TORIES OF THE VALLEY--THEIR UNFORTUNATE EXPEDITION TO JOIN THE INDIANS
AT KITTANING--CAPTAIN JOHN WESTON, THE TORY LEADER--CAPTAIN THOMAS
BLAIR--CAPTURE OF THE BROTHERS HICKS--HANGING A TORY--NARROW ESCAPE OF
TWO OF WESTON'S MEN, ETC.
A successful rebellion is a revolution; an unsuccessful attempt at
revolution is a rebellion. Hence, had the Canadians been successful in
their attempt to throw off the British yoke in 1837, the names of the
leaders would have embellished the pages of history as heroes and
patriots, instead of going down to posterity as convicts transported to
the penal colonies of England. Had the efforts of the Cubanos to
revolutionize the island of Cuba been crowned with success, the
cowardly "_fillibusteros_" would have rated as brave men, and,
instead of perishing ignominiously by the infamous garrote and starving
in the dismal dungeons of Spain, they would now administer the affairs
of state, and receive all the homage the world pays to great and
successful warriors. On the other hand, had the revolution in Texas
proved a failure, Burleson, Lamar, Houston, and others, who carved
their names upon the scroll of fame as generals, heroes, and statesmen,
would either have suffered the extreme penalty of the Mexican law, or
at least occupy the stations of obscure adventurers, with all the odium
which, like the poisoned shirt of Nessus, clings to those who are
unsuccessful in great enterprises.
The same may be said of the American Revolution. If those who pledged
their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," to make the
colonies independent of all potentates and powers on earth, had lost
the stake, the infamy which now clings to the memory of the tories
would be attached to that of the rebels, notwithstanding the latter
fought in a glorious cause, endured the heats of summer and braved the
peltings of the winter's storms, exhausted their means, and shed their
blood, for the sacred cause in which they were engaged. For this
reason, we should not attach too much infamy to the tories _merely_
because they took sides with England; but their subsequent acts, or at
least a portion of them, were such as to leave a foul blot upon their
names, even had victory perched upon the cross of St. George. The
American people, after the Revolution, while reposing on the laurels
they had won, might readily have overlooked and forgiven weak and
timid men who favored the cause of the crown under the firm conviction
that the feeble colonies could never sever themselves from the iron
grasp of England; but when they remembered the savage barbarities of
the tories, they confiscated the lands of all who were attainted with
treason, drove them from the country, and attached black and undying
infamy to their names.
To some it may appear strange--nevertheless it is true--that, in 1777,
the upper end of the Juniata Valley contained nearly as many tories as
it did patriots. This is not a very agreeable admission to make by one
who has his home in the valley; nevertheless, some of the acts of these
tories form a part of the history of the time of which we write, and
must be given with the rest. Let it be understood, however, that, as
some of the descendants of those men, who unfortunately embraced the
wrong side, are still alive and in our midst, we suppress names,
because we not only believe it to be unprincipled in the extreme to
hold the son responsible for the sins and errors of the fathers, but we
think there is not a man in the valley now who has not patriotic blood
enough in his veins to march in his country's defence at a moment's
warning, if occasion required it.
The great number of tories in what now constitutes Huntingdon county
may, in a great measure, be attributed to the fact, that, living as
they did upon the frontier, they had no idea of the strength or numbers
composing the "rebel" army, as they called it. They knew the king's
name to be "a tower of strength;" and they knew, too, the power and
resources of England. Their leaders were shrewd men, who excited the
fears of the king's followers by assuring them that the rebels would
soon be worsted, and all of them gibbeted.
The most of these tories, according to Edward Bell, resided in
Aughwick, Hare's Valley, on the Raystown Branch, in Woodcock Valley, at
Standing Stone, Shaver's Creek, Warrior's Mark, and Canoe Creek. They
held secret meetings, generally at the house of John Weston, who
resided a mile and a half west of Water Street, in Canoe Valley. All
their business was transacted with the utmost secresy; and those who
participated in their meetings did so under an oath of "allegiance to
the king and death to the rebels."
These meetings were frequently attended by tory emissaries from
Detroit, who went there advised of all the movements of the British
about the lakes; and it is thought that one of these men at length gave
them a piece of intelligence that sealed the doom of a majority of
them.
It appears that a general plan was formed to concentrate a large force
of Indians and tories at Kittaning, then cross the mountain by the
Indian Path, and at Burgoon's Gap divide,--one party march through the
Cove and Conococheague Valleys, the other to follow the Juniata Valley,
and form a junction at Lancaster, killing all the inhabitants on their
march. The tories were to have for their share in this general massacre
all the fine farms on the routes, and the movable property was to be
divided among the Indians. It would seem, however, that Providence
frustrated their plans. They elected John Weston their captain, and
marched away in the dead of night, without drums or colors, to join the
savages in a general massacre of their neighbors, early in the spring
of 1778--all being well armed with rifles furnished by the British
emissaries, and abundance of ammunition. They took up the line of
march--avoiding all settlements--around Brush Mountain, and travelled
through the Path to Kittaning. When near the fort, Weston sent forward
two men to announce their coming. The savages, to the number of ten or
twelve, accompanied the messengers; and when they met the tories,
Weston ordered his men to "present arms." The order proved a fatal one;
for the Indians, ever suspecting treachery, thought they had been
entrapped, and, without any orders, fired a volley among the tories,
and killed Weston and some eight, or probably ten, of his men, then
turned and ran toward the town. The disheartened tories fled in every
direction as soon as their leader fell.
Although these tories marched from the settlements under cover of
night, and with the greatest possible caution, all their movements were
watched by an Indian spy in the employ of Major Cluggage. This spy was
a Cayuga chief, known as Captain Logan, who resided in the valley at
the time,--subsequently at an Indian town called Chickalacamoose, where
the village of Clearfield now stands. He knew the mission of the
tories, and he soon reported their departure through the settlements.
Of course, the wildest and most exaggerated stories were soon set
afloat in regard to the number constituting Weston's company, as well
as those at Kittaning ready to march. Colonel Piper, of Yellow Creek,
George Woods, of Bedford, and others, wrote to Philadelphia, that two
hundred and fifty tories had left Standing Stone, to join the Indians,
for the purpose of making a descent upon the frontier,--a formidable
number to magnify out of thirty-four; yet such was the common rumor.
The greatest terror and alarm spread through the settlements, and all
the families, with their most valuable effects, were taken to the best
forts. General Roberdeau, who had the command of the forces in the
neighborhood, had left Standing Stone a short time previous, leaving
Major Cluggage in command. The latter was appealed to for a force to
march after Weston. This he could not do, because his command was
small, and he was engaged in superintending the construction of the
fort at Sinking Valley, the speedy completion of which was not only
demanded to afford protection to the people, but to guard the miners,
who were using their best exertions to fill the pressing orders of the
Revolutionary army for lead.
Cluggage was extremely anxious to have Weston and his command overtaken
and punished, and for this purpose he tendered to Captain Thomas Blair,
of Path Valley, the command of all who wished to volunteer to fight the
tories. The alarm was so general, that, in forty-eight hours after
Weston's departure, some thirty-five men were ready to march. Twenty of
them were from Path Valley, and the remainder were gathered up between
Huntingdon--or Standing Stone, as it was then still called--and
Frankstown.[4] At Canoe Valley the company was joined by Gersham and
Moses Hicks, who went to act in the double capacity of scouts and
interpreters. They were brothers, and had--together with the entire
family--been in captivity among the Indians for some six or seven
years. They were deemed a valuable acquisition.
[4] It is to be regretted that Mr. Maguire was so feeble,
when giving us an account of this expedition, that we feared
to ask him for a repetition of the names of Captain Blair's
command. He knew the names of all of them, but he mentioned
them in such rapid succession that we only remember
Brotherton, Jones, Moore, Smith, two brothers named Hicks,
Nelson, Coleman, Wallack, Fee, Gano, Ricketts, Caldwell,
Moore, Holliday, and one of the Rollers.
Captain Blair pushed on his men with great vigor over the mountain, by
way of the Kittaning trail; and when he arrived where the path crosses
the head-waters of Blacklick, they were suddenly confronted by two of
Captain Weston's tories, well known to some of Blair's men, who, on the
impulse of the moment, would have shot them down, had it not been for
the interference of Captain Blair, who evidently was a very humane man.
These men begged for their lives most piteously, and declared that they
had been grossly deceived by Weston, and then gave Captain Blair a true
statement of what had occurred.
Finding that Providence had anticipated the object of their mission, by
destroying and dispersing the tories, Captain Blair ordered his men to
retrace their steps for home. Night coming upon them, they halted and
encamped near where Loretto now stands. Here it was found that the
provisions had nearly run out. The men, on the strength of the reported
destruction of Weston, were in high spirits, built a large fire, and
passed the night in hilarity, although it was raining and exceedingly
disagreeable. At the dawn of day, Gersham and Moses Hicks started out
in search of game for breakfast, for some of the men were weak and
disheartened for the want of food. These wood-rangers travelled three
miles from the camp without anticipating any danger whatever, when
Gersham shot a fine elk, which, in order to make the load as light as
possible, the brothers skinned and disemboweled, shouldered the
hind-quarters, and were ready to return to the camp, when five Indians
suddenly came upon them and took them prisoners. They were again
captives, and taken to Detroit, from which place they did not return
until after peace was declared. These men unquestionably saw and
experienced enough of Indian life to fill an interesting volume.
In the mean time, the company becoming impatient at the continued
absence of the Hicks, several small parties were formed to go in search
of them. One of these parties fell in with three Indians, and several
shots were exchanged without injuring any person. The Indians took to
the woods, and the men returned to the camp. The other party found the
place where the elk had been skinned, and took the remains to the camp;
the meat was speedily roasted and divided among the men, and the line
of march again taken up. The certain capture of the guides, and the
Indians seen by the party in search of them, induced the belief that a
larger body of them than they wished to encounter in their
half-famished condition was in the neighborhood, considerably
accelerated their march.
The sufferings endured by these men, who were drenched by torrents of
rain and suffered the pangs of hunger until they reached the
settlements on the east side of the mountain, were such as can be more
readily imagined than described. But they all returned, and, though a
portion of them took sick, they all eventually recovered, and probably
would have been ready at any time to volunteer for another expedition,
even with the terrors of starvation or the scalping-knife staring them
in the face.
The tories who, through the clemency of Captain Blair, escaped shooting
or hanging, did not, it seems, fare much better; for they, too, reached
the settlements in an almost famished condition. Fearing to enter any
of the houses occupied, they passed the Brush Mountain into Canoe
Valley, where they came to an untenanted cabin, the former occupants
having fled to the nearest fort. They incautiously set their rifles
against the cabin, entered it, and searched for food, finding nothing,
however, but part of a pot of boiled mush and some lard. In their
condition, any thing bearing resemblance to food was a god-send, and
they fell vigorously to work at it. While engaged in appeasing their
appetite, Samuel Moore and a companion,--probably Jacob Roller, Sr., if
we mistake not,--who were on a hunting expedition, happening to pass
the cabin, saw the rifles, and immediately secured them, when Mr. Moore
walked in with his gun cocked, and called upon the tories to surrender;
which peremptory order they cheerfully complied with, and were marched
to Holliday's Fort. On the way thither, one of them became insolent,
and informed Moore and his companion that in a short time they would
repent arresting them. This incensed Roller, and, being an athletic
man, when they arrived at the fort he fixed a rope to the tory's neck,
rove it over a beam, and drew him up. Moore, fortunately, was a more
humane man, and persuaded his companion to desist. They were afterward
taken to Bedford; but whether ever tried or not, we have not been able
to ascertain.
Captain Blair's men, while passing through what is now known as
Pleasant Valley, or the upper end of Tuckahoe, on their return, paid a
visit to a tory named John Hess, who, it is said, was armed, and
waiting the return of Weston to join his company. They found Hess in
his house, from which they took him to a neighboring wood, bent down a
hickory sapling and fastened the branches of it around his neck, and,
at a given signal, let him swing. The sight was so shocking, and his
struggles so violent, that the men soon repented, and cut him down
before he was injured to any extent. It appears from that day he was a
tory no longer, joined the rangers, and did good service for his
country. His narrow escape must have wrought his conversion.
The tories who escaped the fatal error of the Indians at Kittaning
never returned to their former homes. It was probably as well that they
did not, for their coming was anxiously looked for, and their greeting
would unquestionably have been as _warm_ a one as powder and ball
could have been capable of giving. Most of them made their way to Fort
Pitt, and from thence toward the South. They eventually all sent for
their families; but "the land [of the Juniata Valley] that knew them
once knew them no more forever!"
Captain Blair, whom we have frequently mentioned, soon after or about
the close of the war moved to what is known as the mouth of Blair's
Gap, west of Hollidaysburg, where John Walker now lives. He was an
energetic man, and, by his untiring exertions, succeeded in getting a
pack-horse road cut through his gap at an early day.
His son, Captain John Blair, a prominent and useful citizen, flourished
for many years at the same place. His usefulness and standing in the
community made him probably the most conspicuous man of his day in this
section; and, when Huntingdon county was divided, his old friends paid
a tribute to his memory in giving the new county his name.
[Illustration: MILL CREEK.]