The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-06
LEAF FROM AN L DIARY,
IT COREoBoRATES A DELAWARE
TdLLEY PANTHER STORY.

EuS hnutnrF StOle y many ana thC DnhyNn
Mother Gave Chn-e and Rcacued 1.-THE
rinby was a Son or 'Iicn Haynes. who A..
sisted Tom Quick TO Murder mn Indian,
STOCKPORT. n. Y, March 5.-"Iuly q, 1857
Started this morning with Ben Haynes, John
Hessom. and Felix Hooper. licacled tho rives
before night, and crossed in n canoe to ben
Haynes's house in York State. 1Io being lame
from running n stub in his foot, | settled with
him and paid him. AS to his character. he is .
Low Dutchmnn, n great hunter. and we'll no.
quainted with the woods. There is a great
stain on his character. " . One evening
some time ago there camc q panther into his
house and took one Of tho children out OF the
cradle and was carrying 1t of, but his wife, .
%rcsolutc woman, with tho dog, rcscncd It. The
child was much wounded. 1t Is still living,
and | have seen tho scars.'
For n longer time than the oldest person
now living in the Delaware Valley can rcmem.
her, n favoritc tale Of the pioneer days has boon
that OF tho baby the panther stole. 1t has come
down with many variations OF detail, the pop
ular version being that the wife OF ben Haynes
went from the cabin. which was near tho mouth
of Shohola Creek, In Pike county. Pa,, taking
her baby with her, TO do her washing at the
crock. Tho baby was but q few months old, and
Mrs. Haynes placed 1t on tho ground near
where she was at work. Az she was busy
pounding her clothes she heard a cry from the
DaOy, anu looking up. saw q largo panther
moving deliberately Oft with the baby In his
mouth. She started in pursuit. carrying her
heavy clothes poundcr as n weapon. She over.
took the kiinappor. pitched into him with the
clothes Founder. forced him to drop tho child,
and after n lively battle with the savage beast
killed him with the clothes FOUNDER and bore 10
and her rescued baby both back in triumph to
the cabin. This panther story has In later
years hccn received with every evidence Of
l1,It a., - kI. f. ~
county. Pa. whose citizens have been amazed
that any me could doubt it, because it occurred
in Pike county.
The above quotation will establish the fact
that the Haynes baby was really stolen by
q panther. but it will throw doubt on the occur.
renco in the estimation of Pike county, for 10
rohs that classical region of the honor of being
the scene of the affair, and knocks out the long
cherished story that Mrs. Haynes chased the
panther AND killed it with the clothes FOUNDER.
The quotation is from the diary of Samuel Pres.
ton. who was n pioneer of the upper Delaware,
and an official surveyor Of wild lands in north.
eastern Pennsylvania while they were still COM
prised In the manors of the heirs OF William
Penn. He became a permanent settler In
Wayne county in 1900, and his granddaughter,
Ann Preston. still lives on the ancestral estate =.
across the Delaware River from Stockport. and
has in her possession his interesting and valua-
Bile diaries and field books.
The dark stain" in Ben Haynes's character,
mentioned in the extract from the Preston diary,
Is q reference to one;of the most inhuman and
treacherous. acts recorded in pioneer history.
One Of the historic characters Of carly days In
blood. was Tom Quick, the Indian slayer. When
he was a young man Indians killed and scalped
where Milford. Pike county, now is. Tom
swore eternal vengeance against all Indians.
warfare, and made Indians. no matter of what
age Or sex, his victims. Tradition says that
bed his only regret was that he could not have
made the number an even hundred.
In 1884 the Indians had nearly all left tho
valley, and there were no more hostiles, among
those who remained. Among those that re.
Kanope. In 1884 they came to the Shohola
Creek, near the present Erie Railwa1 station at
had his cabin on the New York side Of the Della.
IN Ta Pike p dsans SuiiG n s had ois G GP the S @Ssn IL h eTsss
found. out that the two Indians were camped in
them yi % eane ne to y bis eab the tbs sa neEt and dnI i and ed
a fnfih : with fi% him ~ at III H SaSIn me EDDY %Sfy IN fH she sn De! a.
ware, a short distance below the mouth OF the
Shohola. The Indians were at first suspicious.
but Haynes persisted and seemed SO sincere in
his offers Of hospitality that Huycon and Ka:
Haynes padded his canoe over to the Pennsyi.
yania side and stole to Tom Quick's cabin in
dams, ana the two planned-as they both BOAST
ed in after y~ears-that Quick should hide in tho
DubuCo vi IL ElNcI III II I1Hyut0
brought the Indians to the rocks to fish Quick
was to shoot one Of them and Haynes to kill
the other.
Thc-unsuspecting Indians went with Haynes
the next day. and while they were fishing with
him from Handsome Eddy rocks Quick, from
Tho bali passed through the Indians skull. but
did not kill him. Haynes completed the cow
ardly murder by pounding the wounded Indians
brains out with q pine knot. The other Indian
York shore. Quick tired at him. but missed
him. Before he could reload and fire again tho
Indian had reached the opposite side of the river
and escaped to tie woods OF Sullivan county.
The a~ssassins tumbled the body of Kanope into
the river, and it was afterward found seven
This cowardly crime aroused the indignation
of the settlements. and Quick. who had before
head ms a Common Murderer. u Warrants W we're
issued for tho arrest OF e Quick and Haynes, but
they evaded arrest and were never brought 10
Justice. Years afterward they both boldly
boosted Of their crime and expressed regret that
the other Indian had escaped them. A few
hvengeri was erected at Milford. pike county,
by William Drop OF Illinois. a native Of the Del.
aware valley.
The baby the panther stole was a boy, and he
grew up to be a 1T son OF his father. He was
named Ben. and came to be known as one Of tho
wns in its infancy in the Delaware Valley.
Young Ben Haynes" as he was known. be-
trcachcrous and dangerous rapids Of the Lack.
AWAKEN River. one day he started with n raft
from Panpack Eddy now Hawley, Pa; and hs
night. He replied:
Sin hell. maybe"
narrows OF the Lackawaxen four miles below.
Kimble, the pioneer lumberman of the Lacka.
~ guess Ben wasn't far from right about that
supper o h's'n!"