Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-07-21

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TED BY DOCUlIENT4RT EVIDENCE.
To WN. P. MxER.
Editor of the Record Of The Times Tt-iites Barre
SIR-Under date of the 2Gth of March
last. I addressed letter 10 you through the
columns of the Times of this village, which
With some additions was published the next
week. in the Owego Gazette. \ copy Of each
of those papers, was promptly forwarded to
YOU ; and from that as well as from another
fact that the same letter, as published in the
Gazette, was copied into The Lnzerne C"3on,
Of WilkesBarre. and several other papers OF
this and that vicinity, | must conclude that
You have been duly appriSed that have thus
ATTEMPTED to vindcate the memory of Sebastian
Strope from the charge of Toryism and the
character of a spy, which your father sought
to fasten upon it in letter to Judge Jessup
published in your columns, on the 2lst of
March last
TO my answer to those serious charges
preferred by him. he has made no reply, and
having remained silent for more than three
months, | might Justly claim judgment Of
dScontinnance against him, and, obtaining it
there leave the matter but documentary
evidence of apOstive and convincing character,
having been recently obtained by me, placing
the patriotism of him, whose memory you have
SO wantonly assailcd far above the reach Of
attack, cavil and harm, | desire to spread it
upon the record along with that which has
been already submitted.
Before proceeding to do so, let me say that
if, upon reading my answer OF the 26th Of
March. your father found that he could not
SuhStantate the serious charges which he had
made affecting as they did, not only the feel
ingS Of many Intelligent and patriotic deScen-
dant, but also tending, if established, to bring
into ridicule and" disrcpute the Pioneer and
Historical Festival Of the 22d of February
last, and to clond the integrity Of my inform
ant, Mrs Whitaker and several Others.
together with my own, it would have been
fairer in every view, historical and otherwise,
il instead of suffering a default by silence, he
had frankly and manfully avowed such inability
Having failed, signallv in the attack, the next
best, in fact, the only thing proper or polite
in the emergency, was retreat in as good
order as possible, prompt substitution of a
Uhue flag for this mcrciIess rel one with which
he opened the assault, and, a full and fair
retractiOn. Neither your father, nor YOU or
his behalf have thought proper to take this
course, and shall treat the matter upon the
theory that you still desire to have it continued
an open question
Last winter, | was informed bv the Hon
George Sanderson Of Towanda that he had
become apprised of the existence of valuable
manuscripts, relating to the history of our
valley, then in the possession Of descendant
of the Rev Thomas Smiley residing in Phil
adelpha In the course of the winter through
the thoughtful agency of Mr. Sanderson, the
manuscripts were obtained and placed in the
keeping of Hon. C. L. Ward, by whose courtesy
| now have them in possession. The manu-
scripts are the results of the historical researches
of Mr. Smiley in the year 1850 and 81, in the
vicinity of Towanda, WysoX, Standing Stone
Wyalusing &c, while he was settled as a
minister of the Baptist Church at White Deer,
Lycoming County Pa. From the great care
with which they were written, the plainnesS of
the handwriting, correctness Of style and
punctuation, together with some rather clear
intirnatons expressed in them, it seems that he
had then design of publishing them as annals,
or perhaps as a more labored history
The time of researches, (1S30, 3D. you will
bear in mind, was prior to the period when your
father commenced similar labors.
The manuscripts, which We are now con-
sidering, consists chiefly of narratives of aged
Susquehanna, who shared in the dangers and
adventures Of its border warefare Among
them DAVID ALLEN, JOSEPH ELLIOT, WILLIAM
HUYcK, &c. The narrative of Judge HoLLEN-
BACK has also a deserved place in the cOmpila-
ton embodied at the time above given from
minutes of previous date. All the pages
detached and collective, bear on their face the
fullest evidence of indentity and genuineness
and it may be we'll added that the excellent
repute which the reverend compiler of these
narratives has left throughout the wide field of
his missionary labors upon the Susquehanna
and its tributaries, the Towanda creek and the
West branch, extending from the year 1874,
down to the close of his mission by death-a
good fame, which has been transmitted as a
valued legacy to his descendants-can leave no
question as to the fairness, honesty and
complete authenticity of his laborous re-
searches.
| call your attention in the first place to the
narrative Of WILLIAM HUYCK, (usually pro-
nounced HoUCK,) who settled at Standing
Stone, in 1916, and served under Gen SULLIVAN,
in the camgaign Of 1779, against the Iroquos.
He died at an advanced age, few years since,
at the place where he made his early settlement,
and for many years previous had received a
yearly pension, which he so well deserved, at
the hands of grateful government This
should, and doubtless will exempt both his
patriotism and veracity from caviL The fol-
lowing are extracts from Ills narrative as
embodied by Mr. Smiley. When your ewes rest
upon that portion of it in itaHcS think you
must agree me that your columns have beeen
made the vehicle of a miserable and most un-
pardonable caIumny
While reading the following extracts, it
should be borne in mind that Stauding-Stone,
where Mr.. Huyck resided, was distant only
about three miles from Wysox, below it, on
the same side of the river, where the capture
of the Stropes took place, in May l77S, as
stated by me in the series 1858 and "a, of the