History of Westmoreland County
Volume 1
Chapter 11
The Closing Years of the Revolution- Indians, Hard Times- Lochry’s and Crawfords Ill-Fated Expeditions
After perusing a preceding chapter the reader can form some idea of the condition of our county in 1779 and ’80. With many soldiers in the field our ranging parties, performing almost daily duty, and, the militia constantly guarding the forts, agricultural interests were sadly neglected and many homes were reduced to absolute want. Many had left their western homes for more peaceful habitations east of the mountains. It was not unusual to find several families living in one house or cabin, which, if strongly barricaded, afforded a comparatively safe place of refuge from the Indians. There were not men enough to guard all of the houses, and by uniting them they flet more secure. There were scarcely men enough to gather their scanty crops. Sometimes they were not permitted to sow their ground in the spring, and some who sowed amid dangers in the spring were unable to reap in the fall. Often the husband and older sons went to the field in the morning and never returned. Often, also upon their return at night, they found the family had been either captured or murdered. From 1778 to 1782 there was scarcely a family within the limits of our present county that had bread sufficient to subsist on from fall till spring. Their live stock was destroyed and stolen. With all their vigilance in watching the enemy there was scarcely a week that some depredation was not committed. Men, women and children were taken prisoners and carried away, and nothing was heard from them for months or years, and often they were never heard of again. This apparently never-ending war induced the authorities to offer and from time to time to increase the bounty on scalps of Indians.But, on the other hand, the Indian was rightly regarded as the natural enemy of the white man, and it soon became the belief of the pioneers that the only solution to the question was the utter extermination of the native Indian race. From an early date the Proprietors offered a bounty for the scalps of Indian warriors. In 1756 (says Craig in “Early Pittsburgh”) Governor Morris offered one hundred and fifty Spanish dollars for every male Indian above the age of twelve years taken prisoner and delivered to the authorities; for the scalp of every male Indian over twelve years old taken in war, one hundred and thirty Spanish dollars; for every male or female prisoner under twelve years old, one hundred and thirty Spanish dollars for the scalp of every Indian woman, produced with evidence of being killed, fifty dollars. These bounties were payable by the commanders of the forts that were kept up by the province, upon the delivery of the prisoner or scalps with proper proofs; the jail keepers at the county seats were also authorized to pay for them. In 1764 Governor Penn offered a reward of $150 for every male Indian prisoner over ten years old, and $134 for his scalp when killed. For every male or female under ten years of age when captured, $130, or $50 for the scalp when killed. About 1782 there was a standing reward of $100 for a dead Indian’s scalp, and $150 for the Indian if captured alive and brought to the garrison. The same offer was made for all white men taken prisoner while aiding the Indians. Colonel Samuel Hunter, Colonel Jacob Stroud and others in Westmoreland were authorized to offer the rewards. In a letter to President Reed the former says that he ahs just organized a party to go scalp-hunting, and that though they do not make as much out of a dead Indian as out of a living one, yet it was much less trouble and much more agreeable to the hunters to shoot himn at once and scalp him than to be bothered carrying him along as a prisoner. Colonel Archibald Lochry, the county lieutenant, wrote from his house near Latrobe that there was no doubt but that the reward would answer a good end. He also in the same letter asks for more ammunition to supply the parties of scalp hunters. But Colonel Hunter reported later and unsuccessful. Many scalps were thus taken, and on one occasion thirteen, with accompanying certificates, were sent in at one time. The scalp hunting business reached its highest point in 1781 and 1782, if the Colonial records are to be believed. It must not be forgotten that the y scalped men, women and children, and even innocent babes.
A person who was scalped was always supposed to be killed, though we have instances of some who survived the injury. The scalping itself did not kill the prisoner, for it consisted in the taking of the skin only from crown on the head- a piece about four inches in circumference. This operation was performed by taking a firm hold of the hair with the left hand, and when the skin was slightly drawn away from the bone a sharp knife readily severed a circular piece from the head. It was a custom prevalent among the Indians in warfare among themselves when the first Europeans arrived, and was probably then only used to verify the number of the enemy they had slain. The greed for scalps was afterwards induced by the rewards offered. It will be recalled that this greed for scalps and spoils on the part of the Indians saved Braddock’s army from complete annihilation.
This method of warfare was perhaps questionable, but the exigencies of the times promoted it. The bounty was rarely ever taken by the settlers. But whether the theory was right or wrong, they never offered a bounty for scalps of friendly Indians. Perhaps sometimes a dishonest settler did not discriminate between a friendly and a hostile Indian, but nevertheless the government itself was actuated by good intentions towards all but the hostile warrior. On this question Colonel Broadhead, in a letter to President Reed, says that about forty friendly Delaware Indians had come to assist the white settlers in the frontier war, and that a party of about forty white men from the region of Hannastown attempted to destroy them, and were only prevented from doing so by his soldiers. He says in the same letter that he could have gotten one hundred Indians to join him had it not been for such open enmity as was evinced by these men fro Hannastown. Among the Hannastown party were Captains Irwin and Jack, Lieutenant Brownlee and Ensign Guthrie, all of whom were gallant rangers who had more than once risked their lives in the frontier warfare. Colonel Broadhead, however, knew as much of the Indians as any man of his day, and had fought them as effectually as any one since the days of Bouquet. Yet he says distinctly that the whites were themselves in part to blame for their great trouble with the reedmen. His statement has always been considered detrimental to the good names of the rangers mentioned in his letter. It is more likely, however, that these rangers did not know or did not believe that the forty Indians were friendly ones in reality. The well know treachery of the race was ever present in the minds of the white man. The modern saying that the only good Indian is a dead one undoubtedly existed in the minds of the rangers long ago. No men were more anxious to add strength to the white man’s camp than Irwin, Jack and Brownlee, and no men ran greater risks in trying to preserver order than they, as will be see later on. But, on the other hand, it is likewise true that if they believed the forty friendly Indians were treacherous, no set of men could have exterminated them in shorter time than forty rangers headed by such men as Jack, Irwin, Brownlee, and Guthrie. This is, at least, a charitable view of Colonel Broadhead’s letter, and we believe is not unduly fair to rangers.
Judge Wilkinson, in the American Pioneer, says the scalp bounty law was brought into disrepute by killing friendly Indians to sell their scalps. There was no bounty during the Revolution on Indian prisoners, and this led to the death of some. Moreover, a friendly Indian was much more easily scalped than a hostile one. At all events, the abuse of the law, says the above writer, “brought the scalp bounty measure into disrepute,” and it was rightfully repealed. It had only been offered to encourage settlers to sustain the soldiers in battle.
The Indian troubles had thus been going on from had to worse since the beginning of the Revolution, and in February and March, 1781, a plan of defense was suggested by General George Rogers Clark, and concurred in by Broeadhead and Lochry. It was to take a army into the heart of the Indian country, to burn their houses, devastate their country, and destroy their warriors, and to so weaken them that they would thereafter be unable to disturb the settlers of Western Pennsylvania. It was not a new plan in Indian warfare, for it was practically the same that was adopted successfully by Broadhead in his movements down the Ohio and up the Allegheny in 1788. It was little other than the plan with which Scipio Africanus had electrified the Roman senate two thousand years before, when the great Carthagenian was threatening the Eternal City. The plan was laid before Washington and Jefferson, and met with their approval, and was likewise approved by the supreme executive council, through they averred that they could do but little for the project because all the troops the Pennsylvania could spare were then with General Nathanael Greene in the south. All the council could do was to encourage the Westmoreland people to assist in the project in every way possible. Christopher Hays was then the Westmoreland member of the council, and was opposed to the expedition doubtless from fear of the result. Colonel Archibald Lochry, the county lieutenant was the foremost man in the project after Clark, and had his spirit of patriotic zeal taken upon himself to raise all soldiers in Westmoreland county he could. All were bitter against Hays. There were many bickerings and jealousies among the leaders, notwithstanding the universal suffering, and weakened the cause of great deal. Each leader seemed to have a corresponding enemy who vilified him. Broadhead, Lochry, Perry and others were accused of having misappropriated public money and speculating in ammunition and whisky furnished by the council for the troops. The charges were probably all groundless. Early in 1781, the council became alarmed at the threatenings of the Indians, and at the delay in raising the soldiers for the expedition, which they thought was occasioned by the incompetency and by jealous feelings among the leading men. They therefore directed Lochry, the leader of the forces here, to raise at once a company of fifty volunteers enlisted for a four months campaign, and promised to add a full company, all to be under Lochry, and to carry the war into the Indian country, and to be posted as he might direct. David Duncan was appointed commissioner of supplies in place of James Perry, the latter, either through inefficiency or negligence, having proved very unsatisfactory in his administration of that office. President Reed, in a letter to Lochry, says, “It is with such concern that we hear when troops are raised for your protection they are permitted to loiter away their time at taverns of straggling about the country.” He had probably received this information from those who were jealous of Lochry. He also advises that all troops should be moved from Hannastown and sent where they could be of more service. He evidently did not understand the Hannastown situation. Lochry replied in good style under date of April, 1781, and reported that the savages had already begun their hostilities in four places on the frontier, and had either killed or taken prisoners thirteen settlers, two of whom had been murdered within one mile of Hannastown. He wrote further that the country was more nearly depopulated than ever before, and that the condition on the frontier would be much worse if their real weakness was known to the enemy. (See Pa. Arch., Vol. 9, p. 79) He lamented the scarcity of provisions to supply the militia, and reported that ammunition was so scarce among the settlers that he was compelled to supply them with a part of the supply intended for the army. Lochry had built a magazine and blockhouse on his place in Unity township, where he meant to keep the army stores and ammunition. President Reed disapproved of this, and directed that they should be kept in the garrisons.
The plan in general was known as Clark’s plan, and its movements were minutely disclosed in a letter written by him to the council on June 3, 1781. There were two objective points, viz. : First, the houses built by the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, west of the Scioto river, in Ohio; and second, the Sandusky tribes, which had gradually been pushed west from the Allegheny river section. His outline plan suggested that if the Westmoreland expedition under Lochry should march against the Sandusky tribes, he might lead an army against the Shawnees and Delawares in the southern part of Ohio. After each army had accomplished the object of its expedition they should unite and pursue the Indians still further, if necessary. One party would thus support the other, and the extermination of these tribes could thus be so complete that further molestations from them need not be feared by our Western Pennsylvania borders. If the military of the state was so weak that the two armies could not be furnished, then one stronger than either should do the work of both, and it should be provisioned according to the magnitude of the undertaking, which, he intimated, was indeed an arduous one. Clark was a brave, cool man of genius, and his character and reputation as a soldier were well known in Westmoreland county. It was expected that our people inspired by the faith they had in him, would flock to his assistance. Three hundred men had been promised from Washington and Westmoreland counties, but from all this section only two of the leading men of Westmoreland came forth to assist him. The reason lay not in their lack of faith in Clark, nor in the project, but they were simply afraid to leave their home and families, exposed as they would have been to the merciless attack of the red men, whose depredations were every day growing bolder and more inhuman. Broadhead also, from feelings of jealousy referred to above, discouraged the project by talking of organizing an expedition himself, and called on the young men of the country to join him. Lochry’s reputation had unjustly suffered somewhat from the spirit of jealousy referred to and he probably longed for an opportunity to show the people that he had only the good of the country at heart. Both Clark and Lochry determined not to wait any longer on volunteers from Western Pennsylvania. Clark had a small force at and around Fort Pitt, but he depended mainly for his forces on the settlements along the Ohio river, and on Kentucky, for all were interested in punishing the Indians. Lochry brought his forces together at Carnahan’s blockhouse, a stronghold about ten miles northwest of Hannastown. Among them were Captain Robert Orr, a friend of Lochry’s of long standing, and an officer in the militia. Orr had furthermore induced many of the militia to join Lochry. Captains Thomas Stokes and Samuel Shearer each headed a small band of Westmoreland rangers, and Captain Charles Campbell had a squad of men on horseback. On July 25th they left Carnahan’s for Fort Henry, now the industrious city of Wheeling. It is acknowledged by all that the men of our county whom Lochry took with him were the best Indian fighters we had; in fact, none but the most daring and active young men could engage in such a project. All were poorly equipped for such a journey. Stokely’s company was described as being literally half naked. Outfits for all of the, had been promised by President Reed, and their expected arrival delayed the expedition. When finally they failed to arrive, many who meant to join them were compelled to remain behind. The outfit which might have helped them a great deal arrived after they had left. Ensign William Cooper hurried on with it, but it never reached them. Lochry’s entire command when he started numbered one hundred and seven men.
Fort Pitt was also to send out troops under Captain Isaac Craig. They were to join Clark’s forces in company with some troops from Kentucky at Louisville. The Kentucky troops failed to meet them, and all of Craig’s forces returned to Fort Pitt. Clark had collected from Redstone, Ohio, and Kentucky about seven hundred and fifty men. Lochry was to join Clark at Wheeling but when they reached that point they found that Clark had gone on, leaving a boat and some provisions for Lochry, with instructions to follow and join him twelve miles below. Lochry’s army was delayed at Wheeling fitting out additional boats, and when he reached the designated point of meeting twelve miles below he found that Clark had left it the day before, but had left orders for him to follow and join at the mouth of the Kanawha river. But Lochry was now about out of provisions and ammunition both, and the outlook was growing darker each day. His forces, if joined to Clark’s would have been safe enough, but when alone they were at best at the mercy of the enemy. Clark did not know for certainty that Lochry was on the way. But the undaunted Lochry journeyed on towards the mouth of the Kanawha. Here again he arrived too later. Clark had erected a pole on the bank of the river, and on it was a letter to Lochry directing him to follow on down the river to the falls in the Ohio, where now stands the city of Louisville. Clark, however, was doing the best he could. First, he had no evidence that Lochry was on the way at all, and to leave provisions taken from his already scanty supply, with no assurance that Lochry would get them, was more than should be expected. Second, his men were rapidly becoming impatient to go out and give battle to the Indians, and return to their homes, where they were doubtless badly needed. They were deserting, and the only way he could hold them together at all was by moving towards the enemy.
Nothing was left for Lochry to do but to go down the river. Yet, without provisions and with but little ammunition and nothing in the country to draw from, his advance must indeed have looked very gloomy. Nor could he now hope to overtake Clark, for his boats were clumsy and poorly manned by pilots who knew nothing of the channel or the surrounding country. The best he cold do was to dispatch Captain Shannon in a boat with three or rour men hoping that a lighter craft might overtake Clark’s army and secure supplies, etc. Shannon and his party were captured by the Indians, and with them a letter from Lochry to Clark, which gave them some idea of the weak condition of Lochry’s forces. The Indians, as was afterwards learned, were only prevented from attacking Lochry’s army by a fear that Clark might have forces near enough to assist him. Moreover, while Lochry was in the middle of the river, an attack would have been very serious on the part of the Indians. But from deserters from Clark’s army whom they captured, they learned pretty nearly the true situation, and rapidly collected large forces of Indians near the mouth of the Miami river. They then stationed their prisoners on a small island on the Ohio side of the river, where they could see any craft which might pass down the Ohio. They were to hail the expedition as it came down the stream and induce them to land on the island. Should they succeed in this treachery, they were to be set free, and if they failed to perform their part they were to be put to death. But Lochry’s men landed on the Ohio side they were to be put to death. But Lochry’s men landed on the Ohio side, about three miles above the island, near the mouth of a small creek which yet bears his name, being known as Lochry’s creek. He has been criticized for landing at all, and thus making his capture possible. He knew more about Indian warfare than any of his modern critics do, and his landing was probably a matter of necessity. He landed at a place of peculiar beauty even to this day, and his starving horses were turned out to graze, for the bank was rich in herbage. One of his men killed a buffalo, and there was plenty to eat for all his forces. This was about 10 o’clock a.m., August 24, 1781. Clark, if at the falls was yet one hundred and twenty miles down the river, but with refreshed troops and horses this distance might easily, be covered in three or four days and the hopes of the soldiers ran high.
But the Indians had their scouts out along both banks, and the news of the landing was s0on made known to their main forces. Without the slightest warning, as was the Indian custom, came the leaden hail and the well known Indian yell from a bluff nearby. This bluff was covered with large trees, and from behind these and among their branches the six hundred and forty eight assailants fought at a great advantage. Lochry’s men sprang to their guns, and while their ammunition lasted defended themselves as well as they could. When it was exhausted they made for their boats, but by this time the Indians had closed in on them, and at once took them prisoners. Not one of them escaped capture. Lochry was killed soon after being taken. He had with him one hundred and six men when he landed, of whom forty-two were killed and sixty-four were captured. The prisoners, their arms, etc., were divided among all the tribes represented in the attack, in proportion to the number of each tribe. They were thus separated, but nearly all were held captive until the fall of 1782, when they were collected by the British officers and exchanged for prisoners whom the American army had captured. All whom the English ransomed were taken to Montreal, but in the meantime a few had escaped. In the spring of 1783 most of them sailed for New York, and thus returned to Westmoreland county, after an absence of twenty-two months.
More than half of the one hundred and seven men who left Carnahan’s never returned, and until their return very little was heard of them. On the return of Captain Craig’s troops he could scarcely be persuaded that Lochry had not returned before. Isaac Anderson and Richard Wallace were taken to Montreal and escaped. After long marches through the gloomy forests they reached Philadelphia, and sent a letter to the council telling who they were and how they had reached the city. They asked for clothing and money to take them home to Westmoreland country. Captain Orr had his arm broken inn the fight. He was taken to Sandusky and thence to Detroit, and finally to Montreal, where he was exchanged. Samuel Craig, a lieutenant in Orr’s company, from Derry township, was taken prisoner. As the Indians were crossing a river they threw him overboard, intending to drown him, but he was a splendid swimmer, and repeatedly made his way to the canoe, and with his hands on the sides, tried to climb in. They beat him over the hands with the oars and pressed his head under the water as often as he came to the surface for breath. Finally, when he was about exhausted, an Indian claimed him as his own, and took him into the boat. In his long captivity Craig suffered perhaps more than any other. Several times both he and his captors came near starving. He had a cheerful disposition and was a good singer, and the Indians loved his songs. At one time they grew tired of their prisoners and took them all out and placed them in a row on a log. They then blackened their faces, which meant that they were to be killed. But just then Craig began to sing as loud and well as he could. This so pleased the Indians that they spared his life, while all the others were murdered. Soon after this he was sold to a British officier for a gallon of whisky. After his return he was married to a daughter of John Shields, and left a family of five sons and two daughters. He was by trade a fuller, and built a fulling mill on the banks of the Loyalhanna, Near New Alexandria. Another survivor from Lochry’s army was James Kane, who was for nearly a life time a court-cryer under Judge John Young, of Greensburg. He died in 1845.
Archibald Lochry was one of the strongest men in Westmoreland in revolutionary days. He was of North-Irish extraction, but was born in the Octoraro settlement, for he was an ensign in the Second Battalion in the provincial service. Both he and his brother William were appointed justices in Bedford county at its organization, and later when Westmoreland was organized, he was made a justice here, as the reader has seen. He very early took up a large tract of land in what is now Unity township. It is on the south side of the turnpike between Greensburg and Youngstown, and near St. Xavier’s Convent. The land has since added great wealth to the county, for it is within the celebrated Connellsville coal belt, and is underlaid with a thick vein of coal. His correspondence is generally date at “Twelve Mile Run,” the name of a small stream on his land which flows into the “Fourteen Mile Run,” which in turn flows into the Loyalhanna fourteen miles below Fort Ligonier. His services as county lieutenant, then a position of great importance, though now unknown, made him very nearly if not quite our ablest man after General St. Clair, of the Revolutionary period. His name has been spelled differently from the spelling here. We take this from his will which he signs, “A. Lochry.” It is recorded in will book No. 1. page 31, of the Westmoreland recorder’s office. His will appoints John Proctor, his neighbor, as his sole executor, and letters were granted to him July, 1782. His ill-fated expedition, while it seemingly accomplished but little, was necessary to work out our final peace and harmony on the western border. As long as Westmoreland people revere the struggles and courage of their pioneer ancestry, will the name of Archibald Lochry be held in highest esteem.
It is hardly fair to the Indian not to tell his side of this most important feature of our pioneer history. It is, moreover, necessary to know something of both sides in order to judge correctly of either. It has been our purpose to take the reader outside of the present limits of our county as little as possible, except in matters in which our people were directly interested. We are now to go outside of Westmoreland for by far the bloodiest chapter in our work, and are happy to say that our people were in no way connected with it.
The Moravian Church in the eastern part of Pennsylvania sent missionaries among the Indians of our section as early as 1769. In every section these missionaries made themselves felt and in one or two tribes they had quite a following. But whether a tribe was Christianized or not, all were alike slowly pushed westward by advancing civilization. In 1780 a colony known as the Moravian Indians, who had embraced that faith of religion, were located on the Tuscarawas river, in Ohio, in what is now Tuscarawas county. Here they lived at peace with all mankind, and, having abandoned the nomadic nature of the average Indian, had acquired considerable personal property and had better houses than the average of their race. Their preacher was Rev. John Heckewelder. They had three villages on the Tuscarawas, about six miles apart which were regarded as a model of Indian civilization, and of what might be done generally for the race by Christianity. They were about midway between the hostile tribes of western Indians and the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania. Both the Pennsylvania settlers and the Indians west of them frequently passed through or near the Moravian settlements in going to war, and often through kindness they entertained representatives of both parties on their way to battle. This brought them into bad odor with each, and they were frequently mistreated by both sides. Broad head with his army in 1780 had passed near their settlements, and he and his soldiers respected their rights. Their minister visited him and he forbade any of his soldiers interfering with them. In 1781 the militia from Washington county (which had suffered much from other tribes but none from the Moravians) concluded to destroy them. It was easier to fight and scalp resistless Indians than the average savage. Colonel David Williamson led the party. The Moravian tribe had, on several occasions warned the white race of intended Indian raids from the farther West. The Tories under the leadership of Girty and Mckee. They hoped thus to force the peaceable Moravians to make war on the white settlers. Through they were then driven from their homes many of them had gone back, and were living in their old places in 1782, when David Williamson’s party of Washington county militia arrived. This party consisted of about ninety men. A few were from settlements on the Ohio river, below Pittsburgh, but the large majority of them came from the central part of what is now Washington country. It is said that the coveted the fine horses of Moravians.
Williamson and his party represented themselves as friendly to them and thus secured possession of their towns, and then disclosed their real purposes before taking the all as prisoners, confining them in log houses, and proceeding to deliberate as to what they should do with them. Williamson knew that to put the average Indian to death would have added to their glory, but he was afraid to do so in this case. So they lined up the militia and allowed them to vote as to whether the prisoners should be put to death or taken in captivity to Pittsburgh. Only eighteen voted in favor of taking them, the others, about seventy voting that they should be put to death. The cringing Indians were then told to prepare for death. On hearing this they began to sing and pray as they had been taught by the pious minister. To make a show of reason for this outrage, they were charged with many things they had not done, such as harboring hostile Indians and stealing property. To this they answered that they had not refused shelter to either the white or the Indian race, and had never knowingly aided any one who was intent on committing depredations. To all charges they answered equally well, offering, by the way, to show all the property they had to prove that none of it was stolen. But they were told to prepare for death. They then asked for more times to sing and pray and this was granted. They asked forgiveness as they had been taught to do, and bade each other good-bye, but in the hope of a speedy reunion after death. Some of the murderers outside were impatient for the slaughter, and they moreover could not agree as to the manner in which they should be put to death. Many could not agree as to the manner in which they should be put to death. Many wanted to burn the houses in which they were imprisoned, and shoot all who would attempt to escape the flames. This was objectionable because it would destroy the scalps, from which they hoped to realize a handsome revenue. The eighteen members of the militia washed their hands of all complicity in the affair, and there is no evidence that any of them took any part in it. One of the murderers took a cooper’s mallet and began killing them by breaking their skulls. He kept this up until he had killed fourteen, and then complained that his arm was tired and handed his mallet, wreaking with blood, to another. In this way all were put to death save two boys, one of whom had hidden in a cellar; the other, surviving the stroke of the mallet and the removal of his scalp, escaped that night. Thus quotes one writer on the subject. “By the mouth of two witnesses shall these things be established.” When all had been murdered the dead bodies were put in one house, which was fired. They then started home, and on their way met a body of friendly Delawares, all but a few of whom were killed.
Colonel Williamson was afterwards elected to office in Washington county, and, it is said, died in jail as a debtor, without a friend in the world. County Lieutenant John Cannon was among them. It is said that the fiend who killed the fourteen with a mallet was at the time a country commissioner and justice of the country, and that he was subsequently elected sheriff of the country. John Cannon founded Cannonsburg, and from him the Academy of so noted in the past took its name. Now this outrage, the blackest in Pennsylvania annals, was committed by a people who prided themselves on their advancement, wealth and culture, and who looked with scorn on the Dutch, who, in their dealings with the Indians, followed as far as possible the policy of William Penn. How the patriotic and justice-loving Washington must have blushed with shame when he learned that these murderers had sought to perpetuate his name by giving it to their newly formed country!
It must ever be remembered that the Indian’s side of the long contest between the early settlers and his race, can never be truly known. Our knowledge of these events almost invariably comes from his enemies. Few nations, indeed, would be correctly portrayed if they were compelled to take the place in history given them by their enemies.
The Westmoreland reader is interested in another expedition to Ohio, made in 1782, from the fact that its leader, Colonel William Crawford, was the presiding judge of our first courts held at Hannastown, in 1773. In May he started out with an army of about five hundred horsemen, all mounted on their own animals. They were largely from Washington country. His objective point was the Indian strongholds in western Ohio. His force was repulsed, and he was in a fair way to escape had he not turned back to look after his son, son-in-law and two nephews, who were of his retreating party. He could not overtake the men because of the weariness of his horse. Crawford and a friend of his, Dr. Knight, and nine others, were taken prisoners on June 10th. His cruel death has been written of a great deal, and is perhaps, of all outrages committed by the Indians, the one which will dwell longest in the memory of civilized people. He was tied to a tree and burning wood placed near him so as to lengthen his torture. The squaws cut his ears and nose off, and heaped burning coals on his head and back. For three hours he endured this agony, when at last the brave but exhausted Colonel sank into a most welcome death. Simon Girty superintended this barbarous affair. Dr. Knight witnessed it, and knew that he was to be saved for similar exhibition in another locality a night or two following. When being taken there he escaped, and after twenty- two days of wandering reached Fort McIntosh, and thence returned to his home. A further reference to Crawford as our first judge will be found in the part of this work which treats of the judiciary.
By this time the resources of all of our country were nearly exhausted. To illustrate; the business done in our courts had almost dwindled away. In January, 1780, they failed to get men in the country to form a grand jury, and the court adjourned without doing any business. In October, 1780, there was only one constable present, and he was from P9ittburgh. In January, 1781, a traverse jury was secured and their names are quite familiar to the reader. Though they doubtless have often been published, we are constrained to give them again. They were: William Love, John Guthrie, Joseph Brownlee, William Jack, William Guthrie, Adam Hatfield, Matthew Miller, Samual Beatty, Lawrence Irwin, William Shaw, Conrad Houk and William Maxwell. There were, however, as is always the case in hard time, many (ninety-two) executions issued. The enormity of this number may be better understood when it is known that in 1902, one hundred and twenty years after, there were only three hundred and seventy-four issued, and this when our population was verging on 200,000.
A transcript from the records is as follow: “The court having considered the application of David Rankin, he living on the frontiers, excuse him from paying license in the year 1781, and at the same time rule that the several people having sold or continue to sell spirituous liquors living on the frontiers, and may be entitled to the favor of the court, are discharged from paying license until July sessions last, agreeable to the directions of the Honorable, the Supreme Executive Council.”
A law was passed on March 10, 1780, empowering the country commissioners to remit the taxes of those who had been driven from their homes by the Indians, and also of those who, though not driven always, had greatly suffered from the enemy. That year we were not even called on for troops, for it was know that our men able to perform military duty, and many who were not, were already enlisted. Colonel John Boynton, who was commissioner in the western frontier, says in a letter to President Read that in three years he was scarcely able to purchase such necessaries of life as decency required. Continental money had also depreciated so greatly that the Pennsylvania council found it necessary to control the payment of debts by fixing a scale of paying power for the depreciated currency, and the same law enacted that the power for the depreciated currency, and the same law enacted that the law limiting the time of bringing suits should not run when the courts were closed. In 1780 Broadhead wrote to President Reed, “For heaven’s sake hurry up the promised forces, or Westmoreland county will be a wilderness.” This year a flying company, or rather two of them, were introduced, and these were to pass rapidly back and forth between Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier. Westmoreland country furnished sixty-five men for this purpose, and they were divided into two companies.
The following is a partial list of the Revolutionary soldiers who have lived and died in Westmoreland country. It is, of course, not complete, but it was mostly gathered by the editors of the Greensburg Democrat with great care, and published by them from time to time. Perhaps the list may contain errors, and we regret that it can never be completed, yet it is almost invaluable so far as it goes.
George Ament, of Franklin township, died December 11, 1843 aged 85 years.
Christopher Aukerman, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 17, 1845, in the 88th year of his age. He was a drummer and later a soldier in the war. His body was buried in the Aukerman graveyard, near Lycippus,
John Ansley was a native of New Jersey. Prior to 1798 he removed to the northern part of Westmoreland country, where he spent the balance of his life.
Thomas Anderson took up a large tract of land, known as the Richlands, in Derry township, near New Alexandria. He died there in 1826, aged 103 years, and was buried in the Salem Presbyterian churchyard, Derry township.
Joseph Brownlee was a lieutenant in Captain Joseph Erwin’s company, Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. He was murdered by the Indians near Miller’s Station (or fort), two miles northeast of Greensburg, July 13, 1782, the same day that Hannastown was burned. A more extended notice of Captain Brown lee will be found in the chapter on the burning of Hannastown.
Sergeant Thomas Beatty, of Derry township, died April 4, 1822, in the 70th year of his age. He enlisted in June, 1776, in Captain James Chamter’s company of musketry, Colonel Raelly’s regiment, Pennsylvania Line, year. In June, 1777, he reenlisted for three years in the First Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. During nine months of that period he was a prisoner on board a British vessel. He served until the end of his term and was honorably discharged.
David Brown, of Fairfield township, died May 2, 1819, in the 70th year of his age.
John Brennen, of Hempfield township, died July 10, 1826, aged 77 years. He enlisted in 1777 at McCallistertown, Pennsylvania, in Captain McCallister’s company of musketry, Colonel Raelly’s regiment, Pennsylvania Line, for the war, and served six years. He participated in the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, Germantown and Paoli, being severely wounded by a bayonet in the latter engagement.
Hon. John Brandon died November 27, 1823, in Washington township, Indian country, in the 70th year of his age. He was a soldier from the battle of Bunker Hill to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. After the war Mr. Brandon settle in Westmoreland country, and was elected sheriff in 1792 and again in 1801; also a state senator, and held several minor positions.
Leonard beck, of Hempfield township, died March 14, 1831, in the 72nd year of his age. His remains are buried in the graveyard at Senator’s Church, Hempfield township.
John Barns, of Unity township, died December 10, 1836, in the 83rd year of his age.
Adam Brattier died in Westmoreland country, July 29, 1834 aged 84 years. He enlisted in Captain Thomas Craig’s Company, Second Pennsylvania Battalion, Colonel Arthur St. Clair, on January 13, 1776 as a private for one year. At the end of that term he re-enlisted in the Pennsylvania Line for three years or during the war, and was honorably discharged in 1781.
James Black was sergeant in Captain Robert Orr’s company in a battalion of Westmoreland militia, under command of Colonel Archibald Lochry. In 1781 the battalion was ordered on an expedition down the Ohio river, and August 24th of that year, while in service, Sergeant Black was tomahawked and killed by the Indians. A more extended notice of the Lochry expedition is given in former pages.
Joseph Bullman was a son of Thomas Bullman and Anna Walling. He was married November 18, 1762, to Mary Baird, sister of Captain John and Major William Baird, and daughter of John and Avis Baird; all were of Monmouth county, New Jersey. Part of the time he was an ensign with Captain Carter and Colonel Hathaway. He removed to Westmoreland country and settled in Loyalhanna township at the woolen factory near Fennel church, where he spent the remainder of his life. His remains were probably interred at the Congruity Presbyterian cemetery, as his son, Rev. Samual P. Bullman, was a member of that church during his youth.
Jacob Byerly died in North Huntington township, July 7, 1858, aged 99 years. He was born in Bedford fort, and came with his father to the vicinity of Harrison City in 1782. He did valiant service on frontier and in a number of expeditions against the Indians, and during the war was attached to the Thirteenth Virginia regiment, part of which was stationed at Fort Pitt.
James Carnahan was a lieutenant in Captain Joseph Erwin’s company of the Pennsylvania Rifle regiment. He was subsequently at various times a captain in the Second, eight and Thirteenth Pennsylvania regiments, Continental Line. He served from March,1776, until 1781, and was accidentally drowned in the Allegheny river n the winter of 1786. His father, John Carnahan, was one of the early settlers of Bell township, where he built a log house in 1774. Captain James Carnahan was the father of the late Dr. Carnahan, president of Princeton College. He is spoken of earlier in the chapter, and was indeed, one of our best men in the Revolution.
Garret Covode, of Fairfield township, died February 21,1826, in the 91st year of his age. His remains are interred in the old Fairfield Presbyterian churchyard. He was a native of Holland, and a resident of the Ligonier Valley for thirty-six years.
Captain Daniel Carpenter, of Franklin township, died December 14, 1827, in the 79th year of his age. He was a captain in war under General Washington. He was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
John Curry, Sr., died in Preble county, Ohio, August 27,1835, aged 85 years. He was one of the first settlers on the Allegheny river in Westmoreland county, located three miles southeast of Freeport. He served several years in the war, and at its close returned to his home on the river. Three times the Indians burned his house, and three times he was compelled to flee with his family east of the mountains to escape the savages. In 1814 he removed to Pebble county, Ohio.
The Craig family, father and three sons, rendered splendid service in the war. Samual Craig, Sr., was lieutenant in Colonel John Proctor’s battalion of militia. He was captured by the Indians. John Craig died in 1847, his remains resting at Freeport, Pennsylvania. Alexander Craig died October 29, 1832, in his 77th year, his body being buried at Congruity, and Samuel Craig, Jr. died in 1808.
Samuel Carson was buried in cemetery at Long Run church, North Huntington township. He enlisted At Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1776 as a private in Captain James Taylor’s company, Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion, under colonel Anthony Wayne, and served to the close of the war.
Zebulon Doty was born in New Jersey, in 1760. After the war immigrated to Derry Township, and settled near the Salem Presbyterian Church. He died at Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
William Donald, of Franklin township, died March 31, 1842 in the 90th year of his age.
Phillip Drum, of Franklin township, died June 10, 1845, in the ?? year of his age. He was a native of Northampton county. He participated in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. His remains were interred in the graveyard of his own farm with military honors. The Franklin Blues, under commander Captain Hugh Irwin, performed the last sad honors.
Francis Davidson, of Salem township died October 8, 1845 at the age of 106 years.
George Dugan, of Westmoreland county, died August 16, 1834, left no family.
Nathaniel De’y died at his residence in Derry township, March ?, 1848, in his 86th year. He was one of the Hessians captured by Washington. Subsequently he joined the American army and served during the remainder of the war with bravery and fidelity. He was ever a respected and excellent citizen of his adopted country.
Robert Elder served five years in the war. In 1784, he emigrated to a section of Lancaster county that is now included in Dauphin, to Westmoreland, and settled near New Alexandria, where he died many years afterwards, at the age of 86 years. His remains are interred in the Salem Presbyterian churchyard, Derry township.
John Finley was a lieutenant in Captain Moses Carson’s company in 1776 to range the frontiers. He died on his farm in South Huntington township, September 9, 1813.
Hon. William Findley, of Unity township, died April 4, 1821, aged 80 years. His body was buried in the graveyard at Unity Church. He rose to the rank of captain in the war, and was a member of the council of censors of the supreme executive council, of the convention that ratified the federal constitution of 1790, a member of the general assembly, and for twenty-two years was a representative in Congress. He was a prominent figure on the side of law and order during the latter part of the Whiskey Insurrection, and he was an author of a history of that notable affair, which was published in 1796. A more extended account of his life will be found elsewhere in these pages.
William Farrel died in Mt. Pleasant borough, June 20, 1828, aged 82 years. He enlisted in 1877 in the Seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Line, under Col. William Butler (the Flying Camp). At his funeral his remains were interred with the honors of war by the Mt. Pleasant Volunteers, under command of Lieutenant A. Miller.
Lieutenant Andrew Finley, of South Huntingdon township, died July 5, 1829, aged about 80 years. Sixty years previously, when surrounded by difficulties and encountering danger at every step, he visited the state of Kentucky, at that time a trackless wilderness. He enlisted in the Continental army as first lieutenant in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Colonel Aeneas Mackay, and after his death Colonel Daniel Broadhead. On various occasions Mr. Finley distinguished himself by his daring intrepidity in opposing the Indians and relieving the inhabitants of our frontier settlements.
Mathias Fisher, of Ligonier township died February 17, 1834.
Lieutenant Ennos Grannis, of Hempfield township, died March 18, 1824, aged 69 years. He enlisted in Connecticut, August 25, 1777, in a company of artificers commanded by Captain Pendleton. In November, 1779, he was appointed a lieutenant in that company, which was attached to the regiment commanded by Colonel Baldwin, Connecticut Line. The regiment joined the southern army and marched to South Carolina. Lieutenant Grannis was honorably discharged at Philadelphia, November 3, 1783. Not long thereafter he became a citizen of Westmoreland county.
William Guthrie, of Washington township, died August 8, 1829, in the 95th year of his age. He was one of the pioneers. He enlisted in May, 1777, and continued in the service for four years, in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. He participated in many engagements with the Indians on the Westmoreland frontier and was noted for his great bravery.
James Gaghby, of Fairfield township, died May 23, 1834, in the 82nd year of his age. He immigrated to this country during the war, and joined the army. After the war he settle in Fairfield township, where he reside until his death.
Mathias H. Holston, of Derry township, died August 8, 1822.
William Hitchman, of Mt. Peasant township died February 10, aged about 75 years. He was native of Cecil county, Maryland. At the age of sixteen he enlisted under Captain Maxwell in a corps attached to the Maryland Line. He emigrated to this country in an early day, and suffered the hardships and privations to which the pioneers of the western country were exposed.
Robert Hamill was born in county Antrim, Ireland, and came with his parents, John Hamill and Elizabeth Gibson, to America, in 1761, and about 1785 moved to Ligonier Valley, two miles, south of Palmer’s Fort. The father, John Hamill, being drafted, Robert went in his place and served three years. He died in 1841, in the 83rd year of his age.
Hugh Hamill served in Captain Finley’s company from 1776 to 1779. He resided in Ligonier Valley in 1809, and was one of the original first session of the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church of that section.
Jacob Himinger died in Mt. Pleasant borough, April 5, 1842, in the 86th year of his age, and his remains were interred with military honors by Captain Clark’s volunteer corps of Jackson Greys.
Jacob Holtzer immigrated to America from Germany prior to the struggle for independence. He settled near Lewistown, Pennsylvania, enlisted in the army, and was promoted to sergeant. After the war he came to Westmoreland and settled in the southwestern section of Unity township. His remains were buried in Hempfield township, in what is known as Central Cemetery. Many of his descendants are well known residents of the country.
Colonel John Irwin, of Brush Hill (North Huntingdon township), died February 22, 1822, in the 83rd year of his age. He arrived in the country in 1762, and soon after was appointed a commissary in the British army. Suring the war he was quartermaster for the western department. He represented Westmoreland for several sessions in the general assembly. In 1794 he was appointed associate judge of the courts of this county by Governor Mifflin. Colonel Irwin was active in promoting the building of the Greensburg and Stoyestown turnpike.
Captain Matthew Jack, of Salem township, died November 26, 1836 in the 82nd year of his age. His remains are interred at Congruity. He entered the service as first lieutenant in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. He lost the use of his left hand by the bursting of his gun at Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was promoted to captain April 13, 1777, and became supernumerary January 31, 1779. He also rendered service at times in defense of the frontiers. At the burning of Hannastown by the Indians in July, 1782, he was among the first to go out from the stockade to discover the intention of the savages and to alarm the settlers. His famous ride and rescue of Mrs. Love and her babe on that memorable day are now well known facts of history. Captain Jack likewise participated in the war of 1812, and among his effects, still to be seen, is a valuable relic made from the wood of a British vessel, and marked with a silver plate bearing this inscription, ‘Capt. Matthew Jack; Perry’s Victory, Lake Erie, 1813.”
John Johnston, of Allegheny township, died March 12, 1843, in the 103rd year of his age. He served faithfully from the beginning to the close of the war, and was General Anthony Wayne’s command, and participated in the battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point, Guilford Court House and Yorktown. At the storming of Stony Point he was one of the gallant “forlorn hope.” His body was escorted to the grave by the militia under command of Major George W. Martin and Captain Kipp, and buried with the honors of war, in presence of the largest concourse of people ever assembled in the neighborhood at an interment.
General William Jack died at his residence near Greensburg, February 18, 1821, in the 68th year of his age. He was born near Strabane, country Tyrone, Ireland, in 1751, and came to Westmoreland country with his elder brother, Matthew Jack, in 1772. General Jack was distinguished for zeal and activity in protecting the frontiers, and was one of the founders of Greensburg. With Christopher Truby and Ludwick Otterman he donated the ground upon which are erected our present public buildings. He was second lieutenant of the Pennsylvania independent company of which Samuel Moorehead was captain, his omission bearing date January 1, 1777. He gained the title of General by virtue of appointment as brigadier general of Westmoreland militia, his commission signed by Governor Thomas Mifflin, April 19,1793. He was a justice of the court of common please during the Revolution. He donated to the burgesses and inhabitants of Greensburg lots of ground for school building, house of worship and burial ground, now embraced within the old St. Clair Cemetery. His remains are interred there near the remains of the patriot and soldier, General Arthur St. Clair.
James Jones served in the war about six years and six months. He was born November 11, 1761, and died August 18, `8``. His remains rest in the burial ground at Congruity Church, Salem township. James Hones was the grandfather of ex-County Superintendent H. M. Jones, of that township.
Captain David Kilgore, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 11, 1814, at an advanced age. He was an early settler in the county, and had been a captain in the war.
Joseph Kaylor, Sr., of Hempfield township, died April 1, 1833, in the 77th year of his age. At the commencement of the war he was snatched from his native country and widowed mother on the coast of Germany by a British press gang for enforced service against the Americans. On the first opportunity after his arrival in this country he escaped from the British and their unrighteous cause and joined his fortunes to the standard of liberty under Washington. He distinguished himself as a brave soldier in three sever engagements.. At the close of the war he settle in this county, where he spend the remainder of his life.
Captain David Kilgore, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 11, 1814, in the 70th year of his age. His remains were interred in the graveyard at the Middle Church in the township named. He was captain of a company in a regiment enlisted in June, 1776, for the defense of the frontier, and which subsequently became the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line.
Colonel Archibald Lochry was killed and scalped by the Indians August 24, 1781, below the mouth of the Big Maumee. He was Lieutenant colonel under Colonel John Proctor, First Battalion Westmoreland Associators, 1776. He was county lieutenant for Westmoreland county, and commanded a regiment of Westmoreland militia in General Clark’s proposed expedition against the Indians.
David Logan, of Franklin township, died November 28, 1815, aged sixty years.
Jacob Peter Long, of Mt. Pleasant township, died January 19, 1842, in the 83rd year of his age. He was a teamster in the war. His body rests in the Middle Church graveyard, in the township named.
Captain Jeremiah Lochrey died January 21, 1824, at the residence of Samuel Moorhead, in Salem township, in the 93rd year of his age, and was interred at Congruity. He was a captain in the Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line.
John Leach, a private in Captain James Leech’s company of militia Westmoreland country during the war, was killed by the Indians while in service.
James Montgomery, of Unity township, died march 14, 1824, age 72 years. He participated in the war, and subsequently in several tours against the Indians. He settled in Westmoreland in 1784, was elected a number of times to the state legislature, and appointed register and recorder by Governor Snyder in 1813.
Alexander McClain died at Youngstown, February 2, 1826, aged years. He served his country during the war and received four wounds, each at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Paoli.
Mathias Marker, of Donegal township, died April 17, 1840, aged ?? years. He enlisted for three years in the company commanded by Captain William Bratton, in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Colonel William Irvine, and for a time by Colonel Josiah Hammer. He served his full term, and was honorably discharged at Trenton New Jersey, his discharge being signed by General Wayne.
Captain William Moore, of Salem township, died January 12, 1819, in the 79th year of his age. He was one of the earliest settlers of that locality and was an active and useful citizen during the trying frontier days of the section, and was an officer in the Revolutionary war.
Isaac McKissack was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1752, and immigrated to America in 1772. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the army for seven years, was with Washington at Valley Forge, and endured all the trials of a soldier until peace was declared. He came west and was one of the soldiers on the frontiers, protecting the settlers from the attacks of the Indians. When Hannastown was burned he was in the field harvesting, near Latrobe. Hearing the report of the firearms he dropped his sickle, and with gun in hand started for the scene of action. He was one of the men who guarded the fort that night at Hannastown. After the raids of the Indians ceased, he settled on a farm in Unity township. He married Mary Cochran, of Salem township, and two daughters were born to them; one died when young, and the other, Eleanor, married William Barnes, of Unity township. They moved to a farm in North Huntingdon township, near Irwin. Isaac McKissack and his wife, in their declining years, made their home with William Barnes. He died of apoplexy, September 19, 1830, aged 78 years. The remains were interred in the Long Run Presbyterian Church graveyard, Circleville, Westmoreland country. Two grandchildren survive him, Miss Martha Barnes and Mrs. John Blair.
James McBride died December 21, 1837, aged 79 yeas, 9 months and 6 days. His remains rest in the family burial ground on the McBride farm, Loyalhanna township. He enlisted three times, first in August, 1777, and was granted a pension by the United States, August 10, 1833.
Peter Charge died 1803, his remains being interred in the old Fairfield Presbyterian churchyard. He was in Captain Thomas Stokely’s company with Lochrey’s expedition, was taken prisoner by the Indians and returned from captivity in 1782. A more extensive notice of his captivity is found in a former chapter.
Alexander McCurdy died at the residence of his son, Samuel, near Tunnel Hill, Derry township, January 6, 1839, aged 86 years. He enlisted in 1776 in Captain William Peebles’ company, Second Battalion, Regiment of Riflemen, Pennsylvania Line, commanded by Colonel Miles. He was a native of Ireland, but removed when young to the Ligonier Valley. His body was buried in the Baptist churchyard, Loyalhanna township.
James Montgomery was appointed a captain of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, and died in service, August 26, 1777.
Samuel Mehaffey resided on the line between Salem and Loyalhanna townships. He died in 1842, and was buried in the Congruity churchyard, but his grave is unmarked.
John McConnel, of Franklin township, died May 25, 1832, in the 78th year of his age. He enlisted in Captain Eli Myers’ company, Eight Pennsylvania Regiment, in June, 1776. The regiment first did duty at Kittanning and in the autumn was marched to New Jersey. He was in the battle of Bound Brook, and a number of skirmishes in that locality. About a year and a half later the regiment returned to the western country to operate against the Indians. It marched by way of Pittsburgh to Beaver Creek, and assisted in building Fort McIntosh. It then joined in the campaign under General McIntosh against the Indians on the Tuscaroras, and later in the campaign against the Muncy Indians under command of Colonel Broadhead. After three years service Mr. McConnell was discharged at Pittsburgh by Colonel Bayard, who then commanded the regiment.
William Marshall, of Unity township, died November 17, 1828, in the 76th year of his age. He resided in this section of the country previous to the war, and encountered all the dangers to which the inhabitants of the frontier settlements were then exposed. He volunteered his services at an early period, and while on an expedition against the Indians was taken by them and carried to Detroit, where he was detained for a considerable time during which time his sufferings were great. He at length succeeded in reaching home.
Samuel Miller, August 9, 1776, was appointed captain of a company of a battalion enlisted for the protection of the frontier on the west side of the Allegheny Mountains. It was afterwards called to New Jersey, and was known as the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. While at home on a furlough he, with others, was conveying grain to Fort Hand, Washington township July 7, 1778, when they were surprised by a party of Indians and he and seven of the party were killed. He was the original owner of Miller’s Station, two miles northeast of Greensburg, which was attacked and destroyed by the Indians and renegades who burned Hannastown, July 13, 1782.
Thomas Newill, of Mt. Pleasant township, died November 8, 1828, in the 86th year of his age. He participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and was distinguished for his gallantry and devotion.
Joseph Pound enlisted January 13,1776, at Philadelphia, as Joseph Point and served as sergeant in Captain Stephen Bayard’s company of Arthur St. Clair’s Second Pennsylvania Battalion. At the time of the outbreak of the war his parents resided at Bound Brook, New Jersey. Joseph Pound’s father and three brothers also served in the war. He emigrated from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, to Westmoreland county in 1793, and finally located at Tunnel Hill, near Livermore. He died April 4, 1813, aged 63, his remains being interred in the Salem Presbyterian churchyard, Derry township.
Thomas Patterson, Sr., of Derry township, died August 11, 1834, in the 78th year of his age. He was a resident of Derry township for more than sixty years prior to his death.
Zebulon park, of Donegal township, died July 4, 1846, in his 90th year. He enlisted in Captain Thomas Patterson’s company, Third New Jersey Regiment, Continental Line, January, 1776, and was in the service for four years and six months. He participated in the battles of Ticonderoga, Monmouth, Long Island, Elizabethtown, Brandywine, Trenton and others. He was wounded at Brandywine. He resided on the farm where he died, in Donegal township, for over fifty years, and was buried in the Pleasant Grove churchyard, Cook township
John Payne’s remains are buried in the Pleasant Grove Church graveyard, Cook township. His grave is not marked.
Major Andrew Ralston, of New Alexandria, died August 31, 1819, aged 66 years, and was buried at New Alexandria. He enlisted at the first call for troops, entered the service as a private in the Pennsylvania militia, and served throughout the entire war in various military stations.
General William Reed, of New Alexandria, died June 17, 1813, and was buried at that place. He took an active part in the war, and subsequently filled various public offices. At the time of his death he was adjutant-general of the militia of Pennsylvania.
Brintnell Robbins served as an officer under Washington during the Revolution. He subsequently became a tradesman, farmer and shipbuilder, distinguished in the last named occupation for building the boats the conveyed Scott’s troops across the Niagara and into Canada. In 1830 he moved to a farm near Greensburg. He died in a stone building where the Start House now is, corner Pennsylvania avenue and West Otterman street, July 25, 1836, and is buried in Harrold’s graveyard, three miles south of Greensburg.
John Rose served two terms in the war, and his remains rest in the Olive graveyard, Franklin township, three miles north of Murrysville.
Charles Richart, SR., of Mt. Pleasant township, died August 17, 1852, aged 96 years, 10 months and 20 days. His body was interred in St. Paul’s (or the Ridge Church) burial ground, near Trauger. He was a fifer in the war.
George Frederick Scheibeler, of Hempfield township, died February 28, at Frederickstown, Maryland, in the company commanded by Captain John Steth , in the dragoons commanded by Colonel William Washington. After nearly two years service he was taken a prisoner at Santee River , and kept one year on board a prison ship at Charleston, from whence he was taken to the West Indies. He made his escape, but was unable to return to America until after the war. He was a resident of Westmoreland for fifty years. AT the time of his death he was survived by two children, sixteen grandchildren and forty-six great-grandchildren.
Major Isaac Saddler, of Washington township died June 20, 1843, in the 84th year of his age. He was born May 14, 1760, and enlisted in the army when quite young. He was reared when the country was yet wild and desolate, and the savages frequented the borders.
Captain John Shields died near New Alexandria, November 3, 1821, in the 82nd year of his age. He was an early settler of the western country, having emigrated here in 1771, and resided there until his death. In 1776 he commanded a company that marched to Pittsburgh, to guard a number of commissioners deputed to treat with certain Indian nations. For several years he was actively employed in guarding the frontiers against the savages. When the war broke out he marched eastward as captain of a company. He had been a member of general assembly, was a magistrate for many years, and was one of the trustees for the erection of the first court house at Greensburg.
Daniel St. Clair died February 18, 1833, in Mifflin country, Pennsylvania, at an advanced age. He was an ensign in Captain John Reese’s company, Second Pennsylvania Battalion, and subsequently a first lieutenant in the Third Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. He was a son of Major General Arthur St. Clair.
Ezekiel Sample, of South Huntingdon township, died March 31, 1829, in the 80th year of his age. He lived in the township forty-two years, and was a justice of the peace for twenty-seven years.
Lieutenant David Sloan, of Captain Joseph Erwin’s company, Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, was killed in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776.
Andrew Simpson, of Salem township, was an ensign in a company of foot commanded by Captain Samuel Moorhead, of the First Battalion of Westmoreland militia. The command had been at the Kittanning fort. Returning home on March 16,1777, and still in the service, Ensign Simpson was shot, killed and scalped by the Indians.
John Stewart, of Hannastown, a private in Captain Robert Orr’s company, colonel Archibald Lochry’s battalion of Westmoreland militia, was killed August 24, 1781, below the mouth of the Big Maumee, on the Ohio in a battle with the Indians.
Nehemiah Stokely was a captain in the Eight Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. He died in Westmoreland county in 1811.
John Topper, of Unity township, died February 16, 1839, in the 90th year of his age. He served throughout the entire war, and in 1777 marched from Winchester, Virginia, to Fort Pitt, and subsequently participated in the battle of Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of his sword by Lord Cornwallis to General Washington. Hugh Torrence, of Franklin township died June 23, 1830 in the 85th year of his age. He was a member of the regiment commanded by Colonel Cadwallader, and was in the battles of Monmouth, Brandywine, Germantown and others. He resided in this county thirty-three years prior to his death.
Simon Taylor died at his home near New Alexandria, April 21, 1831.
John Woods, of Salem township, died April 28, 1827.
Mott Wilkinson, of Bairdstown, Derry township, died December 4, 1836, aged ninety-six years. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and served in the war with his uncle, Captain Daniel Lawrence. After the war he removed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and in 1820 to Blacklick township, Indiana country, and thence to Bairdstown. His remains are interred at Blairsville, Indian country, Pennsylvania
Adam Weaver died at Pleasant Unity, about the year 1831, aged about seventy-eight years. His remains were interred in a country burial round on the old William T. Nicolls farm, Mt. Pleasant township, one-half mile from Lycippus. He enlisted in Captain David Kilgore’s company, Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, in 1776, and was honorably discharged by Colonel Broadhead in 1779 at Pittsburgh. He participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Paoli and Bound Brook. His body was laid to rest with the honors of war.
Nathan Williams, of Greensburg, died November 2, 1830, aged 72 years. He was a private in the Second Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. His remains were interred in the old St. Clair cemetery.
George Wagner died in 1820. His remains are buried in the graveyard at Seanor’s Church, Hempfield township.
Captain John Young died at his home in Salem township, August 13, 1841, in the 87th year of his age. He enlisted in the army under captain Abraham Smith, of Cumberland county, in 1775, and marched to lower Canada, where he served under Generals Schuyler and Sullivan. He was in several battles, one of them being the battle of Three Rivers. He moved to Salem township in 1775, where he resided for fifty-six years. For seven years after he settled there the Indians were troublesome in that locality, and Captain Young on a number of occasions raised men and rendered important service in guarding the frontier.
Captain Jeremiah Lochry died January 21, 1824, aged ninety-four years and is buried at Congruity. He was in Braddock’s army, and at the defeat. He was adjutant of the Eight Regiment, and went with it from Westmoreland to New Jersey, under his brother, Colonel Archibald Lochry. As a captain he served during the remainder of the Revolution.
The state of Pennsylvania, by special acts of assembly, often granted pensions to her worthy and needy who had rendered service in the Revolution, and also to their widows. The following is a list of the names of those to whom pensions were granted by special acts of the legislature; they are not published among the regular lists of Pennsylvania who were pensioned by the government. All these were pensioned as Westmoreland citizens. The date opposite the name denotes the year the pension was granted. This list was made form “Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania,” and we believe we have omitted none:
John Brannon,
1820
Mary Geary,
1847
Sam Marshall, Sr.,
1843
William Brown,
1825
Mary Gray,
1847
Henry Mosher,
1849
William Briney,
1836
Robert Hunter,
1808
Hannah Mosher,
1855
Eleanor Blair,
1836
Andrew Hazlet,
1826
Catharine McIntyre,
1854
Killian Briney,
1838
Robert Hunter,
1827
Rebecca Moreland,
1857
Margaret Barnet,
1844
J. W. Hollingsworth,
1835
Jane Nixon,
1846
Nancy Blair,
1844
Eleanor Hagerman,
1838
James Payton,
1830
William Beatty,
1845
Michael Huffman,
1835
Robert Pain,
1830
Robert Crawford,
1822
Catherine Huffnagle,
1838
James Patrick,
1844
Thomas Campbell,
1824
David Hossack,
1836
William Patrick,
1845
Eanor Conner,
1837
John Harbison,
1838
Sarah Patterson,
1857
George Chambers,
1837
Robert Hanna,
1841
Robert Piper,
1845
Robert Cooper,
1837
Christena Huffman,
1840
Adam F. Roesser,
1824
James Cowen,
1837
Samuel Henderson,
1844
George Reem,
1836
John Campbell,
1838
Jacob Houseman,
1854
Samuel Robb,
1838
Henry Croushour,
1838
Hugh Irvin,
1849
Ann Reger,
1849
Margaret Calahan,
1841
John Johnston,
1825
Simon Ruffner,
1838
William Campbell,
1838
Elizabeth Jamison,
1839
Barbara Ruffner,
1851
Mary Cown,
1849
Margaret Johnston.
1838
Susanna Stokely,
1834
William Donnel,
1825
Joseh Johnston,
1845
Fred Septer,
1835
Francis Davidson,
1829
Ephraim Jellison,
1846
Andrew Shaw,
1835
Arah Davis,
1836
James Kean,
1826
David Shaw,
1835
James Denning,
1838
Gerge Koehler,
1826
Mary Snyder,
1839
James Duncan,
1844
Hannah M. Kimmel,
1827
Alexander Scott,
1842
Elizabeth Davidson,
1846
(widow of Jacob Kimmel)
Ann Smith,
1839
Jane Duncan,
1848
David Louther,
1838
Catharine Shaw,
1844
(widow of James Duncan)
Alexander Lyons,
1845
George Singerly,
1843
Rosanna Eager,
1842
Margaret Libengood,
1860
Barbara Snyder,
1844
Robert Ewing
1835
Sarah Louther,
1854
Reynold Stevens,
1845
Jacob Freeman,
1838
Capt. Jerry Lockry,
1807
John A. Smith,
1844
James Freeman,
1845
Jane McGuire,
1824
Catharine Septer,
1848
Mary Frantz,
1856
Jane Martin,
1827
Elizabeth Shields,
1857
James Flood,
1857
James McSorely,
1834
(widow of John Shields)
James Gageby,
1824
Margaret McClain,
1827
John taylor,
1838
Robert Gibb
1825
Nancy McConnel,
1834
Daniel Yarr,
1843
Jacob Grist,
1838
James McKensey,
1838
Adam Weaver,
1933
Martin Gray,
1844
Hohn Mertz,
1834
Robert Williams,
1838
Eleanor Gilgore,
1846
Gerge McWilliams,
1838
John G. Wilkins,
1838
Peter Gordon,,
1844
William Moreland,
1839
James Wilson,
1840
Robert Gilchrist,
1846
Robert McGuire,
1843
Ananias Wisener,
1838
Rachel George,
1859
Mary A. Mowry,
1845
(widow of David George)
James Mc Elroy,
1845
Eve Oury was granted a special pension of forty dollars per year by Act of April 1,1846. The act itself recites that it was granted for heroic bravery and risking her life in defense of the garrison of Hannastown Fort, in 1778, when it was attacked by a large number of Indians, and that by her fortitude, she performed efficient service in driving away the Indians, and thus saved the inmates from a horrid butchery by the merciless and savage foe. (See P. L. 1846, page 210). She was a daughter of Francis Oury, and died at Shieldsburg in 1848, and is buried at Congruity.
Source: Page(s) , History of Westmoreland County, Volume I, Pennsylvania by John N Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.
Transcribed July 2003 by Mark Wojcik for the Westmoreland County History Project
Contributed by Mark Wojcik for use by the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/)
Westmoreland County Genealogy Project Notice:These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any presentation, without prior written permission.
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