Production Note
Cornell University Library produced this
volume to replace the irreparably deteriorated
original. It was scanned using Xerox software
and equipment at 600 dots per inch resolution
and compressed prior to storage using CCITT
Group 4 compression. The digital data were
used to create Cornell's replacement volume on
paper that meets the ANSI Standard
Z39.48-1984. The production of this volume was
supported in part by the New York State
Program for the Conservation and Preservation
of Library Research Materials and the Xerox
Corporation.	Digital file copyright by
Cornell University Library 1993.THE
TALE OF CAPTIVES
AT FORT NIAGARA
BY FRANK H. SEVERANCETHE TALE OF
CAPTIVES AT FORT NIAGARA
BY FRANK H. SEVERANCE
There are brought together in the following list, from
many sources, both manuscript and printed, such facts as I
have gleaned relating to persons in captivity at Fort Niag-
ara, or those who, having been captives, were there on their
way to freedom; especially those unhappy American pion-
eers who were brought captive to the fort by Indians.
The subject has before now engaged my attention. In
certain studies1 I have given with more or less of detail the
adventures of several of these prisoners. Researches among
the documents known as the Haldimand and Bouquet
papers, preserved in the British Museum (verified copies in
the Archives at Ottawa), have served to stimulate my in-
terest in this phase of our border history. Especially in
the letters and official reports of British officers stationed
at Fort Niagara during the American Revolution, are to be
found many references to American prisoners, brought to
that old stronghold by Indian captors. With a view to set-
ting in order as many facts as possible relating to the early
history of Fort Niagara, I made note of the names of these
captives, as they were met with in my reading, and in brief
form, of the circumstances of their captivity. As the list
grew, my interest in it grew, for it was seen to represent a
i. “With Bolton at Fort Niagara,” and “What Befel David Ogden,” in
“Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier,” 2nd ed., Cleveland, 1903.
223224
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
phase of the Revolutionary warfare which was particularly
marked in the Niagara region, but which has not heretofore
been made the subject of particular study. Thus I was led
to enlarge the scope of my list, so that it should include all
prisoners of whom I could learn, who were held at Fort
Niagara by the French or the British, prior to the session of
the fort to the Americans in 1796. While this adds a few
notable names, and makes the review of this phase of our
border history more nearly complete, it still leaves the list
distinctively of the Revolutionary period.
In the days when the French controlled the region of the
Lakes, the prisoners brought to Fort Niagara were of two
classes.
There were the men and women, and still oftener the
children, who had been carried off from the frontier settle-
ments of Pennsylvania and Virginia by the Indians. These
captivities were a phase of the border strife which shifted
as the frontier shifted, and in which the Indian marauders
were for two or three decades in the French interest, then
for forty years in league with the British. Under the
French, the Indians carried their prisoners into the country
north of the Ohio, sometimes turning them over to the
officers at Detroit or Niagara; but more often adopting
them, especially if the prisoners were young. Of this class
was Mary Jemison, the “White Woman of the Genesee.”
Undoubtedly, in far more cases than we have record of,
the identity of prisoners who were the descendants of
Puritan or Dutch or Quaker ancestors, or the Scotch-Irish
frontiersmen of Pennsylvania, was forever lost in. the vil-
lages of the Senecas, the Delawares, and the Shawanese;
and blood which might have claimed worthy ties in the
civilized world, blended with that of the wilderness savage.
The half-breed products of these unions, as in the case of
Mary Jemison’s children and others notorious in border
annals, usually combined the primitive savagery of the
Indian with the acme of white man’s evil. The union of
French and Indian blood—not, indeed, a sequel of captiv-
ity, but of a lawless choice—was for many years so com-AT FORT NIAGARA.
225
mon as to produce a well-marked variety of the human
species; some of the individuals of which, as in the Mon-
teur family, attained a reputation for adroit and versatile
fiendishness rarely shown by the nobler full-blooded sav-
age.
A wholly different class of captives, during the French
period, were traders in the English interest, who ventured
into the territory claimed by the French, and were made
prisoners. The first of this class of whom we have record
was Major Patrick McGregory and his Dutch comrade in
misfortune, Johannes Rooseboom, whose trading career on
the Lakes was cut short by the vigilance of La Durantaye,
DuLhut (Duluth) and Tonty. With their Dutch and
English followers, and a horde of savages, they were
brought down Lake Erie, in 1687; they were prisoners at
the fort which Denonville built that year on the site years
after to be marked by Fort Niagara. It is not unlikely
that in an earlier day some unruly follower of La Salle
had been held prisoner here, for theft or attempted deser-
tion; but so far as records show McGregory and Roose-
boom are the first white prisoners on the banks of the
Niagara.
There is a long lapse of time—the dark decades on the
Niagara—during which we can make chronicle of no cap-
tivities. But towards the end of the French period we find
once more English traders from the colonies being ap-
prehended and brought hither by the French: John Peter
Sailing the Virginian in 1743 or ’44; Luke Irwin and
Thomas Bourke, Pennsylvania adventurers, in 1751.
When, in 1753, Major George Washington, Christopher
Gist and their escort reached the French post at Venango,
one of their most earnest enquiries was, “By what author-
ity several English subjects had been made prisoners ?”
Capt. Reparti replied, that he “had orders to make prison-
ers of any who attempt to trade upon these waters.” Wash-
ington made special inquiry for John Trotter and James
McClochlan, traders who had been apprehended by the
French and sent to Canada, undoubtedly by way of Fort226
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Niagara, though I find no record of their detention at that
stronghold.
It was not to be long, however, before the tables were
fairly turned. Capt. Francois Pouchot,2 the last French
defender of Fort Niagara, was himself the first French
prisoner of the British at that post; and with him, on the
fateful 25th of July, 1759, were surrendered to the British
486 men (607 according to British accounts) and ten
officers, besides women and children.
The next year, the last French defender of Detroit, the
adventurous Capt. Belletre, who in his time had taken
captive many English and Dutch colonists and traders,
was brought with his garrison, prisoners of war to Fort
Niagara, by the equally adventurous Rogers the Ranger.
The remnants of various French garrisons west and south-
west passed through Fort Niagara, in the hands of the
British; and one long chapter in the history of the old
hawk’s nest” was ended.3
2.	This is, so far as the writer knows, the first publication of Captain
Pouchot’s given name. The information is had from the register of the
parish of St. Hugues, at Grenoble, France, wherein is recorded:	“Le neufvieme
avril 1712, j’ay baptiste Francois Pouchot, ne le meme jour ” etc.
3.	There are loose stories—the authors of which usually refer to “well-
founded tradition”—to the effect that political prisoners and persons of dis-
tinction whom the Court of France desired to be rid of, were sent to Fort Niag-
ara and incarcerated in its dungeons. Writers of guide-books and newspaper
sketches have been attracted by this phase of Fort Niagara captivities, but uni-
formly neglect to show any basis for their “well-founded tradition.” Some
years ago Mr. L. B. Proctor of Albany made a notable contribution to this class
of literature with a paper published in the Albany Argus (April 12, 189.1), and
subsequently in pamphlet form, entitled “The American Bastile,” wherein he
gave certain alleged incidents in the history of Fort Niagara, under the com-
mand of one Col. De la Vega, “an elegant, accomplished, brave but dissolute
officer,” who, in order to maintain a guilty alliance with “a beautiful girl, the
daughter of the second in command under De la Vega,” wickedly made way
with his wife, who had been so rash as to accompany her spouse to Fort Niagara.
The secret dungeons of the place are described, with their “instruments for
execution, torture and secret murder,” and walls covered with names “famous in
history.” “Lady De la Vega” is supposed to have perished in one of these
dungeons, where years after the Americans are said to have found the skeleton
of a woman chained to the wall, with a costly bracelet on its wrist, about its
neck “a string of elegant gold beads, to which a rich embossed cross was at-
tached,” rings on its fingers—and, perhaps, bells on its toes. “The initials on
the ring and bracelet indicate that it was the remains of the wife of Col. De la
Vega,” etc. This tragic affair would have greater significance to the student of
Niagara history if it could be shown that Niagara ever had a commander named
De la Vega. The poisoned well and other accessories are not omitted; so that
Fort Niagara seems to belong in the same lurid list as the Lion’s Mouth of
Venice or the torture-chambers of the Inquisition, as depicted by old romancers.
The sober history of Fort Niagara holds tragedy enough; there is no need of
tricking it out with invention and cheap romance. While it is possible that
political prisoners were sent from France to be held captive at Fort Niagara, I
have yet to find the first trace of evidence that any were ever sent, or that the
post was even thought of for such a purpose.AT FORT NIAGARA.
227
In the years immediately following the overthrow of
French power, the gradually increasing hatred of the In-
dian for the British culminated in the conspiracy of
Pontiac. To indicate the causes of this hatred would be
to enter upon a theme long since reviewed by able writers;
nor is it wholly germane to the present inquiry. Sir Jeffrey
Amherst’s contempt for the Indian is vividly set forth in
the pages of Parkman’s “Pontiac.” At Fort Niagara, as
elsewhere, the British officers withheld the customary pres-
ents from the Indians, and pursued such a tactless, such a
harsh and aggravating course that the red man’s resort to
tomahawk and scalping-knife was but a natural sequence.
There had been only a brief cessation of the warfare,
especially against the frontiers of Pennsylvania. During
the later years of French control on the Niagara and the
Ohio, more captives appear to have been taken, in the
Pennsylvania valleys, than in any other quarter exposed to
Indian raids. In 1756, when Col. John Armstrong de-
stroyed the Indian town of Kittanning, he found there a
dozen or more English prisoners, most of whom, but for his
rescue, would probably have been carried to Canada by the
Niagara route.
At Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 19, 1762, the Six Nations de-
livered up fifteen prisoners. Under the treaty of 1763
hundreds of captives were restored, and during the winter
of 1764 there was an abatement of hostilities on the part of
the Indians, though there never was a time when the white
settlers on the then frontiers did not find the Indians hos-
tile. The red man’s jealousy of the encroaching colonist
was not lessened by the fact that the Treaty of Paris ex-
tended England’s claim of jurisdiction into vast regions
where before she had not dared assert herself. But Col.
Bouquet’s expedition in 1764 awed the tribes among whom
he penetrated, and they generally complied with his com-
mand to free their prisoners. At the forks of the Muskin-
gum, in October, the Delaware chiefs delivered up eighteen
white prisoners, and promised to release eighty-three more
then in their villages. On November 9th, 206 captive men,228
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
women and children, were delivered up to him by the Sen-
ecas and Delawares. A few days later, the Shawanese,
who had held out to the last, delivered up a number of
prisoners, and in the following spring carried the rest,
about a hundred in all, to Fort Pitt. A most touching
chapter in border history is the account of the home-coming
of these captives, most of whom had been taken from
Pennsylvania and Virginia settlements.4 This treaty
brought a large number of captive children to Carlisle and
Philadelphia, to be recognized and claimed by parents.
Not even at this time did the Indians deliver up all their
captives. The Shawanese in particular were defiant in at-
titude and were known to retain in their villages many
white men, women and children.
The decade from 1764 to 1774 was a comparatively
quiet period on the frontiers. But in the latter year the
massacres of Lord Dunmore’s war renewed the Indian
raids; and there was no respite until the close of the Revo-
lution. Throughout all this period, increasingly from year
to year, the name Niagara gained a more and more direful
significance. On the Ohio, on the Kanawha, throughout
all the deep valleys of the Pennsylvania streams where set-
tlement had pushed its way, Fort Niagara was known as
the spot where British and Indian plotted the destruction
of the American frontiers, the base whence the war-parties
came, and the retreat to which they returned with scalps
and prisoners. In June, 1780, the inhabitants of Northum-
berland Co., Pennsylvania, on the West Branch of the
Susquehanna, addressed an impassioned memorial to the
executive committee of the State, asking that troops be
sent for their protection. After stating where their pres-
ent small force was posted, and reciting the woes they had
suffered from incursions of the enemy, they said:	“Berks,
Lancaster and Cumberland County s must be involved in
the calamities which we at present suffer. Nor is this all.
This would be a new Niagara to the Enemy. Hither their
4. See Rupp’s “Early History of Western Pennsylvania,” Pittsburg, 1844.AT FORT NIAGARA.
229
Friends would flock, and from hence their predatory war
will be prosecuted.”
Prior to the English conquest in 1759, as already stated,
most of the prisoners who were brought to Fort Niagara
were English traders who had fallen into the hands of the
French; or former captives of the Indians, usually taken
on the Ohio, who, after being detained at the villages on the
Miami, were ultimately turned over to the French at De-
troit, from which post they were sent down Lake Erie to
Fort Niagara. Thus most of the captives in the French
period came to Fort Niagara from the westward. Towards
the end of the French regime, some were sent thither from
Fort Duquesne, by way of Presqu’ Isle.
An interesting glimpse of the prisoners at Fort Niagara
in its last days under the French is afforded by the following
extract from the news columns of the New York Mercury
of Monday, Aug. 20, 1759:
'There were several English prisoners found in the fort
at Niagara when it surrendered, among which were John
Peter, who was taken the 23d of May last in company with
one Robinson and Bell (who were left among the Indians)
that belonged to Capt. Bullet’s company of Virginians, on
their way to Fort Legonier from Ray’s Town. Margaret
Painter, taken eighteen months since in Pennsylvania Gov-
ernment. Edward Hoskins, taken ten years since on the
borders of New England. Nathaniel Sullivan, taken at
Potowmack in Virginia, the 25th September last. Isabel
Stockton, a Dutch girl, taken Oct. 1, 1757, at Winchester.
Christopher and Michael Franks, brothers, born at Tulpe-
hoken, Co. of Bucks, in Pennsylvania. John McDaniel,
taken the 12th of July, 1758, near Halifax in Nova Scotia.
Molly Heysham, taken four years since at the Blue Moun-
tains. Also two or three young children, names unknown,
whose parents were killed by the Indians when taken. Many
of the above prisoners have been at Niagara one or two
years past, and had their liberty to walk about, as the cap-
tives made to the southward must pass that way in their
Rout to Canada.” Hoskins’ captivity of ten years is the280
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
longest of which we find mention in connection with Fort
Niagara, though probably a large part of that time was
passed with the Indians. Usually, as> the following tale of
captivities repeatedly shows, when the sojourn among the
Indians ran into the years it was because the captive was
no longer regarded as a captive, but as one with his adoptive
people.
Still another glimpse of the romance and the domestic
complications which sometimes were the sequel of a cap-
tivity, is afforded by the following extract from the Boston
Gazette of Sept, io, 1759. The woman in question may have
been one of those whose name appears in our list:
“A private letter from Albany informs us that when the
French prisoners lately taken at Niagara arrived at that city,
in their way down hither, an English woman, wife to one of
the soldiers that was in Gen. Braddock’s army, having been
taken prisoner by the French at the time of the defeat of
Gen. Braddock, and supposing that her husband was slain
at that time, during her imprisonment married a French
subaltern, by whom she had one child, being with her hus-
band coming prisoner through Albany, was there discov-
ered by her former husband, who was then on duty there.
He immediately demanded her, and after some struggles of
tenderness for her French husband she left him and closed
again with her first—tho’ ’tis said the French husband in-
sisted on keeping the child as his property, which was as-
sented to by the wife and first husband.”
All of the captivities of the earlier period are but trifling
as compared with the great number during the Revolution-
ary War. It is instructive to note how the main features
of that war on the western frontier, were mere retaliatory
strokes. The so-called Lord Dunmore’s war was little
more than massacre and counter-massacre, first by whites,
then by red men, the latter more and more reinforced by
the British. In 1778 came the great stroke at Wyoming,
soon after followed by that at Cherry Valley. In retali-
ation for these attacks, Sullivan’s raid through the Seneca
Lake and Genesee valleys was planned and carried out inAT FORT NIAGARA.
231
1779* It scattered the Senecas, drove them out from their
old homes, and broke forever the power of the Iroquois
Confederacy. Yet it did not put an end to the British and
Indian attacks on the American frontiers. Indeed, there
was no period during the war in which the allies at Fort
Niagara were more active than in 1780 to 1782. During
this period many war parties constantly haunted the Mo-
hawk and Schoharie valleys, and those of eastern Penn-
sylvania, of the Susquehanna and Juniata. The purpose of
these raids was not merely to burn, to kill and to take cap-
tive, but to cripple the enemy by destroying the crops on
which the Americans relied for the subsistence of their
army. At that period, the Schoharie valley was one of the
best-developed grain sections in America. That Sir John
Johnson, Butler, Brant and their followers did their work
effectively is shown by the following extract from a letter
by James Madison, dated Philadelphia, Nov. 14, 1780.
After speaking of the difficulty experienced in getting sup-
plies of wheat and flour for the army, he adds:
“The inroads of the enemy on the frontiers of New York have
been most fatal to us in this respect. They have almost totally
ruined that fine wheat country, which was able, and from the energy
of their government, was likely to supply magazines of flour, both
to the main army and the northwestern posts. The settlement of
Schoharie, which alone was able to furnish, according to a letter
from Gen. Washington, eighty thousand bushels of grain for public
use, has been totally laid in ashes.”
Writing elsewhere5 of Indian captivities I have summed
up this phase of the subject as follows:
“Most of the captivities which figure in American his-
tory came about through the alliance of the red man with
white foes of the American settler. In the old French war,
Indians from Canada carried off people who were their
enemies only because they lived in British colonies. In the
American Revolution, the rebel colonists, pioneers., and
soldiers were captured by Indians, nob because of any
grievance which the Indians had against them, but in the
5. “Narratives of Captivity .	.	. The Captivity and Sufferings of
Benjamin Gilbert and his Family,” Cleveland, 1904.232
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
ordinary (Indian) course of warfare, in the British in-
terest...........
“The regions in which captivities have occurred varied
according to the period. As every reader of colonial New
England history knows, many a frontier hamlet was at-
tacked and the wretched prisoners carried northward into
Canada, 'whence they came not back/ as many an old
chronicle records. As settlement pushed westward, and
the conflict between France and Great Britain was carried
into the valley of the Ohio, the course of captivities ran
westwardly, from the borders of Virginia and Pennsyl-
vania into the wilds of Kentucky and Ohio. French offi-
cers at their posts on the Ohio and the Great Lakes ran-
somed from Indian hands many a white prisoner.
“But the Indian captivity, as a feature of American
warfare, did not reach its greatest development until the
days of the Revolution, when the British, established on
the lake and western posts from which they had ousted the
French, made alliance with the greater part of the Six
Nations and employed them with dire effect upon the
American frontiers. From no spot in the long chain of
wilderness outposts was this sort of warfare waged more
fiercely or more successfully than from Fort Niagara, on
the south shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the fam-
ous river. Here, throughout the Revolution, the British
maintained a garrison. Here was the principal rendezvous
of their most efficient Indian allies, the Senecas; and from
this spot, year after year, were sent out raiding expeditions,
sometimes under joint British and Indian leadership, some-
times conducted solely by the Indians. They moved swift-
ly over the forest trails, eastward to the valleys of the
Mohawk and upper Susquehanna, or southeasterly into
Pennsylvania; fell upon the frontier farms, burned the
buildings, slaughtered the cattle, stole the horses, and
brought away such prisoners as they did not kill, back over
the hundreds of miles of lake and river, valley and forest
upland, to the old seats on the lower Genesee or the Tona-
wanda, or to the base of supplies and encouragement, FortAT FORT NIAGARA.
Niagara. From this old 'hawks’ nest’ went forth those
savage expeditions which made the names of Wyoming,
Cherry Valley, Harpersfield, Bowman’s Creek, and many
another scene of slaughter memorable in the history of the
'back country’ during the Revolution. Probably, during
that period, at least a thousand prisoners were brought
hither. Many of them spent years of arduous servitude
among the natives who adopted them..............”
The routes by which prisoners of the Revolutionary
period were carried to Canada were various, but in most
cases they led through Fort Niagara. The greater part of
the captives taken in the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys
were brought thither, although their ultimate destination
was Montreal or Quebec. I have nowhere found account
of Revolutionary captives being carried directly north from
the Mohawk to the St. Lawrence, though it is probable
that there was some such travel up the West Canada
Creek, or the upper Hudson and Champlain. Many a party
of braves, however, returning from the upper Mohawk,
brought their prisoners to Fort Niagara by way of the
great path south of Oneida Lake, through Onondaga, past
the outlet of Cayuga Lake, through Ga-nun-da-sa-ga (Gen-
eva), and the Seneca towns of the Genesee and Tona-
wanda.
But by far the greatest number of prisoners were
brought in over the great southwestern route, which tapped
not only New York State south of the Mohawk, as far east
as the Hudson, but the valleys of the Susquehanna, the
Lehigh and the Delaware. Every one of the Schoharie
prisoners, of whose captivity we have any account, was
carried first up the Schoharie or Cobleskill valleys, south-
erly, crossing the divide to the head streams of the Dela-
ware or, almost always, of the north branch of the Susque-
hanna. There were trails on both sides of this stream to
the great junction of many paths, at Tioga Point. From
here the prisoners were sometimes carried north by the
Seneca Lake path, sometimes more to the westward, fol-
lowing the Chemung and Conhocton, the Genesee and284
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Tonawanda. Many a prisoner, taken in the Schoharie and
Mohawk valleys, of whom we read that he was “carried
captive to Canada,” was taken the long, roundabout way of
this southwestern path, Fort Niagara, Lake Ontario and
the St. Lawrence, to Montreal or Quebec—or even in some
cases, to Halifax; returning home by way of Boston.
Many American. captives are mentioned, in early local
histories and in manuscript records, as having been “car-
ried to Canada,” with no indication of the route followed.
The New England captives were generally carried north by
the Champlain or other direct routes, and do not come into
our present survey.
Sir John Johnson's flight to Canada, in 1776, was not
over any of the much-frequented ways. He and his re-
tainers were taken by their Indian escort, northward from
the Mohawk by way of the Sacandaga; but not daring to
attempt the Champlain valley, which was the great high-
way to Montreal, they struck through the Adirondack
wilderness to the westward, reaching the banks of the St.
Lawrence, worn and famished, after nineteen days of great
hardship. The experience was one which neither the British
nor their Indians were likely to hazard, in convoying pris-
oners.
There was one frequented Indian path, which led direct-
ly north from the upper Mohawk. It is shown on a map
“drawn by Mr. Metcalfe,” published in London, Feb. 1,
1780. The field of the map, which is designed primarily to
show the points of principal action in the campaign of
1777, under Burgoyne, is the southern Champlain and
Lake George region, the upper Hudson, the Mohawk, and
territory north and west to the St. Lawrence and Lake On-
tario. The trail referred to, began on Fish Creek, a tribu-
tary of Wood Creek, between Fort Stanwix (Rome) and
Oneida Lake, and followed a northerly course until it
struck the watershed of the Indian River, which it followed
to “Lake Oswegatchie,” now Black Lake, thence by its
waters and its outlet, the Oswegatchie, to the St. Lawrence
at La Galette or present Ogdensburg. This trail is markedAT FORT NIAGARA.
235
on Metcalfe’s map: “Indian path followed by Capt. Rob-
erts, commissary at Michillimackinac.,, The basis of the
map is Sauthier’s, published in London in 1779, compiled
“from surveys/’ by order of Maj. Gen. Tryon. There is
little doubt that prisoners were carried to Canada by this
route, and also by way of Oswego and the east end of On-
tario, either by boat, or by the shore, as was Robert East-
burn, a somewhat famous captive of 1756. War parties, at
one period and another, came into the Mohawk valley from
Montreal, by way of Lake Champlain, to Ballston, where
the trail divided, one route striking the Mohawk at Schen-
ectady, another advancing through Glenville to Lewis
Creek, at Adriuche, and still another through Galway and
down the Juchtanunda Creek to Amsterdam. But the fact
remains, that by far the greater number of prisoners during
the Revolutionary period, were carried by the war parties
back to the base whence these parties had come; and that
base, for the Mohawk and Schoharie operations, was not
the Adirondack wilderness or even Montreal, but Fort
Niagara.
It may be noted that many of the old trails, although re-
ferred to as following this or that stream, by no means
kept close to the water, unless there was good canoeing.
Oftener they followed the ridges, perhaps miles back from
the water-course the general direction of which marked
their road through the wilderness.
One finds little record of Indian, or British and Indian,
incursions against the American back settlements in the
first two years of the war; but by 1777 this plan of cam-
paign had begun to be found effective. Brant’s first hostile
demonstrations in New York were made in May, 1777. In
November of that year, also, the first scalping-party from
Fort Niagara reached the Juniata valley in Pennsylvania.
In 1778 this phase of the warfare attained its climax at
Wyoming. A year later, Gens. Sullivan and James Clin-
ton with their army of some 5,000, met and utterly routed
some 1,500 Indians and Tories at Newtown, near the pres-
ent Elmira. The Six Nations Confederacy never recovered236
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
from this blow; but far from ending the Indian raids
against the American settlements, Sullivan’s blighting
campaign seems rather to have stimulated them. In the
next year war parties from Fort Niagara harried all the
western frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania, and car-
ried death and desolation into a dozen valleys. In 1780 Sir
John Johnson and the Butlers made their first raid through
the Mohawk valley proper; and it was in the same year
that the Schoharie settlements were destroyed. In that
year and the following the firebrand and the hatchet were
busy at Little Falls, at Canajoharie, Fort Plain, Bowman’s
Creek, Cherry Valley. The slender barrier of the friendly
Oneidas was broken down, and over all the trails, from the
Mohawk to the Ohio, the stream of prisoners flowed un-
ceasingly to Fort Niagara.
As continued study of this phase of the Revolution
brings to one a wider comprehension of it, there comes also
a sense of the little we know of it; a realization of the lack
of record, and a conviction that if such record existed, it
would show a far greater number of captives than the frag-
mentary known facts indicate.
Undoubtedly many of whom we have some knowledge,
but with no indication of route, were brought to Fort Niag-
ara. No names, however, are included in the following list
concerning which there is not good evidence to show that
they rightfully belong there. The list is but an attempt to
preserve in form convenient for reference such facts as
have been assembled regarding these captives at Fort Niag-
ara. In the case of those whose story is already published
at length, but a brief abstract is here given, the reader
being referred to the more complete narrative elsewhere.
In general, the source of information is briefly indicated.
The list may prove of value to students. It will at least by
mere force of numbers make impressive this phase of the
Revolution in the Niagara region.AT FORT NIAGARA.
237
CAPTIVES AT FORT NIAGARA.
Allan, Ebenezer. The accident of the alphabet puts at the head
of the list of Niagara captives one who of all men was least
typical of the class. “Indian” Allan, as he was called, was a
native of New Jersey, and during the Revolution a follower of
Brant and Butler. Near the close of that war, he made his
headquarters at Mary Jemison’s home, at Gardeau in the Gene-
see valley. He worked for her, then brought goods from Phila-
delphia and opened trade at Mount Morris. For carrying a
bogus message of peace to the Americans, he won the enmity
of the British at Fort Niagara. After many adventures he was
arrested; he escaped, and was rearrested and carried bound to
Niagara, where he was held a prisoner through one winter—
probably a year or two after the peace of 1783. In the spring
he was taken to Montreal for trial and acquitted—the charge
being, apparently, that he had carried a peace-belt of wampum
to the enemy, with intent to deceive. His subsequent career, as
murderer, Bluebeard of the backwoods (he had many wives,
not always one at a time), and later as prisoner again at Niagara
under the Americans, presents many extraordinary features,
which are not, however, within the scope of this schedule.
Turner’s “History of the Holland Purchase.”
Anderson, (Lieut.) -------. Taken prisoner on the Ohio, Aug.
24, 1781. Brought to Fort Niagara, and sent thence, with thirty
others, among them Capt. Stokely, Lieuts. Hall, Robinson, Craig,
Ravensberg and Scott, Ensign Hunter and Adjutant Guthrie, to
Montreal.
Haldimand MSS., British Museum; copies in Archives Office,
Ottawa.
Anderson, George. Name also given as Andrieson. Taken by the
Indians at Lackawack (Legewegh), Ulster County, N. Y., in
1778. With a companion, Jacob Osterhout, was carried, accord-
ing to a contemporary account, “within one day’s march of
Niagara.” (Connecticut Journal, Sept. 2, 1778). Another rela-
tion says, “A few miles from the present site of Binghamton.”
(“Tom Quick, the Indian Slayer: and the Pioneers of Minisink
and Wawarsink.” Monticello, N. Y., 1851.) Anderson toma-
hawked the three Indians who had them in charge, while they
slept, and with the timid and helpless Osterhout, fled to the
settlements, narrowly escaping starvation. They reached Wawar-
sink, but Osterhout died soon after from exhaustion and priva-
tion, and Anderson, formerly an active and robust pioneer,
became insane, shunned men, made his abode in a cave, and
finally disappeared.238
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Andrieson. See Anderson, George.
Arants, Jacob, of Mercer’s Company, Virginia Regiment, which
capitulated to the French at Great Meadows, July 4, 1754. Was
taken to Fort Du Quesne as an Indian prisoner, and sent on,
in the custody of the Indians, by way of Fort Niagara, to
Montreal.
“Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo, of the Virginia Regiment,”
Pittsburg, 1854. The anonymous author was Neville B. Craig,
who obtained a copy of the “Memoirs” from the original manu-
script in the British Museum.
Armstrong, Hannah. Apparently taken at Fort Stanwix in 1783.
In that year David Ogden saw her, a young woman, with other
captives, at the Niagara carrying-place, now Lewiston. Her
captors carried her across the river into Canada; no further
trace of her.
“True Narrative of the Capture of David Ogden,” etc., by
Josiah Priest, Lansingburgh, N. Y., 1840; Severance’s “Old
Trails on the Niagara Frontier.”
Armstrong, Thomas. Taken in infancy by the Senecas during the
Revolution; adopted by his captors; in 1818 and later years was
an interpreter at the Buffalo Creek mission; Dec. 4, 1820, mar-
ried Rebecca Hempferman, also a white captive.
“Account of Sundry Missions performed among the Senecas
and Munsees,” etc., by Rev. Timothy Alden, New York, 1827.
Turner’s “Holland Purchase.” Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi.
Arnest family. Three in number, given names, ages, etc., not
stated. Made captive in Pennsylvania, July, 1781; arrived in
Montreal from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Arowin, Ltjke. See Irwin, Luke.
Aubry, (Capt.) --------. A Knight of St. Louis, taken prisoner by
Sir Wm. Johnson at Fort Niagara (in the engagement to the
south of the fort, near La Belle Famille), July 25, 1759. Sent
to New York, with Pouchot and the other French prisoners
from Niagara. He was subsequently twice governor of Louisi-
ana. In 1769 he sailed from New Orleans for Bordeaux, “and
the vessel had already entered the River Garonne, when she was
overtaken by a heavy storm and sank, Feb. 24, 1770. Governor
Aubry and all on board (except the captain and a couple of
sailors) perished on this disastrous occasion.” (Gayarre.) Aubry
was a prominent figure in the campaigns and expeditions on the
Niagara, Lake Erie, Alleghany and Ohio, during the last years
of the French period.
Baker, John, of Mercer’s Company, Virginia Regiment, taken by
the French at Great Meadows, July 4, 1754. Sent to Canada in
the custody of the Indian who captured him, following the line
of French posts from Du Quesne to Niagara, thence down the
lake to Montreal.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”AT FORT NIAGARA.
239
Beatles, James. Taken by Capt. Bird at Licking Creek, Pa., Aug.
6, 1781; James Rudelle and James McCarthy were taken at the
same time, and all brought to Fort Niagara, whence they were
sent with thirty other American prisoners to Montreal, arriving
there Nov. 28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Belletre, (Capt.) Picote de. French commandant at Detroit, who
surrendered to Major Robert Rogers, Nov. 29, 1760. Belletre
and his garrison were sent to Fort Niagara, as prisoners of war,
thence to Montreal. Belletre’s career is worthy of a more ex-
tended record than would be in place here. As early as 1746 he
was sent to Bay Verte in command of a “biscayenne.” The same
year he was at Beaubassin, returning to Quebec in October. In
the winter of that year he appears to have entered upon the
western service which was long to engage him. It was no doubt
in 1746 or ’47 that he was first at Fort Niagara, then under the
command of Capt. Duplessis. In April, 1747, he returned to
Quebec from Fort St. Joseph, bringing with him twelve chiefs
of western tribes. In November of the same year he returned
to Fort St. Joseph. In a report on Indian affairs at this time
M. Boisherbert spoke of him as “known and loved by the Indians
of the River St. Joseph,” and added:	“He is an Ensign of
excellent conduct, who served through the Chicaches campaign,
and marched to the village under M. de Celoron. . . . Sieur
de Belletre is a brave fellow, who pleases every one that is with
him. He accompanies Father de la Richardie as far as Detroit.”
The next year, at Detroit, de Belletre distinguished himself by
rescuing the crew of a canoe from Indians and capturing the
assailants. In 1751-52 he was among the Miamis; in 1756 he led
250 Miamis and Outaganons on a raid “150 leagues below Fort
Duquesne,” into Carolina; those killed and carried off captive
by his force numbered 300. On this expedition he was wounded
in the arm and shoulder. In 1757 we find him leading a war-
party of 300 men ‘'in the direction of Corlar,” i. e., Albany.
His attack on the German Flats, opposite Fort Herkimer, and
raid through the Mohawk valley, in November, 1757, were a
severe blow to the English. Lt. Gov. De Lancey reported to
the Lords of Trade, Jan. 5, 1758, that the destruction at the Flats,
amounted to “twenty thousand pounds this money” (i. e., New
York standard), that some of the inhabitants were slain and
“about one hundred carried into captivity.” The French report
of the expedition gives minute details of the destruction wrought,
and puts the number of killed at 40, and of prisoners at “nearly
150 men, women and children, among whom is the Mayor of the
village,” etc., while the value of property destroyed or carried
off is in astonishingly large figures. The grain destroyed or
appropriated was “a much larger quantity than the Island of
Montreal has produced in years of abundance”; the report adds,
“the same of hogs,” and says that 3,000 horned cattle, 3,000 sheep,
1,500 horses; furniture, merchandise and liquor to the value of
1,500,000 livres; specie amounting to 100,000 livres, and wam-
pum, silver bracelets, .fine cloths, etc., equal to 80,000 livres, all240
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
fell into the hands of Belletre and his followers. But his retreat
was so hasty that he killed many of the horses, and left behind
much of the plunder. Belletre was on the Niagara when the last
French defense of Fort Niagara was made, in July, 1759; but
was sick and took no part in the action. A few days after the
surrender of Fort Niagara he led the forces from Presqu’ Isle
and Fort Machault, to Detroit, where he commanded until his
surrender to Major Rogers in November, 1760. He had in his
time made captive many English; and it was no doubt with
uncommon satisfaction that the British conducted him to the
old stronghold of Niagara, at last a prisoner himself.
N. Y. Col. Docs.; Paris Docs.
Bellinger, —--------. One of two brothers, young lads, who were
taken captive by a party led by Capt. John Dockstader, July 9,
1781, at a small settlement called Curry Town, in the present
town of Root, Montgomery County, N. Y. The Bellinger boys
were taken with the family of Jacob Dievendorf, James Butter-
field, Carl Herwagen and others, most of whom were toma-
hawked and scalped. This was the fate of one of the Bellingers.
The other, and James Butterfield, were carried to Fort Niagara.
Simms says of this expedition that “two of the enemy carried a
wounded comrade from the battle-field, on a blanket between two
poles, all the way to the Genesee valley, where he died.”
Simms, “History of Scoharie County.”
Berry family. Names, ages and number in family not specified.
Captured in Virginia, June 24, 1780. Arrived in Montreal from
Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Betts, (Corporal) Samuel. Taken prisoner by Brant near Fort
Stanwix, March 2, 1781, with David Ogden and others. Shared
in general the adventures of Ogden (q. v.). On the march to
Niagara, Brant delighted to annoy Betts, and compelled him to
parade his fellow prisoners, fifteen in number and put them
through the manual, according to the tactics of Baron Steuben.
Priest’s “David Ogden.” Simms’ “Schoharie County.” Sev-
erance’s “Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier.”
Bidlack, (Capt.) James. An elderly man, taken prisoner at Shaw-
ney (Shawnee), Pa. In the autumn of 1781 he was released on
parole by the British at Fort Niagara, and returned home.
Details of Capt. Bidlack’s captivity are lacking. Miner’s
“Wyoming” (p. 261) states that he was captured, December
21st—apparently 1778—with Josiah Rogers, while “crossing the
flats on their way to Plymouth. Springing from their covert,
the savages failed in an attempt to seize the bridles of their
horses. A race ensued of intense interest. The girth of Capt.
Bidlack’s saddle breaking, he was thrown and made prisoner.”
Again (p. 297) Miner says:	“In the autumn [1781] the settle-
ment was surprised and gratified by the return of the aged
Captain James Bidlack and Mr. Harvey .	.	. two of theAT FORT NIAGARA.
241
prisoners taken the preceding December.” An account by Gordon,
an early “historian,” of Bidlack’s torture at the stake, is dis-
posed of as “without foundation.” Capt. Bidlack’s son James
was killed at the battle of Wyoming.
Borst, (Lieut.) Jacob, of Cobleskill. A well-known and active figure
during the earlier years of the Revolution, in the Schoharie
valley. Late in October, 1781, with Sergeant William Kneiskern,
Jacob Kerker and Christian Myndert, at the latter’s place in
Sharon, he was helping to secure the crops and shut up the
hogs. The day being cold and stormy, the four went into
Myndert’s house to warm themselves; were there surprised by
a party of Indians commanded by one Walradt, a Mohawk-val-
ley tory, and after a scuffle were all made prisoners and tightly
bound. The journey to Fort Niagara, most of the way through
snow, was one of great hardship. As they approached Niagara,
they had to run the gauntlet, in which Borst was so severely
chastised that he became consumptive and died soon after reach-
ing Fort Niagara.
Bouck, Abraham. A boy taken with George Frimire, the Utmans,
and others, near Cobleskill, in September, 1781, carried captive
to Niagara.
Simms, “History of Schoharie County.”
Bouck, Silas. Taken prisoner at Wawarsink, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1781,
by a party of 400 Indians, British and tories led by one Caldwell.
He was offered his freedom if he would guide a party against
the settlement at Newtown, but he refused. The frontiersmen
and some American troops rallying, the Indians fled, leaving
Caldwell without guides. “He induced Bouck to pilot him back
to Niagara, by promising to treat him well when they got there.”
How Bouck got his knowledge of the western trails is not
known. Bouck’s coming thus to the Niagara was exceptional,
perhaps unique, for he was a trusty Whig. From Fort Niagara
he was sent to Montreal, confined in a log prison, where he suf-
fered from hunger and harsh treatment. He escaped in the
night with two other captives; they attempted to swim the St.
Lawrence, Bouck being the only one to reach the opposite shore.
He made a perilous journey through the wilderness, narrowly
escaping recapture by Indians, and sustaining life by eating
snails, a raw rattlesnake, etc. After an absence of fourteen
months he reached Catskill and his home, where he had long
been given up as dead.
For burning of Wawarsink and capture of Bouck, see “Tom
Quick the Indian Slayer, and the Pioneers of Minisink and
Wawarsink,” Monticello, 1851; Connecticut Journal, Oct. 11, 1781;
and numerous other contemporary or early accounts.
Bouck, William. In July, 1781, while harvesting, in the town of
Middleburgh, some six miles south of Schoharie, William Bouck;
his son Lawrence, aged 18; Frederick Mattice and his son Fred-
erick, aged 10; and two little girls, a sister and cousin of young
Mattice, were surprised and made captive by a party of Indians242
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
headed by Capt. David, a Mohawk. They were carried up the
Schoharie valley; i. e., to the southward. On the first day of
the captivity the little girls were liberated and sent home. At
night, young Lawrence Bouck escaped. The two Mattices were
charged by the Indians with having freed him, and were tied to
a tree to be killed. Persuaded by the elder Bouck that they had
nothing to do with the escape of his son, they were allowed to
live, but were harshly treated all the way to Fort Niagara. (See
Mattice.) The journey to Fort Niagara occupied twenty days,
and much of the time they were at the point of starvation. At
one time, for a day or two, probably in the Susquehanna Valley,
their only food was a few green apples. For four days they
went with nothing to eat. At Oquago they found a colt that
had been lost by Capt. Dockstader’s party. This was killed, a
part made an immediate feast, the rest was dried and carried
along. One wild duck was shot, but there seems to have been
a well-nigh total lack of game. The party followed the Sus-
quehanna valley to Chenango Point (now Binghamton), and
thence followed the great western trail to the Genesee towns,
where the prisoners had to run the gauntlet. In the Genesee
valley for the first time on the march, they got fresh vege-
table food—corn and pumpkins. On arriving at Niagara Bouck
and the Mattices were at first confined in the guard-house, then
separated, Bouck being sent first to Montreal, then on to Quebec,
where he was exchanged, removed to Halifax, and from there
sailed for Boston. He reached his home in the Schoharie valley
in Christmas week, 1782, after an absence of eighteen months.
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Bounafoux (Bonafour, Bonafous, Bounnaffous), -------------, Lieut.
de. Commanded the artillery at the siege of Niagara; prisoner
of war at that fort with Pouchot, July 25, 1759. See Pouchot.
Bourke, Thomas. A trader of Lancaster, Pa., who in 1748, with
Luke Irwin of Philadelphia, Joseph Fortiner and John Patton,
undertook a trading enterprise on the Ohio. They were taken
prisoners by the French and brought to Fort Niagara, thence
carried to Montreal, where with others they underwent an exami-
nation, June 19, 1751, by the Marquis de la Jonquiere. Three of
them at least, Bourke, Irwin and Patton, were sent to France as
prisoners; the next year they were still held as prisoners at
Rochelle.
The Earl of Albermarle to the Earl of Holdernesse, Paris,
March 1, 1752. Also, “The Mystery Reveal’d,” London, 1759.
This work, excessively rare, contains an account of the capture
of these traders, and of their examination in Montreal, but with
names of persons and places misspelled well-nigh beyond recog-
nition. There was some correspondence between Gov. Clinton
and the Marquis de la Jonquiere, regarding these traders.
Bowen, Owen. Appears to have been an American prisoner. He
lived with Col. Guy Johnson upwards of three years as a clerk.
It is recorded of him that he ran in debt to Taylor & Forsyth,
merchants at Fort Niagara; and also that while at the fort heAT FORT NIAGARA.
243
married a woman prisoner (name not stated), with three chil-
dren. He was unable to support them, and memorialized
Abraham Cuyler, commissary for the prisoners, for a prisoner’s
allowance of provisions and clothing.
Haldimand MSS.
Brice, John. With his younger brother Robert, aged n, he was
captured by Indians at Van Rensselaer’s Patent, now Rensse-
laerville, N. Y., in the spring of 1782. With them was taken
Capt. William Dietz, whose father, mother, wife and four chil-
dren were killed and scalped. Their captors took much plunder,
but alarmed by pursuit, fled with their three prisoners and eight
scalps, by way of the Schoharie and Unadilla, Susquehanna north
branch, Chemung and Genesee, nearly starving before they were
safely beyond pursuit and could hunt. Near the mouth of the
Unadilla, Robert Brice was separated from his brother and
Capt. Dietz. The two latter were carried to Fort Niagara, and
detained there or in the neighborhod, until the Peace of 1783,
when they were joined by Robert and sent down to Montreal.
The Brice boys subsequently reached their home. See Brice,
Robert.
Brice, Robert. Son of a Scotch backwoodsman who migrated to
America in 1774, settling at Van Rensselaer’s Patent, now Rens-
selaerville, 22 miles west of Albany, N. Y. In the spring of 1782
this 11-year-old lad was sent on horseback to mill, eight or nine
miles through the woods; returning, as he drew near the house
of Johannas Dietz, where his brother John was at work, he was
seized by a painted warrior; saw his brother and Capt. Dietz
prisoners, eight others (seven of the Dietz family and a ser-
vant) slain. At the mouth of the Unadilla, Robert was taken
away from the rest of the party, and with three Indians, crossed
Western New York, being made to run the gauntlet and fre-
quently beaten and maltreated in the Indian villages through
which they passed. At the Nine Mile Landing, on Lake Ontario,
his head was shaved and decked with feathers, he was dressed
and treated as an Indian boy, and taken on fishing and hunting
parties. After several weeks his master took him to Fort Erie,
where a Scotch vessel captain bought him for $15. Robert
sailed to Detroit, where he was placed in the care of one Parks,
also a Scotchman, with whom he remained until the Peace of
1783, when he came down Lake Erie with other captives; they
passed from Fort Erie to Fort Schlosser in batteaux, thence
making the portage and continuing to Fort Niagara where he
found his brother John. The Brice brothers were among the
liberated captives who, at this time, men, women and children,
numbered about 200. From Montreal they crossed to La Prairie,
going thence to St. Johns on the Richelieu in carts; thence up
Lake Champlain to Skeensborough, now Whitehall, thence to
Albany. There their father met them and they were welcomed
home as though risen from the dead.
In 1838, when Josiah Priest published his “Stories of the
Revolution,” containing the narrative of “The Captive Boys of244
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Rensselaerville,” Robert Brice was a well-to-do farmer in Beth-
lehem, Albany County; from his own lips Priest had the story
of his captivity. Simms, “History of Schoharie County,” also
tells the story of these boys, whose name he spells “Bryce.”
Broke, Thomas. See Bourke, Thomas.
Brown brothers. Two boys taken with their grandfather Brown,
by Brant, near Harpersfield, in April, 1780. The old man was
soon killed; the boys appear to have been brought through to
Fort Niagara with Alexander Harper and other captives of the
same party.
Brown (or Broom?), James. A prisoner at Fort Niagara in April,
1781, but details of his capture not known. It is stated (Haldi-
mand MSS.) that he enlisted in the British naval service, and
afterwards formed a plan to desert with six men; was evidently
foiled in his attempt, for on April 23, 1781, Brig.-Gen. Powell
shipped him off from Fort Niagara to Quebec, with William
Hinton and three others lately taken on the Ohio; Jasper
Edwards, taken at Fort Stanwix in 1781, and with him Sarah
Elder; Margaret Odenoffe (?), taken on the Delaware; Eve and
Catherine Miller, Christian and Eliza Sheak, taken at different
places by the Indians; in all a party of twenty prisoners.
Brown, Joseph. Captured July 4, 1782, near the Upper Fort of
Schoharie, carried to Canada by way of Fort Niagara.
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Bryce brothers. See Brice.
Bundy (Mrs.) Nancy. Taken prisoner at Wyoming, Pa., in 1778,
with her husband and two children. Brought to the Genesee,
where her husband was taken from her. While in captivity here
an Indian sought to make her his wife. She told him that could
not be, as she had a husband. He disappeared but returned in
a few days and renewed his suit, saying that he had removed
the obstacle—had found and killed her husband. Nancy repuls-
ing him, he seized and tied her and brought her to Fort Niagara,
where the British officers paid him eight dollars for her, that
being, according to several accounts, the usual price for a scalp
or a prisoner, though in some cases large sums were paid for
captives. At the fort Mrs. Bundy cooked for the officers; she
also cared for at least one prisoner, the youth Freegift Patchin
(q. v.). We have no trace of her after 1780, at Fort Niagara.
Bunn, Matthew. Native of Massachusetts, enlisted in 1791, on an
expedition into the Indian country; taken captive, October, 1791,
near Fort Jefferson, O., and held a prisoner among the Indians
about a year and a half. He finally escaped to Detroit, April,
1793. As a prisoner of the British he was sent to Fort Niagara,
where he enlisted in the Queen’s Rangers, June, 1794. For at-
tempted desertion he was put in irons at Niagara, and flogged
with 500 blows. He finally escaped and reached Rehoboth, Mass.,
in October, 1795*AT FORT NIAGARA.
245
Bunn’s many adventures are recorded in a “Narrative,” writ-
ten by himself, first printed, apparently, at Providence, R. I., in
1796. There are several early editions, one dated Batavia, N. Y.,
1826; all very scarce. The “Narrative” is reprinted, with some
account of Bunn and his book, in vol. vii, Buf. Hist. Soc. Publi-
cations.
Burgher, ---------. A young son of Peter Burgher, who with
others was helping his father get in . his crops, in the fall of
1778 at Pakatakan, on the upper Delaware, near present Mill
Brook, Delaware County, N. Y. The Indians surprised them,
killed Peter Burgher, and took the son prisoner. He was car-
ried to Fort Niagara and sold to a British officer. He after-
wards returned home and was drowned in the Delaware, near
where his father was killed.
Jay Gould’s “History of Delaware County.” In the “Cen-
tennial History of Delaware County” this name appears as
“Brugher.”
Butterfield, James. Taken with the Bellingers, Dievendorfs and
others in the Mohawk Valley, July 9, 1781. See Bellinger.
Butts, Benjamin. A New England man, made prisoner some time
prior to 1780, in which year he apeared in the Schoharie valley,
wearing a green uniform. He had enlisted in the British ser-
vice, apparently in Butler’s Rangers, and had accompanied Sir
John Johnson and his detachment of some 500 British Royalist,
and German forces, from Fort Niagara, late in September, 1780,
over the road which Sullivan had traveled the year before. On
the Susquehanna they were joined by a large party of Indians
under Brant. It is said that although many of the Indians left
him, Johnson had at this time a force of 1000 men, with which
to raid the Schoharie and Mohawk valleys. He purposely went
late in the year, in order to destroy the gathered crops. Near
the Middle Fort of Schoharie, Butts was captured—from the
British—by Nicholas Sloughter and Timothy Murphy, the latter
a famous soldier of Sullivan’s army. Butts soon after returned
to his New England home.
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Campbell, (Mrs.) Jane. Wife of Col. Samuel Campbell. She was
taken with her four children at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11, 1778.
They were brought to Kanadesaga (Geneva), where they were
adopted into an Indian family, and Mrs. Campbell worked for
her captors, making garments, etc. In the spring of 1779 Col.
Butler went to Kanadesaga and with much difficulty secured
her release. In June, 1779, she was taken to Fort Niagara, but
her children were kept at Kanadesaga; when the Senecas re-
treated before Sullivan they sought refuge at Fort Niagara,
bringing the Campbell children in with them. Mrs. Campbell
lived at the fort about a year, and in June, 1780, with her chil-
dren, was sent down to Montreal, where she was exchanged for
the wife and children of Col. Butler, they having been detained
as prisoners at Albany. A little son of Mrs. Campbell, who had246
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
been with Mrs. Butler, joined his mother, and some months
later the family reached their home at Cherry Valley.
Campbell, John. Aged n, son of Mrs. Jane Campbell. Taken
near Albany, 1780. Sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal, August,
1783. Three other children of Mrs. Campbell shared their moth-
er’s captivity; their names are not learned.
Haldimand MSS.
Campbell, John. There is preserved among the Haldimand papers
(Ottawa series, “B, 183:134”) a letter written at Fort Niagara,
Dec. 3, 1779, by one John Campbell to Capt. Lernoult, in which
the writer protests the propriety of his conduct notwithstanding
detrimental reports, “which reports may spread to my injury in
the situation I now am, and not conscious of having even wrote
to you before I was a prisoner.” No facts have been found
regarding his captivity. He does not appear to have been con-
nected in any way with Mrs. Jane Campbell’s family.
Cannon, Matthew. Father of Mrs. Jane Campbell, and taken
captive with her at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11, 1778. His wife was
killed, but he was carried to Fort Niagara, where he appears
to have been detained until June, 1780, when he was sent to
Montreal for exchange.
Carey, Samuel. Was 19 years old in 1778, when he was taken
prisoner at Wyoming, Capt. Roland Monteur being his captor. He
was naked when taken, having stripped off his clothes in order to
swim the Susquehanna river. He was made to swim back again
to the other side, was bound, and lay all night on the ground,
without food. The next day Monteur led him to a young savage
who was mortally wounded, and asked if the prisoner’s life
should be spared and be taken to the Indian’s parents for adop-
tion in place of the dying man. The brave assented and Carey
was accordingly painted, given the name of the dying warrior—
Coconeunquo—and taken to the Onondagas, where he lived two
years as the adopted son of the parents of this Indian. In 1780
he got to Fort Niagara, where he was detained until the end
of the war. He reached home June 29, 1784, after six years of
captivity. Charles Miner says that with one exception, Carey
was the only person made prisoner in the battle, whose life was
not sacrificed. This refers to the great battle of July 3d, for
we know that several others, taken at or near Wyoming about
this time, were brought to Fort Niagara.
“The Hazelton Travelers,” appendix to Miner’s “History of
Wyoming,” Phila., 1845.
Carr, Daniel. Taken prisoner in Exeter, Pa., near the upper end
of the Wyoming valley, June 30, 1778, with Daniel Weller and
John Gardiner. Several of their companions were killed. Carr,
Gardiner and Weller appear to have been sent to: Fort Niagara,
with other prisoners of the Wyoming fights.
Carver, (Capt.) Jonathan. In September, 1759, there was pub-
lished in the Royal Magazine (London) an “Account of theAT FORT NIAGARA.
247
Fort of Niagara/’ signed “J. C----r.” The writer says:	“The
author was taken prisoner near Oswego, on the 16th of May,
1758, and carried to the fort of Niagara, from whence he made
his escape on the 24th of August following.” He gives no par-
ticulars. Although the identity of the writer cannot be positively
asserted, there is good reason for believing that he was Capt.
Jonathan Carver. We know that in 1758 Carver was a second
lieutenant in a Massachusetts company, commanded by a Capt.
Hawks, which served in a battalion of light infantry, commanded
by Col. Oliver Partridge. It was raised by order of Governor
Pownall, “for the purpose of invading Canada.” Carver’s famous
book of “Travels” begins with 1766, and he makes no mention
of a captivity in it. In Dr. John Coakley Lettson’s biographical
sketch of Carver, which prefaces the third edition of the “Trav-
els,” the above facts are given.
Chreshiboom, ----------. A German, in the employ of Ephraim
Vrooman (q. v.) at Schoharie, at the time of Brant’s raid of
Aug. 9, 1780. Appears to have been brought to Fort Niagara
with some 30 other prisoners, afterwards sent on to Montreal
and exchanged. Name dubious, but so spelled in Simms’ “His-
tory of Schoharie County.”
Coffen, Stephen. Was taken prisoner by the French and Indians
at Menis [Minas] in 1747; was detained at various places in
present Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, thence taken to Quebec.
In September, 1752, being still at Quebec, he was thrown into
prison for negotiating with some Indians to take him to his
native New England. Three months later he was released and
allowed to accompany the French expedition to the Ohio. In
the capacity of a soldier he thus arrived at Fort Niagara, where
the expedition rested fifteen days. He shared in the abortive
expedition which built the forts at Presqu’ Isle and Le Boeuf,
returning to Niagara in November. On their way eastward
along the south shore of Lake Ontario, Coffen and a companion
deserted, made their way to Oswego, and thence to Sir William
Johnson’s on the Mohawk. At Mt. Johnson, Jan. 10, 1754, he
made a sworn statement before Sir William, of his experiences
with the French.
Johnson MSS., N. Y. State Archives.
Collins family. Details of captivity not known. Arrived at Mon-
treal from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Cournoyer, ---------. Lieutenant of the Marine (Fr.), prisoner of
war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Cowley, St. Leger. Taken near present Waterville, N. Y., on the
Delaware, in the summer of 1779, by an Indian named Seth
Henry and three or four others. Isaac Sawyer was taken at the
same time. The party started for Fort Niagara, but between the
Genesee and the Niagara, Cowley and Sawyer rose in the night,
killed two Indians and wounded two, seized the Indians’ effects248
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
and started back to “Old Schoharie,” where they arrived amid
great rejoicing.
Priest’s “Stories of the Revolution,” Albany, 1838. Jay
Gould’s “History of Delaware County,” Roxbury, 1856. This
latter authority says the escape occurred near Tioga Point.
Cox family. Details of captivity not known. Arrived in Montreal
from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Craig, (Lieut.) --------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781; sent
by way of Fort Niagara to Montreal, November, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Crogan, George. This celebrated interpreter was probably at Fort
Niagara more than once. In 1756 Sir William Johnson appointed
him a deputy agent of Indian affairs. In that capacity he was
at Fort Pitt in 1758, soon after the French evacuation. On an
expedition down the Ohio he was captured by the French and
taken to Detroit. From Detroit he appears to have been sent
East by way of Fort Niagara. He died in New York in 1782.
Crowthers, Robert. Aged 40. Taken, at some point in Pennsyl-
vania, in October, 1782; sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal,
August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Dalley, John, described as “a very busy servant,” taken with his
master, Immanuel Ganzalez, April 12, 1780, and confined with
him at Fort Niagara some weeks later.
Haldimand MSS.
Dalton, (Capt.) --------. Made prisoner in 1782; arrived at Mon-
treal, with 56 others from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Daly, John. Over 60 years old when he was captured by Brant,
at the great raid on Schoharie, Aug. 9, 1780. With the Vroo-
mans (q. v.) and many others, he was brought by way of Oquago,
the Susquehanna and Genesee valleys, to Fort Niagara. In run-
ning the gauntlet at an Indian village in Western New York he
was so badly hurt that he died soon after reaching Niagara.
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Davison, Fanny. Aged 14. Made captive in New York, exact
point not learned, April, 1780; sent with ten other American
prisoners from Fort Niagara to Montreal in August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Deanhoat, Nicholas. In the spring of 1791 Col. Thomas Proctor,
on his way from Philadelphia, to treat with the Indians at Buf-
falo Creek and to the westward, found Deanhoat living with the
Indians at Venango. He was of a Schenectady family, but had
been a prisoner and among the Senecas so long that he pre-
ferred to stay with them, although Col. Proctor offered to takeAT FORT NIAGARA.
249
him along, clothe him well and restore him to his friends. He
begged a blanket, and was left with the Indians. Proctor after-
wards employed him as a messenger, and gives his name vari-
ously as “Deanhoat” or “Deamhout.”
Deitz, (Capt.) --------. Taken with the Brice boys. (See Brice,
John and Robert). Capt. Dietz was brought with John Brice to
Fort Niagara, about 1779, and sent down to Montreal, where,
says the old chronicle, he died “from the pain of a broken heart
and the concomitant sorrows of captivity.”
“The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville,” by Josiah Priest,
Albany, 1838.
Demeny [?] family. Name obscure in original MS. Details of
captivity not known. Arrived at Montreal from Fort Niagara,
Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Dennis, Jacob. Taken prisoner by Mississaugas; sent from Detroit
to Fort Niagara, thence to Montreal, November, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Deven, Barnabas, of Van Braam’s Company, Virginia Regiment,
which capitulated to the French at Great Meadows, July 4, 1754.
Said to have been brought to Fort Du Quesne an Indian pris-
oner, and sent on to Forts Venango, LeBoeuf and Niagara in the
custody of the Indian who captured him; thence by lake to Mon-
treal.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
Dodge, John. Brought to Niagara a prisoner, but not by Indians.
Born in Connecticut, in 1770 he was an Indian trader at San-
dusky. In 1775 he served as interpreter for some of the Indians
at a treaty held at Fort Pitt, meeting their commissioners from
Congress, and because of his devotion to the American cause
won the enmity of the British at Detroit. The Governor at that
post (Henry Hamilton) offered a hundred pounds for the cap-
ture of Dodge, and sent out parties of Indians to take him. On
Jan. 15, 1776, his house at Sandusky was surrounded by soldiers
and savages, who made him a prisoner and marched him to
Detroit. The commandant, Hamilton, put him in close confine-
ment and threatened him with death. He was shackled, sub-
jected to much harsh treatment, and kept in expectation of exe-
cution. In June, 1776, after a long illness, several traders
entered into security for him to the amount of £2,000, and he
was allowed the freedom of the post. He now learned that the
British had confiscated his property, which he valued at £1,600,
and had given it to the Indians. In September, Dodge applied,
to Gov. Hamilton for permission to “go down the country,”
presumably back to his old trading post, but was refused. He
later engaged in trade at Detroit, and in the spring of 1777 went
to Mackinac as a trader. In his narrative Dodge charges Hamil-
ton with mean interference with his sales, and refusing to let
him have powder. He was ordered to join a scouting party of250
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Indians, led by “Capt. Le Mote.” Hamilton at this juncture
being succeeded by Capt. Mountpresent (?), the order was not
enforced. One of the scalping parties brought into Detroit a
prisoner destined for the stake. Dodge bought him for £25,
concealed him and was about shipping him off for Mackinac,
when his humane plan was discovered by the British. De Jeane,
his former jailer under Hamilton, again imprisoned Dodge, along
with his servants and the wretch he had planned to save.
Dodge was charged with carrying on correspondence with the
“rebels” at Pittsburg, but satisfying the Governor with his denials
and evidence, was again let go on bail. He continued to have
unpleasant adventures until Jan. 25, 1778, when he once more
got into serious trouble by accompanying “about two leagues”
a party of traders bound for Sandusky. On his return he was
seized and imprisoned and his house searched for compromising
correspondence. He was made to wear “hand-bolts” and “leg-
bolts,” and lay in prison (his goods being confiscated again)
until May 1, 1778, when, still in irons, he was put on a vessel
and sent to Fort Erie, thence to Fort Niagara, there transferred
and sent on to Quebec. His subsequent adventures include deten-
tion on the prison ship Mariah, and some months of parole in
Quebec (during which he fought a duel because his adversary
had said he “hoped that General Montgomery was in hell”). He
finally took “leg bail” with an Indian guide, and made his way
through the wilderness to Boston, reaching there Nov. 20, 1778.
He reported to Gen. Gates, and was sent to Gen. Washington, to
whom, and to assembled Congress, he told his story and gave
information regarding British forces in Canada.
“An entertaining Narrative of the cruel and barbarous Treat-
ment and extreme Sufferings of Mr. John Dodge during his
captivity of many months among the British at Detroit,” etc.;
2d edition, Danvers (Mass.), 1780. Of great rarity. Also given
in Almon’s Remembrancer, vol. vi.
Dodson, Abigail, aged 14; daughter of Samuel Dodson, living near
Benjamin Gilbert, on Mahoning Creek, Pa., and taken with him
and his family, April 25, 1780; brought to the Niagara, and in
May, 1780, at a place about eight miles from the fort, was given
to a Cayuga family, who took her about 200 miles distant into
their country. She remained with them for several years, not
being released when the Gilberts and Pearts were; but after the
restoration of peace (1784), her friends found her and took her
home to Pennsylvania. Of all the Gilbert party, least is recorded
of Abigail Dodson’s experiences in captivity.
“A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Benjamin
Gilbert and his Family,” Philadelphia, 1784, and subsequent
editions.
Dougherty family. Names, ages and number in family not specified.
Captured in Virginia, June 24, 1780. Arrived in Montreal from
Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.AT FORT NIAGARA.
251
Duett, Henry. Taken in Virginia, with the Riddells, Porters, and
others, June 24, 1780; arrived in Montreal from Fort Niagara,
Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Duett, Mary. Same record as Henry Duett. Their relationship
not stated.
Edwards, Jasper. Taken at Fort Stanwix early in 1781, and brought
to Fort Niagara, whence he was shipped April 23, 1781, for
Montreal or Quebec.
Haldimand MSS.
Elder, Sarah. Mentioned as having been taken with Jasper Ed-
wards at Fort Stanwix in 1781. She was brought to Fort Niag-
ara, and on April 23, 1781, was shipped down the St. Lawrence.
Haldimand MSS.
Elder, (Mrs.)----. In May, 1780, a scalping party raiding the valley
of the Juniata, in Pennsylvania, made a number of prisoners near
the mouth of the Raystown Branch, among them Felix Skelly and
a Mrs. Elder. They were carried westward by the Kitanning
path. On the Alleghany, both were required to run the gauntlet.
Mrs. Elder had kept possession of a long-handled frying-pan,
and when she stepped between the lines of hostile warriors and
malicious squaws, she still retained it. U. J. Jones, who records
her adventures in his “History of the Juniata Valley,” says:
“The first savage stooped to strike her, and in doing so his scant
dress exposed his person, which Mrs. Elder saw, and anticipated
his intention by dealing him a blow on the exposed part which
sent him sprawling upon all fours. The chiefs who were looking
on laughed immoderately, and the next four or five, intimidated
by her heroism, did not attempt to raise their clubs.” She plied
the old frying-pan lustily among the squaws, so they were glad
to keep out of her reach. Her exploits won the heart of the
Indian who had captured her, and on the march to Detroit he
made love to her, to which she pretended to lend a willing ear,
thereby escaping much harsh treatment. Young Skelly escaped
and after many thrilling adventures, reached home. At Detroit
Mrs. Elder became a cook in the British garrison. The length of
her detention there is not known; but she was finally sent down
to Fort Niagara, and thence to Montreal, where she was ex-
changed, reaching home by way of Philadelphia.
Emerick, Catherine. Wife of David Emerick. The Emerick
family, settlers near New Berlin, valley of the Buffalo, Pa., were
captured by Indians, said to be a band of Munseys, in April, 1781.
David Emerick and others were killed, as was Mrs. Emerick’s
babe. “They (the Indians) pulled down a sapling, sharpened
the end of it, impaled the babe, and let it fly in the air.” One of
the three daughters carried away captive died from excessive
bleeding at the nose, on the journey through the wilderness. ^ Mrs.
Emerick and two daughters not only survived the hardships of
the trail to Fort Niagara, but all married Indians, their captors.
So at least runs one record of this surprising captivity, which252
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
adds that in after years Mrs. Emerick and her Indian husband
went back to one Henry Myers’ place, near Harrisburg, Pa., in
order to draw some money coming to her from her grandfather’s
estate. Other facts indicate a different marriage. “There is on
record in Sunbury, a letter of attorney, dated the 5th of Janu-
ary, 1805, .	.	. the parties to which are Archibald Thompson,
of Stamford, in the district of Niagara, province of Upper Can-
ada, and Catherine his wife, formerly the widow of David
Emerick,” etc. If she ever married one of the savages who had
impaled her babe, she evidently made a subsequent and more
natural alliance. Of the after fate of the daughters there is no
record known to the present chronicler.
Linn, “Annals of Buffalo Valley, Pa.”
Ewing, (Miss) Elizabeth. Abducted by the Indians, with Miss--------
McCormick, between Stone Valley and Shaver’s Creek (Juniata
valley), Pa., in October, 1782. They traveled “for seven days,
through sleet, rain and snow, until they reached the lake,” i. e.,
Lake Erie, at what point is not stated, but the shortness of the
time indicates that it was near the east end. Here “Miss Mc-
Cormick was given as a present to an old Indian woman who hap-
pened to take a fancy to her,” though this probably did not take
place until after the prisoners had been accounted for to the
British officers at Fort Niagara. It was apparently on the Niag-
ara that the young women were separated, Miss Ewing being
sent to Montreal and soon after exchanged, reaching her home
by way of Philadelphia.
Jones, “History of the Juniata Valley.”
Fester, George. Taken in September, 1781, at Cobleskill, N. Y.,
with John Frimire, q. v.
Fitch, Elemuel. Taken in November, 1777, near Standingstone on
the Susquehanna, by Tories and Indians, with John Jenkins, Jr.,
and a Mr. York. Fitch and the others were brought to Niagara,
then sent to Montreal and exchanged or paroled. The name in
some old narratives is printed “Lemuel.”
Miner’s “Wyoming.”
Fortiner, Joseph. An English trader taken by the French on the
Ohio in 1751.	(See Bourke, Thomas.) His three companions,
Bourke, Irwin and Patton, were sent to France and imprisoned.
Fortiner was with them at Fort Niagara and at Montreal, where
he was sharply examined by the Marquis de la Jonquiere; but
we find no trace of him thereafter.
Franklin, Joseph. “In the spring of 1779 Mr. Roswell Franklin’s
son Roswell, son by his first wife, and a cousin of Joseph Frank-
lin, were taken prisoners by the Indians as they were going to
the farm one morning to plow. (They lived in the block-house
[at Wyoming] through the winter for protection from the Tories
and Indians.) After a long and tedious journey, five days oi
which they were without anything to eat, except nuts and berries
which they gathered in the woods, and an old bear and two cubs,AT FORT NIAGARA.
253
which they killed, they arrived at Fort Niagara, the boys becom-
ing waiters to two British officers. In the next spring Roswell
was taken back to the Genesee country as waiter upon another
officer.
“In the spring of 1781 there was to be an exchange of pris-
oners. Roswell and Joseph expressed their desire to be ex-
changed. They with some thirty other prisoners were sent to
Fort Niagara and then to Montreal. Here they were kept in jail
for some months but well supplied with food. They were fer-
ried across the St. Lawrence and up the lake of Champlain to
Ticonderoga, where they met the American officer and an ex-
change of prisoners was made.
“Roswell, Joseph and three boys from Kentucky procured a
boat and rowing all night arrived at Whitehall in the morning.
They obtained passes, sold their blanket coats, procured a little
money and traveled on foot to Albany. They rode part way
down the Hudson river in a boat. Leaving the boat at Newburg
they walked to Wyoming, Penn., with only a chance ride now
and then. As they entered the house and the father caught a
glimpse of their faces, he could not speak, they were returned to
him as from the grave. This Roswell has a grandson living near
the village of Aurora now.”
The above data are kindly furnished from family records by
Mrs. Frank Benedict of Brockport, N. Y.
Franklin, Roswell. See Franklin, Joseph. Miner (“History of
Wyoming”) speaks of “Rosewell” Franklin, but gives no account
of the captivity of the boys.
Franks, Christopher. Found a prisoner at Fort Niagara when it
surrendered to Sir William Johnson, July 25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Franks, Michael. Brother of the above, and was found a prisoner
with him at Fort Niagara when the British took it. The Franks
were natives of Bucks Co., Pa., but the details of their captivity
are not known.
Freeland, Michael. A youth, taken captive at Freeland’s fort on
Warrior Run, four miles east of present Watsontown, Pa., July
29, 1779. Accounts of the capture, as given by survivors or their
descendants, do not agree; but the Indians appear to have been
led by a British officer, Capt. McDonald. Of those carried into
captivity were Michael Freeland, apparently a son of Jacob
Freeland, who built the fort; and Benjamin Vincent, aged ten
years. Among the prisoners were several adults, who are men-
tioned as running the gauntlet at the Seneca village on Buffalo
Creek; but their names seem to be unrecorded. Freeland and
Vincent (q. v.) were brought to Buffalo Creek, and both appear
to have been adopted by the Indians, after being accounted for
at Fort Niagara. Vincent’s adventures were extraordinary, and
have been recorded by his nephew, Richard Peterson, who in
1900 was living in Pasadena, Cal., aged 90 years. According
to this authority, Freeland lived for many years in Western New254
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
York, just where is not specified. Thirty years after their cap-
ture, Freeland wrote to Vincent, who was then in New Jersey,
that one of his neighbors in Western New York was the Indian
who had killed Vincent’s brother and slapped the young Benja-
min in the face with the scalp. As a sequel to this letter, Vin-
cent appears to have taken a long-deferred vengeance on the
murderer.
“Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania,” vol. ii; narrative of Richard
Peterson (nephew of Benjamin Vincent) in Los Angeles Herald
about 1900.
Freeman, Elizabeth. Aged 17. Made captive by Indians, some-
where in Pennsylvania, in July, 1782; sent with other prisoners,
from Fort Niagara to Montreal, August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Freeman, Mary. Aged 15. Same experience as Elizabeth Free-
man; presumably her sister, but no details of their captivity
learned.
Haldimand MSS.
Frimire, John. Taken captive about Sept. 1, 1781, at Cobleskill,
N. Y. His brother George was killed; but John, with George
Fester, Abraham Bouck, a boy, John Nicholas, with Nicholas,
Peter and William Utman, brothers, was carried over the old
war-paths to Fort Niagara.
Ganzalez, Immanuel. Name doubtful, but so written; described as
“member of committee, late magistrate,” in a return of prisoners
at Fort Niagara, May, 1780.
Haldimand MSS.
Gardiner, John. Taken prisoner in Exeter, Pa., near the upper end
of the Wyoming valley, June 30, 1778. Presumably sent to
Niagara, with other prisoners of the Wyoming fights.
Garlock, Adam. Of Sharon, Schoharie Co., a fellow-prisoner of
Peter Zimmer. Taken captive in July, 1782, but not long detained
at Fort Niagara or elsewhere in Canada, for he reached home in
December, 1782, from Boston, in company with Zimmer and
William Bouck, the latter of whom had been carried captive to
Fort Niagara in the summer of 1781.
There appear to have been more than one Garlock captive at
Fort Niagara at this period. The Haldimand MSS. mention
“the Garlocks,” or “the Garlock family,” as being brought from
Fort Niagara to Montreal, where they arrived Oct. 4, 1782. The
Mattices were in the same party of captives, which numbered
over fifty.
Gatcliffe family. Names, ages and number in family not stated.
Made prisoners in Virginia, June 24. 1780. Arrived in Montreal
from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Gilbert, Abner, aged 14, son of Benjamin Gilbert; taken with his
father’s family, April 25, 1780, on Mahoning Creek, Pa., andAT FORT NIAGARA.
255
brought with the main party to within three miles of Fort Niag-
ara; about the end of May, 1780, he and Elizabeth Gilbert, Jr.,
were adopted by John Huston, one of their captors; taken to
the west side of the Niagara near the falls, where he lived till
the autumn, working for Huston, with occasional visits to But-
lersbury (Newark—Niagara, Ont.), where his sister Elizabeth
had been placed with John Secord’s family. In the spring, 1781,
Huston's family, taking Abner along, camped near Buffalo
Creek; here Thomas Peart visited him. In July or August,
1781,	he was taken to Butlersbury, where the Huston family gave
him over to John Secord; with his sister Elizabeth he joined
four others of the captives at Fort Niagara, and sailed for
Montreal; thence home in August, 1782.
Gilbert narrative as cited under “Dodson, Abigail."
Gilbert, Benjamin. Quaker, aged 69 years, taken at his home on
Mahoning Creek, a few miles south of the present town of
Mauch Chunk, Pa., April 25, 1780, by a band of Senecas led by
Rowland Monteur. By way of the Susquehanna, Seneca Lake,
Kanadesaga, Little Beardstown on the Genesee, and the Tona-
wanda trail, brought to Fort Niagara, where he was surrendered
to Col. Guy Johnson May 25th, just one month after being taken.
Sailed from Fort Niagara June 4th, for Montreal; died on the
St. Lawrence June 8th, and was buried the next day at Coteau
du Lac.
Gilbert, Benjamin, Jr., aged 11, a son of John Gilbert of Phila-
delphia, nephew of Benjamin Gilbert, Sr., in whose family he
was visiting when they were taken, April 25, 1780. Experiences
the same as those of his cousin Rebecca Gilbert, with whom he
was brought to Buffalo Creek, and with whom he was released
in June, 1782, they being the last of the Gilbert captives to be set
free. Joined the reunited family in Montreal, June 11, 1782,
reaching home with the rest, August, 1782.
Gilbert, Elizabeth, Sr., second wife of Benjamin, aged 55 years.
Same experience as her husband. After his death, June 8, 1780,
she continued the journey to Montreal, with Jesse Gilbert and
his wife Sarah; other members of the family subsequently
joined them. Elizabeth found service as a household servant,
and as a nurse, finally being allowed to leave Montreal, Aug. 22,
1782,	returning by way of Lake Champlain, Castleton, Vt., and
the Hudson valley, etc., to her family at Byberry, near Phila-
delphia, where she arrived Aug. 27, 1782.
Gilbert, Elizabeth, Jr., aged 12. Taken with her father’s family,
April 25, 1780. Near Niagara, was adopted by John Huston;
taken to Butlersbury (Niagara, Ont.), where she was given over
to the family of the Englishman, John Secord, with whom she
lived until Abner’s release, about August, 1781, when they joined
other captives at the fort and sailed for Montreal, middle of
August, 1781, with Joseph Gilbert, Benjamin and Elizabeth
Peart and their child; ultimately reaching home, August, 1782.
Of all the Gilbert captives the little Elizabeth was most favored256
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
in captivity, her sojourn with the Secords saving her from the
hardships of Indian life.
Gilbert, Jesse, son of Benjamin, aged 19. Same experience as his
parents up to the arrival at Fort Niagara, May 25, 1780. There
he obtained employment; went with British officers to a neigh-
boring Indian town to try to procure release for his wife Sarah,
detained by them, but without success; a few days later she
was released and joined him at the fort. Jesse was urged by
Col. Guy Johnson to enter the King’s service, but refused; was
sent to Montreal with his parents; there Jesse worked nine
months for Thomas Buzby; returned to Pennsylvania with his
mother and other members of the family, August, 1782.
Gilbert, Joseph, son of Benjamin, aged 41. Same experience as his
father after being taken up to May 4, 1780, when the captives were
separated into two parties. Joseph Gilbert and Thomas Peart
were taken up the Chemung (Cayuga Branch) and Conhocton
and across to the Genesee at Nunda; then to Caracadera, ap-
parently north of present Caneadea; was adopted by the Senecas
and invited to take a wife, but declined; lived in melancholy
captivity among them for three months; journeyed to Fort
Niagara with many Indians; where he learned of his father’s
death, and lay sick for several days at Col. Guy Johnson’s. He
stayed at Fort Niagara about four weeks, then the Indians took
him back to Caracadera; during the ensuing winter was allowed
to visit Thomas Peart at Nunda, seven miles distant; was taken
back and worked for the Indians as well as his feeble health and
lameness would permit; until midsummer, 1781, when a British
officer from Fort Niagara visited him, and failing to secure his
release, advised him to try to escape. He set out by night,
when most of the men had gone hunting, and walked to Fort
Niagara, about 130 miles, being nearly dead of hunger and ex-
haustion on arrival. He soon after sailed for Montreal, ulti-
mately returning home with his mother and the others.
Gilbert, Rebecca. Aged 16, daughter of Benjamin. Taken with
the rest of the family April 25, 1780, and brought with the main
party to the Niagara. At Five Mile Meadows she and her cousin
Benjamin Gilbert, Jr., were allotted to Rowland Monteur’s wife, a
daughter of the Old King, Sayenqueraghta. They were taken to
the Landing (Lewiston), then to Fort Schlosser, thence by boat
to Fort Erie, thence four miles up Buffalo Creek. Here Rebecca
was detained, doing such work as her slight strength would per-
mit, with an occasional visit to Fort Erie and Fort Niagara, until
June 3, 1782, when she and the boy Benjamin—they being the
last of the Gilberts to be released—and Thomas Peart sailed for
Montreal. Eight days later they joined their relatives, return-
ing to Pennsylvania with them, August, 1782.
Gilbert, Sarah, aged 19, wife of Jesse. Same experience as the
main Gilbert party, *up to the point of separation, May 4th. She
and Benjamin Gilbert, Jr., were again separated from Joseph
Gilbert and Thomas Peart, and taken to Kanadesaga, where they
met the main party, May 14, 1780. They continued together toAT FORT NIAGARA.
257
Rowland Monteur’s, near present Lewiston, where she was sep-
arated from her husband, he being taken to Fort Niagara, while
she was carried away by Indian women for adoption; she was
detained in their town near the fort for a few days, then allowed
to go to the British. With her husband and his parents, she
sailed for Montreal June 4, 1780. In Montreal she gave birth
to a child; and returned to Pennsylvania with the others, in
August, 1782.
Girty, Simon. This famous son of a notorious family, taken captive
by Delawares and Shawanese in 1756, with others of the Girty
family, was handed over to the Senecas, and may very likely have
been taken by them to Fort Niagara. He lived among the Senecas
for a considerable time. In 1786 he was at Niagara in attendance
at a treaty between the Six Nations, the Shawanese and Wyan-
dots, and the British.
Grey, (Mrs.) John. With her daughter, three years old, George
Woods, Mrs. Francis Innis and three children, and others, she was
made captive by Indians in the Tuscarora valley, near present
Carlisle, Pa., in 1756. The prisoners were carried across the
Alleghany to the old Indian town of Kitanning, thence to Fort
Duquesne, where they were delivered over to the French. It is
recorded that Woods took his captivity so lightly that on the
way to that fort he proposed marriage to Mrs. Grey, whose hus-
band had escaped the massacre at Bigham’s Fort in the Tus-
carora valley, when his wife was captured. Mrs. Grey and child
were taken by Indians from Fort Duquesne to Canada, the invari-
able route being to Fort Niagara and thence eastward. Mrs.
Grey was detained in captivity, at what point is not stated, for
about a year; when, by the connivance of some traders, she
escaped and reached home in safety. The child remained with
the Indians.
Jones, “History of the Juniata Valley.”
Guthrie, (Adjt.)---------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781. From
Fort Niagara sent to Montreal, November, 1781.
Hager, Henry. An old man of 80 years, when he was taken by
Brant in the great Schoharie raid of Aug. 9, 1780. He was
brought with the Vroomans (q. v.) along the great southwestern
trail—the upper Schoharie valley, the Susquehanna and Genesee
valleys—to Fort Niagara. He was harshly treated all the way,
because he was known as a prominent Whig; his son, Capt.
Hager, and several grandsons, were in the “rebel” army. The
Indians repeatedly struck the old man on the head with the flat
side of their tomahawks. Despite his years and their abuse, he
survived the journey to Niagara. With many others, he was
sent down Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, in batteaux. They
reached Montreal about December 1st; were confined during the
winter at “an old French post, called South Rakela” [?], nine
miles below Montreal; in the summer of 1781 Hager was
exchanged, with other Schoharie prisoners, sent by vessel to the258
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
head of Lake Champlain, whence he made his way home, on foot
via Saratoga, after an absence of eighteen months.
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Haines, Henry. Resident in the Schoharie valley. Taken captive
subsequent to October, 1780. Details of captivity not learned,
but apparently to be included among the Niagara captives.
Hall, (Lieut.)--------. Made prisoner on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781.
Brought to Fort Niagara and shipped on with thirty others to
Montreal, arriving there Nov. 28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Harmetsen, Fredrych. Taken by the French on Lake Huron, with
Maj. Patrick McGregory and Johannes Rooseboom (q. v.) and
brought to Niagara, June, 1687. After being detained at Cata-
raqui, Montreal and Quebec, Fredrych and Nanning Harmetsen
and Dyrick van der Hyder made their escape, reaching Albany
in five days from Quebec.
N. Y. Col. Docs.
Harmetsen, Nanning. Shared the experiences of Fredrych Har-
metsen.
Harper, (Capt.) Alexander. Was in command of a small company
of men, about thirty miles from the Schoharie fort, April 7, 1780,
when they were surrounded by forty-three Indians led by Joseph
Brant, and seven tories. Harper saved himself from the toma-
hawk by telling Brant there were 300 soldiers lately arrived at
the fort, a fiction which probably saved his life and that of the
fourteen men with him, since it induced Brant to start with his
prisoners for Niagara. The next morning he was closely ques-
tioned again, and again deceived the chief. Corn was had from
a tory, one Samuel Clockstone; and the expedition passed down
the Delaware to Cook House (near Deposit, N. Y.), on the way
taking one Brown and his two grandsons, the old man soon
being killed and scalped; they crossed to the Susquehanna, and
went up the Chemung. Near Tioga Point they encountered
two Indians, John Mohawk and Chief English, the only sur-
vivors of the war party of eleven which had been killed as they
slept, a few nights previous, by their prisoners Moses Van
Campen and Pence. This news made a critical time for Har-
per and his fellow prisoners, but they were spared and carried
on westward. At New Town (Elmira) they found the remains
of a horse which wolves had partly devoured, and there they
feasted. Past Painted Post and over the high land north of
Sullivan’s route, between the Chemung and the lakes, they
crossed to the Genesee, where they all escaped starvation a
second time by killing and eating a horse. From the Genesee
flats a runner was sent to Niagara with word of their approach,
and by Brant’s orders many of the warriors encamped there were
drawn away to Nine Mile Landing, under impression that they
would meet him with the prisoners there. This was done out of
regard for Capt. Harper, who had to run the gauntlet at Niagara,
but for whom Brant wished to make the ordeal as light as pos-AT FORT NIAGARA.
259
sible, for Harper was the uncle of Jane Moore, a prisoner from
Cherry Valley, who at Fort Niagara had been courted and mar-
ried by Capt. Powell of the British army; and who with his wife,
welcomed Harper, once he was safe in the fort. From Niagara
Capt. Harper and many other captives were sent to Carleton Isl-
and, down the river to the Cedars, and after many removes to
the prison at Chambly; he appears to have been kept there some
two years, then transferred to Quebec, sent by ship to Boston,
thence returning home.
There are numerous accounts of Capt. Harper’s captivity.
See Campbell’s “Annals of Tryon County,” N. Y., 1831; Simms’
“History of Schoharie County, and Border Wars of New York,”
Albany, 1845; and various later prints. Simms speaks of Harper
as “lieutenant” at this time. He should not be confused with
Col. John Harper.
Harris, Mary. One of several children carried away captive from
Deerfield, Mass., 1703. She was carried to the country south of
Lake Erie, by what route is not known. In 1750 the traders
Christopher Gist and George Croghan, with the interpreter
Andrew Monteur, found her living on a tributary of the Mus-
kingum, which has ever since been called in her memory, White
Woman’s Creek. She had an Indian husband and a family of
half-breeds. “She still remembers,” says Gist, “that they used
to be very religious in New England, and wonders how white
men can be so wicked as she has seen them in these woods.” Six
years later Robert Eastburn, a prisoner in the hands of the
French, found her at “Cohnewago” (Caughnawaga), near Mon-
treal ; she told him of her captivity, “and was kind.” The known
conditions of the time make it reasonably certain that she trav-
eled from White Woman’s Creek to Montreal by way of the
Niagara. She was probably at Fort Niagara and on our river
more than once, with her adopted people. She had a son who
was a captain in the French interest.
Gist, quoted by Parkman; Robert Eastburn’s Narrative.
Harvey,---------. See Bidlack, Jas.
Haverstraw, (Miss)-------. Taken captive with another Dutch girl
named Lizzie----------, probably in the Mohawk valley, place and
time not known. They were carried to Fort Niagara by a band
of Senecas with whom was the Welsh boy, David Price (q. v.),
whose adventures in captivity have been recorded by D. D. Bab-
cock, formerly of Welland, Ont.
Hawkins, —--------. Taken by Brant near Fort Stanwix, March 2,
1781, with David Ogden, Samuel Betts and others, and brought
to Fort Niagara, where he ran the gauntlet. See Ogden, David,
and Betts, (Corporal) Samuel. As their party drew near Fort
Niagara, Ogden and Hawkins, to escape the beating of Indians
along the road, fled together toward the fort, then some three
miles distant. In passing a Seneca camp near the Five Mile
bridge, two Indians took after the boys, but after a hard run
showed them that they were friendly, and went on with them.260
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
There is no trace of Hawkins after he reached the fort; he was
probably shipped down to Montreal.
Priest’s “True Narrative of the capture of David Ogden,”
Lansingburgh, 1840; Severance’s “Old Trails on the Niagara
Frontier.”
Heckewelder, Mary. Daughter of Rev. John Heckewelder, a
famous Moravian missionary. She was born April 16, 1781, in
Salem, one of the Moravian Indian towns on the Muskingum,
and was the first white child born in what is now the State of
Ohio. In September, 1781, several of the missionaries, her mother
and herself were taken prisoners by the Hurons, and carried to
Upper Sandusky, the infant Mary being “carried by an Indian
woman wrapped in a blanket on her back.” They nearly starved,
in the Indian huts during the winter. In the spring the English
commanded the Indians to bring their prisoners to Detroit, which
they reached about the middle of April. The Indian converts
built a new settlement about thirty miles from Detroit, on the
Huron River, which was called New Gnadenhutten. Here Mary
lived until 1785 when an aged missionary couple took her to be
educated at Bethlehem. They were at Fort Niagara about June
1st, traveling thence by way of Lake Ontario to Oswego, the
Mohawk and Hudson rivers.
Mary Heckewelders own narrative in the American Pioneer
(Cincinnati), 1843.
Hempferman, Rebecca. Taken as a child during the Revolution;
adopted and reared by the Senecas; at the Buffalo Creek mis-
sion, Dec. 4, 1820, was married to Thomas Armstrong, white man,
who like herself had been taken captive in childhood and reared
among the Senecas.
Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi.
Hendry, John. Taken captive at Harpersfield, N. Y., April 8, 1780,
when his father Thomas Hendry and elder brother James, were
tomahawked and scalped. Was brought to Fort Niagara with
Capt. Alexander Harper and a numerous party of captives. Ac-
cording to an old tombstone in Harpersfield burying-ground, he
died a prisoner in Quebec.
Henry, Alexander. Born in New Jersey, August, 1739. Engaged
in the fur trade, 1760; went by way of the Ottawa, from Mon-
treal to Mackinac, 1761; was taken prisoner by the Chippewas
at the massacre at Fort Michilimackinac, June 4, 1763, and carried
to the Beaver Islands, Lake Michigan; was rescued by Ottawas,
restored to the Chippewas, and had many adventures. In June,
1764, he came from the Sault Sainte Marie with sixteen Indians,
to Fort Niagara, to attend a great council called by Sir William
Johnson. At Niagara, June 22d, Henry found Gen. Bradstreet
with his army of 3,000 men, destined for Detroit. He was giver!
command of a corps of 96 Indians, but on July 10th, when the
army marched for Fort Schlosser, only ten of the red men obeyed
orders, and these deserted the next day. Henry shared the adven-AT FORT NIAGARA.
261
tures of the Detroit campaign, after it returning to his trading
interests at Mackinac.
“Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Terri-
tories, between the years 1760 and 1776,” etc., by Alexander
Henry, New York, 1809; new ed., Toronto, 1901. See also Park-
man’s “Conspiracy of Pontiac.”
Henry, William. A prisoner among the Seneca Indians, 1755-1762
or ’63, probably in Western New York, though no details of his
captivity are known. In 1766 a book of 160 pages was published
in Boston entitled:	“Account of the Captivity of William
Henry in 1755, and of his residence among the Senneka Indians
six years and seven months, till he made his escape from them.”
This is the work of which James Bain says, in his introduction
to the 1901 edition of Alexander Henry’s “Travels and Adven-
tures” : “Of this book no copy seems to be known. It cannot
be traced in the catalogues of any of the great American or Eng-
lish libraries, and is not to be found in the bibliographies of
Sabin, Rich, Field or Pilling. Of William Henry we only know
that he was a trader with the Ohio Indians, and was made pris-
oner by the Senecas, and in the absence of his book have no
means of tracing him.” The chief if not the sole source of infor-
mation is extracts from his book given in the London Chronicle
of June 23 and 25,. 1768. In these extracts are allusions to the
Mohawks, Onondagas, Oneidas, Cayugas and Senecas, but noth-
ing which fixes the place of Henry’s abode. The discovery of a
copy of his book might add a narrative of high importance to the
chronicles of our region. Mr. Bain concludes plausibly that
William Henry was a near relative, perhaps uncle, of Alexander
Henry, whose adventures as trader and prisoner are well known.
Henry, Thomas (afterwards major). Taken by Brant on the
Schoharie, April 7, 1780, in Capt. Alexander Harper’s party.
Same experiences, so far as known, as the rest of that company.
A brother of James Henry, also a prisoner at Fort Niagara. See
Harper, Alexander, and Patchin, Freegift.
Henry, James. Taken by Brant on the Schoharie, April 7, 1780.
In Capt. Alexander Harper’s party. Same experiences as the
rest of the party.
Heysham, Molly. Made captive “at the Blue Mountains,” prob-
ably in Virginia, about 1755. She was found at Fort Niagara,
with numerous other prisoners, when it surrendered to the Brit-
ish, July 25, 1759, and was no doubt sent to New York, by way
of Oswego, with the other rescued prisoners of the French and
the surrendered garrison, which included a number of French
women and children.
Hine, Philip. Taken prisoner at Wawarsink, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1781,
with Silas Bouck, and apparently shared his adventures as far
as Fort Niagara. Bouck was sent from there to Montreal as
prisoner, but Hine volunteered to serve in the British army. He
soon returned home and was said to have deserted from the
British. See Bouck, Silas.262
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Hinton, William. Taken in 1781 with three campanions on the
Ohio; sent from Fort Niagara April 23, 1781, to Quebec.
Haldimand MSS.
Hoffman, ----------. A Schoharie-valley German, captured with
the Vroomans and others, Aug. 9, 1780, and brought to Fort
Niagara. 'See Vrooman, Ephraim.
Hoskins, Edward. Captured “on the borders of New England”
about 1749, and remained a captive of the French or the Indians
for some ten years. When the British captured Fort Niagara,
July 25, 1759, Hoskins was found confined there among other
prisoners. His captivity is the longest of which we find mention
in connection with Fort Niagara—excepting of course, the many
cases of those who were adopted and remained permanently with
the Indians, which could not be regarded as continuous captivity.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Houser, Smith. Captive among the Senecas with Horatio Jones.
See Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi, pp. 450-455.
Hunt, Elisha. Captive among the Senecas with Horatio Jones,
and probably brought to Niagara with Houser and others in 1782.
See “Life of Horatio Jones,” Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi.
Hunter, (Ensign) ----------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781.
From Fort Niagara sent to Montreal, Nov. 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Hynes, Catherine. Oldest daughter of William Hynds (q. v.);
shared his captivity at Fort Niagara in 1780.
Hynds, Elizabeth. Third daughter of William Hynds. Captive
with the family at Fort Niagara in 1780; died at Buck's Island.
Hynds, Henry. Oldest son of William Hynds, and shared his cap-
tivity in 1780, returning home with his father and sister Catha-
rine in 1783. It was from Henry that the story of their captivity
was learned.
Hynds, Lana. Child of William Hynds. Died in captivity at Mon-
treal, 1780 or ’81.
Hynds, Mary. Brought to Fort Niagara with her father’s family,
1780; adopted by an Indian family and lived with them until 1785
or ’86, finally returning home.
Hynds, William, and family. His wife, daughters Catharine, Mary,
Elizabeth, Lana, sons Henry and William, and an infant, were
surprised at their home in New Dorlach, on July 5, 1780, as they
sat at dinner, by a party of seven Indians led by a white man,
Capt. Adam Crysler. The house was isolated, with no friendly
neighbors near enough to render aid, or even to know of the
capture. Hynds was bound, his son Henry made to catch their
four horses; Mrs. Hynds and youngest children were seated on
one, the other three were laden with plunder from the house.
A forced march was made to the westward. The larger childrenAT FORT NIAGARA.
263
tramped barefoot all the way. The Indians killed a deer, several
muskrats, otters and other small game, which were eaten with
ashes in lieu of salt. In passing through Indian villages, the
usual abuse was bestowed upon them; on one occasion William
Hynds was knocked down by a blow on the head with a bottle.
At Fort Niagara most of the family became ill with fever and
ague, of which William the son died. Mary, about 14 years old,
was adopted by an Indian family, and detained in Canada for
three years. In the fall of 1780 the rest of the family were sent
down Lake Ontario to Bucks Island, where Elizabeth died. The
family was later sent on to Montreal, where Lana, the youngest
child but one, died, Soon after, Mrs. Hynds and her infant died.
After two and a half years of captivity, William Hynds, his son
Henry and daughter Catharine, with nearly 300 other prisoners,
returned home by the usual Champlain and Hudson-river route.
Henry Hynds in 1837 related the facts of this captivity to
Jeptha R. Simms, who preserved them in his “History of Scho-
harie County and Border Wars of New York,” Albany, 1845.
Hynds, William, Jr. Brought to Niagara captive with his father’s
family, and died there in the summer of 1780.
Hynds, (Mrs.) William. Shared her. husband’s captivity at Fort
Niagara; buried four children, and “with constitution undermined
by the accumulating load of her mental and bodily sufferings,”
died at Montreal, late in 1780.
Innis, Francis, wife and children. Made prisoners by the Indians
in the Tuscarora valley, Pa., 1756, with Mrs. John Grey (q. v)
and others. They were carried to Fort Duquesne, then to Canada,
apparently by way of Fort Niagara. Innis remained among the
Indians until the treaty of 1764. His wife and two children
escaped, a third child being put to death by the Indians.
Jones, “History of the Juniata Valley.” “Frontier Forts of
Pennsylvania.”
Irwin, Luke. Shared the misfortunes of Thomas Bourke (q. v).
Irwin appears to have been the leader of the band of English
traders who fell into the hands of the French near Sandusky, and
were brought to Fort Niagara in 1751.
Jemison, Mary. Born on shipboard, 1742 or ’43; taken prisoner in
the spring of 1755, on her father’s farm on Marsh Creek, Pa.;
carried by Shawanese down the Ohio; was adopted, married and
lived at various places; came to Little Beard’s Town (Cuyler-
ville) in the Genesee valley, in 1759; the next year John Van
Sice offered to take her to Fort Niagara, that she might be set
free, but Mary refused, and hid for three days; other prisoners
were taken to the fort at this time and handed over to the British,
but Mary was allowed to stay. She re-married, her first husband
being dead. She resided on the Genesee until 1831, when she
removed to the Buffalo Creek Reservation (Buffalo), where she
died in September, 1833. In 1874 her remains were taken from
Buffalo to Glen Iris, the grounds of the Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth
near Portage, N. Y. As she was identified with the Indians264
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
friendly to the British throughout the Revolution she was no
doubt more than once at Fort Niagara, though she did not flee
there at the time of Sullivan’s raid. She went with the Indian
women and children to Stony Creek (which empties into the
Tonawanda at Varysburg, Wyoming County), and after the army
had withdrawn hired out to husk corn for negroes at Gardeau
Flats, where she continued to live, a valuable tract there being
deeded to her by the Six Nations.
“A Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison,” by James E.
Seaver, Canandaigua, 1824, and subsequent eds. Buf. Hist. Soc.
Pubs., vol. vii.
Jenkins, (Lieut.) John. Was in command of a scouting party
which in the summer of 1777 advanced from the Wyoming
valley up the Susquehanna to Wyalusing, where he, Lemuel (or
“Elemuel”) Fitch, a Mr. Yorke and an old man named Fitz-
gerald, were taken prisoners by tories and Indians. Fitzger-
ald was subsequently released, the others taken to Canada by
way of Fort Niagara. Miner’s “History of Wyoming” says of
Jenkins’ captivity:	“As Lieut. Jenkins was himself an active
officer, and the son of one of the most distinguished men in
Wyoming, the father having several times been chosen Member
of Assembly, a proposal was made and accepted to exchange him
for an Indian chief, then a prisoner in Albany. Under an Indian
escort he was sent to that city, and when they arrived, it was
found that the chief had recently died of the small-pox. The
rage of the young Indians, who had escorted him, could scarcely
be restrained. They would have tomahawked Lieut. Jenkins on
the spot, had they not been forcibly prevented. They demanded
that he should return with them. To have done so, would have
been exposing him to certain death, probably lingering torture.
But he was released, and instantly repaired to his post of duty.”
Lieut. Jenkins and his companions were the first prisoners taken
from Wyoming.
Jenkins, John, Jr. A collector of taxes, was captured by a band
of British or tories, and Indians, near Standingstone on the Sus-
quehanna, in November, 1777, with Elemuel Fitch and a Mr.
York (or Yorke). They were brought to Niagara, and sent to
Montreal; Jenkins being there exchanged or paroled, returning
home in June, 1778.
Johnston, Charles, of Botetourt County, Va., made prisoner by
the Indians on the Ohio, near the junction of the Scioto, March
20, 1790, the boat in which he was traveling being decoyed ashore
by white men, who cried for rescue from the Indians—a common
device. The captors included Shawanese, Delawares, Wyandots
and Cherokees. One of his companions, William Flinn, was
subsequently burned at the stake. After traveling in captivity
for a time Johnston was given to a Mingo, carried to the Indian
town at Upper Sandusky, where on April 28, 1790, the prisoner’s
twenty-first birthday, he was bought of the Indians by Francis
Duchouquet, a Canadian trader, who paid 600 silver brooches for
him, worth about $100. After some weeks he was taken toAT FORT NIAGARA.
265
Detroit, and on June 22, 1790, Major Patrick Murray of the 60th
Regiment, commanding at Detroit, turned him over to Capt.
Cowan of the sloop Felicity, bound for Fort Erie, whence he
proceeded to Fort Schlosser. With the commandant of that
post he visited Niagara Falls, then walked to Fort Niagara,
where he was, he says, rudely received by Col. John Rodolphus
Harris, the British commandant. Capt. Lethbridge of the garri-
son befriended him. After some days, with Mrs. Forsyth and
her son of Detroit, he set out in an open boat for Oswego, a
journey of six days; whence by way of Oneida Lake and the
Mohawk route, he reached his home in Virginia.
“A Narrative of the incidents attending the capture, detention
and ransom of Charles Johnston,” etc., New York, 1827. Also
told, with many errors, in the Due de Liancourt’s “Travels.”
Joncaire, Louis Thomas (Sieur de Chabert). A captive of the
Indians in his youth, he was in later years chiefly instrumental in
bringing about the building of Fort Niagara, of which he was for
a time commandant, and with the early history of which no man
was more closely connected. He died at Fort Niagara in 1739.
Joncaire, Philippe Thomas (Sieur de Chabert). In the regiment
of Guienne, prisoner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with
Pouchot, q. v.
Joncaire, Daniel (Sieur de Chabert et Clausonne). Captain, pris-
oner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Jones, Horatio. Born November, 1763; taken prisoner, June 3,
1781, by a British-Indian expedition near Hart’s Log on the
Juniata; ran the gauntlet at Caneadea; was adopted by the Sen-
ecas; went to Fort Niagara with his adoptive Seneca family in
the summer of 1781, and there met Jasper Parrish; was at Fort
Niagara again in 1782, to get traders’ goods; lived with the Sen-
ecas on the Genesee, 1781-December, 1784, when he was liberated
at Fort Stanwix. He settled first on Seneca Lake, then on the
Genesee near present Geneseo; he served as interpreter at many
important councils and treaties, and was U. S. interpreter for
many years. He died in 1836, and is buried at Geneseo.
“The Life, of Horatio Jones,” by George H. Harris and Frank
H. Severance; vol. vi., Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs.
Keith, Thomas. With his young bride, came from Europe in 1794,
landing at Baltimore; settled at Newport, R. I., then traveled up
the Mohawk, prospecting; visited “Ranogahara” ( PCanojoharie),
Geneva, “Chenessee” river, Niagara Falls; visited Fort Niagara,
and briefly describes the falls, etc. In August, 1795, traveling
with wife and child down the Ohio, they were decoyed ashore
by Indians and held prisoners, finally escaping through the arrival
of another party which killed some of the Indians and made the
rest run away. Keith returned to New England, where he was
regarded as a spy; subsequently sailed to England and settled in
Ireland. The account of his American adventures reads like
fiction, and poor fiction at that; it may have some foundation
in fact, but is without value to the student.266
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
“Struggles of Capt. Thomas Keith in America, including the
manner in which he, his wife and child, were decoyed by the
Indians; their temporary Captivity, and Happy Deliverance,”
etc., London, 1808.
Keller, Rudolf. A memorable raid in the Mohawk valley was that
of October 24th and succeeding days, 1781. A party stated by
Simms in his “History of Schoharie County” to consist of nearly
700 British and royalist troops under Maj. Ross and Maj. Walter
Butler, passed through many of the Mohawk river settlements,
burning, killing and taking captives. Among the latter were
Rudolf Keller, Jacob Tanner, Frederick Utman and Michael
Stowits of Curry Town; John Wood of Stone Ridge; Evart Van
Epps, who lived at “Van Epps’ Swamp,” where the present vil-
liage of Fultonville stands; and Capt. Zielie, taken near Johnson
Hall. Of many others taken in this raid, all of the women were
liberated, some escaped and some were killed. The above-named,
and probably many others whose names have not been learned,
were brought captive to Fort Niagara. It was in this affair that
Walter Butler was killed. The return of Maj. Ross and his
party was an experience of great hardship. They were seven-
teen days in reaching Genesee valley towns, where some of
the prisoners wintered, being taken to Fort Niagara in March,
1782. On arriving at Niagara Keller was sold, “and one Coun-
tryman, a native of the Mohawk valley, then an officer in the
British service, was his purchaser.” In June, 1782, Keller was
sent to Rebel Island, near Montreal; in November, to Halifax;
thence to Boston, where he was exchanged. Without money, he
walked from Boston to his old home on the Mohawk, reaching
his family in Minden, near Fort Plain, whither they had removed
in his absence, Dec. 24, 1782.
Kerker, Jacob. Shared the experiences of Lieut. Jacob Borst, q. v.
While Borst was dying of consumption at Fort Niagara, Kerker,
who was confined with him, acted as his nurse. Kerker’s sub-
sequent adventures are not known. It is not unlikely that he was
sent down the St. Lawrence with his fellow captive, William
Kneiskern, q. v.
Kessin (?), Menassiah. Name obscurely written in original. Was
a private soldier, taken captive with Quartermaster Wallace and
six others at the Falls of the Ohio (near present Louisville),
Sept. 14, 1781. He had previously been captured at Fort Stanwix,
in 1777. Was sent to Fort Niagara, and forwarded to Montreal,
reaching there Nov. 28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Kilgore, Ralph. Some time in 1750, Ralph Kilgore and Morris
Turner, two men in the employ of John Fraser, a Lancaster
County, Pa., trader, who had bought more skins from Miami
Indians than their horses could carry, were returning from Logs-
town for a second load, when seven Indians came into their
camp one evening a little after sunset. They asked for victuals,
and when meat was given them, they dressed and ate it in aAT FORT NIAGARA.
267
friendly manner. After their appetites were satisfied they com-
menced examining the traders’ guns, apparently from curiosity;
one picked up a tomahawk, and others asked for knives to cut
their tobacco. Immediately the two traders were seized and
securely tied. The Indians then hurried their prisoners off
toward Detroit, which at that time contained about 150 houses,
securely stockaded. The prisoners were delivered to the com-
mander, and the Indians received a io-gallon keg of brandy and
100 pounds of tobacco as a reward. The commander placed these
two traders with a farmer living about a mile from the town.
Here they were compelled to hoe corn and reap wheat. The
Indians frequently came to see them, and acted in a very insolent
manner, taunting them and calling them dogs, and declaring
that they were going down to the Wabash after more traders.
The prisoners were detained three months at this farmer’s house,
when the commander at the fort was changed and they were
sent to Canada. At Fort Niagara they met the chief French
interpreter, Joncaire. He was taking a large present to the
Indians in Ohio. The prisoners saw the goods spread out on the
river bank, and estimated them to be worth £1,500. The prisJ
oners also learned that a reward of £1,000 had been offered for
the scalps of George Croghan and James Lowery, whom they
considered the most influential and injurious among the Pennsyl-
vania traders. While following the shores of Lake Ontario, the
prisoners made their escape.
The depositions of Kilgore and Turner are summarized in
Walton’s “Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial
Pennsylvania,” pp. 241-242.
Kneiskern, William. Taken captive at Sharon in the Schoharie
valley in October, 1781, with Lieut. Jacob Borst, q. v. Borst died
of consumption at Fort Niagara. Kneiskern was sent to an
island—probably Buck’s Island—in the St. Lawrence, from which
he one night escaped, with several other prisoners. “They dug
out beneath the pickets which enclosed the fort where they were
confined, made a raft on which they floated down the river; and
one of the party, from fear the raft might not be sufficient to
carry them in safety, swam eight or nine miles with but little
support, his clothes being upon it, to where they effected a land-
ing on the American shore. After incredible hardships in the
forest, living on birch bark, roots, etc., they arrived in safety
among friends, where their wants were supplied, and they reached
their homes.”
Simms, “Schoharie County.”
Lafarge, Robert. Aged 65. Taken prisoner in Pennsylvania in
1777; sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal in August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Lafferty, Daniel. Of Monteur’s company; at battle of Great
Meadows, July 4, 1754, taken by Indians friendly to the French;
sent by way of Fort Niagara to Canada.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”268
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Lamb, William. Made captive near Harpersfield, N. Y., April 8,
1780. He appears to have shared the fortunes of Capt. Alex-
ander Harper and a large party of prisoners, who were brought
through to Fort Niagara at this time.
Jay Gould’s “History of Delaware County.”
Lamb, ---------. Son of the above, taken captive with him. So
far as known, shared his experiences.
L’Arminac, Le Chevalier de, Lieutenant of the Marine (Fr.), pris-
oner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Lester, Elizabeth Stone. The following narrative is furnished to
the present compiler by Mrs. Frank Benedict of Brockport, N. Y.,
a great-granddaughter of the captive:
“Elizabeth Stone was born at Litchfield, Conn., in 1743. She
married a Mr. Lester and they moved to Wyoming, Pennsylvania,
about 1770. They lived through the massacre of Wyoming, but
scarcely a month had passed when a band of Indians made an
attack upon their home, killing Mr. Lester and carrying off Mrs.
Lester and her three children. The eldest, a boy four years old,
they killed because he cried for his mother; and little Hannah,
nearly three, was taken to Canada and adopted by an old Indian
queen, with whom she lived nine years. There was also a little
baby.
“The Indians with their prisoners came north into the lake
country or Genesee valley, where they had corn and other grains
planted. Mrs. Lester said they tried to teach her to hoe corn,
but she was determined not to do such work and always cut it
off or hoed it up, and at last they gave up trying to teach her.
“She being skillful with her needle, they kept her busy with
sewing. In some way they had gotten a coat which was trimmed
with white cotton fringe and they admired it very much. Mrs.
Lester made a coat after this pattern, making the fringe by
raveling out some factory. The Indians were so pleased with
this that they thought her almost a wonder.
“How long Mrs. Lester was with the Indians I do not know,
but the Indians hearing that a detachment of the American army
were in pursuit of them, left their camping-ground and hurried
away to Canada.
“Mrs. Lester and baby both being sick, they were left behind.
She overheard the Indians say, ‘Let us kill her,’ but an old squaw
said, ‘No, leave her in the woods and if she lives she lives and
if she dies she dies.’
“As soon as the Indians were out of sight and well on their
journey, Mrs. Lester turned her face towards the approaching
army, following the trail back as nearly as she could remember.
Sleeping in the woods and on the bank of the river, living upon
berries and roots, she hurried along, meeting the army the third
day. As she wore an Indian blanket they, thinking her a squaw,
concluded to shoot her, but she made gestures to them, and they
waited to see what she wanted. She told them her story and
one of the soldiers knew of the family and so the men believed
what she told them.AT FORT NIAGARA.
269
“The Indians were so far in advance that there was no hope
of overtaking them, so the army turned back, taking Mrs. Lester
and _ baby with them. They gave her a horse to ride, but the
motion making the baby worse, one of the soldiers walked by
the side of the horse carrying the little one in his arms all day.
The next day the baby died. The poor mother’s heart was torn
with grief as she thought of leaving the little body in the woods
to be eaten by wild animals, but the soldiers stopped, unasked,
and peeling the bark from a birch tree they laid the little dead
baby in it and buried it in the wilderness. This thoughtful kind-
ness was a great comfort to the mother.
“On reaching Wyoming Mrs. Lester had nothing to keep her
there—home, husband and children being gone; so alone and on
horseback she returned to Litchfield, Conn. The next year she
came back to Wyoming, hoping to hear something of her little
Hannah from returning prisoners. In 1782 Mrs. Lester married
Mr. Roswell Franklin, brother of Colonel John Franklin. Mr.
Roswell Franklin’s first wife was taken prisoner and killed by
the Indians in 1781. After the close of the war they heard that
there were some white children prisoners in Canada. Mr. and
Mrs. Franklin went to Niagara feeling sure that a little girl who
had been adopted by an old Indian queen was Mrs. Franklin’s
little Hannah. The British officer knowing if Mr. and Mrs.
Franklin went for the child themselves that she would be hidden
away, kept them at the fort and sent for the ‘queen’ to come
down. She came, and he told her she would be obliged to give
up the child, and that she could take anything in the store that
she wished. She was kept there, while Mr. Franklin and some
other men went for Hannah.
“They found her sick, very sick, for the news had preceded
them. Finding that there was no use of arguing with the Indians,
Mr. Franklin told them that he should ‘take the child dead or
alive to her mother.’ Hannah did not know that she was not an
Indian child, but said she knew that she was different, and my
grandmother told us that none of Mr. Franklin’s own children
loved him more than did Hannah Lester.
“About the year 1789 Mr. Franklin and family moved into
the lake country of New York State. Coming up Cayuga Lake
in a boat, they landed near the spot now occupied by the village
of Aurora. Here they were a little secluded band of settlers, for
not a human soul, Indian or white man, was living there at that
time, and today you will find Franklins occupying some of the
same ground. Mrs. Franklin had three children by Mr. Franklin,
Rhoda, the youngest, was my grandmother, she married Simeon
Benedict in 1804 and they moved to Brockport, Monroe County,
New York, in 1830, bringing Mrs. Franklin, her mother, with
them. Mr. Franklin died in 1792, but Mrs. Franklin lived to be
ninety-six years old.”
The compiler is not aware of any published account of Mrs.
Lester’s captivity. The American army referred to is obviously
Sullivan’s, Miner, in his “History of Wyoming,” describing the
advance of Sullivan, says (p. 272) :	“At Kanadia, on the 5th
of September, Mr. Luke Swetland, .	.	. who had been taken270
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
prisoner the year previous, was relieved from captivity. At
Canandaigua, on the 7th, a white child was found, indeed an
orphan, without knowledge of its parents. We regret our inabil-
ity to record its fate. A few days after, a woman who had been
taken at Wyoming, came into the army, with a child in her arms
of seven or eight months old. Her name we have not been able
to learn.” It is probable, as appears from the foregoing account,
that this woman was Elizabeth Stone Lester.
Lester, Hannah. See the above account. The “Indian queen”
with whom Hannah lived was, plausibly, Catharine Monteur. If
the child’s captivity lasted, as stated, for nine years, her release
did not come until 1787, an exceptionally late date.
Lewis, (Sergt.) John. Taken captive Oct. 24, 1781, near Argusville,
N. Y., by British and Indians under Maj. Ross and Walter
Butler; was a sergeant in Capt. Robert Yates’ company of militia.
Was apparently sent to Western New York with Jacob Tanner,
Rudolf Keller and others. Some of the party wintered in the
Genesee valley with the Senecas, and were taken to Fort Niagara,
in March, 1782. The captivity of Lewis ended November, 1782.
He died 1833.
Data supplied by Mr. John C. Pearson, Cleveland, O.; MS.
records, vol. x, fol. 197, Comptroller’s office, Albany.
Lockerman, Christoph. Aged 30. Taken in Pennsylvania in 1778;
sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal, August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Lyons, (Lieut.) Robert. An officer in the Continental army, men-
tioned in a “return of prisoners taken and brot into Niagara”
from April 1st to May 12, 1780. Of sixty-eight captives, twenty-
two were killed, five escaped, thirteen were brought to Niagara
and sent down to Montreal, two enlisted in the Rangers; twenty-
one were women. When the report quoted from was made,
Lieut. Lyons still remained a prisoner at Niagara.
Haldimand MSS.
McBriar, Andrew. Taken at Gist’s (near Fort Necessity) by an
Indian named English John, July, 1754. Carried to Canada by
way of Venango, Le Boeuf and Fort Niagara.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
McCarthy, James. Taken by Capt. Bird at Licking Creek, Aug.
6, 1781; with Jas. Beatles and Jas. Ruddelle was brought to Fort
Niagara. In November, 1781, with other prisoners taken in Vir-
ginia, Pennsylvania and on the Ohio, thirty-one in all, they were
sent to Montreal, reaching there November 28th.
Haldimand MSS.
McCormick, (Miss) ---------. Stolen by Indians on the Juniata, in
October, 1782, with Elizabeth Ewing, q. v. At a place on Lake
Erie—not unlikely on the Buffalo Creek, where the Senecas were
directly under the influence of Fort Niagara—Miss McCormick
was adopted into an Indian family, and detained, her companionI
AT FORT NIAGARA.	271
being sent down to Montreal for exchange. The Indians, with
Miss McCormick, moved “into the interior of Canada,” where
her father, who had got trace of his daughter from the report of
Elizabeth Ewing, on her arrival home—made his way with great
difficulty, as we must suppose, in 1783 or later, after the declara-
tion of peace. He found his daughter living with the tribe,
treated as one of the family, and perhaps none the worse for it.
Jones, who records this captivity in his “History of the Juniata
Valley,” adds that Mr. McCormick got possession of his daughter
only by the payment of a heavy ransom. The captive was a sister
of Robert McCormick, Sr., long a resident of Holidaysburg, Pa.,
and an aunt of William, Robert and Alexander McCormick of
Altoona.
McDaniel, John. Captured July 12, 1758, “near Halifax in Nova
Scotia.” Uncertain whether he was an Indian captive or a pris-
oner of war in the hands of the French. He was brought to
Fort Niagara and was found there, a prisoner, when that strong-
hold surrendered to Sir William Johnson, July 25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
McDowal, Daniel. Taken prisoner at Shawnee, Pa., 1782, and car-
ried to Niagara. His father was a benevolent Scotchman who,
at Stroudsburg, had befriended the Yankee settlers in their first
efforts to establish themselves at Wyoming. Details of Daniel
McDowal’s captivity are lacking, but he appears to have returned
to Pennsylvania. He was the father of Mrs. McKean, wife of
Gen. Samuel McKean of Bradford County, a United States
Senator.
Miner’s “History of Wyoming.”
McGregory, (Maj.) Patrick. First and last, during the French
regime a good many English traders, or men trading in the Eng-
lish interest, were brought prisoners to the spot where Fort Niag-
ara has so long stood. The most important of all this class of
early prisoners was Major, later Colonel, Patrick McGregory. A
Scot who had emigrated to Maryland in 1684, he had, soon after
that date, removed to New York and engaged in the Indian
trade. In December, 1686, Gov. Thomas Dongan commissioned
him chief in command of a party of traders which he was to lead
from Albany into the country of the Ottawas, and also of a
party which had preceded him, under the leadership of Johannes
Rooseboom, an Albany Dutchman. In the summer of 1687
Rooseboom with twenty or more canoes, and McGregory with
some fifty men, were intercepted on Lake Huron by the French
under La Durantaye, reinforced by parties under Du Lhut and
Tonty. All the English and Dutch were brought prisoners to the
Niagara, where a palisaded post was soon to be built by Denon-
ville. We have no record of any earlier captivity of a white man
on the Niagara. McGregory was sent, a prisoner, from Niagara
to Montreal, and in the autumn of the same year was released
and allowed to return to New York. The next year he shared in
the English campaign against the Indians in Maine; and in 1691
he was killed during the Leisler rebellion, in New York. His272
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
name is variously spelled, “McGregory,” “MacGregory,” etc. In
Governor Dongan’s commission it stands as “Magregore.”
See also memoranda respecting Nanning Harmetsen, Fred-
rych Harmetsen, Dyrick von der Heyder and Fontaine (Abell)
Marion, who were among the captives with Rooseboom. The
principal source of information on this episode is the N. Y.
Colonial documents.
McKee, Anne. The sixteen-year-old daughter of a family living
on the headwaters of the Delaware, near the present town of
Hobart, Delaware County, New York. In the summer of 1779
a war party came up the Delaware, having learned that a Whig
by the name of McKee had settled in the vicinity. The day of
their arrival, McKee had gone to Schoharie for flour, but the
savages murdered his wife and children, except Anne, and their
bodies were burned in their log cabin. Anne, being fleet-footed,
ran to a swamp and hid under a log. Venturing to raise her
head to look towards her burning home, “she saw an Indian of
large stature approaching her, wielding a firebrand in one hand,
and a large knife, smeared with blood, in the other. She imme-
diately sprang from her hiding-place, and with outstretched arms
approached the hideous savage and threw herself at his feet.
This bold act saved her life. She was led back by her captor to
the burning buildings, and putting several pairs of stockings on
her feet, they then resumed their course to Fort Niagara.”
The foregoing quotation is from Jay Gould’s “History of
Delaware County,” published at Roxbury in 1856. Mr. Gould
quotes from Priest’s narrative of the captivity of Schermerhorn,
the following account of Anne McKee’s arrival at Fort Niagara.
She is the only woman of whom we find record, who was com-
pelled to run the gauntlet at Fort Niagara:
“This dreadful race was also run by a Miss Anne McKee,
who was taken prisoner in the town of Harpersfield, N. Y., dur-
ing the Revolution, by the Mohawk Indians under Brant. She
was a young Scotch girl, who during the journey suffered incred-
ibly from hunger, the want of clothes, and other privations.
When she came to Fort Niagara, the squaws insisted that she
should run the race, in order that the pale-faced squaw might
take a blow from the same sex of another nation than hers. It
was a grievous sight to see a slender girl, weak from hunger,
and worn down with the horrors and privations of a 400 miles’
journey through the woods, by night and day, compelled at the
end to run this race of shame and suffering. Her head was bare,
and her hair tangled into mats, her feet naked and bleeding
from wounds, all her clothes torn to rags during her march—
one would have thought the heart-rending sight would have
moved the savages. She wept not, for all her tears had been
shed—she stared around upon the grinning multitude in hopeless
amazement and fixed despair, while she glanced mournfully at
the fort which lay at the end of the race. The signal was given,
which was a yell, when she immediately started off as fast as
she could, while the. squaws laid on their whips with all their
might; thus venting their malice and envy upon the hated whiteAT FORT NIAGARA.
273
woman. She reached the fort in almost a dying condition, being
beaten and cut in the most dreadful manner, as her person had
been so much exposed on account of the want of clothing to
protect her. She was at length allowed to go to her friends—
some Scotch people then living in Canada—and after the war she
returned to the States.”
McKinney, John. Taken captive by Indians, in February, 1756,
probably in Western Pennsylvania; carried to Fort DuQuesne
(Pittsburgh), and thence into Canada, undoubtedly by way of
the French post at Niagara. He escaped from Canada and re-
turned to Philadelphia, where he gave valuable information
against the French.
Craig’s “History of Pittsburgh,” 1851.
Mandon family. Details of captivity not known. Sent from Fort
Niagara to Montreal, October, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Marion, Fontaine. Name also given as Abell Marrion. A French-
Canadian deserter who became guide for the expedition of Maj.
Patrick McGregory (q. v.). It is not clear whether he passed by
Niagara and up Lake Erie with the flotilla headed by Johannes
Rooseboom, or with that of McGregory; but when both parties
were brought back to the mouth of the Niagara, prisoners of
the French, in June, 1687, Marion was reserved for special pun-
ishment. He was carried along to the mouth of the Genesee,
where the mixed forces of the Marquis de Denonville made
rendezvous; and there, at the command of that officer, he was
shot to death.
N. Y. Col. Docs. La Hontan, “Nouveaux Voyages.”
Marr family. Details of captivity not known. Arrived at Montreal
from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1784.
Haldimand MSS.
Mattice, Frederick, Sr. Taken at Middleburgh on the Schoharie,
July, 1781, with his son and William Bouck (q. v ). The Matrices
were detained at Fort Niagara much longer than Bouck, and
did not reach home until after the conclusion of peace. Simms
relates, in his “History of Schoharie County,” that a tory brother
of the elder Mattice, who had left Schoharie in 1777, and who
was residing in Canada, on learning that Frederick was a pris-
oner at Fort Niagara, tried to persuade an Indian to kill him.
“Mr. Mattice was retained by an Indian five weeks, to construct
a log house. During this time the latter, on one occasion,
returned from Niagara drunk, and got his prisoner up in the
night to murder him. He struck a blow at his head with some
missile, which the latter parried, and the Indian’s squaw caught
hold of her leige lord and held him, sending Mattice out of the
hut, where he remained until the demonizing effect of the alcohol
passed from the warrior’s brain.”
Mattice, Frederick, Jr. Son of the foregoing, aged ten years, when
taken captive. In the main he shared his father’s experiences.274
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
The boy suffered especially in running the gauntlet on the Gene-
see, for the Indians, before making him undergo the ordeal, had
stripped him of all clothing except his shirt. That he survived at
all is evidence that his tormentors had regard for his tender
years. Simms (“History of Schoharie County”) mentions that
“on arriving at the Tonawanta Creek, the punkies”—i. e., the
musquitoes—“tormented young Mattice nights, and he adopted
the expedient of burying his person in the forest leaves, to keep
them off. They all laid down to rest nights, like so many dogs
in a kennel.”
The Haldimand MSS. mention the arrival of the Mattices
at Montreal from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782, with more than
fifty other American prisoners.
Merckley, Martin. Son of Frederick Merckley, and two young
women, his cousins, children of Michael Merckley. (“Name
formerly written ‘Mercle,’ and pronounced ‘Mericle.’—Simms.)
The attack upon this family and their neighbors, the family of
Bastian France, in Schoharie, Oct. 18, 1780, is detailed by Simms.
Several were slain, some after being carried off captives. Among
those who survived the attack were Martin Merckley, a young
boy, and his two cousins, first names not recorded, daughters of
Michael Merckley, a prominent citizen of the neighborhood. The
circumstances of his murder, and that of his beautiful niece
Catharine, were particularly atrocious. The party in which were
the three young Merckleys “journeyed directly to Canada by the
usual southwestern route,” i. e., up the Schoharie valley, down
the Susquehanna, thence by the Chemung or Seneca-lake trail,
the Genesee valley and Tonawanda, to Fort Niagara. They suf-
fered greatly on the way from cold, the season being late, and
from lack of food. “Putrid horse-flesh, fortunately found in the
path, was considered a luxury, and doubtless saved some of
them from starving. Martin Merckley was compelled to run the
gauntlet, and was beaten and buffeted a great distance. Prisoners
captured in the spring or fall, when the Indians were congre-
gated in villages, usually suffered more than those taken in mid-
summer. As the Merckley girls were then orphans, and their
father’s personal property all destroyed, they accepted offers of
marriage, and both remained in Canada.”
Simms, “History of Schoharie County.”
Meriness, Thomas. Young man captured with the Vroomans at
Schoharie, Aug. 9, 1780. Was brought to Fort Niagara, thence
shipped down the St. Lawrence, but instead of being exchanged
at Montreal, as were many of the Schoharie prisoners, he was
taken to Quebec, and while there engaged, with other American
prisoners, in an attempt to blow up the magazine. The plan was
discovered, and the conspirators were so severely flogged that
two of them died; but Meriness recovered.
Miller, Catherine. Details of capture not known. Was sent with
other prisoners from Fort Niagara to Montreal, in April, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.AT FORT NIAGARA.
275
Miller, Eve. Case so far as known same as Catherine Miller, above,
Miles, W. Captured at Fort Freeland on the West Branch of the
Susquehanna, in 1778. He was then a youth, and was carried a
prisoner into Canada, the only likely route, under the circum-
stances, being by Fort Niagara. He seems to have been detained
near Niagara, on the Canada side, for it is recorded that at the
close of the Revolution he crossed Lake Erie and settled near
Presqu’ Isle. In his old age he lived at Girard, Pa., sixteen miles
west of Erie.
Rupp’s “Early History of Western Pennsylvania,” Pittsburg,
1846.
Moncourt, (Cadet)----------. Of the Canadian Colonial forces, made
prisoner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot,
q. v. On the day after the surrender Moncourt was the victim
of an extraordinary expression of friendship. Pouchot gives
the tragedy in a few words: “Cadet Moncourt of the Colonials,
had formed an attachment with an Indian, to whom he became
bound in friendship. This Indian, who belonged to the English
army, seeing his friend a prisoner, expressed a great deal of
sorrow at his situation, and said to him:	‘Brother, I am in
despair at seeing you dead; but take heart; I’ll prevent their
torturing you,’ and killed him with a blow of a tomahawk, think-
ing thereby to save him from the tortures to which prisoners
among themselves are subjected.”
Moore, (Miss) Jane. Taken at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11, 1778; car-
ried to Fort Niagara, where she was released and married Capt.
John Powell of the British army. Brant, her captor, was pres-
ent at her wedding.
Campbell’s “Annals of Tryon County”; Simms, “History of
Schoharie County.”
Moore, (Mrs.) Mary, and four children, among them Jane Moore,
who became wife to Capt. John Powell. Mrs. Moore and chil-
dren were taken at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11, 1778, and carried to
Fort Niagara. Mrs. Moore was wife of John Moore, of the
Tryon County Committee of Safety, and sister of Capt. Alex-
ander Harper, who was also carried at a later period, a prisoner
to Niagara. She appears to have been sent to Montreal in June,
1780.
Moorhead, Fergus. About 1771 or ’72 Fergus Moorhead, who had
begun improvements near where the town of Indiana, Pa., now
stands, was captured, with a settler named Simpson. Simpson
was killed, and Moorhead was “carried through the woods to
Quebec,” where he was confined eleven months. Whoever will
look at the map, and recall the paths and conditions of the time,
needs no further assurance that Moorhead’s route could hav?
avoided Fort Niagara only with great difficulty. He was sub-
sequently exchanged, and rejoined his family in Franklin, Pa.
Rupp’s “Early History of Western Pennsylvania,” Pittsburg,
1846.276
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Morambert, (Lieut.)---------. Prisoner of war at Fort Niagara, July
25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Munson, (Sergt.) Lent. Was one of eleven, taken prisoner Oct.
17, 1793, by Indians who attacked an expedition led by Lieut.
Lowry and Ensign Boyd, near Fort St. Clair. Munson was taken
into the Ottawa country on the Maumee (Miami). His head was
shaved and he was made a slave to an Ottawa family living on
the river some thirty miles from the lake. In June, 1794, while
most of the warriors had gone off on an expedition to intercept
and destroy Gen. Wayne’s army (as they had the forces of Har-
mer and St. Clair), he escaped by night, in a canoe, in which he
reached Lake Erie two days later. Skirting the shore of the lake,
and at first traveling only at night, he reached Fort Niagara,
where he rested and was given succor. He then journeyed on to
Connecticut, where he had friends, reaching there about the end
of July, 1794*
“Narrative of the captivity and escape of Sergeant Lent Mun-
son, who fell into the hands of the Western Indians at the time
of Lieut. Lowry’s defeat,” in Drake’s “Tragedies of the Wilder-
ness,” Boston, 1846.
Murphy, Samuel. Taken prisoner by “Massissaugas”; sent from
Detroit to Fort Niagara, thence to Montreal, Nov. 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Myndert, Christian. Of Sharon, Schoharie Co., where he was
taken captive late in October, 1781, with Jacob Kerker, William
Kneiskern and Lieut. Jacob Borst, q. v.
Neal family. Details of captivity not known. Were sent from
Fort Niagara to Montreal, where they arrived Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Negroes. A great many negroes were brought captive to Fort
Niagara, especially during the years of the Revolution, but the
names of very few of them are preserved. It is recorded that
they were docile as prisoners, selicfpm attempting to escape. The
Indians recognized these traits, ' and usually did not take the
trouble to bind them on the march or in camp. They were not
compelled to run the gauntlet, and many of them made no attempt
to return to the States after the war, generally adopting the
Indian life. Simms says that a negro belonging to Isaac Vroo-
man, usually called Tom Vrooman, who was taken captive in the
Schoharie raid of Aug. 9, 1780, became a waiter to Sir John
Johnson, and in that capacity passed through the Schoharie and
Mohawk valleys in the following October, and was captured by
an American soldier near Fort Plain. It was probably as captives
that the first negroes who came to the Niagara were brought
thither.
Negro girl, name not known, aged seventeen years, taken in the
vicinity of Wyoming in November, 1778. She was afterwards
seen by prisoners, employed as a servant in the family of Col.
John Butler at Niagara, he having purchased her of the Indians.AT FORT NIAGARA.
m
Nelson, Moses. Was at the fort of Cherry Valley at the time of
the massacre in the fall of 1778, being then in his 14th year. He
escaped, and in the March following enlisted in the batteau ser-
vice on the Hudson, for a term of ten months. He returned to
Cherry Valley and was living there with his mother, when they
were surprised, April 24, 1780, by a party of seventy-nine Indians
and two tories. Of the many prisoners taken by this party, eight
were killed, among them young Nelson's mother. A Stockbridge
Indian claimed the boy as his own, and brought him, by way of
Otsego lake, the Susquehanna to Tioga, and the Genesee valley
to Fort Niagara, which he reached after a journey of eighteen
days, having been compelled to run the gauntlet at two villages
on the way. At Fort Niagara Nelson was given the option of
living with his Indian master, who was called Captain David,
or enlisting into the British service. Simms, who chronicles
Nelson's adventures, says the boy was “sold into the forester
service of the enemy, the duties of which were to ‘procure wood,
water, etc., for the garrison, and do the boating’; being attached
to what was called the Indian department. He was sent on one
occasion with a party to Buffalo,” the Indian village on Buffalo
Creek no doubt being meant. “He was for a while, with several
other captives whose situation was like his own, in the employ of
Col. John Butler. More than a year of his captivity was spent
in the vicinity of Niagara.” In the spring of 1782, Capt. Nellis,
Lieut. James Hare, and Ensign Robert Nellis, son of the captain,
set out from Fort Niagara, with a large party of Indians, soldiers
and workmen, by sloop for Fort Oswego, which the British pro-
posed to rebuild. Young Nelson and two other American lads,
also prisoners, were taken along as waiters. During the summer,
about 100 persons were employed in rebuilding the fortress.
Nelson was detained there until the spring of 1783, and was in
the fort in February of that year when Col. Willet and his body
of American troops made an abortive attempt to capture it.
When peace was proclaimed in the spring of 1783, Nelson, with
many other prisoners, returned home by the St. Lawrence,
Ticonderoga and Fort Edward. At Montreal, on his way home,
he was paid for labor done in the British service the year before.
In 1841 Moses Nelson, then a resident of Otsego Co., N. Y.,
related the incidents of his captivity to Jeptha R. Simms, who
recorded them in his “History of Schoharie County and Border
Wars of New York,” Albany, 1845.
Newkirk, William. Taken by Cornplanter and his followers, sum-
mer of 1780, on the Mohawk or headwaters of the Susquehanna;
brought to the Genesee, living at Little Beard’s Town and Fort
Niagara about a year. He then enlisted under Butler and went
on an expedition to the Monongahela.
“Life of Mary Jemison.”
Nicholas, John. See Frimire, John.
O’Brien, Henry. Of Monteur’s company; at battle of Great
Meadows, July 4, 1754, taken prisoner by Indians in the French278
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
interest; sent by way of Venango, Le Boeuf and Fort Niagara
to Montreal.
Stobo's “Memoirs”
Odenoffe (?), Margaret. Captured by Indians on the Delaware,
brought to Fort Niagara, sent thence to Montreal, April 23, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Ogden, David. Bom at Fishkill, N. Y., 1764; taken prisoner, spring
of 1781, near Fort Stanwix, by a party led by Joseph Brant;
marched to Fort Niagara, where he ran the gauntlet; was adopted
and lived with an Indian family, probably Senecas, near Fort
Niagara and at Lewiston, until the spring of 1783, when with
other prisoners he was put on board the schooner Seneca and
sent to Oswego. He escaped from this post and made his way
through the wilderness to Fort Herkimer, where he was given aid
and helped on his way to his parents at Warrensburg, Schoharie
Co.
Priest's “True Narrative of the Capture of David Ogden,”
Lansingburgh, 1840; Severance's “Old Trails on the Niagara
Frontier.”
Olman. Possibly the correct spelling for the name which appears
in our list as “Utman,” as given by Simms and others. See
Utman.
Osterhout, Jacob. Taken prisoner by Indians at Lackawack, Ulster
Co., 1778, with George Anderson, and shared his adventures.
See Anderson, George.
Painter, Margaret. Taken early in 1758 at some point in Penn-
sylvania. Found a prisoner at Fort Niagara when it was taken
by the British, July 25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Parrish, Jasper. Born 1767. Taken prisoner July 5, 1778, by
Munseys, a branch of the Delawares, and was carried to the
Tioga river, near present site of Elmira, where he lived with
his Indian master, Capt. Mounsh, until the summer of 1779, when
the Indians, fleeing before Sullivan, carried him to Fort Niagara,
where he was later sold to a Mohawk, Capt. David Hill, for $20.
Hill lived on the plain adjoining the fort, and this was Parrish's
home until May, 1781, when they moved to present Lewiston.
He left there Nov. 29, 1784, to be delivered over to the whites at
Fort Stanwix. From 1790 to the close of his life he often acted
as interpreter, both for the Government and on other occasions.
Feb. 15, 1803, he was appointed sub-agent to the Six Nations,
Gen. Israel Chapin being agent. His story is closely linked with
that of Horatio Jones, and forms an important chapter in the
early history of Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier. He died at
Canandaigua, July 12, 1836.
“The Story of Jasper Parrish,” Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi.
Parrish, Stephen, brother of Jasper, taken prisoner with him, July
5, 1778; brought to the Niagara, where he was surrendered toAT FORT NIAGARA.
279
the British officers at the fort; sent to Montreal and exchanged,
returning to his home about two years from date of capture.
Parrish,---------, father of Jasper and Stephen. Same experience
in captivity as Stephen, so far as known.
Patchin, Freegift. Was taken with Capt. Alexander Harper by
Brant, near Fort Schoharie, April 7, 1780, and shared the adven-
tures of Harper, till they reached Fort Niagara. (See “Harper,
Alexander.”) Here he ran the gauntlet; was roughly ques-
tioned by Butler, who, resenting the young man’s replies about
British prospects in the States, called him a “damned rebel” and
ordered him out of his sight. Another British officer befriended
him, and Mrs. Nancy Bundy, a pioneer, cared for him. (See
Bundy, Nancy). He was sent to Carleton Island, the Cedars,
Fort Chambly, where he was kept two years, suffering greatly,
then to Quebec, and by ship to Boston; reaching “old Schoharie”
after an absence of three years. General Patchin, as he came to
be known, was elected to the Legislature in 1820, while DeWitt
Clinton was Governor. He was a Member of Assembly from
Schoharie County, 1821-22. He acquired property and died at
Blenheim, Schoharie County, in or about 1830.
Patchin, Isaac. Brother of Freegift Patchin, and taken with him
and Capt. Alexander Harper, on the Schoharie, April 7, 1780.
Experiences same as theirs.
Pearl. See Peart. In the “List of Prisoners taken by the Indians
from Penn’s Valley,” dated “Philadelphia, 7mo. 20, 1780,” the
names of all the Pearts appear as “Pearl.” The list is printed in
the Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, vol. iii.
Patton, John. See Bourke, Thomas. In the rare old volume,
“The Mystery Reveal’d,” etc. (London, 1759), his name is
printed “George Pathon.” His captivity, with Luke Irwin,
Thomas Bourke and Joseph Fortiner recalls that earlier capture
of English and Dutch traders, McGregory, Rooseboom and their
men, by the French in 1687. Patton and his companions were
taken prisoners for trading with the Indians on the Ohio, and
brought to Fort Niagara in 1751. Writing to Gov. George Clin-
ton, Aug. 10, 1751,- La Jonquiere says John “Pathine” was taken
prisoner “in the French fort of the Miamis,” by M. de Villiers,
commandant, and that “Broke” (Bourke), “Arowin” (Irwin)
and Fortiner were captured “near the little lake of Otsanderket,”
i. e., Sandusky.
Peart, Benjamin, son of Benjamin Gilbert’s second wife, aged 27,
taken prisoner by Rowland Monteur’s party, when the Gilberts
were taken, April 25, 1780. Was taken up the Susquehanna, and,
after the separation of the captives, with the main party up the
Seneca lake trail to Kanadesaga, thence to an Indian town,
apparently Monteur’s, on the heights east of Lewiston. Here he
was adopted by a squaw, who took him to the Niagara “about
two miles below the great falls,” according to the Gilbert Narra-
tive; more likely, about seven miles, to the favorite campingTHE TALE OF CAPTIVES
spot, now Lewiston. A few days later he was taken to Fort
Niagara in a bark canoe, and after provisions were had, along
the south shore of the lake to the Genesee river, and up that
stream (portaging at the falls) about thirty miles. Here (Little
Beard's Town) Peart found two other white prisoners. He lived
with his Indian captors, removing with them from place to place
in the Genesee valley, until the late winter or early spring of
1781, receiving one visit from his brother Thomas. His captors
took him to Fort Niagara in March, 1781, where he had a brief
meeting with his wife, who had been separated from him ten
months. After some days at the fort the Indians set out for
home, taking Benjamin with them. After going a few miles he
pretended he had forgotten something at the fort, and they
allowed him to go back for it; he stayed there that night, and the
next day, when his Indian brother came for him, professed to
be too lame to walk. They left him there two months, then sent
another “brother" to fetch him ; this one was induced by presents
to leave him; later a third emissary came for Benjamin, but the
officers secured his surrender, about May, 1781. He was em-
ployed for some months by Col. Guy Johnson, was later joined
by his wife and child, and in August, 1781, with five other mem-
bers of the Gilbert family, sailed for Montreal, arriving Aug.
25th; subsequently returning home with the reunited family,
August, 1782.
Gilbert “Narrative."
Peart, Elizabeth, aged 20, Benjamin Peart’s wife. Taken with the
Gilberts, April 25, 1780, and brought to Fort Niagara with the
main party. After separation from her husband, she, her child
(Elizabeth, nine months old) and Abigail Dodson, aged 14, were
taken eight miles from Niagara fort, and adopted into a Seneca
family. Abigail was given to another family. Elizabeth was
taken to Fort Schlosser, then to Buffalo Creek, where they built
a cabin. Some time after they took her to Fort Niagara, where
her child was taken from her and sent to a family on the west
side of the Niagara. Elizabeth went back to Buffalo Creek,
where she lived a laborious and menial life until the summer of
1781, with one visit to Fort Niagara and across the river to see
her child. On a second visit to Fort Niagara she met her hus-
band, regained her child, and1 sailed with them and others for
Montreal, August, 1781, returning to Pennsylvania with the
reunited party, August, 1782.
Gilbert “Narrative."
Peart, Elizabeth, Jr., nine months old when her mother, Elizabeth
Peart, was taken captive with the Gilberts. She was taken from
her mother at Fort Niagara, given to an Indian family on the
west side of the river, and afterwards cared for by an English
family named Fry (Frye). She was subsequently restored to her
mother and taken to Montreal and Pennsylvania with the rest
of the family.
Peart, Thomas, aged 23, son of Benjamin Gilbert's wife; taken
with the Gilberts on Mahoning Creek, April 25, 1780; separatedAT FORT NIAGARA.
281
from the main party May 4, 1780, and with Joseph Gilbert taken
westward to the Genesee, compelled to run the gauntlet, and
turned over to work for an Indian at Nunda. Being strong, he
worked hard, but was adopted to fill the place of a no-account
old man, so was not held in high esteem. He accompanied his
captors to Fort Niagara, returning to the Genesee by way of Fort
Schlosser and Buffalo Creek. He roamed about, hunted with the
Indians, visited Joseph Gilbert at Caracadera, and in the autumn
of 1780 received a visit from him, learning from him of the death
of Benjamin Gilbert, Sr. On a second expedition to Fort
Niagara, the officers bought his release. He worked for Col.
Johnson, residing in his family. In the spring of 1781, with
officers, he took hoes and seed-corn to the Indians on Buffalo
Creek, and saw Rebecca Gilbert; returning to the fort, he worked
for Col. Guy Johnson until June, 1781, when six of the released
captives were sent to Montreal and he was given permission to
go; but he stayed behind, to help Rebecca and the boy Benjamin
gain their freedom. In the fall of 1781 he visited them again, on
Buffalo Creek. In the winter of 1781-82 he chopped wood for
the British officers. In the spring he made two more visits to
Buffalo Creek. Some weeks after the last visit Rebecca and’ the
boy Benjamin were set free. Thomas met them and accom-
panied them to Montreal; returning to Pennsylvania with the
reunited family in August, 1782.
Gilbert “Narrative.”
Pemberton, James. Taken prisoner July 5, 1778, on the headwaters
of the Delaware, with Jasper Parrish, and the latter’s father and
brother Stephen. Was brought to the Niagara by Mohawks,
and at Lewiston narrowly escaped being burned at the stake.
His captors made him collect brush and wood for his own pyre,
stripped him naked and were about to begin the torture, when
Brant intervened. He promised him as husband to the squaw
who should help effect his escape, arguing that as he was a man
of exceptional strength and fine proportions, he would be useful
to them. Taking advantage of a momentary opportunity, Pem-
berton fled, and being a good runner gained Fort Niagara, where
he was protected by Col. Butler and given work. He remained
at the fort, and in its vicinity, until the Peace of 1783, then joined
the Tuscaroras and became the second husband of the mother
of John Mountpleasant. He died at Tuscarora village near Lew-
iston in 1806 or 1807. His descendants still live at Tuscarora.
The facts of his escape from the stake at Lewiston were related
to Orsamus Turner by John Mountpleasant and Judge Cook of
Lewiston. Pemberton told his story to Judge Cook, and pointed
out the place of the proposed torture, a level space between the
Seymour Scovell house and the ferry.
Turner’s “Holland Purchase.”
Peter, John. Taken prisoner May 23, 1759, with --------— Robinson
and--------Bell, all of “Capt. Bullet’s Co. of Virginians, on their
way to Fort Legonier from Ray’s Town.” Found confined as a282
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
prisoner at Fort Niagara when the British took possession, July
25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Phillips, (Capt.)---------. Made captive in July, 1780, in Wood-
cock valley, tributary to the Juniata, near present Williamsburg,
Pa. With him were his son and a party of ten rangers, when
they were surrounded by a party of some sixty Indians and two
white men disguised as Indians. Phillips’ party were all taken,
and started off for Kittanning, but a halt was made, “the ten
men were tied to as many saplings, and two or three volleys of
arrows were fired into them.” Capt. Phillips and his son Elijah,
the only prisoners spared from the massacre, were taken to
Detroit, the Indians expecting a handsome figure from the Brit-
ish, for an American officer. Phillips and his son were sent to
Fort Niagara, thence to Montreal, reaching their home in Penn-
sylvania after peace was declared, in 1783.
Jones, “History of the Juniata Valley.”
Phillips, Elijah. Aged 14, son of Capt. Phillips, q. v.
Piper, Andrew. One of the first three settlers of Frankfort, N. Y.,
in 1723. Was an old man in the spring of 1780, when he was
taken captive at German Flats, now Mohawk, in the Mohawk
valley. He was held for a time among the Senecas at Kanadesaga,
and was offered a chance to escape by an Oneida, who promised
to conduct him to safety. Piper feared to make the attempt, and
told the Oneida that he would wait in the hope of being ex-
changed. The conversation was overheard by Col. John Butler,
who fearing he might escape, sent him to Fort Niagara.
Data furnished by Mr. Peter F. Piper of the Buffalo Public
School Department.
Piper, Andrew. Grandson of the foregoing; in 1780 he was an
ensign in the 4th Tryon Co. Regiment. He was a prisoner of
the British from June 14, 1780, to Dec. 14, 1782. He and his
brother Peter were carrying grain to mill at Little Falls when
they were ambushed by the Indians not far from Fort Herkimer.
Peter killed one of the Indians, but both were taken to Fort
Niagara and thence to Quebec. Andrew, who was born 1760,
married Elizabeth Fox and died at Frankfort, N. Y., June 5, 1842.
His father, Peter Piper, son of Andrew, filed a claim against the
State of New York for losses suffered during the Brant and
Butler raids of 1780.
Data supplied by Mr. Peter F. Piper.' Also mentioned in Hal-
dimand MSS.
Piper, Peter. Brother of Andrew 2d, and shared his captivity so
far as known. No trace of him after he was carried to Quebec.
Porter, Samuel, and four others named Porter, taken captive in
Virginia, June 24, 1780; arrived in Montreal from Fort Niagara,
Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.AT FORT NIAGARA.
283
Pouchoty (Capt.) Francois. Captain in the regiment of Bearn,
commanding officer at Fort Niagara. He surrendered the gar-
rison to Sir William Johnson, July 25, 1759. According to
Pouchot’s own account, the garrison at time of surrender con-
sisted of 486 men, only 340 of whom were capable of bearing
arms. This is probably nearer the fact than the English account
(Entick, iv. 139), which puts the number of effectives at 607.
Pouchot’s surrender marked the end of the French regime on
the Niagara. The French who were thereafter at Niagara, were
there as prisoners of the English.
Price, David. Born about. 1750, of Welsh parents, in the Mohawk
valley. About 1771, while walking through a field near his home,
with a companion, they were surprised and taken captive by a
band of Senecas. The companion was soon ransomed from the
Indians by the British, but Price was kept by his captors two
years, after which time, on his promise not to leave them, “they
gave him a gun and trusted him on many occasions with import-
ant missions. Though held and treated as a captive, on his prom-
ise to return with them [i. e. the Senecas], he was allowed to go
among the whites at the British forts. . . . They ranged from
Fort Niagara in New York through the forests south, east and
west, employed as scouts, and in frequent skirmishes. The chief
of their band was Little Beard.” This chief adopted Price. When
Maj. Moses Van Campen was a prisoner and compelled to run
the gauntlet, Price was a witness. Price accompanied the Sen-
ecas on several occasions when they took prisoners to Fort Niag-
ara, and sometimes saved them from severe punishment at the
gauntlet ordeal. One of these, a young girl, afterwards married
his uncle, Joseph Price. Another was a Miss Haverstraw. Price
remained seven years with the Senecas, and finally severed his
connection with the tribe at the British post of Oswego, where
he remained as interpreter and clerk until the end of the war.
He then came to the Niagara, stayed for a time at Fort Niagara,
then made his home near Fort George, on the British side of the
river, where he was interpreter and storekeeper in the Indian
Department. When the War of 1812 broke out, he removed to
a farm in the present village of Welland, on Chippewa creek. He
served with the British, all told, thirty-six years. He is the hero
of many exploits in the Niagara region, especially in the way of
hunting. He died in 1841.
Reminiscences of David and John Price, written out by D. D.
Babcock, formerly of Welland, Ont.
Price, Christian. A Virginia rifleman, details of whose captivity
are not known. He was held a prisoner at Fort Niagara in the
latter part of the Revolutionary war, and in 1782 was associated
with George Warner, Jr., q. v. Price seems to have been among
the prisoners who were suspected of murdering several Indians
at Fort Niagara at this time, among them a half-breed known
as William Johnson, a reputed son of Sir William Johnson; his
body was found one morning sticking head first in a rain-water
barrel. Simms, in his “History of Schoharie County,” relates284
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
at length how Price disguised himself as a young woman, and
was married to a simple but gallant fellow, one Patrick Tuffts,
employed by Col. Butler. The incident is in marked contrast to
most of those that one finds in the history of Fort Niagara.
Price, (Mrs.) Joseph. A young Dutch woman, first name Lizzie,
last name not known, and a Miss Haverstraw, were taken to Fort
Niagara captive by a band of Senecas with whom was David
Price (q. v.). The British ransomed the girls from the Indians,
and they both remained in Canada, Lizzie subsequently marrying
Joseph Price.
D. D. Babcock's narrative of David and John Price.
Procthy, Samuel. Aged 20. Made prisoner in 1778, where not
known. Was sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal, in August,
1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Ramsay, David. In some respects the story of this Scotchman is
the most remarkable of all of those who were brought prisoner
to Fort Niagara. He was carried thither, not as an Indian cap-
tive, but as a prisoner of the British, to whom he was loyal. He
had left Scotland when a youth, served the British till the close
of the French War, and in 1763 settled on the Mohawk; engaged
for a time with the Northwest Company of Montreal as a fur
trader; but, being joined by his younger brother, George Ramsay,
he fitted out at Schenectady to engage in the fur trade on his
own account. It was apparently in 1771 that the Ramsays came
with their large battoe and goods by way of Lake Ontario and
the Niagara to Lake Erie, and thence along the north shore to
Kettle Creek, on which stream they built a house and bartered
for furs. In January, 1772, being beset by hostile Indians, David
killed three of them; and a few weeks later, having been made
prisoner, broke loose in a struggle with one of his captors and
killed five more. With his brother, after great hardships, he
crossed to the south shore of Lake Erie, then made for Fort Erie,
the commandant of which, on hearing his story, confined him,
then sent him under guard to Fort Niagara, where he was again
imprisoned. When the Indians heard that David was there, they
gathered in great numbers, and threatened to bum the fort if he
were not handed over to them. He was sent to Montreal, and
after fifteen months' imprisonment, was released. He served the
British during the Revolutionary war, and returned to the Niag-
ara, where, strange to tell, he was cordially received by the chil-
dren and tribesmen of the Indians he had killed, and was given
a grant of land in Upper Canada, four miles square. For attempt-
ing to smuggle furs into the United States his goods were seized;
and when Patrick Campbell visited the Niagara in 1791 he found
Ramsay employed as a guide and messenger for the officers at
the fort and people of the neighborhood. He guided Campbell
from Fort Niagara to the Genesee, in March, 1792, and on the
way told him the story of his earlier adventures, which Camp-
bell published in his “Travels" (Edinburgh, 1793), now an ex-
ceedingly rare book.AT FORT NIAGARA.
285
Ramsay’s narrative is republished, with some account of Capt.
Patrick Campbell and his descendants (some of them still living
in Buffalo), in vol. vii of the Buffalo Historical Society Publica-
tions, 1904.
Ramsey, John. Deserted from the English (Mercer’s company in
the Virginia Regiment) at Great Meadows, July 3, 1754, the day
before the battle; is said to have informed the French of the
precarious situation of the English. The French confined him,
telling him that if his intelligence proved true he should be
rewarded, but if false, they would hang him. He has been blamed
as the cause of the great defeat of July 4th. He was subsequently
sent to Canada with some ten or more other English prisoners
and deserters, in the custody of the Indians who had captured
them during the battle. They probably reached Niagara before
the end of July, going thence by boat to Montreal.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
Ramsey (Miss) --------. Cousin of Jane (Mrs. Samuel) Campbell.
The latter found her and her mother, Mrs. Ramsey, prisoners at
Fort Niagara when she arrived there from Kanadesaga in June,
1779. The Ramseys were probably sent to Montreal with Mrs.
Campbell, in June, 1780. It was to Miss Ramsey at Fort Niagara
that Mrs. Campbell gave a cap which she had obtained from the
Indian who at Cherry Valley had killed and scalped its wearer,
their friend, Jane Wells.
Campbell’s “History of Tryon County”; Ellet’s “The Women
of the American Revolution,” and various local records.
Ramsey (Mrs.) --------. Mother of the last-mentioned. They were
together at Fort Niagara in June, 1779.
Ransom (Col) George Palmer. Enlisted at fourteen in his father’s
company and marched, 1777, to join Washington’s army; fought
at the Millstone, the Brandywine and Germantown, and wintered
at Valley Forge. Young Ransom served under Capt. Simon
Spalding, at Merwine’s, four miles from Wyoming, on the day
of the battle—July 3, 1778. He was with Sullivan in the cam-
paign of 1779, and fought at Newtown. In December, 1780, he
was taken prisoner by a party of Butler’s Rangers and Indians;
other captives were an old man named Harvey, and his son
Elisha Harvey; Bullock, Frisby, Cady. They were all taken to
Fort Niagara. In the summer of 1781 Ransom, Harvey and
Frisby were sent to Montreal; in the fall removed to Prisoner’s
Island, 45 miles up the St. Lawrence, where were 166 American
prisoners. Col. Ransom has left a narrative of his experiences
at this place. In June, J782, with two companions, he escaped,
made his way home, rejoined his regiment and served out the
war.
Miner’s “History of Wyoming.”
Ravensberg, (Lieut.) -------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781.
From Fort Niagara sent to Montreal. November, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.286
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Rhea, Thomas. He was taken prisoner, May 5, 1791, at Cussawaga
by a party of Delawares and Munsees. Of his companions, Wil-
liam Gregg was killed and scalped, Cornelius Van Horne made
captive. They were carried to Sandusky “by way of the mouth
of the Cayahoga river and the Moravian town.” In the vicinity
of Sandusky, the Indians made Rhea plant corn for seven days.
Then, May 24th, his captors took alarm at the approach of troops,
“destroyed the corn which had been planted, burned their houses
and moved to the great crossing of the Miami or Ottawa river,
called Sandusky. At this place (the Miami) were Colonels
Brandt and McKee, with his son Thomas and Captains Bunbury
and Silvie of the British troops.” Rhea describes with consid-
erable detail the condition of the British and Indians. Captain
Silvie bought him from the Indians, and on June 4th—the King's
birthday—he was sent to Detroit. Three days later he was sent
to Fort Erie in the ship Dunmore, arriving four days later. He
reached Pittsburgh, June 30, 1791. While captive on the Miami
he saw a Mr. and Mrs. Dick of Pittsburgh, who had been brought
there captive by the Wyandots; also a boy named Brittle. The
fate of these prisoners is not learned.
Rhea's narrative, Penna. Archives, 2d series, vol. iv.
Riddell, Eliza, and five children. Made captive in Virginia, June
24, 1780; arrived in Montreal from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Riddell, Isaac. Presumably husband of Eliza Riddell. Taken with
her and their five children, June 24, 1780, and sent with them
from Fort Niagara to Montreal, October, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Rideout, Thomas. Was taken captive by Shawanese in 1788, on
the Ohio near present Portsmouth, O., carried across country
to the Wabash, up that stream to Fort Miami (now Fort Wayne,
Ind.), and thence to Detroit, where he found friends and freedom
among the British officers. Early in the summer of 1788 he
embarked with the 53d Regiment for Fort Erie; visited the Falls
of Niagara, was well received at Fort Niagara by Col. Hunter,
who then commanded a battalion of the 60th Regiment, and who
afterwards became Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and
Commander; and reached Montreal about the middle of July,
1788. He became a resident of Canada and Surveyor-General of
Upper Canada. He wrote the narrative of his captivity, the MS.
of which, with numerous mementoes of him, is preserved by his
descendants in Ottawa and elsewhere. His account of his cap-
ture, with a map, is published as an Appendix to Matilda Edgar's
“Ten Years of Upper Canada,” etc., Toronto, 1890.
Robinson (Lieut.) ------. Captured on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781.
From Fort Niagara was sent to Montreal, reaching there Nov.
28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.AT FORT NIAGARA.
287
Rooseboom, Johannes. The first white man, not in French interest,
known to have visited the Niagara. There are various spellings
of the name of this Albany Dutchman who in 1685 led a party
of traders into the country of the Ottawas, successfully eluding
the French, who were sent by Denonville to the Niagara to stop
them. The venture proved so successful that in the autumn of
1686 a larger expedition was fitted out. With twenty or more
canoes Rooseboom made his way up the Mohawk, over the port-
age to Oneida lake and thence to Lake Ontario. He had instruc-
tions to winter among the Senecas, and in the spring to join
a party to be sent out under Major McGregory (q. v.) and
push on to Lake Huron. Rooseboom and party, in advance of
McGregory, were intercepted on Lake Huron by a swarm of
French and Indians under La Durantaye, taken prisoners and
carried captive to Mackinac; from which point, reinforced by
hordes of Western Indians, La Durantaye set out with his pris-
oners for Niagara. Near Detroit McGregory and party were
encountered. They, too, were made prisoners, and plundered of
their goods; and after the traders’ rum had been consumed, the
Dutch and English were all brought prisoners to Niagara; among
their captors in the French interest being La Salle’s Italian lieu-
tenant, the Chevalier de Tonty—he of the iron hand; Du Lhut,
for whom Duluth is named; and La Durantaye, former captain
of the regiment of Chambellay and commandant at Mackinac.
These captains were bringing the Western Indians to the Niagara
rendezvous, to join Denonville in his great campaign against the
Iroquois. The unexpected presence of the Dutch and English
prisoners strengthened the cause of the French in the eyes of
the Western tribes. The great party—1500, according to some
of the captive Dutchmen, about 600, according to French reports,
reached Niagara on June 27, 1687. There was then no fort there,
though Denonville was to build one, a few weeks later. Roose-
boom, McGregory and their men were sent to Cataraqui (present
Kingston), where many of the prisoners, though probably not
the leaders, were compelled to work on the defences. They were
ultimately sent on to Montreal and Quebec; whence Rooseboom
returned to Albany. The next year (1688) he married Gerritjs
Coster; was an “assistant alderman” in 1629, alderman of the
Second Ward in 1700, and lieutenant in Capt. Johannes Bleecker’s
company. He was “buried in the church,” Beverwyck, now
Albany, Jan. 25, 1745, aged about 84. Several representatives
of the family have figured in New York State history.
Rose, William. The captivity of this youth presents an unusual
feature: His mother urged him to submit to the Indians and go
along with them to Fort Niagara. But she was a true patriot
none the less. It was soon after the capture of Capt. Harper,
that a band of Indians made an incursion into Colchester, then
known by its Indian name of Papagonck, where lived one Rose
with his family. The following particulars are recorded by Jay
Gould in his “History of Delaware County”:
“At the time the Indians approached the residence of Mr.
Rose, his son William was engaged in constructing a canoe onTHE TALE OF CAPTIVES
the bank of the river, a short distance from the house. He was
shortly after surprised and taken prisoner, and was informed
that he must accompany them to the home of the Red men in
the West. He protested stoutly against accompanying them, but
all in vain. The Indians also took three cows belonging to his
father, which they drove before them, together with whatever
the house contained, which seemed to them valuable. The first
night the Indians with their prisoner encamped but a short dis-
tance from the residence of Mr. Rose, and in the morning one
of the cows was found to have strayed for home. Young Rose
was sent back after the missing cow alone, but with the injunc-
tion, ‘that if he did not return immediately with the cow, they
would return and murder them all, and burn their buildings/
The boy related to his mother all that had happened, and showed
very little inclination to return to his captors; but knowing how
well the Indians were apt to execute their threats, she insisted
with heroic fortitude, upon his immediate return into captivity
with the missing cow. He accompanied the Indians to Niagara,
and after a prolonged captivity of three years, was once more
permitted to return to his friends.”
Rudelle, James. Taken by Capt. Bird at Licking Creek, Aug. 6,
1781; brought to Fort Niagara, and sent to Montreal, November,
1781.
Runnels, Timothy. Taken prisoner by Brant near Fort Stanwix,
spring of 1781; brought to Niagara; further details of his cap-
tivity unknown.
Priest’s “Narrative of the Capture of David Ogden.”
Rutherford, John. While on an exploring trip between Detroit and
Mackinac, in May, 1763, under Capt. Charles Robson of the 77th
Regiment, he was taken prisoner by the Chippewas. He saw the
body of Capt. Robson served up at a feast; was made a slave,
then adopted by a Chippewa, then sold to a Frenchman; was
recaptured by Chippewas, taken before Pontiac, whom he served
as interpreter; then carried off by an Ottawa chief, who delivered
him to his former Indian master; he escaped, after many adven-
tures reaching Detroit. He was then seventeen years old. Ten
days later Major Gladwin sent him to Niagara on the schooner
Beaver, to bring back goods. On the return voyage, a day’s sail
from Fort Schlosser, the vessel sprung a leak. With great exer-
tion they grounded her and got ashore, only to be attacked by
the Indians. This was on the south shore, somewhere between
Buffalo and Erie. Several days later a relief party in boats
reached them from Fort Niagara; Rutherford and his com-
panions marched over the portage, as he says, “just three days
after the Indians had defeated our troops in a rencontre. We
saw about eighty dead bodies, unburied, scalped and sadly man-
gled.” This refers to the massacre of the Devil’s Hole, the scene
of which Rutherford must have passed Sept. 16, 1763, reaching
Fort Niagara on that or the following day, whence he went to
New York. Rutherford’s subsequent adventures are not known
to be connected with our region.AT FORT NIAGARA.
289
Rutherford’s Narrative, Trans. Can. Institute, Sept., 1893;
Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. v, pp. 2-4; vol. vi, pp. 27-29.
Salling, John Peter. A weaver of Williamsburg, Va., of whose,
remarkable captivity conflicting accounts exist. The data which
are beyond doubt are to effect that about the year 1738 Salling
and one Thomas Morlin, a peddler, trading from Williamsburg
to Winchester, Va., set out on a tour of exploration into the
country to the westward. They traveled up the Shenandoah,
crossing the James and some of its branches and had reached
the Roanoke, when Salling was taken captive by a party of
Cherokees. His companion, Morlin the peddler, eluded them, and
made out to reach Winchester, where he told what had happened.
There is somewhat less certainty about what befel Salling. The
most detailed and apparently most trustworthy account—With-
ers’s precious “Chronicles of Border Warfare”—says that he was
carried to what is now Tennessee, where he remained some years.
While with a party of Cherokees on a buffalo hunt, a band of
Illinois Indians surprised them, captured Salling from the Chero-
kees and carried him to Kaskaskia, where he was adopted into
the family of a squaw whose son had been killed. Sailing made
excursions with his new captors below the mouth of the Arkansas,
going once to the Gulf of Mexico. One account says he re-
turned thence by vessel to Charleston, whence he made his way
home; but Withers, who is seldom wrong in these old chronicles,
says that Sailing, on the lower Mississippi, fell in with a party of
Spaniards who needed an interpreter and bought Sailing from his
Indian mother “for three strands of beads and a calumet.” He
attended them to the post at Crevecoeur, on the Illinois, “from
which place he was conveyed to Fort Frontignac.” The route, at
this period, would have been by Fort Niagara, which he reached,
apparently, about 1743 or ’4; for at Frontenac he “was redeemed
by the Governor of Canada, who sent him to the Dutch settle-
ment in New York, whence he made his way home after an ab-
sence of six years.” About 1850 Dr. Lyman C. Draper talked
with Sailing’s descendants.
See, for various accounts of Sailing’s adventures, Kercheval’s
“History of the Valley of Virginia”; Du Pratz’s “History of
Louisiana” (London, 1774); Withers’ “Chronicles of Border
Warfare” (Clarksburg, Va., 1831) ; and especially the edition of
Withers edited by R. G. Thwaites (Cincinnati, 1895).
Sawyer,----------. Same experience in captivity as Cowley,-------,
q. v.
Scott (Lieut.) --------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781. From
Fort Niagara sent to Montreal, November, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Scraystobeck, Paggy. Aged 16. Taken at some unspecified point
in New York, in 1782; shipped off from Fort Niagara to
Montreal, with ten others, in August, 1782. It is not unlikely,
that the name is misspelled, but so it is written in the return of
prisoners preserved among the Haldimand papers.290
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Servier, (Capt.) -----. Captain in the regiment of Royal Rouissil-
lon. Prisoner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with
Pouchot, q. v.
Sheak, Christian. Details of captivity not known. Was sent from
Fort Niagara to Montreal, April 23, 1781, with nineteen other
prisoners.
Haldimand MSS.
Shear, Eliza. Case so far as known same as Christian Sheak,
above.
Shoemaker, (Mrs.) Jacob, and her ten-year-old son were captured in
the vicinity of Fort Dayton, Schoharie valley, in August, 1780.
They were taken to Canada, apparently by way of Fort Niagara,
as a large party of other prisoners, the Vroomans, Henry Hager
and others, taken in the Schoharie valley at this time, are known
to have been brought to Niagara. Sir John Johnson paid $7 to
ransom Mrs. Shoemaker.
Shriver, John. Taken at some Pennsylvania point, April 16, 1778,
with Sarah and Sarah, probably wife and child. Sent from Fort
Niagara to Montreal with many other American prisoners, Octo-
ber, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Shriver, Sarah. Taken with John Shriver, and sent from Fort
Niagara to Montreal with him.
Shriver, Sarah (2d). Apparently child of John and Sarah Shriver.
Simonton, John. A lad of eight years when he was made captive
by the Indians in the upper Juniata valley, in the fall of 1780.
The circumstances of his capture were peculiarly atrocious, in-
volving the murder of the family of Matthew Dean, with whom
young Simonton was at the time. His' father, Capt. Simonton,
made assiduous search for him, going as far west as Chillicothe,
O., to attend a treaty, and offering £100 for his recovery; but
without getting trace of him. In the War of 1812, two—perhaps
three—other sons of Capt. Simonton served on the Niagara in
companies commanded by Capts. Allison, Canan and Vande-
vender. While these companies were encamped in Cattaraugus,
N. Y., soldiers saw there a white man, who had an Indian
family and had become one with the Senecas. A strong re-
semblance was remarked between him and the Simontons. On
being questioned he said his name was John “Sims,” that he was.
carried off from the Juniata when a child, and recalled other
things associated with the Simonton family, leaving no doubt as
to his identity. He met his brothers, but while talking to them,
“his wife took him away, and he was not seen again by them
while they remained there.” Like “White Chief”—the father of
Seneca White—Thomas Armstrong, Mary Jemison, Rebecca
Hempferman and a few others, brought to our region captive
before the era of settlement, his later history is merged in the
scantily-recorded annals of his adoptive people.
Jones, “History of the Juniata Valley.”AT FORT NIAGARA.
391
“Sims," John. See Simonton, John.
Skenandoah. Oneida Indian, bom at Conostoga on the Susque-
hanna about 1706; in the early years of the Revolution he lived
at Oneida Castle, 35 miles west of Herkimer. In the winter of
1780 he went with two companions to Fort Niagara “under pre-
tence of relieving the sufferings of those Oneidas who were
prisoners at that place.” They were bearers of a friendly letter
from the Oneida chiefs to the commandant. Mr. Dean, U. S.
interpreter, states that the journey was undertaken by the advice
of Gov. Clinton, Gen. Schuyler and the commandant at Fort
Stanwix, who supplied necessaries for the journey. At Fort
Niagara Skenandoah and his comrades were suspected, taken
prisoners and confined three months in irons. They were re-
leased after having made promise to remain with the British dur-
ing the war. Skenandoah and one of his companions did so,
returning to their nation after peace was declared; the other
companion appears to have deceived the British, for he hastened
to Albany with valuable information regarding Fort Niagara.
Skenandoah died in 1816, said to have reached the age of no
years. He was a friend of the missionary Kirkland, and a monu-
ment is erected to him at Hamilton College.
Schoolcraft, “History of the Indian Tribes,” etc., vol. v, Phila-
delphia, 1855.
Skyles, Jacob. While taking a cargo of goods down the Ohio,
spring of 1790, in company with Col. George Clendiner, Charles
Johnston, and others, he was decoyed ashore and made prisoner;
carried to an Indian town on the Miami, where he was compelled
to run the gauntlet; was condemned to the stake, but escaped at
night, swam the Miami, stole a horse and set out, as he supposed,
in the direction of Kentucky, but got lost, traveled north, came
into a Miami town, where he sought out a trader, who helped him
to hasten by boat down the river; he overtook a trading party,
who took him to Detroit, whence, after some days of conceal-
ment, he was sent down Lake Erie, and by way of Fort Niagara
on East. He subsequently settled in Kentucky, and on the bank
of the Ohio, near where he had been taken in 1790, recovered
some $200 in gold which he had buried there.
“Narrative .	.	. Capture ... of Charles Johnston,”
etc., N. Y., 1827.
Slocum, Frances. Was less than five years old when she was taken
captive, Nov. 2, 1778, at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Her father, Jonathan
Slocum, a Quaker, escaped at the time, but in December was shot
and scalped. Frances was brought into the Seneca country of
Western New York and to Fort Niagara before her adoption by
the Senecas. In 1784, shortly after the peace, two of her brothers
came to Fort Niagara in quest of her, but learned nothing. In
1789 her mother came to the fort—riding horseback 300 miles
through the wilderness—but returned to her home in the Wyom-
ing valley with no clue of the child, who at the time was in one of
the near-by Seneca villages. In 1791 a brother, Giles Slocum,292
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
came to Buffalo Creek and the Niagara with Col. Thomas Proc-
tor; but he too failed to get trace of his sister, who was then
living with a Seneca family at Cornplanter’s town on the Alle-
gheny. In 1794, four Slocum brothers together devoted a sum-
mer to the search, visiting Fort Niagara and Detroit, but the
Indians kept Frances without discovery. Her family knew noth-
ing of her whereabouts until August, 1837, fifty-nine years after
her capture, when a letter in the Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer,
written by Col. Geo. W. Ewing of Logansport, Ind., and dated
a year and a half previous, mentioned an aged white woman
then living in that vicinity among the Miamis, whose father’s
name was Slocum. Her brothers Joseph and Isaac, then still
living, went to Logansport and identified the woman as their
lost sister.
Many early accounts of Frances Slocum’s captivity are super-
seded by the volume, “Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyom-
ing,” compiled and written by her grand-niece, Martha Bennett
Phelps. (N. Y., 1905.) It gives Frances’ own recollections of
her captivity, and other related matter of interest. Frances her-
self said:	“I was adopted by Tuck Horse [the Delaware who
had stolen her] and his wife, in the place of a daughter they had
lost a short time before, and they gave me her name, We-let-a-
wash. ... In the spring we went to Sandusky . . . but in
the fall we came back, and we lived one year at Niagara. I recol-
lect that the Indians were afraid to cross above the Falls, on
account of the rapidity of the water. I also recollect that they
had a machine by which they raised goods from below the Falls,
and let things go down [no doubt the incline built by the English
at Lewiston heights]. ... I was married to a Delaware by
the name of Little Turtle. ... I was afterward married to
a Miami, a chief.” Of her four children, two boys died young;
one daughter married Capt. Brouillette, of part French ancestry,
a member of the Miami tribe; and the other daughter married
an Indian. Frances died March 9, 1847, and is buried in the
Indian cemetery near Reserve, Ind. Numerous relatives and
descendants are living. A monument was unveiled at her tomb,
with ceremonies, in 1900.
Published statements attributed to the late Gen. Ely S. Parker
are to the effect that his great-grandmother was a captive white
woman named Slocum; that she married a French officer at Fort
Niagara, “where her Indian relatives had taken her on one of
their trading expeditions. The Indians were at the fort for some
time, and when they were ready to leave she did not want to
leave her French husband, but her Indian relatives compelled her
to return with them to Alleghany,” and there a child was bom
to her who became grandmother of Gen. Parker. By the aid of
a Quaker named Jacobs, who sought to return her to her family,
the Slocum woman escaped down the Allegheny, with her child;
the Indians pursued and retook her, but finally took only her
child back with them, permitting her to rejoin her family. The
child married ---------- Parker, and had three sons, Samuel,
William and another. She died at Tonawanda, between 1821 andAT FORT NIAGARA.
293
1825. Her son William, who was the father of Gen. Ely S.
Parker, died in April, 1864, aged about 75 years. He was in the
War of 1812, and was wounded in the battle of Chippewa. His
brother Samuel died about 1879 or 1880, aged about 90.
While many of these statements relating to the Parkers are
beyond question, it is impossible to reconcile this account of
Frances Slocum’s marriage to a French officer with the account
of her captivity and Indian marriages which are preserved by her
descendants. Gen. Parker’s autobiography (Buffalo Historical
Society Publications, vol. viii, p. 528) says that he “was bom of
poor but honest Indian parents in Genesee County.” If one of
his grandmothers had been a white woman (child of the French
officer and Quaker Frances), Gen. Parker would probably have
mentioned it. He is usually spoken of as a full-blooded Seneca;
yet some of the Parkers who claim relationship to him, allege
that Frances Slocum was his ancestor. True, there may have
been another captive white woman named Slocum. Gen. Parker
himself once wrote:	“The name Parker was my father’s English
name, given him by an English captive taken perhaps during the
Revolution, and who was adopted into my father’s immediate
family. An Indian name was given the captive and as a return
compliment the captive conferred his civilized name upon my
father and his brother. The children of the brothers adopted
the English name, but it made no change in the use of their
Indian names.”
Smith (Col.) James. Early in the year 1759 he arrived at Fort
Niagara from Detroit, in an elm-bark canoe with two Indians;
and passed on to Montreal. He was born in Franklin Co., Pa.,
in 1737; was taken prisoner by the Indians in 1755, near Bedford,
Pa., was adopted by a Caughnewago family, and lived with them,
most of the time in the neighborhood of Detroit, Sandusky and
along the south shore of Lake Erie. He was at Fort Niagara,
on his way to Montreal, where he was exchanged in 1760.
“An account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and
Travels of Col. James Smith .	. . during his captivity with
the Indians, in the years 1755, ’56, ’57, ’58 and ’59 . . . Lex-
ington : Printed by John Bradford, on Main Street, 1799.” 8vo.,
pp. 88.
Exceedingly rare. Other editions, Philadelphia, 1834; Cin-
cinnati, 1870. The principal facts of his captivity are also con-
tained in his second work, “A Treatise on the Mode and Manner
of Indian War . . . Some abstracts selected from his Journal,
while in Captivity,” etc.; i2mo., pp. 1-59. Paris, Kentucky,
printed by Joel R. Lyle, 1812. See also Jones’ “History of the
Juniata Valley.”
One curious result of Col. Smith’s captivity was a memorial
which he addressed, March 10, 1777, to the Executive Council of
“the Common Welth of Pennsylvania,” in which he urged the
adoption of the Indian method of fighting—which, he had learned
from experience, “has a surprising effect of Deminishing the
numbers of the Enemy, who are unacquainted with it.” “Your294
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
memorialist having been Prisoner nearly five years among the
Indians, and many years acquainted with thire method of fighting,
while engaged in Repelling thire invasions of our frunteers,” he
advocated the organization of ‘‘a Battalion of Rifflemen to anoy
the Enemy on thire marches,” and pledged himself, if the council
would permit, “in a very Short time [to] Raise a Battalion of
Choise men, good marks men, and well acquainted with the
Business, who should think it thire honour to Render thire coun-
terey an Essential Sarvice at this Critical Conjunction of Publick
affairs.” I find no record that this apparently practical sugges-
tion was acted upon.
Smith, John, of Mercer’s Company, Virginia regiment, surrendered
to the French at Great Meadows, July 4, 1754. Sent to Canada
in custody of the Indian who took him; left Fort Du Quesne a
few days after the battle, following the route by way of the
French posts to Fort Niagara, thence down the lake to Montreal.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
Smith, Joseph. Captured when a youth by the Indians at Cherry
Valley, November, 1778. Was probably taken that fall to Fort
Niagara. In the summer of 1781 he was living with an Indian
family at Little Beard’s Town. There Horatio Jones, also a
captive, first met him in 1781, when began their friendship of
many years. In 1786 Smith built a log house on the present site
of Geneva, N. Y., where his friend Jones had already established
himself. ^ He served as interpreter at Indian land sales, moved to
Canandaigua in 1789, and in 1792 shared in the conduct of a party
of Indian chiefs to Philadelphia for conference with the Govern-
ment.
“The Life of Horatio Jones,” Buffalo Historical Society Pub-
lications, vol. vi.
Snyder, John. Known after the Revolution as “Schoharie John.”
Captured July 26, 1782, by the tory captain Adam Crysler and
his party of whites and Indians, some twenty-five in all. Crysler
at this time visited several settlements in the Schoharie valley,
Snyder being taken near Beaver Dam, not far from the junction
of the Schoharie and the Cobleskill. The second day the old
southwest path was taken, Peter Zimmer and George Warren,
Jr., being fellow prisoners. At Fort Niagara, or subsequently,
Snyder enlisted in the British service—as his friends afterward
claimed, that he might have an opportunity to desert and return
home.
Solvignac,----------. Officer in the regiment of Bearn, prisoner of
war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Spencer, Oliver M. Son of Col. Oliver Spencer of Columbia, O.
Taken prisoner in July, 1792, near Fort Washington (Cincinnati),
Ohio, being not quite twelve years old. He was taken to the
Miami, where after some months a prisoner named Wells saw
him, learned of his family at Fort Washington, and sent report
of the lad to Col. Wilkeson at Fort Washington. Letters were
obtained through the influence of General Washington, from theAT FORT NIAGARA.
295
British Minister at Philadelphia, to Col. Simcoe, Governor of
Upper Canada; and an agent was dispatched by the prisoner’s
friends to Fort Niagara. Young Spencer spent the winter of
1792-93 in the Shawanese villages, learning in February that an
agent had come to Detroit to release him; Col. Elliott, the British
Indian agent, paid the Indians $120, and he was taken to Detroit,
reaching there March 3d; at the end of March he sailed on the
sloop Felicity, reaching Fort Erie April 15th; and on April 17,
1793, he reached Fort Niagara and was welcomed by Lieutenant
Hill, of the 50th Regiment. After some days, with Nathaniel
Gorham and a colored servant, Spencer traveled on horse-back
to Canandaigua, and in June proceeded to New York, meeting
friends at Elizabethtown, N. J. In September, 1794, he returned
to his parents at Columbia, O.
“Narrative of O. M. Spencer; comprising an account of his
captivity among the Mohawk Indians, in North America,” etc.;
London, 1836; 2d ed. London, 1842; 3d ed., N. Y., 1854. Origin-
ally written for the Western Christian Advocate.
Stacia (Lt.-Col.),--------. Taken at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11, 1778.
Molly Brant had a deadly aversion to him. “She resorted to the
Indian method of dreaming,” says Campbell, in his “Annals of
Tryon County,” describing Col. Stacia’s captivity at Fort Niag-
ara. “She informed Col. Butler that she dreamed she had the
Yankee’s head, and that she and the Indians were kicking it about
the fort. Col. Butler ordered a small keg of rum to be painted
and given to her. This for a short time appeased her, but she
dreamed a second time that she had the Yankee’s head, with his
hat on, and she and the Indians were kicking it about the fort for
a football. Col. Butler ordered another keg of rum to be given
to her, and then told her, decidedly, that Col. Stacia should not be
given up to the Indians.”
Stevens, Nicholas. William Prentup wrote to Sir Wm. Johnson
from Fort Ontario (Oswego), Aug. 27, 1763:	“Yesterday arrived
here the schooner Mercury from Niagara with Jacobus van Eps
and Nicholas Stevens on board with some other traders who had
been taken prisoners this spring. .	.	.”
Johnson MSS., State Library, Albany.
Stevens, James. One of Capt. Alexander Harper’s party, brought
to Fort Niagara in 1780 by Brant.
Stevens, Nehemiah. Same experience as Andrew McBriar, q. v.
Stobo, (Major) Robert. Not an Indian prisoner, but a hostage of the
French", and as such brought to Fort Niagara, en route to Que-
bec. Born in Glasgow, 1727; was made captain in a Virginia
regiment, March, 1754; with the British and Colonial troops
which were taken by the French at Great Meadows, July 4th;
with a companion, Jacob Van Braam, Stobo was delivered up as
hostage, the other prisoners being allowed to return home. The
twain were sent to Fort Du Quesne, of which Stobo made a plan
and sent it to Gen. Washington. The “Memoirs” of Stobo state296
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
that “the French removed their hostage from one fort to another,
though the whole chain of them, from Fort Du Quesne down to
Quebec, which is about 300 leagues, with this advantage to him-
self, that he had liberty to go and come as he pleased all about
the country.” Stobo left Fort Du Quesne Sept. 20, 1754. His
progress familiarized him with Forts Venango, Le Boeuf, and
Presqu’ Isle, Fort Niagara and its dependencies. His subsequent
adventures include episodes of gallantry (he was a ladies’ man)
and of bold undertakings. He twice escaped from prison in
Quebec; joined Wolfe, and after many hazards, reached Williams-
burgh, Va., and received “the warmest thanks of the whole Assem-
bly of Virginia.” Stobo is said to have been Smollet’s original
for Captain Lismahago in “The Adventures of Humphrey
Clinker”; not unlikely, for Smollet and Stobo were friends. It is
a pity there is not a worthy record of so picturesque a character.
Our principal source of information, the “Memoirs of Major
Robert Stobo, of the Virginia Regiment,” by Neville B. Craig
(Pittsburgh, 1854), is conspicuous for its omission of the his-
torically-essential, and is most absurdly written.
Stockton, Isabel. A Dutch girl, taken captive Oct. 1, 1757, at Win-
chester, Va. She was found among other prisoners at Fort Niag-
ara when the British captured it, July 25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Stoicely (Capt.) --------. Taken on the Ohio, Aug. 24, 1781.
Brought to Fort Niagara, and sent thence to Montreal, where he
arrived with thirty others, Nov. 28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Stowits, Michael. Made captive with Rudolf Keller, q. v.
Strope, Sebastian. Numerous members of his family taken captive
at Wysox, Bedford Co., Pa., May, 1778, and after detention at
various places, carried to Fort Niagara. Among them was
Strope’s daughter, Mrs. Jane Whittaker, q. v.
Stuerdfages, Daniel (name doubtful, but so printed). Of
Mackay’s company, Virginia regiment; wounded in the right arm
at battle of Great Meadows, July 4, 1754; taken prisoner by the
Indians, and sent with his Indian captors by way of the French
posts to Fort Niagara and thence to Canada.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
Sullivan, Nathaniel. Taken captive on the Potomac, Sept. 25,
1758. Found a prisoner at Fort Niagara when the British took
it, July 25, 1759.
N. Y. Mercury, Aug. 20, 1759.
Swart, Peter. Taken captive in the Schoharie valley in the sum-
mer of 1778, by the treachery of a companion, Abraham Becker,
apparently a British sympathizer, for he betrayed Swart and one
Frederick Shafer into the hands of a party of Indians. Shafer
was taken to a “Canadian prison,” locality not stated, returning
to Schoharie after the war. Swart was taken to Niagara, thenAT FORT NIAGARA.
297
by Western Indians beyond Detroit, where he took an Indian
wife and adopted the Indian life.
Simms, “History of Schoharie County, and Border Wars of
New York,” Albany, 1845.
Sweetland, Luke (name sometimes printed “S wetland”). He bore
arms in defense of Wyoming, July, 1778, and soon after joined
the company commanded by Capt. Spalding. He was taken pris-
oner with Joseph Blanchard, near Nanticoke, where they had
gone to mill, Aug. 24, 1778, and both were carried to Kanadesaga;
possibly also to Fort Niagara. Sweetland was rescued by the
army under Sullivan in 1779.
Taggart, --------. Carried prisoner to Fort Niagara in the sum-
mer of 1779, by a party of British and Indians under command
of a Loyalist named McDonald, and the Seneca brave Hiakato,
the latter husband of Mary Jemison, “the White Woman of the
Genesee.” Taggart, who was one of many taken at Freeling’s Fort
on the west branch of the Susquehanna, was in the encampment
at the mouth of the Tioga at the time of Capt. Rowland Mon-
teur’s death, and was, plausibly, a witness of his burial. Our
knowledge that the modern village of Painted Post derived its
name from the planting of a painted stake at Monteur’s grave,
apparently rests on the testimony of Taggart, who after his re-
lease from captivity narrated these events to Benjamin Patterson,
a famous hunter and pioneer of Steuben County, and to others.
Details of Taggart’s experiences at Fort Niagara are lacking.
McMasters’ “History of the Settlement of Steuben Co.,”
(Bath, N. Y., 1853), in which the above statements occur, gives
the date of Taggart’s captivity as 1779; which does not accord
with other accounts of Monteur’s death, stated to have occurred
in September, 1781.
Tanner, Jacob. Born at Lancaster, Pa., December, 1745; taken
captive near Currytown, N. Y., with his neighbor Frederick
Olman (Utman), John Lewis and others. So far as known
shared the experiences of John Lewis (q. v.). He was first taken
to Fort Hunter, thence to Fort Niagara, Sackett’s Harbor, “Island
of Despair” in the St. Lawrence, and Montreal; released with
John Lewis and others at Boston, “whence he walked home, 240
miles, and found his house burned by the Indians.” He subse-
quently lived at Sharon, N. Y., and April 18, 1833, applied for a
pension, which was granted. He married Maryte Lewis, sister
of John Lewis.
Tanner’s pension record, in possession of Mr. John C. Pearson,
Cleveland, O.; Simms, “Frontiersmen of New York.”
Tanner, Jacob. So far as known, shared the experiences of Rudolf
Keller, q. v.
Teabout, Cornelius. One of the party of fourteen, headed by
Capt. Alexander Harper, taken prisoners by Brant near Harpers-
field in the Schoharie valley, April 7, 1780. See Harper, Alex-
ander, and Patchin, Freegift.298
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Thorp, Ezra. Taken by Brant on the Schoharie, in Capt. Alexander
Harper’s party, April 7, 1780. Experiences same as those of
Harper and Freegift Patchin, q. v.
Thorp (Lieut.) Henry. Same experience in captivity, so far as
known, as his brother Ezra. See Harper, Alexander, and
Patchin, Freegift.
Tracy, (Lieut.)---------. Taken at Cherry Valley and carried pris-
oner to Niagara.
Mentioned in Priest’s “True Narrative of the Capture of
David Ogden,” Lansingburgh, 1840.
Tripp, Isaac. In the fall of 1778, after the battle of Wyoming, he
set out from the vicinity of Wyoming, with his grandfather, Isaac
Tripp, Timothy Kies and a Mr. Hocksey, to go to Capouse, now
Providence, to see if they could find anything left of their effects.
A party of Indians and tories surprised them, killed Kies and
Hocksey, told the old man Tripp to go home, and took young
Isaac with them to Niagara.
Turner, James. A young man captured by Brant and party at
Schoharie, with the Vroomans, Aug. 9, 1780. He was brought
to Fort Niagara. No further mention of him is found, but he
was probably sent to Montreal in the fall of 1780, with other
captives from Schoharie, and exchanged.
Turner, Morris. See Kilgore, Ralph.
Utman, Frederick. A fellow prisoner of Rudolf Keller, q. v.
Utman, Nicholas. Made captive, with his brothers Peter and
William, and several neighbors, at Cobleskill, N. Y., September,
1781. Simms (“Schoharie County”) says they were carried over
“the usual southwestern route to Niagara.”
Utman, Peter. See Utman, Nicholas.
Utman, William. See Utman, Nicholas.
Van Braam (Capt.) Jacob. Given by the English as hostage to the
French, after the battle of Great Meadows, July 4, 1754. He ap-
pears to have been sent, with Capt. (later Major) Robert Stobo,
by way of Fort Niagara to Montreal or Quebec.
Van Campen (Maj.) Moses. Born in Hunterdon Co., N. J., Jan. 21,
1757. Taken prisoner on Fishing Creek, Pa., spring of 1780, and
escaped, he and a companion killing five of their captors and
wounding a sixth. Recaptured April 16, 1782, on Bald Eagle
creek; carried to Caneadea, where he ran the gauntlet; thence
taken by Lieut. Nellis to Fort Niagara, by way of Buffalo creek.
He was offered a British commission, but refused it, and after a
short detention at the fort was sent to Montreal. After many
adventures he reached his Pennsylvania home, January, 1783.
In 1796 he settled at what is now Almond, Allegany Co., N. Y.;
in 1801 visited Buffalo (then New Amsterdam) and Niagara
Falls; in subsequent years was active as a pioneer surveyor, heldAT FORT NIAGARA.
299
numerous minor offices, removed to Dansville, N. Y., 1831, and
to Almond 1848, dying there, Oct. 15, 1849.
“Life and Times of Major Moses Van Campen,” etc., by J.
Niles Hubbard; Dansville, 1841; 2d ed. revised and supplemented
by Jno. S. Minard, Fillmore, N. Y., 1893.
Van de Bergh, David. Taken in April, 1780, probably in the Mohawk
valley; was a prisoner at Fort Niagara in May of that year.
Haldimand MSS.
Van der Heyder, Dyrick. Shared the adventures of Johannes
Rooseboom and the Harmetsens, q. v.
Van Epps, Evart. Made captive near the present village of Fulton-
ville, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1781, by Maj. Ross and party. He was
brought to Fort Niagara with Rudolf Keller (q. v.) and numerous
other captives; was transferred and exchanged, reaching home
some eighteen months after being taken.
Van Eps, Jacobus. See Stevens, Nicholas.
Velt family. Details of captivity not known. Arrived in Montreal
from Fort Niagara, Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
Verney, (Capt.) Oliver de la Roche. Captain of the Marine. Pris-
oner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Vilar, (Capt.)--------. Captain in the regiment of La Salle. Pris-
oner of war at Fort Niagara, July 25, 1759, with Pouchot, q. v.
Vincent, Benjamin. Taken captive at the age of ten or eleven
years, in the attack on Freeland’s Fort, Warrior Run, four miles
from present Watsontown, Pa., July 29, 1779. A brother, three
years older, who was taken at the time, attempting to escape, the
Indians tomahawked him, “tore off his scalp and slapped it,
dripping with blood, in Ben’s face. Heedless of his own fate,
Ben sprang at the murderer and kicked and bit in a frenzy of
passion. His anger seemed to please the savages; they laughed
at him, called him ‘good fighter,’ and finally bound him to keep
him quiet.” The captives, including Ben and young Michael
Freeland (q. v.) were brought to Buffalo Creek, where they were
made to run the gauntlet. “When Ben’s turn came to make the
run he suddenly picked up two stones as large as goose-eggs,
clapped them sharply together, and then, lifting them in plain
view and ready to be hurled at the first offender, with defiant air
and blazing eyes he marched through the lines of young Indians,
not one of whom ventured to strike him.” His conduct won the
approval of the warriors, one of whom adopted him, and in his
family Ben lived, well treated, for three years. He was one of
the first, if not the very first, of white residents in Buffalo. The
chronicler of this captivity says that although the Indians admired
his bold spirit, they never fully trusted him, believing he would
escape if opportunity offered. His usual companion was a young
Indian, with whom he sometimes quarreled. “One day, fishing in
Buffalo creek, one of these disputes grew to a struggle in which300
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
the anger of each ran high. Looking about for any kind of
weapon Ben observed the skeleton of a horse, and breaking away
from his antagonist and seizing a heavy bone, with a single blow
on the head he felled him to the ground.” Ben dragged the dying
Indian to the creek, “threw him in and stood upon him till he was
not only dead, but till he pressed the body into the soft mud of
the bottom so deep it would stay there out of sight.” He then
returned to the lodge, accounted plausibly for the Indian boy's
absence, and in the night, having secured a gun, ammunition and
some dried meat, started for the Niagara river. He hoped to
find a canoe along the bank; instead, he encountered an Indian
from the village on Buffalo creek, who demanded what he was
doing there with a gun that did not belong to him? The reply
did not satisfy the Indian, who tried to seize the gun; in the
scuffle, Ben shot him through the breast, dead. “Here was a
double necessity for flight; the river must be crossed, and at once.
The gun, too heavy to swim with, was hid in a hollow tree.
Wrapping his scanty clothing in a bundle, which he tied on his
head, Ben struck out for the Canadian shore. He was a good
swimmer and life was at stake; with no haste, no nervous beat-
ing of the water, but with a strong, steady stroke and unflinching
courage, he swam on and made the crossing.” The narrative
(which is here much condensed) has at this point some obvious
discrepancies. It relates how he walked down the river, and “at
the head of Lake Ontario” found a British sloop. It was prob-
ably at the outlet of the Niagara; how he evaded the officers at
the fort is not stated. “Straight to the captain (of the sloop) he
went, told his story and asked protection. He was promptly re-
fused. The captain didn’t ‘care a d—n what becomes of a rebel
and the slayer of Indian allies of our soldiers. I hope the red-
skins will get you. At least I won’t help you off, and run the
risk of trouble for giving help to the enemy.’ ” Later, with the
connivance of sailors, he swam to the vessel, was helped aboard
and kept out of sight until she was well under way for Montreal.
When the captain did see him, he angrily boxed his ears and set
him to washing decks. Approaching Montreal, the sailors ad-
vised him to swim ashore, and thus perhaps escape being handed
over to the authorities. This he did, and ultimately found work
with a kind Jew. One day, while carrying a small iron kettle, he
suddenly met with his adoptive father and three other Indians
from Buffalo Creek. They hemmed him in on all sides except
towards the river, and that way Ben ran, with the little iron
kettle on his head; leaped into the river, followed by a flight of
arrows. He swam as far as he could under water, then rose to
the surface. “With his first breath an arrow plunged into the
water a foot to the right of his head; but a tomahawk, better
aimed, shattered the kettle to pieces. The blow dazed him for
an instant, but the little kettle had saved his life for the moment.”
He was pulled aboard a vessel by sailors who had witnessed the
pursuit, and given protection by a captain who admired his
pluck. Some days later he was sent down Lake Champlain and
the Hudson, to New York. Thirty years later, while keeping a
hotel near Orange, N. J., he received a letter from his old fellow-AT FORT NIAGARA.
301
captive, “Mike” Freeland. The letter said that living near Free-
land, in Western New York, was the Indian who had killed Vin-
cent’s brother. About a month later Vincent appeared at Free-
land’s door and asked where he could find the Indian. He was
told the Indian had gone fishing; and at once took after him with
his gun. Soon after, the Indian, unsuspecting, came home and
was told that Ben Vincent was looking for him; whereupon the
Indian took his gun and disappeared in the woods. Two days
later Ben returned to Freeland’s house, and made inquiries,
obviously studied, about the Indian. The Indian never reap-
peared, and Vincent went back to New Jersey; but whether he
had three Indian lives to account for, or only two, he never told.
The foregoing is condensed from a long narrative told by
Richard Peterson, Vincent’s nephew, printed in the Los Angeles
(Cal.) Herald, about 1000. Some corroborative facts regarding
the captivity of Vincent and Freeland are also given in “Frontier
Forts of Pennsylvania.”
Vrooman, Barney. Son of Capt. Tunis Vrooman, captive with
Capt. Ephraim Vrooman, q. v.
Vrooman, Bartholomew. Son of Ephraim Vrooman, q. v.
Vrooman, (Lieut.) Ephraim. Of the raid of the Schoharie valley
settlements by Brant and some 70 or more braves, in August,
1780, there are numerous though not altogether consistent
accounts. It was a retaliatory and most effective stroke for the
devastation worked by Sullivan the year before in the Seneca
lake and Genesee country. Of the captivity of Lieut. Ephraim
Vrooman, and many of his relatives and neighbors, the most de-
tailed account is to be found in Simms’ “History of Schoharie
County.” Several of the Vroomans were killed on August 9th,
the day of the attack. On the next day, several of the women
and children who had been taken prisoners, were released by
Brant, and sent back to Schoharie. One account says that
Rosanna Vrooman, a young woman, cousin of Ephraim, was kept
with the prisoners for some days, then stripped of her clothing,
and entirely naked, with the child of a murdered mother in her
arms, was sent back to the despoiled settlement. The more de-
tailed narrative records the murder of the wife and two youngest
children of Lt. Vrooman, and the release by Brant of all the
women except the wife of Simon Vrooman. Others of the
captive band were Simon Vrooman and Jacob his son; Ephraim’s
two sons, Bartholomew and Josias E.; Tunis, John, Barney and
Peter Vrooman, four sons of Capt. Tunis Vrooman, who was
tomahawked in the attacks; Henry Hager, aged 80; two Germans,
Creshiboom and Hoffman; John Daly, Thomas Meriness, James
Turner, and others, names not known; and several negro slaves.
A party of some 30 or more captives, they were brought to Fort
Niagara by way of Oquaga on the Susquehanna (near Bingham-
ton), and the Genesee valley. In the fall of 1780 all but Meriness
appear to have been exchanged at Montreal.
Vrooman, Jacob. See Vrooman, Ephraim.THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
Vrooman, John. See Vrooman, Ephraim.
Vrooman, Josias E. Son of Ephraim Vrooman of Schoharie, whose
captivity he shared, for the most part. When the prisoners from
Schoharie were being brought to Fort Niagara, Josias, with
others claimed by the Senecas, was separated from the main
party, on the Susquehanna, and sent up the Chemung valley with
a party of warriors. “In the Genesee valley he saw a stake
planted in the ground, some five or six feet high, which was
painted red and sharpened at the top, on which was resting a
fleshless skull.” The Indians told the prisoners it was the skull
of Lieut. Boyd, who was killed in that vicinity the year before,
and each of them was compelled to hold it. (Simms, “History of
Schoharie Co.”) Josias survived his captivity and reached home
after an absence of a little more than a year.
Vrooman, Peter. See Vrooman, Ephraim.
Vrooman, Simon. Experiences like those of Ephraim Vrooman,
until near Fort Niagara, when he was so badly injured by Indian
assaults, that he died soon after, apparently at the fort.
Vrooman, (Mrs.) Simon. Experiences like those of Ephraim and her
husband. Becoming ill in the Genesee valley, she was left behind
at a Seneca town. Relatives afterward paid a ransom and got her
home.
Vrooman, Tunis. A young lad, whose father, Capt. Tunis Vroo-
man, was tomahawked by Brant’s Indians at Schoharie, Aug. 9,
1780. Besides prisoners and other plunder, that party took from
the Schoharie valley some ninety good horses, which they brought
to Fort Niagara. Among them was a stallion of which the
Indians were afraid, and which only young Tunis could manage.
He was allowed to ride the spirited horse most of the way to
Niagara, and thus was exempt from the usual abuse in passing
through Indian villages, nor was he required to run the gauntlet.
All the other prisoners of that party, except Mrs. Simon Vroo-
man, walked the whole distance from Schoharie to Niagara.
Vrooman, (Capt.) Walter. In October, 1780, he was sent by Gen.
Van Rensselaer, with a company of fifty men, from Fort Schuyler
to Oneida lake, to destroy the boats which had been concealed by
Col. John Johnson and Brant, then raiding the Mohawk and
Schoharie valleys. They were all taken prisoners, Johnson hav-
ing been apprised of the move, it is said, by one of Vrooman’s
own men. The prisoners were taken to Montreal, by what route
is uncertain, but as a general thing at that time American cap-
tives, taken in the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys, were first sent
to Fort Niagara. It is recorded that Walter Vrooman was
“incarcerated and did not see the sun again for two long years.”
Simms’ “Schoharie County.”
Vrooman, --------. Taken captive by Brant at the massacre of
Cherry Valley. After the Revolution, Brant told John Fonda, at
his house near Caughnawaga, that most of the atrocities at
Cherry Valley were chargeable to Walter Butler, and related theAT FORT NIAGARA.
following incident: Among the captives made by Brant, was a
man named Vrooman, with whom he had a previous acquaint-
ance. He concluded to give Vrooman his liberty, and after they
. had proceeded several miles on their journey, he sent him back
about two miles, alone, to procure some birch bark for him;
expecting of course to see no more of him. After several hours
Vrooman came hurrying back with the bark, which the chieftain
no more wanted than he did a pair of goggles. Brant said he
sent his prisoner back on purpose to afford him an opportunity to
escape, but that he was so big a fool he did not know it; and that
consequently he was compelled to take him along to Canada.
Many of the Cherry-valley prisoners were brought to Fort
Niagara.
Simms’ “History of Schoharie County, and Border Wars of
New York.”
Wallace (Quartermaster) -----------. Taken prisoner with seven
privates, at the Falls of the Ohio (near present Louisville), Sept.
14, 1781. Sent to Fort Niagara, and forwarded to Montreal,
reaching there Nov. 28, 1781.
Haldimand MSS.
Warner, George, Sr. The most prominent and influential Whig
taken captive in the Schoharie region during the Revolution;
widely known to friend and foe, and an active member of the
local committee of safety. From Nicholas Warner, his oldest
son, Jeptha R. Simms in 1837 gathered the story of his captivity
and that of his son George Warner, Jr. Both are recorded at
length in the “History of Schoharie County,” and but briefly
summarized here. Warner, senior, was made a prisoner on Sun-
day, Dec. 11, 1782, by the redoubtable Seth’s Henry, a Mohawk,
whose exploits at this period, between Fort Niagara and the
Mohawk and Schoharie valleys, are dwelt on at length by Simms.
George Warner, Jr., was taken by the same party, as were John
Snyder, Peter Zimmer and others. The elder Warner was
treated with great care and consideration—Simms says, “with
the care of a brother”—all the way to Fort Niagara. On arriving
at the Indian towns in Western New York, the Indian who had
him especially in charge, “took him by the hand and led him
unhurt outside the lines which had been formed for his reception,
to the displeasure of those who had from infancy been taught to
delight in tortures and cruelty. A prisoner being led by his
captors outside the'gauntlet lines, was an evidence of protection
and exemption from abuse seldom ever violated.” No doubt the
expectation of unusual reward for a prisoner of unusual distinc-
tion, prompted this treatment. From Fort Niagara Mr. Warner
was sent to Rebel Island, near Montreal, and after an absence of
eleven months reached home “by the northeastern route, coming
through Hartford, Conn.; and what was unusual, was better clad
on his return than at the time of his capture.”
Warner, George, Jun. Made a captive July 27, 1782, in the present
town of Cobleskill, N. Y., by the tory partisans Adam and
William Crysler and their Indian allies, chief among whom was304
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
the Schoharie chief Seth’s Henry. The experiences of Warner,
junior, were told by him to Simms the historian, and are recorded
in “The History of Schoharie County” with more of detail than
those of any other captive from that part of the country. With
his father, John Snyder, Peter Zimmer and others, he was carried
south, up the Schoharie, over the divide and down the Susque-
hanna to Oquaga, and thence by one of the usual trails north-
westerly to Fort Niagara. On the road, Warner ate “of a deer,
a wolf, a rattlesnake, and a hen-hawk, but without bread or salt.”
With Zimmer he planned to escape, but the Indians became
suspicious and kept a close watch. On the road they passed
another party who were killing a prisoner in a strange manner:
“His captors had tied his wrists together and drawn them over
his knees, after which a stick was passed under the knees and
over the wrists, and a rope tied to it between them, and thrown
over the limb of a tree. His tormentors then drew him up a
distance and let him fall by slacking the rope; continuing their
hellish sport until the concussion extinguished the vital spark.”
Near the outlet of Seneca Lake young Warner had an altercation
with Capt. Crysler, who taunted the prisoners and boasted that
the King would conquer the rebels. For championing the
Americans Warner was sentenced to be hanged. A noose was
placed around his neck, but after some hours of apprehension he
was allowed to go on as before. Among those who beat and
abused young Warner and Zimmer, as they passed through the
ordeal of the gauntlet in the Western New York villages, was
Molly Brant. “On arriving within half a mile of Niagara, Peter
Ball, who had removed at the beginning of the war to Canada,
from the vicinity of Schoharie, saw and recognized Warner, and
led him away from the squaws and young Indians, who were
besetting him at every step with some missile.” Warner was
kept a prisoner in the vicinity of Fort Niagara until after peace
was proclaimed. For considerable part of his captivity he worked
for a man living near the fort, who also employed Christian
Price, a somewhat noted Virginian, q. v. Young Warner with
twenty-three others prisoners ran away from Fort Niagara one
Sunday night, apparently soon after peace was proclaimed in
1783. They made their way to Oswego, whether by land or lake is
not known, purchased provisions of the British soldiers, and
“made the best of their way home, through the forest.” Capt.
George Warner died in 1844, in his 87th year.
Weller, Daniel. Taken prisoner in Exeter, Pa., near the upper end
of the Wyoming valley, June 30, 1778. Presumably sent to Fort
Niagara, with other prisoners of the Wyoming fights.
Westerfield, Mary. Details of her captivity not known. With 56
other prisoners she was sent from Fort Niagara to Montreal,
arriving there Oct. 4, 1782.
Haldimand MSS.
“White Chief.” Family name unknown. Taken by the Indians,
when a small child, in the Susquehanna valley; probably in the
French war, prior to 1760, as he was an aged man in 1833, whenAT FORT NIAGARA.
305
he told as much of his story as he knew, to Mrs. Asher Wright at
the Buffalo Creek mission. He spent practically his whole life
among the Senecas, and1 was the father of Seneca White, White
Seneca and John Seneca.
Whitmoyer, George. Taken with two brothers and two sisters, in
Lancaster County, Pa., apparently in 1782, by Senecas, and kept
for a time captive at Tonawanda (old Seneca town). His sister
Sarah, afterwards the wife of the captive Horatio Jones, passed
her captivity in the Genesee valley and does not appear to have
been brought to the Niagara. Name also written “Whitmore.”
“The Life of Horatio Jones” and “Sarah Whitmore's Cap-
tivity,” Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., vol. vi.
Whitmoyer, John. Shared the experiences of his brother George,
as above.
Whitmoyer, Mary. Sister of George, John and Peter Whitmoyer;
taken with them and carried to Niagara by the Senecas; no data
as to duration of her captivity.
Whitmoyer, Peter. Brother of Mary, and taken with her to Niag-
ara a prisoner of the Senecas.
Whittaker, (Mrs.) Jane. She was taken prisoner, with many rela-
tives and neighbors, in May, 1778, at Wysox, Bedford Co., Pa.,
where her father, Sebastian Strope, had settled in 1773. At
Tioga Point Mrs. Whittaker and others were turned over to a
British officer. While there she saw John Butler and his British
and Indian forces embark for Wyoming. In July ('78) she was
taken to Owego, Bainbridge and Unadika (? Unadilla), staying
there several weeks, then returning in canoes to Tioga Point.
She remained there “until a short time after the appearance of
Col. Hartley and Maj. Zebulon Butler, in the fall, at the head of a
respectable force which had been placed there to prevent a second
attack upon Wyoming, and to protect the frontier.” Then the
Indians sent all their captives, including Mrs. Whittaker and the
Strope family, to Fort Niagara. They were restored to their
friends in the fall of 1780. Mrs. Whittaker died in 1852 at the
home of her son in Toulon, 111.
Mrs. Whittaker kept a journal of her captivity; it is cited in a
letter written by Th. Maxwell (Elmira, Oct. 18, 1853) to Henry
R. Schoolcraft, and printed in the appendix to vol. v, School-
craft's “History of the Indian Tribes,” etc. Mrs. Whittaker
gives interesting data regarding Catharine Monteur and “Queen
Esther”; the latter had paid friendly visits to her father's family
at Wysox before the capture, and at Tioga Point proved friendly
and helpful to the prisoners. At Fort Niagara Mrs. Whittaker
often saw Joseph Brant, and her journal contains a graphic de-
scription of him.
Wierbach, ---------. A daughter of John Wierbach, taken captive
in Buffalo Valley, Pa., 1781, probably by the same war party that
captured the Emericks. The Emerick women were brought to
Fort Niagara, and apparently Miss Wierbach was with them.306
THE TALE OF CAPTIVES
She married an Indian; and although after the war her father
came in search of her and found her, he could not persuade her
to return to Pennsylvania with him, she preferring her life among
the Indians.
Linn, “Annals of Buffalo Valley.”
Williams, Elizabeth. According to Major Robert Stobo, she was
with “Lowrey’s traders” when they were taken prisoners by an
Indian named English John, at Gist’s place near Fort Necessity
(battle of Great Meadows) July 4, 1754. The Indians took her to
Fort Du Quesne, whence she was sent with others to Fort Niag-
ara and thence to Canada.
Stobo’s “Memoirs.”
Wilson, James. Aged 44. Captured somewhere in Pennsylvania,
1782; sent to Montreal from Fort Niagara, August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Wilson, John. Aged 14, probably a son of James Wilson, men-
tioned above, with whom he was taken in Pennsylvania in 1782
and brought to Fort Niagara. Shipped to Montreal, August, 1783.
Haldimand MSS.
Wood, John. Fellow captive of Rudolf Keller, q. v. Wood was
taken by Maj. Ross’s party at Stone Ridge on the Mohawk,
Ocf. 24, 1782.
Wood (Capt.)---------. Said to have been taken by Joseph Brant at
the Minisink massacre; Brant claimed that he saved Wood’s life.
Wood was taken to Fort Niagara, where he remained until peace.
Turner’s “Holland Purchase,” p. 262.
York, -------. Taken along with John Jenkins, Jr., and Elemuel
Fitch, near Standingstone, on the Susquehanna, November, 1778;
carried to Fort Niagara, and sent down to Montreal for exchange.
Name also written “Yorke.”
Young, Mary. A young woman, daughter of Matthew Young, who
lived on Spruce Run, near Lewisburg, Pa. She was taken by
Indians, who had already in their hands Capt. James Thompson,
in March, 1781. Thompson ultimately escaped, and it was from
his narrative that the adventures of Mary Young are learned.
She was carried over the White Deer mountains, north of Buffalo
valley—the Buffalo is a large tributary, from the west, of the
West Branch of the Susquehanna—to Towanda. “Her hard-
ships,” says Thompson, “were fearful. Often her clothes were
frozen solid after wading the creeks.” She was carried to one
of the Indian towns, location not stated, but presumably on the
Genesee, the Tonawanda or Buffalo Creek. “They set her to
hoeing corn. An old negro, who was also a prisoner, told her to
dig up the beans planted with the corn, and they would sell her
to the English. She did as she was advised, and they thought
her too stupid to learn to work, and sold her.” From Fort
Niagara she was sent to Montreal, and sold again. “Her pur-
chaser’s name was Young, and on tracing the relationship, they. AT FORT NIAGARA.
307
found they were cousins. She remained there until after the war,
and then returned to her friends in Buffalo valley.” Her health
was undermined, and though living in 1787, is said to have died
soon after.
Linn, “Annals of Buffalo Valley, Pa.”
Zielie, (Capt.) —------. A militia officer, captured by Ross and his
large party near Johnson Hall on the Mohawk, Oct. 25, 1781. So
far as known he shared the experiences of his fellow captive,
Rudolf Keller, q. v.
Zimmer, Peter. Of Schoharie, taken captive July 26, 1782, but
evidently detained but a short time in Canada, for he reached
home from Boston in December, 1782, with William Bouck, who
had been carried off to Niagara the year before. He was taken
to Fort Niagara in the same party as John Snyder and George
Warner, Jr., q. v. Zimmer’s experiences are related with those
of Warner. At Fort Niagara Zimmer saw his brother’s scalp,
and others that he recognized, stretched upon hoops to dry, “with
bushels of similar British merchandize, made up of the crown
scalps of both sexes and all ages.” (Simms.) There were about
200 prisoners confined at Niagara at this time, several of whom
died for want of food and proper treatment. Among the prisoners
were nearly a hundred Virginia riflemen. See Price, Christian.