MASSACRE OF THE CONES-TOGA INDIANS, 1763.

INCIDENTS ANDDETAILS.

The events which preceded themassacre of the Conestoga Indians,the French and Indian war, followedby Pontiac's war, and the plunderingand murdering of defenseless famil-ies of the frontier settlements, tend-ed to accentuate the feeling of fearand distrust which the white inhab-itants held against the uncivilizedand treacherous Redskins.

The building of the frontier fortsand blockhouses by the Government,which also maintained a number ofprovincial troops, and the forming ofranging companies in the most thick-ly populated districts, did not stopthe Indian depredations. Many ofthe Indians living among the whitesettlers in the eastern section ofPennsylvania had become civilized,or partly so, and by 1763 the Cones-toga Indians, or the small part left ofthat once hostile tribe, were consid-ered friendly and harmless. In fact,the Conestogas are quoted as friendlymuch earlier than this date. Rev. M.H. Stine in his book, "Baron Stiegel,"tells how the Baron and his friendtook with them from Lancaster,whenon a tour of exploration of this coun-ty, an extra guide, a trusty Indian"belonging to the Conestogas," and

reference is made later of a warninggiven by a friendly Indian, a "mem-ber of the Conestoga tribe"

It was, however, the maraudingbands of hostile Indians from theWest pressing into the more thick-ly-settled and better-cultivated sec-tions of the East that caused suchterror among the white inhabitants,and naturally made them feel thattheir near neighbors, the friendly In-dians, might turn once more to theside of their hostile brethren. Re-port, whether true or false, had seton foot many tales to this effect.

In the month of October, 1763, inNorthampton county, occurred a fore-runner of the trouble to follow laterin our own county. The Indians inthe East were living under the pro-tection of the Government, yet it wasthe Government's own soldiers, com-manded by Captain Jacob Wetter-hold, who murdered a number ofharmless Indians at the end of adrunken debauch. This, of course,roused the other Indians to ven-geance, and one affair followed anoth-er, until, in November, the Indiansfrom that section were taken to Phil-adelphia and placed on ProvinceIsland, in the Delaware river, forsafety. The above, with many de-tails, will be found in the "Life andTimes of David Zeisberger," by Ed-mund De Schweinitz.

In Cumberland county people werefleeing to Carlisle and the banks ofthe Susquehanna river. In our owncounty, more especially the sectionswhich are no longer included withinits borders—Dauphin and Lebanoncounties—murders were numerous,and, while many facts concerningthem are given in the histories of thecounty, much occurred that wasnever known. The picture presented

to us of the desperation and stress inwhich the people of 1763, ancestorsof some of us, were living has pos-sibly not been drawn with sufficientdarkness.

John Penn, the new Governor, hadbeen in the province only a monthwhen the Conestoga Indians sent aletter to him, dated November 30,1763 (see Colonial Records, VolumeIX) which contained a welcome,alsoa request. Being without forest landsin which to hunt, they asked for pro-visions and clothing, and complainedthat their neighbors were using landallotted them for their use to culti-vate crops for themselves. This let-ter reached Governor Penn December19, 1763, five days after six of theirnumber had been killed and the spotwhich had been the setting for manya picturesque gathering was markedwith only a heap of ashes.

To the Indian town in the Manor ofConestoga came at various timesGovernors to meet Indian chiefs, holdcouncils and make treaties. TheGovernors—Gookin, Keith and Gor-don—were always accompanied bya number of men—once thirty, an-other time seventy, and usually sev-eral men of prominence in Indian af-fairs from Philadelphia or our ownvicinity. The Indian chiefs, also, hadtheir followers in attendance, so thatthe provincial representatives on oneside and the Indian contingent on theother side formed a group of menunusual as well as important.

And to this spot on the 14th of De-cember, 1763, came the men fromPaxton. The dreadful conditionsthroughout the province had causedthem to consider all Indians alike,andwith them on their journey to Cones-toga they carried but one thought,that of extermination.

Thwarted in that, owing to the ab-sence of a number of the Indians, butdeviating in no way from their pur-pose, their mission of destructionwas doomed to have a second chapter.Governor Penn was notified as soonas possible, a matter of two or threedays, for overhead wires, surfacerails, or even good roads, were notseen in Lancaster county in 1763, ofthe unfortunate affair at Conestoga,and immediately issued the followingproclamation:

"By the Honorable John Penn, Es-quire; Lieutenant Governor and Com-mander-in-Chief of the Province ofPennsylvania and counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex on Dela-ware.

A PROCLAMATION.

"Whereas, I have received Infor-mation, That, on Wednesday, the 14thDay of this Month, a Number of Peo-ple armed and mounted on horse-back, unlawfully assembled together,and went to the Indian Town, in theConestoga Mannor, in Lancastercounty, and without the least Reasonor Provocation, in cool blood, barbar-ously killed Six of the Indians settledthere, and burnt and destroyed alltheir Houses and Effects; And,Whereas so cruel and inhuman anAct, committed in the heart of thisProvince on the said Indians, whohave lived peacefully and inoffensivelyamong us, during our late Troubles,and for many years before, and werejustly considered as under the protec-tion of this Government and itsLaws, calls loudly for the vigorousexertion of the Civil Authority, to de-tect the Offenders, and bring them tocondign Punishment; I Have There-fore, by and with the Advice and Con-sent of the Council, thought fit to is-sue this Proclamation, and do hare-

by strictly charge and enjoin allJudges, Justices, Sheriffs, Constables,Officers Civil and Military, and allother his Majesty's Liege Subjectswithin this Province, to make diligentSearch and Enquiry after the Au-thors and Perpetrators of the saidcrime, their Abettors and Accom-plices, and to use all possible meansto apprehend and secure them insome of the public Goals of this Prov-ince, that they may be brought totheir Trials, and be proceededagainst according to law. And, where-as, a number of other Indians, wholately lived on or near the Frontiersof this Province, being willing anddesirous to preserve and continue theancient Friendship, which, therefore,subsisted between them and the goodPeople of the Province, have, at theirown earnest Request, been removedfrom their Habitations, and broughtinto the county of Philadelphia, andseated for the Present for their bet-ter security on the Province Island,and, in other Places in the Neighbor-hood of the City of Philadelphia,where Provision is made for them atthe public expense. I do, therefore,hereby strictly forbid all Personswhatsoever, to molest or injure any ofthe said Indians, as they will answerthe contrary at their Peril.

"Given under my Hand, and the GreatSeal of the said Province, at Philadel-phia, the Twenty-second Day of De-cember, Anno Domini One ThousandSeven Hundred and Sixty-three, andin the Fourth Year of His Majesty'sReign.

"JOHN PENN."By His Honor's Command, JosephShippen, jun., Secretary—God Savethe King."This proclamation, as just noted,

was issued December 22d, but did

not appear in print until Thursday,December 29th, in the two Philadel-phia papers of that day, The Pennsyl-vania Journal and The PennsylvaniaGazette—owing to the fact that theywere issued but once a week. Copiesof these papers can be seen at thelibrary of the Historical Society ofPennsylvania, at Philadelphia. Thissame proclamation appears in ColonialRecords, Volume IX.

Before this proclamation washanded to the public on December29th the second chapter of the tragedyhad occurred. On the day the Indiantown was destroyed and the six In-dians murdered, four of those absentat the time either came or werebrought to Lancaster. They weretaken to the work-house, which stoodat the corner of West King and Princestreets, adjoining the jail to the north,by Robert Thompson and Adam SimonKuhn, and, as the jailor has writtenit, were "given into my care."

The other ten did not seek safety inthe work-house until December 17th,when placed there by John Hay, theSheriff of the county, with instruc-tions for care and ample provisions.This was but a temporary procedure,some authorities say preparatory totaking them to Philadelphia and put-ting them on Province Island, wherethose from Northampton county hadbeen for some time. Before the civilauthorities of the county had time totake action as to the future of theircharges the "Paxton Boys" camedown and completed what they hadbegun at Conestoga. They startedfor Lancaster on December 26th; didthey know of the proclamation issuedon December 22d? Nothing, evidently,had turned them from their purposefor when they entered the town onDecember 27, 1763, it was with the

precision and directness of a set pur-pose, went quickly to the place thathoused their victims, used violence togain entrance, and then "shot,scalped, hacked and cut to pieces," asWilliam Henry described it, the lastcollective body of the original in-habitants of the county of Lancasterwhen a wilderness. They took awaythe Indians, but left us the name Con-estoga. The description of the mas-sacre can best be told as WilliamHenry, a resident of Lancaster and aneye-witness, detailed it in a letter toa friend. See Heckewelder's Nar-rative, pages 78, 79, 80: "There arefew, if any, murders to be comparedwith the cruel murder committed onthe Conestoga Indians in the gaol ofLancaster in 1763, by the PaxtonBoys (as they were then called).From fifteen to twenty Indians, asreport stated, were placed there forprotection. A regiment of High-landers were at the time quartered atthe barracks in the town, and yetthese murderers were permitted tobreak open the doors of the city gaoland commit the horrid deed. Thefirst notice I had of this affair wasthat while at my father's store, nearthe court house, I saw a number ofpeople running down street towardthe gaol, which enticed me and otherlads to follow them. At about sixtyor eighty yards from the gaol we metfrom twenty-five to thirty men, wellmounted on horses, and with rifles,tomahawks, and scalping knives,equipped for murder. I ran into theprison yard, and there, 0 what a hor-rid sight presented itself to my view!Near the back door of the prison, layan old Indian and his squaw (wife),practically well known and esteemedby the people of the town, on accountof his placid and friendly conduct.

His name was Will Sock; across himand his squaw lay two children, ofabout the age of three years, whoseheads were split with the tomahawk,and their scalps all taken off. Towardthe middle of the gaol yard, along thewest side of the wall, lay a stoutIndian, whom I particularly noticed tohave been shot in the breast, his legswere chopped with the tomahawk,his hands cut off, and finally a rifleball discharged in his mouth; so thathis head was blown to atoms, and thebrains were splashed against, and yethanging to the wall, for three or fourfeet around. This man's hands andfeet had also been chopped off witha tomahawk. In this manner lay thewhole of them, men, women and chil-dren, spread about the prison yard:

shot, scalped, hacked and cut topieces."

After receiving the news of the mas-sacre and recognizing, undoubtedly,the disregard with which his firstproclamation had been received theGovernor issued a second one. Thisone was dated January 2, 1764, butcame to the public by way of thenewspapers on January 5th, also ap-pearing in the issues of the followingweek, January 12th.

The second proclamation reads:

By the Honorable John Penn, Es-quire; Lieutenant Governor andCommander-in-Chief of the Prov-ince of Pennsylvania, and Countiesof New-Castle, Kent and Sussex onDelaware.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, on the Twenty-secondDay of December last I issued a Proc-lamation, for the apprehending andbringing to Justice a Number of Per-sons, who, in violation of the public

Faith, and in Defiance of all Law,hadinhumanly killed Six of the Indians,who had lived on Conestogue Manor,for the course of many years, peace-ably and inoffensively, under the Pro-tection of this Government, on Landsassigned to them for their Habita-tion; Notwithstanding which, I havereceived Information, that on theTwenty-seventh of the same month, alarge Party of armed Men again as-sembled and met together, in a riot-ous and tumultuous Manner, in theCounty of Lancaster, and proceededto the Town of Lancaster, where theyviolently broke open the Work-house,and butchered and put to Death Four-teen of the said Conestogue Indians,Men, Women and Children, who hadbeen taken under the immediate Careand Protection of the Magistrates ofsaid County, and lodged, for theirbetter Security, in the said Work-house, till they should be more effect-ually provided for, by Order of theGovernment: And Whereas commonJustice loudly demands, and the Lawsof the Land (upon the Preservationof which not only the Liberty andSecurity of every Individual but theBeing of the Government itself de-pend) require, that the above Offend-ers should be brought to condign Pun-ishment; I Have Therefore, by andwith the advice of the Council, pub-lished this Proclamation, and do here-by strictly charge and command allJudges, Justices, Sheriffs, Constables,Officers Civil and Military, and allother His Majesty's faithful and liegeSubjects within this Province, tomake diligent search and inquiryafter the Authors and Perpetrators ofthe said last mentioned Offense, theirAbettors and Accomplices; and thatthey use all possible Means to appre-

hend and secure them, in some of thepublic Goals of this Province. to bedealt with according to law. . And Ido hereby further promise and en-gage, That any Person or Persons,who shall apprehend and secure, orcause to be apprehended and secured,any Three of the Ringleaders of the

said Party and prosecute them to con-viction, shall have and receive foreach the public Reward of Two Hundred Pounds; and any accomplice, notconcerned in the immediate sheddingthe Blood of the said Indians, whoshall make Discovery of any or eitherof the said Ringleaders, and appre-hend and prosecute them to Convic-tion, shall, over and above the saidReward, have all the weight and in-fluence of the Government, for obtain-ing his Majesty's Pardon for his Of-'fence.

Given under my Hand and theGreat Seal of the said Province atPhiladelphia, the Second Day of Jan-uary, Anno Domino One ThousandSeven Hundred and Sixty-four, and inthe Fourth Year of his Majesty'sReign

JOHN PENN.By his Honor's Command, Joseph

Shippen, Jun., Secretary

"GOD SAVE THE KING."

This second proclamation had aslittle weight with the inhabitants ofLancaster county as the first one had.Even the generous reward offeredwas no temptation to assist in bring-ing to justice the men who dareddefy the commands of the Govern-ment. Public opinion held sway andout-did the law in this one case, atleast, for the "Paxton Boys" wentabout the country as usual, unappre-hended. A weak attempt was made

to put Lazarus Stewart in the handsof the law, but nothing materializedfrom the effort.

In the meanwhile, Felix Donnally-the jailer, in whose care the murder-ed Indians had been, presents a billto the county for their keep duringthe time they had been in the work-house. The original paper is theproperty of the Ridgeway Branch ofthe Library Company, of Philadelphiaand part of the John A. McAlistercollection of manuscripts. On theoutside of the paper is "Felix Donnally :Acco:—for maintaining the Indiansat Lancaster." On the other side,thebill itself reads as follows:

"John Hay Esquire high Sheriff ofLancaster County to Felix DonnallyDr.

"For the Diet and Maintenance of14 Indians which belong to the Con-estogue Town in the said county andcommited to the care of the said Fe-lix Donnally, Viz:

"For the Diet and Maintenance offour of them from the 14th of Decem-ber to ye 27th of December 1763 in-clusive 14 days at 1s6 each

4„4„0 these four were broughtto me and given into my care by Rob-ert Thompson & Adam Simon KuhnEsqr.

"For the Diet and Maintenance of10 of said Indians from the 17th tothe 27th of Decr. 1763, in elusive is11 days at 1s6 each p Day ...... 8„5„0 These ten were directed to mycare by yourself and on my receivingthem you ordered me to take care of& provide for them plentifully withthe others.

For Fire Wood provided for & usedby the said Indians 4 cords..at lOs pcord 2„0„0—(total

£14„9„0

To the Trouble & Expense of hav-ing the said Fourteen Indians carriedto the grave and interred....

Errors Exceptedp FELIX DONNALLY.

This paper is well preserved con-sidering its age, as will be seen fromthe fac-simile obtained for this so-ciety through the courtesy of the li-brary mentioned.

After the massacre much was saidand nothing done, as often happens inother cases. You have seen the ref-erences to numerous pamphlets print-ed, some sustaining the action of the"Paxton Boys," others arguing againstsuch lawlessness. Most of thesepamphlets can be seen at the Ridge-way Branch of the Library Companyof Philadelphia. An extract from"Plain Truth." a pamphlet printed inPhiladelphia by AndrewStewart 1764—is a good example of what ap-peared for the defense:

"First, then, Let us consider thePaxton Voluntiers, and others, againstwhom some make such an Outcry;—Shall we attempt to vindicate theirKilling Indians under the Protectionof the Government? By no means.The Fact is to be condemned as un-lawful; but though we would not vin-dicate their conduct in every Respect,is it not the Duty of every good Manimpartially to consider what havebeen the circumstances of those peo-ple, and what they suffered to pro-voke them to this desperate and un-lawful Act? Would not this coursediscover more of that meek and Chris-tian Spirit, which some People somuch profess, but so little exercise? (Referring to the Quakers.)

These Incendiaries are not onlyenraged themselves, at their dearfriends, the Indians, being slain, butwould have all the Rest of the Worldof their Temper;—To obtain whichEnd, they have wrote and publishedseveral inflammatory Pamphlets, as-serting many falsehoods, with a De-sign to enrage the Populace againstthese poor, distressed, though rashPeople.—Go but into the House of aQuaker, and before you have Time todiscover what you came for, he willask you, with an effected Meekness,"Hast thee seen the Massacre of theIndians at Lancaster'" A Pamphletwell known to be wrote by one oftheir zealous Friends, in Order toswell the Current of Prejudicesagainst the aforesaid People. Ishould be glad to see the Massacre ofthe Back Inhabitants drawn by thesame able Hand, provided he woulddo it with the same Zeal in their Fa-vour and against the Savage IndianButchers, as I'm confident he couldhave a much more affecting Subjectto handle, and fill every Imaginationwith Horror.—None of those killedat Lancaster were by Design keptone Moment in Torment; whereasmany of our Frontier Inhabitantshave been wantonly kept whole Daysand Nights in exquisite Tortures,prolonged and heightened with allthe contrivances infernal Malicecould suggest before those Savages(whose Cause and Interest Quakersso warmly espouse) would vouchsafeto give the merciful finishing Blow.

In another pamphlet entitled "TheConduct of The Paxton-Men, Impar-tially represented:—In a LetterFrom a Gentleman in one of the Back-Counties, to a Friend in Philadelphia.Philadelphia: Printed by A. Stew-

art, and Sold by John Creaig, Shop-keeper in Lancaster 1764, our for-mer townsman, the Reverend ThomasBarton, who was the author of theletter, seemed to regard the killingof the Indians as a danger removedrather than an unpardonable offenseagainst the Government and a crimeagainst humanity. In his letter hesays: "A mighty Noise and Hubbubhas been made about killing a few In-dians in Lancaster-County and evenPhilosophers and Legislators haveemployed to raise the Holloo uponthose that killed them; and to ran-sack Tomes and Systems, Writersancient and modern, for Proofs oftheir Guilt and Condemnation! Andwhat have they proved at last? Why,that the White Savages of Paxtonand Donnegall have violated the Lawsof hospitality' Now I have beenfrequently informed, for many years,by sundry of their nearest neighborsin the Conestogoe Mannor, that theywere a drunken, debauched, insolent,quarrelsome crew; and that eversince the Commencement of the War,they have been a Trouble and Ter-ror to all around them—as for WillSoc and his Brother, I am told thereare undoubted Proofs of the Guiltand Treachery—That they havethreatened and drawn their Knivesupon People who have refused tocomply with their demands, is a Factwell known to hundreds. The Pub-lic are also informed that "The Mag-istrates of Lancaster sent to collectthe remaining Indians,—brought theminto Town, comforted and promisedthem Protection."—If they did this,they must be very silly, indeed.Forhow was it possible for Men destituteof a Militia, without Men. Arms orAmmunition to protect them? But

I am credibly informed that theTruth of the Matter was That theseMagistrates, being apprehensive ofthe Danger of the Indians, were verydesirous to have them removed im-mediately to Philadelphia as a placeof greater Security,—through whichneglect to remove thither they musthave lost their Lives, and not throughany Misconduct of the Magistrates—For it seems the Affair was accom-plished so unexpectedly and suddenlythat not one half of the Magistratesknew any Thing of the Matter tillthey were all kill'd; and those thatdid, could do nothing, unless it wasto go at the Peril of their Lives.among an enraged and armed multi-tude, and attack them with Stonesand Brickbats I have indeed heardit alleged against those Magistrates,that there were some soldiers in thePlace, which they might have calledto their Assistance—But I have heardit positively declared, by many of theinhabitants of that Town, who wereEye-witnesses of the whole Transac-tion, that if there were Ten ThousandSoldiers dispers'd and strolling aboutin the Manner that these were at theTime, it would have been impossibleto have got them to their Arms, andproperly drawn up, before the In-dians were killed; so dextrous andexpeditious were the Paxtonians inexecuting their Purpose* that theBodies of the murdered were broughtout and exposed in the Street."—Thisappears likewise to have been mis-represented—I have been informedby some of the most reputable Inhab-itants of Lancaster, that they were

*It is confidently said that the Pax-tonians were not above twelve minutesaltogether in the town, and not abovetwo minutes in dispatching the In-dians.

never removed out of the Work house

and Work-house-yard where they wereshot, till they were brought out to

be carried to their Graves. "When a Waggon-Load of the scalp-

ed and mangled Bodies of their coun-

trymen were brought to Philadelphiaand laid at the State-House door, andanother Waggon-Load brought intothe Town of Lancaster, did theyrouse to Arms to avenge the causeof their murder'd Friends? Did we

hear any of those lamentations thatare now so plentifully poured forth for

the Conestogoe Indians."What the "Paxton Boys" had to say

for themselves concering this mattercan be found in the "Declaration andRemonstrance" issued by them andother inhabitants of the frontier coun-ties to the Governor and Assembly inFebruary, 1764. In the PennsylvaniaJournal of March 15, 1764, the "Dec-laration and Remonstrance" is print-ed in full, the opening of which is:

"A Declaration and Remonstranceof the distressed and bleeding Fron-tier Inhabitants of the Province ofPennsylvania ; presented by them tothe honourable the Governor and As-sembly of the Province, shewing the

causes of their late Discontent andUneasiness and the Grievances underwhich they have laboured, and which

they humbly pray to have redress-

ed. "Inasmuch as the killing those In-

dians at Conestoga Mannor and Lan-caster, has been, and may be the sub-ject of much conversation; and byinvidious Representations of it, whichsome, we doubt not, will industrious-ly spread, many, unacquainted with

the true State of Affairs, may be ledto pass a severe Censure on the Au-

thors of these Facts, and any other

of those like Nature, which may hereafter happen, than we are persuadedthey would if matters were duly un-derstood and deliberated: We thinkit therefore proper thus openly to de-clare ourselves and render some briefHints of the Reasons of our Conduct;which we must, -and frankly do con-fess nothing but necessity itself couldinduce us to, or justify us in; as ittears an Appearance of flying in theFace of Authority, and is attendedwith much Labour, Fatigue and Ex-pense.

Undoubtedly the affair was the"subject of much conversation," but,owing to the shadows which beganto cast themselves over the Provinceof a bigger event to follow, the con-versation was to no purpose. Theoppression of England in the coloniescommenced as early as 1765, andminor troubles were then swallowedup in the greater ones. The "PaxtonBoys" put a blot on the history ofLancaster county which no one canever remove.

This Society is indebted to Mr.William Vincent Byars, of St. Louis,for finding the original paper—the billfor maintaining the Indians in theworkhouse—and thanks is due himrelative to this paper, as well as Mr.F. R. Diffenderffer, Dr. John W. Jor-dan, Philadelphia; Mr. A. R. Beck,Lititz, and Rev. H. A. Gerdsen, forsuggestions.

file:///Volumes/LCHS%3BLCHSFS01/OCR%20Journal%20Project/PDF%20Biblio%20Info/Pwebrecon.cgi.txt

Author: Bausman, Lottie M.

Title: Massacre of the Conestoga Indians, 1763 : incidents and details / by Miss Lottie M. Bausman.

Primary Material: Book

Subject(s): Paxton Boys. Conestoga Indians--History. Conestoga Massacre, Pa., 1763. Pennsylvania--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

Publisher: Lancaster, Pa. : Lancaster County Historical Society, 1914

Description: 169-185 p. ; 23 cm.

Series: Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society ; v. 18, no. 7

Call Number: 974.9 L245 v.18Location: LCHSJL -- Journal Article (reading room)

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