CHAPTER XI
CORNPLANTER AND OTHER INDIANS – 1790-91
The Seneca Chieftain Invited to Visit Philadelphia – Letter from Thomas Mifflin – Ensign Jeffers’s Letter – The Journey – Arrival in the Quaker City – Subsequent Proceedings – Cornplanter’s Speech to the Supreme Executive Council – President Mifflin’s Reply – Cornplanter Meets President Washington – Returns to His Forest Home with Gifts and Various Supplies – Attempts on the Part of Pittsburgh Thieves to Steal the Same – Colonel Brodhead’s Opinion of Early Pittsburgh Residents – Cornplanter Makes Choice of the Lands Granted Him – Their Location, etc. – Sketch of His Life.
MEANWHILE, affairs along the western frontiers were in an unsettled condition, and, apparently, were daily becoming worse – murders of white families by Indians from the Ohio country, and of peaceful Seneca Indians by white men, were of frequent occurrence. Indeed, numbers of Cornplanter’s own family had been robbed and killed, and he had repeatedly petitioned the authorities of the State for protection and relief. At last, on the 10th of May, 1790, President Thomas Mifflin sent a letter* to the Seneca chieftains on the head waters of the Allegheny, wherein he said: “It gives us pain to hear from you that some bad people have plundered your camps and taken your property. Our laws do not permit one man to injure another. We are willing to give you an opportunity of laying before the government of Pennsylvania your grievances, and of explaining your wishes; and agreeably to your request, we hereby invite three of your chief counsellors and warriors, vizt.: Cornplanter, Half-Town, and the New Arrow, to come to Philadelphia, on Wednesday the first day of September next, when the General Assembly will be in session. We have granted a commission to your particular friend, Joseph Nicholson, to act as the interpreter to your three Chiefs, and will give him directions to conduct them to this city.
“THOMAS MIFFLIN.
“To Kientwoughko, or Cornplanter,
Guyaugh Shoto, alias the Great Cross,
Hachuwoot, or Half Town,
Kyendo, Chief Counsellors
Shendeshowa, and Warriors of the
Wadungueta, Six Nations of
Hagungush, Indians.
Hucheaguough, alias the Dog Barker,
Oe-wha-gaw-yo, alias the Oldnews,
Candagowa alias Large Tree,
Tehewanias, alias the Broken Tree.
This letter having been received by Cornplanter July 7 of that year, his preparations for visiting Philadelphia were completed as speedily as circumstances would permit, and, furnished with the following recommendatory letter by the commandant of Fort Franklin, at the mouth of French Creek, he set out on his journey accompanied by his interpreter, Joseph Nicholson, and six other chiefs and warriors.
“My age, rank & situation in the world renders it rather improper for me to say anything on the subject I am about to relate, but I cannot but mention that the Bearer hereof, Cyentwokee, the head Chief of the Senica Nation, is an undoubted friend to the United States. When Indians have stolen Horses & other things from the good people, I have known him with the greatest dignity to give orders for them to be returned, & never knew his orders to be disobeyed.
“When the people of Cussawanga (now Meadville) were about to flee on account of unfavorable accounts about some of the Southern Indians, he sent a Speech to me, & said, ‘he wished the people to keep their minds easy, & take care of their Cornfields, that the Six Nations were friends, that should the Southern Indians invade the Settlement he would gather his Warriors & help to drive them to the setting of the Sun.’ In consequence of this the people rest intirely easy. On his arrival here, he told me that should I be invaded so that I could not get provision, that he & his warriors would clear the way – he said that at the Council at Muskingum, the great men asked him which side he would die on? He told them on the side of the Americans, he says he is of the same mind yet.
“Sundry other things might be said, but as he is now on his way to attend the Assembly at Philadelphia, I will only recommend him to the particular attention of the good people of Pennsylvania between here & that place. They may depend upon it that they not only entertain a friend, but a consequential friend, for the Senica Nation is so much Governed by him that if he says War, it is war, & if he says peace it is peace – of Course he is a Man worthy of the greatest attention. The other Chiefs with him second him in every thing, & are Men worthy of great attention.
“I am, my Dear fellow citizens, with sentiments of the highest esteem, your obedient & humble Servant,
“J. JEFFERS, Ensign,
“1st U.S. Reg’t. & Commanding Fort Franklin on French Creek.
“To the Good people between here & Philadelphia.”
Thus supplied with a kind of passport through the State, Cornplanter and his party arrived in Philadelphia towards the latter part of October, he having been detained beyond the appointed time by reason of certain untoward circumstances. A day or so later, or on Saturday, October 23, the deputation was introduced to the president and members of Council, when Cornplanter was pleased to make the following speech:
“Brothers; We were very happy when we received the answer to our letter sent to the Quaker State; we are happy to see you. We could not come at the time appointed, it was too soon afterwards. When we were coming we heard of the murder of two of our people. I was obliged to satisfy my people. After I had satisfied my people, I received a message from the Shawanese and other nations that I should not come till we had a Council with them. When the fire was kindled with the Shawanese they brought a Virginia scalp and insisted on our seizing the scalp, or they would treat us the same way as the Big Knife;** we told them the Council was for peace not for war, I sent to all the tribes to be at peace with the Thirteen Fires.***
“Brothers, I am much fatigued, I want to get a friend to write my speech, as no interpreter can do it as well as if it was wrote. I will be ready on Tuesday morning.”
When Tuesday morning came Cornplanter sent a letter to the Council saying that he was not ready and requesting further time to prepare the statement he wished to make to the Council. His request was granted. Three days later, however, or on Friday, October 29, 1790, the renowned Seneca chieftain with the Indians who accompanied him, attended the sessions of the Supreme Executive Council, “His Excellency Thomas Mifflin, Esquire,” presiding, and spoke as follows concerning his tribe and nation:
“The Fathers of the Quaker State, Obeale or Cornplanter, returns thanks to God for the pleasure he has in meeting you this day with six of his people.
“FATHERS, Six years ago I had the pleasure of making peace with you, and at that time a hole was dug in the earth, and all contentions between my nation and you ceased and were buried there.
“At a treaty then held at Fort Stanwix between the Six Nations of Indians, and the Thirteen Fires, three friends from the Quaker State came to me and treated with me for the purchase of a large tract of land upon the Northern boundary of Pennsylvania, extending from Tioga to Lake Erie for the use of their warriors. I agreed to the sale of the same, and sold it to them for four thousand dollars. I begged of them to take pity on my nation and not buy it forever. They said they would purchase it forever, but that they would give me further one thousand dollars in goods when the leaves were ready to fall, and when I found that they were determined to have it, I agreed that they should have it. I then requested, as they were determined to have the land to permit my people to have the game and hunt upon the same, which request they complied with, and promised me to have it put upon record, that I and my people should have the priviledge.
“Fathers, The Six Nations then requested that another talk might be held with the Thirteen Fires, which was agreed to and a talk was afterwards held between them at Muskingum. Myself with three of my chiefs attended punctually, and were much fatigued in endeavoring to procure the attendance of the other nations, but none of them came to the Council Fire except the Delawares and the Wyandots.
“Fathers, At the same treaty the Thirteen Fires asked me on which side I would die, whether on their side, or the side of those nations who did not attend the Council Fire. I replied, ‘listen to me fathers of the Thirteen Fires, I hope you will consider how kind your fathers were treated by our fathers, the Six Nations, when they first came into this country, since which time you have become strong, insomuch, that I now call you fathers. In former days when you were young and weak, I used to call you brother, but now I call you father. Father, I hope you will take pity on your children, for now I inform you that I’ll die on your side. Now father, I hope you will make my bed strong.’
“Fathers of the Quaker State; – I speak but little now, but will speak more when the Thirteen Fires meet, I will only inform you further, that when I had finished my talk with the Thirteen Fires, General Gibson, who was sent by the Quaker State, came to the fire, and said that the Quaker State had bought of the Thirteen Fires a tract of land extending from the Northern boundary of Pennsylvania to Connewango river, to Buffaloe creek on Lake Erie, and thence along the Said Lake to the Northern boundary of Pennsylvania aforesaid. Hearing this I run to my father, and said to him father have you sold this land to the Quaker State, and he said he did not know, it might have been done since he came there. I then disputed with Gibson and Butler, who was with him about the same, and told them I would be satisfied if the line was run from Connewango river thro’ Chatochque Lake to Lake Erie, for Gibson and Butler had told me that the Quaker State had purchased the land from the Thirteen Fires, but notwithstanding the Quaker State had given to me one thousand dollars in fine prime goods which were ready for me and my people at Fort Pitt, we then agreed that the line should be run from Connewango river thro’ Chatochque Lake into Lake Erie, and that one-half of the fish in Chatochque Lake should be mine and one half theirs. They then said as the Quaker State had purchased the whole from the Thirteen Fires, that the Thirteen Fires must pay back to the Quaker State the value of the remaining land. When I heard this my mind was at ease, and I was satisfied. I then proposed to give a half mile square of land upon the line so agreed upon to a Mr. Hartzhorn who was an Ensign in General Harmer’s army, and to a Mr. Britt, a cadet, who acted as clerk upon the occasion, and who I well know by the name of Half-Town, for the purpose of their settling there to prevent any mischief being committed in future upon my people’s lands, and I hoped that the Quaker State would in addition thereto give them another half mile square on their side of the line so agreed upon for the same purpose, expecting thereby that the line so agreed upon would be known with sufficient certainty, and that no disputes would thereafter arise between my people and the Quaker State concerning it. I then went to my father of the Thirteen Fires and told him I was satisfied, and the coals being covered up I said to my children you must take your course right thro’ the woods to Fort Pitt. When I was leaving Muskingum my own son who remained a little while behind to warm himself at the fire was robbed of a rifle by one of the white men, who, I believe, to have been a Yankee. Myself with Mr. Joseph Nicholson and a Mr. Morgan then traveled three days together thro’ the wilderness, but the weather being very severe they were obliged to separate from me, and I sent some of my own people along with Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Morgan as guides to conduct them on to Wheelen (Wheeling). After I had separated from Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Morgan, I had under my charge one hundred and seventy persons of my own nation consisting of men, women and children, to conduct thro’ the wilderness, through heaps of briars, and having lost our way, we, with great difficulty reached Wheelen. When I arrived there being out of provisions I requested of a Mr. Zanes to furnish me and my people with beacon and flour to the amount of seventeen dollars, to be paid for out of the goods belonging to me and my people at Fort Pitte. Having obtained my request, I proceeded on my journey for Pittsburg, and about ten miles from Wheelen my party were fired upon by three white people, and one of my people in the rear of my party received two shots thro’ his blanket.
“Fathers, It was a constant practice with me throughout the whole journey to take great care of my people, and not suffer them to commit any outrages or drink more than what their necessities required. During the whole of my journey only one accident happened which was owing to the kindness of the people of the town called Catfish (in Washington county, Pa.), in the Quaker State, who, while I was talking with the head men of the town, gave to my people more liquor than was proper, and some of them got drunk, which obliged me to continue there with my people all night, and in the night my people were robbed of three rifles and one shot gun; and though every endeavor was used by the head men of the town upon complaint made to them to discover the perpetrators of the robbery, they could not be found; and on my people’s complaining to me I told them it was their own faults by getting drunk.
“Fathers, Upon my arrival at Fort Pitt I saw the goods which I had been informed of at Muskingum, and one hundred of the blankets were all moth eaten and good for not’g. I was advised not to take the blankets, but the blankets which I and my people then had being all torn by the briars in our passage thro’ the wilderness, we were under the necessity of taking them to keep ourselves warm; and what most surprised me, was that after I had received the goods they extinguished the fire and swept away the ashes, and having no interpreter there I could talk with no one upon the subject. Feeling myself much hurt upon the occasion, I wrote a letter to you Fathers of the Quaker State, complaining of the injury, but never received any answer. Having waited a considerable time, and having heard that my letter got lost, I wrote a second time to you Fathers of the Quaker State and then I received an answer.
“I am very thankfull to have received this answer, and as the answer intreated me to come and speak for myself, I thank God that I have this opportunity, I therefore, speak to you as follows: I hope that you Fathers of the Quaker State, will fix some person at Fort Pitt to take care of me and my people, I wish, and it is the wish of my people if agreeable to you that my present interpreter, Joseph Nicholson, may be the person, as I and my people have a confidence in him, and are satisfied that he will always exert himself to preserve peace and harmony between you and us. My reasons for wishing an interpreter to be placed there are that oftentimes when my hunters and people come there, their canoes and other things are stolen, and they can obtain no redress, not having any person there on whom they can rely to interpret for them and see justice done to them.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – About a year ago a young man one of my Tribe who lived among the Shawanese, was one of a party who had committed some outrages and stolen a quantity of skins, the property of David Duncan, being at Fort Pitt, was seized by the White People there who would have put him in confinement and perhaps to death had not some of the Chiefs of the Seneca Nation, interfered and bound themselves to the said David Duncan, who insisted upon satisfaction for payment of the sum of five hundred and thirty dollars for the said skins so stolen, upon which the young man aforesaid was released and delivered up to them.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – I wish now to acquaint you with what happened to one of my people about four years ago, four miles above Fort Pitt. A young man who was married to my wife’s sister, when he was hunting, was murdered by a white man. There were three reasons for his being killed: In the first place he had a very fine riding horse; secondly, he was very richly drest, and had about him a good deal of silver; and thirdly, he had with him a very fine rifle. The white man invited him to his house, to light from his horse, and as he was getting off his horse, his head being rather down, the white man struck him with a tomahawk on the head and killed him, and having plundered him dragged him into the river. Upon the discovery of the murder, my people, with Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Duncan, had a great deal of trouble, and took a great deal of pains to find out the person who had committed the murder, and after three days’ searching, they discovered him.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – About five years ago, one of my Chiefs, named Half-Town, was sent to Fort Pitt to deliver up into your hands your own flesh and blood who were taken in the war, and before he returned two horses were stolen from him by the white people. Now, Fathers, I will inform you of another accident which happened to my people last winter, fifteen miles below Fort Pitt. My Nephew, with a hunting party, being there, was shot thro’ the head in Mr. Nicholson’s camp, the particulars of which Mr. Nicholson, who is here present can inform you.
“Well, Fathers, I beg of you once more not to let such bad people be ‘longside of me. And, Fathers, you must not think I or any of my people are bad or wish evil to you or yours, nor must you blame us for mischiefs that have been committed by the other nations. Fathers, consider me and my people, and the many injuries we have sustained by the repeated robberies, and in the murder & depredations committed by the whites against us.
“Fathers of the Quaker State; – I have now had the pleasure to meet you with six of my people. We have come a great way, by your desire, to talk with you and to shew to you the many injuries my nation has sustained. It now remains with you to do with me and my people what you please, on account of the present trouble which I and my people have taken for your satisfaction, and in compliance with your request.
“Fathers, having come this great way at your request, and as it is necessary for some of us to remain here to talk with the Thirteen Fires when they meet, I have concluded to send back four of my people, and to remain here myself with Half-Town and my interpreter, Mr. Nicholson, untill that time, which I hope you will approve of. But should you not approve of it, I must be under the necessity of returning with the whole of my people, which will be attended with a considerable expense.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – You have now got the most of our lands, and have taken the game upon the same. We have only the privilege of hunting and fishing thereon. I, therefore, would make this further request, that a store may be established at Fort Pitt for the accommodation of my people and the other nations when they go out to hunt; and where they may purchase goods at a reasonable price. For, believe me, Fathers, you yourselves would be frightened were you to know the extravagant prices we are obliged to pay for the goods we purchase.
“There is a man (Esquire Wilkie) in Pittsburg, who has taken a great deal of pains to serve my people, and has pitied them; my people, when there, are very kindly treated by him, and give him a great deal of trouble, but he thinks nothing of it; he is the man my people wish should have charge of the store.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – I have heard that you have been pleased to present me a tract of land, but as yet I have seen no writings for the same; Well, Fathers, if it is true that you have given me this tract of land, I can only thank you for the same, but I hope you will also give me tools and materials for working the same.
“Fathers of the Quaker State: – Five years ago, when I used to be with my present interpreter Joseph Nicholson, he took care of me and my people. Considering his services and the difficulties he underwent in his journey from Muskingum to Fort Pitt, the Six Nations wished to have him seated upon a tract of land of six miles square, lying in the Forks of Allegany river, and Broken Straw creek, and accordingly patented the same to him, this being the place where a battle(4*) was fought between my people and yours, and where about thirty of my people were beaten, by him and twenty-five of your people, and where he was shot thro’ the thigh. Now, Fathers, it is my wish, and I tell you it is the wish of the whole Six Nations, in behalf of whom and myself, I request that you would grant and confirm to our brother and friend, the before named Joseph Nicholson, the aforesaid tract of land, as described in our patent or grant to him.
“This, Fathers, is all I have to say to the Quaker State, and I hope you will consider well all I have mentioned.
“Philadelphia, October, 1790.
“CORNPLANTER, X (his mark.)
“HALF X (his mark) TOWN,
“BIG X (his mark)TREE,
“JAMES X (his mark) HUTCHINS,
“SENECA X (his mark) BILLY,
“JOHN X (his mark) DECKART.”
On the following day a draft of a letter, addressed to the Cornplanter and the Indians who accompanied him, in reply to the representations which they had made to the Supreme Executive Council, was laid before the board, read and adopted as follows:
“IN COUNCIL, PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 30, 1790.
“BROTHERS: – Council have seriously considered the several matters which you laid before them yesterday morning, and assure you that it is their sincere desire to have all your complaints examined into and satisfactorily and speedily removed. But the change which has been made in the government of the State, puts it out of the power of this Council to give special answers to the most material parts of your speech.
“On the first Tuesday of next December, the Legislature of Pennsylvania will meet under the new form of Government, and on the twenty-fourth ‘of the same month the new Governor will commence his administration.
“When those events take place, your speech, together with such further representation of a public nature, which you may think proper to make to us, shall be faithfully communicated to the new Government for their consideration and decision.
“There are, however, two points on which we may with propriety now decide.
“The first, the grant to the Cornplanter of one thousand five hundred acres of land by the General Assembly, on the twenty-fourth day of March, 1789.
“We would long ago have ordered the survey of the land for the Cornplanter, but being willing to gratify him in his choice of a, tract, we instructed General Butler to consult with him on that subject, and have waited to this time for his determination. If he will inform us in what part of the unlocated lands of the State he wishes his survey to be made, we will order the Surveyor General to have the tract laid out without further delay.
“The second point on which we shall decide, is the Cornplanter’s request, that Half-Town and Mr. Nicholson may remain with him in Philadelphia untill the meeting of the Legislature of the United States, or untill the President shall arrive here. We cheerfully comply with that request, and approve of his sending back the other Chiefs and Warriors.
“And in order to make the residence of the Cornplanter, Half-Town and Mr. Nicholson in Philadelphia, as convenient and agreeable as possible, Council will instruct their Secretary to provide suitable lodgings for them in a private family.
“Chiefs and Warriors who are to return to the Seneca Nation. – We desire you to inform the Seneca Nation that the Government of Pennsylvania entertains sentiments of the most sincere friendship for them, and are anxious to prevent injuries being done by its citizens to their persons and property.
“But as evil disposed men exist in every society, and as violence may sometimes be committed by such men upon the persons and property of the Indians, the Government will think it their duty upon complaint being made of such violence having been committed, to endeavor to have the offenders apprehended and brought to Justice.
“In the instance of the Walkers and Doyle(5*), this Council has done every thing in their power to have them secured and brought to tryal. They have succeeded only with respect to Doyle, but will continue their exertions for the securing of the Walkers.
“Doyle will be conveyed next week to Sunbury under a strong guard, to stand his trial; should he be convicted, there is little doubt of his being capitally punished.
“We wish you may arrive at your own homes in good health, and find your families in the possession of the same blessings.
“THOMAS MIFFLIN.”
Cornplanter’s companions, nevertheless, did not return to their country as early as anticipated. In some way the Chief Big Tree while viewing the sights in the Quaker City received a gun-shot wound in his leg. Thereupon Cornplanter and Half Town, with their interpreter, Joseph Nicholson, attended a subsequent meeting of the Council, and requested that, on account of the wound received by the Big Tree, the chiefs and warriors who were to have returned to the Indian country be permitted to stay in the city until the arrival of the president of the United States. This request was complied with. Subsequently, after Cornplanter and his friends had met President Washington, and had a “big talk ” with him, all returned via Pittsburgh together, well loaded with good substantial presents. Indeed, the supplies, gifts, etc., received by Cornplanter at Philadelphia and sent by wagons to Pittsburgh, filled a large bateau or keel boat, which, after the voyage up the Allegheny had been commenced, unprincipled white wretches from Pittsburgh attempted to steal – both boat and cargo.
It appears, however, that a certain class of residents of the latter town were only maintaining their former unenviable reputation when they endeavored to steal Cornplanter’s boat and contents, since Colonel Brodhead in a letter dated at Pittsburgh, June 27, 1779, says: “The inhabitants of this place are continually encroaching on what I conceive to be the rights of the Garrison and which was always considered as such when the Fort was occupied by the King of Britain’s Troops. They have now the assurance to erect their fences within a few yards of the Bastion. I have mentioned the impropriety of their Conduct but without effect. The Block-houses, likewise, which are part of the strength of the place, are occupied and claimed by private persons to the injury of the service.” Again on the 9th of July following the worried Colonel made another complaint as follows: “Whilst I am writing, I am tormented by at least a dozen drunken Indians, and I shall be obliged to remove my Quarters from hence on account of a cursed villainous set of inhabitants, who, in spite of every exertion continue to rob the soldiers, or cheat them and the Indians out of everything they are possessed of.”
Soon after Cornplanter’s return to his old home on the upper waters of the Allegheny, he made choice of the lands which suited him best (which, by the way, proved to be at or near the place where he was then living), and promptly notified Governor Mifflin by letter of the location, etc., coupled with the request that a survey of the same be made as early as practicable. In directing the attention of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth to this matter the governor said: “Gentlemen: I have directed the Secretary to lay before you a Copy of a Letter from Cornplanter, in which that Chief requests that orders of survey may be issued for three tracts of Land, amounting in quantity to the 1500 acres which were granted to him by a resolution of the General Assembly of the 24th March, 1789, but differing in point of situation.(6*) From the Information, however, contained in a Letter from the officers of the Land Office, a copy of which will likewise be transmitted to you, I find that the proposed tracts are unappropriated; and as the resolution referred to describes Lands within the Tract of Country lately purchased from the United States, which Country has not yet been the subject of any Legislative provision, in respect to grants, and confirmations by Patent, permit me to suggest the propriety of complying with Cornplanter’s request, and of authorizing the officers in the Land office to grant the Warrants, direct the surveys and issue the Patent which may be necessary upon the occasion.” This communication properly signed and indorsed was dated Philadelphia, January 22, 1791.
The preliminary matters of granting warrants, making surveys, etc., having been attended to early in the year last mentioned, Cornplanter, with his two wives, his children, and a following of many others of his band,(7*) including men, women and children, soon after became permanently established upon the site of one of his former towns (that is, the first village destroyed by Colonel Brodhead in 1779, after proceeding up the river above “Canawago “), where, assisted by white men sent to him for that purpose, he began the erection of log cabins. Thus he with his followers became the first permanent residents in the county after the acquisition of its territory by Pennsylvania. His grant, or patent, embraced about six hundred and forty acres of land on the west bank of the Allegheny River, sixteen miles above Warren, together with two large adjacent islands, or, in other words, tracts, aggregating about fifteen hundred acres in extent, situated in the present township of Elk. Here he resided until his death, which did not take place until nearly a half century later.
According to Rev. Timothy Alden, the founder of Allegheny College, the village established by Cornplanter on the lands granted to him was named Jen-ne-sa-de-go, or Tin-nes-hau-ta-go, which means “burnt houses, since one of the Seneca towns destroyed by Colonel Brodhead in the summer of 1779 was located here.” The same gentleman also said that Cornplanter’s Indian names were as follows: Ki-end-twoh-ke, or The Planter, and No-nuh, or The Contemplative; but they (the Indians) usually addressed him as Shinne-wau-nah, or The Gentleman.
From Day’s “Historical Collections of Pennsylvania” we select the following sketch of the distinguished chieftain, whose life was so closely associated with the Indian history of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and particularly that of Warren county:
“Few names are more distinguished in the frontier history of Pennsylvania than that of Cornplanter. He was born at Conewaugus, on the Genesee River, being a half-breed, the son of a white man named John O’Bail, a trader from the Mohawk Valley. In a letter written in 1822 (of course by an interpreter) to the Governor of Pennsylvania he thus speaks of his early youth: ‘When I was a child I played with the butterfly, the grasshopper and the frogs; and as I grew up I began to pay some attention and play with the Indian boys in the neighborhood, and they took notice of my skin being of a different color from theirs, and spoke about it; I inquired of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father was a resident of Albany, N.Y. I still ate my victuals out of a bark dish. I grew up to be a young man and married me a wife, but I had no kettle or gun. I then knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he was a white man and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while I was at his house, but when I started to return home he gave me no provision to eat on the way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, neither did he tell me that the United States were about to rebel against the government of England.
“Little further is known of his early life beyond the fact that he was allied with the French in the engagement against Gen. Braddock in July, 1755. He was probably at that time at least twenty years old. During the Revolution he was a war chief of high rank, in the full vigor of manhood, active, sagacious, eloquent, brave, and he most probably participated in the principal Indian engagements against the United States during the war. He is supposed to have been present at the cruelties of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, in which the Senecas took a prominent part. He was on the war-path with Brandt during Gen. Sullivan’s campaign in 1779; and in the following year, under Brandt and Sir John Johnson, he led the Senecas in sweeping through the Schoharie Kill and the Mohawk. On this occasion he took his father a prisoner, but with such caution as to avoid an immediate recognition. After marching the old man some ten or twelve miles he stepped before him, faced about and addressed him in the following terms:
“My name is John O’Bail, commonly called Cornplanter. I am your son! You are my father! You are now my prisoner, and subject to the customs of Indian warfare, but you shall not be harmed. You need not fear! I am a warrior! Many are the scalps which I have taken! Many prisoners I have tortured to death! I am your son. I was anxious to see you, and greet you in friendship. I went to your cabin and took you by force; but your life will be spared. Indians love their friends and their kindred, and treat them with kindness. If you now choose to follow the fortunes of your yellow son, and to live with our people, I will cherish your old age with plenty of venison and you shall live easy. But if it is your choice to return to your fields and live with your white children, I will send a party of my trusty young men to conduct you back in safety. I respect you, my father. You have been friendly to Indians, and they are your friends.’ The elder O’Bail preferred his white children and green fields to his yellow offspring and the wild woods, and chose to return.
“Notwithstanding his bitter hostility while the war continued, he became the fast friend of the United States when once the hatchet was buried. His sagacious intellect comprehended at a glance the growing power of this country and the abandonment with which England had requited the fidelity of the Senecas. He therefore threw all his influence at the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh in favor of peace; and notwithstanding the vast concessions which he saw his people were necessitated to make, still, by his energy and prudence in the negotiation, he retained for them an ample and beautiful reservation. For the course which he took on those occasions, the State of Pennsylvania granted him the fine reservation upon which he resided on the Allegheny. The Senecas, however, were never well satisfied with his course in relation to these treaties; and Red Jacket, more artful and eloquent than his older rival, but less frank and honest, seized upon this circumstance to promote his own popularity at the expense of Cornplanter.
“Having buried the hatchet, Cornplanter sought to make his talents useful to his people by conciliating the good will of the whites, and securing from further encroachments the little remnant of his national domain. On more than one occasion, when some reckless and bloodthirsty whites on the frontier had massacred unoffending Indians in cold blood, did Cornplanter interfere to restrain the vengeance of his people. During all the Indian wars from 1790 to 1794, which terminated with Wayne’s victory over the northwestern tribes, Cornplanter(8*) pledged himself that the Senecas should remain friendly to the United States. He often gave notice to the garrison at Fort Franklin of intended attacks from hostile parties, and even hazarded his life on a mediatonal mission to the Western tribes. He ever entertained a high respect and personal friendship for Washington, ‘the great councillor of the Thirteen Fires,’ and often visited him during his presidency on the business of his tribe. His speeches on these occasions exhibit both his talent in composition and his adroitness in diplomacy. Washington fully reciprocated his respect and friendship. They had fought against each other on the disastrous day of Braddock’s field. Both were then young men. More than forty years afterwards, when Washington was about to retire from the presidency, Cornplanter made a special visit to Philadelphia to take an affectionate leave of the great benefactor of the white man and the red.
“After peace was permanently established between the Indians and the United States, Cornplanter retired from public life and devoted his labors to his own people. He deplored the evils of intemperance, and exerted himself to suppress it. The benevolent efforts of missionaries among his tribe always received his encouragement, and at one time his own heart seemed to be softened by the words of truth; yet he preserved in his later years many of the peculiar notions of the Indian faith.”
* See allusion to this letter in Mr. Maclay’s diary, preceding chapter.
** The Indians of that day termed the Virginians “Big Knives,” or “Long Knives.”
*** The thirteen original States.
(4*) This fight took place in August, I 779, during Colonel Brodhead’s march into the Seneca country.
(5*) Doyle and two or three brothers by the name of Walker had killed two of the Seneca tribe on Pine Creek, then in the township of Lycoming, Northumberland county, in June, 1790. These were the murders referred to by Cornplanter when he first arrived in Philadelphia.
(6*) It was supposed by General Butler, when he recommended that a grant of land be made to Cornplanter, that the latter would make choice of lands in the “late purchase,” meaning the territory bordering on Lake Erie.
(7*) Soon after the Meads and other pioneers settled at Meadville, Crawford county, Pa., Cornplanter and his band paid them a friendly visit, and such visits were frequently repeated during subsequent years. It was then that these white settlers noticed that a number of white men were living with the Indians, among whom were Lashley Malone, who was captured in the Bald Eagle valley, Pa.; Peter Krause, a German by birth, who was taken on Duncan’s Creek, near the head of the Monongahela, in Virginia; Elijah Mathews, who was captured on Graves’s Creek, Ohio; Nicholas Rosencrantz, the son of a minister, and Nicholas Tanewood, who were taken in the Mohawk valley, New York. Krause, Mathews, and Rosencrantz were married to Indian women. These men having lived from boyhood with their captors, were thoroughly weaned from the habits of civilization, and preferred to remain with the Indians. Rev. Timothy Alden, of Meadville, while on a visit to Cornplanter in the fall of 1816, stayed over night at the cabin of Peter Krause, on the Allegheny, where he was then living with his Indian wife and family.
(8*) This statement is incorrect. Cornplanter was unfriendly in 1794, and, without a doubt, if Wayne had been defeated the Senecas would have become generally hostile, with Cornplanter’s approval. See next chapter.
SOURCE: Page(s) 96-109, History of Warren County, J.S. Schenck & W.S. Rann, Syracuse, New York: D. Mason, 1887
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