Revolutionary War Hero Captain John Montour
by
Helen Campbell
Lena Santos Ferguson spent the last years of her life bringing
into the light the fact that the Patriots of the American
Revolutionary War, were of diverse cultures and colors. Lena saw
that the Patriots were a multicolored force that fought against the
British.
The Daughters of the American Revolution at the request of Lean
Santos Ferguson published a book entitled, African American And
American Indian Patriots Of The Revolutionary War by
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution,
Washington, D. C. On Page 116:
List of Pennsylvania/Ohio Patriots 1775-1783
John Montour, Indian Captain
John Montour, in 1782 commanded a company of Delaware Indians on the
side of the Americans in the Revolution. I found that John
also served under Colonel Brodhead as an Interpreter and warrior on
other excursions. Without trustful and respected interpreters
treaties could not be made nor could land be purchased legally from
the Indians. Montour knew French, English as well as various
languages among the diverse Indian tribes and clans.
John Montour’s ancestor came to Canada three-hundred and forty years
ago! By the time he was born his family had already been well
established in America for one hundred years. John Montour was the
son of the well known interpreter, Andrew Montour. Andrew Montour
was the son of the legendary Catharine (Madame) Montour. Madame
Montour was the daughter of a Frenchman named Monsieur Montour who
immigrated to Canada in the mid seventeenth century. History records
that Montour met and married a
Huron Indian maiden.
In 1721 Monsieur Montour was murdered by
Joncaire by the order of
Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal. The couple had at least
three daughters, Catharine, Margaret and Jean. Fate has it that
Catherine (Madame) Montour would pass on the family surname, through
her line.
One day a very young Catharine Montour was kidnapped by the Seneca
Indian tribe. Years later in 1674 the Canadian governor
Frontenac came up with an idea to adopt a child from each of the
Five Nations of the Iroquois. This he thought would be a trustworthy
gesture towards peaceful relations with the fierce Iroquois Nations.
The children would be educated in the French culture and taught to
speak French.
The Seneca Nation gave the kidnapped Catharine Montour to Frontenac.
Catherine was already familiar with the customs and language of her
father, Monsieur Montour. Frontenac returned to France but before he
left he gave the adopted children back to their Nations. It was this
educational background that enabled the famous Montour Indians to be
great interpreters for generations.
The Montour family proved to be valuable interpreters and
peacemakers for the English during the French and Indian War. During
this era Andrew Montour and his son John Montour occupied an island
on the Ohio River that was located nine miles below Fort Pitt. The
island was never sold by the Indians because it belonged to the
Montour family. The survey was made by Colonel Wm. Crawford. Montour
Island was renamed in honor of General Neville who lived on the
island until his death.
I researched John Montour and what I found was three hundred years
worth of early American history. But yet to my surprise, the surname
Montour was not common in the censuses 1840 - 1860 time period. One
can easily find the Montour name mentioned in the journals of those
who came in contact with the family. The Montour family has left
their names etched in the landscape that they once inhabited places
such as Montour Falls, Montour Run, in Alleghany County,
Pennsylvania, Montoursville, Montour Valley.
The Montour surname is
One theory of the origin of the word Melungeon is that it’s a French
word,
Mélange, meaning mixed. The French certainly did marry into the
American Indian Nations as early as the mid fifteenth century. My
research, thus far, found no proof that any one person or groups of
persons was called a Mélange.
I have extracted some of the numerous references to give the reader
a better understanding of how valuable and important a role, John
Montour had in the making of the United States of America.
The following records, documents is brought to you by the courtesy
of
Historic Pittsburgh.
Washington-Irvine correspondence : the official letters which
passed between Washington and Brig-Gen. William Irvine and
between Irvine and others concerning military affairs in the
West from 1781 to 1783 ; arranged and annotated, with an
introduction containing an outline of events occurring
previously in the Trans-Alleghany country / by C. W.
Butterfield. Originally Published: Madison, Wis. : D. Atwood,
1882
Pages
168-169
IX. Irvine to Lincoln
Fort Pitt, April 30, 1782
Sir: I wrote to you some
days since by a certain Montour, captain of Delaware Indians; I
did not like to explain by him my reasons for sending him.
He seemed anxious to be either employed or go with his wife into
the Indian country for a place of safety, as he termed it. The
fact is I was suspicious of his fidelity; but he is so cunning
that no hold could be laid on him. This, however, is the worst
place he could possibly be in, if he meant to go off, being
perfectly acquainted with all the Indian country and at Detroit.
He was in the British interest and service before he joined us.
I suppose the best way to manage him will be to amuse him with
expectation of being employed in service; or, perhaps, he might
render service joined with the Oneidas. You will be better able
to judge how he should be disposed of, when you see and converse
with him. It must have been very ill -judged to give such a
fellow a commission.
Note, The letter of Irvine has not
been found. The "John Montour" he speaks of was a son of Andrew
Montour, a half-blood Indian, and a man of information and
education, but a great savage. His father, whose Indian name was
Sattelihu was the oldest son of
Madame Montour, a French-Canadian woman, and Robert Hunter,
an Oneida chief. Andrew was a captain of a company of Indians in
the English service in the Old French War, and rose to be a
major. John had a captain's commission at date of the above
letter.
Note The following will give an idea how he
desired to be employed: "To the most excellent James [William]
Irvine, brigadier general commanding the western department and
Fort Pitt, etc.; "The petition of us, the subscribers, humbly
showeth to your excellency that we want revenge upon the savages
for the injury they have done unto our brother soldiers here of
late; and if your excellency will grant us, your petitioners,
privilege to go into the Indian country, we shall endeavor to
acquire as many scalps from our enemy and make such discoveries
as can be made; which we think we are capable of going through
with. Now, through your excellency's grace and usual goodness,
we hope to have our request granted.
"Pittsburgh, April 13, 1782. [Signed.] John Montour,
captain. Lewis Williams, James Clarke, William Warton, Joseph
Coleman, John Gladen, - soldiers belonging to the Pennsylvania
line. N. B. - To be supplied with ammunition sufficient."
Source: Old Westmoreland : a history of western Pennsylvania
during the Revolution / by Edgar W. Hassler.
Originally
Published: Pittsburg : J.R. Weldin & Co., 1900.
Vol. 2 History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania : and its centennial
celebration / by Joseph H. Bausman ; illustrated. Originally
Published: New York : Knickerbocker Press, 1904
Page 1203
-
TREATY OF FORT McINTOSH
January, 1785
Between the State of Pennsylvania
and the Delaware and Wyandot Nations
Fort
McIntosh, January, 1785
In Council, January 9, 1785-
Present: The Hon. George
Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and
Arthur Lee, Esqs.,
Commissioners on part of the United States.
The Hon.
Samuel F. Atlee and Francis Johnston, Esqs., Com-
missioners on part of the State of Pennsylvania.
Griffith Evans, Secretary.
John Montour,
Interpreter.
And the chiefs, etc., of Wyandotte,
Delaware, Chippewa,
and Ottawa Indian Nations. -
The
Commissioners on part of the United States, in consequence of
the State Commissioners' letter of yesterday, addressed the
Indians as follows:
"Sachems and Warriors: These gentlemen, Colonel Atlee and
Colonel Johnston, are commissioners from the State of
Pennsylvania, who have attended here by consent of Congress to
transact some public business with you on the part of said
State, which they will be ready to introduce after the present
treaty is concluded." Note. It appearing to the commissioners
that the Wyandotte and Delaware nations were the only claimants
of the unpurchased lands in Pennsylvania, amongst the western
Indians, consequently the present negotiations on the part of
the State are confined to them.
In conference,
January 14, 1785-
Present: The Hon. Samuel F. Atlee and
Francis Johnston, Esqs.,
Commissioners
Griffith
Evans, Secretary.
John Montour and Joseph Nicholson,
Interpreters.
And chiefs of the Wyandotte and Delaware
Indian nations.
This treaty was a continuation and
completion of the treaty of Fort Stanwix (mow Rome, N. Y.), in
October, 1784, and it's purpose was to quiet the claims of the
western tribes, who had not signed the latter treaty. The copy
given above is full and exact, being taken from the "Minutes of
the Assembly," by Hon. Oscar A. Small, and published in the
Dailey Star, of Beaver, April 16, 1900.
| The
Wyandotte and Delaware Indian nations to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, deed for lands purchased
at Fort McIntosh, |
January 21, 1785
To all people to whom these presents shall come:-We,
Deungquat, or the Half King, Tauwarah, or the Sweat
House, and
Abraham Kuhn, sachems and chiefs of the Indian nation
called the Wyandottes; and
Keeskanohen, or the Pipe, Peechemelind, or the Present,
of the Wolf tribe; Wialindeoghin, or the Council Door,
Hyngapushes, or the Big Cat, of the Turkey tribe; and
Tatbaughsey, or the Twisting Vine, and Whingohatong, or the
Volunteer of the Turtle tribe, sachems and chiefs of the
Indian nation called the Delawares, being met together in a
general council of the western Indians, convened at
Fort McIntosh by the Hon.
George Rogers Clark,
Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, Esqs., commissioners of
Indian affairs, duly appoint by the honorable, the Congress
of the United States for the northern and middle districts,
send greeting. Know ye that we, the said sachems or chiefs,
for and in consideration of the sum of two thousand dollars,
to us in hand paid, before ensealing and delivery of these
presents, by the Hon. Samuel John Atlee, Esq., and Francis
Johnston, Esq., commissioners for and in behalf of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the receipt whereof we do
hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold, released,
and confirmed, and by these presents, for us and the said
Wyandotte and Delaware nations, and their confederate and
dependant tribes, all whom we represent, and by whom we are
thereunto authorized and impowered, do grant, bargain, sell,
release, and confirm unto the said Commonwealth, all that
part of the said Commonwealth not yet purchased of the
Indians within the acknowledged limits of the same:
Beginning on the
south side of the river Ohio, where the western boundary of
the State of Pennsylvania crosses the said river; and thence
by a due north line to the end of the forty-second and
beginning of the forty-third degrees of north latitude:
thence by a due east line separating the forty-second and
forty-third degrees of north latitude, to the east side of
the east branch of the river Susquehanna; thence by the
bounds of the late purchase made at Fort Stanwix the fifth
day of November, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-eight, as follows: "Down the said east branch of
Susquehanna, on the east side thereof, till it comes
opposite to the mouth of a creek on the south side thereof,
and along the range of hills, called Burnet's hills by the
English and by the Indians,------, on the north side of them
to the head of a creek which runs into the west branch of
the Susquehanna, which creek is by the Indians called
Tyadaghton, but by the Pennsylvanians Pine creek, and down
the said creek on the south side thereof to the said west
branch of the Susquehanna; thence crossing said river, and
running up the same on the south side thereof, the several
courses thereof, to the fork of the same river," at the
place of beginning. Together with all lakes, rivers, creeks,
rivulets, springs, waters, soils, lands, fields, woods,
underwoods, mountains, hills, valleys, savannahs, fens,
swamps, isles, inlets, mines, minerals, quarries, rights,
liberties, privileges, advantages, hereditaments, and
appurtenances whatsoever, of us, the said sachems and
chiefs, and of the said Wyandotte and Delaware nations, and
their confederate and dependant tribes, and every of them,
to have and to hold the said tract of land and country, with
the appurtenances thereunto belonging, unto the said
Commonwealth forever, so that neither we, the said sachems
or chiefs, nor any of us, not the said Wyandotte nor
Delaware nations, nor their confederates and dependent
tribes; nor any of them, nor any of our or their heirs,
children, or descendants, shall claim, demand or challenge,
any right, right, title, interest, or property of, in, or to
the said tract of land and country, but from the same shall
be forever barred and excluded; and the same tract of land
and country shall be forever hereafter be peaceably and
quietly possessed by the said Commonwealth and all persons
who shall settle thereon under the authority of the same
without the let, hindrance, molestation, interruption or
denial of us, the said sachems or chiefs of the Wyandotte or
Delaware nations aforesaid, or their confederates and
dependant tribes, or any of them, or of our or their heirs,
children or descendants.
In witness whereof, we, the said sachems or chiefs, for
ourselves and the rest of the Wyandotte and Delaware
nations, and their confederates and dependent tribes, have
hereunto set our hands and seals. Dated at Fort McIntosh,
aforesaid, this twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five
.
|
WIALINDEOGHIN OR | THE COUNCIL DOOR |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
HYNGAPUSHES OR | THE BIG CAT |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
TATABAUGHSEY OR | THE TWISTING VINE |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
WHINGOHATONG OR | THE VOLUNTEER |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
DEUNGQUAT OR | THE HALF KING |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
TAUWARAH OR | SWEAT HOUSE |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
ABRAHAM KUHN OR | ABRAHAM KUHN |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
KEESKANOHEN OR | THE PIPE |
+ | his mark | L.S. | |
PEECHEMELIND OR | THE PRESENT |
+ | his mark | L.S. |
SEALED AND DELIVERED IN PRESENCE OF
|
Comm'rs of U. S. | | G. R. Clarke | |
Richard Butler | | Arthur Lee | |
Jos. Harmar | | Lieut. Col. Com, | |
Alexd. Lowery | | John Boggs | |
Wm. Butler | | Wm. Butler | |
Alex. Campbell Sec. Com. U. S. | | W.
Bradford | | Daniel Elliots | |
John Montour, Interpreter | | G. Evans,
Sec, Penn. Com | | Edw. Butler |
Logstown, on the Ohio : a historical sketch / by Daniel
Agnew Originally Published:
Pittsburgh : Myers, Shinkle & Co., 1894 Pages
3-10 Logstown on the
Ohio
The ravages of time
are fast leveling the landmarks of Indian occupancy in
Western Pennsylvania and on the river Ohio. Places where
many gathered, and early councils of the red men were
held, where affairs of vast importance were transacted,
are now unknown, and not a vestige remains to mark the
spots then filled with life and activity.
Such has been the fate of Logstown, on the Ohio. In the
middle of the last century it was a busy centre of
Indian life, where a great trade was carried on with
them by the French and the English. Then, too, the
Indian nations claimed all the land west of the
Allegheny Mountains, and on the Ohio. In the middle of
the last century it was a busy centre of Indian life,
where a great trade was carried on with them by the
French and the English. Not only no vestige marks its
once busy scene, but error has transferred its site to
the opposite side of the Ohio. The evidence of its true
locality is, however, full and absolute to those who
choose to delve into the remains of the past; of this
hereafter. For the present it is sufficient to say, that
Logstown stood on the land, now the property of the
Harmony Society, at Economy, a short distance below the
town, and on the right or north bank of the Ohio.
In the early settlement of the French on the St.
Lawrence, their progress was northward and westward,
leading them to the upper Lakes and to the Mississippi.
Their southward war expeditions were toward the British
Colonies on the Atlantic. It was not until the middle of
the last century they reached Presque Isle, on Lake
Erie, and extended eastward to the Allegheny river, by
them called the Ohio. They built forts at Presque Isla,
LeBoueff on French Creek, and Venango at its junction
with the Allegheny. Intending to mark their claim of
title to the countries bounding on the Allegheny and
Ohio, founded on the alleged discovery of the main Ohio
by the Sieur. La Salle, about seventy or eighty years
before, the Marquis Gallesonier, the French Governor of
New France, sent Mons. Celeron down the Allegheny and
Ohio, in the year 1749, to plant the evidence of
possession and title along their shores. This he did by
burying many inscribed leaden plates at the mouths of
their principal tributaries. A translation of one of
these may be seen in "Fort McIntosh, and its Times,"
page 7. This plate was found at the mouth of the French
Creek, called Toradakoin by the Indians.
A short time before, most probably in 1747, the French
had built New Logstown for the Indians inhabiting
Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio. It was built on the
second rise, or plateau below the town of Economy, in
Beaver County. The houses, about thirty, were
substantial log cabins, some with stone chimneys. It was
here a large trade was carried on between the French and
English traders and the Indians. The original town was
an Indian village, on the river bottom below the new
town, one of the many settlements on the river and creek
bottom of the larger branches. They selected the rich
sandy river creek and flats for the cultivation of
maize, (Indian corn,) such being level are easily
cultivated in their primitive modes.
The precise time of building the new town is not
accurately known, but all the information gathered would
fix the date as 1747. At this time neither Fort Du
Quesne nor Fort Pitt existed, the former being built in
1754, and the latter in 1759. The junction of the rivers
Monongahela and Allegheny was then wild and uninhabited.
Logstown therefore the centre of French and Indian
affairs.
The first
distinct knowledge of Logstown is found in the journal
of Conrad Weiser, who was sent by the Pennsylvania
Colonail Council to visit the Indians on the Ohio.
Conrad Weiser was a German, born in 1696; came with his
father, when ten years old, to America, and settled at
Schohaire, New York. When a boy he went to live with the
chief of the Mohawk Nation, to acquire a knowledge of
the language, which he mastered, and thus became an
efficient interpreter. In 1729, he came to Pennsylvania,
and settled in the Tulpehocken valley, near the present
town of Womelsdorff. He was employed by the Colonial
Government in many services; was a justice of the peace,
and was commissioned Colonel in a regiment of voluteers
in Berks county. He was highly esteemed for his
intelligence, honesty, and great reliability, and
participated in various matters of great importance. His
knowledge of the Indian tongues carried him on mission
to the Indians among the Sic Nations in New York, and to
those westward on the Ohio. A man of great shrewdness,
caution and discretion, he was intimately acquainted
with the Indian character, and was much respected by
them. His residence was in Heidelberg Township, Berks
County, where he lived many years, and died in July,
1760.
The Colonial
Council being apprised of the efforts of the French to
win over the Ohio Indians, felt it proper to if he could
get the consent of the Indians. It seems probable the
town meant was at the mouth of the French Creek, where
the French built a fort about that time.
He refers to the design of the Twightwees to settle up
the river, and their determination to hold no treaty of
peace with the French, and to other matter of
importance.
The Assembly
of the Province had made provision for a present to the
Indians on the Ohio, of goods promised to them by the
Council. In consequence of the inability of Conrad
Weiser, who was engaged to go to the Six Nations in New
York, George Croghan was appointed to go to were given
to Croghan, dated April 25th, 1751. Of his proceedings
he kept a journal, which he afterwards submitted to the
Governor, dated at his home, in Pennsylvania, June 10th,
1751. These dates give an approximate time required to
make the journey to Logstown and return, and the
proceedings there.
Croghan took with him Andrew Montour, the interpreter,
and reached Logstown May 18th, 1751. The Indians of a
number of tribes attended, and received him favorably. A
large council was held.
Croghan states that on the 20th of May, Joncaire, the
French agent, came from the head of the Ohio (Allegheny)
with forty Indian warriors of the Six Nations, and one
Frenchman. On the 21st, a council was called by Joncaire
of all the Indians in the town, and he addressed them
thus:
"Children: - I
desire you may now give me an answer from your hearts to
the speech of Monsieur Shularone ( the commander of the
party of two hundred Frenchmen that went down the river
two years ago ) made you. His speech was, that their
father, the Governor of Canada, desired his children on
the Ohio to turn away the English traders from amongst
them, and to discharge them from ever coming there
again, or on any of the branches, on pain of incurring
his displeasure; and to enforce that speech he gave a
very large belt of wampum."
Immediately one of the chiefs of the Six Nations go up
and made the following speech:
"Fathers : - I
mean you that call yourselves our fathers, hear what I
am going to say to you: You desire we may turn our
brothers the English away, and not suffer them to trade
with us again. I now tell you from our hearts, we will
not, for we ourselves brought them here to live, and
they shall live among us as long as there is one of us
alive. You are always threatening our brothers what you
will do to them, and in particular that man, (pointing
to me.) Now, if you have anything to say to our brothers
are the people we will trade with, and not you. Go tell
your Governor to ask the Onondaga council if I don't
speak the minds of all the Six Nations," and returned
the belt.
On a
subsequent day, (May 25th,) Joncaire apologized to Mr.
Croghan, saying his orders came from the French
Governor, and he was obliged to obey, though he was
sensible the Indians would not receive his declaration.
The Indians present came from many places down and up
the river, the Big Beaver, and other points.
The method of proceeding by the Indians as to a
disposition of their land is interesting, as illustrated
by an example related in the journal. A
Dunkard, from Virginia, came to Logstown, to request
the consent of the Six Nations to his making a
settlement on land on the "Yogh-yo-ganie." The Indians
answered it was not in their power to dispose of lands;
that he must first be recommended by the Governor of
Pennsylvania, and then apply to the council at Onondaga.
It will be remembered that the title of the Indians to
the whole of Western Pennsylvania was not extinguished
at that time. The treaties made at Fort Stanwix had not
then been made. See "Fort Pitt and its Times," page 24.
A treaty between Croghan and the Indians was made at
Logstown, on the 28th of May, 1751. Deputies from the
Six Nations, the Delawares, Shawanese, Awandots and
Twightwees were present. Croghan, in behalf of Governor
Hamilton made separate speeches to the deputies of each
nation.
An indication of
the trade at Logstown is found in the names given by
Croghan of the English traders present, viz: Thomas
Kinton, Samuel Cuggens, Jacob Pyatt, John Owens, Thomas
Ward, Joseph Nellson, James Brown, Dennis Sullivan, Paul
Pearce, and Caleb Lamb.
|
|
History of Allegheny Co.,
Pennsylvania : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery,
palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and
important manufactories. By Samuel W. Durant
Originally Published: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts, 1876
Pages
46-48
The closing of
Dunmore's war did not bring peace to the people of
Pittsburgh. The difficulties between Pennsylvania and
Virginia continued with more or less acrimony so long as
Connolly remained at the head of affairs, but on the 22d day
of November he and two of his associates were arrested at
Fredericktown, Maryland. His plans, and connection with
General Gage and Lord Dunmore, were fully revealed, and he
was confined by order of Congress. His arrest and
confinement broke up the scheme which he had prepared, and
rendered the controversy between the two States less bitter,
and easier of adjustment.
All difficulties were
finally settled, and the boundary definitely arranged,
during the latter part of the year 1779 and the beginning of
1780.
George Bryan, John Ewing, and David
Rittenhouse, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Madison,
late Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Robert
Andrews, on the part of Virginia, were appointed
Commissioners to agree upon a boundary. They met at
Baltimore on the 31st of August, 1779, and entered into the
following agreement:
"We
(naming the Commissioners) do hereby mutually, in behalf of
our respective States, ratify and confirm the following
agreement, viz.: To extend Mason and Dixon's line due west
five degrees of longitude, to be computed from the river
Delaware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania; and
that a meridian, drawn from the western extremity thereof,
to the northern limits of said State, be the western
boundary of said State
for ever."
This agreement
was confirmed and ratified by the Legislature of Virginia,
upon certain conditions, on the 23d of September, 1780.
This southern line of the State was run and marked by the
proper Commissioners in the summer and fall of 1784, and the
western boundary, or meridian line, was established in
August, 1785.
Virginia, on the 1st of March, 1784,
ceded to the United States all her territory north of the
Ohio River, and consequently had no further interest in that
direction.
At the time of the breaking out of the
struggle between Great Britain and her American colonies,
the people of the region now comprised within the boundaries
of Allegheny County were engaged in a terrible struggles
with the Indians, and in addition were very nearly involved
with a neighboring province in the horrors of civil war.
Under such circumstances it would not be surprising if the
people should forget matters which were not connected with
their immediate interests, yet they were not mindful of the
oppressive acts of the British Government, which had at last
become unbearable to those living along the line of the
Atlantic coast; and we find accounts of meetings being held
at Pittsburgh and Hanna's Town, as early as early as May 16,
1775, at which resolutions emphatically indorsing the Whig
movements were passed unanimously. The meeting at Hanna's
Town was presided over by General Arthur St. Clair, then an
agent for the Penns, and a colonial magistrate; afterwards a
general in the in the American army. Pittsburgh was then
claimed by the Virginias as belonging to Augusta County,
Va., but at the meeting there were people present from both
Virginia and Pennsylvania. As the proceedings of this
meeting comprehended the first outspoken public expression
of the people of this vicinity upon the great questions then
agitating the American people, we make liberal extracts from
the account given in Craig's "History of Pittsburgh," page
128:
"AUGUSTA COUNTY (VIRGINIA) COMMITTEE.
"At a meeting
of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta County that lies
on the west side of the Laurel Hill, at Pittsburgh, the 16th
day of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a
committee for the said district, viz. : George Crogan, John
Campbell, Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, John Cannon, John
McCullough, William Gee, George Valandigham, John Gibson,
Dorsey Penticost, Edward Cook, William Crawford,
Devereux Smith, John Anderson, David Rodgers,
Jacob Vanmetre,
Henry Enoch, James Ennis, George Wilson, William Vance,
David Shepherd, William Elliot, Richmond Willis, Samuel
Sample, John Ormsby, Richard McMaher,
John Neville, and
John Swearingen.
"The foregoing gentlemen met in
committee, and resolved that John Campbell, John Ormsby,
Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, Samuel Sample, John Anderson,
and Devereux Smith, or any four of them, be a standing
committee, and have full power to meet at such times as they
shall judge necessary, and in case of any emergency, to call
the committee of this district together, and shall be vested
with the same power and authority as the other standing
committee and committees of correspondence are in the other
counties within this colony."
A resolution of thanks
to John Harvie and John Neville, delegates in the Colonial
Convention, was passed unanimously.
The next
resolution covers the whole question completely:"Resolved,
unanimously, that this committee have the highest sense of
the spirited behavior of their brethren in New England, and
do most cordially approve of their opposing the invaders of
American rights and privileges to the utmost extreme, and
that each member of this committee respectively, will
animate and encourage their neighborhood to follow the brave
example."
Resolutions were passed recommending the
embodying, arming, and drilling of the able-bodied men of
the Country, providing ammunition and supplies, and for
conciliating the Indians, that the people might enter the
contest with the mother-country untrammeled.
John
Harvie and George Rootes, Esqs., having been chosen as
delegates in the Colonial Congress, the following report of
the select committee was presented to them by John Campbell,
chairman:"Gentlemen,- You being chosen to represent the
people on the west side of the Laurel Hill in the Colonial
Congress for the ensuing year, we, the Committee for the
people aforesaid, desire you will lay the grievances,
hereafter mentioned, before the Congress at their first
meeting, as we conceive it highly necessary that they should
be redressed, to put us on a footing with the rest of our
brethren in the colony.
"1st. That many of the
inhabitants in this part of the County have expended large
sums of money, and supplied the soldiers in the last Indian
war with provisions and other necessaries, many of whom have
expended all they had; and though at the same time we bear a
grateful remembrance of the good intentions of the late
Colonial Congress, so feelingly and generously expressed in
their resolves, yet the unhappy situation we are reduced to
by the payment of those (Page 47) supplies being delayed,
involves this new and flourishing country in extreme
poverty.
"2d. That the maintaining a garrison at this
place, when there is no other method used for supplying them
with provisions but by impressing from the inhabitants of
the country, ought to be considered.
"3d. That this
country, joining the Indian territory and the province of
Quebec (which by its late change of constitution is rendered
inimical to liberty), lies exposed to the inroads of the
savages and the militia of that province; and should the
ministry or their emissaries be able to stir up either of
them against the colonies, this County will be in need of
support to enable them to provide against and withstand any
attempt that may be made on their civil and religious
liberties.
"4th. That
for want of freeholders we cannot get legal grand jurors,
which are necessary for the well government of the country.
"5th. That the unsettled boundary between this colony and
the province of Pennsylvania is the occasion of many
disputes.
"6th. That the
collecting the duty on skins and furs, for which a
commission hath lately been sent up here, will banish the
Indian trade from this place and colony. "which report being
agreed to, "Resolved, unanimously, That a fair copy be drawn
off and delivered to our delegates as their instructions.
"Ordered that the foregoing proceedings be certified by the
clerk of this committee, and published in the Virginia
Gazette."By order of the committee."James Berwick, Clerk."
As the "Manor of Pittsburgh" is mentioned in this, a short
account and description of it many be interesting. A warrant
was issued for the survey January 5, 1769. This survey was
undoubtedly made in order that the proprietary might hold so
much of the location around the forks of the Ohio in his own
name to be reserved from sale.
The act investing the estates of the proprietaries in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was passed by the Assembly
November 27, 1779. This act exempted the "Manors" and lands
held as private property. The survey was completed on the
27th of March and returned on the 19th of May, 1769. It
embraced within its limits five thousand seven hundred and
sixty-six acres (5766). The survey commenced at a Spanish
oak on the south bank of the Monongahela; thence south eight
hundred perches (800) to a hickory; thence west one hundred
and fifty perches (150) to a white oak; thence north,
thirty-five degrees west, one hundred and forty-four (144)
perches to a white oak thence north seven hundred and
fifty-eight (518) perches to a white oak; thence north seven
hundred and fifty-eight (758) perches to a post; thence east
sixty (60) perches to a post; thence north, fourteen degrees
east, two hundred and eight (208) perches to a white walnut,
on the bank of the Ohio; thence crossing the river obliquely
and up the south side of the Allegheny seven hundred and
sixty-two (762) perches to a Spanish oak, the corner of
Crogan's claim; thence south, sixty degrees east, two
hundred and forty-nine (249) perches to a sugar-tree; thence
south, eighty-five degrees east, one hundred and ninety-two
(192) perches to a sugar tree; thence by vacant land south,
eighteen degrees east, two hundred and thirty-six (236)
perches to a white oak; thence south, forty degrees west,
one hundred and fifty (150) perches to a white oak; thence
west, by claim of Samuel Sample, one hundred and ninety-two
(192) perches to a hickory; thence south, sixty-five degrees
west, seventy-four (74) perches to a red oak, on the bank of
the Monongahela; thence obliquely across the river, south,
seventy-eight degrees west, three hundred and eight (308)
perches to the beginning, at the Spanish oak.
A few
days previous to Connolly's arrest at Fredericktown,
Maryland, heretofore mentioned, it appears that he had been
commissioned by Lord Dunmore a lieutenant-colonel of the
Queen's Royal Rangers, which were, no doubt, to be recruited
from among the American population who were in favor of the
royal cause. His commission was dated on the 5th of
November, 1775, and he was arrested on the 22d of the same
month. The commission was written on board the British ship
"William."
We insert an interesting document at this
point to show the designs of Lord Dunmore and his coadjutor,
Connolly, aided and abetted by General Gage. It is from an
account of one J. F. D. Smith, who was connected with the
scheme:
"After these groundless and most ridiculous
suspicions were happily cleared up, the whole intention and
substance of a secret expedition to the back country, under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Connolly, then appointed
Commandant of the Queen's Royal Rangers, was disclosed to
me, and I was earnestly solicited by the colonel to
accompany him, along with another gentleman named Cameron;
to this I most cheerfully consented, and in the above
regiment we all received our commissions.
"On the day
following I received an order to take any vessel in the
harbor, and also such of the pilots on board of his
majesty's sloop, the "Otter," as I judged proper the use of
this expedition. This circumstance was no small satisfaction
to me as I thereby convinced Captain Squire of my being no
spy as he had alleged' and on going on board his ship, made
choice of two of his best pilots.
"When we departed
from Norfolk on this expedition, I was obliged to leave
behind me my servant and all the property. I had been able
to bring down there. My servant and horses, which were
valuable, were to be sent to the plantation of Mr. Atchison,
at Lord Dunmore's request; but the rest of my property I
left in the house of a Mr. Pierce, in Portsmouth; but I have
never since that time heard the least account of anything
belonging to me. "We embarked on board a flat-bottomed
decked schooner, which I had engaged for that purpose, with
our horses, and only one servant, who belonged to the
colonel. Our small party consisted of Lieutenant-Colonel
Connolly, Mr. Cameron, myself and the servant; and we
intended to proceed in this vessel up the Chesapeake into
Potomac River, and land, if possible, near my house, or Port
Tabacco Creek, and afterwards to pass through the country on
horseback until we arrived at Detroit, in Canada."It was
proposed that I should pass through Pittsburgh with
dispatches to Mr. McKee, the Indian Superintendent, and to
some other friends of government; then proceed down the
river Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and from thence up
that river through the Shawanese, Delawares, and Wyandots,
and down Sandusky River to Sandusky Old Fort; from thence I
was to cross Lake Erie, by the Rattlesnake Islands, to
Detroit; while the other two gentlemen were to cross the
Allegheny River at Kittanning and proceed by the nearest and
most direct route to Detroit. Here a very considerable force
was to be collected from all the nearest posts in Canada,
and transported early in the spring across the Lake Erie to
Presq' Isle, where I was to be employed during the winter
with a detachment of two hundred men in covering and
conducting the building of bateaux and collecting
provisions, in order to proceed by way of French Creek,
Venango, and the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh, which we
were to seize on and establish as headquarters, until the
disaffected and formed into regular disciplined regiments.
"After leaving a sufficient garrison at Pittsburgh, we were
to advance across the Allegheny Mountains with our whole
force upon the back of Virginia; and, after establishing a
strong post at Fort Cumberland, it was proposed to fall down
the river Potomac and seize on Alexandria, where the Earl of
Dunmore was to meet us with the fleet and all the force of
the lower part of the province. Alexandria was to be
strongly fortified as a place of arms, and the communication
between the southern and northern parts of the continent
thereby cut off. If a misfortune of such magnitude should
have happened as to give up this enterprise, at any
particular stage thereof, our retreat was then secured by
these posts, which we occupied in our rear; and if it should
have failed in the first part of the expedition, by our
finding it impracticable to seize upon Pittsburgh, we were
to fall down the Ohio in our bateaux to the Mississippi,
where we were to be joined by the garrison, artillery, and
stored from
Fort Gage, of Kiskuskias, at the Illinois, and then to
proceed down to the mouth of the river Mississippi, in West
Florida, where we were to embark in transports and come
round to Norfolk, in Virginia, there to join the Earl of
Dunmore.
"For the execution of this well-formed,
judicious, and vast undertaking, Lieutenant-Colonel Connolly
was furnished with the proper and necessary powers, both
from General Gage, the commander-in-chief, and from the Earl
of Dunmore, and with ample instructions for his future
conduct, as well as commissions for the formation of a
complete regiment at Detroit or Pittsburgh, all of which,
containing no less than eighteen sheets of paper, we carried
along with us, in a secret manner, invested by and executed
under the inspection of his Lordship. All these papers were
concealed in the mail pillion sticks, on which the servant
carried his portmanteau, they being make hollow for that
purpose, and covered with tin plates, and then canvas glued
theron as usual; this was sodexterously and completely
executed that it could not be discovered on the strictest
examination. (J. F. D.)"
The Alex. McKee referred to
was deemed of such doubtful loyalty to the colonial cause
that the following parole was enacted of him:
"I,
Alexander MeKee, Deputy Agent for the Indians Affairs
for the District of Fort Pitt, do hereby promise and engage
that I will not transact any business with the Indians on
behalf of the crown or ministry; that I will not, directly
or indirectly, correspond with any of the crown or
ministerial officers, nor leave the neighborhood of Fort
Pitt without the consent of the committee of West Augusta.
"Given under my hand at Pittsburgh, this 9th day of April,
1776."
Colonel Richard Butler, who was agent at Fort
Pitt at the time, writes a long letter under date April 8,
1776, in which he speaks of matters brought to his attention
by
Kiasola (Guyasutha) showing the uneasiness of the
Indians on account of the difficulties between the colonies
and the mother-country.
He also mentions the matter of McKee's parole, whom he
regards as being treated, perhaps, with too much severity.
Among other things he also mentions a survey having been
made of the long island in the Ohio River, for John Marvie
(Harvie) and Charles Syms, Esqs., and Captain John Neville,
which the colonel thinks is a breach of
the Fort Stanwix treaty. The survey was made by Colonel Wm.
Crawford, of unfortunate memory.
Colonel Butler seems
to think that the island probably belonged by right to
John Montour, the Indian interpreter. The Indians
claimed they had never sold the island but given Montour use
of it.
A letter
from Colonel John Butler is interesting, as showing the
state of his political feelings at that time:
"Niagara, February 29, 1776.
"Dear Sir, I wrote you
on the 20th ultimo, acquainting you I was glad of the
opportunity to inform you I was appointed to the care and
charge of the Indian department in Colonel Johnson's
absence. He has desired me to write you to meet me here at
this place; and it is Colonel Caldwell's orders, and mine,
that you attend a meeting we propose to hold at Niagara the
beginning of next May. Your knowledge in the Indian affairs
your hitherto undoubted zeal for his Majesty's service, and
the duty you owe to Government, makes your presence
absolutely necessary at this place on or before the time
above mentioned; and, as I now understand the Indian who was
to carry the same has not proceeded to you, have hired an
Onondaga Indian to carry this, on purpose; by whose return I
will expect your answer, in which I except you will be kind
enough to inform me of anything worth notice that you may
know respecting the proceedings of the rebels your way. We
have nothing worth notice to mention to you, only the
reduction of Montreal by rebels, the particulars of which
you must long ere now have been informed of. Please make my
compliments to Colonel Crogan.
"I remain, dear sir, your
most humble servant, "John Butler.
June 6th Mr. Gist is returned, and acquaints me of the death of poor
Colonel Fry, and of the death of poor Fry, and of the safe arrival
of the French prisoners at Winchester, which was the cause of great
satisfaction to the Governor. I am also informed that Mr. Montour is
coming with a commission to command two hundred Indians. Mr. Gist
meat a French deserter, who assured him that there were only five
hundred men when they took Mr. Ward's Fort, that they were now less,
fifteen men having been sent to Canada to acquaint the Governor of
their success. That there were yet two hundred soldiers who were
only waiting for a favorable opportunity to come and join us.
Journal of Colonel George Washington, commanding a
detachment of Virginia troops, sent by Robert Dinwiddie,
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, across the Alleghany
Mountains, in 1754, to build forts at the head of the
Ohio ... The Journal fell into the hands of the enemy,
who, in 1756, printed a version of it in French; a new
translation of this in English is what is here given in
the absence of the original. To complete the history of
the expedition an appendix is added in the form of a
diary, supply an account of the battle of the Great
Meadows and the capitulation of Fort Necessity; the
retreat of the army; with copies of original muster and
pay rolls of the Virginia regiment, and other documents
connected with this expedition. Ed., with notes, by J.
M. Toner, M. D. Author:
Washington, George, 1732-1799. Originally Published:
Albany, J. Munsell's Sons, 1893. |
|
Pages
103-105 Captain Andrew
Montour, a Canadian Half-breed, was employed by the Virginians
as an interpreter with the Indians and also with the French. He
was the eldest son of Madam Montour, the daughter of a Frenchman
named Montour and a Huron Indian woman.
Madam Montour, it is asserted, had received some education
and was possessed of great strength of character. She was
partial to the English and was devoted through her whole life,
to the interest of the whites. Her services became so important
to the English interests, that the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs for New York promised that thereafter [1719] should
should receive " a man's pay from the proper officers of the
four Independent Companies posted in the province," [Letter
Commission of Indian Affairs to President Schuyler, September
25, 1719.] Her husband was an Indian chief of the Oneida tribe,
whose Indian name was Corondawana - alias Robert Hunter. They
had four, possibly, five children, three sons and a daughter. -
Captain Andrew was a man
of intelligence and some education, although a letter of his to
the Governor of Pennsylvania, July 21, 1754, is signed by a mark
instead of a signature. The Captain married for his first wife
the granddaughter of Allummapees, chief of the Delawares. Their
son, John Montour, in 1782 commanded a company of Delaware
Indians on the side of the Americans in the Revolution, and
acquitted himself with credit. Henry Montour, a brother of
Andrew's, was also a trader and interpreter and was much
employed about Pittsburg by the Governor of Pennsylvania in
dealing with the Indians. He resided on and claimed all, or a
part, of "Montour Island," just below Pittsburg. The island from
this fact was long known by his name, though of late, it is
designated Neville's Island. The home of Madam Montour, for at
least a considerable time, was at the head of Seneca Lake and on
the waters of the Susquehanna River, above Shomokin or within
the Territory of the present county of Montour, at French town
now Montourville, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in "Montour
Ridges," islands, towns. townships and a county; and deservedly
so, for they were noted and worthy characters in their way and
much above their associates. -
The name has become
permanently fixed in the geographical history of Pennsylvania,
in "Montour Ridges," islands, towns, townships and a country;
and deservedly so, for they were noted and worthy characters in
their way and much above their associates. Governor Dinwiddie in
a letter to Thomas Cresap, July 23, 1752, writes as follows of
Captain Andrew Montour: "I shall be glad if Mr. Montour will
determine to live in Virginia, that we may hereafter have an
interpreter in our own province on any occasion we may have to
do with the Indians; and therefore desire you will prevail with
him to be at your house when the Commissioners come to go with
the goods to
Logstown." Captain Andrew Montour joined Washington west of
the Allegheny Mountains on the 9th of June, with a Captain's
commission to command some friendly Indians as scouts. [See
Governor Dinwiddie's Letter, June 18, 1754] His services as
interpreter were especially valued by Washington, surrounded as
he was by French Indians. Captain Montour was also in the
Braddock Expedition and continued with Washington in 1756-7. He
took up some land in Virginia in the vicinity of Fort
Cumberland. Governor Dinwiddie in a letter to Colonel Innes, May
10, 1755, recognizes the justice of his claim. Andrew and Henry
received large grants of "Donation Lands" from Pennsylvania on
the Chillisquaque and on the Loyal Sock, branches of the
Chillisquaque and on the Loyal Sock, branches of the
Susquehanna. Zinzendorf, the Moravian, has left the following
pen picture of Captain Andrew Montour, quoted by Parkman: "His
face is like that of a European, but marked with a broad Indian
of bear's grease and paint drawn completely around it. He wears
a coat of fine cloth of cinnamon color, a black neck-tie with
silver spangles, a red waistcoat, trousers, over which hangs his
shirt, shoes, and stockings, a hat and brass ornaments,
something like the handle of a basket, suspended from his ears." -
Withers, Alexander Scott, 1792-1865.
Title: Chronicles of border warfare : or, a history of the
settlement by the whites, of northwestern Virginia, and of the
Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state / with
reflections, anecdotes, &c. by Alexander Scott Withers.
Originally Published: Cincinnati : Stewart & Kidd Company, 1920,
c1895.
Logstown was an important Indian site, about eighteen miles
below Pittsburgh, on the right bank of the river. It's French name
was
Chiningue. Anglicized as
Shenango. This was originally a Shawnee village, but gradually
became a large mixed town- an important trading site. Conrad Weiser
made a treaty here in 1748; in consequence whereof the French
expedition under Celoron, the following year, found the village
chiefly in the English interest. Croghan also, in 1751, traded an
treated here. Washington stopped at Logstown on his embassy of 1753;
but by the following year the French had gained complete ascendancy.
They built for the Indians a village of log huts, where, in 1758,
Post succeeded in gaining a hearing for the English cause.
The history of the town of Catherine, Schuyler County, N.Y.
Rutland, Vt.: Mary Louise Catlin Cleaver, Tuttle Pub. Co.,
1945, 727 pgs.
Queen Catharine's Lineage, or
Genealogy of the Montour Family
In the year 1665, Monsieur Montour emigrated from France to Canada,
and married a Huron Indian wife. Statistics give names of three
daughters, Catherine, Margaret, and Jean.
Catherine, or Madame Montour as she was call, carrying her father's
name down the line, was born 1682;
died 1752; married
Carondowana, an Oneida chief, who died in 1727. Their children were:
Margaret, or
French Margaret, Andrew, Jean, Henry and Lewis.
Catharine moved to Montoursville, Pa. Her son Andre may
have
been the interpreter, and was called Captain Andrew Sattelieu.
French Margaret married Peter Quebec, a Mohawk. To them were born:
Catharine, Ester, Mary and two sons.
Queen Ester, daughter of French Margaret, called the Fiend of
Wyoming (Wyoming Massacre), married Mahagohund, or Egnohow, chief of
the Sheshegon Indians, who died in 1772. They lived on the flats
below Elmir, N. Y.
Mary Montour was
the wife of John Cook, a Seneca Chief, called Kanaghragait (White
Mingo). They lived on the Alleghany River, and he died in 1790 at
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Queen Catharine
married Telemut or Thomas Hudson, a Seneca chief, who died in 1760.
She became Queen after the chief's death, and at the time of
Sullivan's march, in 1779, was living with her tribe in the Chemung
Valley, near Montour Falls, N. Y., evacuated before the oncoming of
the troops and fled with her tribe to western N. Y. and Canada. An
article about Queen Catharine, in the files of old newspapers in
Montour Falls Library, says she received a small salary from the
English because of her influence with the Indians. evacuated before
the oncoming of the troops and fled with her tribe to western N. Y.
and Canada.
In an unpublished
history of Wyoming, it was stated that the celebrated Catharine
Montour was present with her tribes and "she ranged the field of
blood like a warrior, stimulating her warriors of her adopted race
to the onslaught even in the hottest of the fight, but from the
antecedent character of that remarkable woman, the story can hardly
be credited. She was a native of Canada, a half-breed, her father
being one of the early French Governor about the time of her birth.
During the war of the Six Nations and French and Hurons, Catherine,
when about ten, was made captive, taken to Seneca Country, and
adopted into the tribe, and she married one of the chieftains, who
fell in battle about 1730." From the 20th and 22nd chapters o
"Ketchams's Buffalo and the Senecas."
Monsieur Montour was wounded by the Mohawks in the neighborhood of
Lake Champlain in 1694 in military
service of the French.
"Captain Andrew Montour was an interpreter in 1756-7. Henry Montour
was at Johnson Hall in 1765. Lucy Montour, who in later years was in
the vicinity, was related to the Oneida chief, Skenandoah. On a
clipping from the Montour Falls Free Press of 1904 is a portion of a
letter written to John Corbett, a local historian, which we insert
here:
It is through the relatives of
the McClures, that we learn that the first permanent settlers of
Catharine Valley in 1787 into this section. These three brothers, in
1789, sent a petition to Albany from Catherinestown, N. Y., stating
that they were settlers on 300 A. each, and praying for relief
against gaining of title to the land by others, as they had been in
possession for two years. Their holdings included the historical
grounds on which was located the Indian Village of Chequegah, or
Catherinestown, and embraced a large portion of the watershed of
Havana Glen, long known as McClures Creek.
The McClure burying ground was the small knoll to the eastward of
the the Charles Cook monument. It was originally the place of burial
of the Senecas, but its graves have long been removed or
obliterated, and its treeless sandy soil is fast being leveled by
the plow. Near the center of the mound was without doubt the burial
place of the "most famous personage" that ever lived within the
Catharine Valley. This was Catharines Montour, Queen of the Seneca's
at the time of General Sullivan's expedition against the Iroquois.
The writer has before him [Corbett] a letter received by the late
Col. E. W. Cook, written Aug. 1874, from T. Apolean Cheney, who
years previous to this time made special study of the Catharine
Valley history. It was his conclusion that "Queen Catharine" was
buried a little on the north side of the high part of the McClure
burying
ground.
From the
letter, one would infer that Mr. and Mrs. Cheney talked about
erecting a monument on the spot, for the letter enclosed the
following epitaph:" Here lies Catharine Montour, born about 1710,
until her decease a resident of Catherinestown. In 1730 became Queen
of the Seneca tribe of Indians. A sincere friend in the American
cause of the Revolution of 1775-81. Died at Catherinestown Feb. 20,
1804."
Facts About Catharine Montour
(Notes from an address by Abner C. Wright in May 1940, before the
Montour Historical Society, on "Queen Catharine Montour and her
family," quoting as his authorities Mrs. Louise Welles Murray and
Mr. Cole of
Waverlay, who had done considerable research among
the John S. Clarke papers.)
Madame
Catherine Montour, grandmother of Queen Catherine, was born in 1668,
three years after her parents were married. Her father was a
Frenchmen, Monsieur Montour, who came to Canada in 1665 and married
a Huron wife. When Madame Catharine Montour was about eight years
old she was stolen by the Senecas and brought up in that tribe, but
before that time she went to school and was being carefully reared.
Frontenac was governor of Canada at this time, and in order to
cement the friendship existing between the Indians and the French he
decided a adopt a child from each of the Five Nations of the
Iroquois. The child he adopted from the Seneca was Catharine
Montour, and the date that John S. Clarke gives is 1674. Mr. Wright
did not know where he got that date. After a few years Frontenac
returned to France, and before going, returned his adopted children
to the tribes from which they were taken, and so Catharine came back
to the Seneca's in 1680. There she was married to Corondowana in
1690. In 1711 she became an interpreter. Her husband was killed in
1729. John Logan called he an old woman in 1733. Witham Marsh says
she had been "very handsome." She is said by some to have died and
been buried in 1752, at Montoursville, Pa., sometimes called "Shemokin,"
on the island near Northumberland, Pa. The English name of her
husband was "Robert Hunter." She and all of her children were
staunch adherents of the English, the cause of her bitterness
towards the French, being unjust slaying of her brother. Madame
Montour left a wonderful legacy; five children who did splendid
things in helping the English win from the French land in the new
world, which was being claimed by the French.
Her children were Margaret, John, Andrew, Henry and Lewis. Her
daughter, "French Margaret," married Peter Quebec in 1733 or before.
At any rate, they were living at Shemokin, on some island, at that
time. In 1745 they went to Ohio and returned, and in 1777 they
settle on Lycoming Creek, the village being known as "French
Margaret's Town." To this village Moravian missionaries came in
1753, and reported that she had said; "Peter Quebec has drunk no
wine for at least six years;" also that she has prohibited liquor in
her town, had instituted other reforms and enjoyed the respect of
her people.
The
foundations of Ohio by Beverley W. Bond
Columbus, Ohio: Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941
Page 128 -
Andrew Montour was a noted half-breed scout, son of the
famous Madame Ester Montour who frequently
accompanied
George Crogan, an Indian upon his missions. Montour reported to
the English the advance of
the French.
Beauchamp, in his History of the New York Iroquois, says:
That year in (1708) the Indian Montour family first came to
notice. The father was a Frenchman who had a son
and two
daughters by an Indian wife, and they become prominent...There
may have been several families of
this name. Joncaire killed
the original Montour in 1721, by Vaudreuil's order.
All
through the early history of New York colony the Montours
flitted, and their origins and kinship have proved
mooted
points for discussion by historians then and now. As early as
1719 there was a certain Madame
Montour whom the French
tried to induce to settle in Canada. She frequently was used as
an interpreter and
seems to have had considerable influence
with the Iroquois. Her first husband was a Seneca chief
(probably a
half-breed) named Roland Montour. Upon his death
she married
Carundowana, an Oneida. She was
supposed to have been of
unmixed French blood, but had lived long among the Indians. Her
second husband
was eventually (about 1733) killed by the
Catawbas. She had a daughter who became known as "French
Margaret," and it is likely that she was the mother of
several other children.
Perhaps the most noted member of
the Montour family was she whom early writers have delighted to
honor as
"Queen Catharine." The absurdity of this lies in the fact
that the Iroquois had neither kings nor queens among
them.
Catharine Montour did have a great ascendancy over the tribe
among whom she lived, but it was the
ascendancy of a
first-rate mind over mediocre ones. She lived with a sub-tribe
of the Seneca at the head of
Seneca Lake, in a place then
distinguished as Catherinestown, but now known as
Montour Falls.
According to some historians,
Catherine Montour (frequently spelled Catharine, or Catharine)
was the daughter of
Count Frontenac, Governor General of
Canada, and an Indian women. Says Parkman:
Catharine
Montour was a native of Canada, whence she was carried off by
the Iroquois and adopted by them.
She lived in a village at
the head of Seneca Lake, and still held the belief, inculcated
by the guided of her
youth, that Christ was a Frenchman
crucified by the English.
Dansville, N.Y.: unknown, c1935,
261 pgs
The John Askin papers
by John Askin
Detroit: Detroit Library Commission,
1928-1931 - MR. Montague Trambell in account Current with
Sarah Anis alias Montour
-
There are numerous contemporary references to this interesting
person, yet we have not succeeded in constructing a satisfactory
outline of her career. That she was engaged in trade is
established by numerous manuscripts references in the Burton
Hist. Coll. The Macomb ledger for 1775 records that she was also
called Montour, while in a grant of land made by some Indian
chiefs to Jonathan Schieffelin in 1788 (recorded in Detroit
Notarial Records, Vol. D., original in Ottawa, copy in Burton
Hist. Coll.) she is described as "Sarah Ainse alias Wilson."
John Porteous records in his journal (ms. in Burton Hist. Coll.)
that in the autumn of 1766 he met on Lake Erie Sally Montour
going "with one boat and some goods to winter at Grand Point."
The possibility that she was the "Mrs. Ainse" of Askin's diary
at Mackinac in 1774-75 has been mentioned ante. Her name
included in the Detroit census of 1779, and in De Peyster's list
of merchandise ordered by merchants of Detroit for 1780 she is
credited with two bateau-loads. Mich. Pio. Colls., XIX, 589. In
1785 she was trading with the Moravian Indians on the Hurron
River, and offered to give them a "good strip" of her land "on
the east side of the St. Clair." David Zeisberger, Diary
(Cincinnati, 1885), I, 248. In May, 1787, Sarah Anise "of
Detroit" Notarial Records, Vol. D. sold a lot within the fort to
grubb and Dowler, boat builders, for ~350. Detroit Notarial
Records, Vol. D. It seems probable that she was a sister or
other connection of Andrew Montour, a noted half-breed of Seven
Years War period and later, for whom see sketch in Wis. Hist.
Colls., XVIII, 227. His mother was a French woman who married an
Iroquois chief of the Mohawk tribe. Andrew began his career as
an interpreter on 1744, and his biography is a part of history
of the Ohio frontier/ Zeisberger's Diary records (Vol. II,
148-49) that he had two sisters, Mary and Catherine, and our
surmise is that
Sally Montour, alias Ainse, alias Wilson, was the daughter
of one of these, or, possibly, a third sister. However this may
be, she was obviously of mixed blood and was guarded by the
Indians as one of them selves. In 1788 they granted her a tract
of land at the mouth of the Thames River in modern Kent County,
Ontario. Her title to this was disputed and over it a long
controversy was waged, which served, incidentally, to bring out
the fact that she was held in high esteem both by the Chippewa
and by the Iroquois. Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chieftain, stated
on June 28, 1795, that "she is one of ourselves and has been of
service to us in Indian affairs at this place [Detroit]," Mich.
Pio. Colls., XIII, 173. Considerable information about the
settlement developed around the River Thames grant to Sarah
Ainse is assembled in Louis Goulet's "Phases of the Sally Ainse
Dispute," in Kent Hist. Soc., Papers and Address, Vol. V.
(Chatham, 1921), 92-95. On May 10, 1824, letters of
administration for the estate of Sarah Ainse, late of
Amherstburg, deceased, were granted to George Jacob and James
Gordon as executors of the estate of Richard Pattinson, she
having left no kindred in the province of Upper Canada. Ms. in
archives in Ottawa. On the history of the Montour family see
Hodge (ed.) Handbook of American Indians.
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Revised September 07, 2007