Life of Ebenezer Allen, a Tory.--He comes to Gardow.--His intimacy
with a Nanticoke Squaw.--She gives him a Cap.--Her Husband's
jealousy.--Cruelty to his Wife.--Hiokatoo's Mandate.--Allen supports
her.--Her Husband is received into favor.--Allen labors.--Purchases
Goods.--Stops the Indian War.--His troubles with the Indians.--Marries
a Squaw.--Is taken and carried to Quebec.--Acquitted.--Goes to
Philadelphia.--Returns to Genesee with a Store of Goods, &c.--Goes to
Farming.--Moves to Allen's Creek.--Builds Mills at Rochester.--Drowns
a Dutchman.--Marries a white Wife.--Kills an old Man.--Gets a
Concubine.--Moves to Mt. Morris.--Marries a third Wife and gets another
Concubine.--Receives a tract of Land.--Sends his Children to other
States, &c.--Disposes of his Land.--Moves to Grand River, where he
dies.--His Cruelties.
Sometime near the close of the revolutionary war, a white man by the
name of Ebenezer Allen, left his people in the state of Pennsylvania on
the account of some disaffection towards his countrymen, and came to the
Genesee river, to reside with the Indians. He tarried at Genishau a few
days, and came up to Gardow, where I then resided.--He was, apparently,
without any business that would support him; but he soon became
acquainted with my son Thomas, with whom he hunted for a long time, and
made his home with him at my house; winter came on, and he continued his
stay.
When Allen came to my house, I had a white man living on my land,
who had a Nanticoke squaw for his wife, with whom he had lived very
peaceably; for he was a moderate man commonly, and she was a kind,
gentle, cunning creature. It so happened that he had no hay for his
cattle; so that in the winter he was obliged to drive them every day,
perhaps half a mile from his house, to let them feed on rushes, which in
those days were so numerous as to nearly cover the ground.
Allen having frequently seen the squaw in the fall, took the opportunity
when her husband was absent with his cows, daily to make her a visit;
and in return for his kindnesses she made and gave him a red cap
finished and decorated in the highest Indian style.
The husband had for some considerable length of time felt a degree of
jealousy that Allen was trespassing upon him with the consent of his
squaw; but when he saw Allen dressed in so fine an Indian cap, and found
that his dear Nanticoke had presented it to him, his doubts all left
him, and he became so violently enraged that he caught her by the hair
of her head, dragged her on the ground to my house, a distance of forty
rods, and threw her in at the door. Hiokatoo, my husband, exasperated
at the sight of so much inhumanity, hastily took down his old tomahawk,
which for awhile had lain idle, shook it over the cuckold's head, and
bade him jogo (i. e. go off.) The enraged husband, well knowing that he
should feel a blow if he waited to hear the order repeated, instantly
retreated, and went down the river to his cattle. We protected the poor
Nanticoke woman, and gave her victuals; and Allen sympathized with
her in her misfortunes till spring, when her husband came to her,
acknowledged his former errors, and that he had abused her without a
cause, promised a reformation, and she received him with every mark of
a renewal of her affection. They went home lovingly, and soon after
removed to Niagara.
The same spring, Allen commenced working my flats, and continued to
labor there till after the peace in 1783. He then went to Philadelphia
on some business that detained him but a few days, and returned with a
horse and some dry goods, which he carried to a place that is now called
Mount Morris, where he built or bought a small house.
The British and Indians on the Niagara frontier, dissatisfied with the
treaty of peace, were determined, at all hazards, to continue their
depredations upon the white settlements which lay between them and
Albany. They actually made ready, and were about setting out on an
expedition to that effect, when Allen (who by this time understood
their customs of war) took a belt of wampum, which he had fraudulently
procured, and carried it as a token of peace from the Indians to the
commander of the nearest American military post.
The Indians were soon answered by the American officer that the wampum
was cordially accepted and, that a continuance of peace was ardently
wished for. The Indians, at this, were chagrined and disappointed beyond
measure; but as they held the wampum to be a sacred thing, they dared
not to go against the import of its meaning, and immediately buried the
hatchet as it respected the people of the United State; and smoked
the pipe of peace. They, however, resolved to punish Allen for his
officiousness in meddling with their national affairs, by presenting the
sacred wampum without their knowledge, and went about devising means for
his detection. A party was accordingly despatched from Fort Niagara to
apprehend him; with orders to conduct him to that post for trial, or for
safe keeping, till such time as his fate should be determined upon in a
legal manner.
The party came on; but before it arrived at Gardow, Allen got news of
its approach, and fled for safety, leaving the horse and goods that he
had brought from Philadelphia, an easy prey to his enemies. He had not
been long absent when they arrived at Gardow, where they made diligent
search for him till they were satisfied that they could not find him,
and then seized the effects which he had left, and returned to Niagara.
My son Thomas, went with them, with Allen's horse, and carried the
goods.
Allen, on finding that his enemies had gone, came back to my house,
where he lived as before; but of his return they were soon notified at
Niagara, and Nettles (who married Priscilla Ramsay) with a small party
of Indians came on to take him. He, however, by some means found that
they were near, and gave me his box of money and trinkets to keep
safely, till he called for it, and again took to the woods.
Nettles came on determined at all events to take him before he went
back; and, in order to accomplish his design, he, with his Indians,
hunted in the day time and lay by at night at my house, and in that way
they practised for a number of days. Allen watched the motion of his
pursuers, and every night after they had gone to rest, came home and got
some food, and then returned to his retreat. It was in the fall, and the
weather was cold and rainy, so that he suffered extremely. Some nights
he sat in my chamber till nearly day-break, while his enemies were
below, and when the time arrived I assisted him to escape unnoticed.
Nettles at length abandoned the chase--went home, and Allen, all in
tatters, came in. By running in the woods his clothing had become
torn into rags, so that he was in a suffering condition, almost naked.
Hiokatoo gave him a blanket, and a piece of broadcloth for a pair of
trowsers. Allen made his trowsers himself, and then built a raft, on
which he went down the river to his own place at Mount Morris.
About that time he married a squaw, whose name was Sally.
The Niagara people finding that he was at his own house, came and took
him by surprize when he least expected them, and carried him to Niagara.
Fortunately for him, it so happened that just as they arrived at
the fort, a house took fire and his keepers all left him to save the
building, if possible. Allen had supposed his doom to be nearly sealed;
but finding himself at liberty he took to his heels, left his escort to
put out the fire, and ran to Tonnawanta. There an Indian gave him some
refreshment, and a good gun, with which he hastened on to Little Beard's
Town, where he found his squaw. Not daring to risk himself at that place
for fear of being given up, he made her but a short visit, and came
immediately to Gardow.
Just as he got to the top of the hill above the Gardow flats, he
discovered a party of British soldiers and Indians in pursuit of him;
and in fact they were so near that he was satisfied that they saw him,
and concluded that it would be impossible for him to escape. The love
of liberty, however, added to his natural swiftness, gave him sufficient
strength to make his escape to his former castle of safety. His pursuers
came immediately to my house, where they expected to have found him
secreted, and under my protection. They told me where they had seen
him but a few moments before, and that they were confident that it was
within my power to put him into their hands. As I was perfectly clear
of having had any hand in his escape, I told them plainly that I had not
seen him since he was taken to Niagara, and that I could give them no
information at all respecting him. Still unsatisfied, and doubting my
veracity, they advised my Indian brother to use his influence to draw
from me the secret of his concealment, which they had an idea that
I considered of great importance, not only to him but to myself. I
persisted in my ignorance of his situation, and finally they left me.
Although I had not seen Allen, I knew his place of security, and was
well aware that if I told them the place where he had formerly hid
himself, they would have no difficulty in making him a prisoner.
He came to my house in the night, and awoke me with the greatest
caution, fearing that some of his enemies might be watching to take him
at a time when, and in a place where it would be impossible for him to
make his escape. I got up and assured him that he was then safe; but
that his enemies would return early in the morning and search him out if
it should be possible. Having given him some victuals, which he received
thankfully, I told him to go, but to return the next night to a certain
corner of the fence near my house where he would find a quantity of meal
that I would have well prepared and deposited there for his use.
Early the next morning, Nettles and his company came in while I was
pounding the meal for Allen, and insisted upon my giving him up. I
again told them that I did not know where he was, and that I could not,
neither would I, tell them any thing about him. I well knew that Allen
considered his life in my hands; and although it was my intention not
to lie, I was fully determined to keep his situation a profound secret.
They continued their labor and examined (as they supposed) every
crevice, gully, tree and hollow log in the neighboring woods, and at
last concluded that he had left the country, and gave him up for lost,
and went home.
At that time Allen lay in a secret place in the gulph a short distance
above my flats, in a hole that he accidentally found in the rock near
the river. At night he came and got the meal at the corner of the fence
as I had directed him, and afterwards lived in the gulph two weeks.
Each night he came to the pasture and milked one of my cows, without any
other vessel in which to receive the milk than his hat, out of which he
drank it. I supplied him with meal, but fearing to build a fire he was
obliged to eat it raw and wash it down with the milk. Nettles having
left our neighborhood, and Allen considering himself safe, left his
little cave and came home. I gave him his box of money and trinkets, and
he went to his own house at Mount Morris. It was generally considered by
the Indians of our tribe, that Allen was an innocent man, and that the
Niagara people were persecuting him without a just cause. Little Beard,
then about to go to the eastward on public business, charged his Indians
not to meddle with Allen, but to let him live amongst them peaceably,
and enjoy himself with his family and property if he could. Having the
protection of the chief, he felt himself safe, and let his situation be
known to the whites from whom he suspected no harm. They, however, were
more inimical than our Indians and were easily bribed by Nettles to
assist in bringing him to justice. Nettles came on, and the whites, as
they had agreed, gave poor Allen up to him. He was bound and carried
to Niagara, where he was confined in prison through the winter. In the
spring he was taken to Montreal or Quebec for trial, and was honorably
acquitted. The crime for which he was tried was, for his having carried
the wampum to the Americans, and thereby putting too sudden a stop to
their war.
From the place of his trial he went directly to Philadelphia, and
purchased on credit, a boat load of goods which he brought by water to
Conhocton, where he left them and came to Mount Morris for assistance
to get them brought on. The Indians readily went with horses and brought
them to his house, where he disposed of his dry goods; but not daring to
let the Indians begin to drink strong liquor, for fear of the quarrels
which would naturally follow, he sent his spirits to my place and we
sold them. For his goods he received ginseng roots, principally, and a
few skins. Ginseng at that time was plenty, and commanded a high price.
We prepared the whole that he received for the market, expecting that he
would carry them to Philadelphia. In that I was disappointed; for when
he had disposed of, and got pay for all his goods, he took the ginseng
and skins to Niagara, and there sold them and came home.
Tired of dealing in goods, he planted a large field of corn on or near
his own land, attended to it faithfully, and succeeded in raising a
large crop, which he harvested, loaded into canoes and carried down
the river to the mouth of Allen's Creek, then called by the Indians
Gin-is-a-ga, where he unloaded it, built him a house, and lived with his
family.
The next season he planted corn at that place and built a grist and saw
mill on Genesee Falls, now called Rochester.
At the time Allen built the mills, he had an old German living with him
by the name of Andrews, whom he sent in a canoe down the river with his
mill irons. Allen went down at the same time; but before they got to the
mills Allen threw the old man overboard and drowned him, as it was then
generally believed, for he was never seen or heard of afterwards.
In the course of the season in which Allen built his mills, he became
acquainted with the daughter of a white man, who was moving to Niagara.
She was handsome, and Allen soon got into her good graces, so that he
married and took her home, to be a joint partner with Sally, the squaw,
whom she had never heard of till she got home and found her in full
possession; but it was too late for her to retrace the hasty steps she
had taken, for her father had left her in the care of a tender husband
and gone on. She, however, found that she enjoyed at least an equal half
of her husband's affections, and made herself contented. Her father's
name I have forgotten, but her's was Lucy.
Allen was not contented with two wives, for in a short time after he had
married Lucy he came up to my house, where he found a young woman who
had an old husband with her. They had been on a long journey, and called
at my place to recruit and rest themselves. She filled Allen's eye,
and he accordingly fixed upon a plan to get her into his possession. He
praised his situation, enumerated his advantages, and finally persuaded
them to go home and tarry with him a few days at least, and partake of
a part of his comforts. They accepted his generous invitation and went
home with him. But they had been there but two or three days when
Allen took the old gentleman out to view his flats; and as they were
deliberately walking on the bank of the river, pushed him into the
water. The old man, almost strangled, succeeded in getting out; but his
fall and exertions had so powerful an effect upon his system that he
died in two or three days, and left his young widow to the protection
of his murderer. She lived with him about one year in a state of
concubinage and then left him.
How long Allen lived at Allen's Creek I am unable to state; but soon
after the young widow left him, he removed to his old place at Mount
Morris, and built a house, where he made Sally, his squaw, by whom he
had two daughters, a slave to Lucy, by whom he had had one son; still,
however, he considered Sally to be his wife.
After Allen came to Mt. Morris at that time, he married a girl by the
name of Morilla Gregory, whose father at the time lived on Genesee
Flats. The ceremony being over, he took her home to live in common with
his other wives; but his house was too small for his family; for Sally
and Lucy, conceiving that their lawful privileges would be abridged if
they received a partner, united their strength and whipped poor Morilla
so cruelly that he was obliged to keep her in a small Indian house a
short distance from his own, or lose her entirely. Morilla, before she
left Mt. Morris, had four children.
One of Morilla's sisters lived with Allen about a year after Morilla was
married, and then quit him.
A short time after they all got to living at Mt. Morris, Allen prevailed
upon the Chiefs to give to his Indian children, a tract of land four
miles square, where he then resided. The Chiefs gave them the land, but
he so artfully contrived the conveyance, that he could apply it to his
own use, and by alienating his right, destroy the claim of his children.
Having secured the land, in that way, to himself, he sent his two Indian
girls to Trenton, (N.J.) and his white son to Philadelphia, for the
purpose of giving each of them a respectable English education.
While his children were at school, he went to Philadelphia, and sold his
right to the land which he had begged of the Indians for his children to
Robert Morris. After that, he sent for his daughters to come home, which
they did.
Having disposed of the whole of his property on the Genesee river, he
took his two white wives and their children, together with his effects,
and removed to a Delaware town on the river De Trench, in Upper Canada.
When he left Mt. Morris, Sally, his squaw, insisted upon going with
him, and actually followed him, crying bitterly, and praying for his
protection some two or three miles, till he absolutely bade her leave
him, or he would punish her with severity.
At length, finding her case hopeless, she returned to the Indians.
At the great treaty at Big Tree, one of Allen's daughters claimed the
land which he had sold to Morris. The claim was examined and decided
against her in favor of Ogden, Trumbull, Rogers and others, who were the
creditors of Robert Morris. Allen yet believed that his daughter had an
indisputable right to the land in question, and got me to go with mother
Farly, a half Indian woman, to assist him by interceding with Morris for
it, and to urge the propriety of her claim. We went to Thomas Morris,
and having stated to him our business, he told us plainly that he had no
land to give away, and that as the title was good, he never would allow
Allen, nor his heirs, one foot, or words to that effect. We returned
to Allen the answer we had received, and he, conceiving all further
attempts to be useless, went home.
He died at the Delaware town, on the river De Trench, in the year
1814 or 15, and left two white widows and one squaw, with a number of
children, to lament his loss.
By his last will he gave all his property to his last wife (Morilla,)
and her children, without providing in the least for the support of
Lucy, or any of the other members of his family. Lucy, soon after his
death, went with her children down the Ohio river, to receive assistance
from her friends.
In the revolutionary war, Allen was a tory, and by that means became
acquainted with our Indians, when they were in the neighborhood of his
native place, desolating the settlements on the Susquehannah. In those
predatory battles, he joined them, and (as I have often heard the
Indians say,) for cruelty was not exceeded by any of his Indian
comrades!
At one time, when he was scouting with the Indians in the Susquehannah
country, he entered a house very early in the morning, where he found a
man, his wife, and one child, in bed. The man, as he entered the door,
instantly sprang on the floor, for the purpose of defending himself and
little family; but Allen dispatched him at one blow. He then cut off his
head and threw it bleeding into the bed with the terrified woman; took
the little infant from its mother's breast, and holding it by its legs,
dashed its head against the jamb, and left the unhappy widow and mother
to mourn alone over her murdered family. It has been said by some, that
after he had killed the child, he opened the fire and buried it under
the coals and embers: But of that I am not certain. I have often heard
him speak of that transaction with a great degree of sorrow, and as the
foulest crime he had ever committed--one for which I have no doubt he
repented.