SRAc Journal - Winter 2013

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email [email protected]

Page 1 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 9, Issue 1

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Faces from Our Past 1

Loyalist Plantations on the Susquehan- 1

SRAC to hold Fundraising Auction 7

Waverly 4th Grade Field Trip to SRAC 13

Waterman Baldwin 14

Drumbeats 2012 a HUGE Success 15

New Birch Bark Canoe Display 15

Coming Events 16

Museum of the Earth Maize Exhibit 19

NYS Museum and SRAC Team Up 19

L O Y A L I S T P L A N TA T I O N S O N T H E S U S Q U E H A N N A B Y J . K E L S E Y J O N E S , S C H U Y L E R

C O U N T Y H I S T O R I A N

Volume 9 , Issue 1 February 2013

T HE REGION’S ARCHAEOLOGICAL , CULTURAL , AND H ISTORICAL RESOURCE

TTTT H EH EH EH E S R A C JS R A C JS R A C JS R A C J O U R N A LO U R N A LO U R N A LO U R N A L

The struggle for independence in the thirteen colonies from Great Britain during the period of the American Revolution were difficult times. The outcome was a war that often not only involved neighbor against neighbor, but drew into conflict the Native Americans, and dis-placed thousands of people from their homeland and ultimately created two nations. The inhabitants of the thirteen colonies who did not oppose Great Britain were known as Loyal-ists. Over 19,000 Loyalists, mostly men, served Great Britain in a military capacity accom-panied by several thousand Indians.

This article will endeavor to give some insight into the Loyalist families who resided on the Susquehanna during the American Revolution. Settlement had begun on the upper Sus-quehanna River in Pennsylvania prior to the American Revolution. The histories relate that two families of Germans, also known as Palatines, from the Schoharie Valley in New York, were settlers in May 1770, leaving their homes in New York and removing down the Sus-quehanna River into Pennsylvania. Rudolph Fox and his wife Catharine Elisabetha Miller settled at Towanda and the Shoefelt family further south on the river, the latter family re-moving to the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Several more German families from the Mohawk, Schoharie, and other German settlements in New York soon followed. Though this was considered the interior of civilization, German settlers had removed from Schohar-ie Creek, crossed the mountains and traveled down the Susquehanna for Tulpehocken

(Continued on page 8)

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Background - The people who ruled the re-gion on and around the Susquehanna River by fending off the powerful Iroquois Nation during most of the 16th and 17th centuries were named "Susquehannocks" by English-man Captain John Smith in 1608. The Sus-quehannocks were said to have had at least five tribal nations located along the Susque-hanna River system with several villages per nation. Because these people were at their height of power before the European contact and written records, and the last Susquehan-nock tribe was annihilated in the late 18th

century, much of the prehistoric information about these people is a mystery to us today.

Questions surrounding what the originating cultures were that formed the Susquehannocks have long been under debate. Questions like: Was it a clan broken off from one of the Iro-quoian nations? Were they somehow Iroquois and Algonquin united together to form a new culture? Did they evolve from prior cultures in our region? Or were they a separate culture from another region that moved here? These questions continue to make this cul-




F A C E S F R O M O U R P A S T C O N T .

ture very interesting to re-search.

Deemed by professionals as Proto-Susquehannock, archaeologically speaking, there is no other site that is a better candidate to be called the starting point for understanding the origin of the Susquehannock people than the Murray Garden, in Athens, PA.

In 1882, Louise and Millard Murray’s home was located on Main Street in Athens, PA and they decided to have a drainage ditch run from their house, through their garden and then directly to the river. This seemingly mundane home improvement actually turned out to be a turning point for Louise; one that would change her life forev-er. It began while workmen were digging the trench through the Murray’s garden and uncovered a very strange ancient burial ground. The Pa Bulletin would later report, “The dis-covery of an Indian burial ground in the garden of their new home in 1882 at once interested both her and her husband, and they determined literally to leave no stone unturned until they learned the origin of those aboriginal remains . . .”

Archaeology as a science did not exist yet in 1882. Anti-quarianism was underway, but was more of a weekend pot-hunting effort than any real scientific study. As a result, Mil-lard Murray and other antiquarians of the region read the latest books and theories of the time (many times based on mythology and legends) to try to understand many of the local artifacts they picked up. Sadly, in those days, antiquar-ianism was the most scholarly approach to understanding the artifacts of past cultures. Louise would later remark that there were two notable types of antiquarians that existed in her opinion: those that looked for artifacts as “evidence” to

preserve the past and those that looked for artifacts “for their own personal gain.” While most would continue to be categorized as the latter by many professionals, Louise Welles Murray was one of the few to make the transition from antiquarian to scientist.

When the Indian burial ground was uncovered while digging the trench in 1882 the Murray’s response was to take the artifacts to the nearest museum, which was the Wyoming Valley Historical Society in Wilkes Barre, PA. As a result, the Society’s Harrison Wright and S. F. Wadhams

came in April, 1883, measured off a plot in twelve-foot inter-vals from the original grave, and began excavations.

The Excavation - Defined Plot: About 80 feet long and about 20 – 30 feet wide. In the corner, twenty feet from the north line was found, underground, a pillar of eight large drift stones, and with them a flat stone on which is roughly cut the exact proportion of the plot.

In the first grave was a skeleton above the average height, buried in a sitting posture, with turtle-shell rattles in good condition and four small pebbles in each, close to each tem-ple. This grave yielded also a discoidal stone, a quantity of burnt ochre, a broken antler comb, part of a shell gorget, and some small shell beads that disintegrated on exposure to the

air. Wright added in his report that “these objects might well have belonged to a squaw, but no skeleton was found here except of the "medicine man," or "Turtle chief."

Grave #2 contained a bark covered grave (hemlock?), 4 ½ inch pot with fac-es, the pot contained food (?), (clay of

In Caborn-Welborn burials and in the Murray Garden burials, “whole ceramic vessels were often placed with the dead. Other types of grave goods included copper or brass beads, tubes, or

bracelets…” (Pollack: 2004)

Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Valley Historical Society

Pictures and photo of 4” pot from grave 2,

courtesy of the Wyoming Historical Society

Photo of original Murray pot courtesy of Wyoming

Historical Society




this pot was burnt black,) a lapstone, and a common “chert” arrow point.

Grave #3 contained a skeleton that was noted to be of aver-age height and with no grave goods, and grave #4 con-tained a double grave with 1 pot un-

decorated, 1 large pot between them, and 1 pot with red ochre.

Grave #5 contained a skeleton wrapped in bark with an “Andaste” high-collared pot with clay that was burnt black.

Grave #6 contained another double grave, with one buried much later on

top of the other. Grave items included one shell, and the earlier grave revealed spiral jewelry - bracelet (copper/bronze).

Grave #7 contained the only skeleton buried lying flat (full length) which had a pillow of twigs and was accompanied by 1 pot. It was noted that there was a deep cut in the cranium “evidently by a celt.”

NOTE: “The upper part of each of the graves we met with a considerable amount of charcoal. It looked as though sub-sequent to burial but before the grave was entirely filled in and slowly smothered out. Whether it was part of the cere-mony or was charcoal thrown in is not understood.” - Harri-son Wright, Wyoming Valley Historical Society

Although the 1883 report by Wright seemed quite thorough, the digging in the Murray Garden was far from over as it was quickly realized that his test pits at intervals of twelve feet left a lot overlooked.

In fact, in what was to be understood later as the center of the burial site, was what was described later as a “chief” in a stone tomb that was actually unearthed as part of the Tioga Point Museum opening ceremonies in 1895. Louise Welles

Murray reported, “The graves were grouped somewhat reg-ularly around the one in the center which was marked with such care that it was believed to be that of a chief surround-ed by members of his clan. This burial site accidentally dis-covered was on a previously unoccupied village lot. The workmen unearthed three skeletons buried so close togeth-er as to indicate one grave.“

Warren K. Moorehead, in his 1916 Susquehanna River Ex-pedition, describes the unearthing of what he deemed a Susquehannock chief as follows: "The owner like his fore-bears, long refused to examine the grave at the center of the plot but at last had consented to celebrate the formal opening of the Historical Museum, and June 27th, 1895, the work was begun. The circle of stones proved to be over a sepulchre about 3 to 5 feet, with an upright stone at each corner, apparently as a marker, for, of course this would have been well above the surface originally...

The writer, hoping to save the pottery, assisted Messrs. Murray and Ercanbrack in the excavation. Finally, two large flat stones, full of devonian fossils, proved to be the cover-ing to a skeleton of six feet or more in height. While laying on back with head to the southeast, with hands crossed on breast, the crushed front of the skull and the unusual posi-tion of legs, right foot under thigh, left leg fallen across right, seemed to indicate that he might have been buried in a sit-ting posture, and overturned by settling of stones of the sep-ulchre, which had evidently crushed the large pot, fully eighteen inches in diameter, at the left side of the head."

The sepulcher described above was a very strange find for the crew in 1895, and still is today, because these stone box styled graves are not commonly found in our region, and as we are about to see, this is just one of the things that makes the Murray Garden site an important archaeological site today. In the end, for over a decade, the garden continued to reveal more and more unique artifacts that to date are still without comparison anywhere else in our region.

Louise Welles Murray explained, “It yielded skeletal remains of twenty-five males, one child, and three females, each of the latter buried shoulder to shoulder with a male. Several skeletons examined by students indicated a height of above six and a half feet…After Mr. Wright's investigations, test holes having been made all over the one hundred foot lot at said stated intervals, it was soon discovered that there were many more graves and much more pottery.

For long years this had been an apple orchard and under several of the old stumps, supposed to be from trees of Indi-an planting, were Indian graves …Around each of two such stumps were seven graves in a circle, and directly under one stump in the center of a circle of graves, about three feet underground on a layer of clay, were eight pots careful-ly embedded in sand. Everyone had been perforated by thread-like apple roots, and all were broken by a careless workman who was removing the stump just after a day's

(Continued from page 2)


Pictures and photo of high collared pot from grave 5, courtesy of the Wyoming Valley

Historical Society




futile excavation by a second party from Wilkes-Barre. Throughout this plot with one exception the skeletons were flexed but buried in a sitting posture, often with the right hand upraised and bearing a pot containing food, arrow points, or seeds, the latter leading to the conjecture that the old apple trees may have grown from these very seeds…But it was the pottery that attracted most attention; and in all the museums we have visited we have yet to find faces more artistically executed than those on one of the five pots, all of which were broken in removal.”

About the Pottery - The pottery in fact was the most im-pressive of all the artifacts from the site, even today there are no other pottery specimens ever found to have the hu-man faces that were found there. “The faces shown in dif-ferent views in this plate are the very finest examples of Indi-

an modeling of the human face, made by eastern Indians, which the writer has seen. They are in high relief and bring out the forehead, eyebrows, the eyelids, the high cheek bones, the aquiline nose, the mouth, and the chin in a quite realistic manner.” – Christopher Wren, North Appalachian Indian Pottery 1914

Even Pennsylvania’s leading archaeologist, Dr. Barry Kent in his “Susquehanna’s Indians” (1984) wrote, "Many facets of developing Susquehannock culture history in the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River valley still need to be worked out. The need for more archeology here may be tainting our understanding of settlement patterns, trade good associations, and the evolution of Shultz Incised from Proto Susquehannock. Even more mundane questions, such as the relationships of the strange vessels with faces and rim and body decorations from the Athens area of Bradford County (see Witthoft 1959; 48; and illustrations in Wren 1914; Plate 6, figures 1-8; Plate 8, Figures 1-4) can perhaps be answered through more intensive archeology." (Kent: 1984)

Throwing a Wider Net - The opportunity to share research and learn from others more freely is available now more than any time in history thanks to the internet. In my research of the Murray site and its archaeology, I have been able to email with specialists from all over the country, and look up hard to get publications either through amazon.com or sometimes finding the full articles available online. The fol-lowing are some new insights to the Murray site that I have been able to uncover with this help.

First, sculpted and highly defined human faces on early pot-tery while not a common practice in Iroquoian terms, was a common practice for other cultures. One category of these cultures that was of particular interest to me in the beginning of this research was the Mississippians.

The Mississippians were the most recent of the mound build-ing cultures, who are known for their huge chiefdom struc-tured mound complexes surrounded by extensive plazas (Cahokia being the largest populated by 10,000 people or more.) The leaders of these complexes were usually consid-ered god-like to their people, and lived atop the highest mound looking over his subjects, overseeing all of the com-merce, religious practices, and diplomacy and/or conflicts with other chiefdoms and outsiders in the region. More im-portantly, these cultures were advanced in the arts and their archaeology seems to illustrate the peak of the ancient pot-tery making. In fact, defined human effigy faces on the pot-tery from this culture are not only common, but expected. By around 1400BC, because of many internal and external fac-tors many of these chiefdoms began to collapse, and the people began to disperse from the huge complexes. One of the great questions today is where did the people from these huge complexes go?

One well researched example of a collapse and aftermath of a known Mississippian mound society is that of the Angel




Mound complex in Indiana which was located along the con-fluence of the Ohio and Wabash rivers. We know that the Angel Mound complex collapsed around 1400AD and sever-al resulting villages appeared across the region due to the displacement of that population (thought to be around 1,000

people.) These resulting sites and their inhabitants are re-ferred to as the “Caborn-Welborn culture.” This culture devel-oped at the demise of the Angel Mound society in1400 AD and disappears from the archaeological record by 1700AD and it remains unclear if any historic era cultures were their descendants.

The earliest of the Caborn-Welborn sites, dated approxi-mately at the very time of the Angel Mound collapse at 1400AD, is called the Bone Bank site, situated along the Wa-bash River east of the Angel Mound complex area. It was named the Bone Bank because of a large wash out of hu-

man remains in that location in the 19th century. This site shows evidence of the Angel Phase ceramics which literally may have been taken directly from the Angel Mound com-plex as well as distinct post-Angel phase ceramics and even begins to show the intermixing with Late Woodland motifs. In

fact, the incised line filled triangles and descending chevrons commonly found on Caborn-Welborn pot-tery (Pollack: 2004) may someday be found to have a direct correlation with the same incised designs on pots found in the Murray Garden.

Sadly, most of the site has been washed away by the changing direction and constant erosion of the river, and most of what we had until recently from this spe-cific site was either not thoroughly studied by profes-sionals or was lost during antiquarian/pot-hunter times. But in 1990, Indiana University’s Cheryl Mun-son began a new phase of excavations with the hope to salvage what was left from being erased by ero-sion. Sadly, Munson reported later that the “Mississippian cemeteries and the residential area on the highest ground had been destroyed long ago.”

It was only by delving deeper into the information available on the Bone Bank’s earliest excavation by

naturalist, Charles Alexandre Lesueur; that I found that he recorded in very detailed sketches the archaeology that he saw during his work at the Bone Bank site in 1873. Using these sketches allows us to see through this man’s eyes into what the site looked like; and more importantly, what the ar-chaeological evidence looked like.

Face to Face with the Past - One of the most intriguing im-ages of artifacts drawn by Lesueur from the Bone Bank site is a human effigy face that probably was once on the rim of a pot and has been considered a great example of common decoration for Late Mississippian pottery (shown here on the

left). It in itself is a great piece and if I had not been researching the pottery at the Murray Gar-den, I would have considered it in the same way, but the expression of this face automatically drew me right back to another ceramic face that I know quite well. On one of the pots in the Murray gar-den there is also an effigy face (shown here on the right) that was on a pot rim, and this one automati-cally seemed to possibly match the one found at the Bone Bank site.

If you look at these faces again - you will see some identical features. 1.) The nose has a bar or a "plug" shoved upwards causing the nose and face to look skewed. 2.) The right eye is "winking" showing discomfort and wrinkle lines. 3.) The mouth is shoved to one side in effect accentuating the look of discomfort. Now these are my terms, but I feel sure that you can see each of these are-as on the one face that matches with the other. What doesn't match is the type of pottery or the cultural affiliation between the two. It also seems




that this specific “wrenched” face is not a common motif in our region. As I spent a day going through the NYS Muse-um collections in Albany, there are no matches to be found. I also sent the images to and spoke with people from the Rochester Museum who also state that this is not found in their collections either. In addition, I sent the images to the Rochester museum’s Martha Sempowski, PhD and she has never seen a face effigy with the same expression ei-ther.

Another important point to make is that the Mississippian face from the Bone Bank on the right is a “human face” with very human features, and created exactly the way Mis-sissippian pottery effigies resemble human features. How-ever the one from the Murray Garden is integrated into an Iroquoian pot rim design and might very well be described as a “mask” with slits for eyes to look through. In fact, Christopher Wren in 1914 in his “Study of North Appalachi-an Pottery” believed that the Murray Garden face repre-sented a “man-being,” a character from a well-known Iro-quois legend.

Students of the Iroquois cultures & belief system may im-mediately realize that Wren was relating the legend of the “False Face” masks, which has many variations of the ex-act text. Generally speaking, the legend relates the story of a human being that believes he is a god and that he cre-ated the mountains and the earth. He is met by a benevo-lent spirit which is described with many names, and for the purposes of this paper I will refer to as the “Spirit Medicine Being“ who teaches the human that he is not “god like” by asking him to move the mountain that he claims to have commanded before them; and when he cannot, the “Spirit Medicine Being“ does move the mountain so fast that it strikes the human in the face, breaking his nose and leav-ing him disfigured forever. The story continues that the human becomes a very famous healer knows as "Old Bro-ken Nose." Iroquoian False Face healing ceremonies are said to honor Old Broken Nose and the Iroquois False Face masks are created to be very deformed faces to rep-resent his smashed face.

More importantly, the story of “Old Broken Nose” and the false face masks is “one of the oldest and may be as old as the creation story,” (per personal conversation with a Sene-ca historian.) Additionally, false face mask ceremonies in-clude the use of a turtle rattle to drive away sickness, dis-ease, and evil spirits. This again has an interesting relation-ship to the Murray Garden site as we have already dis-cussed one burial found there was later deemed by the excavators to be the burial of a ”turtle chief” complete with turtle adornments and rattle.

Whether the False Face legend and ceremony still held today actually is a remnant story passed down through the generations, originating from the collapse of a chiefdom where man-made mountains (mounds) were overseen by leaders who were held in the same regard as the Great

Spirits is an interesting theory to consider. Add the fact that this False Face legend is used as a healing story where turtle rattles are used to heal those who are sick or facing a great turmoil not unlike the challenges the Caborn-Welborn culture must have faced following the collapse of their whole society makes it a great candidate for a future thesis paper.

Other clearly Mississippian artifacts found at the Murray Garden site also may be of some assistance to a research-er willing to delve deeper, to include an owl effigy pendant (which is also a common motif in the Angel Phase archaeo-logical record), a ceramic sun effigy, a dog effigy, and an-other effigy that has yet to be understood.

Is the Murray Garden Proto-Susquehannock or Late

Mississippian OR BOTH?

The Murray Garden site (1450 – 1525 AD) and the Athens area are deemed “Proto-Susquehannock” by professionals; and as such, is considered to be the melting pot where the Susquehannock culture supposedly formed.

Indiana’s Bone Bank site (1400 AD) and effigy face is rep-resentative of a Late Mississippian people whom we al-ready understand had just dispersed from a collapsed soci-ety/community and travelled away from it to begin a new way of life, which archaeologically resulted in the manifes-tation of a new and distinct culture that we now call “Caborn-Welborn.”

In order to understand the relationship of these two faces that originated so far apart from one another, I think it is




important to begin to ask the following questions:

1) Do these faces represent “Old Broken Nose?”

2) Does the Old Broken Nose/False Face legend actually originate from the collapse of Mississippian chieftains like the Angel Mound Complex, whose leaders believed themselves to be gods, and built man-made mountains (mounds)?

3) Were the people buried in the Murray Garden a former chief and his followers that had left the Angel Mound, or a similar collapsed Mississippian mound society?

4) Since the Murray Garden is already deemed Proto-Susquehannock by professionals, does the evidence found there prove there was melding of an intrusive Mississippian cul-ture with the local prehistoric people; and was the result the birth of the Susquehannock people?

I believe that this research at least shows that the possibility exists; and it is my hope that this paper has provoked thought and interest to further research dedicated to finding the answers.

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and Swartara in Pennsylvania at much earlier dates, the first in 1722, fifty or more families in 1725, and again in 1729.

Prior to, during, and after the American Revolution, the State of Connecticut claimed a large portion of Pennsylva-nia, including that portion that is now Bradford and Wyo-ming Counties through which the Susquehanna River flows. Those settlers who attempted to obtain land titles either secured title under the Susquehanna Company, which had been formed in Connecticut for the purpose of settlement in the Wyoming Valley and nearby lands or un-der Pennsylvania title. Others had leasehold interests, some of which appeared to be ten-year contracts with the landholder. Many others simply settled without title, hoping for obtainment by possession or to secure title after settle-ment. Pennsylvania had issued warrants for land interests before the settlement by the Fox and Shoefelt families, as evidenced by the warrant for Peter Hunt dated 3 April 1769 for 300 acres on the Susquehanna River adjoining Adolph Wallrad “on this side of Wialoosing” (Wyalusing).

Most of the settlers along the Susquehanna were farmers and built homes along the river where they planted crops, often in already cleared fields they found when arriving, that had been previously cultivated by the Indians. They built barns and other storage facilities, erected fences, and began the task of clearing more land. The farms or planta-tions as they were known were productive on the fertile soils of the Susquehanna River Valley.

Research into these families who were settling on the Sus-quehanna reveals they were of various ethnic groups and from various locations within the colonies. Several families were Germans from the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys in New York, a few were of French Huguenot extraction from the Hudson Valley region, others were of Dutch extraction from New York, others were New Englanders from Con-necticut, a few were from Sussex County, New Jersey and others were Germans from settlements in southern Penn-sylvania.

As the days of the American Revolution drew closer, the reasons for becoming Loyalists were varied and many. The native German, for instance, had deference for authority and loyalty to Great Britain for giving them passage to the colonies. This allegiance also held true for the majority of the German families along the Susquehanna. Scattered

along the Susquehanna, both Loyalists and Patriots dif-fered in their perceptions of the country and its future. The line between Patriot and Loyalist was not always sharply drawn and often circumstances dictated ones choice. As circumstances developed it would appear several families from the Wilkes Barre area of the Wyoming Valley removed further up the Susquehanna River prior to the Revolution into present Bradford and Wyoming Counties perhaps to be further from their neighbors who were beginning to pledge allegiance to the struggle against Great Britain.

At an adjourned town meeting of the inhabitants of West-moreland held at Wilkes Barre January 6, 1776, among the several resolutions adopted was the following relating to the families settled some thirty or forty miles above Wilkes Barre: “Voted that Solomon Strong and Robert Carr and Nathan Kingsley be a committee to proceed up the river and let the people known that the inhabitants of West-moreland are not about to kill and destroy them and take any of their effects as reported, but they may keep their effects and continue in peace on reasonable terms provid-ed they conform to the laws of the Colony of Connecticut and the Resolves of the Continental Congress, and confirm their intentions by signing the subscription paper for that purpose that said committee will produce.”

In 1776 there was an assessment list compiled of the set-tlers in the Upper River District, County of Westmoreland, State of Connecticut. The Upper River District was com-prised mostly of settlers in present Bradford and Wyoming Counties who were settled along the Susquehanna River. The list contains the names of 60 males. The names of An-ger, Bender, Bowman, Brunner, Buck, Depue, DeWitt, Fox, Frank, Hickman, Hopper (Hover), Kentner, Pauling, Pensler (Pencel), Phillips, Shout (Short), Showers, Searls (Sills), Simmons, Smith (originally Schmidt), Stephens, Strope, VanAlstine, Vanderbarrack (Vanderburgh), Vanderlip, Van-Valkenburg, Windecker, Winter, and Wartman indicate sev-eral families of German and Dutch nativity were settled on the Susquehanna. Of those 60 names, it has been deter-mined that 37 were Loyalists, 16 were non-Loyalists, and 7 are presently unknown. Pennsylvania also soon levied tax-es, not recognizing Connecticut titles and landholders, sev-eral Pennsylvania titleholders probably living along side many of the settlers on the Upper River District assessment list who do not appear on that list. The first tax lists for the same jurisdiction under Pennsylvania and known as Wyo-ming Township, Northumberland County exists for 1778



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and 1779 though at that date the majority of Loyalist fami-lies had left the Susquehanna.

The original Up the River District, County of Westmoreland, State of Connecticut, August 1776 assessment list is here given: At the October 1776 session of the General Assem-bly of Connecticut a certificate was received from the Lis-ters of Westmoreland setting forth that “the Grand List for the town of Westmoreland, made on the August lists for the year 1776 is £6996, 13 shillings.

As the days darkened, those who felt loyalty to the crown made various preparations, many of the men joining the ranks of Butler’s Rangers and departing for New York and Canada, often leaving women and children behind to care for the plantations. Those who remained were branded as traitors and often threatened. Nearly every man on the Sus-quehanna who joined Butler’s Rangers to fight against the American Colonies were in Walter Butler’s Company or Wil-liam Caldwell’s Company. At least twelve of the names found on the 1776 assessment list of the Upper River Dis-trict can be found on the list of Caldwell’s Company and at least eleven on the list of Walter Butler’s Company.

Families along the Susquehanna did not escape conflict. Threats, plunder, and death struck on both sides. Many of their families suffered great hardships, women often en-deavoring to maintain livestock and crops while their hus-bands and sons were away. In the early conflict it soon be-came apparent that the Susquehanna was under Patriot control. Often fleeing in panic and confusion, Loyalist exiles began on the Susquehanna, forced to leave behind posses-sions and often faced with an unpromising future. Families were driven from their homes to watch them burn, livestock driven off and entire household contents plundered and taken. Loyalist men who were away in Butler’s Rangers returned to vulnerable families and were often imprisoned. Some families ventured to the Mohawk Valley in New York, others to Niagara, and still others to the refugee camps of Sorel and Machiche in Lower Canada (now Quebec) where barracks were built and provisions secured. Harsh living conditions often plagued families in refugee camps.

In 1777, another assessment was taken of the same dis-trict, several of the Loyalist families not appearing, already having departed. (See page 4.)

The following petition is of interest:

“To the Honourable General Assembly of the State of Con-necticut, now sitting at Hartford, the memorial of Lemuel Fitch, Richard J. Jeralds (Fitzgerald), Amos York, Benjamin Skiff, Benjamin Eaton, Benjamin Merry, John Williamson, Frederick Vanderlip, Nathan Kingsley, Nicholas Depew, Elijah Brown, Elijah Phelps, Ichabod Phelps, Elijah Phelps, Jr., James Forsythe, Thomas Millard, Thomas Millard, Jr., and James Wells, of the County of Westmoreland, humbly showeth: That your memorialists were settlers on the Sus-

quehanna river, in the upper part of the county aforesaid, nearly adjoining the Indian settlements, and were very much exposed to being plundered, robbed, and captivated by the Indians and Tories, and were obliged to leave our possessions and move off with our families and effects to a different part of the country for safety, whereby your memo-rialists are deprived of the privilege of our settlements and improvements for the support of our families; whereupon your memorialists pray your Honours would take our case into your consideration, and grant that our several rates made on the list of August, 1777, may be abated, or in some other way may grant relief, as your memorialists in duty bound will ever pray. Signed Elijah Phelps, on behalf of himself and others. Hartford, the 27th day of May, 1778.”

The above petition is not a true statement of the facts or perhaps an awareness was unknown of the fate of some families or their allegiance. Fitch, Kingsley, and York were captives among the Indians while the Forsythe, Millard, Phelps, Vanderlip, and Williamson families were Loyalists.

Some of the Loyalists fighting on the British side who tried to return to their plantations and families were executed by those who they were serving.

Richard McGinnis, a soldier in the Rangers, wrote of Jacob Hutsinger and Peter Simmons, Rangers:

While we were at Tioga, there was two men who had wives and children there that had lived somewhere down the river, the name of the place I don't remember. Their sir names were Hotsinger and the other Simmons. These two men was good subjects and had been at the Orisque battle with Colonel But-ler and Captain Brant and behaved with honour to themselves. These men told me more than once that Colonel Butler had gave themselves leave to stay and go and gather in their har-vest for the use of their families to support them on the road to Niagara. But on the whole Captain Caldwell would not let them go at any rate. Upon this these men, to wit Hotsinger and Simmons, took leave and went off by stealth. Captain Caldwell immediately sent off Lieutenant Turney with a party to Tioga. When they came to Tioga they were informed by the people going to Niagara they had not seen them. When on the way back they met those unhappy men and Turney immediately gave orders to shoot them, which was executed accordingly. Their scalps were taken likewise and brought to Oughquaga and hung up at Captain Caldwell's tent. In my judgement this was not well done, as they might have made prisoners of

them.

A monthly return of the Rangers dated late in 1778, record-ed that they were killed at Tioga on 18 August 1778. In April 1779, Henry Simmons, Peter's father was paid £12, the balance due for his son's outstanding pay.

As the conflict progressed, armed Loyalists and Indians returned to the Susquehanna and the Patriots were in turn driven from their homes. The once developing and flourish-ing plantations on the Susquehanna were soon void of most families as the conflict and dangers of living on the frontier






intensified. Many Loyalist families had hoped to return. The terms of the capitulation worked out be-tween Colonel John Butler after the attack on Wyoming in July 1778 in the sixth article stated - “That the properties taken from the people called Tories up the River be made good and they to remain in peaceable possession of their Farms and unmolested in a free Trade throughout this state as far as lies in my power.”

It is probable that some plantations may have extended be-yond Tioga Point on both the Chemung River and Susque-hanna River in New York. Rev. David Craft stated – “It is very certain that quite a number of Loyalists had homes of more or less permanence extending from Tioga Point to Chemung. A Fitzgerald farm was mentioned by Sullivan’s soldiers as opposite Barton in present Tioga County, New York “and in ruins in 1779.” Lieutenant William McKendry with the Clinton Campaign enroute to meet General Sullivan wrote – “We are now 6 miles from Genl. Sullivans camp – one Fitch Jerritt had lived at this place and is now with Genl. Sullivan as a Pilate.” Lieut. John Jenkins with the Sullivan campaign on their return trip wrote on September 29, 1779 – “The army left Fort Reed (located at present Elmira) and marched 10 miles toward Fort Sullivan passing Butler's breastworks. We encamped at night on a flat 2 miles below Chemung. This evening Capt. Spalding returned from a com-mand up the Tioga branch where he destroyed a small town and about 10 acres of corn, the fences, &c. This town ap-peared to have been built by white people.”

Many journals of officers and enlisted men of the Sullivan campaign recorded the plantations they encountered along the Susquehanna River on their expedition in 1779 to de-stroy the settlements of the Six Nations. One of the journals states – “After this we soon arrived at Standing Stone Flats, distant from Wyalusing ten miles. Here is plenty of good land, fit for meadow and for raising wheat and other grain. It was formerly settled by a few families, some of whom have since been so villainous as to join the savages.” (Journal of Rev. William Rogers, D. D., Chaplain of General Hand’s Bri-gade).

Another journal states – “Aug 4 - Marched at 6 o'clock pro-ceeded 17 miles to a dessolated farm call'd Vanderlips which is an excellent tract of land we passed several dessolated farms to day one of which was on a Streem 5 miles from where we incamp'd last night call'd Meshoping. Aug 8th - The Army march'd at 6 o'clock I had the flank Guard passed Several high mountains & several dessolate farms proceed-ed to what is call'd the Standing Stone bottom where there is a learge body of excellent land that has been Improv'd. Aug 9 - March'd at 7 o'clock proceeded 3 miles to a dessolate

farm on the mouth of a streem call'd Wesawk-ing” (Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dearborn).

Another journal relates – “Thursday 5th. - Thus we moved for sev-eral miles, then arrived in a small valley called Depue's farm; the land very good. Continued our march . . . and ar-rived in a fine and large valley, known by the name of Wy-alusing. This valley was formerly called Oldman's farm, oc-cupied by the Indians and white people; together, they had about sixty houses, a considerable Moravian meeting house, and sundry other public buildings; but since the commence-ment of the present war the whole has been consumed and laid waste, partly by the savages and partly by our own peo-ple. The land is extraordinarily calculated chiefly for mead-ows. The grass at this time is almost beyond description, high and thick, chiefly blue grass, and the soil of the land very rich. The valley contains about 1200 acres of land, bounded on one side by an almost inacessible mountain, and on the other by the river Susquehanna.” (Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Adam Hubley).

Many of the Loyalists of the Susquehanna can be found on provision lists of Machiche or at Niagara. The July/Aug 1779 provision list of Machish (Machiche) included Widow Sipes, Elizabeth Bowman, Conrad Sell (Sill), Isaac VanAlstine, Isaac Larroway, Widow Beebe, Elizabeth Phillips, Henry Winter, Lambert VanAlstine, Mrs. Franks, Stephen Farring-ton, Margaret Buck, Garret Vanderbarrack, George Kentner, Edward Stokes, and Frederick Vanderlip, all former residents on the Susquehanna. Of the 294 people on the list, only 18





were men, the remainder woman and children.

Many of the Susquehanna plantation owners removed to Niagara as the majority were part of Butler’s Rangers. In 1781, Lieutenant Colonel John Butler declared that four or five families newly settled would require for seed sixty bush-els of spring wheat and oats, twelve of buckwheat and a barrel of Indian corn. Peter and James Secord, two of the heads of families, were about to build a saw and gristmill. A census of the new settlement was taken by Col. Butler on August 25th, 1782. Besides the Secords were “George Stu-art, George Fields, John Depuis, Daniel Rowe, Elijah Phelps, Philip Bender, Samuel Lutz, Michael Showers, Har-monious House, Thomas McMicking, Adam Young, McGregor VanEvery, and Isaac Dolson. There were sixteen families consisting of eighty-three persons. Cleared land made a total of 238 acres (Haldimand papers).” Several of these families had been former residents on the Susquehan-na.

When the war drew to a close in 1783, more than 40,000 men, women, and children displaced from the colonies, set-tled in Canada. The greatest numbers removed to present day Ontario, including the majority of the Susquehanna set-tlers. Colonel John Butler, whose land and home had been in the Mohawk Valley of New York and who had led disas-trous strikes against the Patriot settlers on the Susquehan-na, including the Wyoming Battle in July 1778, led his follow-ers to the west bank of the Niagara River when the regiment disbanded in 1784. The government provided land in Cana-da for Loyalists and the petitions of many are valuable re-sources for learning of the trials and misfortunes that many of these families experienced. A few, such as Jacob Bow-man returned, but for most, their homes and plantations on the Susquehanna were lost forever.

“Since the settlers were going into the wilderness with little prospect of supporting themselves until they had cleared sufficient land, the British Government provided them with rations on a reducing scale for three years (beginning in 1784). In the first year they received full rations for each per-son over 10 years of age, two thirds in the second year, and one third in the third and final year. Small children under 10 years of age received half of the amount that adults were given. After the end of the third year the settlers were ex-pected to be able to support themselves. A typical daily ra-tion consisted of one pound of flour and one pound of beef or 12 ounces of pork, but there were considerable variation depending on availability in different localities (Crowder).”

Besides rations, Britain also compensated them for war losses. The definition for eligibility was – Loyalists were those born or living in the American colonies at the outbreak of the Revolution who rendered substantial service to the royal cause during the war, and who left the United States by the end of the war or soon after. Some left substantially later, mainly to gain land and to escape growing intolerance.

The provisioning lists and land petitions for Loyalists and children of Loyalists, offer valuable information about the Susquehanna families. Many petitions indicate extensive cleared lands, large quantities of animals, homes and build-ings along the Susquehanna River. The claim of Philip Buck stated – “He had a proprietor’s right on Susquehanna, set-tled in 1771. Paid $10, 15 acres clear, built a house, barn and barrick. Lost 2 cows, 2 young creatures, 4 sheep, 20 hogs, furniture, utensils, grain, 100 bushel. Lost grain, 20 hogs by the rebels when we went away in ’77. The Indians had his other cattle in ’78. His furniture and utensils were left behind.” Michael Showers witnessed his statement and stat-ed – “He had settled on the Susquehanna. He had 20 or 25 acres clear and very good buildings.” Neighbors often were witnesses, which further helps to establish the identities of some families who did not appear on the August 1776 and August 1777 assessment lists.

The Loyalist and non-Loyalist families from the 1776 as-sessment list are here given:

• Elisha Wilcox - Loyalist - Thorn Bottom (20 miles from Pittstown)

• Icahbod Phelps - non-Loyalist

• Ephraim Tyler - non-Loyalist • John Secord - Loyalist - opposite Tunkhannock • James Secord - Loyalist - Mehoopany • Jacob Sage (perhaps Jacob Segar or Sager) - if Segar/

Sager perhaps Loyalist • Peter Secord - Loyalist - Mehoopany • Joshua Beebe - Loyalist • Isaac Laraby (perhaps Larabee) - unknown • Frederick Vanderlip - Loyalist - Black Walnut Bottom • Abram Workman (Wartman) - Loyalist - Tunkhannock • Philip Bender - Loyalist • John Williamson - Loyalist - Black Walnut Bottom • Elijah Phelps - Loyalist - north of Mehoopany Creek on

west side of Susquehanna River • Read Melory (perhaps Mallory) - unknown • Prince Bryant - non-Loyalist • Nathan Kingsley - non-Loyalist

• Stephen Ferrington - Loyalist – “Crossed over the hills to Farringdon's, who lives at a small run's mouth 8 miles above Tunkhannock” (Jesse Lukens journal)

• Jacob Bowman - Loyalist • Nicholas Depue - non-Loyalist • Thomas Wigton - non-Loyalist

• Adam Bowman - Loyalist - Tunkhannock • Amos York - non-Loyalist • Elijah Brown - unknown • Josiah Dewey - unknown • Philip Buck - Loyalist - mouth of Tunkhannock Creek • Edward Hicks - Loyalist - Sugar Run (present Wilmot

Township, Bradford County)






• Thomas Millard - Loyalist - north of Mehoopany Creek on west side of Susquehanna River

• Thomas Millard, Jr. - Loyalist - north of Mehoopany Creek on west side of Susquehanna River

• David Bigsby (Bixby) - non-Loyalist • Gasper Hopper (Caspar Hover) - Loyalist - Terrytown on

west side of Susquehanna River • Hendrick Winter - Loyalist - Wyalusing • John Stephens - Loyalist • Frederick Smith - Loyalist • Huldrick Shout (Johan Hendrick Short) - Loyalist • Frederick Frank - Loyalist • Henry Simmons - Loyalist • Henry Windecker - Loyalist • Ben & Will Pawling - Loyalists - Wyalusing • Nicholas Phillips - Loyalist - north of Wyalusing • George Kentner - Loyalist - Sugar Run Creek • Reuben Herrington - non-Loyalist

• John Depue - Loyalist - Skinner's Eddy (though he may have removed up river to Wyalusing)

• Andrew Hickman - unknown

• John Dewit - unknown • Zebulon Marcy - non Loyalist • Frederick Anger - Loyalist - Asylum • Abel Palmer - non Loyalist • Fox (probably Rudolph) - non-Loyalist - Towanda • Isaac VanValkenburg - non-Loyalist though eldest son

and a daughter removed to Canada as Loyalists - Wysox

• Cole - non-Loyalist • Bastian Strope - non-Loyalist - Wysox • Jacob Brunner - Loyalist - Macedonia • Lemuel Fitch - non-Loyalist • Isaac VanAlstine - Loyalist - Standing Stone • Old VanAlstine (Lambert VanAlstine) - Loyalist - Stand-

ing Stone • James VanAlstine - Loyalist - Standing Stone • Coonrad Seaerls (Conrad Sills) - Loyalist - Rummerfield • Isaac Laraway - Loyalist - Wysox

60 names: 37 Loyalist, 16 non-Loyalist, 7 unknown

In addition to the above, on the 1777 assessment list the Loyalist who appeared were:

• John Pensler (Pensel) • Frederick Anker (Anger) • Michael Showers • Gart Vanderbarrack (Garrett Vanderburgh)

In addition, there were Loyalist families who did not appear on the assessment lists and they included Jacob Anguish and wife Elisabeth, Redman Berry who is related to have been a tenant of the Pawling family at Wyalusing, James

Forsyth and wife Eunice at Wyalusing, Philip Fox and Cath-erine Lamar at Terrytown, John Lord at Sheshequin, Joseph Page a tenant of the Pawling family at Wyalusing, Thomas Silk, Jacob Sipes and Annatje Schauers (Showers) at Mace-donia, George Stewart and Mary Depue, Jacob Teague and Anna Margretha Weaver on Tagues Creek near Tunkhan-nock, Parshall Terry, Jr., John Young.

For preliminary genealogies on the above Loyalist families prepared by J. Kelsey Jones, see the files at the Bradford County Historical Society.

References:

Luzerne County Historical Society - original Upper River District assessment lists,

1776 and 1777.

Butler’s Rangers, Caldwell’s Company - We the undermentioned Commissioned & non Commissioned Officers & Privates of Captain William Caldwell’s Compa-ny of Rangers do acknowledge to have received from John Butler Esqr. Major Commandant of a Corps of Rangers the full amount of our Pay from 24th De-cember 1777 to 24th October 1778 inclusive. Gives list of several men of whom at least fourteen were from the Susquehanna and appear on the 1776 assess-ment list of the Upper River District, County of Westmoreland, State of Con-

necticut.

Murray, Louise Wells. A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylva-

nia. 1908.

Craft, Rev. David. History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelph-

ia, Pennsylvania. 1878.

Bradsby, H. C. History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Biographical

Sketches. Chicago, Illinois. 1891.

Reid, William D. The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the Ameri-can Loyalists of Upper Canada. Lambertville, NJ, Genealogical Publishing Co.,

1973.

Fraser, Alexander. Second Report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of

Ontario. Toronto, Canada: L. K. Cameron, 1905.

Centennial Committee. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Toronto, Canada:

Rose Publishing Co., 1885.

Connecticut Archives, Susquehanna Settlers, No. 90.

Land under Certificates of Location, Districts of Mecklenburg and Lunenburg 1790

RG1, L4, Volume 12.

Munger, Donna Bingham. Connecticut’s Pennsylvania Colony 1754-1810 – Sus-quehanna Company Proprietors, Settlers and Claimants. Three volumes. West-

minster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2007.

The Loyalist Gazette, Volume XLIII, No. 1, Spring 2005.

Reaman, G. Elmore. The Trail of the Black Walnut. Scottdale, Pennsylvania,

Herald Press, 1957.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Loyalists of Pennsylvania. Columbus, Ohio: University at

Columbus, 1920.

Cruikshank, Lieut-Colonel E. Ten Years of the Colony of Niagara 1780-1790.

Welland, Ontario: Tribune Print. 1908.

16. Cruikshank, Brig. General E. A. Records of Niagara –A Collection of Docu-

ments Relating to the First Settlement 1778-1783.

17. Linn, John Blair. Annals of Buffalo Valley, Pennsylvania 1755-1855. Harris-

burg, Pennsylvania: Lane S. Hart Printer. 1877.

Turner, O. History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase and Morris' Reserve: embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston,






Yates, Steuben, Most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee

and Wyoming. Rochester, New York: 1851.

Crowder, Norman K. Early Ontario Settlers – A Source Book. Baltimore, Mary-

land: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1993.

Egle, William Henry. Notes and Queries – Historical and Genealogical Chiefly Relating to Interior Pennsylvania. Volume I, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical

Publishing Co. 1970.

Records of St. Mark’s and St. Andrew’s Churches, Niagara.

Booth, Charles Edwin. The Vanderlip, Van Derlip, VanderLippe Family in Ameri-

ca. New York: 1914.

Records of the Lutheran Trinity Church of Stone Arabia, Palatine, Montgomery

County, New York.

Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Stone Arabia, Palatine, Montgomery

County, New York.

Taylor, Robert J. The Susquehanna Company Papers.Vol V: 1772-74, Wilkes

Barre, PA.

Reid, William D. Death Notices of Ontario. Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon

House. 1980.

Cook, Frederick – Secretary of State. Journals of the Military Expedition of Major John Sullivan Against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779 with Records of Cen-

tennial Celebrations. Auburn, New York: Knapp, Peck & Thomson. 1887.

Harvey, Oscar Jewel. A History of Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Vol II, Wilkes Barre. 1909.

Detty, Victor Charles. History of the Presbyterian Church of Wysox, Pennsylvania

1791 - 1936. Elmira, NY: Barber & Doane, Inc. 1937.

Penrose, Maryly Barton. Baumann/Bowman Family of the Mohawk, Susquehan-

na & Niagara Rivers. Franklin Park, New Jersey: Liberty Bell Associates. 1977.

Boyd, Julian P. The Susquehanna Company Papers. Vol. IV 1770-1772: Wilkes

Barre, Pennsylvania. 1933.

McBride, Robert Collins. Biography of John Stevens Senior UE. The Loyalist

Gazette, Volume XLIII, Spring 2005 and September 2005.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Loyalists of Pennsylvania. University at Columbus, Ohio.

1920.



WAVERLY 4TH GRADE FIELD TRIP TO SRAC BY DEB TWIGG

On days like today I am reminded of my fourth grade field trip to Spanish Hill. That experience was something that I talk about every week at SRAC. But I also have asked many visitors to SRAC if they remember where they went for their fourth grade field trip -(4th grade is the curricu-lum that covers our Native American history) and there has never been a person who couldn't tell me. To me, this gives us at SRAC a huge re-sponsibility as we now provide the fourth grade field trips for more and more schools in the area. Recently we hosted Waverly School District's whole fourth grade - and it was the best one yet! A total of five classes came to SRAC either in the morning or afternoon shift, and were split up into four groups who rotated through 4 stations.

Station 1 was hosted by SRAC's Ted Keir who talked about the Ice Age and what our region was like 12 - 15,000 years ago. Station 2 was host-ed by SRAC's Dick Cowles who discussed the arrival of the white man to our region. By the way, Ted Keir and Dick Cowles are both 88 years old! Station 3 was the Museum of the Earth MAIZE: Mysteries of an Ancient Grain, hosted by SRAC's Janet Andrus. Station 4 was the ever popular SRAC gift shop where many of the kids were able to buy some-thing for as little as 25 cents and also could draw a Christmas scene to enter or Christmas drawing contest and be automatically entered into our contest where they could win great prizes!

In the meantime, back at the grade school, we had our own Jack Andrus who was fully dressed in Native American dress who visited the 3rd and 4th grade classes and shared many Native American children's stories.

Most importantly, we did ALL of this free of charge. Some people ask why we don’t charge the schools. And to that I can only ask if people realize that the whole Waverly fourth grade actually had to walk to SRAC today for their field trip for lack of funding for buses. The point is that we are a community, and we take care of one another. The teachers teach and try to give best learning experiences they can - to include a field trip to SRAC. And we at SRAC give what we can to those teachers and kids. We are all volunteers at SRAC, and we love doing our part. That's how it works. I hope that you consider what it is that you can do for your community too. Together we are all better for it.

SRAC is a 501c3, are staffed 100% by volunteers, we rely on our memberships, admission donations, sales in our gift shop and generous donations from our community to support all that we do.

I hope that you will stop in SRAC sometime soon, consider supporting us and see what a community can create.



Waterman Baldwin was the third son of Isaac Baldwin Sr. He was born in Connecticut on August 1, 1757 and migrated with his family to the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania in 1772. He began his ser-vice in the Continental army fighting for General Washington in the area of New York City and New Jersey. He later enlisted in Cap-tain Durkee’s Company on January 7, 1777, near Easton, Pennsyl-vania and saw service in New Jersey around Morristown spending the winter at Valley Forge. Being a superb horseman and an excel-lent shot with the long rifle he was in great demand by superior officers as a scout and courier. In this capacity he frequently deliv-ered the personal messages of General Washington on his famous

horse Roanoke. Being a frontier scout and carrying messages through hostile territory was dan-gerous work and Watt, as he was referred to, was captured three times by the Indians. At one time he was made to “run the gauntlet,” a life threatening event. On the last occasion of his cap-ture it was decided that he should be burned at the stake. On the way to the Indian village he spoke in joking terms with his capturers. Upon arrival at the village, he requested an audience with Cornplanter, their chief, a request the Indians thought quite unusual. As arrangements were being made for his sacrifice Watt continued to engage the Indians in conversation and his cool and intrepid manner in the face of a certain gruesome demise gained Cornplanter’s admiration and he took him by the hand and cancelled the torture. The great Indian Chief then took Watt to his village at the headwaters of the Alleghany River where he adopted him as his son. Here he learned to speak the Seneca language fluently and became very much attached to Cornplanter and the other Seneca Chiefs. Cornplanter had a daughter Falling Feather who was one of his close companions at the village. He remained there until exchanged for 2 bushels of oats and 2 bags, an expense of 30 S.

Following the Revolutionary War the officers gave Watt a silver saddle in appreciation of his ser-vice. Watt then returned to Pennsylvania, where Connecticut Yankees were not well liked due to the ongoing feud over land rights with the Pennsylvanians. A woman in the Pennsylvania group had a vicious dog that she delighted in setting after Watt. He put up with it for a while and then shot the dog. The incident was seized as an excuse for prosecuting another “Wild Yankee.” He was brought in front of a Pennamite Magistrate and fined for his act of self-defense. Later he met the Justice out in the open and gave him a whipping with the ramrod of his rifle. As soon as he could the Judge sent the Pennsylvania authorities after Watt. Baldwin easily kept ahead of his pursuers but tiring of the chase he halted and placed a pole across the road. When the authori-ties arrived he shouted from his concealment “the first man who passes that mark is a dead man.” Knowing Watt’s aim and reputation the posse wheeled around and left.

At another time, again being pursued by the Pennsylvanians, he came upon a farm family that he had helped in the past. Seeing that he was in trouble the farmer’s wife suggested that he hide in the milk house. Roanoke went in and never disturbed any of the gourds or pots lying on the stone floor and made not a sound. The woman threw the officers off the track and Watt re-sumed his Journey.

Watt was once married to an Indian maiden. Her previous lover had been an Indian Chief named Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf killed the maiden and in the ensuing struggle Waterman killed the chief and put his head on a pole at the river’s edge. Later, Celinda Burnham married Waterman in 1788, moving with him from Pittstown, Pennsylvania to Chemung in 1799. After his wife’s death legend has it that Falling Feather, Watt’s adopted sister, came to care for Watt as was the Indian tradition.

Captain Waterman Baldwin died April 21, 1810, and is buried with his father and brothers in the Knoll (Baldwin) Cemetery on the Newtown Battlefield in Lowman, NY with Falling Feather at his side.

Contact Us!Contact Us!Contact Us!Contact Us!

Our Headquarters Mail: SRAC

PO Box 12 Sayre, PA 18840

Phone:

607-727-3111

Email: [email protected]

Our Center Location:

345 Broad St. Waverly, NY

Phone:

607-565-7960

Website: SRACenter.org

Online Giftshop:

SRACenter.org/store

Online Membership: SRACenter.org/join

SRAC Blog:

SRACenter.blogspot.com

Online Donations: SRACenter.org/donations

Mobile Website:

SRACenter.org/mobile

This is the fourth in a series of articles written by local historian Dr. Earl P. Robinson, MD. He is a Revolutionary War historian, and is particularly knowledgeable about the events that occurred in our region during that pivotal point in our nations history.

W A T E R M A N B A L D W I N B Y D R . E A R L P . R O B I N S O N , M D ,

S R A C M E M B E R



DRUMBEATS 2012 A HUGE SUCCESS!

The day began with our membership luncheon. As a thank you for their support of SRAC, each member was given a dozen tickets to drop in bags to win any of the fifty door prizes…..from $50 gas cards from the Dandy Mini Mart to 2 vintage tulip chairs valued at $500. Before the doors were opened to the public, the members were given a tour of the site of the new SRAC Research Library at the Teaoga Development building.

Dr. David Oestreicher traveled from New York City to present "The Lenape: Lower New York's First Inhabitants.” Dr. Oestreicher is recognized as a leading authority on the Lenape (Delaware), our region's first inhabitants, having conducted linguistic and ethnographic research among the last trib-al traditionalists for over 30 years. David actually stayed for the whole day after his presentation, which is a testament to the event for everyone!

Dr. Martha Sempowski followed David's presentation with "Changing Styles of Smoking Pipes Used by Seneca Iroquois A.D. 1550-1800." This talk was very interesting to collectors and archeologists, as well the rest of our packed lecture hall, including grade school children who stayed the whole day! The presentation consisted of a slide-illustrated overview of smoking pipes from Seneca Iroquois village sites spanning a 250 year period from the mid-sixteenth to the late eighteenth centuries, and many could be found in the SRAC collections!

The event closed with our dear friends the Seneca Buffalo Creek Dancers, who have won national awards at Pow-Wows across the country. But more importantly, Dick and Marci and the gang are like family to us, and we all enjoy catching up each year and spending the time together. The event was a great mix of professionals, students and locals of all ages. Drumbeats is an annual event to honor our membership and inspire the community, and it is always totally free!

Thanks to all of the businesses that donated door prizes, the speakers and dancers who traveled hours to be a part of this, to our board members who make every day at SRAC an amazing experience for our visitors, the media who helped us get the word out about the event, and to everyone who attended the event and supported us throughout the year. It was a good day for everyone involved. We think it was the best Drumbeats yet.

NEW BIRCH BARK CANOE DISPLAY AT SRAC

Visitors to the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center(SRAC) in Waverly, NY now will be able to enjoy an up close view of an over 100 year old Native American birch bark canoe. Birch bark canoes were being used by the people who inhabited the Great Lakes region since around 1500AD. Just as they were made centuries ago, the canoe at SRAC was created solely with hand carved split spruce, sheets of birch bark, spruce root strapping and sealed with a mix of spruce gum and charcoal. Sur-prisingly, the canoe is over 13 feet long but only weighs only about 70lbs. This made it the perfect way for the Native Americans to travel where they had to cross from portage to portage, meaning that the canoe would be carried over land to different streams that lead to their destination. As a result, the birch bark canoe was superior to the dugout canoe and any boat that the early Europeans brought to America for travelling on our streams, rivers and lakes.

SRAC’s Deb Twigg explained, “The canoe was donated in 2008 by Waverly native Les Rolfe and until now was not able to be safely displayed. Recently, we had brought the canoe down for a local school field trip, and we decided that moving it around for special occasions was just not a good idea anymore. At that point we contracted with Barbara Koehn who is known well for her work at the Don Merrill Mu-seum, to help us figure out how to suspend the canoe safely. The result is a glimpse into our past that will stay with people long after their visit.”

SRAC is located at 345 Broad Street in Waverly, NY and is open from 1-5pm Tues-days through Fridays and Saturdays from 11am-5pm. To learn more, visit www.SRACenter.org.

Barb Koehn, and SRAC's Don Hunt & Tom Vallilee stand below the suspended

canoe

Members of the Seneca Buffalo Creek Dancers



Jewelry & Beading Class

Second Saturday of each month, 11:30am – 1:30pm

SRAC, 345 Broad Street Waverly, NY

Local artisan Ellen Sisco creates jewelry from a wide variety of materials. Having worked with stones, metals, and beads of all kinds in her jewelry for 25 years, she conducts a popular class on basic beading techniques here at SRAC . You will be provided with instruction and all the supplies you will need, including semiprecious stone beads, glass beads, metal beads, pearls and tools so that you may create your own gift, keepsake, or special piece. Beads in all colors of the rainbow are available, and she has made a special purchase of unusual and beautiful semiprecious stone beads just for our classes. Learn to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other jewelry. Just ask about any style you would like to try, and Ellen will teach you to create jewelry to match your wardrobe, and to make things for the holidays; now you can make your own jewelry for Halloween and Christmas, etc. The fee for this two hour beading class is $25.00. Reserve by calling the Center at (607)565-7960 or by emailing [email protected].

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Deb Twigg—Faces of the Past

Tuesday, March 5, 6:30pm – 7:30pm

SRAC - 345 Broad Street Waverly, NY

SRAC’s Deb Twigg is offering the public a first view of an upcoming article to be published in the national magazine, An-cient American, titled “Faces of the Past.” In this well researched presentation, the audience will be drawn back to the earliest times of Iroquois in our region. Twigg will slowly unwind yet another mystery of our region’s past that has until now been all but forgotten, with new information that has never been discovered. A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Jim Nobles—Then and Now Around Sayre—A Trip Down Memory Lane

Tuesday, April 4, 6:30pm – 7:30pm


What was in the building where Rock and Docs is? What building predated the Sayre American Legion Post No. 283 in Milltown? What is now located where the trolley barn of the Waverly, Sayre & Athens Traction company was located? Answers to these questions will be part of a presentation by Jim Nobles, a life-long resident and local historian of Sayre. Jim will be making a visual presentation of changes that have occurred over the many past decades. A general admis-sion donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Dr. William Engelbrecht—Point Mends in an Iroquois Village

Tuesday, May 7, 6:30pm – 7:30pm


Past NYSAA President and author William Engelbrecht will present “Point Mends in an Iroquois Village.” Dr. Engelbrecht has spent the last two years trying to fit Madison Point bases and tips together and then trying to figure out what the dis-tribution of mends mean. A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.


Coming Events at SRAC



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Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum Presents—Amazing Animals—Live!

Saturday, May 25, 2:00pm – 3:00pm


This program highlights an animal from each of the 5 animal groups: a mammal, a bird, a reptile, an amphibian and an arthropod. Learn about the distinctive features of each group while you get a varied look at some of Tanglewood's animal ambassadors. Bring your family to enjoy a live animal show presented by Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum. Free admission for this presentation and to the SRAC exhibit hall. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Emma Sedore—Gone, But Not Forgotten, Owego’s Ahwaga Hotel

Tuesday, June 4, 6:30pm – 7:30pm


Tioga County historian, Emma Sedore returns to SRAC to tell the history of Ahwaga Hotel. It’s the history of a grand old hotel that stood on the corner of Front and Church Streets in Owego from 1852 to 1959. Emma has authored a book by the same name that will be available at the presentation. A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Lance Heidig—Lincoln

Tuesday, July 2, 2:00pm – 3:00pm


Waverly native and Cornell Outreach and Learning Services Librarian Lance Heidig has spent the past year creating an exhibition about Abraham Lincoln for Cornell and will present his program which gives us little known information while celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (January 1863) and the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address (November 1863) A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum Presents—Hawks, Owls, & Company—Live!

Saturday, July 6, 2:00pm – 3:00pm


Check out Tanglewood’s local bird residents Sophie, the Great-horned Owl, Icarus the Broad-winged Hawk, Lucy the Barred Owl, Hank the Red-tailed Hawk or Ellie our American Kestrel. Get up close and personal with these high-flying species and learn what makes birds special in the world of animals. Bring your family to enjoy this special ive animal show presented by Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum. Free admission for this presentation and to the SRAC ex-hibit hall. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Coming Events at SRAC



COMING EVENTS AT SRAC

Charles Mitchell—Nature: From Howling Wilderness to Vacation Destination

Tuesday, September 3, 6:30pm – 7:30pm


Drawing on landscape painting, photography, traveler’s accounts, and other sources, this presentation explores the evo-lution of American attitudes towards nature. Beginning with the perceptions of the American landscape as a howling wilderness, a wasteland to be tamed and transformed, the lecture traces the social, cultural and economic forces that led to the perception of wild nature as something of value to be experienced and preserved. Key topics and figures along the way include the sublime, romanticism, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Cole, and the Hudson River School, John Muir, Ansel Adams, and the Lorax. A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum Presents—Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles, Oh My! - Live!

Saturday, September 14, 2:00pm – 3:00pm


Learn about our fascinating and fun collection of reptiles and amphibians. The delightful cast of characters may include: a salamander, toad, leopard gecko, bearded dragon, bullfrog, and/or a large variety of turtles and snake species. Who has scales, how about skin? Who lives in water? Compare and contrast these animal groups in a very educational and interesting program. Bring your family to enjoy this show presented by Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum. Free admission for this presentation and to the SRAC exhibit hall. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email [email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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9th Annual DRUMBEATS THROUGH TIME

Saturday, October 5, 11:00am – 4:00pm


Watch for further details!!!

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Ron Heines—Underwater Archaeology in the Finger Lakes

Tuesday, November 5, 6:30pm – 7:30pm


With over 50 years of experience in underwater archaeology in the Finger Lakes region, Ron Heines will take us back to a time of the great ships like the “Half Moon” of Henry Hudson to the time of the “Horse Drawn Navy” otherwise known as canal ships. Bothe historical and archaeological in nature, this presentation will show us the remains of these great ships now found covered in leopard mussels at the bottom of our great lakes. A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested. (Free admission for all students every day at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email in

[email protected], or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

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NYS MUSEUM AND SRAC TEAM UP—AGAIN! BY DEB TWIGG

The NYS Museum Research & Collections Depart-ment and SRAC have had a close relationship for several years. About five years ago Ted, Susan and I went there to view and record all of their Na-tive American artifacts from our area. They have also facilitated several presentations at SRAC over the years. Last year they allowed me to go through all of their collections in my latest research on the faces that I will be giving a presentation on this coming March 5th. We are all on a first name ba-sis and have become very good friends.

When I called Ralph Rataul a few weeks ago about a huge collection that was donated by SRAC mem-ber Ron Arnold, he was happy to come down and help us go through it and figure out a plan of how to start the cataloging process. Thanks to Ralph and Merideth Young for driving down form Albany and spending the day with us!

MUSEUM OF THE EARTH MAIZE EXHIBIT AT SRAC

Did you hear about this amazing exhibit in MAIZE (corn) which covers from the ancient uses through current technologies and research of this amazing grain that is used more than any other grain in the world? No it wasn’t on exhibit in Syracuse, Ithaca, or NYC....It was right here in the Valley- at SRAC!

Maize is the largest production crop in the world and plays a central role in all of United States agriculture and food production. Explore the science of maize, one of the most significant crops to humankind for thousands of years, and why it continues to surprise us today.

This ancient grain was among the many organisms that evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin examined. In his travels to South America, Darwin recog-nized the tremendous variation in maize and its long history of intentional breeding. In regards to domestication, Darwin stated, “Although man does not cause variability and cannot even prevent it, he can select, preserve, and accumulate the variations given to him by the hand of nature almost in any way which he chooses; and thus he can certainly produce a great re-sult” (from The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Charles Darwin, 1868).

The exhibition explores how scientists utilize the process of evolution to en-courage the selection of “functional” and useful mutations for increased dis-ease resistance, healthier and larger plants, and maintained diversity. The natural diversity within a species can provide a plant with a buffer against changes in its environment, providing the plant with the flexibility to adapt. Scientists are using conventional and molecular plant breeding to combat world health issues, such as Vitamin A Deficiency, a major health problem for millions of people in the developing world. In extreme situa-tions, for example drought or disease epidemics, diversity can be essential for the survival of the population.

Learn about fascinating advances in the science of plant genetics, the history, the process, and the controversies. Don't miss this opportunity to explore evolution in action through history and science in Maize: Mysteries of an Ancient Grain. Funding for this exhibition is from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program DBI-0820619.

This exhibition is developed and managed by the Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth locat-ed in Ithaca, New York and has traveled the country, landing in Waverly, NY only until January 26th – Although it has now traveled on to Texas A & M, while it was here, it was another reason to see for yourself why everyone continues to say - "There's Always Something Going on at SRAC!"

Ron Arnold and Ralph Rataul Merideth Young, Ralph Rataul, and

Ron Arnold


Page 20 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 9, Issue 1 The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies

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SRAc Journal - Winter 2013