murderers were traced to Conestoga. Rifles were loaded, horses were in readiness. They mounted; they called on their pastor to lead them. He was then in the fifty-seventh year of his age. Had you seen him then you would have beheld a superior being. He had mounted, not to lead them on to the destruction of Conestoga, but to deter them from the attempt. He implored them to return; he urged them to reflect; 'pause, pause, before you proceed.' It was in vain; 'the blood of the murdered cries aloud for vengeance; we have waited long enough on Government; the murderers are within our reach, and they must not escape.' Col. Elder reminded them that 'the guilty and innocent cannot be distinguished.' 'Innocent! can they be called innocent who foster murderers?' Mr. Elder rode up in front, and said, 'As your pastor, I command you to relinquish your design.' 'Give way then,' said one Smith, or your horse dies,' presenting his rifle. To save his horse, to which he was much attached, Mr. E. drew him aside, and the Rangers were off on their fatal errand."

6

SMITH'S NARRATIVE OF THE MASSACRE.

A Mr. Smith, one of the "Paxton Boys," thus narrated the particulars of the massacre:

"I was an early settler in Paxton, a member of the congregation of the Rev. Mr. Elder. I was one of the chief actors in the destruction of Conestoga, and in storming the workhouse at Lancaster. I have been stigmatized as a murderer. No man, unless he were living at that time in Paxton, could have an idea of the sufferings and anxieties of the people. For years the Indians had been on the most friendly terms; but some of the traders had been bought by the French; these corrupted the Indians. The savages unexpectedly destroyed our dwellings and murdered the unsuspicious. When we visited the wigwams in the neighborhood, we found the Indians occupied

in harmless sports or domestic work. There appeared no evidence that they were in any way instrumental in the bloody acts perpetrated on the frontiers.

Well do I remember the evening when

; we

We met,

stopt at my door; judge my surprise when I heard his tale: Four followed the Indians to the Big Island; from thence they went to Conestoga; five of us, rode off for the village. I left my horse under their care, and cautiously crawled where I could get a view. I saw Indians arrived; they were strangers; they outnumbered us by dozens. I returned without being discovered. We meet to-night at shall expect you with knife, gun and ammunition.' and our party, under cover of night, rode off for Conestoga. Our plan was well laid; the scout who had traced the Indians was with us; the village was stormed and reduced to ashes. The moment we were perceived an Indian fired at us, and rushed forward, brandishing his tomahawk. Tom cried, 'mark him,' and he fell pierced by more than one ball-ran up and cried out, it is the villain who murdered my mother.' This speech roused to vengeance, and Conestoga lay harmless before us. Our worst fears had been realized; these Indians, who had been housed and fed as the pets of the Province, were now proved to be our secret foes; necessity compelled us to do as we did.

We mounted our horses and returned. Soon we were informed that a number of Indians were in the work-house at Lancaster. was sent to Lancaster to get all the news he could. He reported that one of the Indians concerned in recent murders was there in safety; also, that they talked of rebuilding Conestoga, and placing these Indians in the new buildings.

A few of us met to deliberate. Stewart proposed to go to Lancaster, storm their castle, and carry off the assassin; it was agreed to; the whole plan was arranged. Our clergyman did

not approve of our proceeding further. He thought everything was accomplished by the destruction of Conestoga, and advised us to try what we could do with the Governor and Council. I, with the rest, was opposed to the measure proposed by our good pastor. It was painful for us to act in opposition to his will, but the Indian in Lancaster was known to have murdered the parent of one of our party.

The plan was made. Three were chosen to break in the doors, five to keep the keepers, &c., from meddling; Captain Stewart to remain outside, with about twelve men, to protect those within, to prevent surprise, and keep charge of the horses. The three were to secure the Indian, tie him with strong cords, and deliver him to Stewart. If the three were resisted, a shot was to be fired as a signal. I was one of them who entered; you know the rest; we fired; the Indians were left without life, and we rode hastily from Lancaster. Two of the Indians killed at Lancaster were recognized as murderers.

This gave quiet to the frontiers, for no murder of our defenceless inhabitants has since happened."

Mr. Smith, the above narrator, after the Revolution, went to Milton, Northumberland county; his son, Wilson Smith, removed to Erie, and represented that district in the Senate of Pennsylvania in 1812-13.

Stewart, soon after the massacre, joined the Connecticut men, and became very conspicuous in the civil wars of Wyoming. He was once taken prisoner there, and delivered to the Sheriff of York county; but his rangers rescued him, and he suddenly appeared with them again at Wyoming. He was slain there during the Revolution, in the disastrous battle of the 3d July, 1778.

A proclamation was issued by the Governor, expressing the strongest indignation at the outrages at Conestoga and Lancaster, and offering a reward for the arrest of the perpetrators; but such was the state of public opinion in the interior counties

that no one dared to bring the offenders to justice, although they mingled openly among their fellow-citizens.

PAXTON DURING THE REVOLUTION.

Tradition and the records bear ample testimony that the first settlers of Paxton were not wanting in patriotism. At the first sound of alarm, these heroic farmers flocked eagerly around the standard of their country, and their blood was shed on many battle-fields of the Revolution.

JOHN HARRIS FURNISHES SUPPLIES.

"When Independence was first agitated, John Harris thought the declaration premature. He feared the Colonies were unequal to the task of combatting with Great Britain; but when Independence was declared, he at once espoused the popular cause. Upon this occasion it is stated that he took his mother aside, and in the presence of one of his sons, read to her the Declaration of Independence from a Philadelphia paper. When he concluded it, he observed that 'the act was now done,' and that 'we must take sides either for or against the country. The war in which we are about to engage cannot be carried on without money. Now we have £3,000 in the house, and if you are agreed, I will take the money to Philadelphia, and put it into the public treasury, to carry on the war. If we succeed in obtaining our independence we may lose the money, as the Government may not be able to pay it back, but we will get our land.' His mother agreed to this proposition, and he carried the money to Philadelphia, where he deposited it in the Treasury, and took certificates. After the war, he sold these for 17s. 6d. in the pound. After the debt was funded, certificates rose to twenty-five shillings for the pound."-G. W. Harris, Esq.

Three of Mr. Harris' sons, David, William, and John, were officers in the Revolutionary Army-the former a Colonel, and the two latter Captains.

CITIZENS OF PAXTON AND DERRY OFFER THEIR SERVICES.

Rev. John Elder wrote as follows to the " Committee of Safety," at Philadelphia:

"PAXTON, 21st February, 1776. "GENTLEMEN: If offers for the several companies allowed to complete the Battallion to be raised now in this Province are not yet appointed, I would beg leave to recommend Mr. Wm. Bell for a Captaincy, or a First Lieutenancy; he is a young gentleman of good character, and well esteemed in this part of the country, and from his influence and agreeable disposition can, I think, in a short time engage a number of stout young men, farmers' sons, well affected to the American cause, and who may be expected to serve from principle and a due regard to liberty, but who will not enlist under officers they are unacquainted with.

I am, gentlemen, your humble serv't,

JOHN ELDER.”

Hon. Valentine Hummel, Sr., of Harrisburg, has in his possession, carefully preserved in a frame and glass, a manuscript containing the original agreement of certain settlers residing in Derry township, to serve in the battalion commanded by James Burd. The first name attached to it is that of Judge Hummel's father, then a very young man. The document reads as

follows:

"July 25th, 1776.-This is to certify that we, the Associates of Derry Township, in Lancaster County, Province of Pennsylvania, in the fourth Battalion, commanded by James Burd, Colonel, do bind ourselves in all the rules and regulations made