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SENEALOGY COLLECTION

ftjLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARV

3 1833 00854 0269

No longer the property of the Colorado State Library.

Of tins Limited Letterpress Edition, two hundred and fifty copies have been printed for William Richmond Peters.

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DIARY
DAVID
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DIARY

OF

DAVID McCLURE

DOCTOR OF DIVINITY 1748-1820

WITH NOTES BY

FRANKLIN B. DEXTER, M.A.

PRIVATELY PRINTED

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PREFACE

TWO years ago I received from the Rev. Chalmers D. Chapman, of Brevard, N. C, a manuscript diary of the Rev. David McClure, D.D., which had been left with his grandfather thirty-six years earlier by a kinsman of Dr. McClure, and never reclaimed. Mr. Chapman sent it to me as the great-grandson of Thomas McClure, a younger brother of David, and therefore the great-grand- nephew of the writer of the diary, and the nearest relative of the same with whom he was acquainted. This diary was contained in a book, at the end of which were added various notes, a couple of letters, and a brief genealogy of the writer, as published in the present volume. There were, in all, two hundred and sixty written pages in this little volume, of which the first nineteen, with the corre- sponding cover, had been torn off. Fortunately there fell into the hands of my cousin, Mrs. W. D. Peters, of Chicago, another diary of Dr. McClure, which had been begun, but never finished. This covered the pages miss- ing in my copy, and as much more besides.

Apparently Dr. McClure kept some sort of a diary from June 7, 1766, onwards. The entries in this diary must have been very fitful. In 1805 Dr. McClure seems to have undertaken to write up these fitful entries in another book, adding in doing so later material under the earlier dates. After that he continued the diary in the same fitful manner until May 13, 1819. After this, the last entry in point of date, there is added an entry dated Sep. 25, 1816, with the word " omitted " before it, show- ing that these latter entries- or the whole book must have been written up by him after May 13, 18 19. Everything is written in the same hand, which seems clearly to be

iv Preface

that of Dr. McClure himself. He also numbered all the pages of the book. The diary proper ends on page 246 of the original blank book. The following pages were left blank, it being the evident intention of the writer to continue the diary in this new book which he had thus written up to date. On page 269, enough pages having been left blank for future diary use, he adds, with a reference to page 23, an account of a visit to the Narra- gansett Indians in 1768 ; then on page 282 an account of his reading ; on page 287 extracts from various letters, etc., and finally, on the last two pages of the book, 291 and 292, a genealogical table. Having thus written up everything interesting in his life to date, it was evidently his intention to use this little volume for future diary entries, if anything of interest should occur. He died very shortly after, on June 25, 1820, and no more entries were made. The copy in the hands of my cousin, Mrs. W. D. Peters, Dr. McClure seems to have begun shortly before his death, apparently with the intention of be- queathing the diary to one daughter, and copies of it to others ; but he did not live to finish the work.

Dr. McClure's grandfather, Samuel, and his brother David, with others, came from the neighborhood of Lon- donderry to Boston about 1728, and established a Pres- byterian church in that city, later known as the Federal Street Church. Samuel McClure was the first Deacon of this church, and was succeeded in that office by his son John and his grandson Thomas. The latter resigned his office and left the church when it turned Unitarian under Dr. Channing.

David, the writer of this diary, was the son of John, the son of Samuel McClure, and of Rachel, daughter of Wil- liam McClintock, one of the original immigrants. He was born in Newport, R. I., Nov. 18, 1748, but most of his early life was spent in Boston, where his father kept a retail grocery. His early training was obtained in Lovell's Latin

Preface v

School. At the age of fifteen, after a brief experience in a shop, he was sent to Dr. Wheelock's school at Lebanon, Conn., to prepare to become a missionary to the In- dians. In 1765 he entered Yale College, and graduated in 1769, in the same class with the elder President Dwight. The late Rev. E. H. Gillett, D.D., in an article in Hours at Home, Feb., 1870, entitled " Yale College One Hundred Years Ago," gives a few extracts from letters of McClure and his schoolmate, David Avery. The former, under date of Oct. 30, 1765, writes to Dr. Wheelock of the dreadful way in which Freshmen are handled by the upper-class men. " Freshmen," says he, " have attained almost the happiness of slaves." Oct. 30, 1767, he writes : " Jonne [John Wheelock, later Presi- dent of Dartmouth College, then a Freshman at Yale] has been ordered up once or twice into the long garret with the rest of his class, and I think twice alone. . . It gives me great grief to see such practices held up in this seat of learning, and so little religious manners prevalent." In another letter, written after his experience among the Oneida Indians, he says : " Mr. Johnson and I rarely converse in any other language [than Indian]. I hope not to lose what little I have already attained." As his diary also shows, his intention to be a missionary to the Indians was always before his mind. Later in his college course he writes about Dr. Daggett as follows : " The Rev. President and tutors are universally loved in Col- lege, and have a tender concern for our future as well as present welfare and happiness."

After graduation, McClure took charge of Moor's Charity School at Lebanon, Conn. In 1770 he moved with the school to Hanover, N. H., where he was head of the school and tutor in Dartmouth College. In May, 1772, he and Frisbie were ordained to go as mission- aries to the Delaware Indians on the Muskingum River, in Ohio, the expenses of the mission being supplied by a

VI

Preface

society in Scotland. Owing to the unsettled conditions in that region preceding the outbreak of the Revolution, the mission proved a failure, and in 1773 McClure returned to New Hampshire, where he was installed pastor of the church at North Hampton in 1776. Dec. 10, 1780, he married Hannah Pomeroy, daughter of Rev. Dr. Ben- jamin Pomeroy, of Hebron, Conn., and niece of President Wheelock. She died in 1814, and in 18 16 he married Mrs. Betsy Martin, of Providence, R. I., who survived him. In 1786 he was installed as pastor at East Windsor, Conn., where he also established a school. In 1798 his voice failed. After this he preached only occasionally, and finally, in 1807, resigned his salary, and in 1809 his pastorate, but continued to teach school almost if not quite to the time of his death. He was always deeply interested in Dartmouth College, and personally in its first President, his old teacher, Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, D.D. In 1777 he became a trustee of the college, and in 1800 it conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1795 he published a volume of Sermons on the Decalogue (Beach & Jones, Hartford). In 181 1, in conjunction with Dr. Parish, he wrote Memoirs of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock. In 18 18 appeared a second volume of his sermons, entitled Sermons on the Moral Law (printed and published by Wm. S. Marsh, Hartford). He also wrote a History of East Windsor.

In Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, Dr. McClure is described as a small man, well formed, and with very attractive manners, a man of culture and scholarship. He was a good preacher, and his sermons, contrary to the tendencies of his day, were moral and practical, not theological.

He died at East Windsor, Conn., June 25, 1820.

John P. Peters.

Beth Shalom, July 10, 1899.

DIARY OF DAVID McCLURE

DIARY OF DAVID MCCLURE

MY remote Ancestors, I have been informed, were orig- inally Scottish Highlanders, who passed over to the North of Ireland & settled there about the time of King James ist in the beginning of the 17th Century.

My Grandfather Samuel McClure came with a young family to Boston, from the North of Ireland, about Anno 1729 with a number of families of Christians, who emi- grated from oppression in their native country to this land of civil & religious liberty.1 The Rev. John Moor- head s was their minister.

Religion was the first object of this little company. They purchased a lot of land for a meeting House, in what is now called Federal Street? & formed themselves into a Church, according to the plan of the presbyterian Church of Scotland. My Grandfather was the first Deacon of said Church,4 in which Office my Father succeeded. He lived & died in the house in which the celebrated

1 About 120 Scotch-Irish Presbyterian families emigrated from the north of Ireland to Boston in August, 1718 ; the supplementary emigration here described probably took place in 1727 or 1728. [The oppression referred to was excessive tithes. In 1729 government instituted an inquiry into the cause of the alarming emigration to America. J. P. P.]

2 See Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, iii, 44—46.

3 A permanent house was built in 1744, a cut of which is given in the Memorial Hist, of Boston, ii, 513 ; Long Lane, on which it stood, was named Federal Street after the building was used for the meetings of the State Convention which accepted the Federal Constitution in 1788.

4 Elected on July 14, 1730.

1

2 Diary of

Dr. Franklin was born, in Milk Street, opposite the Old South meeting house.1 My Father John McClure was young at the time of their arrival. My Mother was Rachel McClintock, daughter of William McClintock, who came from the North of Ireland, & county of London Derry, with the company before mentioned. He pur- chased a farm in the North part of Medford about 6 miles from Boston, where he lived until 1769, & died aged 90. He was shut up in Londonderry at the age of 7 years, with his parents, at the time when it was besieged 2 by an army of papists commanded by King James 2nd & suf- fered all the horrors of famine. He was a laborious & pious man & brought up a large family. His son Samuel settled in the ministry in Greenland, New Hampshire, & died 1802, universally respected, as a faithful minister of the Gospel & an eminent divine.3 The College of New Haven conferred on him the degree of a Doctorate of Divinity. From him I received much instruction in the early part of my ministry. A Brother of my Grandfather McClure came over with him, & settled in Brookfield, Mass. His name was David. My father had a numerous family of nine sons & four daughters. Twelve lived to the age of manhood. My Mother died in Boston in 1764,* & the youngest child Ruth, about 3 months old, soon followed her. My Father died Aug. 30, 1768.6 A numerous family of orphans were now left. The two youngest were twins, aged about 8 years. In a remarkable manner did we ex- perience the fulfilment of the gracious promise, Ps. 27. 10, " When my father & mother forsake me, then the Lord

1 This house was occupied by Dr. Franklin's father from 1685 to 1712, and was destroyed by fire in 1810. A view of it is given in the Memorial Hist, of Boston, ii, 272, and a description in the same volume, pp. 269, 270.

9 April- August, 1690.

3 Born 1732, B.A., Princeton, 1751, died 1804. SeeSprague's Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, i, 525-28, and Brewster's Rambles about Portsmouth, ii, 160-66. 4 Read 1765. 8 Read 1769.

David McClure 3

will take me up." We had the special advantage of a re- ligious education & government in early life. Our parents gave us the best school education that their circumstances would allow. The children who could walk were obliged regularly to attend public worship on the Sabbath, & spend the interval in learning the Shorter & the Larger Westminster Catechisms, & committing to memory some portion of the Scriptures. My mother commonly heard us repeat the catechisms on Sunday evenings. My parents de- parted with the supporting hope of salvation through the glorious Redeemer. In her expiring moments my mother gave her blessing & her prayers to each of her children, in order. She had many friends who mourned her death. She was favored with a good degree of health & was very cheer- ful, active & laborious, in the arduous task of raising, with slender means, a large family. To the labours of our worthy minister the Rev. Mr. Moorhead, we were much indebted for early impression of religious sentiments. His practice was frequently to catechize the Children & youth at the meeting House & at their homes & converse &pray with them. He also visited & catechized the heads of all the families of his congregation, statedly. While New Port in Rhode Island was in a flourishing state, My Father concluded to move there, with the expectation of better- ing his worldly circumstances. He continued there a few years disappointed in his expectation & displeased with the loose and irreligious state of the place, although they found many pious christians there, he returned to Boston with his family when I was a child.' In Boston my Father carried on a small trade & kept a retailing shop of gro- ceries. I read the Bible through, when very young, &

1 The baptism of two children of John and Rachel McClure is on record in the First Congregational Church in Bristol (which is upwards of twelve miles north of Newport, on the mainland), viz., Rachel, Febr. I, 1746-47, and David (the author of this Diary), Dec. 18, 1748. There were then two Congregational churches in Newport, but probably the Bristol church was more acceptable in doctrine or practice to Mr. McClure.

4 Diary of

was fond of books. Perceiving my inclination my father put me to the latin grammar school then under the care of the famous Master Lovell.1 Here I continued about two years * when my father meeting with losses found he could not give me an education & put me into a store of Mr. Henry Dearing, near the market,3 who traded both wholesale & retail in english goods. There was an elder apprentice in the store. Mr. Dearing was a single gentle- man & was dissipated, gay & profane, he paid but little attention to his business, & after some years failed. In the spring of 1764 the small pox went through the town. I left Mr. Dearing & went to my father — to receive the disorder, where I was inoculated with ten of my brothers & sisters, & by the goodness of God we all had it favourably. After my recovery Mr. Dearing wished me to return, but as it was disagreeable to me, particularly on account of Mr. D.'s conduct, my father did not insist. I wished to pursue learning but for some time found no way to succeed. Just at this time the worthy Mr. Moorhead came to my father's & showed him a letter which he had received from the Rev. Mr. Wheelock of Lebanon in Connecticut,4 who had set up a school there for the education of Indian Youths & also for the reception of English young men to educate them for missionaries, requesting him to propose one or two youths to go. Mr. Moorhead proposed to me to go. The incident seemed providential. My parents manifested a willing-

1 John Lovell, born 1708, graduated at Harvard 1728, Master of the Bos- ton Latin School from 1738 to 1775. For his portrait see the Memorial History 0/ Boston, ii, 401. The school building stood at this time on School Street, on the site now covered by the east end of the Parker House.

» I759"01-

3 Faneuil Hall (rebuilt 1762-63).

* Eleazar Wheelock, born in Windham, Conn., 171 1 ; graduated at Yale, 1733 J ordained pastor of the Second Parish in Lebanon, now Columbia, Conn., 1735. After having had private pupils for many years, he began a school for Indians in 1754.

David McClure 5

ness : I considered the proposal, & while I desired an education to qualify me for usefulness, I felt also an op- pression that I should not incline to go among the Indians. The Idea of wild Indians was an impression on youthful minds at that time of some degree of terror, as they had spread desolation among the English settlements. I got the life of Mr. Sargeant, who laboured for the instruction & salvation of the Housitonic Indians, & was much pleased with the history.1 I concluded it to be my duty to accept the invitation ; & accordingly at the age of 15 years June 1764 I embarked on a coaster amidst the tears & affec- tionate embraces of my Mother & the blessing of my Fa- ther. After about 5 days sail we arrived at New London, without any remarkable occurrence except the eminent danger of running upon a sunken rock, in a high gale, near Long Island, which the mate discovered just season- ably enough to pass it. He was leaning against the boom & singing Watts Saphic Ode, " When the fierce north Wind with its airy forces""1 &c, when he discovered the danger ahead by the smoothness of the water over the rock, & crying out a Rock, a Rock, he instantly altered the vessel's course. In the course of my life how many instances of danger I have experienced ! The good hand of God is our safeguard against dangers which are seen & innumerable that are unseen by us ! After paying my passage I had no more than about half a dollar s & was now more than thirty miles from Mr. Wheelock's. In the

1 The book referred to was Historical Memoirs, relating to the Housatun- nuck Indians, compiled by the Rev. Samuel Hopkins from the papers of the Rev. John Sergeant, and published in Boston in 1753, pp. iv, 182. Mr. Sergeant was a graduate of Yale in 1729, who had labored as a missionary among the Indians in Great Barrington and Stockbridge, Mass., from 1735 until his death in 1749. Jonathan Edwards was his successor.

2 The opening line of "The Day of Judgment, An Ode," in Book I of Isaac Watts's Horce Lyricce, first published in 1706.

3 At the presumed date of composition of this passage (1805) the dollar was a current term ; in 1764 the writer reckoned in shillings.

6 Diary of

morning I went into a house in the border of the town & asked for a pint of milk to which the good woman of the house bade me welcome, & with a biscuit, which I had bought, I made a comfortable breakfast. Finding a boat going up the river Thames to Norwich landing 14 miles, I put my small chest on board, & arrived at Mr. Whita- ker's the minister of the place,1 to whom I had a letter of introduction from Mr. Moorhead. The next morning Mr. Whitaker kindly gave me directions to find the road, & taking a small bundle of clothes & a staff, I set out to walk alone to Lebanon crank,3 distant more than 20 miles. The verdant fields & well cultivated farms on every side afforded a delightful prospect to cheer the gloom of soli- tude. I arrived at Lebanon Crank, late in the afternoon, & the objects which presented were a number of Indian & English youth playing on the spacious green before Mr. Wheelock's house & the School House. I was kindly & affectionately received by the worthy family. Mr. Wheelock was then on a journey to Boston. Mr. Samuel Kirkland,3 then a member of New Jersey College, was very kind & attentive to me, & the young gentlemen, members of the school, took so much notice of me as ex- pelled the unpleasant feelings of a stranger, & I seemed to be at home & surrounded with respectful & cordial friends. The second day I entered upon my studies in the school, in the class composed of John McClarren Breed, David Avery, Josiah Dunham & John Hall. Josiah Pomeroy afterwards joined us.4 Mr. Lothrop*

1 The Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker (Princeton Coll., 1752) was a special friend of Mr. Wheelock's.

2 The northern parish in the town of Lebanon, now the town of Colum- bia ; the local name, Lebanon Crank, was probably descriptive of the bent or crooked outline of the parish boundaries.

3 Born in 1741, B.A., Princeton, 1765.

4 Breed was graduated at Yale in 1768 (President Dwight of Yale is his. grandson) ; Avery and Hall in 1769 ; and Pomeroy in 1770. Dunham died while an undergraduate in Yale, class of 1769.

B Now the Rev. John Lothrop, D.D., in Boston. [Note by the author.}

David McClure 7

had the care of Moor's School.1 The school consisted of about 30, one half Indian youths & boys from different tribes & the other half were English, some fitting for missionaries, & others independent preparing for College. Mr. Ralph Wheelock, member of New Jersey College,2 whom I had seen at my father's in Boston, arrived & showed me much kindness. The Rev. Mr. Wheelock re- turned from Boston, & to the end of the period of my living under his care, was to me a Father, patron & bene- factor. The remembrance of him, & his disinterested & benevolent works & piety will be always pleasing & most grateful. May I be permitted though in some humble station, far below him, to adore & serve the blessed Re- deemer in heaven ! My advantages for improvement in learning in the School were good. Mr. Wheelock thought it necessary that his pupils, designed for missionaries, should be initiated in the practical knowledge of hus- bandry, accordingly we sometimes went into the field & worked a little while. But neither the theory or practice of husbandry were familiar to me. Brought up in Boston I scarcely knew the difference of a plow from a harrow, & it was long before the names of the different implements became known to me, & my blunders & mistakes some- times caused some diversion. As my constitution was not calculated for labour, I did not do much. I had acquired the skill of good writing under the instruction of Master Abiah Holbrook in Boston who was the most celebrated writer of his day, & whose school s I attended seven years ; my leisure hours from study were generally spent in copy-

1 In 1755 Colonel Joshua More, or Moor, a wealthy farmer of the neigh- boring town of Mansfield, at Mr. Wheelock's solicitation gave to him and other trustees a foundation for a Charity School in Lebanon for the instruc- tion of Indians, which was conducted by Wheelock from that date, and was finally merged in his larger enterprise, Dartmouth College.

2 He entered Yale the next fall, and was graduated there in 1765.

3 Kept on the Common. He died in 1769, aged 51 years. See Bridg- man's Pilgrims of Boston, 1 16.

8 Diary of

ing letters for Mr. Wheelock. Other qualifications of a missionary were thought necessary, such as to lodge hard, & live on plain & wholesome fare. We reposed on Straw Beds in Bunks & generally dined on a boiled dish & an Indian pudding. Mr. Wheelock was laborious in his instructions of his pupils, in the principles of religion. Early in the morning at the blowing of a shell we assem- bled in the hall of his house a chapter was read by the students, after Mr. Wheelock had presented a short peti- tion to the throne of grace he then expounded some pas- sages or conversed on some doctrines & practical subjects of religion & made a prayer. The same religious service was also performed in the evening, with singing a psalm or hymns in the evening. His discourses were generally awakening, drawn from the justice, holiness & terrors of the law, of repentance, faith & holy love & obedience to God on the plan of the Gospel. There were several seasons of serious awakenings among the students, & the people of the society, & of hopeful conversions & a number of both were admitted into the Church. Of the latter, myself was one. From a child my conscience was tender and fearful of doing wrong, & I had been in the habit of prayer & attention to the word, & thought I had great pleasure in religious duty. My hope & confidence in former knowledge & experience was however much shaken by Mr. Wheelock. He perceived my anxiety & conversed at times alone with me in his study, & I now humbly hope his instructions were divinely blest. I read the books of pious instruction, the lives of the pious Mr. Halliburton, President Edwards, D. Brainard & others to edification. Mr. Wheelock advised me to join the Church in communion which I did with several of my fellow stu- dents, between the ages of 16 & 17 years. In the autumn of 1765 I went to New Haven with three of my fellow students & was examined & admitted into the Freshman Class at Yale College then under the presidency of the

David McClure 9

Rev. Mr. Clapp. My class recited to the president during the first winter. He was eminent in mathematics & phil- osophical science & esteemed a good scholar in universal learning. He was plain & simple in his manners & in his dress & address. His government partook rather of aus- terity than mildness, & age ' probably had made him less indulgent to the foibles of his pupils. He was severe against those who had once offended & easily imposed on by those who were disposed to conciliate his good will or flatter him. In the Spring of the Year the prejudices of the scholars ran to such a height that a petition to the Corporation for his dismission was signed by all the classes. The Corporation met & the president resigned his Office.8 He died the next year. His death was sup- posed by many to have been hastened by the mortifica- tion of a resignation & by relinquishing the regular and uniform habits which he had pursued through the long period of his presidency. Many of us of the Freshman Class were hastily, & by the overpowering authority & in- fluence of the Senior Class persuaded to the remonstrance. For myself, I was afterwards sorry, for he had been par- ticularly attentive to my Class & to me & one other, in particular, as he condescended to attend to us to hear an extra recitation about 3 evenings in the week at his own house. In consequence of the revolution at College the students were dispersed through part of the following summer, and Mr. Kirkland being about to go on a mis- sion to the Indians at Onoida, I embraced his invitation to accompany him with a view to teach a school of Indian

1 President Clap was born in June, 1703, and was therefore at this time in his 63d year.

5 The petition for Clap's removal was drawn up in February, 1766. a»d was signed by all but two or three of the students. In March the tutors re- signed, and when the Corporation met in April, College was largely deserted. Such as remained were provided with instruction, and when the Corporation next met, on July 1, the President handed in his resignation. He died six months later, on January 7, 1767.

io Diary of

Children, to obtain some knowledge of their language, & if opportunity favored to attend the course of collegiate study at Onoida with him.

July 7, 1766. — Set out from Lebanon Crank for Onoida in company with Messrs. Kirkland, Aaron Kenne,1 Te- conda a Seneca chief who came with Mr. Kirkland to Lebanon not long before,3 & three Indian lads. We tar- ried several days at Col. Butler's 3 near the seat of Sir William Johnson,4 rode once or twice to his house. Sir William lived in elegance. There saw a number of In- dians to whom his steward liberally gave provisions & rum. Dined with Sir William who was very hospitable & social. He walked lame in consequence of a musket ball which lodged in his thigh at the famous battle of Niagara in 1759 when he obtained the victory over an army of French & Indians commanded by Baron Dies- kaw.6 The ball had worked down & lodged in the mus- cular parts of the knee. He had a very handsome Indian Concubine, said to be the sister of Joseph Brant. By her he had several likely looking children.8 About this time

1 Aaron Kinne had graduated the previous summer at Yale, and had since been studying under Mr. Wheelock. He died in 1824, after a long life of useful ministerial labor.

2 Samuel Kirkland had spent upwards of a year (from January, 1765) as a missionary among the Senecas, in Western New York, returning to Leba- non seven weeks before this. He was ordained in this interval.

3 For an engraving of the residence of Colonel John Butler, in what is now Fonda, see Lossing's Field-Book of the Revolution, i, 285.

4 Johnson was born in Ireland in 1715, and came to America in 1738 to superintend an estate purchased by his uncle in the Mohawk valley, some thirty miles northwest of Albany. A few years later he built a handsome residence in the same vicinity, in what is now Johnstown, Fulton County, where he lived in intimacy with the Indians, speaking their language and ac- quiring a greater influence among them than was ever acquired by any other white man.

B This happened at the battle of Lake George on Sept. 8, 1755, when Johnson was in command as Major-General. In recognition of this service he was made a baronet in November, 1755.

6 Two sons and six daughters by her are remembered in his will. Cf. Stone's Life of Johnson, ii, 496-97.

David McClure n

he sent a son that he had by another squaw named Wm. Johnson to Doctor Wheelock's School. Col. Butler had a son (Walter) at Mr. Wheelock's School. He was a sprightly boy. In the revolutionary war, he, & the In- dian son of Sir William, before mentioned, were active partisans against the Americans, & both died or were killed.1 The Inhabitants of this country were Dutch, & great part of them tenants & very ignorant. Near Col. Butler's, was a stone church, in which however the people rarely assembled for worship. They had no settled min- ister in that part of the country. The Dutch minister at Albany occasionally visited them, to baptize their chil- dren. The low state of religion may be inferred from the following circumstance. Near Col. Butler's lived a worthy dutch farmer who was a Justice of peace & Deacon of the church. I was treated with great hospitality at his house. The Rev. Mr. K. & myself one day spent the afternoon with him & took tea. Deacon Canine in- termixed profanity with his conversation which was im- perfect english. The next day I was at his house, he asked me who it was I had with me there, the preceed- ing day. When I informed him that it was a clergyman from New England he said, " I am devilish sorry / did swear, for I think it is wrong to swear before the Domine." On my return to Col. Butler's some months after, Mr. Chamberlain,1 missionary to the Indians, happened to be there & 5 or 6 Dutch heads of families came to have their children baptized ; they brought a company of God-fathers & God-mothers, & Mr. C. declining to baptize them, unless the parents, instead of God-fathers, would take upon them

1 For the discreditable career of Walter Butler and his father, see Sabine's American Loyalists, 2d ed., i, 278-80. The father was responsible for the Wyoming massacre in 1778, and the son for the Cherry Valley massacre later in the same year.

2 Theophilus Chamberlain, B.A., Yale, 1765, who was ordained for mis- sionary work at Lebanon before his graduation, and remained among the Six Nations in Central New York for two years.

12 Diary of

the solemn vows of bringing up their children in the know- ledge of God & the practice of religion, they took offence & after much altercation in their own language, among themselves, they all departed, without the ordinance. Having received much kindness from Col. Butler & fam- ily we set out for Onoida. We passed through the fine country of the german flatts,1 & the upper settlements of the Castle of the Mohawks called Cagnawaga. From the German flatts we had a wilderness of about 40 miles to the place of our destination. This then uninhabited country is now (1805) popular & opulent, & commonly called the White'stown Country. Night overtook us be- fore we could get through. We groped in the darkness, among the trees to find the path. Mr. Kirkland, who had lived a considerable time among the Indians, late in the evening said he believed, we were not far from an Indian encampment, as he smelled smoke. He hallowed or yelled, in the indian manner, several times, & was an- swered by a corresponding yell forward. We proceeded & soon discovered a light. We came to it, & found an Indian & his squaw & one or two children ; the woman & children lay on boughs of trees around the fire, covered with blankets. The man was sitting before the fire, roast- ing, upon sticks stuck in the ground, a small animal that appeared like a Racoon. Weary & sleepy I was about to wrap myself in my great coat & lie down to rest. But Kirkland observed that it was contrary to rules of Indian politeness for strangers to encamp where females slept at the same fire. Taking a burning brand we went some rods distant & kindled a small fire, principally as a defence against swarms of mosquitoes & a very small fly, called gnat. I passed the night without much sleep. A wide branching tree protected us from the dew. After returning thanks

1 A township, still having the same name, and including the town of Ilion, in Herkimer County, 15 miles southeast of Utica ; the first settlers were Germans from the Palatinate, about 1723.

David McClure 13

to God for his protecting care of us, we looked up our horses & set forward early in the morning & reached an Indian town ' about 6 miles from the place where we had lodged. This town was called the Old Onoida Castle & contained fifteen or 20 log houses & bark houses. The Indians there had always shewn an aversion from attempts to Christianize them. We entered a house in which we were entertained with hospitality, perhaps from the expec- tation of receiving presents, which we bestowed at our de- parture. We carried some small articles of provisions with us, with which we refreshed ourselves. I was agree- ably surprised to see the squaw of the house pour from a tea pot some tolerable tea for our breakfast. We let our horses loose & stung & tormented by the large fly, they ran furiously in all directions. My horse seeing the door of an Indian house open, to get clear of his bloodthirsty enemies rushed into it. I immediately followed & caught him & found the women & children within in a great fright. I apologized for the intrusion & they answered in their language, which was as unintelligible to me, as mine to them. The aversion of the human heart to the holy religion of the Saviour, has been strikingly evidenced by the Indians of this town, in their rejection of repeated offers of missionaries & School masters. They chose to remain in pagan darkness. The Onoida resided princi- pally in two towns about 10 miles apart. That to which we were going, cordially accepted Mr. Kirkland's offer to instruct them. They had been before taught by protes- tant missionaries, particularly the worthy Messrs. Barcley & Ogilvie,2 & before them by romish priests from Canada. July 23. — We arrived at the upper castle or village of

1 In the present township of Kirtland.

2 The Rev. Henry Barclay (B.A., Yale, 1734) served as Missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Mohawks from 1736 to 1746. The Rev. John Ogilvie (B.A., Yale, 1748) succeeded him from 1750 to I75g.

1 4 Diary of

the Onoidas called Canawahrookhahre.1 It contained about 40 dwelling houses of bark or logs. The Indians received us with kindness. Mr. K. conversed with them in their language. There was a small church made of hewed logs, in which they met on the Sabbath, & Mr. Kirkland after preaching a few Sabbaths by an interpre- ter, preached in their own language. I began to learn their language, & by Mr. K.'s assistance, we formed a kind of grammar of it. The conjugation of verbs through moods and tenses is somewhat in the manner of the He- brew. The persons of the verbs are distinguished com- monly by the change of a Syllable at or near the beginning of the word. Ex.

Wah-wah-tu-vat-hah : I am going a hunting. Wah-jah-tu-vat-hah : You are going a hunting. Wah-hat-tu-vat-hah : He is going, etc.

Plural. Wit-tu-wah-tu-vat-hah, We are going a hunting. Wit-tu-jah-tu-vat-hah, Ye are going, &c. Wit-tu-hat-tu-vat-hah, They are going a hunting.

Like the Greeks, their verbs have the dual number. The

5 nations speak different dialects of the same radical lan- guage. The Tuskarora language is different. Soon after my arrival I opened a school & kept it in the Church. It consisted of about 20 children & youths of both sexes from 6 to 20 years old. They appeared fond of learning

6 made as good proficiency, as the same number of white children would, who were equally ignorant of the first ele- ments of language. They soon learned the letters, espe- cially the elder ones, & to write & combine syllables in spelling. The Rev. Mr. Barcley, formerly missionary, had translated into Mohawk several chapters of the Old & New Testament, a catechism & devotional hymns,

1 In the present township of Vernon, Oneida County, 15 miles west of Utica4

David McClure 15

printed in a bound volume.1 Good Peter,3 who was after- wards one of Mr. Kirkland's Deacons, had learned to read it. He was a good singer & on the Sabbath at worship read the lines, & the Indians united in the psalmody. The advantage of learning the Indians the English was princi- pally that they might be able to read that book in their own language. I was treated with respect & kindness by the Indians, & was not a little pleased with the orderly behaviour & good proficiency of my little pagan pupils. While teaching them English I acquired from them a knowledge of the Indian names of things. I was once a little alarmed by the rush of an Indian mad with rage & rum into the Church, while I was engaged in teaching. He came up to me & seemed, by threatenings & his wild gestures about to offer me violence. My Indian Children were terrified & began to run out. I ordered them back to their seats. I was apprehensive that the Indian had a knife under his blanket. While considering how I should defend myself from the rage of the wretch who I had never seen before, nor ever knew the cause of his wrath, if any cause, but the instigation of the Devil, . . . providentially, a stout young Indian came hastily to my relief, & coming behind him clasped him in his arms, & after some struggling forced him out. At another time, at midnight, in the absence of Mr. K. an Indian lad being with me in the house, a drunken Indian burst open the door & came in, but offered no violence. The miserable condition of the savage state appears in the

1 This description does not correspond to any known existing volume. A translation (by L. Claesse, Interpreter) of the English Liturgy, Catechism, and several chapters of the Old and New Testament was printed in New York in 1715 ; and reprinted, without the chapters from the Bible, at Boston in 1763. The only similar volume in which Dr. Barclay is known to have been concerned was not published until 1769, and this, like those just named, contained no hymns.

2 His miniature is in the Yale Art School, painted by John Trumbull in 1792, when he visited Philadelphia with other sachems for a conference with the government.

1 6 Diary of

dreadful disorders which their uncontrolled passions produce without the necessary restraints of law & gov- ernment.

Aug. — Rode with Mr. Kirkland to Fort Stanwix about 13 miles. There were a few soldiers there under the com- mand of a british Lieut'. The Fort was in a decayed condition.1 On our return the darkness of the night stopped our journey. There was no path. A new path had been marked by the Indians, by cutting the bark of the trees. We groaped after the marked trees until about 1 1 o'clock, when we came to a fire, around which lay five Indian men. They were the unfriendly Indians of the Old Onoida Castle. Mr. Kirkland conversed with one of them who was awake & had answered the calls or the yells which Mr. Kirkland had made some time before we reached this encampment. Mr. Kirkland did not seem well pleased with the company. The sleeping Indians were sheltered by a bark covering from the dews. Ob- serving a vacancy between two of them, I wrapped myself in my great coat & lay down with my feet to the fire. As there were no females in the encampment, the ceremony of kindling a fire by ourselves, was dispensed with. I awoke & found an Indian up & supplying the fire with bark. They offered us no insult, although they appeared not pleased with our company. A little after the day dawned, we mounted our horses & arrived home in safety. Not long after we had a similar adventure in returning from the same place, when we slept on the ground with- out shelter, near a dry tree that was burning on the ground.

After passing some time very agreeably at Onoida, with Mr. Kirkland & having experienced much respect & kind- ness from the Indians & particularly from the aged Widow of the late Sachem of the Onoida, who adopted me for

' Built in 1758, under the direction of General John Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, on the Mohawk River.

David McClure 17

her son & desired me to call her Mother, I set out the last of November, 1766, to return to my studies at Lebanon. An Indian young man Joseph Johnson of Mohegan & member of the school came with me to the German Flatts. We were not able to reach the settlements before the darkness came upon us. We stopped at a place where there had been an Indian encampment & striking up a fire, we rested for the night, the next morning we rode about six miles & came to a house where we got refresh- ment & Joseph returned to Onoida, to take the care of the School, which I had began there.

The night following, I lodged at the house of a Dutch farmer in the lower part of the German Flatts. His house was small & his barn was large & full of Wheat & Hay. At supper the family which was numerous, were seated around a large table, in the center of which was a wooden bowl full of boiled milk & bread & a spoon for each of us. The head of the family, Wife & children made a pause before they began, the Man took his cap from his head & appeared to be asking a blessing, & each one was engaged in the same devotion. We all dipped our spoons into the same great bowl, & I made a com- fortable supper. The manners of the family & mode of living seemed to bare a resemblance to the simplicity & hospitality of the patriarchal Age. In the morning I pre- sented the Landlady with a pair of scissors which I had in my pocket book, for the trouble of entertaining me, with which they were pleased.

I overtook an Irishman on foot, to whom I offered a led horse which I had taken to accommodate an Indian boy that I expected to go with me from the Mohawk Coun- try to Mr. Wheelock's School. We travelled together & his conversation was pleasing. He appeared to under- stand the scriptures & repeated several devotional hymns. Towards evening we parted. He had 15 miles to go to reach his home, which was on the waters of the Susque-

1 8 Diary of

hanna. Confiding in his honesty, although a stranger, I lent him the horse, on his promise to send him the next morning to the place forward on my road, which I pro- posed. The next morning I found the horse returned agreeable to his promise, & felt thankful to find an honest man, whom I had obliged, among strangers.

Dec. St/i. — After a long & uncomfortable journey, I ar- rived with a Mohawk boy at Lebanon & was kindly bid welcome, by my honored patron.

As advantages for the pursuit of classical & mathemat- ical studies were good at Lebanon, it was thought best for myself & classmates Avery & Johnson ' to spend the winter at the School. Mr. Woodward, afterwards pro- fessor at Dartm? College 2 was our Tutor.

1767. June. — I returned to join my class at Yale Col- lege. Mr. Dagget, Professor of Divinity, was appointed President, pro tempore.' At our examination, the Presi- dent was disposed to be a little humourous, and said, " McC. as you have been among the Indians & studied their lan- guage, I will examine you a little into your progress in that branch of science. What is name of River, in the Mohawk? " I could not instantly recollect it, but thought the name for water would answer, which I well remem- bered, & accordingly gave it, which I should not have done, had I not known that he knew nothing of the lan- guage. He replied, " that is right." To one or two more questions I gave answers, some right & some no doubt wrong, & neither President or Tutors could correct it.

Sept. 23. — After commencement returned to Lebanon. Went to Boston with Elijah Peck. Oct. 21. — Returned to Yale College with classmate D. Avery. 1768. Feby. 14. — Came to Lebanon, pursued my studies there under Mr.

1 David Avery (see above, p. 6) had a long and influential career in the ministry, dying in 1818. Samuel Johnson became a minister, but early joined the Shakers, and died in New Lebanon, N. Y., in 1835.

2 Bezaleel Woodward, B.A., Yale, 1764.

3 He held this office from October, 1766, to March, 1777.

David McClure 19

Woodward.1 Sept. 9. — Levi Frisbie a & myself returned to College. Resided at College the Senior year. My room mates were Nathan Strong, now D.D., Phineas Fanning, Levi Hubbell.8 1769. Sept. 13. — Took my first Degree at Yale College. By the appointment of my Class, I delivered the Valedictory Oration previous to our departure to prepare for the Commencement.4 De- fended a Latin Syllogistic Thesis, at the Commencement. About this time, the Colonies came into a non-importa- tion agreement oi goods from Great Britain in consequence of the Stamp Act & other arbitrary acts of the British parliament. The Class agreed with 3 or 4 dissensients, to appear in home made clothes at the Commencement.5 We were put to some difficulty to obtain all the articles of american manufacture. Inspired with a patriotic spirit, we took pride in our plain coarse republican dress, & were applauded by the friends of Liberty.

On my return to Lebanon, Dr. Wheelock was pleased to commit to my care Moore's School, in which I contin- ued until the School removed to Hanover. Part of my time was taken up with the School accounts.

Sept. 21, 1769. — Set out for Boston with J. Wheelock & Ripley.6

1 See page 163. [Author's note.]

2 Frisbie spent his senior year at Dartmouth College, graduating with the first class there in 1771.

3 Dr. Strong was pastor of the First Church, Hartford, Conn., from 1774 to his death in 1816 ; Fanning, of Riverhead, L. I., died in 1796 ; Hubbell, ■of Sherman, Conn., died in 1773.

4 At this time, and for a hundred years later at Yale College, the senior class finished its work some weeks before the public commencement. An oration delivered before the class at this time, by one of their own number selected by his classmates, was long known as the Valedictory Oration ; but for the past century has been called the Class Oration.

5 A result of the policy of non-importation agreements which came in vogue in 1767 in response to the Townshend Revenue Acts.

6 John Wheelock, Dr. Wheelock's second son, and Sylvanus Ripley, who married his youngest daughter, were both members of the first graduating •class at Dartmouth College in 1771.

20 Diary of

28. — Messrs. John Wheelock, Elijah Peck & myself, hired a pleasure boat to sail to the Castle.1 The weather was pleasant & we sailed on 9 miles to the Light House. Soon after we came round Light House Island, the sun set. We came near running on a Rock on which the sea violently dashed its waves. The night overtook us & we wandered about among the Islands, guiding ourselves by the stars, as the Lights were hidden from us by the Is- lands. About midnight we ran the boat ashore at High Water, on Thompson's Island. We found a house where we lodged on a blanket on the floor. We waited for our boat to float until 1 1 O'Clock. Walking over the Island, we saw the bones of Indians jutting from the banks which the sea had washed away. The Islands of this harbour were once inhabited by numerous Indians. We set sail & soon after we had turned the point of the Island, we were overtaken with a N. E. gale. The sea ran high, & finding we could not get up by the ship channel, we steered for the back channel, between the Castle & Dor- chester, but the sea beating in upon us & the wind rising, we stood before it, & run the boat up amidst the roaring surges on the wild beach of Dorchester point. As soon as the boat struck, we jumped into the water & were car- ried along by the surf to the shore. By the force of the waves, our two mast boat was soon partly bedded in the sand. After drying ourselves at the first house, we walked 6 miles round to Boston.

The next day I went with the owner to get the boat up to Boston ; but a storm of wind arose like that on the pre- ceeding day, & he was obliged to leave his boat ; with much difficulty & danger he got her round the point, into a cove, & I walked again through Roxbury to Boston. The next day he went again in another boat, & they all arrived in safety. We had great experience of the good- ness of God, in our preservation in this adventure, & es-

1 A fortification, on Castle Island, where Fort Independence now stands*

David McClure 21

pecially as neither of us were skilled in the management of a boat, indeed myself was the only one of the three, that had any knowledge of it, & mine was very imperfect. Our friends in Boston were exceeding anxious for us.

Our pleasing prospects in the amusements of youth are oftentimes clouded with disappointments & sorrows.

Oct. 2. — Went from Boston to my Uncle McClintock's in Greenland N. H. rode to Portsmouth & Exeter. In this latter place lived my two Brothers Samuel & James McClure & Sister Jane. Visited my aged Grandfather McClintock in Medford & with Mr. Ripley returned by the way of Providence to Lebanon.

16th. — Began the School, the vacation being ended 1770 April 15. — Doctor Wheelock preached his farewell sermon to his people, on the dissolution of his pastoral relation to them, by an ecclesiastical Council, in conse- quence of his appointment of President of Dartmouth College. His text, 2 Corinthians 13, 11, Finally, Brethren, farewell : &c.

April 20. — Began to hear the recitations of the Fresh- men & Sophomore classes.

May 7. — Vacation in the School. Mr. Avery & I went to Norwich to his father's ' & made a visit to Mr. Oc- com of Mohegan,2 where we tarried one Night, treated with great hospitality by Mr. Occom, who preaches to the small settlements of Indians round about, to accept- ance, & is very useful to them.

28. — Began School. It consisted principally of three Classes, viz. 1st. Waters, Bradford, Kendell & Porter, in the ^Enead & Greek Testament. 2nd. Hutchinson, Curtis, Crosby, Wright, Judson, Fowler, Conant & Mosely in

1 John Avery, Jr., of Norwich West Farms, now Franklin, Conn.

2 Rev. Sampson Occom, a Mohegan Indian, who was ordained as a Pres- byterian minister in 1759, and visited England in 1766-67 on behalf of Wheelock's school. He lived in the Indian village of Mohegan, in the present township of Montville. See Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, iii, 192-95.

22 Diary of

Erasmus & other preparatory authors. 3rd. Eleazar & James Wheelock, Collins & Averit l in Latin Grammar, Corderius &c & several Indian boys in reading, arithme- tic, writing & grammar.

In consequence of the Royal Charter given to Dr. Wheelock for a College,2 to be established in New Hamp- shire, the students in the School & some who had been admitted members of Yale College, were examined, Sept. 4th, 5th & 6th and admitted into Dartmouth College in classes, according to their respective qualifications. Ad- mitted, 5 seniors, 2 Juniors, 5 Sophomores & 4 Freshmen, besides these there were 16 students in the School. From this small beginning arose Dartmouth College.

Sept. 10th. — I went to New Haven to collect some sub- scriptions which had been made to the School, & which were still unpaid. Preparations made for the removal of the School to Hanover.

18. — Dr. Crane3 arrived express to delay the setting out, on account of the unprepared condition of the place. He arrived too late, Dr. Wheelock had set out.

I continued at Lebanon a few days to settle some School Account. Mr. Kirkland & Thomas, an Indian & Deacon of his Church arrived from Onoida. Disappointed in finding Dr. Wheelock gone, he went on to Boston, & put himself under the patronage & pay of the Boston Board. Dr. Wheelock was not a little grieved at this movement. There was some misunderstanding between them.4 Mr.

1 Waters, Kendall, Porter, and Wright were graduated at Dartmouth in 1774 ; Judson, Hutchinson, and Collins in 1775 ; Curtis and the Wheel- ocks in 1776. Fowler, Mosely, and Everett were graduated at Yale in 1775, and Conant in 1776.

2 By Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, on Dec. 13, 1769.

3 Dr. John Crane, a friend of Wheelock's, who became the physician of the new settlement.

4 In the Life of Kirkland, by his grandson, in Sparks's American Bio- graphy, xv, 218, this is supposed to have been due, in part at least, to the indiscreet behavior of Wheelock's son Ralph, who had been associated with the mission, and subsequently became insane.

David McClure 23

K. thought himself neglected ; but perhaps he did not make sufficient allowance for the multiplied business & cares, in which Dr. W. was engaged at that time.

Mr. Kirkland afterwards visited Dr. W. at Dartm? Col- lege, & they signed articles of friendship & agreement,1 & after praying together mutually forgave. But Dr. W. could never be reconciled to his continuing under that Board.

Oct. gt/i. — Set out in company with Dr. Crane for Han- over. Lodged at Rev. Mr. Bliss', Ellington,2 & breakfasted with Class Mate Hale, Long Meadow,3 & 14. Reached Hanover.4 The appearance of all things was new & wild. A few log houses had been erected for the accommoda- tion of Dr. Wheelock & family. Several Nights we slept on the ground by a fire, sheltered by a few boards, from the nightly dews.

Major R. Wheelock & Mr. Woodward appointed Tu- tors, by the board of Trustees, who had met at Keen,6 & I still continued in Moore's School. It consisted of 3 Classes in the languages, & several in english. I kept it in a large log house, near the center of the present green.

1771. Aug. 28. — Was held the first Commencement in the boarded frame of a building intended for the students.6

1 October 30, 1771.

2 Then a parish in East Windsor, Conn., and about eighteen miles north- west of Dr. Wheelock's. The minister was the Rev. John Bliss, B.A., Yale, 1761.

8 Nathan Hale (Yale, 1769) lived just north of the Connecticut line, per- haps eleven miles from the Ellington parsonage. He died in Goshen, Conn., in 1813.

4 About 120 miles north of Longmeadow, along the banks of the Connec- ticut. This site had been chosen for the new college in July, — being con- venient to the river, as near the Indians as any other site, and favored by generous subscriptions from neighboring settlers.

5 Oct. 22, 1770. Ralph Wheelock, eldest son of Dr. Wheelock, was graduated at Yale in 1765, but did little in the tutorship on account of fail- ing health ; his commission as major in the New Hampshire militia was not secured until 1774.

6 For a full account, see Chase's History of Dartmouth College, i, 230-33.

24 Diary of

The occasion was honored with the presence of his Excel- lency John Wentworth, the Governor's father, Mr. Moody of Dummer's School 1 & a number of gentlemen from Portsmouth, Exeter &c. It was pleasing to see the soli- tary gloom of the wilderness give place to the light of science, social order & religion.

Sept. 3. — Set out to journey to Boston &c. with Messrs. George Wheaten & John Wheelock. Spent 1st Sabbath at Lebanon Crank — Avery joined our company. 2d Sab- bath at Norwich Landing. Monday at Rev. Mr. Eells' a at Stonington. Tuesday I went to Newport. Attended at the Jewish Synagogue in the evening, & the next day to see & hear their worship & ceremonies. It was a high day, the celebration, as I was informed, of the Delivery of the Law at Sinai. Their worship was solemn, consisting in reading, chanting & a variety of ceremonies of which I could not understand the meaning.

Attended a sacramental Lecture at Dr. Styles' Church.3 Dined by invitation with Capt. Trevet, an acquaintance of my father, & took tea with Mrs. Toppan a friend of my mother's. Removed from this my native town, in Child- hood, I was happy to find any friends of my parents, & by them was treated with much respect & kindness.

Having appointed to meet my company at Providence, whom I had parted with, to make a short excursion to my native town, left Newport, & arrived at Boston ; my brother Wm. sailed for Quebec about two hours after my arrival.

Kept Sabbath in Boston & preached for my very worthy friend & father Mr. Moorehead. Mr. J. Wheelock

1 Samuel Moody (Harvard Coll., 1746), first Master of Dummer Acad- emy, Byfield, Mass., from 1763 to 1790.

2 Nathaniel Eells (Harvard Coll., 1728).

8 Ezra Stiles (Yale, 1746) was then pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Newport, afterwards President of Yale College. In his MS. Diary, Wednesday, September iSth, he mentions Mr. McClure's visit.

David McClure 25

& myself went to Salem. Lodged at Dr. Whitaker's,1 from thence to Exeter, Portsmouth & Greenland. Kept Sabbath at the latter place, & preached for my Uncle McClintock.3

Set out to return to Dartmouth College ; at Rochester N. H. found Esq. Pierce 3 of Portsmouth going to Wolfsbor- ough ; we accompanied him to Wentworth House, a new & elegant seat of the Governor's.4 Found him & his Lady there & some of their friends from Boston. There we tarried till the next day. We sent our horses round through Tufftenborough & sailed over Smith's pond & Winnepesogah Lake, which is about 15 miles in length, & enjoyed the wild prospect which the lofty banks & thick woods around its borders, presented. The prospect was sometimes a little diversified with the appearance of here & there a log hut & some small improvements. We arrived at Center harbour at the W. end of the Lake, just at the time of the arrival of our horses. We then made the best of our way, which was rough & solitary, to the eastern part of the township of Orford, & from thence di- rected our course, by a path which had been lately marked out to the College 6 : but the darkness of the night shut down upon us, among the lofty pines, & we were necessi- tated to take up our lodging under a tree, without fire or

1 Nathaniel Whitaker (see above, p. 6) removed in 1769 from Norwich to the Third Church in Salem.

2 In the summer preceeding, Dr. Wheelock alone authorized me to preach, & my first appearance as a preacher was before him & the College in the Hall of the Old College. No association or Presbytery at that time existed, in those parts. [Note by the author.]

3 Daniel Piece, one of the original Trustees of Dartmouth College.

4 John Wentworth (Harvard Coll., 1755). The Governor's house was on the east side of Smith's Pond, which communicates with Lake Winnepe- saukee ; it is commonly said (e. g., in Wentworth Genealogy, i, 537) to have been built in 1773.

5 Centre Harbor is about forty miles due east from Hanover ; but the road led them northwest to Orford, the next town but one (about eleven miles) above Hanover on the Connecticut River.

26 Diary of

refreshment. The night was cool & rainy, & to us a dis- mal night. The dawn of morning discovered to us the path, & following it, arrived at the College, at early break- fast. We found no other inconvenience in our lodging on the ground in a cold rain, than a slight cold. Youth & health can endure fatigues, that would destroy the feeble & aged.

The winter of '71-2 I passed at College, part of the time attended the School, or heard the Freshman Class & kept the School & College accounts. Theological authors & expositors of the Scriptures also engrossed my time. I preached in sundry towns & settlements near the College, particularly Plainfield, Lime &c.

Doctor Wheelock having received a communication from the Synod of New York & Philad? informing that there appeared a prospect of introducing Christianity among the Delawares & other Indians on the River Muskingum, & requesting that two missionaries would go to be under the pay & direction of the Board of Correspondents1 in New Jersey, Mr. Levi Frisbie 3 & myself offered to go. We accordingly accompanied Dr. Wheelock to Hartford, Conn, at which place a Committee of the Synod had ap- pointed to meet April 25, to confer on the plan of the intended mission & to concert measures for the more ex- tensive spread of the Gospel among the Indians. The Committee were the Rev. Dr. Charles Beatty — Rev. Messrs. John Brainard & Elihu Spencer." Mr. Spencer came, the other gentlemen were providentially detained. The prospects, by Mr. Spencer's representation were inviting. Though the hostile aspect of Indian affairs a few years after disappointed the hopes of the worthy Dr. Spencer & the friends of religion in general.

1 Of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge.

2 See above, p. 19.

3 Mr. Beatty, of Neshaminy, Pa., died in Barbadoes on Aug. 13, 1772. Mr. Brainerd, a brother of David Brainerd, was graduated at Yale in 1746, and Mr. Spencer was a classmate ; both were zealous in missionary labor.

David McClure 27

1772, May 20th. — Myself & Mr. Frisbie were ordained at Dartmouth College to the work of the Gospel Ministry. It was a solemn day. Rev. Dr. Wheelock preached on the occasion from Luke 12, 42. "And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over all his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season ? " The following ministers composed the Ordaining Council : Rev. Messrs. E. Wheelock D.D., Edon Burroughs, Bulkley Olcott, Rev. Mr. Powers.1 To those distant & savage tribes beyond the Ohio, no missionary from New England had ever gone ! Messrs. Beatty & Duffield a few years before had visited them by appointment of the Synod of Philad* to find if there was a prospect of Christianizing them, & the report which they made was favorable to the attempt.

The Sabbath preceding our departure I preached in the College hall & at the close delivered a short valedictory address, which was answered immediately after sermon, by an affectionate reply by professor Woodward, in the name of the Congregation, replete with benevolent wishes for our success & prosperity. Our patron Dr. Wheelock was present. The scene was solemn & impressive. Dr. Wheelock proposed that " besides a daily remembrance of one another at the throne of divine grace, we should spend a special season, viz. on Saturday & Sabbath even- ings between the hours of 6 & 7 O'Clock in prayer to God, for his protection, gracious presence & blessing upon our mission, & on all the labors of Missionaries to spread the knowledge of the true God & Saviour among the heathen." The students & all concerned in the College & School, cheerfully came into the solemn agreement.

1 Mr. Burroughs (Yale, 1757) had lately been dismissed from a church in Killingly, Conn., and had come to Hanover in March as a candidate for settlement as pastor; Mr. Olcott (Yale, 1758) was pastor of the church in Charlestown, N. H., some forty miles to the southward ; and Mr. Powers (Harvard, 1754), of Haverhill, an equal distance to the northward.

28 Diary of

June igth. — We departed from the College,1 and as there was some reason to expect, that we might have the company of Mr. Occom of Mohegan, who was acquainted with the language & manners of the Indians to whom we were going, we passed through Connecticut & called upon him & lodged at his house. He was desirous to go with us, but his domestic & other concerns prevented. He was very friendly & serious in conversation. At our depart- ure he walked a little way with us, & at parting gave us the benediction of the pious patriarch Deuteronomy 33, 16. May the blessing of him who dwelt in the bush, be with you /'

Leaving Mohegan, we set out for New Jersey, to see the Rev. Mr. Brainard, whom we expected to accompany us, to introduce the Mission to the Indians. We passed through New London & Lime, & crossed the ferry at the Mouth of Connecticut River, & tarried a day or two at New Haven in the agreeable society of some of my college friends, who resided there.

Kept Sabbath at New York, visited Rev. Dr. Rogers heard him & his Colleague Mr. Treat,3 preach. Spent a few days there & was at Elizabeth town the Sabbath fol- lowing. We preached for Mr. Caldwell. Here we tarried two or three days, & received our Commission from Mr. Caldwell, the Secretary of the Board of Correspondents of the Society in Scotland for propogating Christian Knowledge. Lodged at the house of Judge Livingston (afterwards Governor of the State during the revolution- ary war)/ A literary & very respectable character. He was, at that time, building an elegant seat, in the border

1 An abstract of the Journal of this mission, written by Mr. McClure, was printed in Wheelock's Continuation of the Narrative of the Indian Charity- School, 1773.

2 See page 165. [Author's note.]

3 Rev. John Rodgers was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York from 1765 to 181 1 ; Rev. Joseph Treat was co-pastor to 1784.

4 William Livingston (Yale Coll., 1741).

David McClure 29

of the town. His study was ornamented with tables of astronomical & philosophical calculations & maps attached to the walls around. Very sensible in conversation, he united gravity with a pleasant vein of humour. His writ- ings in defence of the civil & religious liberties of Amer- ica, & his able administration, give him an exalted rank among the most eminent of her early & decided statesmen & patriots.

The Rev. James Caldwell was an eloquent & popular preacher, active & enterprizing in business. He had a numerous young family of children, & a most worthy & amiable Wife. The melancholy & tragical death of these respectable heads of a promising family, will long be remembered. He was wantonly shot by an american Centinel in the revolutionary war, while he was perform- ing an act of kindness & humanity ; & she suffered the same fate, from the hands of a british soldier, in her own house, with a babe in her arms & her children around her.1

July 16. — We arrived at the Rev. John Brainard's at Brotherton* & tarried with him about a Week. He lived in a small house, himself & Lady & one daughter, in the border of an Indian Village. We preached to the In- dians, in a small church at Mr. Brainard's request ; & in a week day to a settlement at Little Egg Harbour. Near to which we lodged at the house of Esq. Clark, both him- self & Wife were pious people. She was a native of Ire- land.3 They treated us with great hospitality. The country here is a poor pine barren, with here & there some good land. The soil abounds in iron sand Ore. The

1 Mr. Caldwell was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth from 1761 to his death in 1781 ; the drunken soldier who killed him was hung for wilful murder.

2 The present Indian Mills, in Burlington County, about thirty miles southeast of Philadelphia.

3 For Elijah and Jane (Lardner) Clark, see Brainerd's Life of John Brainerd, 480-81.

so Diary of

principle dependence of the people is on the iron works, which are carried on largely in the country around.

We found that there was no prospect of our having the company of the worthy Mr. Brainard, to Muskingum. The reports which he had from Indians, from that quarter, were very unfavorable. Some murders of Indians by the whites, & of whites by the Indians, had, it was said, taken place, at or near Pittsburgh, & that the Delawares at Muskingum, appeared hostile. In consequence of these reports, previous to our arrival, Mr. Brainard went to Princetown, to advise with as many of the Board of Cor- respondents as reside about there, & it was the opinion of some, that it would not be advisable for us to proceed to Muskingum ; others were of opinion, that it would be best for us to make the attempt, & get as near the Indians as we could with safety, & wait on the frontiers, until the prospect should be inviting, & in the interim, preach to the new & destitute settlements.

We were at a loss what were the pointings of provi- dence, relative to our duty. As several gentlemen of the Board of Correspondents lived in Philadelphia, Mr. Brain- ard was so obliging as to go with us there, to consult with them. Mr. Samuel Smith, an aged respectable Mercht. & formerly of Boston, kindly invited us to his house. Rev. Dr. Sproat, Dr. Rush, Dr. Morgan, members of the Board met there, & on the whole advised us to go to the Susqua- hanna, to that branch of the Delaware Indians who resided on the western waters, & to tarry with them, & from them, the probability was that we should soon obtain such in- formation, as should enable us to determine whether to pursue the first object of our mission. The body of the Delawares lived on the Muskingum, to which they re- moved many years ago, from the Susquahanna, by leave of the Six Nations or Iroquois, who claimed that country, by the conquest of its former inhabitants, the Catawbas.

Kept Sabbath at Philad% preached half the day for

David McClure 31

Dr. Sproat.1 Some friend of our mission, was pleased re- spectfully to notice in the public papers, our arrival in Philad* on our way to the Indians, on the Ohio. Having received Letters of introduction to sundry gentlemen on the way, from Dr. Allison, Dr. Sproat, & others, & a pass- port & recommendation from his Honor Governor Rich- ard Penn, we left Philadelphia with an expectation of proceeding up the Susquehanna. We arrived at the Rev. Dr. Smith's at Paqua, who had an academy of pupils, pre- paring for College & for preachers. Was much pleased with his amiable piety, zeal & hospitality. He had a son at that time a Tutor in New Jersey College, now (1805) the celebrated President of that respectable institution,2 from whom we had letters. We proceeded on to Lacock & lodged at the Rev. Mr. Woodhull's.3 His situation was pleasant ; he was much respected, & a useful Minister. He occasionally preached to a small congregation of Pres- byterians in Lancaster, to which place (9 miles) he accom- panied us, & introduced us to his friends. We spent the Sabbath at Lancaster & preached. An occurrence hap- pened which shews the strict observance which the Jews pay to their Sabbath.

We had an order for a sum of money from a gentleman in Philad*, on Mr. Abraham Simons, a jew merchant in Lancaster. We arrived on Friday, & intending to leave the town on Monday, we waited on him Saturday Morn- ing & presented the order. He said, " Gentlemen, to day is my Sabbath & I do not do business in it, if you will please to call tomorrow, I will wait on you." We ob- served that the same reason which prevented his payment

1 The Rev. James Sproat (Yale Coll., 1741) was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1768 to 1793.

2 Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, President of Princeton College from 1794 to 1 8 12. His father, the Rev. Robert Smith, lived in Pequea, Lancaster County, Pa., sixty miles west of Philadelphia.

3 John Woodhull (B.A., Princeton, 1766) was pastor at Leacock from 1770 to 1779-

32 Diary of

of the order on that day would prevent our troubling him the day following. We apologized for our intruding on his Sabbath, & told him we would wait until monday. He replied, you are on a journey, & it may be incon- venient to you, to wait. He went to call in his Neigh- bour, Dr. Boyd, & took from his Desk a bag, laid it on the table, & presented the order to the Dr. The Doctor counted out the money & we gave a receipt. The Jew set looking on, to see that all was rightly transacted, but said nothing, & thus quieted his conscience against the rebuke of a violation of his Sabbath ; but I thought he might as well have done the business himself, as by an agent.

The Jews in general are said to be very strict & punc- tual in the observance of some of the traditionary cere- monies of their law, but hesitate not to defraud, when opportunity presents. Like their predecessors, the Phar- isees they tythe mint, annis & cummin & neglect the weightier matters of the Law, as Judgment, mercy & faith. They strain at a gnat, & swallow a Camel. Lan- caster is the largest inland town on the Continent.1 It is situated in the center of an extensive valley, & is an excel- lent soil for wheat. Limestone abounds in this State, & some farmers begin to manure the ground that has long produced that golden grain, with this invigorating stone. They have kilns in their fields, in which they burn it.

The people of Lancaster are principally emegrants from Germany & talk their native language. There are houses of public worship for the Lutherans the German Calvin- ites — the Presbyterians — the Episcopalians — the Roman Catholics, each one. The Lutheran's the largest. Some Moravians & Jews.

In this place we became acquainted with the minister of the Lutheran Church, Mr. Henry Helmutz. He spake

1 It contained about 5000 people at the first United States census, in 1790.

David McClure 33

english very intelligibly & sustains the character of a pious, laborious & zealous preacher.1

He was a young man, had a wife & one Child. Was educated in the famous Orphan House of Halle in Sax- ony, as I was informed, on the charitable funds of that Institution, founded by the great & good Augustus Franke. He informed me that the motives of his coming to America were the following. The Rev. Mr. White- field, famous for his wonderful zeal & labours both in Eu- rope & America, wrote to Mr. Francke informing him that there were numerous settlements of Germans in Pennsyl- vania, who were destitute of learned & pious teachers, & requesting that he would send to him, in England, two pious persons, & he would introduce them into a field of useful labour, in that part of the Vineyard. He, (Mr. Helmuts) & another offered to go. They arrived in Eng- land & waited on Mr. Whitefield. His first address a little alarmed them. He said, " Young men are you going to America, to preach the Gospel ? Ah ! you will find that the Devil has got there before you ; — but he im- mediately added, Jesus Christ is there too." "We found it so," said Mr. Helmuts. Soon after his arrival at Lan- caster, it pleased God to pour out a spirit of awakening among the people, particularly the large congregation of the Lutherans, of whom he was minister. It was a new & strange thing, among a people seemingly altogether absorbed in worldly pursuits & pleasures. They daily resorted to him, inquiring what they should do to be saved. The work spread, & was deep & genuine. The principal men of his Congregation came to him, & told him that it was the work of the Devil, & he must suppress it. He told them that it was the work of God, & he must encourage & promote it. Their rage was incensed against

1 Dr. Helmuth (born 1745, died 1833) remained in Lancaster from 1769 to 1779, and went thence to Philadelphia. See Sprague's Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, ix, pt. 1, 51-54. 3

34 Diary of

him, & they threatened to dismiss him. He was constant in his attention to souls under conviction, in preach- ing, prayer & conversation. The opposition grew more violent, as the work of God increased in the town. In the freedom of conversation, he mentioned that in the troubles which he met with from enraged opposers, he used to go to God in prayer for light & fortitude, & found it at times hard, to say " Thy will be done."

Mr. Helmuts proposed to the gentlemen in opposition, that they should meet & confer on the important subject. They accordingly met at the School House. The leaders were filled with rage against him. With Christian meek- ness, he said, that they needed divine light & direction from heaven, in the momentous business on which they had met, & that if it was agreeable, he would address the throne of grace ; & wonderful was the effect ! The spirit of God came down upon them, & they who had nashed upon him with their teeth, when prayer was ended, with tears cried out, Sir, what must we do to be saved? Then, he observed that the work of God in the town, went on gloriously. Some effects of it, were very visible while we were there. I heard him preach on Sun- day, a third Sermon (in german) to a very numerous audi- ence, in his large Brick Church. They were solemn & attentive. From the affinity of languages, I found his text was in Jeremiah 23. 29. " Is not my word like as a fire ? saith the Lord ; & like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" His manner was pathetic, affectionate & im- pressive. The music was solemn. With the Organ ' & other instruments of music, the voices of the whole con- gregation seemed to unite. — The minister's salaries in this place are collected by contribution. The mode of collect- ing was new to me.

At the close of public worship, about 6 men, each with a small black velvet bag fastened to the end of a 1 At this date organs were of extreme rarity in American churches.

David McClure 35

long staff presented the bag which had a small bell sus- pended at the bottom to each person in the long pews or slips. The tinkling of the bell gave warn'g of the ap- proach of the little purse. The contribution was speedily

finished. 1142959

In this town we saw two Indian traders, who had lately- returned from the Scioto & Muskingum ; who informed, that the Indians in that quarter were now peaceable & friendly, & that the body of the Delawares, who lived on the Western Branch of the Susquehanna,1 to whom we had thought of going, were removing into the Muskin- gum country, by invitation of their indian brethren, & were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Etwine,3 Chief of the Moravians in Bethlehem. This intelligence determined us to relinquish our journey up the Susquehanna, & to pursue our route to the Ohio.

At Lancaster we put up at the house of Mr. Hall, Gold- smith, his wife was a Switser, a pious & sensible woman.

August 3. — Monday morning we left Lancaster & ar- rived at the house of the Rev. Mr. Roan 3 of Donnegall, to whom we had letters. A worthy sensible man. Some years ago, itenerant preachers were prohibited from preaching in Virginia. There was in some parts of it, a serious concern among the people, & Mr. Roan, who has the character of a zealous Boanerges, ventured to go & preach in the fields, to numerous audiences. Officers were sent to apprehend him, in the midst of his preach- ing; they were struck with his undaunted countenance & the majesty of his subject, & returned without executing their commission.

We left Donnegall, & coming to the Susquehanna could

1 In Bradford County, Northeastern Pennsylvania.

2 John Ettwein, afterwards bishop, born 1721, died 1802.

3 John Roan. See Sprague's Annals of the Atner. Pulpit, iii, 129-30. He ministered to three churches of this neighborhood from 1745 to 1775, his residence being in the present town of Mount Joy, Lancaster County.

36 Diary of

find no boat to cross it, nor house nigh. The River was low, & about half a mile wide. A man passing by, told us that we might ford it. I set out & Mr. Frisbie fol- lowed. It was a long & dangerous ride. The River rapid & the bottom stony & uneven. My horse often tripped, & the water came up to the Saddle. I fixed my eyes on the opposite bank, & kept a strait course, when I ventured to look on the water, could see the fish swim- ming around me ; through a good providence we got through, wet & weary. In the evening we arrived at the Rev. Mr. Duffield's,1 6 miles from Carlisle. He received us with great kindness. Mr. Duffield rode with us to Carlisle to Col? Armstrongs, to obtain further information on Indian affairs. The Col? is a sensible & pious man, having great & deserved influence in the town & coun- try. Mr. Duffield & he married Sisters."

In the french war, after Braddock's defeat, & the numer- ous disasters which happened to our forces on the fron- tiers, a bold & hazardous expedition conducted by Col° Armstrong against the Indians, providentially turned the tide of success in favor of the Colonies. He headed a party of about 300 men & came by surprise upon a con- siderable town of Indians called the Ketanning on the Allegany river, & killed a considerable number, & burned the town. This bold stroke mightily alarmed the enemy, & kept them at a distance from the new settlements.

The town of Carlisle is a considerable place of trade, principally with the western country & the Indians. It contains two presbyterian Houses for public worship.

A species of the Bohea tea grows spontaneously in the woods. The people manufacture & use it. It resembles the imported Bohea in taste & flavor.

1 The Rev. George Uuffield (Princeton Coll., 1752), then settled over the united Presbyterian churches of Carlisle, Big Spring, and Monahan (now Dillsburg).

* Mrs. Duffield was a sister (not sister-in-law) of Gen. John Armstrong, of Carlisle, the hero of the French War (born 1725, died 1795).

David McClure 37

We returned to Mr. Duffield's. Mr. Frisbie being un- well, tarried with him, & Saturday Mr. Duffield accom- panied me a few miles on the road to a vacant settlement, called the Big Spring, where I proposed to spend the sabbath & wait for Mr. Frisbie's arrival. Notice of my intention had been forwarded to the people. I put up at the house of Allen Leper elder of the Church.

9. — Sabbath went to the place of worship. It was a large log house. The congregation being great, I preached on a stage erected in a large shady grove. The people sat on the ground which was covered with verdant grass. The Assembly was solemn & attentive. They seemed all to unite their voices in psalmody. They sang the old Scotch version & all on the tenor. The Clerk read the lines. There was much solemnity in the sound of the high praises of Jehovah, in their united & elevated voices. When a boy, my mother informed me that she had a brother (John McClintock) who was settled in Pennsyl- vania. But I knew not the place of his residence. After sermon, I was agreeably surprised, to see my aunt & her Children come to me & ask my mother's name, they cor- dially shook hands, & after the evening service I went home with them, & found my aged uncle alive & well. With them I tarried several days, not a little thankful at finding in that distant country, such near & kind friends. At our departure, they loaded us with refreshments on our journey over the Appelachians mountains, whose majestic summits we had seen many miles back, & were now not far from the foot of the first of that vast chain of lofty hills.

Aug. 11. — My aged Uncle, who treated me with the affection of a father, rode with us about 13 miles, to the Rev. Mr. Robert Cooper's l at Shippensburgh. A sensible, good man.

1 Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Middle Spring, in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, 1765 to 1797. See Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, iii, 270-73.

38 Diary of

Aug. 12. — We set out from Mr. Cooper's, & in two hours arrived at the foot of the North mountain l which is the first of the Appalachian. We passed through McCallister's gap. The road was dismal. It was a hollow through the mountain about six miles, rough, rocky & narrow. It was a bed of stones & rocks which probably the waters falling from each side had washed bare.

In about 2 hours we passed through the gap, having walked almost the whole way. On the western side, the descent into Path Valley was steep & stony, & so contin- ued more than a mile. Leading our horses down, they came near falling upon us several times. The dismal gap was made a little pleasanter, by some company going the same way, which we parted with after coming into the Valley.

The inhabitants of this country, many miles around, are Scotch Irish. They are presbyterians, & generally well indoctrinated in the principles of the christian relig- ion, civil, hospitable & curteous to strangers. This de- scription of people are removing almost daily into this country. Great numbers, within a few years, have come from Ireland.

The road which we came through McCallister's gap, is 20 miles nearer than the waggon road south by the way of Fort Loudon.2

The land in Path Valley is good & well watered ; we lodged at the house of Mr. Elliot, & in the morning set out for the Tuscarora mountain, the foot of which was about 3 miles from Elliot's. The ascent was steep & rocky : descending the western side, we had a fine pros- pect of an extended valley running N. & S. & some culti- vated farms. At 8 o'clock in the evening we arrived at a

1 Now called Kittatinny, or Blue Mountain.

s Built by order of the Earl of Loudoun, Commander-in-chief of the Brit- ish forces in America, in 1756, one mile from the present town of Loudoun, and thirteen miles west of Chambersburg.

David McClure 39

Mr. Bird's, at Fort Littleton.1 Here was a small guard of british soldiers, principally for the purposes of carrying dispatches from Fort Pitt to Philadelphia &c, the village contained only 3 or 4 log houses.

The next morning we left the valley & passed over an- other mountain called Sidling Hill, & about noon came to Junietta River.2 In 1755, here was a small garrison com- manded by Lieu? Wood, which was taken by the Dela- ware Indians. The sufferings of Esq. Wood in captivity, he related to us not long after, at his house in Bedford.

13. — Arrived at Bedford,3 & received with hospitality by Esq. Wood, to whom we had a letter from Mr. Duf- field. (If leisure permits, some particulars of the remark- able captivity of Esq. Wood will be mentioned at the conclusion.) — Bedford lies in an extensive & fertile valley.

The next day we rode across the Valley, & had before us the sublime prospect of the Allegany mountain, which we soon began to climb. It is the largest of the Appa- lachian, & usually gives name to the whole range.

Before we encountered this largest Mountain, we pur- chased, at the house of a hunter, a quantity of excellent dried Venison, at the cheap price of 3d. per cwt. This mountain is 1 1 Miles over. In some parts so steep, that we were necessitated to hold by the tails of our horses & let them haul us up : this mode, however, though less laborious, was not so safe as climbing without this expedient, as we were exposed to be wounded by the stones, which their feet threw back upon us. Arriving at the summit, we were agreeably surprised to come upon a verdant plain, about half a mile in width, & what was more wonderful, a fine stream of water running from North to South, through the middle of the plain. We bathed in the refreshing

] Built in 1756. The name is perpetuated in the town on that site, now in Fulton County,

- The Raystown branch of the Juniata.

3 Bedford is about fifty miles due west from Shippensburg, which they left the morning of the day before.

4° Diary of

stream ; & so tame were the little fishes, that they came fearless to my feet & nibbled at my toes. Happy little creatures ! In your secluded brook, your jaws never felt the torturing pain of the fisherman's hook, nor were you ever pursued by any fish of prey.

We regaled ourselves with our dried venison & other refreshments, which the kindness of friends had afforded us. Our horses also enjoyed the place by ranging & feed- ing at large. To the Northward of us the Allegany rose higher, & from that elevation, we concluded, the brook received its source. From this elevated plain we had an extensive prospect of mountains rising behind each other, from the West, North about to the East, the most distant appearing like blue clouds in the Horizon. Here,

" Hills peep o'er hills & Alps on Alps arise."

From the course of the waters which issue from this majestic range of mountains, it seems that the Tuskarora which we have passed is the most elevated ground, be- tween the Atlantic, & the waters of the Ohio ; for from the eastern side of that mountain, the streams run to the waters of the Chesapeake, & from the west pay their trib- ute to the waters which form the Ohio, enlarging as they advance, & finding their way through the gaps of the Mountains. The eastern side of the Allegany is steep, but the western descends with a gentle slope.

Ascending it, we encountered & slew two Rattlesnakes. One had II & the other 8 rattles. They were not dis- posed to be hostile, until we attacked them. We de- scended, & at the setting of the sun came to the house of a Mr. Millar, 25 miles from Bedford, where we lodged, The growth of the mountain are different kinds of oak, Chestnut, Walnut or Hickory, Wild Cherry, Sassafras, Honey Locusts & some maple. Before our arrival at Millar's, met 15 horses carrying cannon balls from Pitts- burgh to Philadelphia.

David McClure 4 l

Aug. 15. — Saturday morn'g ascended a steep hill, & de- scending a valley, came to Stoney Creek. Met 2 soldiers express from Fort Pitt, to Gen. Gage, to know the desti- nation of 5 companies of british soldiers, which have lately arrived from Fort Chartres. Rode to McMullen's 9 miles, & to McClee's 1 mile further, where resting awhile, we began to ascend the Laurel Hill, which is as deserving of the more exalted name of mountain, as several of its fellows, it is about 9 miles over, although not so steep or high as the Allegany. At our ascending it, there came on a tremendous storm of thunder & a deluge of rain. Wet & weary at sunset, we arrived at Ligonier,1 and put up at the house of the widow Cambel's. From Wednesday morning to Satur- day evening we have been clambering mountains, the most of the way, was through a zigzag or serpentine horse path ; & rejoiced in the divine protection which had brought us hitherto. The country before us was plain & fertile, about 50 miles to Pittsburgh, & about 130 miles from thence to Muskingum.

16. — Sabbath, We preached in the house of Mrs. Cam- bel to the people of the settlement, who live in 20 or 30 log houses. Capt. Arthur St. Clair2 resided there, who treated us with polite attention. Dined with him on Mon- day. His wife was a Miss Bethun of Boston. They had a number of pretty children. He said that the settlement in the valley of Ligonier consisted of about 100 families, principally Scotch & Irish : that they had purchased a parsonage for a minister & subscribed £100, Currency, Salary, & wished to obtain a settled Clergyman. Baptized a child of Thos. Gray's, by the name of Jonah. Capt. St.

1 The present town of this name, in Westmoreland County, is on the site of Fort Ligonier, built by General Forbes in 1758.

2 St. Clair, afterwards Major-General U. S. Army, and Governor of the Northwestern Territory, had acquired a large tract of land at Ligonier, partly by a grant from the King for his services in the French War. He married, about 1760, Phcebe, daughter of Balthazar and Mary (Bowdoin) Bayard, of Boston.

42 Diary of

Clair has 4 or 5 soldiers under him, principally for the purposes of expresses.

Here saw a Benjamin Sutton, a great hunter & trav- eller among the Indians. He informs us of 17 tribes of Indians, on the waters of the Ohio, one of them, he says, are Mohegans. He also said that he had been in a town of white Indians, descendants of the Welch ; that they shewed him a Welch bible carefully covered with skins, which they venerated as a precious relict of their fathers ; but none of them could read it ; & that they lived far west of the Mississippi. But Sutton's character for veracity I found was not well established.

Aug. 18. — Crossed the Laurel hanning,1 a pleasant stream which runs through Ligonier, & rode to Col. Proctors. Here we found Kiahshutah, Chief of the Sen- ecas, on his way to Philad? & from thence Sr. Wm. John- son's, who, as his interpreter Simon Girtya informed us, had sent for him, relative to a treaty held some time ago at the Shawaness towns. He was dressed in a scarlet cloth turned up with lace, & a high gold laced hat, & made a martial appearance. He had a very sensible countenance & dignity of manners. His interpreter in- formed him of the business on which we were going. I asked him his opinion of it. He paused a few moments, & replied that he was afraid it would not succeed ; for said he, "the Indians are a roving people, & they will not attend to your instructions ; but take courage & make trial. The King of the Delawares & the warriors are now at home, & you will see them." He also mentioned that there was a minister at Kuskuskoong, on Bever Creek, & that one half of the Indians were offended with the other for hearkening to him.

1 Now written Loyalhanna, a corruption of the Indian name.

2 Born in Pennsylvania in 1741 ; afterwards a noted Indian interpreter, and infamous as instigator of the savages during the Revolution ; died 1818. See Butterfield's History of the Girtys, 1890.

David McClure 43

From Col. Proctor's we travelled with an intention of lodging at Mr. Irwine's. We arrived a little before the setting of the Sun, at his house, but found he had re- moved, & the house empty. The next house was 1 1 Miles distant, & the road was through a wilderness. We proceeded on and were overtaken by darkness & rain, our horses frequently wandered from the path, about II O'Clock we passed through a cleared field, near to which Col? Bouquet fought the Indians, in a bloody battle 1764.1 Wandering on we came to the house of one Byerly a Dutchman. We intreated admittance, but he refused to let us in. We proceeded on & crossed Bushy Run, the banks were mud & mire, the stream up to the horses bellies, & such was the darkness that we could scarcely see the water. By good providence we got safely through & soon arrived at another Dutchman's, one Tegart. We knocked at the door & awoke one, who held a conversa- tion with us, while the rain was pouring down. At first he declined letting us in, alleging that the house was full of indian traders from Pittsburgh &c. At last we wrought a little upon his humanity, & he unbared the door.

It is strange that there should be so wide a differ- ence in point of hospitality, between the Germans & the Scotch and Irish of this country. The former will put themselves to no trouble to oblige you, & expect a re- ward for every service, the latter, we found cheerfully shewing us any kindness which we needed, without any other reward, except the satisfaction of obliging a stranger. Around the dirty room of the Log house lay asleep and snoaring, a number of men. No bed or bedding was to be had. We persuaded the fellow who let us in, to make up a fire, we were obliged however, to bring in the wood, & we partly dried our clothes. He also brought us two dirty blankets, & spreading them on the muddy

1 The Indian attack on Col. Henry Bouquet's expedition, near Bushy Run, took place on Aug. 5, 1763.

44 Diary of David McClure

floor, before the fire, we lay down supperless to try to sleep. But such swarms of fleas from the blankets at- tacked us on all quarters, that sleep refused us its oblivi- ous soothing comforts. The Dutchman, with a beard an inch in length, sat on a block in the corner of the chimney place smoaking his pipe, & to while away the tedious hours, I asked him to relate over the battle of Col? Bo- quet with the Indians, not far from that place : & he told a long & blundering story, & retired leaving us to our own reflections & tormentors. We quitted our un- easy couch at dawn & got our horses. The Landlady arose & looking at us, made an apology for our coarse accommodations, & charged nothing for our lodging. We rode about 2 Miles to Mr. Lion's, & got refreshments. From thence passing near the field where Braddock was defeated, reached Elliot's. Mr. Frisbie's horse tiring, we walked most of the way from Elliots to Pittsburgh, 7 miles.

ARRIVAL AT PITTSBURGH

Aug. 19. — Arrived at this place about sun set. The first object of our attention was a number of poor drunken Indians, staggering & yelling through the Village. It is the headquarters of Indian traders, & the resort of Indians of different & distant tribes, who come to exchange their peltry & furs for rum, blankets & ammunition etc.

Aug. 20. — Waited on Major Hamilton, who at present commands at the Fort, he being unwell desired us to call the next day. We put up at a Mr. Sample's.

21. — Waited on the Commandant, shewed him our Cre- dentials & passport from the Governor.

He & the officers treated us politely. The officers here are Maj. Hamilton, Major Edminston, Capt. Fowler, Capt. Shea, Lieuts. Richardson, Douglas, Pridieu, Piety, Ensigns Blackwood & Hand of the 18 Regiment.

The Fort is a handsome & strong fortification. In it are barracks & comfortable houses, one large brick house, called the Governor's house. It stands at the point of land formed by the junction of the Allegany & Monon- gehala rivers, on an extensive plain. Adjoining are a good Orchard & gardens.

The Village is about \ Mile distant, & consists of about 40 dwelling houses made of hewed logs & stands on the bank of the Monongehala ; opposite on the south side of the river is a hill of several miles in length, running parallel & extending to the bank, which appears to be a body of stone coal. A smoak issued, in one place, from the top. It took fire accidentally a year past, & has

45

46 Diary of

formed a small bason by the caving of the earth. The coal is used by the inhabitants.1

21. — Rode to Col? George Croghan's, about 3 miles & dined. He is a Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He politely offered to send a Belt of Wampum & a speech to the King of the Delawares by our Interpreter ; we thanked him for the friendly offer. Saw many of the honey Locust trees. The fruit is a flat pod which con- tains a sweet sap or juice. The body & limbs are de- fended by long & sharp thorns. The fruit when ripened by the frost, falls off.

22. — Our Interpreter waited on Col? Croghern & re- ceived the Belt & speech. Dined by invitation with the Officers in the Fort.

23. — Preached at the request of Major Hamilton, in the Fort, to the Garrison about 200, who were paraded under arms, during divine service, & to the inhabitants of the Village. The greater part of the soldiers had lately ar- rived from Fort Chartres on the Mississippi,3 & had not heard a sermon for 4 years. In the afternoon Mr. Frisbie preached in the Village. A great part of the people here make the Sabbath a day of recreation, drinking & pro- fanity. Providentially, near Pittsburgh, we found a chris- tian Indian, who engaged to be our Interpreter. His name was Joseph Pepee,' of the Delaware nation. He had just arrived in the vicinity, with about 50 families who were removing from the Susquehanna to Muskingum, as al- ready mentioned. Pepee was an aged man, & one of the christians of the late pious & laborious David Brainard's Congregation. He proved to be a sincere & faithful &

1 One of the earliest known references to the use of anthracite coal in America. Cf. Magazine of American History, v, 452-53, and Magazine of Western History, xiii, 271-73.

8 In Randolph County, Southwestern Illinois. Surrendered to the Eng- lish by the French in 1765, and abandoned in 1772, being undermined by the river.

3 See a notice of him in Rev. David Jones's Journals, 1S65.

David McClure 47

zealous Interpreter. He had officiated in that capac- ity for Messrs. Beatty & Duffield on their visit a few years past, to the Indians at Muskingum. Mr. John Brainard had recommended him to us, & we esteemed the circum- stance which placed him in our way, as a signal smile of providence. He was obliged to go forward with the col- ony of his countrymen to Kuskuskoong, about 55 miles, to consult upon the place where to settle. Mr. Frisbie has been unwell for several days, & I fear will not be able to encounter the fatigues of the indian Mission. His disorder is the fever & ague.

25. — Rode to Major Ward's & dined.

26. — Rode with Messrs. McCallaster & Coulter, to the house of the latter, 18 miles from Pittsburgh, with the ex- pectation of preaching there on the ensuing Sabbath.

28. — Rode with McCallaster to Joseph Hunter's, near the Yohio Geni1 River. In the evening arrived Dr. John Connolly,2 voluntier in the british service. He had lately come from Fort Chartres. Says the climate there is un- healthy, the people subject to fevers, supposed occasioned by stagnated waters on the flat & low lands of that country. There is a french settlement at the Fort, sub- ject to the english governm.

29. — Saturday, rode over the Yohio Geni to Mr. Mitchel's

30. — Sunday returned to Mr. Hunter's, 3 miles, where I preached, two sermons to a serious & attentive audi- ence. Some of the settlers here had not heard a sermon for 14 years. There was no settled minister or church or- ganized in all the country westward of the Appalachian Mountains. The people are generally presbyterians. A few illiterate preachers of the baptist persuasion, have preached about, zealous to make proselytes.

Baptized 2 child? John & Jane Mitchel. A number

1 Now written Yohogany.

2 Subsequently an active loyalist in the Revolution.

48 Diary of

of families here talk of removing to the Natchez on the Missisipi.

Monday rode to Braddock's1 field. This memorable spot is about 1 1 miles above Pittsburgh on the bank of the Monongehala. It is a gradual ascent from the bank to the top of a hill, extending about £ of a mile. Up & down this Ascent the army consisting of about 1400 chosen troops were paraded, rank & file, three deep in platoons, with intervals for field pieces. They were a fatal mark for the Indians, who lay on the ground, con- cealed by the trees. About IOOO of the army fell ; & it was not known that a single Indian was hurt. The trees in front of the army were wounded with grape shot about five feet from the ground. I got a handful of the shot from one of the trees. It was a melancholy spectacle to see the bones of men strewed over the ground, left to this day, without the solemn rite of sepulture. The fact is a disgrace to the british commanders at Fort Pitt. The bones had been gnawed by wolves, the vestiges of their teeth appearing on them. Many hundreds of skulls lay on the ground. I examined several, & found the mark of the scalping knife on all. I put one, & a jaw bone, in my portmantau, which I afterwards presented to Mr. Stewart's Museum a in Hartford. The harness of the horses remained unconsumed on the ground. A man who lives near the field of battle, & whose corn field takes in a part of it, had humanely collected a great number of the bones & laid them in small heaps. I departed from the place with serious & solemn reflections on the vanity of life, & the deep depravity of our fallen nature, the dread- ful source of fighting & war, & all the miseries that man delights to inflict on man.

1 For the best account of Braddock's defeat, on July 9, 1755, see Park- man's Montcalm and Wolfe, i.

2 The Rev. Joseph Steward (Dartmouth Coll., 1780) had a famous Museum of curiosities in Hartford, where he was also Deacon of the First Church.

David McClure 49

" Oh ! why will men forget that they are brethren ! "

Rode to Mr. Eliot's 7 miles from Pittsburgh, & bap- tized his children.

Sept. 1. — Wrote sundry Letters to friends in New Eng- land. Mr. Frisbie remains unwell. Dr. Hand,1 surgeon in the british army (Afterwards a General in the American Army in the Revolutionary war), very attentively & gra- tuously attended Mr. Frisbie, during his sickness. It was the opinion of the Dr. that it was not advisable for Mr. Frisbie to attempt going into the Indian Country. It was indeed to me very disagreeable to go without him, & to encounter the hardships of the wilderness alone, & with- out a companion with whom I could hold friendly & christian conversation.

Sept. 3 & 4. — Preparing for my journey to Muskingum. Engaged Robert McClellan to go with me as a waiter.

5. — Saturday, left Mr. Frisbie, who purposed, God will- ing, to come forward as soon as his health would permit ; & set out with Robert, expecting to meet my Interpreter Joseph returning from Kuskuskoong. Mr. Gibson rode in company to his house in Logstown,' which was the only house there, 18 miles below Pittsburgh.

Tarried at Mr. Gibson's over Sabbath. Spent the day principally in the solitary woods, in meditation & reading. Monday, my interpreter not arriving, I set out with Robert to find him. Mr. Gibson was kind enough to ride with me to a small town of Mingo Indians,3 on the N. bank of the Ohio, & to send his servant a few miles further to show us the path. The roads through this Indian country are no more than a single horse path, among the trees. For a wilderness the travelling was pleasant, as there was no underbrush & the trees do not grow very closely to-

1 Edward Hand, born in Ireland in 1744.

2 On the right bank of the Ohio, near the site of the present village of Economy, Beaver County, Pa.

3 A name for the Senecas in Ohio ; also used as an equivalent for the more general name, Iroquois.

50 Diary of

gether. We travelled diligently all day. I was appre- hensive that we had missed the path. Robert was a great smoaker of tobacco, & frequently lighted his pipe, by striking fire, as he sat on his horse, & often in the course of the day, exclaimed in his jargon, " Ding me, but this path will take us somewhere." At sun setting we arrived at Kuskuskoong,1 & found my Interpreter Joseph there. He had been detained by the sickness & death of a Grandchild. It was a neat Moravian village, consisting of one street & houses pretty compact, on each side, with gardens, back. There was a convenient Log church, with a small bell, in which the Indians assembled for morning & evening prayer. The village was full, as their brethren the Susquehanna Indians had arrived with Mr. Etwine. The name of the German Moravian Missionary stationed here is Roth.3 David Leizburgher3 is the minister of the Indians going to Muskingum. The Missionaries have their wives & families with them. They received me with great hospitality. At the sound of the bell, the In- dians assembled in the church for evening prayer. It was lighted with candles around the walls, on which hung some common paintings of Jesus in the manger of Bethlehem with Joseph & Mary ; Jesus on the Cross, & the Resurrection &c. On one side set the elderly men & the boys by themselves, & on the other the women & girls. The evening exercise consisted of devout hymns in the Indian language, & in singing they all, young & old bore a part, & the devotion was solemn & im- pressive. After singing a number of hymns, the mission- ary addressed them, in a short exhortation in the indian language, & they retired with great order & stillness to their houses. Their hymns are prayers addressed to Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, who died for the sins of

I Otherwise Kaskaskunk, or Coscosky, a noted Indian town, on the site of the present Newcastle, on Beaver River, in Lawrence County, Pa.

II John Roth, born in Russia in 1726, died 1791. 3 Read Zeisberger.

David McClure 51

men, & exhortations & resolutions to abstain from sin, because sin is most displeasing to him, & to live in love & the practice of good works, as he has given us example.

The same exercise was observed also early in the morn- •ing, of the following day. I was agreeably surprised to find so devout & orderly a congregation of christian In- dians in the wilderness, & pleased with the meek & friendly deportment of the Missionaries.

The moravians appear to have adopted the best mode of christianizing the Indians. They go among them without noise or parade, & by their friendly behaviour conciliate their good will. They join them in the chace, & freely distribute to the helpless & gradually instil into the minds of individuals, the principles of religion. They then invite those who are disposed to hearken to them, to retire to some convenient place, at a distance from the wild In- dians, & assist them to build a village, & teach them to plant & sow, & to carry on some coarse manufactures.

Those Indians, thus separated, reverence & love their instructors, as their fathers, & withdraw a connection with the wild or drinking Indians. Among other instances of the attachment & respect which the Indians shew them, I noticed the following circumstance, which my Interpreter explained.

In the morning an Indian with his gun & small pack, & his wife, came into the house of the missionary. After con- versing in a very friendly manner, the missionary affec- tionately saluted the Indian man on the cheek, shook the hand of his wife ; & the Wife of the missionary saluted the cheek of the squaw, & they departed well pleased. The substance of the conversation was as follows —

Indian. — Father, I am going a hunting.

Missionary. — How long, my friend, do you expect to be gone ? And where will you go ?

Indian. — About six weeks, mentioning the place or point of compass, he was going.

52 Diary of

Missionary. — Well, dear friends, be always mindful of your blessed Saviour, & do nothing to displease him, who loved you & died for you. Go not in the way of the wild Indians ; but if you meet them shew them much love & kindness. Be careful to pray your hymns to Jesus, every night & every morning. May God bless & prosper you, & bring you back in peace & safety."

Each family has a small, well cultivated garden, & a part in a large corn field adjoining the town. The mis- sionaries are remarkably attentive to the cleanliness of the Indians, & have caused necessary houses to be built for the conveniency of the town.

Two soft feather beds were carried to the church, where Rev. Mr. Etwine & I lodged. His conversation was pleasant. He observed that the principal object of the Brethren was to carry the knowledge of J. X. among pagans, & not to build on other's foundations, or enter on other men's labours. That they had established churches on the river Wolga among the Tarters — among the Green- landers, & on the coast of Africa &c. He observed that they were a sect everywhere spoken against ; but that he believed the great object of their society was to bring the heathen, as well as others, to the knowledge & love of Jesus. Mr. Etwine approved of our design, but said he thought it would scarcely be safe for a missionary to venture among the Indians, to whom I was going, for he had been there & found many of them much opposed to the Gospel.1

Took leave of the friendly Moravians & set out for Mr. Gibbson's, where I had left some baggage.

We came to the mouth of Beaver Creek about sun set-

1 The Life and Times of David Zeisberger, by E. de Schweinitz (Philadel- phia, 1870), states that McClure and Frisbie relinquished their project when they found the Delawares provided with Moravian teachers, and adds (p. 380) : " Ettwein, with that blunt honesty so characteristic of him, suggested that if the Scotch Society desired to aid in converting the Delawares, the Moravian Mission would accept any gifts it might choose to make.''

David McClure 53

ting, where was a village of Mingo Indians. Great part of the Indians were drunk : one of the chiefs had sold his horse for 6 cags of rum, & gave a frolic to the people ; we avoided the village, & Joseph encamped on the bank of the Ohio, & Robert & I rode on to Mr. Gibson's about 6 Miles.

Sept. 9. — I sent Robert in the morning to Pittsburgh, for a horse for Joseph. The same day Mr. Gibson arrived & informed me that Mr. Frisbie was much better, & no doubt would be able to go with me to Muskingum.

10. — Robert was to have been back to Mr. Gibson's, the last evening ; but had not arrived, & Joseph weary of wait- ing at his encampment, had come to Mr. Gibson's.

12. — Saturday, Robert not coming, I went to Pitts- burgh, partly with a view to preach there on the morrow, & principally with the expectation of finding my compan- ion Mr. Frisbie, so far recovered as to accompany me. — Arriving found that Robert, in violation of his engage- ment, had gone home, up the Monongahala, & I never saw him after. I was also disappointed of seeing Mr. Frisbie, as he had gone to a settlement 24 miles distant.

13. — Lord's Day, preached by invitation of Major Ed- minston in the Fort, & in the afternoon, in the village. The inhabitants of this place are very dissipated. They seem to feel themselves beyond the arm of government, & freed from the restraining influence of religion. It is the resort of Indian traders, & many here have escaped from Justice & from Creditors, in the old settlements. The greater part of the Indian traders keep a squaw, & some of them a white woman, as a temporary wife. Was sorry to find friend Gibson in the habit of the first. They allege the good policy of it, as necessary to a suc- cessful trade. We found, however, a happy few who live in the fear of God, & maintain their integrity, particularly a Mr. Jonathan Plumer ' & his family. He was originally

1 He emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1750. See Albert's History of Westmoreland County, 659.

54 Diary of

from Newbury port. In his family, which is numerous & laborious, the life of religion is duly maintained. The dis- sipated respect him for his goodness & benevolence ; but by way of reproach, give him the name of Solomon. He was the first man who found us on our arrival, & treated us with every possible mark of attention & kindness, in his power.

Lieu* Fowler presented me with a Vertebra of the Mammoth weighing 9 lbs & 3 ounces taken from the Big- bone Lick, near the river Kentucky ; & also a grinder weighing 4 lbs & 4 ounces, two other grinders also of that species of animals, I obtained. I afterwards sent them, in a british waggon, to Philadelphia, from whence they were conveyed to Boston.

Dr. John Connally who had visited the Lick, & brought up some bones, informed, that the place where they are found is a soft clayey or glutenous earth, which forms the head of a small stream running into the Ohio. He killed a Buffalo that had mired there, not long since. He said he had seen a traveler who had found the intire skeleton of one of those animals, about a 1000 Miles to the N. W. of the Lick, & in a direction to that part of N. America, which is most contiguous to the coast of Asia.

May we not conjecture that they came across the nar- row streight of Bhering, from Siberia, where, it is said, the same kind of bones are found? That they herded to- gether, & venturing into the Lick, for the brackish or salt water which oozes out of the ground, sunk into the bitu- men & perished ? The great body of american Indians probably found their way into this country, from Tartary, by the same streight.

Having passed the Sabbath evening with Major Ed- minston & the officers of the garrison, the Major politely waited on me to the gate, & at parting said, " You are engaged, sir, in a benevolent work, & you have my best wishes for your success. I am a Christian, & therefore

David McClure 55

please to command me in anything, in which I may serve you." I returned many thanks for his kindness.

Monday. I was much at a loss where to find an eng- lishman to go with me, & my Indian interpreter, as an as- sistant & companion : but providentially, a young man, Joseph Nickels, who was the interpreter for the garrison, & had a salary from the crown, & who had been a captive among the Indians when young, & well acquainted with all their customs, mentioned to me that it would be agreeable to him to go with me, if I could obtain leave of absence. I accordingly waited on the Commandant, & he politely gave him leave of absence, for a month. By the kindness of friends, I was furnished with a horse for him, & one for my interpreter, & another to carry our baggage, which consisted of a markee tent, (lent me by Capt. Gib- son ;) blankets, some cooking utensils & sundry articles of provisions.

DEPARTURE FROM PITTSBURGH

SEPT? 15. 1772

SET out with Nickels, & crossing the Allegany River, came on Indian ground. Arrived at Mr. Gibson's, at Logs town about 18 Miles, & found my Interpreter there.

i6tk. — Came to the Mingo village on Bever Creek. On the green lay an old Indian, who, they said, had been a hard drinker; his limbs were contracted by fits. He told me his disorder was brought on him by witchcraft, that he employed several conjurors to cure him, but in vain. I called his attention to his dependence on God, on death & Judgment. He however gave little heed ; but in answer told my Interpreter, if he would bring a pint of rum every time he came, he should be glad to see him every day. Awful stupidity ! This village is commonly called Logan's town. About half an hour before our ar- rival, we saw Capt" Logan in the woods, & I was not a little surprised at his appearence. As we were obliged to ride, as it is commonly called in Indian file, the path not admitting two to ride a breast, I had passed beyond Logan without seeing him. He spoke to my interpreter, who was a little distance behind, to desire me to stop. I looked back & saw him a few rods from the path, stand, under a tree, leaning on the muzzle of his gun. A young Indian, with his gun, stood by him.

I turned back & riding up to Logan, asked him how he did, & whether he wished to speak with me ? (I had seen him at Pittsburgh). Pointing to his breast, he said, " I

56

David McClure 57

feel very bad here. Wherever I go the evil monethoes ' (Devils) are after me. My house, the trees & the air, are full of Devils, they continually haunt me, & they will kill me. All things tell me how wicked I have been." He stood pale & trembling, apparently in great distress. His eyes were fixed on the ground, & the sweat run down his face like one in agony. It was a strange sight. I had several times seen him at Pittsburgh & thought him the most martial figure of an Indian that I had ever seen. At the conclusion of his awful description of himself, he asked me what he should do ? Recollecting to have heard at Pittsburgh, that he had been a bloody enemy against the poor defenseless settlers on the Susquehanna, & the frontiers, in the last french war in 1758, & 9, & it was also reported of him, (though positive proof could not be had) that he had murdered a white man (one Chandler) on the Allegany mountains. I observed to him, perhaps Capt? Logan, you have been a wicked man, & greatly offended God, & he now allows these Devils, or evil thoughts which arise in your heart to trouble you, that you may now see yourself to be a great sinner & repent & pray to God to forgive you. If you will repent & ask forgiveness of God from the bottom of your heart, & live a better life, the Great Spirit above will not suffer the Devils to torment you, & he will give you peace.

He attended to what I said, & after conversing a little longer, in the same strain, We left him, in the same dis- tress, as I found him. After parting from him, various thoughts, but none satisfactory, occurred to me, relative to the cause of the distress & agitation of so renowned a warrior. I sometimes thought (such was his ferocious character) that knowing of my journey, he had placed himself in a convenient spot for robbery or murder, but was disappointed, finding us armed. For my interpreter & Nickels had each a loaded piece, the Indian a common 1 Usually written manitou.

58 Diary of

musket, & the english man a rifle always loaded, for the purpose of killing game. Perhaps it was some sudden compunction, arising from reflections on his past guilt.

This same Logan is represented as making a very elo- quent speech at the close of the revolutionary war, on the murder of his family by Col? Cressup.1

We left Logan's town, & proceeded on about one mile & came to a pleasant stream of water, where we encamped. My Interpreter kindled a fire & prepared a trammel sup- ported by stakes drove in the ground, on which our kettle was suspended to boil, & assisted me to pitch the Tent. Nickels performed the office of cook, with which he was well acquainted. I spread a Bear skin & blanket for a bed, & my portmantau was the pillow. We supped very comfortably on chocolate & roast venison, & committing ourselves in prayer, to the protecting care of heaven, we lay down to rest.

The Indian chose to sleep in the open air, the english- man in the tent. I slept but little this night, being kept awake by the howling of Wolves. It was the first time I had ever heard their nightly dolorous yells. They came near our encampment ; but the sight of the fire kept them off, had they been disposed to attack us. Our horses we let go, each hav.g a bell suspended to his neck. The feed in the woods was good & in plenty.

17. — Thursday. We breakfasted, got up our horses, & about 9 O'Clock set out from our encampment. We travelled leisurely, on account of the baggage horse, who was heavily loaded, & moved slowly.

The woods were clear from underbrush, & the oaks & black walnut & other timber do not grow very compact, & there is scarcely anything to incommode a traveler in rid- ing, almost in any direction, in the woods of the Ohio.

1 See Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. It was said that Logan & his party killed & captivated 13 Americans in the revolutionary war. [Note by the author.]

David McClure 59

The Indians have been in the practice of burning over the ground, that they may have the advantage of seeing game at a distance among the trees. We saw this day several deer & flocks of Turkies. About an hour before sun set- ting we arrived at Little Beaver Creek.

On the bank of this stream, which was fordable, we had a wonderful prospect of game. In the middle of the Creek, a small flock of wild geese were swiming, on the bank sat a large flock of Turkies, & the wild pigeons covered one or two trees ; & all being within musket shot, we had our choice for a supper. My Interpreter chose the Turkies, & killed three at one shot.

We went about 3 miles further & pitched our tent, like the patriarchs, by a small stream, & our evening & night was passed like the preceeding.

Friday morning we were ready to leave our encamp- ment about 8 O'Clock, & travelled through an excellent country of land, about 18 miles & coming to a small & pleasant river, we pitched our tent about an hour before sun setting.

Saturday 19. — Our path had led us along the North bank of the pleasant river Ohio, almost the whole way from Pittsburgh, & frequently within sight of the river. The soil is luxurient, the growth principally white & black oak, Chesnut, Black Walnut, Hickory &c. The sweetest red plums grow in great abundance in this country, & were then in great perfection. Grapes grow spontane- ous here & wind around the trees. We have been favored with delightful weather. It would add unspeak- ably to the pleasantness of this solitary wilderness had I the company & christian conversation of my friend Frisbie. My Indian Interpreter Joseph Pepee, appears to be a sincere christian, but the poor man is ignorant, his ideas contracted & his english broken. Nickels is very good natured & obliging, & his knowledge of men & things no more than we can reasonably expect of one, whose condition in life has been like his.

6o Diary of David McClure

Lord's Day 20. — We attended to the exercises of prayer & reading the scriptures this morning, & about 1 1 O'Clock proceeded on our journey. As the season was approaching when the Indians go out on their fall hunt- ing, I thought it most advisable to go on, & we were in hopes of reaching the town before night. We journeyed about 13 miles to a small run of water where we en- camped, & the next day reached the town.

ARRIVAL AT KEKALEMAHPEHOONG ON THE MUSKINGUM

1772. SEPT. 21

THIS town is called New Comers town by the english, & stands on the West bank of the Muskingum,1 con- taining about 60 houses, some of logs, & others the bark of trees, fastened by elm bark to poles stuck in the ground & bent over at the top. There are nearly 100 families. It is the principal town of the Delaware nation, & the resi- dence of the king & the greater part of the Councillors. There are several small villages up & down the river. This place is about 60 Miles above the mouth of the Muskingum. Eight or ten acres around the town, are cleared. On the opposite side of the River is a large corn field, in rich low ground ; it is inclosed within one common fence, & each family has its division to plant. Some of the houses are well built, with hewed logs, with stone chimnies, chambers & sellers. These I was told were built by the english captives, in the time of the french wars.

On my arrival in the town, we had the unpleasant sight of several drunken Indians & to hear their savage yells. We halted within the skirts of the town & I sent my In- terpreter to the king (to whom I had written from Pitts- burgh) to inform him of my arrival. He sent a messenger

1 Still known as New Comerstown, in Tuscarawas County, on the Tus- carawas River, a branch of the Muskingum. The writer left the Ohio River (which here flows nearly south) on the 20th, and struck westward to his destination, which is about eighty-five miles west of Pittsburgh.

61

62 Diary of

to invite me to his house. On our way, several Indians asked my interpreter whether we had brought rum.

The king, whose name is Nettautwaleman, received me with hospitality. He is an old man, tall & active. His house is the largest, & built of small square logs. Around the walls, for beds & seats, were planks raised from the ground & covered with the hides of Buffaloes & Bears.

He sent a messenger to call his Councillors & 7 or 8 aged men came in. They sat down to smoak their pipes & converse with my interpreter Joseph, & asked him a variety of questions. The king asked me, Whether his brother king George, or Sir William Johnson had sent me ? I told him, that some Great men, whom the King had appointed for the business on which I came, had sent me.

He said, " as some of my people are drunk, & not fit to attend to business, I will hear your business tomorrow."

One of the Councillors, Capt" Killbuck,1 well known for his depredations on the frontiers the last war, came in, & taking me by the hand, very politely requested me not to give myself any concern for accommodations, for he should provide a house for me & my company : he accordingly conducted me to a log house, which was con- venient. He mentioned that they were about to be much engaged in consultations, on public concerns, but that they should attend on the morrow to my business. He ordered one of his sons to wait on me : & we attended to putting our things in order in the house, in the best manner we could. I was pleased with the hospitable re- ception, & was ready to promise myself a successful issue to my errand.

22. — Tuesday, afternoon, a messenger informed me that the King was ready to hear what I had to say, & con- ducted me to the Council House. It was a long building covered with hemlock bark, with a swinging door at each

1 Born 1737, converted by the Moravians in 1788, died 1811.

David McClure 63

end. Within the door & fronting the entrance, was the face of an aged man, carved in wood, signifying that wis- dom should preside there. There was something impress- ive in the wild & novel appearences before me.

The King & his Council, in number about 12, sat on Buffalo skins, on one side at the entrance, the warriors on the opposite, & young men & women & children occu- pied the rest of the house. The men were smoaking their pipes & conversing. The warriors were painted, & their heads & necks ornamented with feathers & strings of wampum ; & several of the men & women with silver & ivory or bone bracelets over their arms.

Two council fires were burning, & a bench placed be- tween them, on which the King's Speaker desired us to sit.

After a few minutes, the Speaker spoke a word or two, & there was instantly an universal silence.

The Speaker then said to me, " Brother, the King is ready to hear what you will say."

I then expressed the satisfaction which I felt to see the King & his people, & that the Great Spirit above had kept me on a long & dangerous journey, & given us op- portunity to meet them in peace & health. I informed them in a summary manner the nature & design of my errand — from whence I came, & by whom sent — read our commission, passport, & letters recommendatory from sundry respectable characters. Gave some account of pains taken to instruct the Indians our brethren, in the wilderness, in useful science & the knowledge of the true God & Saviour of men. I proposed to continue with them a considerable time, without expence to them, if agreeable to them, to teach them the way to happiness & to heaven. 1 conversed with them about 40 minutes, during which time, there was great attention. At the conclusion of each sentence they gave a shout of applause, crying ka-ha- lak, or Ah-nan.

64 Diary of

The Speaker said, " The King will consider what you have spoken, & will give you an answer."

The exemplary decorum, (particularly their patient & uninterrupted attention to the speaker) of an Indian Council, has been often mentioned, by those who have been spectators. One circumstance however I do not recollect to have seen noticed by writers of the history of indian manners, which is, that they give shouts of applause to what they dislike, as uttered by the speaker, as freely as they do to what they approve. They say that it sig- nifies no more than that they attend, & mean to treat the speaker with civility. Their approbation or dislike, is shown by their answer, which is not obtained from an indian council, until after long & tiresome waiting. They have no pressing business to engage attention, & can af- ford to throw away time on trifles ; & small matters are important in their apprehension, as their knowledge is very limited. In the evening some of them came to see me & I conversed with them on the things of religion. They seemed to be more inquisitive for news, & appeared to have no relish for serious information.

My family consisted of Pepee, Nickels & two sons of my host Capt? Killbuck. I had sundry of the smaller articles of provisions, & the Indians supplied us with wild meat.

I expected an answer from the Council, the next day, but was obliged to wait several days for it.

Some of the Council mentioned that they were forming a Speech to send to Sir William Johnson, to inform him that they had complied with his advice, & received the Susquehanna Indians to live in their neighbourhood.

Sept. 23. — Wednesday the Council met. They sent for me to read a letter, which they had some time pre- viously received from some Quakers in Philadelphia, dated 18th of the 5th Month 1771, respecting teachers of religion coming among them. It promises that when such shall come they will send a Certificate with them,

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that they may know that they are true men. It was re- markable that the Letter had no signature. If it was genuine, it looked as if the Quakers of Philadelphia, were ashamed to appear openly in opposition to christians of other denominations engaged in the benevolent work of spreading the gospel among the heathen. It also men- tions, that if they are inclined to receive School Masters, they will assist to support them. This Letter was written soon after the Synod concluded to send missionaries to those Indians.

The Quakers, I was credibly assured, sent a present of 100 Dollars to the Susquehanna Indians, removing to Muskingum. This was charitable, but to exclude, as far as their influence extends, from access to the Savages, all who do not carry with them, a testimonial of their appro- bation, is worse than uncharitable.

In said Letter, the Quakers call themselves the children of the Great Onas (a Quill or pen) the indian name of Wm. Penn, for whose memory the Indians have a great veneration ; & " hope that the same friendship which existed between their fathers & him, will allways exist between the children."

If this letter was genuine, as the Indians asserted, the policy of it, had its effect, for the Indians appeared to offer it as an objection to the reception of our proposal. No people on the continent have such unbounded influence over the Indians as this denomination, especially as their pacific principles, while they had the ascendency in the government, prevented the raising even a necessary de- fensive force to stop the progress of their savage & mur- derous depredations on the frontiers, in the french wars.

The King sent to me again to attend at the Council House. The speaker presented me a long letter which he had received not long since, from one David Jones,1 a

1 Of Freehold, N. J. He had already visited this region and returned the following winter. See Journal of his Two Visits, N. Y., 1865. 5

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baptist preacher of New Jersey, acquainting him that he was coming among them to instruct them, to learn their language & translate the Bible. He directs them to choose some of their great men to go with him to England next spring, & proposes a plan of government &c. &c.

The big words of this Letter writer were resented by the Council, altho' as I was afterwards informed some of them wished to go to England. The indian Chiefs who have visited there, have commonly returned loaded with presents.

In the evening the King's Chief Councillor came, & spent an hour or two with me. He said I must have patience ; that they were engaged in other important business, & would, as soon as possible, give an answer to my proposal.

One of the aged Indians, who appeared well disposed, told me the following story. " Last spring, as we have heard, an Island belonging to the English, was sunk by an earthquake. The night before the dreadful catas- trophy, a person appeared to a young man, who was a minister, informing him, that destruction was coming on the Island ; & as he had been faithful to warn the wicked, he should be preserved, because the Great Spirit above had more work for him to do ; & therefore he must im- mediately get on board of a vessell, which he did, & saw the Island sink. And when we received your letter from Pittsburgh, informing that you were coming, we believed that you was that young man, & that God has sent you to teach us the way to heaven."

25. — Friday. The Council still setting, & no answer. I seem to be loosing precious time ; but shall patiently wait their delitory forms of business. In the afternoon, got up my horse to ride to a neighbouring village, but was prevented by one of the Council, who seemed with a de- gree of earnestness to expostulate against my riding any- where, as they were, he said, consulting on my business.

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He said, they should send for me tomorrow, for they did not fully understand my speech. I rode only to the old conjuring place, where they were wont to hold their Pow- wows over the sick. It was about half a mile from town, & by the side of a branch of the Muskingum. There were half a dozen cage-like things, formed by sticking poles in the earth & bending & fastening the tops, in the conical form of a Sugar loaf. When a sick person is to be operated upon, he is put into one of them, together with large stones heated hot ; the cage is then covered with blankets or skins, & the conjuror pours water upon the red hot stones, & raises such a suffocating steam or vapour as brings on a profuse sweat upon the patient. In the meantime, the conjuror, is in & out, as he can bear it, yelling & capering & making a thousand odd gesticu- lations, & calling upon the Evil Monetho (the Devil) to help. From the hot house, he is plunged into the water, & from the water again to the hot house, as his strength can bear the operation. It is said that this summary method is efficacious to heal those disorders which arise from obstructed perspiration, & to diseases of this kind, Indians are most subject, owing to frequent exposure to cold & heat, lodging on the ground & the like. To pulmonary disorders it is fatal, as also in the small pox. This latter scourge of the human race, has swept off mul- titudes of Indians from this continent.

A little before my arrival, the grand Conjuror of this town was banished on pain of death. His crime was a failure of success in healing several who were sick. Their opinion of him was, that he had so much influence with the Devil, that he could obtain of him skill to heal those whom he wished to heal. The Evil Spirit, according to the Manechean doctrine, they believe to be the author of all natural evil. They also believe that their conjurors have the power of inflicting diseases, as well as healing. It was this opinion respecting the conjuror of this place,

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that excited the town to punish him with perpetual banishment.

I was in the Conjuror's house, it was the best built in town except the king's. A celler with stone wall — a stare case, a convenient stone chimney & fire place & closets & apartments, gave it the appearence of an english dwell- ing. Between the house & the bank of the River was a regular & thrifty peach orchard. The house was for sale, but no one would purchase it. The price was fixed as low as one dollar. Such dread have they of the secret & in- visible power of the Conjurors.

26. — Saturday Morn.g. There was a white frost on the ground. The Indians here do but little labour on the soil. One large corn field supplies the town, & in that, the women do all the labour. The savage state has always been unfavorable to the female. The superior strength of the man is used, not in protecting & lightening the burdens of the weaker sex, but in depressing them. The men are ashamed of all kinds of labour, except war & hunting, to these we may add, the building of their mis- erable houses.

If an Indian sails in his Canoe, his wife and daughter, if he has one, paddle him, where he chooses to go. When he inclines to take a wife, it is said, the female makes the advances towards courtship. Such is the pride of these lazy lords of the wilderness ! There is an air of dignity, however, and a politeness of manners among them, which is surprising to one who has seen no more of Indian man- ners than what is found among those who live among or bordering on the english settlement. They appear con- scious of their uncontrouled independence & almost un- bounded liberty.

Their government is simple & democratic. The King and Council administer just so much of it, as the people, especially the warriors, approve. They pay great defer- ence to the aged & to their opinion. The penalties of crimes

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are few, & such as have received the sanction of custom. Murder is almost the only crime that is punishable, and that the government have nothing to do with. It is avenged by one of the near kindred of the dead, who puts to death the murtherer, and sometimes it goes round, and a friend of the murderer takes up the hatchet. O deplor- able state of nature, where men are left without the re- straints of government or religion & guided, only by their passions & lusts !

I saw the unhappy effects in some instances of this in- secure state of nature. A principle of fear and distrust of each other universally prevails, for every man is the avenger of his own real or imaginary wrongs.

A little before we arrived at Pittsburgh, Eneas McKay Esq., at whose house I afterwards lodged, related the fol- lowing revenge of Indian murder having taken place there. In a drunken frolic, on an Island a few miles be- low Pittsburgh, one murdered another. The son of the person murdered became the avenger ; and happened, acci- dentally, to find the murderer of his father at Pittsburgh. He applied to the commander of the Fort for justice to be executed on the murderer; as he was, within the juris- diction of the english. The commander declined any interference. The Indian then said that if he would not execute justice, he would. With an Indian companion he returned to the murderer and told him to prepare for death. He retired into the house yard of a Mr. Hart, and after smoaking his pipe, began to sing his own death song, in a strain of dolorous and mournful melody. The avenger and his companion walked to the Piazza of Esq. McKay's house where they sat in silence, smoaking their pipes, about 20 minutes, when suddenly rising, they entered the yard, the murderer was still singing the death song, resting his head upon his hands and his arms upon his knees, when the avenger, without speaking, dispatched him with his tomahawk, and threw his body into the

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Monongehala. Although a murderer endeavors to keep out of the way of the avenger of blood, yet when he is found by him, he makes no efforts to resist, or even to escape, but peaceably submits to execution.

The frequency of murders, the sad effects of strong drink, and the sanguinary pursuits of the avengers of blood, and in some instances avengers of the death, of the mur- derers, is one great caused among many, of the rapid de- crease of Indians, especially those nations to whom our English traders convey rum. So sensible are they of this being to them the besom of destruction, that they have passed a law or decree that no trader shall bring rum into their towns ; but the cuning policy of the trad- ers has evaded the law, by committing it to the squaws that resort to Pittsburgh to carry & barter, and such is the ardent thirst which they have for this destructive liquid, that they connive at this practice.

It is not easy for a white man, used to the warm com- forts of civilized life to conceive how delicious & exhil- erating rum is, to the taste & stomach of an Indian. Living principally in the shade and damps of forests and sleeping on the moist ground, exposed to rain and cold, with slight covering to their bodies at all seasons, their constitutions are remarkedly phlegmatic, their blood cold & slow, and their animal spirits, of consequence, in an habitual state of depression, bordering on melancholy. The powerful stimulus of ardent spirits to this indolent & miserable race of men, is, therefore, most acceptable and wonderfully exhilerating. An aged physician of my acquaintance, who lived in Connecticut, and died many years ago, in younger life, went with a party of Indian hunters, far northward on a hunting expedition, and fared in all respects, in the excursion, as the Indians ; on his return home he felt an unsatiable thirst for rum, and drank such a quantity as would at another time have laid him by, yet without any unfavorable effects. The old

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gentleman used to relate the adventure, and add that he could never blame an Indian for loving rum. He con- demned them, however for the excessive use of it, as the poor creatures do themselves after they have recovered from what they call a drunken frolic. For the conse- quence of such frolics, not unfrequently, are wounds & death.

FIRST SABBATH AT KEKALEMAHPEHOONG.

These savages are ignorant of the institution of this sacred day of Rest.

I sent my Interpreter to the King, to inform him, that this day is the Sabbath of the white people, which they spent in the worship of the Great God and the instruction of religion ; and that if it was agreeable to him, I would speak to the people on religion. He sent me word, that it was agreeable. A messenger went through the town & summoned the people to the Council House.

There was much the same assembly as I found there, and the same formality as the day after my arrival. I dis- coursed to them on the nature and duty of prayer, recapitu- lated in a summary manner the things which I was about to pray for, and then prayed. In this exercise they all stood and attended with decency. I then discoursed to them, on the advent of Jesus Christ into the world, & the atonement which he made for the sins of men, by his obedience, sufferings and death. It was a brief history of the life of our Saviour & of the necessity of repentence and faith. Some were attentive and appeared affected at the representation of the passion of J. X. As the Apostles preached Jesus Christ, at their first access to the Gentiles, I thought the divinely directed example was a warrant for me to attempt the same. The greater part of the audience appeared stupid and insensible of the importance of what was spoken. They smoaked their pipes in time

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of sermon, and at the conclusion of each sentence uttered a shout of applause, according to their custom.

They gave me opportunity again in the afternoon to preach to them. My subject was the parable of the prod- igal, Luke 15, chapter. After sermon & prayer some of them asked questions, relative to what had been said. I sat down and conversed with them. My Interpreter, who appeared deeply impressed at the melancholy condition of his countrymen, conversed with great freedom, fluency & feeling on their spiritual state. With tears flowing from his eyes, he told them many solemn truths, and made an affectionate and serious application of the discourse to them. He enlarged upon what I had endeavoured to impress on them, that they were that prodigal son, and had wandered from God, and earnestly called upon them to con- sider their danger and their duty. I was pleased with his pious zeal & thought myself favored by having so faith- ful an Interpreter. After meeting he explained to me the substance of what he had said.

The Indians here appear to be sunk deep in wickedness. Every night they have held a dance. It begins about 9 O'Clock & continues almost through the night; and after the dance, it is said, there is a promiscuous cohabition among the young people. They are called to the dance by loud yells. The leader of the dance rattles a goad, in which are dried beans, and chants wild notes, beginning low & rising to a kind of scream or yell, in which all join, and keep exact time, with jumping back & forward, to the sound. The ground on which I slept trembled with their frantic mirth.

28. Monday. Mr. Freeman, a trader, arrived from Pitts- burgh, by him I received a Letter from Mr. Frisbie, and have the satisfaction to find that he has recovered his health. Wrote to him, a few days past, informing him of the un- certainty of my continuing here, on account of the hostile appearence of the Indians.

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29. Tuesday. I informed Capt. Killbuck, that if any difficulties existed in the Council, respecting my proposal, which it was in my power to remove, I should be glad of an interview. He replied that they understood my speech to them well enough, and that when they could agree among themselves, they would give me an answer.

This day some females brought about 18 Gallons of rum from Pittsburgh, employed by the traders there, to sell for them. The head men endeavoured to restrain the sale of it, but in vain. Pepee informed me that some of the head men, wished I would preach on sin, and tell them what it is. They observed that I had said, they must repent and for- sake their sins. They should be glad to know what they must forsake. I informed them that I would speak on sin, on the morrow, as it was then the close of the day.

But in the evening the fatal liquid, rum, began to circu- late through the town ; not all the authority of the King & Council, nor their former positive law to restrain it, could stop the raging thirst of appetite. It was a dark and dreadful night. May that Almighty Guardian God, who has mercifully guided me hitherto, protect me through this night !

AN INDIAN DRUNKEN FROLIC.

If to exhibit the vice of drunkenness in its odious de- formities, that their children might see & detest it, the Grecians made their slaves drink to excess and then ex- posed them to the sight of their children ; much more detestable and dreadful does that ruinous vice appear, in the intoxication of a town of savages, who have no dread of a master, or any government or law to restrain the most unbounded indulgence of this beastly vice.

By midnight the body of the inhabitants, of both sexes, were drunk. Myself and my two companions committed ourselves to God in prayer, & I lay down upon my couch,

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which was composed of a Buffalo and Bear skin. We left the door upon the latch, concluding, that if any of the drunken rout should attempt to enter, to bar the door would make them more violent. The ground trembled with the trampling of feet ; hooping, yells, singing, laughter, and the voice of rage & madness, were blended in dread- ful discord, adding horror to the darkness of midnight.

Some companies of them came successively to the door, and I expected them in every moment ; they were at times very boisterous. My Interpreter, who lay near the door, could hear their conversation. There providentially hap- pened, in every instance, to be some one among them, who dissuaded the rest from entering. This horrid scene gave some idea of the infernal regions, where sin & misery hold a universal sway.

I rose with the appearence of light, & with an Indian trader, whom I met at the door, walked through the vil- lage. The noise and uproar continued. In one place sat several on the ground drinking rum, from wooden bowls — others lay stretched out in profound sleep — some were reeling and tumbling over the green, & one or two companies were fighting, and yelling in the most frightful manner. They fought like dogs, biting, scratching and the like. I stood a few minutes near one of these fighting companies, consisting of 5 or 6.

It was a horrid spectacle. They seemed to use the most insulting language, but it is remarkable that their language is destitute of profane oaths. In the paroxisms of their rage, they broke out and swore in english, some horrid oaths & curses, using most profanely the name of God. This infernal language they, no doubt had learned from the unprincipled traders. It is said that the worst word that they can call each other in their own language, is dog or wolf, or the name of some ferocious animal.

In our walk, a fierce Indian, mad with rage came up, and shaking his fist at me, used high & threatening words, as

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the trader informed me, although he did not well under- stand him. I was a little alarmed at his threatening gestures & wrathful voice and looks, as well as the angry looks of some others of their warriors.

The men and women this morning were naked, except a piece of blue cloth, about their loins, to cover their shame. It is the nature of this shameless vice, to obliterate all sense of modesty. It is an invariable custom in their drunken frolics, for some to keep sober to prevent mischief, if possible. The duty of these wakeful guardians, is to disarm, and take the clothes of those who are beginning to drink. The arms, such as tomahawks knives &c, they secrete. They make no resistance. These watchmen however do not lose their share. They awaken some of the first drinkers who have slept away their drink, & these take their place, and then they go to drinking.

I returned to my house, & hearing that the king and Capt1? Killbuck were sober, I sent a request that they would take breakfast with me. I wished for their com- pany for personal security. They accordingly came. We sat around our table, which was a piece of plank resting on two kegs. My royal guest and his Councillor, regaled themselves with Chocolate and biscuit ; but I could not prevail with them to stay after they had finished their repast. The king expressed his sorrow at the state of the town. Kilbuck went and joined the rout.

Finding my situation in these scenes of drunkenness and madness, unsafe, I concluded to ride with my inter- preter to a village 5 miles down the river. We went to look up our horses. In my absence, the warrior who threatened me, in the morning, had procured a club, and rushing into the house, in which was only the son of Kilbuck, asked for the white man, and flourishing the club said, he came to kill him. The young Indian, to divert him from the way I had gone, directed him to pursue me in an opposite direction. Turning from the

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door, eager to find me, he was stopped by another Indian, a stout young man, called young Beaver, who wrested the club from him, which was soon also taken from him & secreted.

They were engaged in a bloody fight, at the time that I returned with my horse. The fight was in the house next to mine. By the noise and confusion within, one would imagine that a number were engaged in bloody conflict. I was ignorant of the cause until, in about 15 minutes, my interpreter arrived, and explained it.

Before he arrived, I stood attending to the noise of the affray, and young Kilbuck, just mentioned, ran out of the house to me with a long bloody lock of hair, and smiling and talking presented it to me. Not knowing what it meant, I declined receiving it, he then stuck it on the outside of my house. This, I found by my interpreter was a trophy of victory, for my friend young Beaver had just torn it from the middle of the scalp of my enemy. I then thought it advisable to stay no longer ; but with Pepee rode expeditiously out of town.

We were in hopes of finding peace & security at the village below, but in this we were disappointed. When we came in sight of it, we heard

"The sound Of riot and ill manage'd merriment."

Part of the rum had been sent to this village, and they were in the height of their frolic. We debated some time whether to go in, reluctant &

" Loath To meet their rudeness and swill'd insolence."

— Milton's Comus.

My interpreter Pepee, had a cousin living there, whom he had not seen many years, it happened while we lingered at the entrance of the village, he came up to us.

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He was sober, very glad to see Pepee, and we followed him to his house. He shewed me great hospitality. Stakes of excellent venison roasted, and some sweet squashes which he baked in the embers, wrapped in large leaves were given us. After this repast, I slept soundly on his bear skin couch. When I awoke my interpreter only was present. He said his Cousin had been absent some time. I walked about the village. About one half of the inhabitants were intoxicated. They did not offer me any injury. Pepee who was respected universally by his countrymen, was a protec- tion. Such is the fondness of Indians for dissipation, that they are building a dancing house in this small village, which will cost them more labour, than one half of the houses in it.

It was now an unfavorable time to say any thing on religion to the poor creatures of this place. A few days past, I was about to make them a visit, but was detained by the Councillors. They had manifested from my first coming an unwillingness that I should visit any of their villages, or see the country.

The Muskingum is a beautiful country. The soil is rich and deep. The land gradually rises from the river & forms extensive meadows and plains. Some places are covered with luxuriant grass, & neither tree or bush grow- ing upon them for some miles in length and breadth, & in a state of immediate preperation for the plow. I some- times paused to enjoy the prospect, and was ready to an- ticipate the speedy approach of the time, when, there would be another race of people there, who would prop- erly estimate the advantages which that country will give to its future inhabitants. When populous town & cultivated fields shall arise ; and Schools and Colleges & Churches, erected for the advancement of Science and the honor of the Saviour be seen through that extensive & now howling wilderness.

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On our departure from the village, a little distance from the path, sat a number of Indians, drinking. One of them was the host who invited us to his house. Seeing me, he came hastily with a bowl of rum, of which he had drank so much as to make him feel sprightly, and said, "here, englishman, drink rum." I said my friend, I do not drink rum, and I hope you won't drink any more. It will get into your head & make you behave bad. He replied, in broken english, " little's good, too much, bad. Come, drink, drink." My interpreter told me it would give of- fence if I did not. I tasted it, he bowed, & joined his company.

We arrived at Kekalemehpehoong, a little before sun setting. The Indians had nearly exhausted the quantity of rum. I found the king sober. He had ordered the remainder of the rum to be carried out of town, to a house about 2 miles up the river. A number were fast bound in sleep. Those who were able to walk, went along the bank of the river, following the keg of rum, which was carried in front. They made a long file, stag- gering and singing as they went. I was glad to see them depart. Among these poor savages, the Devil seems to hold an uncontrouled power. They appear to be given over to all manner of vice. To venture back among them, before they had finished the rum, especially considering what had taken place in the morning, was somewhat haz- ardous, and I should have tarried at the village, had I not apprehended that the night there might be similar to that which I had already passed. Seeing the drunkards go out of town, on our entrance, I persuaded myself that we should find rest.

Accordingly the night following, the town was still, and I slept in peace. My companions were alarmed for my safety in the evening, for I had retired into the woods, partly to avoid being seen by the Indians, and for contemplation. It was to me a consoling consideration, that God rules in the

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moral as well as the natural world ; and that he will permit the wrath of the heathen to rage no further than shall be for his glory, and the best good of those who humbly con- fide in his almighty & fatherly protection. Under the omnipotent protection of his providence, who moves the planetary worlds, and all the stars in their regular order, beauty & harmony, I felt a humble confidence, that in the way of my duty, and feeble attempts to spread the knowledge of Christ among the heathen, I was most safe ; & to God endeavoured to commit myself.

Thursday. The Indians, about 50 met in the Council House, and I preached to them with freedom, on Sin. My subject was drawn from the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans, in which the Apostle gives a dreadful cata- logue of the vices, to which the Gentiles were addicted. I dwelt particularly on the vices of drunkenness & forni- cation, which were shockingly common among those pagans. Some seemed affected with conscious guilt. One observed to my Interpreter, after Sermon, " that if all the things which I had mentioned were sins, he be- lieved that all were sinners, and no one was free from sin." Another asked him, how the white man knew what he had done, and who told him ? for said he, he mentioned all the bad things 1 have ever done, and he talked to none but me? Thus the Divine Spirit is pleased in some in- stances, to make application of the word even to a heathen, who only occasionally hears it. But this Indian shunned me ; and his temporary conviction served to make him my enemy.

They gave me liberty to preach again to them the next day. I preached to them to-day (Friday) on the deprav- ity of our nature, and sins of the heart. The audience was small and attentive. At the close, I mentioned that I would preach again the next day, Saturday, Sept. 3. Having shown them, in preceding discourses the Apostacy and pollution of our nature by sin, and the condemnation

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of sin on all men, to-day I gave them an historical account of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, his Obedience & satisfaction for sin, and the terms of pardon & life through him.

SECOND SABBATH.

Oct. 4. This day they seemed more disposed to noise & merriment, and to ramble about, than usual. With taking pains, I got about 40 to assemble in the afternoon, and spake with freedom and great plainness on some of the most important truths of the gospel, particularly on a new heart, repentence, faith and a life of religion, as necessary to happiness after death.

Some were affected and wept. In my discourse yester- day, I mentioned the necessity of their receiving the word of God, to their present and future happiness. After I had done preaching today, the Speaker, who apppears to be a very sensible and thoughtful person, said to me, " you have told us that we must receive what is in the book (meaning the bible). We believe there is one Almighty Monetho, who made all things ; he is the father of the Indians and of the White people. He loves one as well as the other. You say, he sent you that book a great while ago. He has not sent it to us. If he intended it for us, he would have let us know it, at the same time that he let you know it. We don't deny that the book is good and intended for you, and no doubt, when you want to know what you should do, you must look into that book ; but the Great Monetho has given us knowledge here, (point- ing to his forehead) & when we are at a loss what to do, we must think." The king was present and all seemed waiting for an answer. It was a deistical objection, founded in the pride of erring reason, and more than I expected from an uncultivated heathen. I spoke to him of the sovereignty of God in his gifts to nations, and to individuals. That he was under no obligations to shew

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favor to any of his offending creatures. That the will of God revealed in the bible, teaching men their duty and the way to endless happiness, was a favor that none could claim : but in his great mercy to lost sinners, he had been pleased to communicate it to one nation in former ages, and commanded them to make it known to others. That the English were one of the last of the nations, to whom it was communicated ; and that we now knowing and re- joicing in the light which that holy book, let into our minds, in all our duty, and guiding us to heaven, were desirous that our brethren in the wilderness, should know the good news which it reveals. And God had com- manded us, to convey to them the knowledge of it. To this he made no reply, but immediately started another objection, as follows,

" If we take your religion, we must leave off war, and become as women, and then we shall be easily subdued by our enemies." Having answered him, that we who embraced this religion were not subdued by our enemies, but were free and powerful ; and that by embracing & practicing the duties which the bible commands, they would be the same &c.

He again objected, "The white people, with whom we are acquainted, are worse, or more wicked than we are, and we think it better to be such as we are than such as they are."

I gave Pepee some directions in answer, knowing him capable of it. He enlarged with great zeal and ability. Among other observations, he said, " the white people, whom you are acquainted with, (meaning the traders) are no Christians ; they do not know or do the things which God has told them in the Bible. No, Christians will not receive them into their society. If you want to see christians you must go to Philadelphia. There you will see good people, who love the word of the Great God, and mind it."

6

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He then spake very solemnly & affectionately, on their deplorable state, and told them, unless they reformed, their ruin would speedily come.

" We remember, said he, that our fathers told us, how numerous the Indians were in their days, & in the days of their fathers. Great towns of Indians were all along the sea shore, and on the Rivers, and now, if you travel through that country, you will scarcely see an Indian ; but you will see great and flourishing towns of white people, who possess the land of our fathers. And we are cut off, and fall back upon these distant rivers, and are reduced to a small number. The white people increase, and we Indians decrease. I can tell you, my countrymen, the reason of this. The white people wor- ship the true God, and please him, and God blesses and prospers them. We and our fathers worshiped Devils, or them that are no Gods, and therefore God frowns upon us. And if you continue ignorant of him, when you have opportunity to know God and worship him, he will cut you off, & give this good country to a people that shall serve him. And if it shall be asked what has become of the Indians that lived here? none will be able to tell. You will be cut off, and your children as a great many powerful Indian nations have been, and none of them are left." The above is the substance of a lengthy prophetic kind of speech of good Joseph. I observed that it took hold of them. King, Councillors & warriors, who were present, hung down their heads and made no reply. A similar conversation he held yesterday after sermon. Yesterday one of the Chiefs returned from the neighbor- ing towns, where he had gone to collect their minds, relative to my continuing among them, & this evening a Council was held on the subject.

Oct. 6. Monday. After breakfast, was about to ride a few miles, to an Indian family, the friends of my Interpre- ter, but was desired by one of the Chiefs not to go. I

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perceived that my movements were watched, and that it was their intention, that I should not visit other Indians.

Today the King sent for me to his house. I found him with 6 or 7 of his Council. The Speaker, in the name of the King, delivered the following Laconic answer.

" My brother, I am glad you have come among us, from such a great distance, & that we see each other, and rejoice that we have had an opportunity to hear you preach. Brother, you will now return home & when you get there give my love to them that sent you. I have done speaking."

The prospect of being instrumental of much good to these poor & perishing heathen, was no more. I asked him, if this short answer was the result of their long con- sideration on the disinterested and benevolent errand on which I had come? And that I was very sorry that they had rejected an offer intended for their greatest good.

I conversed with them some time, & asked them what reasons, in particular, I should give to the great & good men who had sent me, for their rejection of the offer now made to them. One of them, with expressions of anger, said they did not like that the white people should settle upon the Ohio. They destroyed their hunting. That it was necessary that the friendship between King George and them, should be made more firm and strong, before they could receive the english so much into favor, as to take their religion. That when they were ready they would let us know it. I mentioned that it was our intention to have procured a school master to instruct their children, and also to furnish them some utensils for husbandry, and a grist mill, (as our worthy patron Dr. Wheelock had authorized us so to do, and for that purpose had given us blanks, for bills of Exchange, on the School's funds in Scotland,) for the pious and benevolent, among the english, were greatly desirous to promote their com- fort in this world, as well as their happiness after death ;

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and that they expected and desired no reward from them ; that the labour and expence would all be ours, and the benefits all their own. But that I was sorry that they had now excluded themselves from these kind offers of their brethren, the white people. An aged Councillor & warrior, who had never come to hear me preach, but was violently opposed to my continuance with them, was present, and appeared to scoff at these proposals. I thanked them for their civilities, and mentioned my satis- faction that I had had opportunity to speak to them, on the great things of religion, and prayed that God would make what they had heard, of lasting good to some souls. I rose and bid them farewell. Capt? Killbuck came out with me, & said he would accompany me to Fort Pitt. He, and others, appeared a little surprised at the offer of implements of husbandry. " He said, perhaps, the Coun- cil will change their minds ; and that they had prepared a lengthy speech to deliver to me, but that one who was violently opposed, spoiled it all."

From the hostile appearence of things, I had, for sev- eral days, entertained apprehensions of my personal safety,, and that I should not, after a while, be indulged the lib- erty of leaving them. The following circumstances were the ground of my apprehensions.

i. My interpreter, one of their countrymen, was ad- mitted to their confidence, & from them he received in- formation, that a War Belt had been sent to them and the Indians of neighboring tribes, informing them, that the english Colonists refused to obey the Great King of England ; and if he should send an army to chastize themr his allies and friends, the Indians, were invited to join them. The information of this early hostile intention of the agents of the british government, I received also from others. The rumor had also spread among the people of the new settlements, as I found on my return to Pitts- burgh, and some inquired of me concerning it. The per-

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son suspected of sending it, was Col? George Croghern, Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Thus early commenced the plan of subjugating the Colonies, and of calling in the infernal aid of the savages, to accomplish the work.

2. While at Muskingum, news arrived that the british troops were dismantling Fort Pitt, and were about to leave the country. The warriors could not conceal their joy at this event. The Fort had been a bridle upon them hitherto, to restrain their murders & depredations on the frontiers.

3. Some of the warriors had expressed to me their extreme resentment at the encroachments of the white people, on their hunting ground, and extending their set- tlements to the Ohio. I asked one of them, " Have not the white people bought the land and paid you " ? " Yes." — " Well, then they have a right to use it." " No ; not so," he replied " for when you white men buy a farm, you buy only the land. You don't buy the horses and cows & sheep. The Elks are our horses, the Buffaloes are our cows, the deer are our sheep, & the whites shan't have them."

This is a short specimen of indian reasoning on property.

4. Thirteen days, King and Council met, and as they pretended, on the business on which, I had come, but I found their consultations were on the subject of hostility against the frontiers. At the King's house I saw an un- commonly large Belt of Wampum, about 5 feet in length. The ground work was grey wampum. 9 diamond figures of white wampum, and a line of the same colour, running through them, from one end to the other.

I asked the King, the meaning & use of it. " He said, Sir William Johnson, has advised the nations to unite and live in peace, and this is a Belt of Union. Eight na- tions have taken hold of it, & I am going to send it to the Chipewas, who live near Lake Huron."

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Several circumstances at that time persuaded me that the proposed Union was for a bad purpose as afterwards appeared.

Such being my apprehensions, I wrote to Capt? Arthur St. Clair, with whom I had the honor of some acquaint- ance, and mentioned the circumstances that appeared to indicate the hostile disposition of the Indians. He after- wards informed me that he communicated the information to Gen. Gage, then at New York.

Tuesday 7. About to visit Waukataumaka, an Indian town about 24 miles distant ; but finding that it was dis- approved of by one of the Chiefs, I gave it up, and pre- pared for my return to Pittsburgh. Joseph Pepeesetout with his Wife, who had come for him, to go to the new moravian town, ' and I bid him, who had been my faith- ful Interpreter a long farewell. He was an Indian of good principles, temperate, and of unblemished morals. Nickels had been absent part of the time, visiting his in- dian acquaintance, for whom he had a friendship, from his early days of captivity among them.

CAPTIVES AMONG THE INDIANS.

In the town were two captives, one a female, captivated in infancy, from Path Valley, of the name of Eliot. She appeared perfectly naturalized, and conformed to the In- dian customs and dress. I saw her frequently at work with the squaws, pounding corn. She appeared to be a stout & healthy young woman. I believe she could not speak the english language, and knowing no condi- tion other than savage life, probibly was as contented as her indian companions. It is not unlikely that the fam- ily were slain when she was taken, and no friends have appeared to reclaim her.

1 At Schonbrunn, in the present township of Goshen, about fifteen miles to the northeast. Founded in the preceding August by the migration of the converted Susquehanna Indians, under Messrs. Ettwein and Roth.

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The other was a well built young man, of the name of Hamilton, who was captivated from some part of Mary- land, on the river Potomac, at the age of 9 years. He was conformed to indian manners. His head shaved & painted and his dress ornamented with beads, broaches &c. His countenance was manly and ingenious. I had frequent opportunities of conversation with him, and al- though he could talk common english, yet such was his pride of indian dignity and independence, that he would not converse, except by my interpreter. I advised him to leave the Indians and return to his kindred & friends, for he said, he believed he had a brother and an Uncle in Maryland. I conversed usually with him, in the absence of the Indians, for fear of offence. He told me, he should be glad to see his brother, & desired me to write to him, to come & see him.

I set before him the advantages of his returning to the english ; and the deplorable condition in which he would live & die, should he continue there, as to the knowledge of God, and the way to happiness. He told me he was very happy, and innumerated the little articles of his property, such as 4 or 5 horse loads of peltry, blankets &c. " And here, says he, I go and come as I please, and the King is my Uncle ; (he was adopted into the Royal family) but if I go among the white people they will make me a Slave." I assured him to the contrary, and engaged, that if he should not like to continue with his kindred, he might return. I felt unwilling that so promising a youth should be lost ; but I had despaired of success, until the morning of my departure, when he came to me, looking thoughtful, and said, " my friend, you have often advised me to return to my english friends, and now I have con- cluded to go." I encouraged him in the good resolution ; but we both thought it not advisable for him to set out until a day or two after my departure, lest the Indians, who were very fond of him, should be alarmed. He said,

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" I will see you at Fort Pitt," and bade me farewell for a little while. To finish the story here. A few days after my arrival there, I had the pleasure to see him. He fol- lowed me after two days. Providentially, his brother, happened to be in the frontiers of Pennsylvania, and heard of his arrival and hastened to Pittsburgh. He took him to a store, and clothed him in english dress ; but he still re- tained so much of the Indian as to paint his face & head with vermillion and black. I told him, I hoped he would now go and live with his friends, who loved him, & would always be kind to him. He said he should not go to live with the Indians, but thought it was likely he should go & trade with them.

There is an unknown charm in the Indian life, which surprizingly attaches white people ; those especially who have been captivated in early life. Whether it is, that un- controuled liberty, which is found among savages, — or that freedom from all anxiety and care for futurity, which they appear to enjoy, or that love of ease, which is so agreeable to the indolence of human nature, or all these combined, the fact is established by numerous instances of english & french captives, who have resisted the most affection- ate and inviting alurements to draw them, and chose to spend their days among their adopted Indian friends.

RELIGION OF THE INDIANS.

The most savage nations of the world, have some idea of a being or existances superior to man ; and generally believe in the existance of the soul after death.

The Indian tribes, bordering on European settlements, have probably fewer impressions of a religious nature, than those who have little or no intercourse with us, be- cause the former have their minds habitually stupified by intemperence. Of the religious principles & practices of the Delawares, and other indian tribes on our borders, little can be said.

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They have no special season, or day consecrated to re- ligious worship. No temples, priests or religious rites. The religious notions and practices of individuals are such as are the effect of imperfect reasoning — of their fears & hopes, or the traditions handed down from their fathers.

They absurdly believe in two principles who made & govern the world between them. One they call the Good Monetho, the other the Evil Monetho. In this respect they adopt the ancient opinion of the disciples of Manes, or Plato's principle of Light and Darkness. They believe that all good in the natural and moral world is from the Good, & all evil and misery, from the Evil Monetho. To the Evil principle they pray when sick, or in trouble ; and it is by pretended power from him alone, that their Conjurors or Powwows, derive all their skill to heal the sick, or to inflict evil on their enemies.

On my return from Muskingum, I visited an aged sick Indian, at a Village on the Ohio. His limbs were con- tracted by paralytic or convulsive fits. He told me he had been hurt by witches, meaning I conclude Con- jurors, 30 years ago ; but he had been cured by a friendly Conjuror. "And the Conjuror, said he, of this place, is trying his skill upon me, & I believe will cure me ; for the Devil (Evil Monetho), keeps him alive to cure such as he chuses should be healed ; and he is a little Devil him- self. For they can't kill him. They have tomahawked him, and thrown him into the river, but the great Devil keeps him alive." I told him that he must pray to the Good Monetho. That there was but one God, and the Devil was subject to his government, and could do nothing without his permission. He replied I have always be- lieved otherwise, & shall pray to the Evil Monetho.

I was informed that the Delawares, as well as other tribes, have annually, what is called, a Fall Hunt, when they all turn out in pursuit of game, & hold a grand feast, of which all partake. That at this feast, the Chief

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of the Nation publickly offers up a short solemn prayer to the Good Spirit, thanking him for life and health, and suc- cess in hunting, and praying for the continuence of those favors through the ensuing Year. They present the skins of the animals, and a considerable part of the meat to the widows and the aged. Some of the flesh they burn, as an offering to their gods.

FUNERALS.

They enrap the corpse in bark, & bury it about three feet. They then raise a covering of bark over it, leaving a little space between the body and the upper covering, to prevent the earth pressing upon it, and lay earth upon the covering. This they do, from the idea that the soul, after death, remains hovering about the corpse, & holds some connection with it, until it putrifies. On the same principle, they carry, for some time, every evening, some provisions, and lay it by the side of the grave. The hungry dogs which abound in all their towns, devour it ; but they profess to believe that the departed friend eats it. They sometimes bury bows and arrows, wampum, spoons &c. with the dead. They explain this by be- lieving that everything animate and inanimate has a spirit : that the Spirit of the deceased, in the other world, makes use of the spirit of the bow & arrow, to kill the spirit of game.1 A great number of high posts stand at the graves of the chiefs & warriors, & poles at the graves of others. The posts are painted with rough hyroglifics, descriptive of their war expeditions &c.

MARRIAGES.

The Indians, formerly, were more chaste & continent than they have been since their connection with the english, & their free use of rum.

1 For a more particular description of the State of the good & of the wicked, after death, see the Rev. David Brainard's Journal among the Delawares. (Note by author.)

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The first marriage is attended with some formality. The connection is, sometimes, brought about by the agreement of the parents of the parties. The young man presents to the object of his choice, some cakes of indian bread ; if she accepts them, they cohabit ; but if she rejects them, he must look somewhere else for a partner. They seperate for trivial causes, and marry or cohabit, without much ceremony with others. If they have chil- dren, it is said ; they are left with the mother.

Several of the aged Councillors had lived with one wife from their youth ; but a great part of husbands & wives at Kekalemahpehoong, had seperated and taken others. I was astonished at the profligate description which young Killbuck (whose father had directed him to lodge in my house, and to wait on me), gave me of him- self. He slept in a loft which was ascended by a ladder, at the further end of the house. He conducted a squaw up the ladder every night. I asked him, one day, if it was his Wife ? He said, No. I admonished him for his con- duct. He said, he was 19 years old, and had had several wives, and that he wanted one more, and he should be happy. It is natural to expect that but few children, can be the fruit of such unbounded licenciousness. On an average they are about 2 or 3 to a family.

INDIAN FORTS.

Much has been said and written, on the subject of appearances like fortifications, which are found all over the country of the Ohio. I saw 3 or 4, but they were not large. The walls enclosed perhaps a rood of ground. One on the south bank of the river Connemoh, was an oblong circle, the walls nearly meeting at the bank. It appeared that the space, was intended for a sally port, or passage to the water. The walls appear to be of solid earth, about 3 feet high, & a small cavity, like a ditch, on the outside. Large trees are growing out of the walls as

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well as within them. One near Kekalemahpehoong was about the same dimensions. They are very ancient artificial works, for the present inhabitants can give no account of the builders, or the design of them. Some suppose them to have been intended for places of Public Worship ; but the more probible conjecture is, that they were built for defence. There is nothing in them that discovers much knowledge of architecture or civilization. Mr. John Irwine of Pittsburgh gave me the plan of a very large one, which he saw on the Scioto. The Ditches were deep & wide, the walls high, with openings or gateways, and the appearence of Bastions. No iron tool has ever been found in them, or in all the Indian country ; and without this most necessary of all metals, they must have made very slow progress in fortification. Probibly the walls of those conjectural forts were higher, & have been worn down by the waste of time. Perhaps a town or village adjoined each fort, and when invaded, they abandoned the town & retired with the women and children into the forts, from the walls of which they could better annoy the enemy, & defend themselves. The works that I saw were all on or near the bank of a stream or river, and had a passage way to the water.

At this town is a small hillock or Tumulus : on which, a trader told me, he wished to build a small trading house ; but the Indians forbad him. They told him it was a grave where many were buried ; but they would not inform him, whether they were friends or enemies. Perhaps a number died of the small pox, & were buried together. This disorder in time past made dreadful de- struction. The hot houses and cold baths were fatal applications. Another Tumulus about 12 feet high, in the form of a Pyramid, I saw at Logs town, which was once the seat of Indians. Mouldered human bones are found by digging into them. I was informed at Pitts- burgh, that when the Delawares, Shawanese & others,

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laid seige suddenly and most traitorously to Fort Pitt, in 1764, in a time of peace, the people within, found means of conveying the small pox to them, which was far more destructive than the guns from the walls, or all the artillery of Col? Boquet's army, which obliged them to abandon the enterprise.

The Delawares live in 10 or 12 Villages, principally on the Muskingum, and can raise about 250 fighting men. One branch of the nation are in New Jersey : are christian- ized, and were under the care of the Rev. Mr. John Brainard.

The Shawanese are about 200 miles south of Muskin- gum, on the Scioto, & can raise nearly the same number. These have always shown great opposition to Christianity, and have great hatred of the Long Knife, which is the name given by them to the Virginians. The whites on the extensive frontiers of Virginia, are generally white Savages, and subsist by hunting, and live like the Indians Murders between them and Indians, when they meet in hunting, are said sometimes to happen.

The Wiandots, who are a smaller tribe, live on the River Sandusky, near Lake Erie. These three Nations, are tributary to the Six Nations, or the Iroquois.1 The latter claim the country south of Ontario & Erie, by conquest of the former inhabitants, the Catawbas ; the remnent of which nation, now live on the Catawba river, in the bounds of N. Carolina.

The Delaware & Shawanese nations removed from

1 The original seat of the Iroquois, was on & about the River Sorel, and North of the St. Lawrence, and in the neighborhood of Montreal. The Algonquins, from the north, made war upon them, & drove them south ; and these in their turn drove out and destroyed the nations who lived in the Genesee & Mohawk countries, and extended their conquests south to the Wabash. They afterwards turned their arms against the Algonquins & Hurons, their ancient enemies ; but the French joining the latter, put a stop to their carier. Hence the hatred of the 6 Nations to the French. (Note by the author.)

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the Atlantic Rivers, into this country, and possess it by sufference. It is said that they are obliged to furnish the warriors of the Six Nations with accommodations and provisions, if demanded, in their march through the coun- try, in their wars with the Cherokees & other southern tribes.

INDIAN WARS.

The frequency of war among Savages, is to be ac- counted for, principally, from the depravity of human nature, which is more prompt to revenge an injury, than to reward a good action. The Indians seem to look upon others, who are not of their tribe, or in alliance with them, as enemies.

There appears to be two powerful motives particularly, which prompt them to frequent wars.

i. It is the only road to honour & authority. He who discovers most bravery in war, who has obtained the scalps of their enemies, or taken the greatest number of prisoners, received wounds, or brought off the field their own killed and wounded, is honored by his countrymen. He is likely to rise to the rank of a Captain, Chief or Sachem. Distinguished respect is paid at his death, and his name & exploits are long celebrated in their war songs. On the other hand, he who has never hazarded his life in the field, is dishonored by being called a woman, and esteemed of little worth.

Their young men, who thirst for fame & immortality to their names, if they can find no enemy nigh, will seek one, perhaps, a iooo miles distant. Thus the Six Nations, having conquered the nations around them, or formed alliances with them, carried their arms into the distant country of the Cherokees, and yearly sent out their par- ties to kill, scalp & captivate a people, who had not in- jured them. This hostile practice they have been in, perhaps, nearly a century.

While I was at Oneida, in 1766, a party of Oneidas &

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Mohawks, set out on an expedition into that country, (about 30 in number.) I asked one of them, why they went to war with the Cherokees, as they never came into their country to injure them ? He replied, " A great while ago some of them spilt the blood of some of our fathers, and we go there to revenge." Their manner of marching, & subsistance & time spent in those remote crusades, their stratagems & mode of attack, the dread- ful carnage among the unsuspecting poor Cherokees, the conflagration of their villages, the captives & manner of retreat &c. have been related to me by some of the war- riors, but the account would be too lengthy and distress- ing to the feelings of humanity, to be inserted here.

2. Another powerful motive prompting Indians to fre- quent wars, is the increase of the game of the wilderness, and to make their subsistance less laborious. As they derive but a small part of their subsistance from the soil, their dependence is on the wild game of the forest. At a moderate computation, it requires not less than one thou- sand acres to support a single family of Indians. The game lessens as the Indians increase ; and on the reverse, the fewer the number of Indians, the greater is the plenty of game. Nations have bounds affixed by custom or agreement, to their walks in hunting ; but they are not commonly very scrupelous to trespas on the hunting grounds of a bordering nation, and this conduct of indi- viduals, sometimes is the commencement of a war, that ceases not, except with the extirpation of the weaker party. To destroy the game of the territory of another nation, is in their view, as much a violation of property, as it would be deemed among us, should one farmer take possession of the land of his neighbour & cultivate it, or carry off part of his harvest.

The same principle has operated to excite the several risings of the Indians against the English colonies, from the beginning of their settlements. Hence the long &

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distressing indian wars of New England by the Narragan- setts, Pequots, & the extensive plan of their total extirpa- tion under the famous King PJiilip of Mount Hope in 1676, & several subsequent attempts since that time, in dif- ferent parts of the country. I find this principle now in powerful operation among the Delawares. Several of them expressed to me their resentment at the english, in settling on their hunting ground ; and I found that they waited only a favorable opportunity, forcibly to drive them off. One of their warriors, once asked me : " What were the number of the English?" To whom I gave a description of some of our large towns, & number of in- habitants, from NY Hampshire to Georgia. Chagrin and anger appear'd on his countenance at the statement. He replied, " You white men, think that we Indians, are no more than a handful ; but you are much mistaken. If we were all collected, all the country between this and Fort Pitt, would not be sufficient to contain us. There is a town of Chippewas, beyond Lake Huron, that is 40 Bowshots long, & 40 Bowshots wide, and it is full of Ind- ians." To impress me with an idea of their numbers & power, he launched out into hyperbole far beyond the

truth.

SALT LICKS.

The Ohio country abounds in springs of brackish or saltish water. Several of these we saw, going & return- ing from the Muskingum. One particularly was large, forming a wet spungy space of ground, into which paths were made by Buffaloes, Deer & Elk, and the ground in the paths leading to the water, was trodden down, in some places, 10 or 12 inches below the surface, as though worn by the feet of men & horses. All graminivorous animals are fond of salt, and the country affords them an abun- dant repast. Near these licks the Indian hunters lie, pa- tiently waiting for the unsuspecting game, who eagerly press down to the water. In such an oozy, saltish swamp,

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as I was informed by Dr. Connelly, are found the big bones of the animal called the Mammoth, in the Ken- tucky country. The soil of that famous Lick consists of a glutenous clay or kind of bitumen, in which, probibly, the whole heard of Mammoths, mired & perished. In a visit make to that Lick by the Doctor in 1771, he found a company of Buffaloes feeding around it, and one of them mired in the clay, which he shot, & venturing to him, to cut off a slice for a repast, his feet stuck so fast in the glutinous soil, that he was obliged to call for the assist- ance of his servent to help him out. In a N. Western di- rection from said Lick, on the River Missouri, a french traveller informed him, that he had seen the intire skele- ton of one of these enormous animals. The probibility is, that they came from Siberia or Tartary, where it is said these animals once existed, to this continent, across the narrow straits which seperates America from Asia, in some remote period.

It has been conjectured that the Mammoth was car- niverous. I should imagine, however, that it found a more easy and abundant subsistance in the luxurient pro- duce of the earth, in wild fruits, grass, bushes and the succulent limbs of trees ; not to notice the difficulty which so bulkey an animal would find to catch the small & agile game of the woods, and the ease with which they could keep out of the way.

This greatest of the works of the Creator, among the beasts that ever roamed over the earth, must have been, to judge from the bones already found, not less than 16 or 18 feet in heighth. Col? Croghern of Pittsburgh, sent part of a Tusk of the Mammoth to the Royal Society, and it was pronounced by them to be genuine ivory.

ORIGINAL POPULATION OF NORTH AMERICA.

There are no data from which we can calculate any very remote antiquity, to the first settlement of this continent,

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by the Indians. Probibly the first inhabitants came into it, since the commencement of the Christian Era : and that they came principally, across Bhering' s Straits from Kamkatska & Tartary. This conjecture is confirmed by the general tradition of all the Indians, (except a few tribes on the N. Eastern coast,) that their ancestors came from the North West, to this Island, as it was supposed to be, at the time of their immigration, and as it is called by them, to this day.

The fathers who settled New England, took possession of the land, under the notion that they found it, accord- ing to the phrase then in use, Domicilium vacuum, (a vacant territory). But they afterwards, finding the Ind- ians claiming it as their territory, as hunting or fishing ground, made payment to their satisfaction. Some they also possessed by right of conquest. The greater part of the continent was a vacant territory. Had the Indians settled here in a very remote period, it would, no doubt, have been more populous. There are no monuments of great antiquity to be found, except the supposed earth forts, and the probability is, that they are not very ancient.

A profound scholar, and the father of the writers on the prophecies (Joseph Mede. See his Works in Folio.) has a curious conjecture respecting the first peopling of America. It is in substance the following, viz. That the Devil, who was worshipped by the Gentiles, and to whom magnificent temples were everywhere erected, finding his oracles struck dumb, and his votaries embracing the doc- trines of the cross, proclaimed by the inspired apostles ; determined to remove some colonies of his subjects beyond the bounds of the christian doctrine, and as that Prince of the power of the air, has often attempted to imitate the works of God, by some visible signs, or voices from his in- infernal oracles, he called them out to follow him to a good land, which he should shew them ; and that they followed him by some appearences in the air, like the pillar of fire and

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cloud that conducted Israel from Egypt to the land of Ca- naan ; that he finally led them down to the Mexican Lake, where rude & bloody rites and services were consecrated to him, and temples erected, in which multitudes of human sacrifices were offered. May the light of the gospel still pursue him, & drive him from those dark abodes, and every where destroy his dreadful dominion among the children of pagan darkness !

Had the contiguity of America to the eastern shores of Asia, been known in the days of Mr. Mede, no doubt he would have been more confirmed in his conjectures. A circumstance, corroborating the conjecture, may be that the Indians universally pay, what little worship they render, to invisible powers, to the Devil, or the Evil Monetho.

INDIAN LANGUAGES.

The languages of the different nations, whose seats were within the bounds of New England, appear to have been different dialects of one radical language. Among the Delawares at Muskingum, I found several words of the Stockbridge Indian dialect ; and Mr. Occom who was acquainted with several languages, besides his native mohegan, informed me that the language of the Indian nations along the seacoast from New England to Georgia, was radically the same, of which he conjectured that the Mohegan was the mother tongue ; and in confirmation of this, said that the name of the River Mississippi, was a mohegan word, signifying a River of many streams. He pronounced it, Mis-sis-seep.

RETURN FROM MUSKINGUM.

1772. Friday, Octbr g. Set out in company with a Mr. Freeman, an Indian trader, & his servant, and friend Nickels, to return to Pittsburgh. We had fine weather, and killed plenty of wild game, particularly Turkies, with which the woods abounded.

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At the Mingo town, about 70 miles below Pittsburgh, I found a sick Indian, with whom I had a conversation. The Conjuror who was to hold a powwow over him at night, came into the Indian house, where I entered. His face and body were frightfully painted with different colours. He looked upon me with severe attention, with- out speaking a word. Disliking his appearence, as well as that of some others in the village, I concluded it would be most advisable to cross the River Ohio, although it was dark ; and encamp on the opposite side. Accord- ingly we crossed in a Canoe, swimming our horses, kindled a fire and pitched our tent on english ground. About 10 O'Clock, the noise of the powwow sounded across the river, & the doleful echoes resounded through the woods. I thought it prudent to leave the town, partly because it was probable that the conjuror, in case of the failure of success in his infernal incantations to heal the sick man, might be disposed to attribute it, to my presence, & be- cause the village consisted of a banditti of plundering drink- ing wretches. They permitted us to rest undisturbed.

On my arrival at Pittsburgh, found Mr. Frisbie in com- fortable health. In my absence he had frequently preached to the people there, and in neighboring settlements.

Driven from the present prospect of usefulness among the Indians, by hostile appearences of affairs, we con- cluded to spend some months among the vacant & new settlements in those parts, where the numbers are daily increasing ; as they had expressed an earnest desire that we would preach to them. I engaged to preach in rota- tion to five settlements,1 between Ligonier and the Yohi- ogeny river. Another motive for continuing there, was the hope, though a distant hope, that the hearts of the Indians might be inclined to our return to them.

Octbr 14. We crossed the Monongehala, and ascended

1 Jacob's Swamp, Ligonier, Proctor's Tent, Squirrel Island, and Stewart's Crossing.

David McClure 101

the top of the hill, opposite Pittsburgh, to take a view of the effects of the fire on its top, which has been burn- ing more than 12 months. The fire among the coal has formed a basin or crater, 60 or 70 yards in circumference, and killed the trees and herbage some distance around. As I sat near the edge, I perceived the ground warm, and forcing a staff through the surface, there appeared to be a cavity, and the staff came out black and smoaking. Should the fire continue a Volcano may be formed of the sulphurious coal. Some ineffectual efforts had been made to extinguish it.1