbel ieve it himself that the Christians had seStled on them, until he went tbel'cand saw their holJSeS and fields.A large number of Palatines had settled in New York, but their familieshaving increased, they had not land enough to support them. Thirty-threeof these families came to Pennsylvania with a desire to settle on the Tulpehocken. They wished to purchase land and applied to William Keith yBaronet, Governor of Pennsylvania, who permitted them to settle therewithout the consent or knowledge of the commissioners whose duty it wasto sell and parcel out the land. There were fifty other families that wishedto take up their abodes on the Tulpehocken if they could purchase land.These Palatines were very poor, but honest and conscientious in the superlative degree. They were not aware that there was any doubt about theproprietorship of the land on the Tulpehocken. They. wished to settlethere because it was reported to be some of the best land in the country,and since it was "the farthest inhabited part of the province north-westfrom Philadelphia," and they desired to pay for their land, they thoughtthis land could be purchased cheaper than land nearer Philadelphia, andstill be on land purchased from the Indians and under the protection of thegovernment. Another purchase of land from the Indians having been con-templated by the Governor, they were therefore permitted to remain inpeace.

Berks and Lancaster Counties.-In ]730 Lancaster county wasformed from Chester county by a line running from a place in the vicinityof Birdsboro to Octorora creek, emptying into the Susquehanna. Fromthis time until 1752 that part of Berks county east of the Schuylkill wasin Philadelphia county, Union and part of Robeson and Caernarvon werein Chellter county, and the rest of the county was in Lancaster. Berkscounty was not organized until 1752. The term Berks is, however, usedto denote the territory which forms the county at present.Weiser and Shekallamy.-Conrad Weiser and Shekallamy weresuch constant companions and connected with nearly every importanttransaction between the government and the Indians, that is it impossibleto give a sketch of the life of the one without giving that of the other.

*Col. Rec., vol. 3, p. 339.teol. Rec., vol. 3, p. 340.

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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. ]7Weiser spent his youth among the Indians of New York and learned tospeak the Iroquois language. He must there have formed an acquaintanceship with Shekallamh, who was appointed by the Five Nations in1728 to preside over the S awanese, for whom Manangy, the King of theSchuylkill Indians, obtained permission from the Governor to live on theTulpehocken. I t is probable that they lived beyond the mountains at thistime, since Shekallamy had his abode at Shamokin. Weiser moved toPennsylvania in 1729, and settled about a mile east of Womelsdorf, wherehe died and was buried. In 1732 a party of Indians visited the Governorand suggested the propriety of appointing Weiser and Shekallamy who"shall travel between us and you, who will speak our minds and yourminds to each other truly and freely." The Governor accepted this admirable suggestion. They were at once appointed and performed morediplomatic work than any two other men of their time. They met theCouncil for deliberation, were sent as ambassadors to the different tribes,when dissensions arose they were the peacemakers, and being bound together by the most friendly ties, they were universally respected for theirwisdom in council, dignity of manners and conscientiousness in the administration of public affairs.

Rum at Tulpehocken.-The love of ardent spirits was as intense anduncontrollable among the Indians as among the Caucasians. The tradersgenerally took a quantity of rum with them, with which to putthe Indians into a good mood and barter profitably with them. The sternresolute character of the Red Men of the forest could not resist the temptation of "fire-water," and, though they knew the evil consequences of anover-illdulgence, they were always glad and eager to imbibe whenevel' itwas within reach. I t seems that the chiefs did not resist the parties whenthey brought the liquor, but generally complained to the government anddesired to have it stopped. On one occasion, August 13, 1731, Sassoonancalled upon the Governor and "desired that no Christians should carryany rum to 8hamokin, where he lived, to sell; when they want any theywill send for it themselves; they would not be wholly deprived of it, butthey would not have it brought by Christians, and also desired that somerum may be lodged at Tulpehockell and Paxton to be sold to them, thattheir women may not have too long a way to fetch it."! There was considerable discussion in the Provincial Council about the matter, but it isnot stated whether the government granted the desire of Sassoonan.With regard to the use of rum among the Indians, the governmentmay have set a bad example because in the purchase of land or in givingpresents to the Indians, rum was generally included.Final Purchase of Berks County.-Sassoonan, who is called thesachem of the Schuylkill Indians in this deed, in company with six otherKings of the Delawares, sold to John, Thomas and Richard Penn, on theseventh day of September, 1732, "all those tracts of land or lands lying onor near the river Schuylkill in the said province, or any of the branches,streams, fountains or springs thereof, eastward or westward, and all thelands lying in or near any swamps, marshes, ferns or meadows, the waters

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18 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.or streams of which flow into or toward the said river Schuylkill, situate;lying and being between those hills called Lechay hills, and those calledKittatinny hills (Blue mountains), which cross the said river Schuylkillabout thirty miles above (west of) the Lechay hills, and all lands whatsoever lying within the said bounds and between the branches of the Dela-ware river on the eastern side of the said land, and the branches or streamsrunning into the river Susquehanna on the western side of the said land."This purchase included all the land in 'Pennsylvania not paid for before,and lying between the Delaware and Husquehanna, and south of the Bluemountains. The Indians, of their own free will, disposed of this land, andafter this date they had no more claim, right or title to any of the landwithin the boundaries of Berks county, though the sale did not drive orexclude them from the land. At this time there were a number of Indiansstill living in the county, but their villages and council fires were movedbeyond the Blue mountains.According to the Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, the lower half ofBerks county was purchased September 17, 1718, and the upper half October I I and 25, 1736.

I t will be interesting to know the price that was paid for this large tractof land, which included about half of Berks county. The Kings received20 brass kettles, 100 stroudwater match coats of two yards each, 100 duffels do., 100 blankets, 100 yards of half tick, 60 linen shirts, 20 hats, 6made coats, 12 pairs of shoes and buckles, 30 pair of stockings, 300 lbs. ofgun powder, 600 lbs. of lead, 20 fine guns, 12 gun locks, 50 tomahawks orhatchets, 50 planting hoes, 120 knives, 60 pair of scissors, 100 tobaccotongs, 24 looking-glasses, 40 tobacco boxes, 1000 flints, 5 pounds of paint,24 dozen of gartering, 6 dozen of ribbons, 12 dozen of rings, 200 awlblades, 100 pounds of tobacco, 400 tobacco pipes, 20 gallons of rum andfifty pounds in money ($240.)Lingahonoa, "one of the Schuylkill Indians," and undoubtedly an inhabitant of Berks, was not present at the sale and did not give his releaseuntil ten years afterwards. This seems to imply that he did not receivehis share of the proceeds until a considerable time after the sale.The articles paid for this and the tracts bought previously, and the nu-merous presents given the Indians when they visited Philadelphia officially, were generally articles indispensable in every sphere of civilized life.On one occasion there were "four dozen jewsharps" among the items presented by the government, and this shows that they must have had sometaste for music. The Indians were resolute and very tenacious of theircustoms and habits of life, but the eagerness with which they acceptedthese articles and applied them to their proper uses, shows how quicklythey saw that they were superior to theirs, and how readily they relinquished many of their usages and adopted those of the settlers.Tulpehocken.-In the fall or'1732 a number of the Kings of the northern trines sojourned nearly a month in Philadelphia during the continuanceof a treaty. When their deliberations were ended, one of the chiefs said that"being about to depart in two days, they must request to be helped on their

aPenna. Arch., vol 1, p. 345.

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'THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.journey homewards with horses from Tulpehocken to Mechaomy."* TheGovernor replied that they would assist them, and what they desired shouldbe ordered lJefore their departure. This body of noted Indians came up the-old road through Amityville, Stonersville, and Reading to Tulpehocken,where the government furnished horses under the direction of Weiser.In October,1732, the gmrernment "paid the miller at Tulpehocken $7.25for 10 bushels of meal delivered to Bassoonan, then in want of provision."tIn September, 1736, Weiser informed the Governor that there was a largenumber of Indians of the Onondagas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras at Shamokin,who were OIl their way to Philadelphia 00 confirm the treaty of 1732. Weiserwas directed to go and meet them at Shamokin and supply them with thenecessaries on their journey to Philadelphia. Thf' chiefS of these tribes hadDot heen in Philadelphia for four years, and therefore stopped a few days atall the important places along the route to transoot business relating_to thewelfare of their tribes. I t is not known how long they sojourned at W o m e l s ~dorf, but since the home of Weiser was a home for the Indians, who wereprovided there with all the necessaries at the expense of the government, it issupposable that they spent a few days there.There is no treaty on record that was as nUllH:rously attended by the Indians as the one held in Philadelphia in July, 1742. The delegation consistedof thirteen Onondagas, nineteen Cayugas, fourteen Anayints, three Sinikers,twenty-one Tuscaroras, five ShowanS'le, eight Conestogas, ten Delawares, "andseveral others," of whom there were fourteen chiefs, two counsellors, and threeC1ptains. The Iroquois, or Six Nations, were very powerful and as time passedmany of the smaller tribes became tributary to them, and when the Frenchand Indian war began, the Six Nations controlled nearly aU the Indians eastof the Mississippi. The appearance of strange names of tribes, in connectionwit.h t.hose of the Six Nations, can only be explained on the ground that'3maller tribes became allied to them. These Indians passed through Berksand "on their return from Philadelphia an open council was held at Tulpehocken."! They were in charge of C ..lDrad Weiser. How and with whatcomforts he entertained them it is not stated, but it was in July and it isprobable that he only furnished the rations, and in other things the Indiansaccommodated themselves according to their usual habits of life. How longthey remained at Tulpehocken it is not known, but $500 and twenty gallonsof rum were appropriated to defray their expenses and put them in good cheer.In their council they gave an enumeration of eight tribes in alliance with themand during their stay, Tacarcher, one of the Tuscaroras, died. From thesefacts we may infer that their sojourn continued some time.

Count Zinzendorf came from Bethlehem to visit the party. "In August theCount set out in company of Conrad Weiser to visit the people at Tulpehocken.On the 14th (1742) he met with a numerous embassy of sachems, or heads ofthe Six Nations, returning from Philadelphia. Though they were extremelywild, and had on the same day shot one of their own people, yet he would notomit so good an opportunity of' preaching the gospel.--After about an hour'sconsultation, the ambassador of the Onondaga and Cayuga Nations came to the*Col. Ree., vol. 3, p. 482.tCoI. Ree., vol. 3, p. 54.5.tCoI. Ree., vol. 4, p. 586.

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TlI'E INDIANS" OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.Count and addressed him as follows: Come therefore to llS, both you"and yonI'"brethren, we bid you welcome, and take this fathom of wampum in confirma-tion of the truth of our word." The Colonial RecOlds SIlY that TacarcheFdied, but he was evidently the one that Loskiel says was shot.When the Indians had sold" their land south of the Blue Mountains in 1732:they gradually retreated beyond' the mountains, soth11t at this pel'iod of our his-tory none bot isolated fa:milics were found' in the county. As rapidly"as the Indians retreated the white people followed, and unmindful of the factthat the Blue Mountains divided the land upon which the white people were"free to settle, and that claimed by the Indians, they began to form settlemE'nts"beyond the mountains contrary to their treaty with Penn. Deputies were"sent to Philadelphia in August, 1749", by the Senecas, Onondagas, Tutatoes,.Nanticokes and Conoys, to counsel with the Governor and protest against theformation of settlements beyond the mountai The Governor listened to-their speeches and assured them that there should be no mure trespass upontheir land, and as usual gave them a large number of presents to send themoff in a good mood.Conrad Weiser marshaled these Indians to Philadelphia and back again,.and judging from Gov. Hamilton's speech in the Council soon after their de-

~ ~ r t u r e , t ~ e r . e must have been some mischievous characters in t h ~ s . e m b ~ s s y .lhe ProvlDClal treasmy was empty. The Governor advanced Welser sIxtypounds to defray their expenses and then said: Hhe (Weiser) must by thistime have laid out a considerablesnm more which you will order payment of;ano thoogh from yonI' long knowledge of his merit it might be unnecessary illme to say anything in his til.Vor, yet as the last set of Indians did damage to-his plantation, and he had abunoance of trouble with them and is likely to-meet. with much more on this occasion, I cannot excuse myself from mO!:ltheartily recommending it to you to make him a handsome reward for his ser-vices"1101ey is an Indian name, and was written by H e c k e w e l d ~ r O/ink or lVoh-link, or 0[0, or Wahfo, ano means a cavern or a lwllow among the hilla. I twas-inhabited by a considerable number of Indians, and it appears that the semi-civilized Indians remained longer in Oley than in any other part of the coun-ty, and yet, during all the bloodshed and commotion in other parts of thecounty, tranquillity reigned there t'1 such an extent that it was scarcelymentioned in the old records. The Moravians who had settled in Ole)" wereon the most friendly terms with the Indians, and, having a mission there, theylabored earnestly to christianize the Indiam;. In February, 1742, the Mora-vian synod met in Oley, and on this occasion three Indians, Shabash, Seimand Kiop came from New York, where they had been instructed, to he hap-tized, and received the patriarchal names, Abraham, Isaac and Jacoh. TheIndians left soon after the conclusion of this solemn rite, and went to Bethle-hem. What transpired among the Indians in Oley appears to be buried inoblivion.

Purchase beyond the Mountains.-On the 22d of August, 1749,Thomas and Ricliard Penn bought of the Indians all the land lying between~ L o s k i e l , part 2, p. 27.lIeo\. Rec., vo\. 5, p. 396.

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TlIE INDIANS OF BERKS COrNTY, PA. 21the Susquehanna and Delaware, and extending from the ~ l u e Mountains to a.lirect line running from Lackawaxen on theDelaware, in the northern part ofPike county, to Mahanoy creek on the Susquehanna, about twelve miles belowSunbury, for five hundred pounds-about $2500.Berks.-A bill was passed in the Provincial Council March 6, 1752, "forerecting parts of the counties of Philadelphia, Chester and Lancaster into aseparate county." In October of the same year the usual offieers were electedand Berks was enrolled in the list of the counties, though it extended far be-yond the Blue Mountains.The Indians become Hostile.-Very little is known of the Indians ofBerks count.y from the time of its organization until the commencement of theFrench and Indian 'Var in 1754. From the eadiest settlement in Berks tothe beginning of that great event, the lion and the lamb lived in the sameland in the greatest peace and harmony. The brotherly love with which Pennbegan his intercourse with the Indians] and which had been so ardently exer-cised in all their relations, kept the bond of peace firm and nllbroken for theperiod of fifty years. The Red and the White men would pass each other inthe woods without any fear of harm; they would visit each other in their rus-tic habitations in a social manner, and their chiefs and civil officers would meetin conncil, discuss and transact husiness conducive to the prosperity of eachrace, with more dignity and decorum than is often exhibited in the legislativehalls of the prese,ut day. Bnt. as the real life of the Indian was incompatiblewith that of the white race, and a friendly spirit existed between them, theRed :Men gradually receded from the settlements of the white people, who fol-lowed them closely and kept their savage nature in snqjection by purchasing:land amI constantly giving p r e ! ; e n t ~ . They looked back and saw that in thespace of one generation they had lost a large part of their favorite hllntingground. and when they looked iuto the future to see what would be their doomeventually, they often showed signs of that revengeful spirit which caused !:iOmuch terror afterwards among the settlers of oUt' eollnty.The Delawares drew north and west, and came into the power of the Iro

quois or Six N atiolls. In the meantime the French and Indian Wat' brokeout. The French discovered and settled Canaua and e1aimed the country asfar south as the Ohio river. Tile E n ~ l i s h discovered and settled the Atlanticcoast and claimed the country north of the Ohio river. There was a disputebetween the French and English about the boulldal'Y line, and out of thisarose what is called the French and Indian 'Vat'. The French, living nearto the Six Nations, appealed to theit base passions, succeeded in al'rayingthem against the English, and the Six Nations being the masters of the Dela-wares, compelled them to take up arms a ~ a i m ' t the Engli!:ih, anu then begana serie!:i of such cruel bntchel'ief:: and heartless massaere!:i that we cannot readthem now without shuddering. 'Vhen the Indians al'e friendly thcir ft'iend-ship is true, but whea they hecome enemies, t h { ~ i r barbarity is unbounded.When the officials of the goverllment learned that the Inuians had unitedwith the French they knew that they had not only a determined and relentles,;enemy to battle with, bu', that it was neeessaty to thmw a proteetioll at'ol\l)(ltile settlements 011 the frontiet. Since vet'y few falllilies had srttled beyondtlte Blue }loIllltains, thc govc\"llll1ent detprllJined to build It line of fiwts fi'ollltlte Su:;quehanna to the Delaware at a uistance of about twelve mile:; apart.

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22 I A.,The ohject of these filrts \\


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INDIANS OF , PA.I t might be suppossd there is a mi;;4ake in the name of this fort, alIumher of the old men who were brought up in the vicinity of the fort toldme that this was the name that was applied to it by their parents and grandparents. I t is not known definitely when this fort was built or abandoned.Fort Northkil l . -This fort was situated about two miles east of Strausstown, in Upper Tulpehocken township, on the Northkill, a small stream thatempties intG Hw Tulpehocken creek at must have b+'


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THE INDIANS m T B E l ~ K S COUXTY, P,Lin a manner to excite fear on his part, but when the Indians murdered tht'white people only a short distance from his house, he. fearing that theymight become r e a c h e r o u s ~ moved his family in close proximity to the fortthat they might be under the protection of the guard stationed there. TheIndians lurking in the dense woods, espied him near the fort. believed thathe had become hostile to them and joined their enemies. They at onceproceeded to his house and finding him and his family absent, ransackedthe house. Among the furniture demolished wasa chest, , ...hich is still inthe house belonging to the original property. The chest is of cedar wood,unpainted and protected 011 the edges with iron. The Indians. split thischest completely through the middle. Small iron bands were put to theend to hold it together, but the lid is still in two pieces. The chest bearsthe date I757, in which year it is presumed the Indians committed thedeed.Frederic Degler brought this chest from Germany, and when hedied it and the property came into the hands of his son Frederic Jacob.thence they passed into the possession of his grandson John Degler, andnow they are owned by his great grandson John W. Degler. The Deglerfamily intend to preserve this chest and hand it from generation to generation as a relic of the fearful conflicts which their forefathers had with theIndians in the early settlement of this country. \Vhile the Indians plundered the house two stood guard some distance from the fort. Thesewere captured, but were released again.

The preceding cut will give some idea of the manner in which the fortsWere built. The house within the stockades was generally built of logsand was often crowded uncomfortably by the neighboring inhabitants illtimes of danger. The stockades were logs, which were about eighteenfeet long, cut in the "'oods where the forts were built, and planted in theground as closely as possible. They were intended to protect the houseand prevent the Indians from shooting the people tfle 1I10ment they steppedout of the house.Fort Lebanon.-The next fort in order from the west was "Fort Lebanon on the forks of the Schuylkill." This was undoubtedly the largestand most important fort in the county. It is mentioned frequently in thePennsylvania Archives, but its location is not more definitely describedthan "on the forks of the Schuylkill." On inquiry I find t h ~ t there areno vestiges of it remaiuing, but the few distances that are gi ven would locate it in the vicinity of Port Clinton, and since that ,muld bring Ft. Lebanon in an almost direct line with the others, and since tllere is the onl:

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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 25place where the Schuylkill and Little Schuylkill make any thing like afork, reason would seem to indicate that as its locality. It. was then inBerks county, because ~ c h u y l k i l 1 was a part of Berks. I t is now inSchuylkill, a short distance above the boundary line, but as it was erectedalmost exclusively for the.protection of the settlers in the northern part ofBerks, its history, therefort:, belongs to Berks county.This fort was also erected in the beginning of 1754. It is not explainedwhy it was called Ft. Lebanon, and why in 1758 it was called Ft. William.Two years after its erection it was described as follows: "Fort Lebanon,about 24 miles from Gnadenhutten in the line to Shamokin. Fort 100 feetsquare. Stockades 14 feet high. House within built 30 by 20 with alarge store-room. A spring within. A magazine 12 feet square. On abarren, not much timber on it. One hundred families protected by itwithin the new purchase. No township. Built in three weeks; somethingconsiderable given by the neighbors towards it."tFort FrankJin.-The fourth and last fort on the frontier of Berkscounty was situated in Berks at that time on Lizard creek, and was builtabout two years later than the others. ~ i n c e Schuylkill county was cutoff of Berks the location of this fort is in that county, a few miles beyondthe boundary, north at' Albany township. The fort was sometimes called

Ft. Allemangael, or Fort above Allemangael, or Alle .Mangel (all wants),which was afterwards changed into Albany. All Want8 might have beena correct name for Albany one hundred and twenty-five years ago, but itis certainly a misnomer HOW. Some of its land is undulating but much ofit is level and the soil is very good.The first information we have of this fort is from Benjamin Franklin,who, while superintending the erection of Fort Allen, where Weisport nowstands, wrote to Governor Morris after it was finished, and said: "Foulkis gone to build another between this (Ft. Allen) and Schuylkill Fort(Lebanon), which I hope will be finished (as Texter is to join him) in aweek or ten days. As soon as Hays returns I shall detach another partyto erect another at Surfas' which I hope may be finished in the same time,and then I hope to end my campaign."! This letter was written January25, 1756. There was a "Block House" and several other places wheresoldiers were stationed, between Fort Franklin and Fort Allen, and Surfaswas evidently the name of a man upon whose property one of them waslocated. The fort was named in honor of its projector, Benjamin Franklin.James Young, "commi!;sary of' ye Musters," visited the fort on.J une 21, reported the road from Fort Leuanon "a narrow path very hilly and sWJ.mpy ;about half way we came through a very thick and dangerous pine swamp;vcry few plantations on this road, most of them dc>'ertcd, and the houses burntdown j half of' a mi Ic to the westward of this filrt is good plantation, the people retire to the filrt every night. This filrt stands about a mile from theNorth Mountain; only two plantations ncar it. This fort is a square of' aboutforty feet, very ill stockaded, with two log houses at oppo"ite corners iilr bastions, all very unfit for defence, the stockades are vel'y open in ruany places, itstands on the bank of a CI'cek, the woods clear for l:lO yards; the lieutenant

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26 THE INDIANS OF BERKS C O U ~ T Y , PA(Igle) ranges towards Fort Lebanon and Fort Allen, about fOllr times a week;milch thunder, lightning and rain all night."*

Other For ts . -The forts outsiue of the county comprising the chain, wereon the west Fort, Henry at Tolihaio, or Tolheo, Fort Swatara further west,Fort Manady, 14 miles east of Harl'ishurg on Manady creek, Fort Harris atHarrisburg, Fort Hunter at Hunter's Mill, some unknown distance north ofHarrislmrg, and Fort Augusta at Shamokin. The forts east of' Fort Franklin were Fort Everet, a bloek-house, Fort Allen, where Weissport., Carboneounty, is now located, thence a few other!' as far as to the Delaware,Scalping.-The Indians never considered a victory complete, nor did theyglOl'y in the killing of persons unless they could show the scalps of theil' vic

tims as trophies, If here is anything in Indian warfare more revolting tothe feelings and sensibilities of civilized people than others, it is the barbarouspractice of scalping their victims, dead or alive, The enormity of these inhuman acts of t;!rnelty pmcticoo upon so many innocent women andchildrlm in Berks county during the French aud Indian 'Val', cannot be conceived unles!' the manner in whieh it was done, I;; known."The Indians perform this operation in the (c)lIowing manner: they placetheir foot Oil the lH:'ck of the victim, seizing the hair with the left hand, andtwi,;ting- it \'pry tight togcther, in order to separate the skin from the head,Then tlwy ellt it all around with n sharp knife, and tenr it oft: This opel'ation is often pedi)J'meu in a minute, nnd under cert.ain circumstances is fatal,but not al ways. The sl'al is pninted red, placed upon a red pole in token ofvietory, to the grpat satisfaction of the whole nation, and carefitlly preserveain memory of their courage and prowess, ill a v e n g i n ~ the e a l l ~ c of their country. They like to carry off theil' prisoners alive, but houlld, till they are nomore in fpar of their pursuers, In the night they are tilstened to the grouna,with their :ml1S, legs, and nccks hound to large staiu's, and for gl'eater security, a ('ord pas,.;c". from them to a frce Indian, who immediately awakes if theyattempt to move. Yet, not,withstanding these 1)J'eeautions, they sometime;:escaped. The European prisoners nre imnwdiatply shm n after the manner ofthe In.-lians, and their heads and faces painted red, so as hardly to be distinguished fl'Om the Indians thenu,elves, If any dispute a r i ~ e s between two warriors about a prisoner, he is immediately killed, to put an ('1)() to it."t

Military Protection in Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken andBethel . - Iu order to give the reaaer some idea of the actiVIty of'the soldiersin the north-western part of the eounty, it will be necessary to give the jourHal oUlIe commander at Fort NIlI'thkill. I t hegins JUlie 13, 1754, and endson Augnst 31. I t ' contains an aecount of what was done every day duringthis time. Some of the dnys are omitted in the quotation, beeanse the dutiesperfo ..ncd were monotonous and contain nothing cxeept an accoullt of theirdaily scouting alld usnal work around the filrt. The sui>stanec might be embodied in fewer words, but the readers would not get so complete an idea of'the military oper:atiolls. 'Captain Busse, who is frequently mentioned in connection with the forts inBerks and Lebanon, was commander of a Illilitary station west of Fort North-

*Penna. Arch., vol. 2, p. 67;.t L ) ~ k i e l , parI 1, p. 14".

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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 27kill, either at Fort Hemy, in Bethel, or at the Swatara Gap, where "FortHenry at Tolhen" was afterwards erected.

The commander says in his journal!: "Accordingly I set out from Readingby break of day on the 14th, and arrived at Lieut.-Colonel Weiser's, where Ireceived orders to march with the company or detachment, to Fort Henry, andfrom there take a detachment of twenty men and continue till to Fort on~ o r t h k i l l . Accordingly on the15th. In the morning I took the said twenty men from Fort Henry of thenew levies, and marched straitway to the said fort (Northkill), accompaniedwith Captain Busse and Captain Srr.ith. As soon as I arrived, I gave ensignHarry (then commander at Fort o r t h k i l l ) , notiee of my orders, and sent offtwo men immediately to Col. Weiscr with a report of the condition I foundthe fort in, and sent him a list of the new levies who were detached fromCaptain Busse's fQlt (Henry) with me to this fort.16th. Captains Busse and Smith set off' about 10 o'clock with a scout of tenmen, which Cuptain Busse had QI'dered of his company on the 1ljth. (Herefollows a description of the fort, qnotl'd befilre.)17th. I, with a corporal and twenty men, according to orders from Lieut.Colonel 'Veisel', went a scouting and ranging the woods till to Fort Lebanon,where we arrived at 2 o'clock in the attel'lloon. We staid there all night, being not able to scout any farther or return home because of' a heavy rain.18th. Set off' from ~ Q r t Lebanon in the morning, being rainy weather, andranged the woods, coming back, as bef()re, with the same nUPlber of men, andarrived at Fort on Northkill about 4 o'clock iu the afternoon.19th. Gave orders to Sergeant Peter Smith to scout to Fort Lehan on andto hring me report the next day of' his proceedings. Accordingly he arrivedon the 30th about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and made report that he haddone according to his orders, and that he had made no discoveries. Received aletter from Captain Morgan, informing me that he had no news, &c., (Captain

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28 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.and buried the man that was killed, td wit: Pp.ter Gei8inger, who was shotand killed the day befi>re. At burying him, they he'dI'd five guns go off abouttwo miles from said place, whereupon Sergeant Smith immediately repaired t..,the place, and divided themselves into two parties. (1 have sent off' CorporalShafer with eight men, on the 22d, to their aS8istance.) Sel'geant Smith alsomakes report that this morning about 7 o'clock a ~ i r l about 15 years, daugh.tel' of .Balser Schmidt, was taken prisoner by two Indians, whose tracks theysaw and filllowed. but to no purpose. A p'drty of Captain Busse's companywent along from this and remained with my men all the time. }i'ifteen or sixteen of the inhabitants came to me and applied for a!;lsistallee. I ordered outseveral detachments to assist them.

June 24. I set off with twenty men from this to Captain Busse's fort, alongthe moontain, and called at the place where the murder was eommitted. Wentup as far a.'3 the gap of the mountain, but as I fimnd no tracks there, Ithought the Indians would be on this Ilide the mountaius, therefilre I went upalong the mountains without opposition, till to Captain Busse'8 fort, and a.'5 itrained very hard all day and we went far about, we arrived there towal'ds theevening.June 25 .. Set off in the morning with the same number of men, and scouredthe woods nearly the same way baek again, and art'ived towards evening inthe fort, being rainy weather.June 26. Receh'ed in the morning a letter fill' me, positively not to neglectmy 8couting toward Fort Lebanon, accordingly, immediately called ill mydetachments. This afternoon a woman living about one and a half miles frohlllPre, came to the fort, and said she had seen an Indian just now iu I:er field,almost naked, and had a gun, but said she did not stay to look long. Iimmediately sent off Sergeant Smith with two partit!s, cOllsil:!ting of about 20men. They searched the place, and fouud nothing, but saw two hare feettracks. They divided into small palties, and scom'ed the wOl)(ls till evcningand then l'eturned to the fort, and as I had to-day but men sufficient to guardthe fort, I sent out no scont. This evening intE:lligence came to me from theColonel (WeisH) informing me that he had notice from Captain Ol'lldt of fifteen going to fall 'In this settlement on hereabouts. He ordered me therefilreimmediately to l"end notice to Captain Busse's ii,rt, in order that it might befrom there conveyed to Fort Swatara. I did aceordingly.June 27. Gave orders to Sel'geant Smith to go sP.Outing the woods betweenthis and Fort Lebanon, and if Captain Morgan thought that it was serviceable, to range some way up Schuylkill, (as that gap is their common rendez\Tous.

June ~ 8 . A scout of Captain Busse arrived in the fi)l'enooll, and set oftagain this afternoon.Upper Bern.-June 29. In the evening there came two men to the fiJrt.,and reported that the Indians had invaded about six miles from this, about 9o'clock this morning. I was somewhat concerned that I had 1I0 sooner intel

l i g e l 1 ~ of it, however, I immediate'y sent oft 12 men under two corporals.June 30. About 1I00n the two corporals returned and made the followingreport: That yesterday they could not reach the place, a..., they were tired, butstaid at a house till nigh break of' day, and thell set off again. He did notimmediately go to the p l a l ~ where the mall, &c., were killed, but went somewhat furthel' down towards the Schuylkill, thinking that the Indians had in-

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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 29"aded lower down, but as it was not so, he took another route towards theplace where the rout'dex: was committed, ancl a.


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30 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA,ago. The traditional date therefore, agrees precisely with that given by thecommander at Fort ~ o r t h k i 1 l . .

The Reichard mentioned in the report belonged to a family living onthe farm now owned by Mr. Daniel Berger. Tradition says that the Reich-ard family was murdered, except one of the boys, whom the Indians hadintended to take prisoner. Mr. Reichard used to tell .his children if theIndians should come and attempt to take any of them alive they shouldresist to their utmost. This y ~ u n g boy wishing to carry out his father'srequest, continued to resist, and, when the Indians had brought him as faras to Moyer's, they, irritated by his illsubmission, killed him with theirtomahawks and scalped him.I t was also about this time that the Hostetter family was murdered near

the forge west .of Shartlesville.A squad of soldiers were ranging the woods daily between Forts Henry,~ o r t h k i l l and Lebanon, but no Indians were seen for three weeks. Onthe 23d of July the commander of Fort Northkill marched along themountain as far as to the east side of the SchuylkiJI, and remained at FortLebanon during the night and then says in his journal:July 24th. Returned, and as soon as we came over on this side of themountain, (it being yet early in the day), I took -Iuite another route throughthe woods, but made no discovery, so we arrived at Fort Northkill in theevening. I had not been there o n ~ - h a l f an hour before three farmers cameand informed me that this morning the Indians had taken a boy of about14 years prisoner, but had done no other damage. I immediately sent offa party, but as it happened, the boy being taken prisoner in the morning,night came on before my men could get there.25th. In the morning I heard that the boy had escaped, and that hemade report, and that there were four white men and four Indians withhim, and that at night he escaped; they had tied him and he was obligedto lie between them, but as they all got drunk and fast asleep, he untiedhimself and ran off. He further says that when he was taken prisoner hemade a noise, and that they struck him and told him to be silent. I imagine they saw me with my men go over the day before yesterday. TheIndians were this night about the fort, hut it was very dark, therefore I didnot sally out.26th. This morning sent out Sergeant Smith with five men to searchabout the fort for tracks, but he only found one which was in a muddyplace. But it being nothing but stones, he could not follow the tracks.I t rained all day, therefore I could send no scouts.

Scouts were sent out every day, but nothing was seen of the Indians fora week.August 4th. A scout of Captain Busse arrived and returned the sameclay. The inhabitants desiring assistance to bring in their harvest, I gavethem some men, and went scouting, but as I left few men in the fort I re-turned this evening.The soldiers often guarded the fields while the farmers took off theirgrain and hauled it away, because when they were engaged in this work,the Indians could approach them more closely without being' observed."7th. This being Suuday, I took a party and went to church, as the

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'THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.


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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 33that any ahridgement would fail to convey the idea so completely as the letterswritten by men who were prominent leaders in the defense against the Indians.The first letter* that contains any positive information of the coming of theIndians, was written by Comad Weiser to James Read, of Reading. It waswritten in Heidelberg, Sunday night., 11 o'clock, Octobel' 26, 1755. Mr.Weiser received intelligence of' the approach of the Indiaus about 10 o'clockthat evening, and immediately sent out men to give the alarm through theneighboring townships and to call a meeting early at Peter Spicker's. PeterSpicker lived in the upper part of Stouchsburg, in the house now owned byDr. I ..W. Newcomet. The meeting was announced to be held at PeterSpieker's, but Mr. 'Veiser's letter written the next day, reports that the meet-ing was held at Benjamin Spieker's: about one mile north of Stouchsburg.James Read sent a messenger to Philadelphia at 6 o'cl-.lck in the morning ofthe 27th of' October to apprize the Governor of the approaching crisi!'l. ames Read was Prothonotary, Register, Rt:corder, Clerk of the Orphans'Court and Clerk of the Quarter Sessions of B e r k ~ county fr'om 1752 until1775, and Jonas Seely was Trea.


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34 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA,o'clock. An this was punctually performed; and about two hundred wereat Benjamin Spicker's at two o'clock.

I made the necessary disposition, and the people were divided into companies of thirty men in each company, and they chose their own officers; thatis, a captain over each company, and three inferior officers under each, to takecare of'ten men, and lead them on, or fire as the captain should direct.I sent privately for Mr. Kurtz, the Lutheran minister, who lived about amile off, who came and gave an exhortation to the men, and made a prayersuitable to the time. Then we marched toward Susquehanna, having firstsent about fifty men to Tolheo, in order to possess themselves of the gaps ornarrows ofSwatara, where he expected the enemy would come through; withthose fifty I sent a letter to Mr. Parsons, who happened to be at his plantation.We marched about ten miles that evening. My company had. now increased to upwards of three hundred men, mostly well armed, though about twentyhad nothing but axes and pitchforks-all unanimously agreed to die together,and pngage the enemy wherever they should meet them, never to inquire thenumber, but fight them, and so obstruct their way of marching further intothe inhabited parts, till others ofour brethren come up and do the same; andso save the lives of our wives and children.The night we made the first halt, the powder and lead was brought up fromReading. (1 had sent for it early in the morning), and I ordered it to the careof the officers, and to divide it among those that wanted it most.On the 28th, by daybreak, we marched; our company increasing all along.W'e arrived at Adam Read's, Esq., in Hanover township, (Lebanon county,) atabout 10 o'clock-there we stopped and rested until the rest came up.(Here the letter says that Mr. Read received intelligence from the SusqlJehanna that a party of fi)rty men went to John Penn's creek, thence to Shamokin, and on their return they were fired upon by the Indians in ambush andthat "twent.y-six of them were missing and Hot heard of as yet, last Monday.")Upon this we had a consultat.ion, and as we did not come up to serve asguards til the Paxton people, but to fight the enemy, if they were come so far,I\l:! we first heard, we thought best to return and take care ofour own townships.After I had given the necessary caution to the people to hold themselves inreadiness, as the enemy was certainly in the county. to keep their arms in goodorder, and so on. and then discharge them-and we marched back, with theapprobation of Mr. Read. By t.he way, we wpre alarmed by a report that fivehundred Tndians had come over the mountain at Tolheo to this side, and hadalready killed a number of' people. We stopped Ilno sent a few men to discover the enemy. bnt, on their return, proved to be a false alarm, occasionedby that company that I had sent that way the day before, whose gUllS gettingwet, they fil'ed them off, which was the cause of alarm-this not only hadalarmed the company. but the whole townships through which they marched.In going bank, I met mes'3engers from other townships about Conestoga, whocame fi)r intelligence, and to ask me where their assidtance was n e c e ~ r y ,promising that they would (lome to the place where I should dil"eCt.I met also at Tulpehocken, about one hundred men well-armed, as to firearms, ready to follow me; so that there were in the whole about five' hnn


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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA. 35dred and twenty.I cannot send any further account, being ullcommonly fatigut:d. I shouldnot forget, however, to inform your Honor that Mr. Read has engaged to keepproper persons riding between his hOllse and Susquehanna, and if anythingmaterial shall occur, he will send me tidings to Heidelberg or to Reading,which I shall take care to dispatch to you. I find that great trouble has beentaken at Reading to get the people together, and nearly two hundred werehere yesterday morning; but upon hearing that the people attending me weredischarged, the people from the country went off without consulting whatshould be done for the future, through the indiscretion of a person who waswith them, and wanted to go home; and near the town they met a large company coming up, and gave such accounts as occasioned their turning back. Ithink mt)st of the inhabitants would do their duty; but without some militaryregulations \\'e shall never be able to defend the province.I am sure we are in great danger, and by an enemy that can travel as In-dians, we may be surprised when it would be impossible to collect any numberof men together to defend themselves, and then the country would he laidwaste. I amquite tired, and must say no more than thattI am your Honor's most obedient servant,CONRAD WEISER.

Conrad Weiser sent an express to William Parsons, who, it appears, wasin Lebanon county, to take command of about one hundred men near the footof the mountain in the Shamokin road. This was unmistakablv in Betheltownship, north of Millersburg, because the direct road from Tuipehocken toShamokin was through Bethel. One-half of the men had no ammunition.Parsons ordered all to go over the mountain and erect a breastwork at theupper gap of the Swatara, and that those who had no powder and lead. shouldtake axes. He then continues in a letter dated October 31, 1755: "I promised them to go to Tulpehocken, and provide powder and lead, and a sufficientquantity of lead to be sent immediately after them. But they went no furtherthan to the top of the mountain, and there those that had ammunition, spentmost of it in 6hooting up into the air, and then returned back again, firing allthe way, to the great terror of all the inhabitants thereabout, and this wasthe case with almost all the others, being about 500 in different parts of theneighborhood; there was another company who came from the lower part ofBern township, as far as Mr. Freme's Manor. So that when I came to Tulpe-hocken I found the people there more alarmed than they were near the mountain. } 4 ~ o r when they saw me come alone they were ovetjoyed, having heardthat we were all destroyed, and that the enemy were just at their backs, readyto destroy them. At Tulpehocken there was no lead to be had; all thatcould be had from Reading was taken to Pextang. I therefore sent an expressover to Lancaster to Mr. Shippen that evening, desiring him to send me somelead. He sent me seven pounds, being all that the town people were willingto part with, as they were themselves under great apprehensions. I also procured 20 pounds of powder, papered up in one quarter pounds, and orderedout a quantity of bread near the mountains, but when I returned home Ilearned that my people had given over the pursuit, in the manner above men-

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36 THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA.tioned. I have since distributed a good deal of the powder and lead, and thebread I ordered tf) the poor people who are removing from their settlementson the other side or the mountain, from whence the peol>le have been remov-ing all this week. I t is impossible to describe the confi.Jsion and distr{'SS of

t h o ~ e unhappy people. Our roads are continually full of travellers. Thoseon the other side, of the men, women and children, most of them barefooted,11ave been obliged to cross those terrible mOllntains with what little they couldbring with them in so long a joumey through ways almost impassaule, to getto the inhabitants on t h i ~ side. While those who live on this side near themountain are removing their effects to Tulpehocken. Those at Tulpehockenare removing to Reading, and many at Reading: are moving nearer to ~ h i l a -delphia, and some of them quite to Philadelphia. This is the present unhappysituation of Pennsylvania."*The unnecessary waste of powder and lead to which Parsons refers in hisletter, was in one respect vely imprndent and in alJother worse than foolish,because it threw the people of Tulpehocken into indescribable fear, and wastedtheir ammunition which was almost exhausted. Seven pounds of lead andtwenty ponnds of powder would be insufficient :fi)r a company of one hundredmen even in an insignificant skirmish, and much more so ill a battle with theIndians.Tulpehocken and Bethel . -The government wa." in as dose a commll-Ilication with its officers as it was possible to UP. ill a time when telegral'hs, rail-roads, and even fast horses were unknown, and in consequence of 1\ want ofbett.er facilities for sending news rapidly it is evident that many perEons weremurdered in the county, of which no report was received, at least, none waskept. A few papers were pllulished in Philadelphia during the l!'rench andInu;an War, and contain some information not found in the records of thegovernment. Had a papet been published in Reading at the time many im-portant. incidents that never reached Philadelphia would undoubtedly havebeen preserved, and would throw much light upon a part of OUl history, nowenveloped in darkness.The Pennsyhania Gazette of November 20, 1755, contains a very interest-ing article describing a number of shocking murders not mentioned hy'Yeiserand Parsons. The article is a deposition taken in the city of Reading, and,being so near the scene of the tragedy, is snffieient evidence of the trnth1iIlnessof it."BERKS COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA, ss:Jacob Morgan, a captain in Col. 'Yeiser's regiment, being sworn on theHoly Evangelists of Almighty God, doth depose and say, that on Sunday, the16th Novembel', 1755, at about five o'clock, P. :\1., he, the d e p o ~ e l l t , Mr.Philip Weiser and Mr. Peter Weiser. l'et out from Heidelberg towardsDietrich Six's, to get intelligence of the mischief done at Tolheo, or therea-houts, and to get a number of men to join them to go and seek for the personsscalped by the Indians; and to help in the best manner tl1PY could, the poordistressed inhabitants. That about nine miles from Mr. 'Yeiser's thev founda girl about six years old scalped, but yet alive, and a v a ~ t number of peoplethele; but he knows not at whose house it was, 110r the name of the child.

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THE INDIANS OF BERKS COI;NTY, PA, 0) ,That at the req lest of the people there, Mr. Weiser's son and deponent, wenthack to Mr. Weiser's for powder and lead. That at or about two o'clock yesterday morning they were alarmed at Mr. 'Yeiser's with an account that theIndians had beset Geor

the indians of berks county pa ocr

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