The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784 Part 13

Of the other local leaders, Horn and Reed held only lesser towns.h.i.+p offices, overseer and supervisor, respectively, in addition to operating frontier forts.[29] Cookson Long, mentioned as a Fair Play man in 1775 in Eleanor Coldren's deposition, later commanded Fort Reed, for a time, as a captain of a.s.sociators.[30] The final two local leaders, John Walker and Thomas Hughes, both took turns as Fair Play men and as members of the local Committee of Safety.[31]

In a.n.a.lyzing the local leaders.h.i.+p roles which these various settlers filled, additional and pertinent conclusions become apparent. In the first place, the Fair Play men were obviously not the top leaders of the community. Henry Antes may have served as their spokesman in 1775, and it is quite possible that Robert Fleming was a member of the tribunal, but both were more important as county leaders. Secondly, Fair Play men were members of the Committee of Safety, a fact which suggests that their efforts may have been coordinated. Finally, returning to the question of national origin, six of these eight local leaders were either Scots, Scotch-Irish, or Irish. The other two were Germans. No Englishman was a leader, either regional or local, in the Fair Play territory between 1769 and 1784. Perhaps, as Carl Becker suggests, this was due to the fact that neither the German nor the Scotch-Irish immigrant held in his breast any sentiment of loyalty to King George, or much sympathy with the traditions or the leaders of English society.[32]

What were the particular problems of this frontier and how effective were these leaders in meeting them? The question of defense, including the daily task of survival in the wilderness, the right of pre-emption, and the efforts to obtain frontier representation in the a.s.sembly: these were the main problems in this pioneer land along the West Branch of the Susquehanna. All were not solved during the period under a.n.a.lysis, but the attempts to solve these and other problems afford us the opportunity to evaluate the leaders.h.i.+p in the Fair Play territory.

Doubtless, the most pressing public need on this frontier was protection from the marauding Indians who plagued these pioneers throughout the fifteen years encompa.s.sed by this study. Aroused by the British during the Revolution, the Indians of the Six Nations descended from New York into the West Branch Valley to hara.s.s and, finally, to drive the Fair Play settlers from their homes. Driven from their homes, the frontiersmen of the West Branch first gathered in the hastily-constructed and poorly-manned forts conveniently scattered along the Susquehanna from Jersey Sh.o.r.e to Lock Haven, but, ultimately, these too had to be evacuated in the Great Runaway in 1778.

The severity of these attacks is evident from this pet.i.tion from the settlers gathered at Fort Horn, above present McElhattan, pleading for military support in their perilous position:

_To the Honourable the Supreame Executive Councill of the Commonwealth of Pennsyllvania, in Lancaster;_

Wee, your humble pet.i.tioners, the Inhabitance of Bald Eagle Towns.h.i.+p, on the West Branch of Susquehannah, Northumberland County, &c., &c., humbly Sheweth: that, Wherease, wee are Driven By the Indians from our habitations and obblidged to a.s.semble ourselves together for our Common Defence, have thought mete to acquaint you with our Deplorable situation. Wee have for a month by past, endeavoured to maintain our ground, with the loss of nearly fifty murdered and made Captives, still Expecting relief from Coll.

Hunter; but wee are pursuaded that the Gentleman has done for us as mutch as has layd in his power; we are at len[g]th surrounded with great numbers on every side, and unless Our Honourable Councill Does grant us some a.s.sistance wee will Be obblidged to evaquete [_sic_]

this frontier; which will be great encouragement to the enemy, and Bee very injurious to our Common Cause. We, therefore, humbly request that you would grant us as many men as you may Judge suficient to Defend four small Garrisons, and some amunition, and as we are wery ill prowided with arms, we Beg that you would afford us some of them; for particulars we refer to the Bearer, Robert Fleming, Esq'r, and Begs leave to Conclude. Your humble pet.i.tioners, as in Duty Bound, shall ever pray.

Sined by us:[33]

This pet.i.tion was signed by some forty-seven settlers, including John and Robert Fleming, Alexander Hamilton, and Samuel Horn. Unfortunately, the much-needed a.s.sistance was not forthcoming, and Colonel Hunter soon sent instructions from Fort Augusta for the evacuation of the valley.

This evacuation is, of course, the Great Runaway.[34] It is interesting to note, however, that the bearer of this pet.i.tion was Robert Fleming, one of the regional leaders of the territory.

Although forced to leave the West Branch Valley, the Fair Play settlers responded to Colonel Hunter's fervent plea to stay at Fort Augusta to help in the defense of this last frontier. Their gallant stand on the West Branch and their earnestly successful support of Fort Augusta, the last frontier outpost in central Pennsylvania, protected the interior, enabled the Continental Congress "to function in safety at a period when its collapse would have meant total disaster to the American cause," and provided a vivid demonstration of what a later president of the United States would call "that last full measure of devotion."[35]

In the fall of 1778, following the earlier alliance with France, the tide of the Revolution began to flow in favor of independence, notwithstanding the fact that the Fair Play territory was now deserted.

But for two years previous, when the issue of independence had been in grave doubt, the courageous pioneers of the West Branch stood their ground in tiny garrisons at Fort Antes, Fort Horn, and Fort Reed, resisting the attacking Indians at the insistence of their leaders, that freedom might be preserved. Perhaps it is a little-known story, but the fate of independence was in good hands with the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley, who fought to preserve it.

Towards the end of the Revolution the Fair Play settlers returned to the territory, and a new problem arose, that of t.i.tle claims or, more particularly, the right of pre-emption. Still outside the bounds of the Commonwealth and organized government, these frontier squatters pet.i.tioned the Supreme Council for validation of their land claims.[36]

Two pet.i.tions, one in August, 1781, and the other in March, 1784, were sent. Their claims were recognized by an act of the General a.s.sembly pa.s.sed in May, 1785.[37] By this time, the land in question had been opened for settlement by virtue of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784.

Needless to say, their pet.i.tions had been prompted in part by fear of land speculators who were attempting to buy up their lands through the Land Office in Philadelphia. The prominence of local leaders, such as Alexander Hamilton and John Walker, is once again noted in these pet.i.tions. These pet.i.tions achieved notable results in that the right of pre-emption for the West Branch squatters was recognized by the Commonwealth long before the national government endorsed the principle.

Furthermore, the validation of these claims beyond the purchase line of the Stanwix Treaty of 1768 provided the first legal recognition of pre-emption in the State of Pennsylvania.

Unsuccessful in maintaining their homes against the incursive Indians, but successful in regaining them by right of pre-emption, the Fair Play settlers were also vitally concerned with representative democracy.

Locally, on the county level, and in the Province and State, these frontiersmen sought to make their wishes known, both to and through their political leaders. How well they achieved these goals was influenced by the number of persons whom they elected to both legal and extra-legal offices at the various political levels.

The Fair Play settlers managed to send two of their a.s.sociates to the General a.s.sembly in the decade after Lexington and Concord.[38] These two, Robert Fleming and Frederick Antes, const.i.tuted a disproportionate representation, when one considers the limited population of the Fair Play community and the general under-representation of the frontier counties at this period. In fact, a few hundred families in and around the West Branch were surprisingly fortunate to have one of their number, Robert Fleming, in the General a.s.sembly when, following a pet.i.tion from the frontier counties in 1776, a new apportionment created an a.s.sembly in which fifty-eight legislators represented Pennsylvania's 300,000 people.[39] However, the elections of both Fleming and Antes came after the new const.i.tution of 1776, in which each county was given six representatives.[40] It can hardly be said that the West Branch Valley lacked adequate representation in the councils of the State.

Furthermore, Frederick Antes was a delegate to that State Const.i.tutional Convention. This not only emphasizes the leaders.h.i.+p role of Antes, but also points up the good fortune of the Fair Play settlers in having one of their community partic.i.p.ate in the framing of the new State government. Although the Fair Play settlers lived beyond the legal limits of settlement, they were very much involved in its political affairs.

Aside from the General a.s.sembly and the Const.i.tutional Convention, these pioneers of the Northumberland County frontier placed three men on the county bench, one of whom was presiding judge.[41] Fair Play men became justices of fair play in the county courts.

Concerning other county offices, the key position of sheriff was held continuously from 1779 to 1785 by members of the Fair Play community.[42] Here again, it appears that the proper administration of justice could be expected from Fair Play men.

Locally, the rotational system of the Fair Play tribunal and the frequent changes in the composition of the Committee of Safety give rise to the conclusion that political democracy, in the sense of active partic.i.p.ation in public office, was truly a characteristic of the Fair Play territory. Nine different men served on the three-man Committee of Safety from February of 1776 to February of 1777, three new members being elected semi-annually. Except for the two or three years following the Great Runaway, the three members of the Fair Play tribunal were elected annually.

In conclusion, then, what can be said regarding the leaders.h.i.+p of the Fair Play settlers? Except for the dangers from Indian hostility, which were compounded by the settlers' limited manpower, the leaders.h.i.+p was more than adequate, one might say eminently successful, in meeting the needs of the frontier. It enacted law, interpreted it, and saw to it that the law was carried out on every political level with which the West Branch pioneers had contact. In short, it gave them a government of, by, and for themselves. This was _real_ representation by spokesmen of a small community, very different from _virtual_ representation in a distant Parliament, from which their independence had now been declared.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Edwin MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_ (Camden, N. J., 1900). This book is a mosaic of primary and secondary sources dealing with the entire area, rather than a standard biographical treatment of its particular subject.

[2] Merle Curti, _The Making of an American Community: A Case Study of Democracy in a Frontier County_ (Stanford, 1959), pp. 417-441. This entire fifteenth chapter is devoted to both a quant.i.tative and qualitative a.n.a.lysis of "leaders.h.i.+p."

[3] Wealth, i.e., liquid a.s.sets, was not necessarily a criterion on this agrarian frontier, where a man's a.s.sets were not easily convertible into cash. Hence, property was the main economic source of value.

[4] The records of the first State and county officers are found in the _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 768-772, and John Blair Linn, _Annals of Buffalo Valley_ (Harrisburg, 1877), pp. 558-563. Some data are also available in Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_.

The tax listings were located in the _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 437, 468, 557, and 618-622. Mrs. Russell also collected a listing for the years 1774 to 1800 for Northumberland County. Court records, pension claims, Meginness' _Otzinachson_ (1889) and _Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania_ provided the remaining data.

[5] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 19.

[6] _Ibid._, pp. 20-21. MacMinn also calls the senior Antes the father of the Unity Conferences of Christian Endeavor and presents a copy of a letter written on Dec. 17, 1741, calling for a New Year's Day meeting of Christians in Germantown in 1742 in support of this statement. Of his minor judicial role, MacMinn offers this account published in Christopher Saur's _Pensylvanische Berichte_ for May 16, 1756: "Were such magistrates more numerous, the poor would not have cause to complain and to weep over gross injustices which they have to suffer because persons are respected."

[7] _Ibid._, p. 248.

[8] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 484. _See also_, MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 324.

[9] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 316, 413; and _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, p. 769.

[10] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 472.

[11] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222.

[12] Linn, _Annals of the Buffalo Valley_, p. 95; and Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 473.

[13] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 316.

[14] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 473.

[15] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 770.

[16] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 416-420. See also Alex. Patterson to John d.i.c.kinson (October 28, 1783) in the Zebulon Butler Papers, Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Patterson, speaking of Antes' failure to arrest Zebulon Butler, said of Antes: "The Sheriff has not done his duty nor do I believe he intends it being. A party man among which I am sorry to see so little principels of humanity or honnor, Men who wish for popularity at the Expense of the Propperty and perhaps blood of their fellow Citizens...."

[17] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 768-772, and MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 330, 395, and 413.

[18] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 769.

[19] _Ibid._, p. 771.

[20] _Ibid._, pp. 769, 771; Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, pp. 473-474; and _Colonial Records_, XI, 367.

[21] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 618.

[22] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 12 and 420.

[23] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 437.

[24] _Colonial Records_, XII. 137.

[25] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 81.