Supreme Executive Council, and also served as a member of the Council of
Censors. In the latter position he was engaged in the disposition of the
confiscated estates of Pennsylvania Tories.
Like such a great number of the soldiers of the Revolution, Colonel
McAllister also took a deep interest in legal affairs. He served as a
justice of the peace, and then as justice of the court of common pleas
in March, 1771.
He was a member of the First Constitutional Convention, in 1776, and on
February 17, 1784, he became the presiding justice of the York County
Courts.
When General Washington passed through Hanover, June 30, 1791, on his
way to Philadelphia, he spent several hours the guest of Colonel
McAllister.
He died at his home in Hanover, October 7, 1795.
His remains were first buried in the graveyard belonging to Emanuel’s
Reformed Church of Hanover, of which he was a member and one of the
leading supporters.
About 1870 the remains of this distinguished patriot were removed to
Mount Olivet Cemetery, in the suburbs of Hanover, where they now repose.
On every succeeding Memorial Day commemoration services are held at the
tomb of this hero and patriot, by the veterans of the Grand Army of the
Republic and allied organizations.
Colonel McAllister had eleven children. His eldest son, Abdiel,
commanded a company in Arnold’s expedition to Quebec; another son,
Archibald, commanded a company in the battles of Germantown and
Monmouth.
A younger son, Matthew, became first United States district attorney of
Georgia, judge of the Superior Court of that State, and was Mayor of
Savannah during War of 1812.
A son of Matthew, named Julian McAllister, commanded a regiment in the
Union Army during the Civil War.
----------
King Tedyuskung Questioned at Great
Indian Conference in Easton,
October 8, 1758
Governor Denny informed the Assembly September 12, 1758, that a general
meeting of Indians has been agreed upon, to take place in Easton.
Tedyuskung and some of his retinue arrived early in Easton, and started
on a debauch while awaiting the important event. Whereupon Reverend
Richard Peters, the Provincial secretary, was requested to go to Easton
immediately to keep the Indians in order.
This conference was opened Sunday, October 8, 1758, with 500 Indians in
attendance. Governor Denny, members of Council and the Assembly,
Commissioners for Indian Affairs in New Jersey, Conrad Weiser, George
Croghan and a large number of Quakers from Philadelphia made up the
attendance of the whites.
Governor Bernard, of New Jersey, joined the conference when it had been
in session three days, and promptly demanded that the Munsee deliver up
captives taken from that Province.
All the tribes of the Six Nations took part in the treaty; but the
Mohawk had only one deputy, Nikes Carigiatatie, in attendance, and the
Cayuga were represented by a single chief, Kandt, alias “Last Night.”
Unlike the several previous conferences, Tedyuskung was not the
principal speaker at this treaty, but that proud position was assumed by
Takeghsatu, a Seneca. He early addressed the Governor and others in
these words:
“Brethren—I now speak at the request of Tedyuskung and our cousins the
Delawares, living at Wyoming and on the waters of the River Susquehanna.
We now remove the hatchet out of your heads that was struck into them by
our cousins, the Delawares. It was a French hatchet that they
unfortunately made use of, by the instigation of the French. We take it
out of your heads and bury it under the ground, where it shall always
rest and never be taken up again. Our cousins, the Delawares, have
assured us they will never think of war against their brethren, the
English, any more, but will employ their thoughts about peace and
cultivating friendship with them, and never suffer enmity against them
to enter their minds again.”
Two days later, Nikes, the Mohawk, stood up and, addressing himself to
Governors Denny and Bernard, said:
“We thought proper to meet you here to have some discourse about our
nephew, Tedyuskung. You all know that he gives out that he is a great
man and chief of ten nations. This is his constant discourse. Now I, on
behalf of the Mohawks, say that we do not know he is such a great man,
if he is such a great man, we desire to know who made him so. Perhaps
you have; and if this be the case, tell us so. It may be the French have
made him so. We want to inquire and know whence the greatness arose.”
Takeghsatu, on behalf of the Seneca, said his nation “say the same as
Nikes has done.”
Then Assarandongnas spoke on behalf of the Onondaga and said: “I am here
to represent the Onondagas, and I say for them that I never heard before
now that Tedyuskung was such a great man, and much less can I tell who
made him so. No such thing was ever said in our town as that Tedyuskung
was such a great man.”
Then followed, in the same strain, Thomas King, chief of Oneida, in
behalf of the Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Nanticoke, Conoy and Tutelo.
Under this concerted attack upon his kingly pretensions Tedyuskung sat
like a stoic and never said a word in reply; but Governor Denny arose
and denied that he had made Tedyuskung “a great man,” but said in
explanation that he had represented the Delaware at appointed places and
had acted for the other Six Nations only as a messenger, who were his
uncles and superiors. The Governor of New Jersey indorsed Governor
Denny’s speech.
Five days after this discussion Tedyuskung arose in the public
conference and addressing himself to the deputies of the Six Nations,
said:
“Uncles, you may remember that you have placed us at Wyoming and
Shamokin—places where Indians have lived before. Now I hear that you
have since sold that land to our brethren, the English. Let the matter
now be cleared up in the presence of our brethren the English. I sit
here as a bird on a bough. I look about and do not know where to go. Let
me, therefore, come down upon the ground and make that my own by a good
deed, and I shall have a home forever. For if you, my uncles, or I, die,
our brethren, the English, will say they have bought it from you, and so
wrong my posterity out of it.”
Thomas King, speaking for the Six Nations the following day, addressed
himself to the Delaware in these words:
“By this belt Tedyuskung desired us to make you, the Delawares, the
owners of the lands at Wyoming, Shamokin and other places on the
Susquehanna River. In answer to which, we, who are present, say that we
have no power to convey lands to any one; but we will take your request
to the Great Council fire for their sentiments, as we never sell or
convey lands before it is agreed upon in the Great Council of the Six
Nations. In the meantime, you may make use of those lands in conjunction
with our people.”
Later in the open conference Thomas King presented Tedyuskung with a
string of wampum and said: “This serves to put Tedyuskung in mind of his
promises to return prisoners. You ought to have performed it before. It
is a shame for one who calls himself a great man to tell lies.”
Last Night and Nikes, in behalf of the Six Nations, promised to satisfy
the English as to the return of captives, adding: “If any of them are
gone down our throats, we will heave them up again.”
Then Takeghsatu told Tedyuskung, the Six Nations having promised to
return all captives, the Delaware and Munsee must do likewise.
Thus King Tedyuskung was humiliated in the conference, but never to the
point where he ceased to be a most potent factor on the frontiers of
Pennsylvania, and in the eyes of the English he was the king he
professed himself to be.
One of the most important matters disposed of at this treaty related to
the lands purchased by the Pennsylvania Proprietaries at Albany, July 6,
1754.
During the progress of this conference one of the Seneca chiefs in
attendance died. He was interred with public ceremony; all the Indians
and many of the inhabitants attended the obsequies.
On October 26, the business of the treaty having been finished after
eighteen days of speech-making, “some wine and punch were ordered, and
the conferences were concluded, with great joy and mutual satisfaction.”
The Indians were supplied with hats, caps, knives, jewsharps, powder,
lead paints and walking-sticks (the term by which the Indians referred
to rum). In addition, Tedyuskung and other chiefs each received a
military hat trimmed with gold lace, a regimental coat and a ruffled
shirt.
----------
Governor William Denny Removed and
Superseded by James Hamilton, Native
of Pennsylvania, October 9, 1759
Following the destruction of the Indian town at Kittanning, September 8,
1756, by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong, and the Indian incursions
which reached to every section of the frontier, a chain of forts was
built the following year which extended from the Delaware River to the
Maryland line. These were garrisoned by troops in the pay of the
Province.
This defense was made possible only when the Assembly finally awakened
to the serious danger and distress, concerted to pass a bill for raising
by tax £100,000, with the exemption of the proprietary estates. They
also sent Dr. Benjamin Franklin, as provincial agent, to London, to lay
their grievance before the King.
Despite the wartime attitude of England, nothing was done to annoy the
French or to check the depredations of the savages, until Dr. Franklin’s
presence in London, and the fortunate change in the ministry, which
brought the master mind of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, to assume
control of the government.
Pitt was endowed with a high order of intellect, eloquent, profound and
patriotic. He seemed to possess in an eminent degree the full confidence
of the nation and the command of its resources.
Franklin’s exertions resulted in gaining the influence of Pitt’s
comprehensive mind, and soon his attention was directed to America, when
the affairs in the colonies assumed an entirely different aspect.
Pitt’s plans of operation were grand, his policy bold, liberal and
enlightened, all of which seemed greatly to animate the colonists and
inspire them with new hopes.
The colonists resolved to make every effort and sacrifice which the
occasion might require. A circular from Pitt assured the Colonial
governments that he was determined to repair past losses, and would
immediately send to America a force sufficiently large to accomplish the
purpose. He called upon the different Governments to raise as many men
as possible, promising to send over all the necessary munitions of war,
and pledging himself to pay liberally all soldiers who enlisted.
Pennsylvania equipped two thousand seven hundred men, while the
neighboring provinces contributed large quotas. Three expeditions were
determined upon, and most active measures taken to bring them to the
field of action.
General James Abercrombie was appointed commander-in-chief and General
Jeffrey Amherst second in command, aided by Brigadier Generals Wolfe and
Forbes.
The French were vigorously attacked on the northern frontiers of New
York. General Forbes was charged with an expedition against Fort
Duquesne, to be aided by the provincial troops of Pennsylvania and
Virginia, under Colonel Henry Bouquet and Colonel George Washington.
These troops rendezvoused at Raystown, now Bedford.
General Forbes, with regulars, marched from Philadelphia to effect a
junction with the force at Raystown, but in consequence of severe
indisposition he did not get farther than Carlisle, when he was
compelled to stop. He marched to Bedford about the middle of September
(1758), where he met the provincial troops under Washington.
The march and investment of Fort Duquesne are told in another story and
the details will not be repeated here, except to state that Washington
strongly urged that General Forbes should use the road cut by General
Braddock three years earlier, as it was the most favorable route. But
the Pennsylvanians were bent upon the policy of securing a new road
exclusively through their province, and they succeeded.
Many weeks were consumed in cutting this road; but at length the army,
consisting of 7859 men, penetrated the thick forest, and on reaching the
Ohio River found Fort Duquesne abandoned by the French after they had
blown up a large magazine and burned the buildings.
The French had retreated down the river, relinquishing forever their
dominion in Pennsylvania. The fort was rebuilt, and received the
immortal name of Pitt.
The posts on French Creek still remained in French possession, but it
was deemed unnecessary to proceed against them, as the character of the
war in the north left very little doubt that the contest would soon
cease by complete overthrow of the French.
In 1759 Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara and Quebec yielded to British
arms and on September 8, 1760, Montreal, Detroit and all of Canada were
surrendered by the French. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November,
1762, put an end to the war.
But in our own province, our troubles were not as easily solved as were
England’s under the great Sir William Pitt. A second great Indian
conference was convened at Easton in October, 1758.
Tedyuskung, the great Delaware King, at this treaty received one of
those insulting taunts from the Six Nations by which they, too often,
exhibited their national superiority; taunts, however, that were deeply
revenged upon the whites in after years, when the Delaware had thrown
off the galling yoke.
Tedyuskung again supported his station with dignity and firmness, and
refused to succumb and the different Indian tribes at length became
reconciled to each other.
October 9, 1759, Governor William Denny was superseded by James
Hamilton. Governor Denny was removed by the Proprietary on account of
having yielded to the demands of the Assembly in giving his approval to
their money bill.
Governor Hamilton, son of Andrew Hamilton, was the first native of
Pennsylvania to serve as Lieutenant Governor. At the death of his
father, in 1741, he was left in possession of a handsome fortune, and in
the appointment of Prothonotary, then the most lucrative office in the
province.
He was first appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1748, serving until
October, 1754, then again called to this executive position, which he
filled until 1763. He held several other offices of distinction in the
province, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the people, but his
loyal feelings to the Crown caused him to be unfriendly to the
Revolution.
The continued victories of the English put new inspiration into the
people, who now returned in great number to the plantations from which
they had been driven by the French and their Indian allies.
----------
First of Three Confederate Raids into
Pennsylvania Began October 10, 1862
The part of our great Commonwealth which lies between the South and Blue
Mountains, in the fertile and beautiful Cumberland Valley, since March
11, 1809, known as Franklin County, was from the very earliest recorded
history of Pennsylvania the scene of many stirring events.
Being on the southern border of the State, it shared in the land and
animated border fight between the proprietary Governments of Maryland
and Pennsylvania.
It was in a valley loved as the home of the Indians and on the great
pathway through the Tuscarora Mountains and was the scene of many
terrible Indian incursions both before and after the French and Indian
War.
As the County of Franklin was not erected at the time of the
Revolutionary War its activities were not written into the martial story
of Pennsylvania as a division of the great State.
In the War of 1812 the county played an active role and sent to the
front eight companies organized within its limits.
But it is of a latter period that this county suffered at the hands of
an invading host and on three occasions had its homes raided, stores
plundered and part of Chambersburg, the county seat, destroyed by
firebrand.
The Civil War was hardly begun when it became potent to every one that
the Cumberland Valley would be the objective of any Confederate raid
into Pennsylvania.
Easy of access from the Potomac and with the fertile fields as fresh
foraging grounds for guerilla cavalry, the people realized that they
were uncomfortably situated. This fear was well grounded from the fact
that our southern border was virtually unprotected.
The first Confederate raid into Pennsylvania was planned and
successfully executed October 10, 1862, by Generals J. E. B. Stuart and
Wade Hampton with about two thousand troops.
This force crossed the Potomac River and by hurried marches pushed into
Pennsylvania, reaching Chambersburg on the evening of that day. With the
fall of night came a drizzling rain, in the midst of which the sound of
fife and drum was heard, heralding the approach of a squad of officers
and men under a flag of truce, who rode to the public square and there
demanded the surrender of the town in the name of the Confederate States
of America.
There was no military authority in the town to treat with the invaders,
so the civil authorities, represented by the Chief Burgess, formally
delivered up the town into their custody, and in a few moments the
streets of the borough were filled with gray-uniformed soldiers, the
tramp of horses, the rattling of sabers and spurs, and the dull thud of
axes busied in demolishing store doors and in felling telegraph poles,
which made sad music for the frightened inhabitants.
Chambersburg could hardly have been in worse condition for a raid. No
soldiers were stationed there, and an enormous quantity of military
stores was within its confines.
During the night the business houses were ransacked and the office and
shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the office of the Western
Union Telegraph Company demolished.
The next morning their attention was turned to the attack on the
military stores in the large brick warehouse of Messrs. Wunderlich &
Nead, in the northern section of the town. These stores consisted of
ammunition, shells, signal rockets and small arms, which only a short
time previous had been captured from General Longstreet, and sufficient
new equipment added for two full companies of cavalry, then being
mustered in Franklin County.
Soon as every article of value to an army had been removed, the torch
was applied to the building, and when the flames reached the powder an
explosion took place which completed the entire destruction of the
property. The rebels then beat a hasty retreat toward the Southland,
leaving the inhabitants of Chambersburg in a terrified condition.
The following summer found the star of secession at its greatest height.
Lee’s army was never in better spirits and every soldier looked with
covetous eyes on the rich fields of Pennsylvania.
Lee succumbed to the temptation, and in the face of his better judgment,
planned his northern campaign, and by a military movement, seldom
equaled, marched his entire army across the border line of Pennsylvania,
only to meet his Waterloo at Gettysburg. The approach of this great
invading horde caused a mighty panic which shook with fear the very
capital city of the old Keystone State, and every town and hamlet felt
the alarm.
The fight at Winchester on June 13, 1863, forced the retreat of General
Milroy, who stood alone as a barrier to Lee’s advance. On the following
day General Couch removed his headquarters from Chambersburg to
Carlisle.
About 9 o’clock on the morning of the 15th the advance of Milroy’s
retreating wagon train dashed into Chambersburg, closely pursued by the
rebels.
At the same moment General Jenkins with 1800 mounted rebel infantry rode
into Greencastle. After a reconnoissance the town was occupied by the
rebel horde and divested of everything movable, contraband and
otherwise.
The rebels then pushed on toward Chambersburg, where they reached the
outskirts about 11 o’clock that night.
Again the streets of Chambersburg resounded with the clatter of cavalry,
and a second time the town fell their easy prey.
This visit continued three days during which time everything of value,
especially horses, were taken without pretense of compensation.
General Jenkins on the 18th fell back to Greencastle, and then proceeded
to Mercersburg, whence a detachment crossed Cove Mountain to
McConnellsburg and down the valley. The main part of the invading force
remained in the vicinity of Greencastle and Waynesboro, where plundering
parties scoured that entire section.
The third terrible visitation of the Confederates in Chambersburg was
the deliberate sacking and burning of the town by Generals McCausland
and Johnson, on July 30, 1864.
----------
Colonel Matthew Smith, War Veteran,
Elected Vice President October
11, 1779
On October 11, 1779, Vice President George Bryan resigned his office,
whereupon Colonel Matthew Smith, a veteran officer of the French and
Indian War, and one who commanded a company in Arnold’s expedition to
Quebec, then a citizen of Milton, Northumberland County, was chosen to
fill the vacancy, which he, too, resigned on the 29th of the month.
William Moore was elected to the position, November 12.
On November 27, the Assembly after careful consideration, adopted a
resolution annulling the Royal Charter, and granting the Penns, as a
compensation for the rights of which they were deprived, £300,000.
They retained their manors, however, and were still the largest landed
proprietors in Pennsylvania. They subsequently received from the British
Government an annuity of £4000 for their losses by the Revolution.
The act for the gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania was passed
March 1, 1780. It provided for the registration of every Negro or
mulatto slave, or servant for life, before November 1, following, and
also provided, “No man or woman of any nation or color, except the
Negroes or mulattoes who shall be registered as aforesaid, shall at any
time hereafter be deemed, adjudged, or holden within the territory of
this Commonwealth, as slaves or servants for life, but as free men and
free women.”
During the year 1780, every effort was made to keep the State up to par
by passing several measures which brought but temporary relief.
An agent was sent to France and Holland to borrow £200,000, with the
faith and honor of the State pledged for its repayment, but the mission
was unfruitful.
The army was without clothing and short of provisions. Subscriptions
were solicited by the ladies to relieve this distress. The “Bank of
Pennsylvania” was established and still the Continental money continued
to sink in value.
Virginia was induced to accede to Pennsylvania’s proposition to appoint
commissioners to adjust the boundary. Pennsylvania appointed George
Bryan, the Rev. Dr. John Ewing and David Rittenhouse; Virginia sent
James Madison, afterward President of the United States, and Robert
Andrews.
These commissioners met August 31, 1779, and agreed that Mason and
Dixon’s line should be extended due west five degrees of longitude from
the Delaware River for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and that a
meridian line drawn from the western extremity thereof to the northern
limit of the State should be the western boundary.
The Assembly of Pennsylvania ratified this on November 19, but Virginia
proceeded to Fort Burd and occupied it. In March, 1780, the Assembly
resolved to eject intruders under claims from other States, and
authorized Council to raise troops for internal defense of the frontier;
but Virginia afterward ratified the agreement and the southern line was
run in 1784 and the western afterward.
Toward the close of September, 1780, the Supreme Executive Council
received the startling intelligence of the treason of General Benedict
Arnold, who had been in command of the American post at West Point.
Among the people the news of the infamy of this officer excited the
greatest indignation.
In Philadelphia a parade was held, three days after the arrival of the
news, to give expression to the popular feeling.
During this demonstration an effigy of Arnold was carried through the
streets and finally hung upon a gallows. The Council at once confiscated
Arnold’s estate, and his wife was ordered deported from the State within
fourteen days.