The fruitful soil of America,
together with the prospects of a home and an independent living, was
peculiarly adapted to awaken noble aspirations in the breasts of those who
were interested in the welfare
of that class whose condition needed a radical enlargement. Among this
class of Nature’s noblemen there is no name deserving of more praise than
that of Lauchlan Campbell. Although his name, as well as the migration of
his infant colony, has gone out of Islay ken, where he was born, yet his
story has been fairly well preserved in the annals of the province of New
York. It was first publicly made known by William Smith, in
his "History of New York."
Lauchlan Campbell was possessed of a
high sense of honor and a good understanding; was active, loyal, of a
military disposition, and, withal, strong philanthropic inclinations. By
placing implicit confidence in
the royal governors of New York,
he fell a victim to their roguery, deception and heartlessness, which
ultimately crushed him and left him almost penniless. The story has been
set forth in the following memorial, prepared by his son:
"Memorial of Lieutenant Campbell to
the Lords of Trade. To the Right Honourable
the
Lords Commissioners of Trade, &c. Memorial of Lieut. Donald Campbell of
the Province of New York Plantation. Humbly Showeth,
That
in the year 1734 Colonel Cosby being
then Governor of the Province of New York by and with the advice and
assent of his Council published a printed Advertisement for encouraging
the Resort of Protestants from Europe to settle upon the Northern Frontier
of the said Province (in the route from Fort Edward to Crown Point)
promising to each family two hundred acres of unimproved land out of
100,000 acres purchased from the
Indians, without any fee or expenses whatsoever, except a very moderate
charge for surveying & liable only to the King’s Quit Rent of one shilling
and nine pence farthing per hundred acres, which settlement would at that
time have been of the utmost utility to the Province & these proposals
were looked upon as so advantageous, that they could not fail of having a
proper effect.
That these Proposals
in 1737,
falling into the hands of Captain Lauchlin Campbell of the island of Isla,
he the same year went over to North America, and passing through the
Province of Pennsilvania where he rejected many considerable offers that
were made him, he proceeded to New York, where, tho’ Governor Cosby was
deceased, George Clarke Esqr. then Governor, assured him no part of the
lands were as yet granted; importuned him & two or three persons that went
over with him to go up and visit the lands, which they did, and were very
kindly received and greatly caressed by the Indians. On his return to New
York he received the most solemn promises that he should have a thousand
acres for every family that he brought over, and that each fam ily should
have according to their number from five hundred to one hundred and fifty
acres, but declined making any Grant till the Families arrived, because,
according to the Constitution of that Government, the names of the
settlers were to be inserted in that Grant. Captain Campbell accordingly
returned to Isla, and brought from thence at a very large expense, his own
Family and Thirty other Families, making in all, one hundred and
fifty-three Souls. He went again to visit the lands, received all possible
respect and kindness,
from the Government, who proposed an old
Fort Anna to be repaired, to cover the new settlers from the French
Indians. At the same time, the People of New York proposed to maintain the
people already brought, till Captain Campbell could return and bring more,
alledging that it would be for the interest of the Infant Colony to settle
upon the lands in a large Body; that, covered by the Fort, and assisted by
the Indians, they might be less liable to the Incursions of Enemies.
That to keep up the spirit of the
undertaking, Governor Clarke, by a writing bearing date the 4th day of
December, 1738, declared his having promised Captain Campbell thirty
thousand acres of land at Wood Creek, free of charges, except the expense
of surveying & the King’s Quit Rent in consideration of his having already
brought over thirty families who according to their respective numbers in
each family, were to have from one hundred and fifty to five hundred
acres. Encouraged by this declaration, he departed
in the same month for Isla, and in August,
1739, brought over Forty Families more, and under the Faith of the said
promises made a third voyage, from which he returned in November, 1740,
bringing with him thirteen Families the whole making
eighty-three Families, composed of Four Hundred and Twenty Three Persons,
all sincere and loyal Protestants, and very capable of forming a
respectable Frontier for the security of the Province, But after all these
perilous and expensive voyages, and tho’ there wanted but Seventeen
Families to complete the number for which he had undertaken, he found no
longer the same countenance or protection but on the contrary it
was insinuated to him that he could have no land either for
himself or the people, but upon conditions in direct violation of the
Faith of Government. and detrimental to the
interests of those who upon his assurances had accompanied him into
America. The people also were reduced to demand separate Grants for
themselves, which upon large promises some of them did, yet more of them
never had so much as a foot of land, and many listed themselves to join
the Expedition to Cuba.
That Captain Campbell having disposed of his whole
Fortune in the Island of Isla, expended the far greatest part of it from
his confidence in these fallacious promises found himself at length
constrained to employ the little he had left in the
purchase of a small farm seventy miles north of New
York for the subsistence of himself and his Family consisting of three
sons and three daughters. He went over again into Scotland in 1745,
and having the command of a Company of the Argyleshire men,
served with Reputation under his Royal Highness the Duke, against the
Rebels. He went back to America in 1747 and not
longer after died of a broken heart, leaving behind him the six children
before mentioned of whom your Memoralist is the eldest, in very narrow and
distressed circumstances."
All these facts are briefly commemorated by Mr. Smith
in his History of the Colony of New York, page 179,
where are some severe, though just strictures on the behavior of those in
power towards him and the families he brought with him, and the loss the
Province sustained by such behavior towards them.
That at the Commencement of the present War, your
Memoralist and both his brothers following their Father’s principles in
hopes of better Fortune entered into the Army & served in the Forty
Second, Forty Eighth and Sixtieth Regiments of Foot during the whole War,
at the close of which your Memoralist and his brother George were reduced
as Lieutenants upon half pay, and their youngest Brother still
continues in the service ; the small Farm purchased by
their father being the sole support of themselves and three sisters till
they were able to provide for themselves in the manner before mentioned,
and their sisters are now married & settled
in the Province of New York.
That after the conclusion of the Peace, your Memoralist
considering the number of Families dispersed through the Province which
came over with his Father, and finding in them a general disposition to
settle with him on the lands originally promised them, if they could be
obtained, in the month of February, 1763, petitioned
Governor Monckton for the said lands but was able only to procure a Grant
of ten thousand acres, (for obtaining which, he disbursed in
Patent and other fees, the sum of two hundred Guineas), the
people in Power alledging that land was now at a far greater value
than at the time of your Memoralist’s Father’s coming into
the Province, and even this upon the common condition of settling ten
Families upon the said lands and paying a Quit Rent to the Crown.
Part however of the People who had promised to settle with
your Memoralist in case he had prevailed, were drawn to petition for lands
to themselves, which they obtained, tho’ they never
could get one foot of land before, which provision
of lands as your Memoralist apprehends, ought in
Equity to be considered as an obligation on the Province to perform, so
far as the number of those Families goes, the Conditions stipulated with
his Father, as those Families never had come into & consequently could not
now be remaining in the Province, if he had not persuaded them to
accompany him, & been at a very large expence in transporting them
thither.
That there are still very many of these Families who
have no land and would willingly settle with your Memoralist. That there
are numbers of non commissioned Officers and Soldiers of the Regiments
disbanded in North America who notwithstanding His Majesty’s gracious
Intentions are from many causes too long to trouble your Lordship with at
present without any settlement provided for them, and that there are also
many Families of loyal Protestants in the Islands and other parts of North
Britain which might be induced by reasonable proposals and a certainty of
their being fulfilled, to remove into the said
Province, which would add greatly to the strength, security and opulence
thereof, and be in all respects faithful and
serviceable subjects to His Majesty.
That the premisses considered,
particularly the long scene of hardships to which your Memoralist’s Family
has been exposed, for Twenty Six years, in
consideration of his own and his Brothers’ services, & the perils to which
they have been exposed during the long and fatiguing War, and the Prospect
he still has of contributing to the settlement of His Majesty’s unimproved
Country, your Memoralist humbly prays that Your Lordships would direct the
Government of New York to grant to him the said One
Hundred thousand Acres, upon his undertaking to settle One Hundred or One
Hundred and Fifty Families upon the same within the space of Three years
or such other Recompence or Relief as upon mature Deliberation on the
Hardships and Sufferings which his Father and his Family have for so many
years endured, & their merits, in respect to the Province of New York
which might be incontestably proved, if it was not universally
acknowledged, may in your great Wisdom be thought to deserve.
And your Memoralist; &c., &c., &c.* ["
Documentary and Colonial History of New York," Vol. VII, p. 630.
Should 1763 be read for 1764?]
May, 1764."
It was the policy of the home government to settle as
rapidly as possible the wild lands; not so much for the purpose of
benefiting the emigrant as it was to enhance the king’s exchequer. The
royal governors apparently held out great inducements to the settlers, but
the sequel always showed that a species of blackmail or tribute must be
paid by the purchasers before the lands were granted. The governor was one
thing to the higher authorities, but far different to those from whom he
could reap advantage. The seeming disinterested motives may be thus
illustrated:
Under date of New York, July
26, 1736, George Clarke,
lieutenant governor of New York, writes to the duke of Newcastle, in which
he says, it was principally "To augment his Majesty’s Quit rents that I
projected a Scheme to settle the Mohacks Country in this Province, which I
have the pleasure to hear from Ireland and Holland is like to succeed. The
scheme is to give grants gratis of an hundred thousand acres of land to
the first five hundred protestant familys that come from Europe in two
hundred acres to a family, these being settled will draw thousands after
them, for both the situation and quantity of the Land are much preferable
to any in Pensilvania, the only Northern Colony to which the Europeans
resort, and the Quit rents less. Governor Cosby sent home the proposals
last Summer under the Seal of the Province, and under his and the
Council’s hands, but it did not reach Dublin till the last day of March;
had it come there two months sooner I am assured by a letter which I
lately received, directed to Governor Cosby, that we should have had two
ships belonging to this place (then lying there) loaded with people but
next year we hope to have many both from thence and Germany. When the
Mohocks Country is settled we shall have nothing to fear from Canada."
The same, writing to the Lords of Trade, under date of
New York, June 15; 1739, says:
"The lands whereon the French propose to settle were
purchased from Indian proprietors (who have all along been subject to and
under the protection of the Crown of England) by one Godfrey Dellius and
granted to him by patent under the seal of this province in the year 1696,
which grant was afterwards resumed by act of Assembly whereby they became
vested in the Crown; on part of these lands I proposed to settle some
Scotch Highland familys who came hither last year, and they would have
been now actually settled there, if the Assembly would have assisted them,
for they are poor and want help; however as I have promised them lands
gratis, some of them about three weeks ago went to view that part of the
Country, and if they like the lands I hope they will accept my offer (if
the report of the French designs do not discourage them:) depending upon
the voluntary assistance of the people of Albany whose more immediate
interest it is to encourage their settlement in that part of the country."
That Captain Campbell would have secured the lands
there can be no question had he complied, with Governor Clarke’s demands,
although said demands were contrary to the agreement. Private faith and
public honor demanded the fair execution of the project, which had been so
expensive to the undertaker, and would have added greatly to the benefit
of the colony. The governor would not make the grant unless he should have
his fees and a share of the land.
The quit rent in the province of New York was fixed at
two shillings six pence for every one hundred acres. The fees for a grant
of a thousand acres were as follows: To the governor, $31.25; secretary of
state, $10; clerk of the council, $10 to $15;
receiver general, $14.37; attorney general, $7.50; making a
total of about $75, besides the cost of survey. This amount does not
appear to be large for the number of acres, yet it must be considered that
land was plenty, but money very scarce. There were thousands of
substantial men who would have found it exceedingly difficult to raise the
amount in question.
It is possible that Captain Campbell could not have
paid this extortion even if he had been so disposed; but being
high-spirited, he resolutely refused his consent. The governor, still
pretending to be very anxious to aid the emigrants, recommended the
legislature of the province to grant them assistance; but, as usual, the
latter was at war with the governor, and refused to vote money to the
Highlanders, which they suspected, with good reason, the latter would be
required to pay to the colonial officers for fees.
Not yet discouraged, Captain Campbell determined to
exhaust every resource that justice might be done to him. His next step
was to appeal to the legislature for redress, but it was in vain; then he
made an application to the Board of Trade, in England, which had the power
to rectify the wrong. Here he had so many difficulties to contend with
that he was forced to leave the colonists to themselves, who soon after
separated. But all his efforts proved abortive.
The petition of Lieutenant Donald Campbell, though
courteously expressed, and eminently just, was rejected. It was claimed
that the orders of the English government positively forbade the granting
of over a thousand acres to any one person; yet that thousand acres was
denied him.
The injustice accorded to Captain Campbell was more or
less notorious throughout the province. It was generally felt there had
been bad treatment, and there was now a disposition on the part of the
colonial authorities to give some relief to his sons and daughters.
Accordingly, on November 11, 1763, a grant of ten thousand acres, in the
present township of Greenwich, Washington county, New York, was made to
the three brothers, Donald, George and James, their three sisters and four
other persons, three of whom were also named Campbell.
The final success of the Campbell family in obtaining
redress inspired others who had belonged to the colony to petition for a
similar recompense for their hardships and losses. They succeeded in
obtaining a grant of forty-seven thousand, four hundred and fifty acres,
located in the present township of Argyle, and a small part of Fort Edward
and Greenwich, in the same county.
On March 2, 1764, Alexander McNaughton and one
hundred and six others of the original Campbell emigrants and their
descendants, petitioned for one thousand acres to be granted to each of
them:
"To be laid out in a single tract between the head of
South bay and Kingsbury, and reaching east towards New Hampshire and
westwardly to the mountains in Warren county. The committee of the council
to whom this petition was referred reported May 21, 1764, that the tract
proposed be granted, which was adopted, the council specifying the amount
of land each individual of the petitioners should receive, making two
hundred acres the least and six hundred the most that anyone should
obtain. Five men were appointed as trustees, to divide and distribute the
land as directed. The same instrument incorporated the tract into a
township, to he called Argyle, and should have a supervisor, treasurer,
collector, two assessors, two overseers of highways, two overseers of the
poor and six constables, to be elected annually by the inhabitants on the
first day of May. The patent, similar to all others of that period, was
subject to the following conditions:
An annual quit rent of two shillings and six pence
sterling on every one hundred acres, and all mines of gold and silver, and
all pine trees suitable for masts for the royal navy, namely, all which
were twenty-four inches from the ground, reserved to the crown." [On
record in library at Albany in " Patents," Vol. IV, pp. 3.17. ]
The land thus granted lies in the central part of
Washington county, with a broken surface in the west and great elevations
and ridges in the east. The soil is rich and the whole well watered.
The trustees were vested with the power to
execute title deeds to such of the grantees, should they claim the lands,
the first of which were issued during the winter and spring of 1764—5 by
Duncan Reid, of the city of Yew York,
gentleman; Peter Middleton, of same city,
physician; Archibald Campbell,
of same city, merchant Alexander
McNaughton, of Orange county, farmer: and Neil
Gillaspie, of Ulster county, farmer, of the one part, and the grantees of
the other part.
While the application for the grant was yet pending,
the petitioners greatly exalted over their future prospects, evolved a
grand scheme for the survey of the prospective lands, which should include
a stately street from the banks of the Hudson river on the east through
the tract, upon, which
each family should have a town lot, where he might not only enjoy the
protection of near neighbors, but also have that companionship of which
the Highlander is so particularly fond. In the rear of these town lots
were to be the farms, which in time were to be occupied by tenants. The
surveyors, Archibald Campbell, of Raritan, New Jersey, and Christopher
Yates, of Schenectady, who began their labors June
19, 1764, were instructed to lay off the land
as planned, the street to extend from east to west, twenty-four rods wide
and extending through the width of the grant as near the center as
practicable, and to set aside a glebe lot for the benefit of the school
master and the minister. North and south of the street, and bordering on
it, the surveyors laid off lots running back one hundred and eighty rods,
varying in width so as to contain from twenty to sixty acres. These lots
were numbered, making in all one hundred and forty-one, seventy-two being
on the south side of the street, and the remainder on the north. The farms
were also numbered, also making one hundred and forty-one.
In the plan no allowance had been made for the rugged
nature of the country, and consequently the magnificent street was located
over hills whose proportions prevented its use as a public highway, while
some of the lots were uninhabitable.
The following is a list of the grantees, the number of
the lot and its contents being set opposite the name:
Many of the grantees immediately took possession of the
lands alloted to them; but others never took advantage of their claims,
which, for a time, were left unoccupied, and then passed into the hands of
others, who generally were left in undisputed possession. This state of
affairs, in connection with the large size of the lots, had the effect of
retarding the growth of that district.
Before the arrival of the settlers, a desperado, named
Rogers, had taken possession of a part of the lands on the Batten Kill. He
warned the people off, making various threats; but the High-landers
knowing their titles were perfect, disregarded the menace, and set about
industriously clearing up their lands and erecting their houses. One day,
when Archibald Livingston was away, his wife was forcibly carried off by
Rogers, and set down outside the limits of the claim, who also proceeded
to remove the furniture from the premises. He was arrested by Roger Reid,
the constable, and brought before Alexander McNaughton, the justice, which
constituted the first civil process ever served in that county. Rogers did
not submit peaceably to be taken, but defended himself with a gun, which
Joseph McCracken seized, and in his endeavor to wrest it from the hands of
the ruffian, he burst the buttons from off the waist-bands of his
pantaloons, which, as he did not wear suspenders, slipped over his feet.
The little son of Rogers, fully taking in the situation, ran up and bit
McCracken, which, however, did not cause him to desist from his purpose.
Rogers was conveyed to Albany, after which all trace of him has been lost.
The township of Argyle, embracing what is now both
Argyle and Fort Edward, was organized in 1771. The record of the first
meeting bears date April 2, 1771, and was called for the purpose of
regulating laws and choosing officers. It was called by virtue of the
grant in the Argyle patent. The officers elected were:
supervisor, Duncan Campbell, who continued until 1781,
and was then succeeded by Roger Reid; town clerk, Archibald Brown,
succeeded in 1775 by Edward Patterson, who, in turn, was succeeded in 1778
by John McNeil, and he by Duncan Gilchrist, in 1780; collector, Roger
Reid, succeeded in 1778 by Duncan McArthur, and the latter in 1781 by
Alexander Gilchrist; assessors, Archibald Campbell and Neal Shaw;
constables, John Offery, John McNiel; poor-masters, James Gilles,
Archibald McNiel; road-masters, Duncan Lindsey, Archibald Campbell; fence
viewers, Duncan McArthur, John Gilchrist.
The following extracts from township records are not
without interest:
1772.—"All men from sixteen to sixty years old to work
on the roads this year. Fences must be four feet and a half high."
1776.—"Duncan Reid is to be constable for the south
part of the patent and Alexander Gillis for the north part; George Kilmore
and James Beatty for masters. John Johnson was chosen a justice of the
peace."
1781 .—"Alexander McDougall and Duncan Lindsey were
elected tithing men."
In order to make the laws more efficient, on March 12,
1772, the county of Charlotte was struck off from Albany, which was the
actual beginning of the present county of Washington. As Charlotte county
had been named for the consort of George III. and as his troops had
devastated it during the Revolution, the title was not an agreeable one,
so the state legislature on April 2,
1784, changed it to Washington, thus giving it the most honored
appellation known in the annals of American history.
For several years after 1764 the colony on the east,
and in what is now Hebron township, was augmented by a number of
discharged Highland soldiers, mostly of the 77th Regiment, who settled on
both sides of the line of the township. It is a noticeable fact that in
every case these settlers were Scotch Highlanders. They had in all
probability been attracted to this spot partly by the settlement of the
colony of Captain Lachlan Campbell, and partly by that of the Scotch-Irish
at New Perth (Salem), which has been noted already in its proper
connection. These additional settlers took up their claims, owing to a
proclamation made by the king, in October, 1763, offering land in America,
without fees, to all such officers and soldiers who had served on that
continent, and who desired to establish their homes there.
Nothing shows more clearly than this proclamation the
lofty position of an officer in the British service at that time as
compared with a private. A field officer received four thousand acres; a
captain three thousand; a lieutenant, or other subaltern commissioned
officer, two thousand; a non-commissioned officer, whether sergeant or
corporal, dropped to two hundred acres, while the poor private was put off
with fifty acres. Fifty acres of wild land, on the hill-sides of
Washington County, was not an extravagant reward for seven years’ service
amidst all the dangers and horrors of French and Indian warfare.
Many of these grants were sold by the soldiers to their
countrymen. Their method of exchange was very simple. The corporal and
private would meet by the roadside, or at a neighboring ale-house, and
after greeting each other, the American land would immediately be the
subject for barter. The private, who may be called Sandy, knew his fifty
acres was not worth the sea-voyage, while Corporal Donald, having already
two hundred, might find it profitable to emigrate, provided he could add
other tracts. After the preliminaries and the haggling had been gone
through with, Donald would draw out his long leather purse and count down
the amount, saying:
"There, mon; there’s your siller."
The worthy Sandy would then dive into some hidden
recess of his garments and bring forth his parchment, signed in the name
of the king by "Henry Moore, baronet, our captain-general and
governor-in-chief, in and over our province of New York, and the lands
depending thereon, in America, chancellor and vice-admiral of the same."
This document would be promptly handed to the purchaser, with the
declaration,
‘An’ there’s your land, corporal."
Many of the soldiers never claimed their lands, which
were eventually settled by squatters, some of whom remained thereon so
long that they or their heirs became the lawful owners.
The famous controversy concerning the "New Hampshire
grants," affected the Highland settlers; but the more exciting events of
the wrangle took place outside the limits of Washington County, and
consequently the Highland settlement. This controversy, which was carried
on with acrimonious and warlike contention arose over New York’s
officials’ claim to the possession of all the land north of the
Massachusetts line lying west of the Connecticut river. In 1751 both the
governors of New York and New Hampshire
presented their respective claims to the territory in dispute to the Lords
of Trade in London. The matter was finally adjusted in 1782, by New York
yielding her claim.
In 1771 there were riots near the southern boundary of
Hebron township, which commenced by the forcible expulsion of Donald
Mclntire and others from their lands, perpetrated by Robert Cochran and
his associates. On October 29th, same year, another serious riot
took place. A warrant was issued for the offenders by Alexander McNaughton,
justice of the peace, residing in Argyle. Charles Hutchison, formerly a
corporal in Montgomery’s Highlanders, testified that Ethan Allen
(afterwards famous), and eight others, on the above date, came to his
residence, situated four miles north of New Perth, and began to demolish
it. Hutchison requested them to stop, but they declared that they would
make a burnt offering to the gods of this world by burning the logs of
that house. Allen and another man held clubs over Hutchison’s head,
ordered him to leave the locality, and declared that, in case he returned,
he should be worse treated. Eight or nine other families were driven from
their homes, in that locality, at the same time, all of whom fled to New
Perth, where they were hospitably received. The lands held by these exiled
families had been wholly improved by themselves. They were driven out by
Allen and his associates because they were determined that no one should
build under a New York title east of the line they had established as the
western boundary.
Bold Ethan Allen was neither to be arrested nor
intimidated by a constable’s warrant. Governor Tryon of New York offered
twenty pounds reward for the arrest of the rioters, which was as
inefficient as esquire McNaughton’s warrant.
The county of Washington was largely settled by people
from the New England states. The breaking out of the Revolutionary War
found these people loyal to the cause of the patriots. The Highland
settlements were somewhat divided, but the greater part allied themselves
with the cause of their adopted country.
Those who espoused the cause of the king, on account of
the atrocities committed by the Indians, were forced to flee, and never
returned save in marauding bands. There were a few, however, who kept very
quiet, and were allowed to remain unmolested.
There were no distinctive Highland companies either in
the British or Continental service from this settlement. A company of
royalists was secretly formed at Fort Edwards, under David Jones
(remembered only as being the betrothed of the lovely but unfortunate Jane
McCrea), and these joined the British forces, There were five companies
from the county that formed the regiment under Colonel Williams, one of
which was commanded by Captain Charles Hutchison, the Highland corporal
whom Ethan Allen had mobbed in 1771 In this company of fifty-two men it
may be reasonably supposed that the greater number were the sons of the
emigrants of Captain Lauchlan Campbell.
The committee of Charlotte county, in September 21,
1775, recommended to the Provincial Congress, that the following named
persons, living in Argyle, should be thus commissioned:
Alexander Campbell, captain; Samuel Pain, first
lieutenant; Peter Gilchrist, second lieutenant; and John McDougall,
ensign.
Captain Joseph McCracken, on the arrival of Burgoyne,
built a fort at New Perth, which was finished on July 26th, and called
Salem Fort.
Donald, son of Captain Lauchlan Campbell, espoused the
cause of the people, but his two brothers sided with the British. Soon
after all these passed out of the district, and their whereabouts became
unknown.
The bitter feelings engendered by the war was also felt
in the Highland settlement, as may be instanced in the following
circumstance preserved by S. D. W. Bloodgood : [The
Sexagenary, p. 110.]
"When Burgoyne found that his boats were not safe, and
were in fact much nearer the main body of our army than his own, it became
necessary to land his provisions, of which he had already been short for
many weeks, in order to prevent his being actually starved into
submission. This was done under a heavy fire from our troops. On one of
these occasions a person by
name of Mr. —, well
known at Salem, and a foreigner by birth, and who
had at the very time a son in the British army,
crossed the river at De Ruyter’s, with a person by name of McNeil; they
went in a canoe, and arriving opposite to the place intended, crossed over
to the western bank, on which a redoubt called Fort Lawrence had been
placed. They crawled up the bank with their arms in their hands, and
peeping over the upper edge, they saw a man in a blanket coat loading a
cart. They instantly raised their guns to fire, an action more savage than
commendable. At the moment the man turned so as to be more plainly seen,
when bid M— said to his companion, ‘Now that’s my own son Hughy; but I’m
dom’d for a’ that if I sill not gie him a shot.’ He then actually fired at
his own son, as the person really proved to be, but happily without
effect. Having heard the noise made by their conversation and the cocking
of the pieces, which the nearness of his position rendered perfectly
practicable, he ran round the cart, and the ball lodged in the felly of
the wheel. The report drew the attention of the neighboring guards, and
the two marauders were driven from their lurking place. While retreating
with all possible speed, McNeil was wounded in the shoulder, and, if
alive, carries the wound about with him to this day. Had the ball struck
the old Scotchman, it is questionable whether any one would have
considered it more than even handed justice commending the chalice to his
own lips."
A map of Washington County would show that it was on
the war path that led to some terrible conflicts related in American
history. Occupying a part of the territory between the Hudson and the
northern lakes, it had borne the feet of warlike Hurons, Iroquois,
Canadians, New Yorkers, New Englanders, French, English, Continentals and
Hessians, who proceeded in their mission of destruction and vengeance. As
the district occupied by the Highlanders was close to the line of
Burgoyne’s march, it experienced the realities of war and the tomahawk of
the merciless savage. How terrible was the work of the ruthless savage,
and how shocking the fate of those in his pathway, has been graphically
related by Arthur Reid, a native of the township of Argyle, who received
the account from an aunt, who was fully cognizant of all the facts. The
following is a condensed account:
During the latter part of the summer of 1777, a
scouting party of Indians, consisting of eight,
received either a real or supposed injury from some white persons at New
Perth (now Salem), for which they sought revenge. While prowling around
the temporary fort, they were observed and fired upon, and one of their
number killed. In the presence of a prisoner, a white man, [Samuel
Standish, who was present at the time of the murder of Jane McCrea, and
afterwards gave the account to Jared Sparks, who records it in his "Life
of Arnold." See " Library of American
Biography," Vol. III, Chap. VII.] the remaining seven declared
their purpose to sacrifice the first white family that should come in
their way. This party belonged to a large body of Indians which had been
assembled by General Burgoyne, the British commander, then encamped not
far distant in a northerly direction from Crown Point. In order to inspire
the Indians with courage General Burgoyne considered it expedient, in
compliance with their custom, to give them a war—feast, at which they
indulged in the most extravagant manceuvres, gesticulations, and exulting
vociferations, such as lying in ambush, and displaying their rude armored
devices, and dancing, and whooping, and screaming, and brandishing their
tomahawks and scalping knives.
The particular band, above mentioned, was in command of
an Iroquois chief, who, from his bloodthirsty nature, was called Le Loup,
the wolf,—bold, fiercely revengeful, and well adapted to lead a party bent
on committing atrocities. Le Loup and his band left New Perth en route
to the place where the van of Burgoyne’s army was encamped. The family
of Duncan McArthur, consisting of himself, wife and four children, lived
on the direct route. Approaching the clearing upon which the dwelling
stood, the Indians halted in order to make preparations for their fiendish
design. Every precaution was taken, even to enhancing their naturally
ferocious appearance by painting their faces, necks and shoulders with a
thick coat of vermilion. The party next moved forward with stealthy steps
to the very edge of the forest, where again they halted in order to mature
the final plan of attack.
Fortunately for the McArthur family, on that day, two
neighbors had come for the purpose of assisting in the breaking of a
horse, and, when the Indians saw them, and also the three
buildings, which they mistook for residences, they
became disconcerted. They decided as there were three men present, and the
same number of houses, there must also be three families.
The Indians withdrew exasperated, but none the less
determined to seek vengeance. With elastic step, and in single file they
pressed forward, and an hour later came to another clearing, in the midst
of which stood a dwelling, occupied by the family of John Allen,
consisting of five persons, viz., himself and wife and three children.
Temporarily with them at the time were Mrs. Allen’s sister, two negroes
and a negress. John Allen was notoriously in sympathy with the purposes of
the British king. When the Indians steathily crept to the edge of the
clearing they observed the white men busily engaged reaping the wheat
harvest. They decided to wait until the reapers retired for dinner. Their
white prisoner begged to be spared from witnessing the scene about to be
enacted. This request was finally granted, and one of the Indians remained
with him as a guard, while the others went forward to execute their
purpose.
When the family had become seated at the table the
Indians burst upon them with a fearful yell. When the neighbors came they
found the body of John Allen a few rods from the house. Apparently he had
escaped through a back door, but had been overtaken and shot down. Nearer
the house, but in the same direction, were the bodies of Mrs. Allen, her
sister, and the youngest child, all tomahawked and scalped. The other two
children were found hidden in a bed, but also tomahawked and scalped. One
of the negroes was found in the doorway, his body gashed and mutilated in
a horrible manner. From the wounds inflicted on his body it was thought he
had made a desperate resistance. The position of the remaining two has not
been distinctly recollected.
George Kilmore, father of Mrs. Allen and owner of the
negroes, who lived three miles distant, becoming anxious on account of the
prolonged absence of his daughter and servants, on the Sunday following,
sent a negro boy on an errand of inquiry. As the boy approached the house,
the keen-scented horse, which he was riding, stopped and refused to go
farther. After much difficulty he was urged forward until his rider got a
view of the awful scene. The news brought by the boy spread rapidly, and
the terror-stricken families fled to various points for protection, many
of whom went to Fort Edward. After Burgoyne had been hemmed in, the
families cautiously returned to their former homes.
From Friday afternoon, July 25th, until Sunday
morning following, the whereabouts of Le Loup and his band cannot be
determined. But on that morning they made their appearance on the brow of
the hill north of Fort Edward, and then and there a shocking tragedy was
enacted, which thoroughly aroused the people, and formed quite an element
in the overthrow and surrender of Burgoyne’s army. It was the massacre of
Miss Jane McCrea, a lovely, amiable and intelligent lady. This tragedy at
once drew the attention of all America. She fell under the blow of the
savage Le Loup, and the next instant he flung down his gun, seized her
long, luxuriant hair with one hand, with the other passed the scalping
knife around nearly the whole head, and, with a yell of triumph, tore the
beautiful but ghastly trophy from his victim’s head.
It is a work of superogation to say that the Highland
settlers of Argyle were strongly imbued with religious sentiments. That
question has already been fully commented on. The colony early manifested
its disposition to build churches where they might worship. The first of
these houses were humble in their pretensions, but fully in keeping with a
pioneer settlement in the wilderness. Their faith was the same as that
promulgated by the Scotch-Irish in the adjoining neighborhood, and were
visited by the pastor of the older settlement. They do not appear to have
sustained a regular pastor until after the Peace of 1783. |