Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 3632, Thomas Vickroy, Penn.
Page 1

(3-1776)
SERVICE
Penn.

Vickroy, Thomas
               Sarah Ann

NUMBER
W.3632.
B. L. Wt. 76506-160-55
==========================
CONTENTS
Page 2

[printed form, blanks filled by hand]

/252
Pennsylvania (Philadel'a)
===============================
Sarah Ann Vickroy
widow of Thomas Vickroy--
who served in the Revolutionary 
Penn & Va
war, as a Private, and Dept'y Comm'y
of Issues
===============================
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of
47 Dollars 56--
Cents per annum, to commence on 
the 4th day of March, 1848.
================================
Certificate of Pension issued the 
25th day of Dec. 1859--
and sent to
Tucker and Lloyd
Present
================================
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners under act
June 29, 1848, Page 155, Vol. H
[signed] G. ? Getty

right side
18h 3 Jan'y 5. Matilda Marshall
Page 3

two sided document
left side

Let R. Hoop July 29/56
" E. A. Vickroy. May 18/7
"   ''     ''            Nov 28/57
Auditor Public accounts
Richmond Va. Feb: 16/58

right side
176671 act Mar (paper torn)
June 23 (paper torn)
Sarah Ann
=============================
Sarah Ann Vickroy
wid of 
Thomas Victroy prv.
Vickroy.
=============================
Cap.           Commissary
Gen Geo Rogers Clarke (crossed through)
Pen Mil (crossed through)

Ento.                   1780
dis.                      18812

Rev War
---------------------------------------
No Papers
---------------------------------------
Ad 160 ?? Dec 23'd/57
Boyton
Special
E. A. Vickroy,
Johnstown, Pa.
----------------------------------------
Rezin Hook
Johnstown 
Cambria Co
Pa.
(lines diag. thru above)

(written across above twice) 
76.506 H???
Dec 23/57
Page 4

Act Mar 1855
176.671.  23 June 1855
-------------------------------
Sarah Ann Vivkroy
wid of
Thomas Vickroy
commissary
--------------
Gen Clarke

Rev War

Head

E S Vickroy
Johnstown

Wtitten across above
76.506
Issue ?????
Page 5

        L. B. S.

These are to certify that Mr. Thomas
Vickroy from Bedford and Miss Sarah 
Ann Alter of Lancaster were 
lawfully married the 27th Day of October
1796 per me.

Henry Muhlenberg D. D.
Minister at Lancaster

We the undersigned do certify that the above is a true copy of the original Certificate
John P. Saler

Samuel Good
Page 6

State of Pennsylvania}
Bedford County}  SS.
On this twelfth day of June AD 1855, personally appeared before me a Justice of the Peace in and for the County and State aforesaid Sarah Ann Vickroy aged Seventy five years, a resident of Bedford County in the State of Pennsylvania, who being duly Sworn according to law declared that she is the widow of Thomas Vickery [Vickroy] deceased, who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain
in the Regiment of commanded by Genl [General] George Rogers Clarke
That her said Husband volunteered at Pittsburg on or  about the day of AD 1780, for the term of one year and continued in actual service in said war for the term of one year and was honorably discharged at the falls of the Ohio on the day of A D 1781 or 2, as he informed her.
She further states that she was married to the said Thomas
Vickery in Lancaster in the 27th day of Oct A D 1786 by one Henry Muhlenberg D.D. Minister And that her name before her said marriage was Sarah A. Alter, that her said Husband died at Bedford County on the ninth day of June AD 1845 and that she is now a widow
She makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining the Bounty Land to which she may entitled under the act approved March 3rd 1853.
Sarah Ann Vickroy
We James Sill and Alexr [Alexander] McGregor Jr. residents of Bedford County in the State of Pennsylvania upon our solemn oath declare that the foregoing declaration was signed and acknowledged by Sarah Ann Vickroy in our  presence and that we believe from the appearance and statements of the applicant that she is the identical person she represents herself till
James Sill
Alex McGregor Jr
Page 7

the foregoing declaration and affidavit was sworn to and subscribed before me on the day and Year first above written and I certify that I know the deponents to be credible persons and that the claimant is the person she represents herself to be and that I have no interest in this claim.
J H Wright J P
Page 8

State of Pennsylvania}
County of Bedford SS.}
I D Washabaugh Clerk of the County Court in and for the County of Bedford do hereby certify that J. H. Wright and Duncan McVicker as before whom the foregoing declaration was made and affidavits sworn to and whose genuine
signations are thereto signed, were at the date thereof and now are acting Justices of the peace in and for said County and State, duly elected, commissioned and qualified to act as such, and further that said least is a Court of record

In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto, set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court at Bedford the 15" day of June AD 1855
D Washabaugh Pro [Prothonotary]
J H Dickens Dept.

[white paper with zig zag edges attached to left margin]
Page 9

Pennsylvania Bedford County ss
Personnely [personally] appeared [illegible] Duncan McVicker one of the justices of the peace in and for said County James Williams who being duly sworn and Doth depose and say that he knew Thomas Vickroy and that he was reputed to be a Soulder [Soldier] in the Revolution war with great Britten [Britain] and knew said T Vickroy to leave his wife and one child in the care of my Father and was absent from his family for about two years and when he returned to his only in about the year one thousand Seven hundred and Eighty two Reputed to be in an exposition against the Indians under General George Rodgers Clark and have often heard said Thomas Vickroy at the time he returned and afterward State about him standing guard for the [illegible] in Kentucky and that said Thomas Vickroys said wife has since [illegible] and he sine married Sarann Alter of Lancaster Pa
Sworn and subscribed the 14th day of June AD 1855
before me
Duncan McVicker
his
James  X Williams
mark
Page 10

E. A. Vickroy
Rec. May 14}
Ans same day} 1857
Deposition in Pension Office by S. Y. A. Lee
Page 11

Johnstown May 9th 1857.
Samuel Yorke Atlee Esq. 
Dear Cousin
At Mothers request I write you to make an enquiry at the Pension Office.
My Father, Thomas Vickroy was in an expedition against the Indians under Genl. [General] George Rogers Clark in 1780. Mother has applied for bounty land for his services under Act of 3d Mar. 1855 
number of her application 176671.
Rezin Hook  of Johnstown forwarded her application two years ago. James Williams, now quite an old man, vouched for my Fathers services, who is the brother of my Father's first wife, and is certain my Father performed the service. Several of Hooks letters are unanswered,  and mother wants, womanlike to know what her prospects are of getting a warrant.
Page 12

It appears that the Pension office at last accounts to Hook
could not find my Fathers name on the roll. My Grand father wrote his name Vicary, and my Father's name might be written on the roll Vicary instead of Vickroy. I send by this Mail to your address several pages from the "Annals of the West" from which it appears the compiler had access to some document
written by my Father giving some account of the expedition, see page 324.
Will you do Mother the favor to make enquiry at the pension office and ascertain what disposition they are likely to make of her of application, and reply to me.
with our regards
Your Cousin
E.A. Vickroy
Page 13

E. A. Vickroy
Rec. Feb 2}
Ans - 15} 1858
Page 14

Y6506-160
Johnstown Jany. [January] 28, 1858.
Dear Cousin,
A Land Warrant was issued to Father in Dec. for Fathers services. She wishes to know if she is entitled to any pension
in addition to the Land Warrant.
Her claim is No. 176671 under Act of Mar 3d 1855. Please ascertain if she is entitled to anything more than the Warrant, and if so if you will act as her Agt [Agent] in transmitting it to her she will allow you the customary fees for such services. Please make the enquiry and write to me
Our family are in health. Cornelia and her best regards to you. Give my respects to Shadowin.
Respectfully
Your Cousin
E. H. Vickroy
Yorke  A Lee Esq.
Washington D. C. 
Hos 
Decd.
Page 15

Declaration of Mrs. Sarah Vickroy widow of Thomas Vickroy. Decd. 
For Revolutionary Pension under the Act of Congress of [illegible crossed out] July 29. 1848.
State of Pennsylvania}
County of Bedford} ss
On this 8th day of March 1858, personally appeared before me Andrew J Snively, one of the Judges of the Several Courts [illegible crossed out] of the County and State above named, Mrs. Sarah Ann Vickroy a resident of Bedford County in the State of Pennsylvania aged 78 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on her oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefits of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed February 2nd 1848, granting pensions to widows of persons who served during the revolutionary war. That she is the widow of Thomas Vickroy. who was a Commissary of the Regiment commanded by Gen. Geo. R. Clarke in the War of the Revolution, and served one year. That he entered the service at Pittsburgh about the year 1780 and was discharged at the Falls of the Ohio about the year 1781. That she has received by reason of the said service Bounty Land
Warrant No 76,506 for 160 acres under the Act of 1855. and refers to the evidence upon which said Warrant was
issued.-
She further declares that she was married to the said Thomas Vickroy, on the 27th day of October A. D. one thousand seven hundred and ninety six. - at Lancaster, Pa.
by one Henry Muhlenberg D. D. that her name before her said marriage was Sarah Ann Atlee and that her husband, the aforesaid Thomas Vickroy, died at Allison Bank. Pa, on the 9th day of June A. D. 1845 and that she has remained a
widow since the death of her said husband. And I certify that by reason of age & bodily infirmity the said Sarah Ann Vickroy is unable to appear in open Court.
A. J. Snively Judge
Page 16

Know all men of these Presents, that I, Sarah Ann Vickroy of the County of Bedford and State of Pennsylvania do hereby constitute and appoint Chas. C. Tucker, of Washington, D. C., my true and lawful agent and attorney, for me, and in my name to prepare and prosecute my claim for a  Revolutionary Pension by reason of the services of my deceased husband; and I hereby empower my said attorney to examine all records and documents in reference to said claim on file in the Departments at Washington, to file additional evidence and arguments, and to do all lawful acts and things whatsoever touching the premises, with full powers of substitution. Hereby revoking and countermanding all former powers of attorney that may have been given by me for the above specified purpose.
Witness my hand and seal this 8th day of March A. D. 1858.
Sarah Ann Vickroy [seal surrounded by squiggles]
attest. A. J. Snively
F. D. Buggles
State of Pennsylvania}
County of Bedford} ss: 
On this 8th day of March 1858 personally appeared before me, Sarah Ann Vickoy and acknowledged the foregoing power of attorney to be her act and deed for the purposes therein mentioned.
A. J. Snively
one of the Judges of the several Courts of Bedford County, Penna. 

CLAIM FOR PENSION.
Act of July 29, 1848
Mrs. Sarah Ann Vickroy 
Widow of Thomas
DECLARATION.
CHAS. C. TUCKER
Attorney.
Page 17

Pennsylvania,}
Bedford County, ss:}
I Saml. [Samuel] H Tate Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas & Clerk of the same Courts of Bedford County, hereby certify that the Hon. A.J. Snively before whom the foregoing Declaration & acknowledgement appear to have been made, was at the time thereof & now is one of the Judges of the several Courts of said County duly commissioned & qualified & that the signatures thereto purporting to be his are genuine.
In testimony whereof have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of the Court of Common Pleas aforesaid at Bedford the 11th day of March A.D. 1858.
Saml. [Samuel] H. Tate
Prothy [Prothonotary] &c.
Page 18

In reply to your request of, received for a statement of the military history of Thomas Vickroy a solider of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in his (pr his widow's) application for pension on file in this bureau W.F.3632
Date of enlistment or appointment 1780 length of service 1 yr. Rank [illegible] and Deputy Com. of Issues Officers under whom service was rendered Captain Colonel Under Gen. George Rogers Clark in expeditions against the Indians. Battles engaged in, Residence of soldier at enlistment Enlisted at Pittsburg, Pa Date of application for pension March 8, 1858 Her claim was [illegible] Residence at date of application W. Clair Twp in Bedford Co Pa Age at date of application, 78 years Remarks: Solider had a wife and child (names not stated) during his service. He marr. at Lancaster Pa, Oct 27 1796 Sarah Ann Atlee He died June 9, 1845 at Alum Bank Bedford Co Pa In 1842 their daughter Matilda Marshall has [illegible] of Alum Bank Pa their son, E.A. Vickroy was res of Johnstown Pa in 1857
Very respectfully,
and soldier aided in laying out Pittsburgh
Commissioner.
Page 19

State of Pennsylvania}
Bedford County} SS.
Before the Subscriber a Justice of the Peace in and for said County, personally came Jno [John] Mower, who having been duly affirmed saith. That he was personally and well acquainted with the late Thomas Vickroy, of Alum Bank, in the County of Bedford aforesaid and knew him intimately for a number of years, he is also well acquainted with Mrs Sarah Ann Vickroy who is now an applicant for a pension and knows that she is the widow of the said Thomas Vickroy, and that she resided with her said husband at Alum Bank, up to and after the time of his death.
Affiant also saith that from his intimacy with the early records and the land business of Bedford County, he knows that said Thomas Vickroy was a practical surveyor and followed that business from a period as early as the Revolution. He further saith that by virtue of a commission issued out of the United States Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a number of years ago, he had occasion to take the testimony of the said Thomas Vickroy in relation to the City of Pittsburg & the thru location some of its streets and Alleys, that the deposition was
Page 20

taken in the presence of the counsel in the cause who tested very closely the accuracy of the recollection of the deponent as to the facts to which he testified, and from all that was elicited, as well as
from the original & early drafts of the city made by said Thomas Vickroy, affiant has no doubt that he laid out the City of Pittsburg. He has also heard said Thomas Vickroy speak of his services under
Genl [General] Clark, against the Indians; and from all he has heard and from his own knowledge he can say that, the same Thomas Vickroy who served with Genl [General] Clarke and laid out the city of Pittsburg was, also, the husband of Mrs Sarah Ann Vickroy, the present applicant.
Affiant also states he has no interest in the application
Jno Mower
Affirmed & Subscribed}
this 9th December 1857}
Before me}
H. Nicodemus J. P. }
Page 21

State of Pennsylvania}
Bedford County} S. S.
I Samuel H Tate Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of said County, do certify that Henry Nicodemus Esqr [Esquire] before whom the foregoing affidavit was made is a Justice of the Peace duly commissioned & qualified and that the foregoing signature purporting to be his, is genuine.
In testimony whereof I hereunto affix the seal of said Court & subscribe my name this 9th day of December AD 1857
Saml [Samuel] H. Tate
Page 22

Allegheny County
City of Pittsburgh ss,
Personally came before the Subscriber, an Alderman in and for the City of Pittsburgh, Moses Hampton, who being duly sworn
says - I was Solicitor for the City of Pittsburgh about the year 1841 or 1842, and it became necessary in my official capacity to procure authentic testimony in relation to the original location of certain Streets and Alleys in said City. Understanding that Thomas Vickroy, who had assisted Col George Woods to lay out the town of Pittsburgh, was then living at a place called "Alum Bank", a few miles North of the town of Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania: after giving the necessary notice I went to his house in company with John Mower Esqr [Esquire] the Commissioner to take his deposition, and Judge Morrison, both of Bedford. We remained there over night and took his deposition the next day, which I brought home, together with what he said was the original plan or first draft of the town, and had them both recorded in the Recorders Office of this County, where I presume they may still be found. In that deposition he stated that he had assisted Col Woods in laying out the town of Pittsburgh, and related the circumstances particularly that were connected with that transaction - where they commenced, and how they proceeded throughout the same. The fact that he had assisted in laying out the town was well known to the old inhabitants here: and during the time we were at his house he related many incidents and anecdotes connected with the same.
James S Craft Esq of this City was the Counsel for one of the
opposite parties in that controversy, and was present at the house of Mr Vickroy part of the time when his deposition was taken: not all the time, as he did not reach there until after we had made some progress in
Page 23

the matter. This deposition has been used in our Courts since that time without doubt or cavil as to his identity. Mr Vickroy was very old at the time we took his deposition-- I think he stated his age, but do not recollect distinctly, without referring to his deposition what it was, but my impression is it was over eighty years. I understand he died a few years afterwards. I presume Hon J S Black, Attorney General of the U. S., was well acquainted with Mr Vickroy by reputation at least, if not personally
Moses Hampton
Sworn and subscribed before me, an Alderman in and for the City of Pittsburgh, this 7th day of November, 1857
R. Morrow
Alderm [Alderman] & J. P. 

ALLEGHENY COUNTY}
State of Pennsylvania,} ss.
I, John Birmingham Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Alleghany in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the same being a Court of Law and Record, do by the presents certify that R  Morrow Esquire, before whom the foregoing acknowlgt [acknowledgement] taken and who has thereunto in his own proper handwriting, subscribed his name, was at that time and now is, an Alderman in and for the City of Pittsburgh of Officio an acting Justice of the Peace in and for the said County, duly commissioned and sworn, and authorized by law to take Acknowledgments, administer Oaths, &c. to all whose acts, as such, due faith and credit are and of right ought to be given, throughout the United States and elsewhere.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of the said Court, at Pittsburgh, in the said County, this 7 day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-7 and of the sovereignty and independence of the United State of America, the eighty-2
John Birmingham PROTHONOTARY
Page 24

Rev. Pen. Claims
July 29, 1848
[illegible]
[illegible] evidence
Sarah Ann Vickroy
Widow of Thomas
Land warrant No. 76.506 - 160 acres, Act 91855. issued to Mrs. Sarah A. Vickroy
see papers
T. & S.
Tucker & [illegible]
Attys Present
Page 25

State of Pennsylvania County of Bedford [illegible] On the first day of July [illegible] 1838 Personally appeared before the [illegible] [illegible] of the judges of the several courts of said county James Williams who [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] say that he was [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] with Thomas Vickroy [illegible] was a [illegible] in the regiment of General Clark in the [illegible] [illegible] that he [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] Thomas Vickroy from the home of his childhood [illegible] the home of his death which looks placed about fifteen years since in St Clair township Bedford County Pennsylvania that he left a widow Sarah Ann who is [illegible] a resident of said township county and stat aforesaid and who is [illegible] making [illegible] [illegible]a pension that the said Thomas Vickroy was [illegible] generally known and acknowledged in the community where he [illegible] as a solider of the revolutionary war this affiant personally knew said Vickroy before he served in said war and remembers the day on which he marched from home in the service of the said army, And also remembers the day on which he returned which was just one year from the day he started from home he having been in the service precisely one year* or at least absent that long that during his absence the said Vickroy left his wife (first wife) with the father of this affiant with whom she boarded during said period. This affiant further states that he is over eighty four years of age- sworn and subscribed before me the day and year aforesaid A.J. Snively James Williams mark
Page 26

State of Pennsylvania}
Bedford County, ss:}
I, Saml. [Samuel] H Tate, Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of said County & Clerk of the Several Courts thereof, do hereby certify that the Hon. A. J. Snively before whom the foregoing acknowledgement was made & affidavit taken, was at the time thereof one of the Judges of the several Courts of said County duly commissioned & qualified, & that the signature thereto purporting to be his is genuine.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the Seal of said Court at Bedford the 16th day of July, A.D. 1858
Saml [Samuel] H. Tate
Prot, [Prothonotary]
Page 27

Act March 3, 1855.
176.671: June 23, 1855.
Sarah Ann Vickring, [Vickroy] widow of Thomas Vickring [Vickroy],
Commissary Genl. Clark.
War of the Revolution.
Original brief enclosed.
No. 76.506. Issued Dec. 18/57
E. Vickring, [Vickroy]
Johnstown, Pa.
Page 28

76.506.
160 acres.
Page 29

Brief in the case of Sarah Ann Vickroy, widow of Thomas.
Bedford County and State of Pennsylvania.
29" July. 1848.
Claim, ("original, [" or" for increase" crossed out])
Proof exhibited, (if original)
Is it documentary, traditionary, or supported by rolls? If either, state the substance.
Husband served one month and nineteen days as a Deputy Commissary of issues in, 1780, as appears by the certificate of the Auditor of Public Accounts at Richmond. His service was under Genl. Clark. this also established by the History of the Rev: War published at [illegible] day, a copy of which is on file. After Clark's expedition in 1780. the Commission settled in Bedford Co. Pa. was a Surveyor & Originally laid out the City of Pittsburgh. It appears
by the certificate of the Auditor Genl. of Pa. that Th: Vickroy of Bedford Co. Pa. was [illegible] for service, in Bedford Co. Militia in 81 & 2. the sum of [illegible] 1.4 shilling. It is proved by credible [illegible] proof, that Th: Vickroy, of Bedford Co. Pa. who surveyed & laid out the City of Pittsburgh, was in service in the Bedford Co Militia. He lived till 1845, was a man of high character.
(If for increase.) Has additional evidence been filed since the admission of the claim? If so, what?
Was generally reputed a Revy: soldier & Claimes [claims] himself to be such. [Illegible] witnesses swear positively to his service in Bedford Co. There is no doubt from the Documentary Evidence & [illegible] proof that the Commissary & Militiaman were the same person. The claim should be allowed for 14 months as a private & one month & 19 ds, as a Depty: [Deputy] Commissary of Issues. 
R[illegible] Ev: of Marriage in 1796. Soldier died in 1845 as appears by Credible [illegible] proof widowhood and identity is satisfactorily established.
Bounty Land was allowed two years [illegible]
Messrs [Messiers] Tucker & Lloyd, Present,
S. C. [illegible], Examining Clerk.
Name and residence of Agent
Page 30

Revy WIDOW, &c.
File No. 3632
Sarah A. Vickroy
Widow
Thomas Vickroy
Pri. [Private] Rev. War
Act: July 29, 1848
Index: Vol. M, Page 300
[Arrangement of 1870.]
1913. Mch. [March] 31. Hist. to Bronte A. Reynolds F.W.
1914. Aug. 18. Hist. to Mary L. Yeager. F. W. 
1919. [illegible] 6 Hist to Chas. R. Barfoot.
1920 July 30 Hist. to E E Chambers.
Page 31

Thomas Vickroy [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible][illegible] Nov 13 / 57 No 176671 Thomas Vickroy died Sarah Ann Vickroy wed [illegible] to [illegible] Mar 18 /56 pension [illegible] D.C
Page 32

No 1489.
Sarah Ann Vickroy
wid. [widow]
Thomas
Pa:
Let:  Tucker & Lloyd, Apl. [April] 6/58
Same May 14, 1858
Same Dec 2/1858
Same. " 1/59
Act 29" July 1848,
Page 33

[illegible] of [illegible] Washington DC [illegible] additional evidence [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] 
case No 128 752 176 671 [illegible] [illegible]  Vickroy
Page 34

Washington DC March 13 [illegible] 58 [illegible] Geo. C. Whiting Com. of Pension Sir Reenacted herewith the application of Sarah Ann Vickroy the widow of Thomas Vickroy, dead, for a pension under act of July 29th 1848, Be [illegible] to hasten early action on this claim, the claim and being [illegible] and [illegible]. Very respectfully [illegible] [illegible] sent Beecker and [illegible] P.S We refer you to the paper on file on which she secured her land warrant
Page 35

Washington D.C. April 21, 1858.
Hon. Geo. C. Whiting
Court of Pensions
Sir:
I enclose another paper to be filed with the claim under the Act
of July 29, 1848. of Mrs Sarah Ann Vickroy widow
of Thomas showing a payment to the soldier
of $11.45

Very respectfully
Your obt servt
Chas C. Tucker

En.
Page 36

Washington D.C Nov 26. 58 [illegible] Geo. C. Whiting Court of Pension Dear Sir, Enclosed find the [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] which is and [illegible] to [illegible] filled with the [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] July 29 1848 of Sarah Ann Vickroy, widow of Thomas. She respectfully [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] have not shown positively that Thos Vickroy [illegible] as [illegible]wife [illegible] [illegible] [illegible][illegible] [illegible]pensiion of [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] that the evidence presented [illegible] [illegible] she [illegible] [illegible] [illegible][illegible][illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible][illegible]of the letter filed [illegible] 19th 1858 [illegible] the [illegible] of [illegible][illegible][illegible] [illegible][illegible][illegible]that [illegible][illegible][illegible]to [illegible] [illegible][illegible][illegible][illegible][illegible][illegible][illegible] [illegible] it is a [illegible] fact that these [illegible] in the [illegible]
Page 37

[illegible] she [illegible] were [illegible] [illegible] a longer [illegible] then six months. [illegible] and [illegible] [illegible] of office [illegible] that he entered service at Pittsburg Penna [illegible] [illegible] and [illegible] absent about [illegible] years. It is [illegible] to [illegible] that he [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] his [illegible] [illegible] family [illegible] [illegible] the [illegible] of life to [illegible] a [illegible] of and [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] to [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] engaged in his [illegible] service [illegible] in the [illegible] of [illegible]. [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] every effort to [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] this service[illegible] she [illegible] of a [illegible] [illegible] at [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] his officers [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] that this [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] respectfully yours [illegible] [illegible]  Tucker Lloyd
Page 38

Free Commissioner of Pensions Washington DC Rezin Hook Johnstown Penns Pa Ex
Page 39

Johnstown July 10 56 Commissioner of Pensions Hon Sir I wish you to inform me what disposition has been made of the following claims for bounty land under the act of congress of March 3 1855 Sarah Ann Vickroy No 176 671 John Noon No 215 011 Solomon Mandurff No 219 732 Jonathan Kirtly No 219 734 And also of the claim of Wm Reed No 128 752 In yours of the 23 of April last year demanded his [illegible] birth place occupation and [illegible] [illegible] of his pension at the time he enlisted which I sent you some 5 or six weeks ago since which time I have not heard from you Whether it came to hand or not I would therefore ask as early information on the above cases as possible as my clients is old and poor and very impatient. Yours [illegible] [illegible] Rezin Hook [illegible] at this moment I have been shown a warrant issued from your department in favor of Thomas Lane issued an application No 230 015 please let me know why my client is kept back so far behind there turn and [illegible] yours [illegible] RH
Page 40

176x671
Tho Vickroy doc
V


Resin Houk [or Houp]
Johnstown Pa
Page 41

Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC of Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC of Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1780 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC commencing July 12 1780 and Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC of Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC of Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy DC of Extract from instructions from Capt. William Shannon [illegible] dated July 10th 1781 directed to Thos Vickroy D C of I Sir, You are here by appointed deputy Comy of [illegible] for the ensuing expedition and in consequence of which you will [illegible] yourself in readiness to proceed with the provisional boats [illegible] your noble servant Signed Wm. Shannon [illegible] then follows [illegible] of [illegible] [illegible] the troops commanded by Col G.R. Clark [illegible] [illegible] against the shawanese by  Thomas Vickroy Dcommencing July 12 1781 and
Page 42

Seal[top left corner, illegible]
Mssrs Tucker + Lloyd
Auditors Office Richmond
April 17th, 1858
Gentlemen
In reply to your letter of the 15th Instant I have to say that not finding the name of Thomas Vickroy on the Revolutionary Registers on file in this office I took up the Illinois Papers which fill up 5 Large Volumes determined to make out the case for you if possible-I waded through the whole of them page by page + I herewith enclose you my notes of examination which embrace every entry in relation to him~
Very Respectfully
Porterfield A. Heiskell
Vn[?] [illegible] Clerk
Page 43

Johnstown August 11/56
Sir reply to yours of the 29 of July last in the case of Sarah Ann Vicroy for bounty land No 176671 you say it [illegible] strange that [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] 1855 that he never apply for a pension the fact was he left himself able to live without it and like many others of those warthys they fought for there liberty + there county and his widow is now old and pass run [illegible] being insufficient for  [illegible] support you she say that her widowhood has not been sufficiently established Did you not receive the deposition of [illegible] men the names I have forgot as there was two depositions taken and forwarded an with the declaration and I suppose they are on file you also say that possible we can get confirmatory evidence of the audited general of Pennsylvania Gen Clark was an officer of Virginia (and I find by deference to and old book on at least part of and book I think it was called the Anello of the West) That Gen Clark same [illegible] [illegible] August 1780 appointed Thomas Vicroy commissary for the campaign he was then left in the Blask House where Cincinnati now land he left also Captain Johnson and about twenty men to keep pension of the black [illegible]  is an [illegible] [illegible]  so that an application to the authorities of Pennsylvania will be of no prevail
In your [illegible] of the April 23/56 [illegible] Wm Reed No 128752 you ask for his age birth place occupation + full description of his pension at the time has enlisted which I sent you long since but have not learned whether they have been rec at your department or not [illegible] what has become of his case I hope at this [illegible] of this you will cause same [illegible] to be had in his case as he is old and very needy and has [illegible] [illegible]  Im patient
I [illegible] six years [illegible] [illegible] Rezin Hook
P.S I have wrote to the governor of Virginia for Rec'd evidence in M Vicroy case RH
Page 44

State of Pennsylvania County of Bedford [illegible] On the 8th day of March A.D. 1858 personally appeared before the undersigned a justice of the peace in afore said county James Williams who being duly sworn + depose + say that they were personally + well acquainted with Thomas Vickroy now dec who always bore the reputation of being a solider of the Revolution + a commissary in the American Army; that they knew him well + intimately +always recognized him as the identical Thomas Vickroy of the Revolutionary War; that from statements frequently made they believe he was the commissary of Gen. Clarke's regiment: that they have known his widow about as long as they when first married: that she is the identical same Sarah Ann Vickroy who is now applying to the United States Government for Pension money: that the said Thomas Vickroy dies on or about the ninth day of June 1845: that the said Sarah Ann Vickroy is still a widow + remains unmarried + that she is the same person to whom a warrant for bounty lands was is-
Page 45

sued lately by the United States government on account of her husbands services in the Revolutionary War aforesaid sworn + subscribed Before [illegible] the day + year aforesaid John Smith Justice of the Peace
his mark James Williams
Pennsylvania Bedford County 
I Saml H Tate [illegible]of the court of common pleas of said county + clerk of the [illegible] court there of do hereby certify that John Smith Esq before whom the forgoing affidavit appear to have been made was at the time thereof on acting justice of the Peace in + for said county duly gratified to administer [illegible] + duly commissioned +qualified to do all other acts pertaining to justice of the peace + that the signature there to [illegible] to be his is genuine. In testimony where if [illegible] here[illegible] set my hand + affixed the seal of said court of common pleas at Bedford the 11th day of March A.D. 1858 Saml H Tate [illegible]
Page 46

Sir I sent you a declaration of marriage certificate in [illegible] of [illegible] Vickroy which I wish attended [illegible] in there prefeed time and forwarded yours [illegible] sir Rezin Hook Johnstown [illegible] [illegible]
Page 47

State of Pennsylvania Bedford County
Before me a Justice of the Peace in and said for County personally came Alex M Grigor William M Hancock to me well know, Mrs upon these solemn [illegible] declare that they are well acquainted with Mrs Sarah Ann Vickroy, and have been well acquainted with her for a [illegible] number of years- deponent further say that they also well knew Thomas Vickroy late of Bedford County deceased, that said Thomas Vickroy was this husband of said Sarah Ann Vickroy, and died on or about the month day of June [illegible] 1845 and that said Sarah Ann has since remarried tho widow of said Thomas Vickroy. Deponent further states that their knowledge of the fact that said Sarah Ann Vickroy is the widow of Thomas Vickroy, deceased is derived from their knowledge of the last illness of said Thomas Vickroy from their attendance at his funeral.
J H Wright Aug 14th 1856 J P
A.M Grigor
William M Hancock
Page 48

Pennsylvania Bedford County I D Washanaugh [illegible] of the court of common pleas in and for said county, do certify that Jacob H Wright esq before when the [illegible] affiant was taken was at the time thereof an acting justice of the peace in and for said county duly qualified and commissioned to not as such and that the signature [illegible] to his, is genuine
In testimony whereof I have [illegible] [illegible] may [illegible] and affixed the seal of said court of Bedford the 18th day of August 1836 D Washabaugh [illegible]
Page 49

Alum Bank Dec. 25, 1842
Hon. Joseph H. Barrat

Dear Sir,

    My mother Sarah Ann Vickory is entitled to a pension of forty-seven dollars per year which is paid to her agent O. E. Shannon Esqr. Certain portions of this pension are retained by Mr. Shannon for the purpose as is alleged of paying certain claims in his hands for which my mother became responsible as security and there is not enough left for, her support, will you please to direct that I shall be informed of the amount that has been paid to Mr. Shannon that I may have a settlement with him.
Page 50

No 5.712 Nov 7-'62 I have myself made application for a pension as the widow of Moses F Marshall. I am in a very embarrassed condition and would like to receive what may be coming to me as soon as the Department [illegible] which you preside can determine on the validity of my claim. Please hand in [illegible] [illegible] soon. I have employed Alex King Esq of Bedford to attend to this for me and request any communications on the subject to be addressed to him Yours truly Matilda Marshall
Page 51

Johnstown Cambria Co Pa
August 23rd /56
Sir
I herewith send the proof asked in your last communication disputing the Widowhood of Sarah A. Vickroy which I hope ma[may] be satisfactory. I have also wrote to the Executure[?] of Virginia for Record Evidence of the Services of Her Husband Thos Vickroy which I will forward as soon as Rec'd.
Yours [illegible]
Rezin Hook
Page 52

State of Pennsylvania
Bedford Couty} ss.

    Before me the subscriber a Justice of the Peace in and for said county personally came William M. Clark who being duly sworn according to law, doth depose and say - I have been acquainted with Thomas Vickory for the last sixty year of thereabouts I heard him say that he was commissary of Genl. George R. Clark's Regiment at Cincinnati - I heard him say that when Clark went out to fight the Indians - Clark made him stay to take care of the sick and wounded and military stores - I heard him say that he had on a clean shirt every day - for he would take his camp kettle and go to the River and boil hos shirts.  I also know that the aforesaid Thomas Vickory was the husband of Sarah Ann Vickory, who obtained a bounty land Warrant No. 76.506 and who has remained in widowhood ever since (next page)
Page 53

and the said Thomas Vickory died on the 9th day of June A.D. 1845.

    Sworn and subscribed before me this 18th day of March A.D. 1858. 
                                  William (his mark) Clark

//s//
Henry Ickes J.P.
Attest
Henry Ickes
Sarah Ickes


Pennsylvania
Bedford County ss.

   I, Saml. H. Tate Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas & Clerk of the said Court of said county hereby certify that Henry Ickes, Esqr. before whom the foregoing affidavit appears to have been made was at the time thereof & now is an acting Justice of the Peace in & for said county duly commissioned & qualified & that the signature thereto purporting to be his is genuine.

     In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of the Prothonotary's Office at Bedford this 16th day of March, A.D. 1858.
                                         //s//
                                    Saml. H. Tate Prothon.
                         (illegible) the service of Depty.
Page 54

State of Pennsylvania
County of Bedford} ss

    Before me the subscriber a Justice of the Peace in and for said county, personally came William Sleck, who being duly sworn according to law, doth depose and say the he was acquainted with Thomas Vickory a Revolutionary soldier for about sixty years, that he and him frequently say in conversations with his father who also was and old soldier, that he the said Thomas Vickory served in the regiment of Gen. George R. Clarke as commissary at Cincinnati and the Falls of Ohio that the said Thomas Vickory died on the 9th day of June AD 1845 and that Sarah Ann Vickory who obtained a lands claim No. 76,506 is the widow of the aforesaid Thomas Vickory and has remained in widowhood ever since. 

                                      William (his mark) Sleck
Page 55

Sworn and Subscribed 
before me this 17th day of 
March A.D. 1858. 
                                                  //s//
                                            Henry Ickes J.P.

Attest
Henry Ickes
Samuel Ickes

Pennsylvania,
Bedford County} ss

I Saml. H. Tate, Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of said county hereby certify that, Henry Ickes, Esqr. before whom the within & foregoing affidavit was made was at the time thereof & now is an acting Justice of the Peace in & for said county, duly commissioned & qualified & that the signature thereto purporting to be his is genuine. 
    In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of said court at Bedford the 18th day of March, AD 1858.

                                             //s//
                                    Saml. H. Tate
                                    for H. Irvine Dep. Prothy
Page 56

Washington D.C. Dec. 18th, 1889

Hon. Geo. C. Cohiting
Comm. of Pensions

Sir,

    Enclosed find additional evidence in the Revolutionary Pension claim of Sarah Ann Vickory widow of Thomas under Act of July 29th 1848 and in partial compliance with your request of the 1st instant.
    You will perceive that we cannot furnish a certificate showing the character of Thomas Vickory's services but the (illegible), in the opinion of the Auditor Genl. of Penna is that he served as a private.
    We are also satisfied that Thomas Vickory was paid for services as adjutant commissary by the state of Viginia.

                                   Very respectfully,
                                   Your Obt. Sevt.
                                    Tucker H. Slazd
Page 57

1. Capt. Hugh Vickroy (Vicroy) born in Wales and went down at sea with his ship. Lived in Cecil Co. Md. and married Margaret Phillips (Philips_ with two of his sons, mother and Thomas he [illegible] lived in Bedford Co., Pa. before 1800

2. Thomas Vickroy was a surveyor with Forbis [illegible] later surveyed for the city of Pittsburgh Pa
Was on the [illegible] payroll
married first Betsy Francies
sec Sara Ann [illegible]

over
Page 58


Nathan Vickory married
Elizabeth DuShane (du Chesne) in Fairfield Township - Westmoreland Co -
They lived and are buried in the West Fairfield cemetery. 

Would like records of Rev. - Service of each of these men or anyone (in units) they served.

Address - Miss Edith E. Chambers
100 Lloyd Ave.
Latrobe, Pa. (Westmoreland Co.)
(William Kenly Chapter - D.A.R.)
Page 59

From 1st Volume Illinois Papers 3rd Division Sentence & March 25th 1780 - (paid) Thomas Vickory for a bag for 70, Sept 1st, 1780 (paid Thomas Vickory for) paper 136. (illegible) 3rd (bal) near the beginning of the book where his appointment at Deputy Commissary appears under Wm. Shannon on the expedition against the Shawneese appears that his services as such commenced on the 12th July 1781 and terminated on 31st August of the same year. 

In 5th No. 3 in Wh. Shannon's as capt the state under date Oct 18, 1780 I find an entry as follows (Capt) Thos. Vickory pay as Issuing Commissary from 12th July 1780 to 23rd August inclusive. (S16) in interest thereon since due   9-16-(??) , from same Vol. a receipt dated at Col. Bowman's March 29, 1783 signed by John McDowell Secy B.C. Stake the following extract "T. Vickory's book of issues No. 4 with the voucher for the issuing of 3130lbs flour, 375 bushels corn, 204 lbs beef 40 bushels salt 28 gallons whiskey & 36 (Baggs)
It further appears that an issuing Commissary was entitled to the pay of Captain.
Page 60

Ex Pa

Free

Hon. J Minot Commissions of Pension Washington D.
Page 61

Commissioner of Pensions
Washington D.C.
Please give me a copy of Sarah Ann Vickroy (nee Atlee) pension certificate and any information you may have concerning Thomas Vickroy a revolutionary soldier.
yours Respectfully
(Miss) Mary L. Yeager
Meyersdale Pa
Aug 11, 1914.
Page 62

Auditor General's Office
Harrisburg April 19, 1858.
Chas C. Tucker, Eq.
Dear Sir,
A careful examination of the Rev. Rolls in this Department for the name of Thomas Vickroy has been made. The only place it appears is as serving in the Militia from Bedford Co. Pa. and having received a certificate for S 11.4.0. the time he served does not appear.
Respectfully &c.[?]
Carroll McClean, [illegible]
Aud. Genl.
Page 63

176.671 Thos Vickroy dec Va Boynton [illegible] B. Free Honorable Geo C Whiting Commissioner of Pensions Washington City
Page 64

Auditor Generals Office
Harrisburg December 14, 1859
Messrs Tucker & Lloyd
Gentlemen,
Enclosed you will find a certified copy of Certificate ordered, per yours of 12th Inst. There is no evidence in this Department showing that Thomas Vickroy was an Officer. The presumption is, from the amount in the Certificate, that he was a Private.
Very Respectfully
Jacob Fry [illegible, Jr?]
Auditor Genl.
[Illegible] [illegible] $2. which Please forward
Page 65

Thomas Vickroy decd Free [illegible] No. 176.671.  ch to Boynton Mar. 18/56- Dec 18th 51 [illegible]  Com. of Pension Washington D.C
Page 66

176671 Commissioner of Pension Washington DC
Page 67

1779. Spain Declares War Against England. 818 lars, and shipped to Fort Pitt for their use. In January, 1778, Captain Willing, an American officer, with a party of fifty men, descended the river, and ravaged the British shore of the Mississippi from the bayou Manchac to Natchez. On the 8th of May, 1779, Spain declared was against Great Britain, and on the 8th of July, the people of Louisiana were authorized to take their share in the war against the colonies of Great Britain. Accordingly , Galvez collected a force of fourteen hundred men, and on the 7th of September, attacked and took Fort Manchac. Thence he proceeded to Baton Rouge, and after a short siege, reduced that post on the 21st of September, while a detachment of his force took possession of the post at Natchez. Eight vessels of the British were taken by the Spanish colonists on the lakes and in the Mississippi. Galvez, encouraged by his success, collected another force of two thousand men, in the next year, and laid siege to Mobile, which in a short time surrendered. Galvez then returned to Havana, obtained a reinforcement of troops, with arms and ammunition, for the siege of Pensacola, then the principal post of the British in West Florida; but, on his return, his transports were dispersed and lost in a storm. Galvez returned to Havana, procured another reinforcement, and in March, 1781, laid siege to Pensacola. The siege was maintained with great vigor on both sides for a month, when the fortifications were pierced, by the explosion of a magazine. The garrison offered a capitulation, and Pensacola, and with it all west Floruda, on the 9th of May, was surrendered to Spain. The was did not immediately affected the people of Upper Louisiana. The conquest of Illinois by Clark, in 1778, removed from their neighborhood all the British posts in the Illinois. There was no British force nearer than Detroit, and the garrison there, and their Indian allies were so fully occupied with the war along the American boarder, that danger was not to be apprehended from that quarter. The British commandant at Mackinaw, however, was meditation the reduction of Upper Louisiana, and after the reverses the British arms had sustained in Florida, determined to lead an expedition on his own responsibility against St. Louis. Accordingly, he collected a force of one hundred and forty soldiers, and fifteen hundred Indians, and with these he set out early in the spring of 1780, with a view of surprising that place. Rumors of the intention of the British to attack Louisiana had been current amount the Indians of Illinois. This intelligence was 
21
EA Vickroy Esq Johnstown Penna
Page 68

814 St. Louis Threatened. 1779. conveyed to General Clark while at Kaskaskia, in the spring of 1779. Clark immediately informed the inhabitants of St Louis, and through them the governor, Leyba, of their danger, and proffered his aid in case of an attack. HIs offer was rejected, for the reason that no immediate danger was to be apprehended. The territory on which St. Louis stood, as likewise that on which several other towns had neem located, and the surrounding country, were claimed by the Illinois Indians, but they had acquiesced in the intrusion of the white, and had never molested them, But when the rumor of an attack upon the town began to spread abroad, the people became alarmed for their safety. The town was almost destitute of works of defense, but the inhabitants, amounting to a little more than a hundred men, *immediately proceeded to inclose it with a species of wall, formed of the trunks of small trees planted in the ground, the interstices being filled up with earth. The wall was some five or six feet high. It started from the Half Moon, a kind of fort in that form, situated on the river, the present Floating Dock, and ran from thence a little above the brow of the hill, in a semicircle, until it reached the Mississippi, somewhat above the bridge, and two others on the hill, at the points where the roads from the north-western and south-western parts of the common fields came in. At each of these gates was placed a heavy piece of ordnance, kept continually charged, and in good order. Having completed thus work, and hearing no more of the Indians, it was supposed that the attack had been abandoned. Winter passed away, and spring came; still nothing was heard of the Indians. The inhabitants were led to believe that their apprehensions were groundless, from the representations of the commandant, Leyba, who did every thing in his power to dissipate their anxiety, assuring them that there was no danger, and that the rumor of the proposed attack was false. The month of May came, the labors of planting were over, and the peaceful and happy villagers gave themselves up to such pursuits and pleasures as suited their taste. A few days before the attack, an old man named Quenelle, being on the opposite side of the river, saw another Frenchman, by the name of Dicharme, who had formerly absconded from St. Louis, who told him of the projected attack. The governor called him "an old dotard," and ordered him to prison.
*The whole population was probably nine hundred, or one thousand.
Page 69

1780. St Louis Attacked 315 In the meantime, numerous bands of the Indians living on the lakes and the Mississippi-the Ojibwas, Menomonies, Winneba goes, Sioux, Sacs,&c., together with a large number of Canadianas, amounting in all to upward of fourteen hundred, had assembled on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, a little above St. Louis, awaiting the 26th of May, the day fixed for the attack. The 25th of May was the feast of Corpus Christi, a day venerated by the inhabitants, who were all Catholics. Had the assault taken place then, it would have been fatal to them; for, after divine service, all, men, women, and children, had flocked to the prairie to gather strawberries, which were that season very abundant and fine, The town, being left perfectly unguarded, could have been taken with case, and the unsuspecting inhabitants, who were roaming about in search of fruit, could have been massacred without resistance, Fortunately, however, a few only of the enemy had crossed the river, and ambushed themselves in the prairie. The villagers frequently came so near them, in the course of the day, that the Indians, from their places of concealment, could have reached then with their hands. But they knew not how many of the whites were still remaining in the town, and in the absence of their coadjutors feared to attack, lest their preconcerted plain might be defeated. On the 26th, the body of the Indians crossed, and marched directly towards the fields, expecting to find the greater part of the villagers there; but in this they were disappointed, a few only having gone out to view their crops. These perceived the approach of the savage foe, and immediately commenced a retreat toward the town, the most of them taking the road that led to the upper gate, nearly through the mass of Indians, and followed by a shower of bullets. The firing alarmed those who were in town, and the cry, "To arms! to arms!" was heard in every direction. They rushed towards the works, and three open the gates to their brethren. The Indians advanced slowly, but steadily, toward the town, and the inhabitants, though almost deprived of hope, by the vast superiority in numbers of the assailants, determined to defend themselves to the last. In expectation of an attack, Silvio Francisco Cartabonas, a governmental officer, had gone to Ste. Genevieve for a company of militia, to aid in defending the town, in case of necessity, and had, at the beginning of the month, returned with sixty men, who were quartered on the citizens. As soon as the attack commenced, however, neither Cartabona nor his men could be seen. Either
Page 70

816 Treachery of Leyba. 1780.
through fear or treachery, the greater part concealed themselves in a garret, and there remained until the Indians had retired. The assailed, being deprived of a considerable force by this shameful defection, were still resolute and determined. About fifteen men were posted at each gate; the rest were scattered along the line of defense, in the most advantageous manner. When within proper distance, the Indians began an irregular fire, which was answered with showers of grape-shot from the artillery. The firing for a while was warm, but the Indians, perceiving that all their efforts would be ineffectual, on account of the intrenchments, and deterred by the cannon, to which they were unaccustomed, from making a nearer approach, suffered their zeal to abate, and deliberately retired. At this stage of affairs the lieutenant-governor made his appearance. The first intimation that he received of what was going on, was by the discharge of artillery, of the part of the inhabitants. He immediately ordered several pieces of cannon, which were posted in front of the government-house, to be spiked and filled with sand, and went, or rather was rolled in a wheelbarrow, to the scene of action. In a very peremptory tone, he commanded the inhabitants to cease firing, and return to their houses. Those posted at the power gate did not hear the order, and consequently kept their stations. The commandant perceived this and ordered a cannon to be fired at them. They had barely time to throw themselves on the ground, when the volley passed over them, and struck the wall, tearing tenor of his conduct, after the first rumor of an attack, have rise ti suspicions very unfavorable to the lieutenant-governor. It was freely said, that he was the cause of the attack, that he was connected with the British, and that he had been bribed into a dereliction of duty, which, had not Providence averted, would have doomed them to destruction. Under the pretext of proving to them that there was no danger of an attack, he had, a few days before it occurred, sold to the traders all the ammunition belonging to the government; and they would have been left perfectly destitute and defenseless, had they not found, in a private house, eight barrels of power, belonging to a trader, which they seized in the name of the king, upon the first alarm. These circumstances gave birth to a strong aversion to the commandant, which evinces itself, even at this day, in execrations of his character, whenever his name is mentioned to those who have known him. Representations of his conduct, together with a detailed account of the attack, were
Page 71

1780 Disgrace of Leyba 817
sent to New Orleans by a special messenger, and the result was, that the governor-general re-appointed Francisco Cruzat to the office of lieutenant-governor. As soon as it was ascertained that the Indians had retired from the neighborhood, the inhabitants proceeded to gather and bury the dead that lay scattered in all parts of the prairie. Seven were at first found and buried in one grave. Ten or twelve others, in the course of a fortnight, were discovered in the long grass that bordered the marshes. The acts of the Indians were accompanied by their characteristic ferocity. Some of their victims were horribly mangled. With the exception of one individual, the whites who accompanied the Indians did not take part in the butcheries that were committed. A young man named Calve was found dead, his skull split open and a tomahawk, on the blade of which was written the "Calve," sticking in his brain. He was supposed to have fallen by the hand of his uncle. Had those who discovered the Indians in the prairie fled to the lower gate, they would have escaped, but the greater part of them took the road that led to the upper gate, through the very ranks of the enemy, and were thus exposed to the whole of their fire. About twenty persons, it is computed, met their death in endeavoring to get within the entrenchments. None of those within them were injured, and none of the Indians were killed; at least none of them were found. Their object was bot to plunder, for they did not attempt, in their retreat, to take with them any of the cattle or horses that were in the prairie, and which they might have taken; nor did they attack any of the neighboring towns, where the danger would have been less, and the prospect of success greater. The only object they had in view, was the destruction of St. Louis; and this would seem to favor the idea that they were instigated by the English, and gives good ground, when connected with other circumstances, to believe that Leyba was their aider and abettor. Thus ended an attack, which, properly conducted, night have been destructive to the infant town, and which, from the number of the enemy, and the danger incurred, was calculated to impress itself deeply on the minds of those who witnessed it. It forms an era in the history of the place; and the year in which it occurred has ever since been designated by the inhabitants as the year of blow-"L'annee du Coup." Leyba, aware that representations of his course had been specially forwarded to the governor-general at New Orleans, and fearful of consequences, and unable to bear up under the load of scorn
Page 72

818 Cruzat Re-Appointed Commandant. 1780. 
and contempt which the inhabitants heaped upon him, died a short time after the attack, suspected by many of having hastened his end by poison. Upon his death, Cartabona performed the functions of government until the following year, when Cruzat returned to St. Lous, and assumed the command as lieutenant-governor a second time. After the events narrated above, the inhabitants of St. Louis, finding that their garrison were unworthy of trust, without ammunition, and without means of defense against a regularly organized attack, deputed Mr. A. Chouteau to proceed to New Orleans for assistance. A wooden fort was built on the most elevated spot within the city, upon which were mounted several heavy pieces of ordnance, and still later there were added four stone turrets, from which cross-fires could be kept up. This might have answered for the protection of the city, but only against the Indians. No traces of this fortification are now to be seen- the very site of which has yield to the improvements of the city. The fortifications consisted of a square building called the bastion, situated at he northern extremity of the hill, nearly opposite the Half Moon; of a circular fort, directly south of the bastion, and situated on what is now called Olive street; of another circular building, which served both for a fort and prison, south of that last mentioned, and situated on Walnut street; of a circular fort, in a line with, and south of the other, situated at the extremity of the hill, near what is called Mill creek; and finally, of another circular fort, east of the latter, and somewhat above the bridge, near the river. All of these fortifications were provided with ammunition and artillery, and soldiers were kept constantly on guard in them. Ther forts, besides, were connected together by a strong wall, made of cedar posts, planted upright in the ground, fitted closely together, and with loop-holes for small arms between every two. These precautionary defenses had been dictated by the danger which had been incurred, and which was fresh in the recollection of all, and probably had the effect of preventing any further assaults upon the place. The inhabitants were never afterward molested.*  *Western Journal
Page 73

1780, Exorbitant Claims of Spain. 819 
nes, where he was joined by a small reinforcement. He then moved up the Wabash, and reached the British trading post Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head of the Maumee. After plundering the traders, and some of the Indians, he marched from the post, and encamped neat the river Aboite. A party of the Miami Indians attacked the encampment in the night. La Balme and several of his followers were slain, and the expedition was defeated.* With the year 1780, commences the history of those troubles relative to the navigation of the Mississippi, which, for so long a time, produced the deepest discontent in the West. Spain had taken the American part so far as to go to war with Britain, but no treaty had yet been concluded between Congress and the powers at Madrid. Mr. Jay, however, had been appointed Minister from the United States, at the Spanish court, where he arrived in the spring of this year, and where he soon learned the grasping plans of the Southern Bourbons. These plans, indeed, were in no degree concealed, the French Minister being instructed to inform Congress,- "That his most Christian Majesty (of France,) being informed of the appointment of a Minister Plenipotentiary to treat of an alliance between the United States and his Catholic Majesty, (of Spain,) has signified to his Minister plenipotentiary to the United States, that he wished most earnestly for such an alliance; and in order to make the way more easy, has commanded him to communicate to the Congress, certain articles, which his Catholic Majesty deems of great importance to the interest of his crown, and on which it is highly necessary that the United States explain themselves which precision, and with such moderation as may consist with their essential rights. "That the articles are: "A precise and invariable western boundary to the United States; "The exclusive navigation of the river Mississippi; "The possession of the Floridas; and, "The land on the left or eastern side of the river Mississippi. "That on the first article, it is the idea of the Cabinet of Madrid, that the United States extend to the westward no farther than settlements were permitted by the Royal Proclamation, bearing *Dillon's Indians
Page 74

320 Jay Utterly Opposes Spanish Policy 1780.
date the 7th day of October,1768, (that is to say, not west of the Alleghenies.) "On the second, that the United States do not consider themselves as having any right to navigate the river Mississippi, no territory belonging to them begin situated thereon. "On the third, that it is probable the king of Spain will conquer the Floridas, during the course of the present war; and in such an event, every cause of dispute relative thereto, between Spain and these United States, ought to be removed. "on the fourth, that the lands lying on the east side of the Mississippi, whereon the settlements were prohibited by the aforesaid proclamation, are possessions of the crown of Great Britain, and proper objects against which the arms of Spain may be employed, for the purpose of making a permanent conquest for the Spanish crown. That such conquest may probably be made during the present war. That, therefore, it would be advisable to restrain the southern States from making any settlements or conquests in those territories. That the Council of Madrid consider the United States as having no claim to those territories, either as not having had possession of them begore the present war, or not having any foundation for a claim in the right of the sovereignty of Great Britain, whose dominion they have abjured." These extraordinary claims of his Catholic Majesty were in no respect admitted during this year, either by Mr. Jay or Congress, and in October a full statement of the views of the United States, as to their territorial rights, was drawn up, probably by Mr. Madison, and sent to the Ambassador at Madrid. Meantime, as Virginia considered the use of the Great Western river very necessary to her children, Governor Jefferson had ordered a fort to be constructed upon the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Ohio. This was done in the spring of the year 1780, by General G.R. Clark, who was stationed at he Falls; and was named by him after the writer of the Declaration of Independence. This fort, for some purposes, may have been well placed, but it was a great mistake to erect it, without notice, in the country of the Chickasaws, who had thus far been true friends to the American cause. They regarded this unauthorized intrusion upon their lands as the first step in a career of conquest, and as such resented it; while 
*See Pitkin's History of the United States, ii.p 92.
Pitkin, ii. 512,91. Life of John Jay, i. 108, &c.
Page 75

1780. Education Provided for in Kentucky. 821
the settlers of Kentucky looked upon the measure with but little favor, as it tended to diminish the available force in their stations, which were still exposed to the ceaseless hostility of the Shawanese and Wyandots. The inhabitants of these stations, meanwhile, were increasing with wonderful rapidity under the inducements presented by the land laws. Emigrants crowded over the mountains as soon as spring opened. Three hundred large family boats arrived early in the year at the Fall; and on Beargrass creek was a population containing six hundred serviceable men.* Nor did the swarming stop with the old settlements; in the southwest part of the state the hunter Maulding, and his four sons, built their outpost upon the Red river, which empties into the Cumberland; while, sometime in the spring of this same year, DR. Walker, and Colonel Henderson, the first visitor and first colonist of Kentucky, tried to run the line which should divide Virginia from Carolina, (or, as things are now named, Kentucky from Tennessee,) westward as far as the Mississippi; an attempt in which they failed. Nor was it to western lands and territorial boundaries alone that Virginia directed her attention at this time; in May her legislature resolved, that, "Whereas, It is represented to this General Assembly that there are certain lands within the county of Kentucky, formerly belonging to British subjects, not yet sold under the law of escheats and forfeitures, which might at a future day be valuable fund for the maintenance and education of youth, and it being the interest of this Commonwealth always to promote and encourage every design which may tend to the improvement of the mind, and the diffusion of useful knowledge even among its remote citizens, whose situation, in a barbarous neighborhood and a savage intercourse, might otherwise render unfriendly to science: be it therefore enacted, that eight thousand acres of land, within the said county of Kentucky, late the property of those British subjects, (Robert M'Kenzie, Henry Collins, and Alexander M'Kee,) should be vested in trustees, 'as a free donation from this commonwealth, for the purpose of a public school, or seminary of learning, to be erected within the said county, as soon as its circumstances and the state of its funds will permit.'" Thus was early laid the foundation of the the first western seminary of literature, just five years after the forts of Boonesborough and
*Butler, second edition, 99.
Marsh, i. 113. Holme's Annals, ii 304, note 8d
Page 76

322 Byrd Invades Kentucky. 1780.
Harrodsburg rose amidst the woods. Thus was the foundation laid for the establishment of the Transylvania University at Lexington. In the summer of 1780, a force of six hundred Canadians and Indians, with six pieces of cannon, under the command of Colonel Byrd, of the British army, invaded Kentucky, by the way of the Miani and the Licking. Their first point of attack was Ruddel's station, on the south fork of the Licking, below the mouth of Hinkston fork. Singularly enough, their approach was not discovered before they appeared before the station, although they had been twelve days occupied in cutting a road through the country, from the Ohio. Col Byrd immediately demanded the surrender of the station. Resistance was useless, and Ruddel consented to yield the post on condition that the prisoners should be protected by the British from the Indians. Byrd promised his protection, and the gated were thrown open. Immediately the Indians rushed in, seized the inhabitants, and divided them among themselves. Ruddel remonstrated, but Byrd confessed that he could do nothing, that he had no control over the savages, but that he himself was at their mercy. The Indians next proposed to attack Martin's station, five miles further, but Byrd refused to assist them unless the chiefs would pledge themselves that all the prisoners taken should be surrendered to him. They consented; the army marched to Martin's station; it was surrendered without a contest; the prisoners were relinquished, and the Indians divided the spoils among themselves. The Indians next insisted on attacking Lexington and Bryant's station. Byrd refused to march further, and insisted that it would be impracticable to procure provisions, or to transport the cannon by land, and thus with difficulty dissuaded them from the enterprise. His conduct, however, shows that motives of humanity influenced him more than a doubt of success; since with the force at his command it would have been easy to have reduced all the stockades, and to have broken up all the settlements of Kentucky. As soon as it was decided to abandon the expedition, the army retreated to the forks of the Licking. There the Indians separated, and set out for their villages, taking with them the prisoners they had taken at Ruddel's station together with a great amount of stock and other booty they had secured. The British passed down Licking, and up the Miami, as far as they could proceed in their boats, where they concealed their artillery, and returned to Detroit.
Page 77

1780. Fort Jefferson on Mississippi Built. 828 
General Clark was at this juncture absent from the falls, engaged in the building of Fort Jefferson. The State of Virginia was anxious to extent her jurisdiction to the Mississippi, and Clark was directed to take military possession of the western limit of that territory of Kentucky. Accordingly, he descended the Ohio, and built a fort a short distance below its mouth, which he named Fort Jefferson. After its completion it was placed under the command of Captain George, with a garrison of one hundred men. It was located within the territory of the Chickasaws, and they immediately remonstrated, through a scotch half-breed chief, Colbert, against its erection. Their remonstrance was disregarded, and they prepared to drive the whites from their lands. Accordingly, they attacked the fort in the fall of the same year, when the garrison was reduced to thirty men. The siege was pressed with great vigor for six days, when Clark arrived with a reinforcement, and compelled the Indians to retire. The fort was dismantled, and abandoned in the next year, in accordance with the instructions of the governor of Virginia, and the hostilities of the Chickasaws ceased. When Clark returned from the building of Fort Jefferson, he received at the falls a letter from the governor of Virginia, recommending an invasion of the Indian country, and the destruction of trading post at Loramie's store. The invasion of Byrd furnished an additional motive for an expedition to chastise the Indians, in accordance with the usual practice of the pioneer of the time, to allow no inroad of the Indians to pass without retaliation. Clark immediately proceeded to Harrodsburg to enlist volunteers to invade the Indian country, but the people were so engaged with the land entries, then recently opened, that it was impossible to interest them in the expedition. In accordance with Clark's request, May, the surveyor, closed the land-office; and in consequence, a regiment of troops was immediately raided. With these, and with a mounted regiment from the falls, Clark proceeded to the mouth of the Licking, crossed the Ohio, and marched up the Miami valley to Piqua, on Mad river. The town was taken by surprise, but the Indians made a desperate defense. They were, however, routed, and compelled to fly; their town and their growing corn were destroyed. Seventeen of the whites and seventeen of the Indians passed over and built another town on the Great Miami, to which they also gave the name of Piqua. Detachments of the army were sent out, who destroyed the corn
Page 78

824 Clark's First Expedition to Miami. 1780.
and burned all the other villages around the head water of the Miami. Thomas Vickroy, who afterward in conjunction with George Woods, surveyed the site of Pittsburgh, was in Clark's army on this expedition. His account of it is interesting, as it fixes the date of the first occupation of the site of Cincinnati: "In April, 1780, I went to Kentucky, in company with eleven flat boats with movers. We landed, on the 4th May, at the mouth of Beargrass creek, above the falls of Ohio. I took my compass and chain along, to make a fortune by surveying , but when we got there, the Indians would not let us survey. In the same summer, Col. Byrd came from Detroit, with a few British soldiers, and some light artillery, with Simon Girty, and a great many Indians, and took the two forts on Licking. Immediately afterward, General Clark raised an army of about a thousand men, and marched with one party of them against the Indian towns. When we came to the mouth of the Licking, we fell in with Col. Todd and his party. On the first day of August. 1780, we crossed the Ohio river, and built the two block houses. Then, as Gen. Clark had appointed me commissary of the campaign, he gave the military stores into my hands; and gave me orders to maintain that post for fourteen days. He left me Captain Johnston, and about twenty or thirty men, who were sick and lame. On the fourteenth day the army returned with sixteen scalps, having list fifteen men killed. They reported the death of Rogers, Clark's cousin, who fought that day with the Indians." The expedition of Clark so effectually chastised the Indians on the Miami, that Kentucky was for a time relieved from the attack of any body of Indians large enough to excite serious alarm. During that period of comparative quiet, those measures which led to the cession of the western lands to the United States began to assume s definite form. On the 25th of June, 1778, when the articles of confederation were under discussion in Congress, the objections of New Jersey to the proposed plan of union were brought forward, and among them was this: "It was ever the confident expectation og this State, that the benefits derived from a successful contest were to be general and proportionate; and that the property of the common enemy, falling in consequence of a prosperous issue of the war, would belong to the United States, and be appropriated to their use. We are there-
Page 79

1780. Controversy About Lands. 825
fore greatly disappointed in finding no provision made in the confederation for empowering the Congress to dispose of such property, but especially the vacant and impatented lands, commonly called the crown lands, for defraying the expenses of the war, and for such other public and general purposes. The jurisdiction ought in every instance to belong to the respective states, within the charter of determined limits of which such lands may be seated; but reason and justice must decide, that the property which existed in the Crown of Great Britain, previous to the present revolution, ought now to belong to the Congress, in trust for the use and benefit of the United States. They have fought and bled for it in proportion to their respective abilities; and therefore the reward ought not to be predilectionally distributed. Shall such States as are shut out by situation from availing themselves of the least advantage from this quarter, be left to sink under an enormous debt, whilst others are enabled in a short period, to replace all their expenditures from the hard earnings of the whole confederacy?"* Nor was New Jersey alone in her view. In January, 1779, the council and Assembly of Delaware, while they authorizes their delegates to ratify the Articles of Confederation, also passed certain resolutions, and one of them was: "That this State consider themselves justly entitled to a right, in common with the members of the Unio, to that extensive tract of country which lies to the westward of the frontiers of the United States, the property of which was not vested in, or granted to, individuals at the commencement of the present war. That the same hath been, or may be, gained from the king of Great Britain, or the native Indians, by the blood and treasure of all, and ought, therefore, to be common estate, to be granted out on terms beneficial to the United States." But this protest, however positive, was not enough for Maryland, the representatives of which, in Congress, presented upon the 21st of May, 1779, their instructions relative to confirming the articles of confederation. From those instructions are selected the following passages: "Virginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small portion of the lands in question, would draw into her treasury cast sums of money; and, in proportion to the sums arising from such sales, would be enabled tp lessen her taxes. Lands comparatively
*see Secret Journal, i. p. 377.
see Secret Journal, i. p. 429.
Page 80

326 Controversy About Lands. 1780.
cheap, and taxes comparatively low, with the lans and taxes of an adjacent State, would quickly drain the State thus disadvantageously circumstanced of its most useful inhabitants; its wealth and its consequence in the scale of the confederated States would sink of course. A claim, so injurious to more than one-half, if not the whole of the United States, ought to be supported by the clearest evidence of the right. Yet what evidence of that right have been produced? What arguments alleged in support either of the evidence or the right? None that we have heard of deserving a serious refutation. "We are convinced, policy and justice require, that a country unsettled at the commencement of this war, claimed by the British crown, and ceded to it bu the treaty of Paris, if wrested from the common enemy by the blood and treasure of the thirteen States, should be considered as a common property, subject to be parceled out by Congress, into free, convenient and independent governments, in such manner, and at such times as the wisdom of that assembly shall hereafter direct. "Thus convinced, we should betray the trust reposed in us by out constituents, were we to authorize you to ratify on their behalf the confederation, unless it be further explained. We have coolly and dispassionately considered the subject: we have weighed probable inconveniences and hardships against the sacrifice of just and essential rights, and do instruct you not to agree to the confederation, unless an article or articles be added thereto in conformity with our declaration. Should we succeed in obtaining such article or articles, then you are hereby fully empowered to accede to the confederation."* These difficulties toward perfecting the Union were increased by the passage of the laws in Virginia, in May, 1779, for disposing of the public lands, Apprehensive of the consequences, Congress, upon the 30th of October, in that year, resolved that Virginia be recommended to reconsider her Act opening a land office, and that she and all other States claiming wild lands, be requested to grant no warrants during the continuance of the war. The troubles which thus threatened to arise from the claims of Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, to the lands which other colonies regarded as common property, caused New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass an act which gave to the dele-
*See Secret Journal, i.p. 485.
Page 81

1780. Controversy About Lands. 827 
gates of that State power to cede the western lands claimed by her for the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress on the 7th of March, 1780, but no step seems to have been taken until September 6th, 1780, when a resolution passed that body pressing upon the States claiming western lands the wisdom  of giving up their claims in favor of the whole country; and to aid this recommendation, upon the 10th of October, was passed the following resolution-which formed the basis of all after action, and was the first of those legislative measures which have thus far resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan-
"That the unappropriated lands that may be ceded or relinquished to the United States, by any particular State, pursuant to the recommendation of Congress, of the 6th day of September last, shall be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, and be settles and formed into distinct republican States, which shall be members of the Federal Union, and have the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and independence, as all the other States; that each state which shall be so formed shall contain a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred, nor more than once hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit: that the necessary and reasonable expenses which any particular State shall have incurred since the commencement of the present war, in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts or garrisons within, and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of the territory that may be ceded or relinquished to the United States, shall be reimbursed.
"That the said lands shall be granted or settles at such times, and under such regulations as shall hereafter be agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled, or in any nine or more of them."
The lands at eh falls of the Ohio were first claimed and patented by Dr. John Connolly and John Campbell.* In the spring of 1778, Captain Thomas Bullitt went as a surveyor from Virginia, to locate and survey lands in Kentucky. On his way he visited Chillocothe, held a conference with the chiefs of the Shawanese, and obtained from them permission to make a settlement on the Ohio. Processing down the rive, he established his camp at the mouth of Beargrass creek. From that point he surveyed the
*See Casseday's History of Louisville.
Page 82

828 Plan of Conquering [illegible] Renewed 1780.
county on the south side of the Ohio, twenty miles, to a river he named Salt river, from the circumstance of finding on it a salt lick, that still bears his name, and made preparations to establish a colony at the falls of the Ohio. His death ended his schemes of colonization, but the settlement at Beargrass remained, and became a prominent point for emigration during the period of the Indian wars. On his expedition to Illinois, Clark took possession of, and fortified Corn island, above the mouth of Beargrass , and on his return, that point was made his head-quarters. The security thus afforded to the neighborhood invited emigration, and in the spring of 1780, three hundred flat boats, with emigrant families, arrived at the falls. The population of the settlement was thus increased by Connolly, then a refugee tory in Canada, and Campbell, who had been carried a prisoner thither by the Indians. The Beargrass settlement thus became an important point in Kentucky, and accordingly, in May of that year, the legislature of Virginia passed an "act for establishing the town of Louisville, at he falls of Ohio." By that act the property of John Connolly, consisting of one thousand acres of land, was confiscated to the commonwealth, and vested in a board of trustees, to be sold for its benefit. in lots of half acre each. All sales of lots were to be made at public auction, in fee, on the condition that the purchasers should erect on each of them a dwelling house, within two years after the date of the purchase. If that condition was not complied with, they might be sold again for the benefit of the town. The purchase money, to the amount of thirty dollars per acre, was to be paid to the commonwealth of Virginia; the remainder above that amount to the county of Jefferson. And the purchasers of these lots were thenceforth to be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the unincorporated towns of the commonwealth of Virginia. In December of that year, the plan of conquering Detroit was renewed again. In 1779, that conquest might have been effected by Clark, had he been supported by any spirit; in January, 1780, the project was discussed between Washington and Brodhead, and given up for deferred, as too great for the means of the Continental establishment; in the following October, so weak was that establishment, that Fort Pitt itself was threatened by the savages and British, while its garrison, destitute of bread, although there was an abundance in the country, were half disposed to mutiny. Under these circumstances, Congress being powerless for action, Virginia pro-
Page 83

Johnstown Pa. Dec 14, 1857
Com of Pensions Washington D.C.
Sir, Your requiring additional evidence of marriage and [illegible] of widow of Thomas Vickroy whose claim for Bounty Land No 176671 is on file in your office was duly rec'd Enclosed is original marriage certificate and [illegible] [illegible] of John Mowers Eqs of Bedford which impression is all the widow required to prove what was required in the case of Sarah Ann Vickroy's claim. Mother would wish the marriage certificate returned if consistent with the rules of the office. She also wishes to know if she would be entitled to any pension beside the land warrant. Please reply as early as circumstances will permit. Very respectfully yours E.A. Vickroy
Page 84

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
March 21, 1913.
Sir:
Will you kindly furnish me with an abstract of the Revolutionary pension, and data, concerning one, Sarah AtLee Vickroy of "Bedfor County, Pennsylvania."
I have the following information:
"Thomas Vickroy, born Cecil Co. Md., October 18, 1756; died, June 9, 1845. Went to Bedford Co., in 1772; his second wife, Sarah AtLee Vickroy was awarded a pension. He was in the Bedford Rangers (?) during the Revolution."
I desire this information for the purpose of identification with the Sons of American Revolution.
Thanking you for any courtesy, I am, Sir,
Very truly yours,
Bronte A. Reynolds
Editorial Section.
The Honorable Commissioner of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.
bar-d
[Stamped] U.S. PENSION OFFICE. MAR 22 1913
Page 85

Home Phone Main [illegible] Bell Phone Main [illegible] Charles R. Barefoot Attorney at Law 840 Spitzer Building Toledo, Ohio Dec., 21th, 1918.
Commissioner of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:-
Kindly advise the writer, as to the Revolutionary War Service Record, (if on file in your office) of Benjamin Barefoot, Pa., and Thomas Vickroy, Maryland or Va., and oblige,
Yours very respectfully, Charles R Barefoot
Page 86

Johnstown Pa Nov. 9, 1857 
Com of Pensions
Washington D.C.
Sir,
In your reply in May last to my communication in relation to Sarah Ann Vickroy's application no 176671 for Bounty Land under Act 3 Mar 1855 for the services of Thomas Vickroy, you state that the services are admitted by the department, but that proof was required to person the identity of the Thomas Vickroy mentioned in [illegible] term Annals page 324 as being the late husband of Sarah Ann Vickroy of Bedford Co. Pa As the history states that the Thos Vickroy who served in the campaign under Gen Clarke assisted in laying out Pittsburgh I [illegible] the enclosed deposition of Judge Hampton will be sufficient to
Page 87

prove the identity. As the proof of my fathers death and widowhood of my mother is on file in your office, I trust the Warrant will immediately issue and relieve her suspense. Very respectfully yours [illegible] E.A. Vickory
Page 88

United States Court of Claim, Bounty Land and General Agency at Washington, Samuel Yorke AtLee, Attorney at Law, and for many years attached to the Treasury Department in thus city, Offers his services to his friends and the public generally in the prosecution of any claim before the new Court of Claims, Congress, or any of the Departments. Persons having claims to Bounty Land may rely on having their business promptly attended to, and those entitled to patents for land, by transmitting to him their duplicate receipts, will receive their patents at the earliest possible period. Reference is Made to- Hon. Edwars Everett, Boston; Thomas Paschall, Esq., Philadelphia; Hon S.P. Chase, Cincinnati, Ohio; John A. Kennedy, Esq., New York; J.S. Silver, Esq., " Hon. Lewis Cass, Detroit, Michigan; Samuel H. Perkins, Esq., Philadelphia; James L. Ridgely, Esq., Baltimore; and to members of Congress generally. Washington City, D.C., Hon. Geo. C. Whiting Sir Herewith you receive a letter from E.A. Vickroy making inquiries in behalf of his mother Sarah widow of Thomas Vickroy; in where favor a Land Warrant was lately issued. She is now about 80 years of age, a fact which induces me to ask as prompt consideration as you can conveniently award in this premises. The proofs in the case, so far as she can furnish them, are on file in your office, amongst them documents establishing her claim to Land Warrants. Very respectfully your [illegible] [illegible] S. Yorke AtLee
Page 89

No. 6313. A.C. _ L[Pounds] 11. 4.[shillings] 0. Specie.
I do hereby certify that the State of Pennsylvania is indebted to Thomas Vickroy of Bedfd County Militia in the sum of Eleven Pounds four shillings specie with lawful Interest from the first day of July one thousand seven hundred and Eighty three; the same being due upon an account settled in this Office.
Pursuant to an act of Assembly passed the first day of April 1784.
Jno. Nicholson
Comptroller General's Office
8 Sept. 1784.
Pennsylvania, ss.
Auditor General's Office 
Harrisburg, December 14, 1859.
I, do hereby certify the above to be a true copy of the original now remaining on file in this Department the date aforesaid
Witness my hand and the Seal of Said Office_
Jacob Fry [Illegible]
Auditor Genl