The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1886-01-23

by One of the Noble Mothers
eff Early Dayn.


Of Early Davs.
WASHINGTON, Pa, January 1s.--In
his introduction to the Speech of
Logan Chief of the Mingoes" Thomas
Jefferson makes the following state
ment:
.In the spring of the year l774, a
robbery was committed by some In
dams upon certain land Adventures
ON the Ohio river. The whites in
that quarter, according to the Gus
tom, undertook to punish this out
rage in a summary way. Captain
Michael Cresap, and one Daniel
Greathouse, leading on these parties,
surprised, at different times, travel
ing and hunting parties of the In
dians, who had their women and
children with them and murdered
many. Among these were, unfortun
ately, the family Of Logan, chief
celebrated in peace and war, and
long distinguished as the friend of
the whites"
Fever since Jefferson gave to the
world the famous speech Of Logan
the above statement has been ac-
cepted as historical fact by success
sive generations of Americans. There
are some who believe the celebrated
specimen of Indian eloquence to be
as apocryphal as Pitts reply to Wal
pole, which was neither composed
nor delivered by the Great Com
nioner, but was written by DR., John
son. However this may be, it is
certain that some of the descendants
of the early settlers of Western
Pennsylvania are in the possession
of facts concerning the treatment of
these Indians by the whites entirely
at variance with the incidents re-
lated by Jefferson. In justice to the
memory Of Captain Cresap and Dan
iel Greathouse, l desire to present
the other side of this item of pioneer
history.
In the spring of TIA the white
settlers in the vicinity of what is
now known as Holidays Cove were
greatly alarmed by the report that
the Indians on the opposite side of
the Ohio river intended to cross and
attack the settlement. The plot of
the Indians was divulged by an In
dian woman who secretly crossed the
river in a canoe and informed Mrs.
Elizabeth Cresap, by whom she had
been kindly treated, of the hostile
designs of the Indians. Her people,
she said, had decided to leave the
shores of the Ohio and go further
inland. They had set day on which
they would cross the river murder
the whites and take away as much
plumber as they could carry. The
Greenhouses, who lived near Hermans
creek, were at once informed of the
plot by Mrs. Tumlinson, whose hus-
band, Benjamin Tumlinson, was not
at home at the time.
The whites promptly prepared for
the attack, but kept their movements
secret. When the day arrived on
which the Indian women said the
massacre would take place the In
dian warriors and considerable
number of squaws were seen crossing
the river for the Virginia side. The
whites, on seeing them approach in
hostile manner, armed themselves
and rowed out to the middle of the
river. A sharp and severe skirmish
was then fought on the water and
many of the Indians were killed.
During the fight an Indian woman
was killed, and her baby was either
thrown or fell into the river. 1t was
picked up by Daniel Greenhouse and
given to his mother, who nursed the
child until an Indian woman was
found who adopted it. 1t was after
ward discovered to be the child of
the crafty and treacherous Simon
Girty. In this summary way were
these Indians punished; but those
who escaped were not surprised at
different times and murdered by
parties led ON by Captain Cresap
and Daniel Greathouse, though pos
sibly, some of them may have been
murdered by other settlers accord
ing to heir..custom.'
/ give these facts substantially as
they were related to me by Mrs.
Bruce, an old lady well
known to many of your readers, and
highly esteemed by all her acquaint-
ances. Her veracity is beyond ques-
ton, and she has always maintained
that the commonly accepted account
Of the treatment Of these Indians by |
Cresap and Greenhouse is not cor
rect. Mrs. Bruce is now in her 81st |
year. She is a native of this county |
and has lived all her life in the |
of the IS" bridge ON the
National pike. She is entirely blind,
having lost her sight last summer in
a manner so sudden and unaccount-
able as to puzzle all the physicians
who have examined her case. She
is the last Of a family who were the
actors in stirring scenes which have
now passed into history. Her father,
Thomas Brownlee, fought under
Washington during the War of the
Revolution, and her mother, who
was a sister of the Daniel Great
house mentioned in this article,
a school in Washing
ton taught by one Barrett at a
time when this town of natural gas
and beautiful homes was a wilder
ness of hazel bushes.
4. S. BRowNLEE.