Private Intelligence lately received from a Shawanese Indian by Mr McKee Sir Although you have frequent Meetings with our great men, and they profess a friendship for you, and that they wou'd not keep any thing a secret from you, I have reason to believe that they do not divulge all they know, to you, therefore I am come to inform you of what I have heard. I have not lived long among them, altho' I am a Shawanese, but am only on a visit from the Creek Country which is my home, and to where I intend to return in a short time.—Brothers, You have heard that a great Meeting has for some years past, and is now expected to take place at Scioto, & Indians from Nations Westward and Southward expected to it, this meeting, whenever it happens is the fixed time of striking the English; for when the Chiefs are once assembled the Warriors can readily bring all Nations into the Measure, and although the Chiefs of several Nations have been busied in conducting good speeches about, the Warriors are of different sentiments in general & use it as a cover to this general design, and the hopes depending upon it have prevented many broils with the white people, though now mischief seems almost unavoidable from the Disposition of our people in general, owing to the Encroachments upon our Lands, the ill treatment received from the Frontier People, & the interruption the Indians meet with in their Hunting. The Chenussios> tho' they may deny it, have their share in this plan; for it is no new one, but it has been upon foot many years, and indeed, I may say such a one has been in being since our first acquaintance almost with the English, & particularly since the French left their belts to the Northward, for we discovered an early design in them of taking away our Country, and it will be a difficult Task to collect all the bad belts that have been handed from the Canada and Chenussio Indians to us upon this subject.—At present allmost all the Indians this way wish to strike those people gone down the River, and we are only waiting to hear again from the Northward, the Senecas being disatisfied with the terms offered them by the English on account of a breach of friendship their young men had been guilty of, which Terms were so hard that they could not comply with them. A True Copy Exd by G. Johnson D. Agent The foregoing intelligence appears to have been the real sentiments of the Informer, but he was ignorant as to those of the different nations intended to compose the Scioto Congress, who held very different opinions from the Shawanese, and it was chiefly the last mentioned nation, that designed to inflame the Warriors at that Congress. (Indorsed) to Sir Will Johnson's (N° 9) of 20th June 1774. by fever at the time and had to be borne on a litter throughout the whole of the engagement. He resigned his commission in the army in 1792. He was reduced in his old age to poverty; applied to Congress for relief and was allowed a pension of $720 a year. He died on the 31st August, 1818, in the 34th year of his age, and was interred in the Presbyterian Church yard of Greensburg, Westmoreland county. The Masonio fraternity erected a monument over his remains in 1832. Daxft Uittorical Collection! of Pennsylvania, 686. — Ed. (N° 21) Sir, Earl of Dartmouth to Lieutenant-Governor ColJen. [New-York, CLXVI, No. 21. ] Whitehall July 6,h 1774. I have received your letters N° 1 & 2. & have laid them before the King. As there is nothing in these letters which requires any particular Instruction, I have only to express my Wishes that His Majesty's Subjects of New York may not be led into any further rash & hasty proceedings, that may expose them to the just Resentment of Parliament, and that persons of Credit and Character in the Colony will exert their Influence to put a stop to that licentious Spirit which has led to Measures so disgraceful to the City of New York. Sir William Johnson having acquainted me that two Seneca Indians have been committed to the Goal in Tryon County as Accomplices in the Murder of Four Frenchmen in the last year, His Majesty is graciously pleased upon Report to him of the Circumstances of their Case, to signify his Pleasure that they be both set at liberty forthwith, & you will not fail to take the proper steps for that purpose. It being under Consideration to reestablish the Military Posts, either at Crown Point or Ticonderoga, or at both; It is the King's Pleasure that the Lands reserved by Sir Jefferey Amherst for the Convenience and Accommodation of those Posts, be excepted out of any future Sales or Grants of Lands whatever. I have received your dispatch of the 2d May, & have laid it before the King. The delivering up, by the Seneca Nation, of the two Indians concerned in the murder of the four Frenchmen, last year, is such a testimony of their submission to our Laws as deserves a proper return on our part; and it is the King's pleasure that, if not already done, the Prisoners should be immediately released, & restored to their friends, and I have accordingly signified the same both to Governor Gage, and to the Lieutenant Governor of New York. The intelligence which I acquainted you in my letter N° 6 had been received that some of the King's subjects had formed a design to make settlements on the lower part of the Ohio was but too well founded, for I find, by a letter which I received a few days ago from Lord Dunmore, that some persons, Inhabitants of Virginia, have purchased of the Illinois Indians a very large tract of land extending 30 leagues up the River, and I wish that this Transaction had met with such Discouragement from that Government as the nature of it deserved. There are many reasons urged by Lord Dunmore in favor of this measure, but they have no weight with me, and as I still continue of opinion that such a proceeding cannot fail of being attended with the most dangerous and alarming consequences, I shall lose no time in taking the sense of the rest of the King's servants upon such propositions as it may be necessary to submit to His Majesty upon this occasion. What you state in your letter respecting the expectations that have been from time to time held out to the Indians of measures being taken by France to recover possession of Canada, gives a greater degree of credit to the paper I transmitted to you in my letter N° 6 than I at first thought it deserved, & therefore I shall be impatient to receive from you that intelligence. which you say you expect to collect after the intended Onondaga Congress, & the return of the Embassy you sent to the Westward. The King has been graciously pleased to appoint Mr Joseph Chew Secretary of Indian Affairs, and, inclosed, I send you a warrant for that purpose. Sir Wm Johnson. I am &ca DARTMOUTH No. 3. My Lord, Lieutenant-Governor Golden to the Earl of Dartmouth. [New-York, CLXVI., No. 8.1 New York 6,h July 1774 In my letter of June the 1st I inform'd your Lordship that the People of this City had chosen a Committee of 51 Persons, to correspond with the Sister Colonies on the present political Affairs that many of this Committee were of the most considerable Merchants, and Men of Cool Tempers, who would endeavour to avoid all extravagant and dangerous Measures. They have had a continual struggle with those of a different Disposition: and haveing for several Weeks succeeded in suspending any Resolutions, I was in hopes they would have maintaind the only Conduct which can excuse them. But accounts repeatedly coming to hand, from different Parts of the Continent, of the Appointment of Deputies to meet in general Congress, this Measure was so strenuosly push'd that it was carried in the Committee of 61; on Monday last; and five Persons were named for the Deputies from this Province.— The Persons named are James Duane1 and John Jay, two eminent Lawyers, Isaac 1 A Memoir of Mr. Duane is published in Documentary History of New -York, TV. JOHN Jat, LL. D., the eighth child of Peter J. and Mary Van Cortland, of Westchester county, was born on 12th December, 1745, and in 1753 was put to school at New Rochelle. He was graduated at King's College, New-York, in 1764, after which he studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1768, and acted as Secretary to the Commission for running the boundary line between New-York and New Jersey. He was a prominent member of the Congress of 1774 and of that of 1775, and in 1776 assisted in framing the government of New-York. He was elected Chief Justice of that State in May, 1777, and resigned that office in 1779, when elected President of Congress. In September, 1779, he was appointed Minister to Spain; was one of the signers to the definitive treaty of Peace at Paris in September, 1783; and returned to America in 1784, having been previously appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affnira. He became Chief Justice of the United States in 1789, and in 17 94 was appointed Minister to England; was Governor of the State of New-York from 1795 to 1801, after which he retired from public life, and died at Bedford, Westchester county, on 17th May, 1829, in the 84th year of his age. Blake's Biographi cal Dictionary. — Er. Low,' Philip Livingston and John Alsop, Merchants.—I am told a violent Effort was made in the Committee to have John Scott, an eminent Lawyer, and Alexr McDougle, the Wilkes of New York, named, in place of Jay and Alsop.—It is said the People are to be invited to meet on Thursday, to approve of the Deputies named by the Committee. These Transactions are dangerous, my Lord, and illegal; but by what means shall Government prevent them? An Attempt by the Power of the Civil Magistrate, would only shew their weakness, and it is not easy to say upon what foundation a Military Aid should be calld in.-Such a Measure would involve us in Troubles, which it is thought much more prudent to avoid; and to shun all Extreams, while it is yet possible.—Things may, take a favourable turn.—The Purpose of the Congress, it is said, is to Petition for a redress of Greivances, and to consider of a Plan for settling the Controversy with Great Britain. But no Instructions for the Deputies have yet appear'd that I know of. The present Political zeal and frenzy is almost entirely confined to the City of New York. The People in the Counties are no ways disposed to become active, or to bear any Part in what is proposed by the Citizens. I am told all the Counties, but one, have declined an Invitation, sent to them from New York, to appoint Committees of Correspondence. This Province is every where, my Lord, except in the City of New York, perfectly quiet and in good Order and in New York a much greater freedom of Speech prevails now, than has done heretofore. An Opposition has been declared to the vile Practice of exhibiting Effigies, which I hope will prevent it for the future. : I beleive your Lordship will expect a particular Account of the state of the Province from Me, which I hope will be a sufficient Excuse for my troubling you with such minute Transactions. I am anxious to perform my Duty, and to merrit your Protection by being My Lord Your Lordship's most faithfull R' HonbIe Earl of Dartmouth. and obedient Servant CADWALLADEr Colden 1 Isaac Low, merchant of New-York, Was, at this date, a prominent Whig, and on his departure to attend Congress was accompanied to the ferry by the people with flying colors, music, Ac. He signed the Association in October, 1774; also the address to the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec. He was reelected to the Continental Congress in 1775, but sometime after fell under the suspicion of the Whigs and was arrested in 1776 on suspicion of holding correspondence with the enemy. Dunlap's New-York, ccxii., cexv.; 5 American Archivet, L., 980. On the British taking possession of the city of New-York, Mr. Low remained within the Lines, and in 1779 his name was included in the Act of Attainder and his property, which was extensive, was confiscated. In 1782, he was President of the New-York Chamber of Commerce and on the evacuation of the city, went to England. Sabine. * Philip Livingston, of New-York, fourth son of Philip, 2d proprietor of the Manor of Livingston, was born in Albany January 15, 1716, and was graduated at Yale College in 1737. He afterwards became a merchant; in 1754 was elected Alderman of New-York, which city he represented in the Assembly from 1759 to 1769, having been, for the last year of his time, Speaker of the House. He was a member of the first Congress which sat in Philadelphia in 1774; of the second in 1775; and in 1776 affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence. He continued in Congress until his death, which occurred at York, Pennsylvania, on the 12th June, 1778. Previous to his decease he sold part of his property to sustain the public credit. Holgate.-ED. My Lord, Colonel Guy Johnson to the Earl of Dartmouth. [Plantations General, CCLX. ] Johnson hall July 12th 1774. I am so deeply affected at the Melancholy occasion which renders it my duty to write to your Lordship, that I hope it will procure an indulgence for the inaccuracies of this letter. My much esteemed Father in law Sir Wm. Johnson in his last Dispatch to your Lordship which was of the 20,b June (N° 9) had the honor to lay before you the very critical situation of Indian Affairs occasioned by the Cruelties and Murders committed by Cressop, who with some Frontier Banditti causelessly murdered near 40 Indians on Ohio, & that the Six Nations were then on the way to and some of them already arrived at this place in consequence thereof. About the 7th of this inst. they all assembled at a time when Sir Wm. found himself much indisposed, which may principally be attributed to his indefatigable labors for the public security at an alarming juncture, he nevertheless held several conferences with them on the present posture of affairs until yesterday afternoon when his disorder encreased thro' his over exertion so much that he was obliged to be supported to his chamber where he was seized with a suffocation of which he expired in less than two hours.—The Effect this produced on the Indians was as he had always apprehended, they assembled to the number of 500, around the House, and expressed the utmost confusion & doubt, they next proceeded to send Belts thro' all the Nations to notify his death, & their apprehensions that he had not as yet received his Majesties pleasure, respecting the care of their affairs, disorder might ensue & the Chiefs could no longer consult on, or promote peace.—I must confess my Lord, that the sudden loss of a man of his public & private virtues very much disconcerted me, until my attention was awaken'd by their resolutions, the consequences whereof at this time were but too obvious, I therefore went to them, & charged them not to be too hasty, that if their professions of regard for me so often made to Sir W. Johnson were as sincere as I had reason to believe, they should follow my advice, & do nothing rashly; that his Majesty was too wise & just a Monarch to neglect his attention to all faithful Nations, that they might be assured he would pursue such measures as in His wisdom seemed best for the Agency of their affairs, that they should with full confidence in his justice and regard patiently wait His Royal pleasure which could not yet be obtained, and that in the mean time I should take particular care of their affairs and endeavor to the utmost of my power to pursue the wise measures of that worthy Man for whose loss they expressed so much concern, in full expectation that they would shew their regard for their engagements, and his memory by acting like men, and attending to the important business now before them. The satisfaction this afforded them is scarcely to be described, they imediately assured me that their minds were made easy by my words, that they should return to their Encampment & consider on the Ceremony of Condolance, after which they would be ready to proceed to buisness as usual desiring that I would express their hopes & confidence in His Majesties gracious attention to their request as formerly signified by Sir W. Johnson.— This Morning I prepared a proper message, suitable to the exigence with which they have sent Messengers, and when the Ceremony of Condolance is performed, I shall meet them again, & endeavor to bring the Congress to a Conclusion on the Principles it was begun with. |