The Van Buren press., 1873-08-26
A Terrible Death.

I
Upon the morning subsequent to the
storm Saturday Mr. Rogers went, in
company with hired man, to inquire
into the extent of the damage inflicted
upon his premises. and the first objective
point was the ruined grove. The center
/ tee ~ ihe plat was anoble oak, the king
over its fellows, and tree that had stood
| the ravages of time seemingly unscsthed
for several centuries. The tree had been
snapped and fellcd by the storm. Upon
examining the fallen giant for the pur-
pose of ascertaining its worth as rail
timber, Mr. Rogers made startling dis
covery This was nothing less than the
: fact that the tree in falling had disgorged
a skeleton. The bones were disconnect
ed, yellow as gold with age, and scattered
promiscuously over several square feet
OF pasturage. The skull was almost in
tact; all the teeth save two, molars, were
still in their places, and there was scar
on the left parietal bone which looked
/ like memento of some fierce cavalry
charge The humerus OF the right arm
was shattered, but save the three defects
Just mentioned the skeleton. when put
together, was without Il blemish. The
tree in falling was rent asundcr. From
spot twenty feet from the ground up
wards to the first great fork-a distance
Of ten iee.-a hollow extended, and from
this cavity the skeleton had been hurled,
II we but knew who he was, thought
Mr. Rogers, and, strange to say, few
minutes later the twain discovered that
the tree had also disgorged a thrilling
! history. An old-fashioncd leathern pock-
: ct book, or memorandum book, lay in u
remarkable state Of preservation, which,
no doubt, had been dropped into the rent
made Ivy the lightning, and thus been
preserved while its master decayed A
few brass buttsns Of old and unique pat
tern were found near the mem orandum,
but it is with the latter that We have to
deal The old leather purse, entirely
moneyless, contained sundry papers,
covered with ride pencilings, quite din
cult to trace, as they were written on the
backs Of army passes and military con
signmcnts, which dated as far back as
! l776 Mr. Rogers conveyed the bones
10 his house, and set about to read the
memorandum Of the captive Of the tree,
but owing to his failing eyesight he could
deeipher but little, and this little n con-
glome-dted mass Of disconnections. But
still he read enough to learn the mans
name was Roger Vandelb berg, a native of
Lancaster, Pa, and captain in the revo-
lutlonary army. He was an aide to
Washington during the retreat across
the Jerseys. and served q time in Ar
mold headquarters at West Point In
! 1901 he marched with St Clair against
the northwestern Indians, and in the ia
nous outbreak of that general on the
Wabash, November Sd, Of the year just
written, he was wounded and captured.
But while being conveyed to the Indian
town TO Upper Piqua, he effected his es
cape, but found himself hard pressed by
his savage foes. He saw the hollow in
the oak, and despite the mangled arm
and with the aid of beech that grew be-
side the giant then, he gained the haven
and dropped therein. Then came fear
rnl discovery. lie had miscalculated the
depth of the hollow, and there was no
escape. Oh, the story told by the diary
of the oaks despairing prisoner! How,
rather than surrender to the torture OF
the stake, he chose death by starvation
how he wrote his diary in the uncertain
light and SHOWS! Here is one entry in
the diary
November 10 Five days without
food! When sleep, dream Of lucious
fruits and .Roring streams The Stars
iaugh at my misery. 1t is showing now
freeze while starve GOD pity met
The italcised words were supplied by
Mr., Rogers, as the trembling hand had
often refused TO inditc plainly. Never
was such record Of suffering traced by
human hand before The entries cover
a period of eleven days, and in disjonted
sentences is told the story Of st. Clair's
defeat Mr., Rogers has written to Ian
caster to ascertain if any descendants oI
the ill-fated captain live--if so, they shall
havt his bones
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