Our County and It's People

Chapter 8

1788 - Town of Whitestown - Great Indian Treaty

By an act of colonial Legislature, passed March 24, 1772, Tryon county was subdivided into six "Districts"; Kingsland District was on the south side of the Mohawk River and was west of Little Falls; the German Flats District, north of the Mohawk River and west of Little Falls. March 28, 1773, names of the Kings-land and the German Flats Districts were exchanged, one for the other. April 3, 1775, the "old England District" was formed and embraced part of Herkimer county, and nearly what is now Otsego county. As before stated, April 2, 1784, the name of Tryon county was changed to that of Montgomery. By an act passed March 7, 1788, the State of New York was divided into sixteen counties, and those counties subdivided into towns, instead of "districts", as formerly. Montgomery county was subdivided into nine towns; all that part of the county and of the State lying westerly of a north and south line running across the Mohawk River at the fording place near the house of William Cunningham, at Old Fort Schuyler, leaving that house to the west of the same line, and bounded north and west by the north and west bounds of the State, and south by the State of Pennsylvania, was erected into the town of "Whitestown". The house of William Cunningham then stood near the foot of, and on the west side of, Genesee street, Utica, midway between Water and Whitesboro streets, as before noted. The town thus formed was named after Hugh White, the early pioneer, and covered an area nearly equal to half the state, including 12,000,000 acres of Susquehanna and Ohio Rivers, the chain of small lakes in Central and Western New York, the Genesee River, and the cataract of Niagara on the American side, and the terri-

tories of five of the Six Nations, and with a frontage on the great lakes and rivers of at least four hundred miles in length. From this year may be fairly recorded the beginning of the great emigration westward.

In 1788 there was also living at "Old Fort Schuyler" Philip Morey and his three sons, Solomon, Richard and Sylvanus, all of whom were from Rhode Island, also Francis Foster. In March, 1788, there same to the same place Maj. John Bellinger, from down the valley. He was at the battle of Oriskany and was at the side of General Herkimer when the latter was shot. In that same month and year Jedediah Sanger, who subsequently became a power in Oneida county, came from Jeffries, in New Hampshire, and located in what is now the village of New Hartford. He was then thirty three years old, with a wife and several children, but without pecuniary means, as he had recently lost his property by fire. He was born on the 29th day of February, and consequently he had a birthday only once in four years. He purchased one thousand acres of land in one body, for fifty cents an acre, which purchase included the whole of the present village of New Hartford. Samuel Laird came from Berkshire, Mass., and located in Lairdsville, in Westmoreland, and soon after began housekeeping in a log house. In that same year there came to that town Peletiah Rawson and John Blair; Joseph Farwell located in what is now Bridgewater, and also came to the same town Ezra Parker. It is believed that the persons whose names have been given as settlers in each year from and including 1784 to 1788, included all, or nearly so, who located in what is now Oneida county prior to the time Whitestown was organized in March, 1788. Not unlikely other persons squatted in the county during the above period, but were not here as permanent settlers.

Elkanah Watson, an extensive traveler in this country and abroad, and a close observer of the course of events, was in this Whitestown country in 1788 and again in 1791, and left a published journal of his observations. His views of the prospect of a canal in the near future connection the waters of the Mohawk River with those of Wood Creek, the fertility of the soil and the great possibilities in the near future of this part of the country are of great interest. He writes under the date of September, 1788, as follows:

I forded the Mohawk at old Fort Schuyler alone and both shores were alive with savages. As there was no tavern here, and but a few scattering houses, I proceeded to an old German log house on the margin of the river and interceded for something to eat. After much difficulty I prevailed upon an ill natured German woman to spare me two ears of green corn and some salt. The road was as bad as possible, obstructed by broken bridges, logs and stumps, and my horse at every step sinking knee deep into the mud. I remained one day at Judge White's log house, the founder of the settlement, and slept in his log barn, with horses and other animals. Whitesboro is a promising settlement in the heart of a fine tract of land and just in the transition from a state of nature into civilization. The settlement commenced four years ago; log houses are already scatter-ed in the midst of stumps, half burned logs, and girdled trees. I observed the log barns were well filled. A few years ago land might have been bought for a trifle; now lands bordering on the river have advanced to three dollars an acre. Settlers are continually pouring in from the Connecticut hive, which throws off its annual swarms of intelligent, industrious and enterprising emigrants - the best qualified of any men in the world to overcome and civilize the wilderness. They already estimate three hundred brother Yankees on their muster list, and in a few years hence they will undoubtedly be able to raise a formidable barrier to oppose the intrusions of the savages. At Oriskany I passed two hundred Indians, the remnant of that once powerful confederacy. On ascending a hill west of Oriskany, I approached the place where the intrepid General Herkimer was driven into a fatal combat in August, 1777. Just before I reached the sanguinary battlefield, I met two Germans, familiar with its incidents. They conducted me over the whole ground; they informed me, a number of the slain were never interred; in corroboration of the fact, I noticed numerous human bones strewn upon the surface of the earth.¹

Soon after leaving this consecrated spot, and alone in the woods, I was in the midst of a band of Indians, as drunk as lords; they looked like so many evil spirits broken loose from pandemonium, wild, frantic, almost naked, and frightfully painted, they yelled, whooped and danced around me in such hideous attitudes that I was seriously apprehensive they would end the farce by taking off my scalp. On my arrival of Fort Stanwix, I found the whole plain around the fort covered with Indians of various tribes, male and female. Many of the latter were fantastically dressed in their best attire, in the richest silks, fine scarlet clothes, bordered with gold fringe, a profusion of brooches, rings in their noses, their ears slit and their heads decorated with feathers. The object of this treaty is to procure a cession from the Indians of territory lying west of Fort Stanwix, extending to the Great Lakes. Contemplating the position of Fort Stanwix at the head of bateau navigation on the Mohawk, and within one mile of Wood Creek, and thence west to Oneida Lake and connecting with Lake Ontario, I am led to think it will in time become the emporium of commerce between Albany and the vast Western world.

1. On the first settlement of this section of the country, many skeletons were found yet bleaching and uncovered, and a number of the first settlers met and gathered all that could be found and undistinguished between friend and foe, they were interred in a common grave. The party consisted of persons from Rome, Westmoreland, and Whitestown. Judge Joshua Hathaway, of Rome, was the first to move in the matter, and a number of cart loads of bones were thus collected and buried. Judge Hathaway and his father and six brothers were under General Stark at Bennington - Jones Annals of Oneida County.

It was calculated that at the time the town of Whitestown was formed it contained less than 200 inhabitants; that included all within the State west of Genesee street, Utica. East of that street and south of the river was in the town of German Flats; north of the river in the town of Herkimer.

In the mean time serious trouble was brewing with "land grabbers", those who were trying to obtain from the Indians the lands in Central and Western New York. The State Constitution of 1777 forbade the purchase of the fee in lands of the Indians by individuals, reserving the right to the State alone. To evade this and to come into possessions of the lands, an association of individuals called the "New York Genesee Land Company" was organized in the winter of 1787-8, composed of some eighty or ninety persons, who were wealthy and influential. At the same time a branch company was organized in Canada. This company obtained of the Six Nations a lease for nine hundred and ninety one years all the lands; this lease was to evade the constitutional provision as to the conveyance of the fee of the lands. In March, 1788, John Taylor, of Albany, was appointed agent or superintendent of the New York Board of Indian Commissioners, and in that month he was sent to the Indian country to counteract the unlawful proceedings of the "Lessees". He learned that the latter had sent fourteen sleigh loads of goods to the Indian country; that one hundred and sixty families had arrived at Tioga, on their way west to settle on the Indian lands. But those families learned the State was going to oppose the "Lessees", and hence hesitated in going further. Governor Clinton issued a proclamation warning purchasers against the actions of the "Lessees", and sent messengers to all of the Six Nations, warning them also of the fraud being practiced upon them. It was a formidable organization, embracing men of wealth and political influence. Gov. George Clinton met the whole matter with energy and promptness and urged upon the Legislature the adoption of decisive measures to counteract the plans of the "Lessees". In March, 1788, an act was passed authorizing the governor to disregard all contracts made with the Indians not sanctioned by the State, and to cause all persons to be arrested who had entered upon the Indian lands under such contracts

and to be driven off by force and the buildings destroyed. Governor Clinton ordered Samuel Clyde, the sheriff of Montgomery county, and the first one appointed after the war (which county extended to the west bounds of the state), to disperse intruders and burn their dwellings. A military force was called out and the orders were strictly executed. One of the prominent settlers and cooperators of the "Lessees" was taken to New York city in irons upon a charge of high treason. Thus baffled, the "Lessees" determined to meet the State officials at Fort Stanwix, where the treaty was to be held in September, 1788, and by lobbying prevent the treaty being made. The governor took the field in person, backed by all the official influence at his command; yet it was difficult for him for a time to effect anything. The 1st of September, 1788, was fixed as the period of the treaty. Active preparations for it were going on through the preceding summer. In all of the Indian villages the "Lessees" had their agents and runners or Indian traders at work. The preparations at Albany and New York, on the part of the State officials, were formidable. A sloop came up from New York with Indian goods, stores for the expedition, marquees, tents and specie for the purchase money (which was obtained after much trouble). On board of the sloop were those who resided in New York city and many others; among them Count Monsbiers, the then French minister, and the Machioness de Biron, his sister, who were going to attend the treaty out of curiosity. The commissioners and the retinue, goods and baggage, going up the Mohawk, started August 23, in bateaux built expressly for the occasion, and arrived at Fort Stanwix August 28. A wild and romantic scene presented itself.¹ The veteran soldier, Governor Clinton, pitched his marquee and was as much the general as if he had headed a military expedition. Among his associates in the commission and his companions were Egbert Benson, afterward attorney-general of the State; General Gansevoort, defender of Fort Stanwix; William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; Ezra L'Hommedieu, and Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the missionary.

Among the noted Indian speakers and who signed the treaty, were

1. Turner's Phelps & Gorham Purchase

Skenandoah, who lived to be one hundred and ten years old; Peter Otsequet, who was sent to France by La Fayette and there educated and to whom a patent of one thousand acres was granted in Westmoreland; Paulus, an Oneida chief (after whom Paulus Pond, in the edge of Lewis county was named), and many others who had been conspicuous in the Revolution and became the leading men of our then young State. They were surrounded by the camp fires of the numerous representatives of the Six Nations numbering thousands, who had been attracted to the spot, some from interest, some from curiosity; but by far the larger proportion of them had been attracted from their scattered wilderness homes by the hopes and promises of presents, feast, and carousals. Indian traders and speculators from all their localities, with their showy goods and trinkets and plenty of "fire water", were upon the ground with their goods for sale to the Indians when they received the money for their lands. Some of the "Lessees" had preceded the governor and were in the crowd secretly endeavoring to thwart the objects of the council. Governor Clinton ordered in writing John Livingston, the ring leader of the "Lessees" , to leave in three hours, and to retire forty miles from the fort. After this Governor Clinton organized a court of inquest and took affidavits of all that had taken place on the part of the "Lessees". Finding that the Senecas were holding back from the council and that a counter gathering was being held at Geneva by those in the interests of the "Lessees", where liquor was dealt out freely, and where the Indians were told if they went to Fort Stanwix, Governor Clinton would either cheat them out of their lands or fall upon them with an armed force, Governor Clinton sent thither messengers who undeceived most of the Indians after they had recovered from their beastly state of intoxication. It was the 8th of September before the different nations were so far represented as to warrant the council to proceed to business. On the 12th the treaty with the Onondagas was completed and the deed of cession of most of the lands executed. The consideration was one thousand French crowns in money, in hand, and two hundred pounds in clothing, and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever. The presents were given and friendly speeches made. (This treaty was ratified June 16, 1790, at Fort Stanwix, on which occasion the State bestowed five hundred

dollars as a gratuity.) Negotiations with the Oneidas followed, September, 1788, which concerned the lands within what is now Oneida county, and continued for days, accompanied by speeches pro and con, propositions made and rejected, until at last a deed of cession was agreed upon and executed by the chiefs, a number of women signing the deed. The substance of that deed and the consideration are given in the chapter relative to land patents. The deed bears date September 22, 1788. The council had continued for twenty five days. This treaty is known as the "Oneida Reservation".

The father of the author of the "Annals of Oneida County" came to Oneida county in January, 1787, and he said that then there were three log houses at "Old Fort Schuyler", seven at Whitesboro, three at Oriskany, four at Fort Stanwix, and three at Westmoreland, most of them mere shanties or huts. It has been heretofore stated that the Ranney family came to Fort Stanwix in 1785-6. Willett Ranney, senior, located in a log house northwest of the present Rome court house, on or near the sight of the late residence of Gordon N. Bissell, on Stanwix street. Twenty eight years ago the author of this history received a letter from a great granddaughter of Mr. Ranney (she then residing in Theresa, Jefferson county). She narrates what she heard from her grandmother (a daughter of Willett Ranney, senior). She thus wrote:

I have often heard my grandmother, Mrs. Samuel Jarvis, daughter of Willett Ranney, senior, tell of her early life at Fort Stanwix. She was a little girl when her father moved there, probably eleven or twelve; she was born in Middletown, Conn., April 2, 1773. I have often heard her tell of assisting her mother baking bread at the time of the treaty with the Indians, at Fort Stanwix, in September, 1788; the bread was baked at her brother's, Seth Ranney's house, where many barrels of flour were stored to be baked into bread for the use of those expected to attend the treaty. The oven was on the outside of the house; it was large and kept running night and day in baking bread before the treaty. There was also stored in the barn near by a quantity of liquor, and as it was feared the Indians might get it and thereby become furious and massacre the people, Willett Ranney, senior, with a few others went to the barn and poured the liquor on the ground.

That treaty and its results were among the most important events in the history of Oneida county. Following, as it did, so soon after the dividing of the State into counties, and these said division of the counties into towns, and the organization of "Whitestown", its tendency was to give a great impetus to immigration and to make Oneida county what it has become.

Thus in brief has faded away the power of that once famous Indian confederacy. They were a wonderful people; banded together by principle of unity not unlike that which holds together this union of States; they loved liberty, were proud spirited and haughty, and scorned submission to foreign control. They had the ability to cope in council with the most skillful diplomats, and the eloquence of their addresses challenged comparison with many who boasted of their civilization. They were indeed a powerful and gifted people. It was at this treaty of 1788, that Governor Clinton in his speech to the Indians, said that after the treaty was over, all would "indulge in innocent mirth and pleasure". After all had feasted and the payments and presents were made, Gov. Clinton proposed that a foot race take place among the Six Nations, each nation to select its swiftest runner, and the race was made over what is now Dominick street ,and extended from Mohawk River to Wood Creek. The governor placed a bag of gold of two hundred and fifty dollars on top of the flag staff at the river, that to be the starting point, and the footmen to run to Wood Creek, turn a stake, and the one who reached the flag staff on the return to have the gold. Each nation retired to select its runners, except the Oneidas. That home tribe, according to Indian etiquette (Fort Stanwix being within its territory) awaited for the selections to be first made by the visiting tribes that were from abroad. The other tribes soon returned with five stalwart, athletic young men, tall in stature and symmetrical in form. The Oneidas then retired to make their selection. Powlis, the war chief, had been in his day one of the fleetest runners in the confederacy, and he had a number of stalwart sons, grand representatives of his lofty stature and agile movements. Outsiders supposed that one of these would be chosen to represent the Oneidas. But the tribe passed by these and others of the like, with great unanimity selected a slender boy of fifteen years - mere stripling - the youngest son of Powlis - his parents' darling, with his mother's form and wiry make up. The selection of one so young and slim to run a long race with formidable competitors, and taken, too, from a tribe that could boast of is powerful braves, greatly surprised all, and provoked quite a laugh among the Indians of the other tribes. But this laugh was quickly suppressed, as it might be construed discourteous to their brothers, the Oneidas. The boy was called by the whites "Little Paul", was the

pet of the tribe, and his being the pet was supposed by the other tribes to account for the selection. Not so with the Oneidas. They had better reasons than favoritism, for they knew the staying qualities and fleet movements of the lad. Preparations were promptly and fully made for the race. The course was on what is now Dominick street, smooth and gently rising from east to west. The road was staked in quarters, and a horseman accompanied the runners to see that all was fair play. The course was straight, and there was no contention for the inside of the track. The runners stood side by side, in the order of the location of their tribes, the Mohawks first. The head of "Little Paul" scarcely reached the shoulders of the majestic Mohawk, and he presented a striking contrast with the other contestants in the field. Each bore on his head a badge of distinction. Little Paul wore a feather, a single white plume, stuck in his straight shining locks, which were as glossy and as black as the wing of a raven. All being ready, they start at the tap of a drum, and on they rush. They wore moccasins, but otherwise were stripped nearly to the skin. Every eye is fixed on the competitors, as they and the horsemen push madly forward for the farthest stake at Wood Creek. Not a word escapes from the interested spectators, nor do the runners make a sound, save that made by their moccasin feet and panting breath. The Mohawk leads and the Oneida boy brings up the rear. Evidently the latter is taking it easy, holding his best efforts in reserve. He passes over the ground as lightly and as lithely as a fox, and quite swiftly too, yet he is considerably behind all the rest, but the others are running at the top of their speed. The boy is so far behind that it looks as if he would be distanced, and those of the other tribes find it hard to repress their mirth. But the Oneidas maintain their gravity and apparently stolid indifference. They know he will show his best on the home stretch. The runners are gradually approaching the farthest goal, and Little Paul draws gently on his reserve force and thereby lessens the distance between him and the forward competitors. The horseman has kept his steed on a keen gallop all the way, to keep abreast of the runners. The Mohawk is ahead, the others at his heels, and the Oneida a little behind. AS the Stake at Wood Creek is reached the racers turn it almost in a body, and now beings the fierce struggle on the home run. Little Paul again draws on his

reserve force and gains on the Mohawk, who leads all the rest, and before the first quarter stake is reached Little Paul passes all but the Mohawk. The latter strains every nerve; perspiration stand out in beads on his swarthy frame, while his veins look like whip cords. The little Oneida "lets out another link", and soon is abreast of the Mohawk and the two run side by side. The latter feels the lad close at his heels, and hears the cheers of the spectators at the other end of the course. He must have felt that their sympathies are with the youngster. Not a word is uttered by either of the racers as, for a little distance, they run side by side. The Mohawk struggles bravely, as for life, but in vain. Little Paul has too much endurance and nimbleness of foot for his tall competitor, and before the halfway stake is reached the Oneida shoots ahead, and all of his competitors are behind. Then it was that he gave a whoop of triumph as shrill as that of a panther, which resounded through the forest, was heard by the large course who witnessed the struggle, and was echoed back with a will. With his five competitors the race was over, but the boy had just begun to bound and fly. The arrow parting from its bow was scarce swifter than his flight, as he now seemed determined to show what he could do. He flies as the wings of the wind, and the spectators partake of his ambition and enthusiasm. When he is within twenty rods of the home goal they went forward to meet the victor, and with the wildest cheers and excitement take him in their arms and bear him aloft in triumph to the home stake. The competing tribes were as enthusiastic as the rest, and none bestowed higher praise or received Little Paul with greater admiration than the vanquished. Governor Clinton presented the prize and congratulated the victor and his tribe in a complimentary speech. The Oneida chief died about 1818, and his remains were carried from the "meadows" near Taberg to Oneida Castle on the shoulders of members of his tribe, some 200 following in the procession. Col. T. G. Halley, then of New London, relates to the writer seeing that funeral procession. He well knew the sons of old Powlis, and remembers their return from Wisconsin some thirty or more years ago on a visit and to ascertain if they or their tribe did not yet own lands in this vicinity. But their rights had all been extinguished. "Powlis Pond", in the edge of Lewis county, was named after

that chief, as that was one of his favorite resorts. Little Paul succeeded to his father's title. About 1830 the family removed to Green Bay in Wisconsin.

Here may be a proper place to again briefly refer to the Iroquois Confederacy and to the nations which composed it and which exercised such a powerful influence in New York for two hundred years or more. The origin and date of the formation of that confederacy are involved in obscurity. It is supposed to have been formed between the years 1400 and 1500, and was composed of five and from 1712 and onward of six nations. It is unquestioned that when the confederacy was at the height of its power, its members were able to cope in battle, in diplomacy, in council, and in oratory, with the best and most skilled of the civilized nations. But "fire water" , the advancement of civilizations, and entanglements with European powers eventually disrupted the confederacy and proved the ruin of that people. The Sullivan expedition of 1779 broke the backbone of the confederacy and completed its disruption and overthrow. The Mohawks, under the influence of the Johnson family, took sides with the British in the American Revolution, with hardly an exception, and as a result all fled to Canada at the termination of the war. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras sympathized with the Americans; the remaining nations sided with the English. England made a treaty of peace with her colonies, acknowledging their independence, but making no provision or stipulation for her Indian allies. Those of the latter who had fought against the colonies were in effect a conquered people and had no claim upon the new republic. The latter had a legal right to confiscate and appropriate Indian lands without compensation; but that has never been the American policy. Not conceding an absolute ownership of the lands to the Indians, yet a right of occupancy by them has been recognized, and a politic to acquire such lands by purchase or treaty. Upon that theory have the State and National governments acted. After the fist cession of lands by the Indians, and especially after the treaty of 1788, the Six Nations were quite disposed to sell their lands to the white men. They clearly saw that their own power and influence were gone and that they were at the mercy of the white race. The latter have pushed their way across the continent, and the red men have disappeared like frost beneath the summer sun. In New York, where the Six

Nations were once supreme, their power and influence have withered away, and a few scattered reservations are all that now remain of their landed possessions, and those at the sufferance of the white people.

The valley of the Mohawk, Wyoming and Cherry Valley, made red with the blood of our patriotic ancestors, can never be forgotten, nor obliterated from American history; yet, the remembrance of what the Iroquois Confederacy once was can never fade away, nor the intellectual greatness of its chiefs, warriors, and statesmen be forgotten so long as so many of the lakes, streams, and places are stamped with their names upon the pages of history.

Ye say that all have passed away, The noble race and brave; That their light canoes have vanished From off the crested wave; That mid the forests where they roamed There rings no hunter's shout, But their name is on your waters - Ye may not wash it out. Ye say their cone like cabins That clustered o'er the vale, Have disappeared, like withered leaves Before the autumn gale; But their memory liveth on your hills, Their baptism on your shore, Your ever-lasting waters speak Their dialect of yore.

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