Person:George Croghan (1)

George Croghan, Fur Trader
b.Abt 1718 Ireland
m. Bef 1718
  1. George Croghan, Fur TraderAbt 1718 - 1782
  • HGeorge Croghan, Fur TraderAbt 1718 - 1782
  1. Susannah 'Suky' Croghan1750 - 1790
  2. Maj. William Croghan1752 - 1822
Facts and Events
Name George Croghan, Fur Trader
Gender Male
Birth? Abt 1718 Ireland
Marriage to Unknown
Death? 31 Aug 1782 Passyunk, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Burial[1] Saint Peter's Episcopal Churchyard, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA
Reference Number? Q5538228?

George Croghan was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

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Note: George Croghan (abt. 1718-1782), fur trader, lived near Pittsburg PA during the colonial period. This area was, at the time, considered to be part of Augusta County by the colonial Virginia government. As a result he appears in the records for Old Augusta, and could be considered to be among the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

Wikipedia

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governing body of the Iroquois, and remained so until he was banished from the frontier in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.[1] Emigrating from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1741, he had become an important trader by going to the villages of Indigenous Peoples, learning their languages and customs, and working on the frontier where previously mostly French had been trading. During and after King George's War of the 1740s, he helped negotiate new treaties and alliances for the British with Native Americans.

Croghan was appointed in 1756 as Deputy Indian Agent with chief responsibility for the Ohio region tribes. He assisted Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District, who was based in New York and had strong alliances with the Iroquois. Beginning in the 1740s and following this appointment, Croghan amassed hundreds of thousands of acres of land in today's western Pennsylvania and New York by official grants and from Native American purchases. Beginning in 1754, he was a rival of George Washington for influence in Ohio Country and remained far more powerful there for more than 20 additional years. During the American Revolutionary War in 1777, he was falsely accused of treason. He was acquitted the following year but patriot authorities did not allow him back in the Ohio territory.

Ohio's recorded history begins with Croghan's actions in the mid-1740s as fur trader, Iroquois sachem, and go-between for Pennsylvania, according to historian Alfred A. Cave. Cave concludes that the treason charge that ended Croghan's career was trumped up by his enemies. Western Pennsylvania became the focal point in August 1749 when Croghan purchased 200,000 acres from the Iroquois, exclusive of two square miles at the Forks of the Ohio for a British fort. Croghan soon learned that his three deeds would be invalidated if part of Pennsylvania, sabotaged that colony's effort to erect the fort, and led the Ohio Confederation to permit Virginia's Ohio Company to build it and settle the region. Late in 1753 Virginia sent George Washington to the Ohio Country, who would eventually end Croghan's influence there.

Braddock's Defeat in 1755 and French control of Ohio Country, which they called the Illinois Country, indicating the area of their greater settlement, found Croghan building forts on the Pennsylvania frontier. Following which he manned the farthest frontier post in present-day New York as Deputy Indian agent under Sir William Johnson, called the "Mohawk Baron" for his extensive landholdings and leadership with the Mohawk and other Iroquois. Croghan briefly lived until 1770 on a quarter of a million New York acres. He resigned as Indian agent in 1771 to establish Vandalia, a fourteenth British colony to include parts of present-day West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and eastern Kentucky, but continued to serve as a borderland negotiator for Johnson, who died a British loyalist in 1774.

While working to keep the Ohio Indians neutral during the Revolutionary War, Croghan served as Pittsburgh's president judge for Virginia and chairman of its Committee of Safety. General Edward Hand, the local military commander, banished Col. Croghan from the frontier in 1777 on suspicion of treason. Despite his acquittal in a November, 1778 trial, Croghan was not allowed to return to the frontier. His death in 1782, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War, received little if any notice. Although often quoted by historians, the story of Croghan's 30 years as the pivotal figure in Ohio Country history is only found in the handful of biographies.

Dalington

The following is taken from Darlington, 1893. Darlington's original notes follow.

GEORGE CROGHAN was the most conspicuous name in the Western annals, in connection with Indian affairs, for twenty- five years preceding the Revolutionary War. He was a native of Ireland, and received an ordinary education in Dublin. Came to America in 1743 or 1744. In 1746 he resided in East Pennsboro Township, Lancaster, (afterwards Cumberland County), five miles west of Harris' Ferry, now Harrisburg. (1)

In March, 1749, he was appointed by the Governor and Council one of the Justices of the Peace and Common Pleas for Lancaster County. He engaged in the Indian trade, going as far as the southwestern border of Lake Erie in 1746 or 1747.

In 1748 he had a trading house at Logstown, on the Ohio, and afterwards trading establishments at the principal Indian towns.(2) France claimed the vast country west of the Alleghenies, watered by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. She was now attempting to establish her claim by the establishment of military posts from the lakes to the Mississippi and along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers.

The Indian tribes in this region, numerous and warlike, were to be conciliated. Croghan early saw the importance of detaching them from the French by means of presents and more favorable trade. His suggestions on the subject were wisely heeded by the President and Council of the Province of Pennsylvania, and they accordingly appointed him, in 1747, their agent, to deliver presents of goods to the Ohio Indians. (3)

In April, 1748, he met the Indian chiefs at Ohio, returned thanks of the President and Council of Pennsylvania for the French scalp they had sent down last spring, and delivered the present of goods for all their brethren, settled in and about Ohio, powder, lead, vermilion, knives and tobacco, to the amount of £224.5.0. He further stated that a proclamation had been issued, strictly forbidding all traders from carrying strong liquors into the Indian country under severe penalties. The chiefs returned thanks for the presents, approved of the suppression of the traffic in liquor, but as they had recently induced some nations of Indians in the French interest to leave them, and as they had never tasted English rum, they hoped some would be sent to them.(4) They significantly added " We send you this French scalp as a token that we don't go to visit them for nothing." In August, 1749, he was sent west by Governor Hamilton in-consequence of rumors of the French approaching the Ohio, and to secure the Indians to the English interest.(5) He reached Logstown soon after Celeron, with the French troops, had left. The increasing intrusion of white settlers on the unpurchased lands of the Indians west of the Susque- hanna, in spite of the laws, of the Governor's proclamation, and the threats of the Indians themselves, determined the government to expel them by force. Accordingly, in May, 1750, a large company, headed by Secretary Peters, George Croghan and the other magistrates and sheriff of the new County of Cumberland, visited the settlers on the Big Juniata, Sherman's Creek, the Path Valley, Big Cove, Auchquick Creek and other places, removed their household goods and burned the log cabins; doubtless by these effective measures preventing an Indian war. (6) In November of the same year he was dispatched, in company with Andrew Montour, to the Miamis, to renew the chain of friendship and deliver them a present. On their way out, at Logstown, on the Ohio, the few chiefs then there told him " their brothers, the English, ought to have a fort on this river to secure the trade, as they expected war with the French in the spring." (7) At Muskingum he met Christopher Gist. They travelled together to Piqua. There Croghan delivered the message and presents, and made a treaty, for which the Governor censured him, as done without authority, although he said he believed Croghan intended well. The latter in his account says the Assembly rejected the treaty and condemned him for drawing an additional expense on the Government, and the Indians were neglected. (8) The treaty admits two tribes, Ottawas and Pyankeskees, to the friendship and alliance of the King of Great Britain and his subjects, as the other tribes of the Miami's had been. Signed by George Croghan, in the presence of us, Christopher Gist, Robert Callender, Thomas T. K. Kinton, three Miami chiefs, Andrew Montour, John J. P. Peter, a Delaware and a Shawnese chief present. The Governor sent them a message of approval three months later.(9)

In May, 1751, he was at Logstown with Andrew Montour, having been commissioned to deliver to the Ohio Indians the provincial present, and friendly messages. Jean Creur, the French Agent and interpreter, was there. At the council he was menaced by the chiefs, who ordered the French from their lands. They delivered Croghan a speech for the Governor of Pennsylvania, in which they requested he should build a strong house on the Ohio River soon. Governor Hamilton communicated to the House of Assembly, Croghan and Montour's account of their proceedings, in a special message, and recommended the building of a strong trading house on the Ohio, and offered, on the part of the proprietaries, to bear a portion of the expense. The Assembly declined, and preferred the proprietary would contribute to the expense of the presents to the Indians. That body also asserted that the danger from the French, and the Indians' request to erect a strong trading house, was misunderstood or misrepresented by Croghan. So the matter was dropped. (10) In the latter part of April, 1752, Governor Hamilton, at Philadelphia, received a letter from Croghan, written at the Shawnese town, February 8th, and enclosing a message from the Shawnese to the effect that they intended to war against the French in revenge for the thirty Miamis killed by them, and wanting to be assured of the friendship of the English.(11) In October, 1753, a large deputation of chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawnese, Wyandots and Miamis, held a treaty with the Commissioners of Pennsylvania, at Carlisle. George Croghan was present. (12) These Indians held a treaty at Winchester, in September, with Virginia. Conferences with the Indian chiefs were generally held up to 1754, at George Croghan's house at Penns- boro. The road through the pass on the mountain, about six miles north of Carlisle, and the same distance west of Croghan's, is marked "Croghan's Gap" on Evans Map of 1749, and all others to a recent date, when it seems, changed to Sterrits Gap. In 1753 Croghan built a house at Aughwick or Aughquick Old Town, doubtless the site of an old Indian town, now in the borough of Shirleysburgh, Huntington County, Pa., called Croghan's Fort—Fort Shirley, by Governor Morris in 1756,—when it was enlarged and stockaded. (13A) One of the chain of forts established in consequence of the defeat of Braddock. About twenty miles from the settlements Fort Lytellton was built. Fifteen miles northeast of Fort Shirley, near the mouth of a branch of the Juniata, called Kishequokilis, a third fort was erected, called Fort Granville. From Fort Granville towards Susquehanna, at the distance of fifteen miles and about twelve from the river, another fort was established, called Pomfret Castle. Croghan also, this year, 1753, held a tract of nearly 400 acres near the present Bedford town, surveyed by the Deputy Surveyor, Armstrong, and obtained a grant from the Six Nations of a tract in Aughwick. February 3, 1754.—Again Croghan wrote to Governor Hamilton, and Richard Peters, Secretary, urging the building of a strong log trading house or stockade—in reality a fort, but inexpensive. He mentions that Mr. Trent has just come out with the Virginia Guards and brought a quantity of tools and workmen to build a fort, and as he could not talk the Indian language, "I am obliged to stay and assist in dividing the goods." This was the commencement of the fortification at the Forks of the Ohio, which Ensign Ward was obliged to surrender, when partly finished, to the superior force of Contrecoeur, in April. During the past winter Croghan had a large number of Indians at Aughwick under his charge. The Assembly of Pennsylvania adjourned on March gth, without making, but refusing to make, any appropriation for the defense of the Province. On March 13, 1754, Governor Hamilton wrote to Governor Dinwiddie

” Ever since I had the honor to write you I have been laboring indefatigably with my Assembly to induce them to act vigorously on the present critical juncture of affairs at Ohio, and to grant such supplies as might enable us to resist the invasion of the French." In another letter of the same date he wished Governor Dinwiddie to inform him as to the situation of the French forts, as he believes those at the Forks of the Monongahela to be really within the bounds of Pennsylvania. Governor Dinwiddie replied March 21st

” I am from all hands assured Logstown is far to the West of Mr. Penn's grant and the Forks of the Ohio also. (l3B) " In January I commissioned William Trent to raise one Hundred men ; he had got Seventy and had begun a Fort at the Forks of the Monhongialo. His Majesty sent me out Thirty Pieces of Cannon, Four-Pounders, with Carriages and all necessary Impliments, with Eighty Barrells of Gun Powder." December 6, 1754.—This message was received from the Assembly

”As we apprehend, the Governor will agree with us in the necessity of regulating that Expence (Indian Allies), with all possible economy, and as George Croghan (whose accounts we have allowed) seems resolved to remove from Aughquick, and the Indians by that means will be left without any proper Person to take the necessary Care of providing for their Subsistence, we recommend it to the Governor's Consideration whether it might not be more convenient for the Indians themselves, and less Expence to the Province, if they were invited to move nearer our Back Inhabitants, till by Hunting or otherwise, they may be able to subsist themselves with Safety."

In a letter to Governor Morris, December 2, 1754, he gives the reasons for wishing to leave Aughquick.
"All the Promises made those Indians or any Expectations they have of this government Doing anything for them, they always expect to be fulfilled by me, and as it is not in my power to do anything for them, I think it proper one of the Interpreters should be sent here to take care of them, they imagine I have received orders from your Honour to supply them with such things as they want. I think it is my Duty to acquaint your Honour what I know of the Indians Sentiments and what they expect of this Government, which is as follows, The Ohio Indians in general puts their whole dependence on this government in regard to the Expedition, as soon as this government moves they will unite all their force and attack the French."

R. Peters, in a letter to George Croghan desires him to make his opinion known to the Assembly relative to removing the Indians from Auchquick, "and insist that a stockade be made this winter." In George Croghan's answer to Mr. Peters as to the best method of moving the Indians he writes,

" I think it would be of very ill consequence, for I think they are full near the Inhabitants already; there was one White Man killed this summer already by an Indian in a drunken frolic, and if they lived among them there would be constantly rioting and quarrelling. I don't know what will become of the Back parts unless there be a Stockade Fort put up this side the Blue Hills, as certainly the Indians who come to the Virginia Camp are Spies come to view the Country and know our strength, for I am certain there is a great body of French and Indians at the French Fort on Ohio."
In a letter of December 23, 1754 to Governor Morris, he writes :
" I am obliged to advertise the Inhabitants of Cumberland County, in your honour's name, not to barter or sell Liquour to the Indians, or to any persons to bring amongst them."
Croghan always took an important part in all conferences and treaties with the Indians. (14) Croghan was one of the Commissioners appointed to open a road to the Ohio for the use of troops. May 12, 1755, the Governor wrote to Braddock
"Agreeable to your request, immediately upon my return from Alexandria, I sent to George Croghan, the person entrusted with the management of the Indians in this Province, to join you with as large a body of Indians as he could." General Braddock, in his answer, writes
” I have engaged between forty and fifty Indians from the Frontier of your Province to go with me over the Mountains, and shall take Croghan and Montour into Service." Letter from George Croghan to Governor Morris, May 20, 1755  :"Tomorrow what Indian women and children came to Fort Cumberland with me will be sent back to Aucquick by order of the General, the Men entirely go with the General, and the General insists on my going with him, so that it is out of my Power to provide for those Women and Children. The messengers I sent to the Shawnese, Twigtwees and Owendots, are not yet returned but I hear they are coming, so that I hope they will join the General before the Army gets to the Ohio."
After the defeat of Braddock, Croghan returned to Aughquick. The Indians held a conference at Philadelphia and complained of the ignorance of the General and the haughty way he had treated them.

Letter of Croghan to Charles Swaine, from Aughquick, says

” He had seen an Indian from Ohio, sent to give him warning that he might save his scalp, which he says would be no small prize to the French, and he desires me, as soon as I see the Indians remove from Susquehanna back to Ohio, to shift my quarters, for he says that the French will, if possible, lay all the back frontiers in ruin this Winter." " I am glad I have no hand in Indian affairs at this critical time." November I2th, Croghan writes to Hamilton:
" Permit me at this Critical Time to give you information of the designs of the Enemy. I would have written to the Governor but he has not thought proper to desire me to give him any accounts of Indian Affairs since the defeat of General Braddock. The Six Nations, Delawares, Shawanese, Wyandots and Twig- trees have held a Conference and determined to proceed against the Frontiers of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania this winter."
1755.—Orders were sent to Captain George Croghan  :"to proceed to Cumberland County and fix on proper places for erecting three stockadoes, viz.: One back of Patterson's, one upon Kishecoquillas, and one near Sideling Hill, fifty feet square, with a block-house on two of the corners and a barrack within, capable of lodging fifty men."

December 17.—James Hamilton wrote to Governor Morris
” Since you left us, Conrad Weiser, James Galbraith and George Croghan have been in town, and have been fully examined by the Councils upon all the Points we thought necessary to be known. The Country is everywhere alarmed. I have given George Croghan a Captain's Commission. He is to raise the men immediately and superintend the building of Stockades."
Governor Morris gave to Governor Hardy this character of Croghan
"There were many Indian traders with Braddock, and among others Croghan, who acted as a Captain of the Indians under a Warrant from General Braddock, and I never heard any objections to his conduct in that capacity. For many years he had been very largely concerned in the Ohio trade, was upon that river frequently, and had a considerable influence among the Indians, speaking the Language of several nations, and being very liberal or rather profuse in his gifts to them which, with the losses he sustained by the French, who seized great quantities of his goods, and by not getting the debts due to him from the Indians, be became Bankrupt, and since has lived at a place called Aughwick, in the Back parts of this Province, where he had generally a number of Indians with him, for the maintenance of whom the Province allowed him sums of money from time to time. After this he went by my order with those Indians and joined General Braddock; since Braddock's defeat he returned to Aughwick, where he remained until an act of assembly was passed here granting him a freedom from arrest for ten years; this was done that the Province might have the Benefit of his Knowledge of the woods and his influence among the Indians. A Captain's commission was given to him and he was ordered to raise men for the defence of the Western Frontier, which he did in a very expeditious manner, he continued in the command of one of the Companies he had raised, and of Fort Shirley about three months, when, having a dispute with the Commissioners about some accounts between them, in which he thought himself ill-used, he resigned his commission. I hear he is now at Onondago with Sir William Johnston."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, December 14, 1756, the Governor informed the Council that Sir William Johnston had appointed Mr. Croghan to transact Indian affairs in this Province. Mr. Croghan was of opinion that there should be (13)??? a conference held with the Indians as early as possible in the Spring. He was instructed by Sir William Johnston to proceed to Philadelphia as soon as he could, or to any part of that Province where the good of his Majesty's Indian interest might require. He was to endeavor to find out the disposition of such Indians as are still living in those parts and try all means to convince them it is their interest to continue friends with the English, and to seek out the Delawares and Shawanese and induce them to join his Majesty's army. During January, 1757, Mr. Croghan dispatched two of the Conestogas to Ohio with messages to the Six Nations, Delawares and Shawanese. March 29 he wrote from Harris' Ferry " that on arriving there he found 160 Indians, chiefly Six Nations. Teedyuscung had gone to the Seneca Country and he expected him soon with not less than 200 Indians." He asked for clothes for them, which request was granted by the Council. The conference with the Indians asked for by George Croghan was held in the court-house at Lancaster, on Monday, May 16, 1757. Mr. Croghan thought it necessary that presents should be made to the Cherokees, to consist of such articles as Mr. Croghan might think those warriors stood most in need of, particularly arms. This request of Mr. Croghan was granted and he was appointed to distribute the presents. The Sachems made the following speech
” As we have finished the business for this time and we design to part to-morrow, you must be sensible that we have a long journey and a hilly country to pass over, and several of our old men very weak, we hope that you will not send us from your frontiers without a ' walking-stick,' (meaning a keg of rum)." In September, 1757, Croghan was at Fort Johnston, New York, attending conferences between Sir William Johnston and the Six Nations and Cherokees. Previous to that he had been sent by Johnston to the German Flats.
June 30, 1758.—He marched with a division of the Indians to join General Abercrombie. Sir William Johnston was with him and nearly 400 Indians, amongst whom there were some of all the Five Nations. A conference was held in the town of Easton on October 8, 1758, at which George Croghan was present. This conference continued until the 26th.

On March 28, 1759, Mr. Croghan, in conference with the Governor, gave it as his opinion, that there should be no invitations sent fixing the time of meeting for the Ohio Indians. If any further invitation was necessary, it should be general, intimating that we expected to see them, and leave the particular time to themselves, not knowing what time would suit the Indians, who were so far distant one from another. Mr. Croghan said further, that the Indians in town were exceedingly uneasy, and desired an audience of General Stanwix, on which the Governor wrote a letter to the General, desiring him to give the Indians an audience and to make them presents to their satisfaction.

July, 1759.—A conference was held at Pittsburgh by George Croghan, Deputy Agent. Col. Hugh Mercer, a number of officers of the garrison and chiefs of the Six Nations, Shawanese and Delawares were present. Captain Croghan held a private conference, relative to the price of goods and skins. May, 1760.—Croghan wrote to R. Peters, recommending to him six Mohock Indians, who had come to Fort Pitt with Montour, and informing him that several Indian Nations seem bent on carrying on a war against the Southern Indians, but are deterred by scarcity of ammunition. A conference was held at Pittsburgh, on the I2th of August, by Brigadier-General Moncton, with the Western Nation of Indians, at which Deputy Agent Croghan was present. Croghan accompanied Major Rogers to Detroit, to receive the surrender of that and the other posts of the French in the west. Captain Croghan kept a journal of this expedition, which has been published. July, 1760.—He accompanied Colonel Bouquet, from Fort Pitt to Venango, with a detachment of troops. During the Pontiac War, Croghan was active; he was with Captain Ecuyer, during the investment of Fort Pitt by the Indians. After it was relieved by Bouquet, he resigned out of the service, intending to sail for England; he wrote thus from Carlisle, October n, 1763
”I know many people will think I am wrong, but had I continued, I could be of no more service than I have been this eighteen months past, which was none, as no regard was had to any intelligence I sent, no more than to my opinion." General Gage, succeeding Amherst, ordered Croghan to remain. Sir William Johnston, in 1763, sent him to England, to confer with the ministry, about an Indian boundary line. In this voyage, he was shipwrecked on the coast of France.
February 28.—He was present at an Indian conference, at Fort Pitt, a journal of which has been published. While on his way, in 1765, to pacify the Illinois Indians, he was attacked, June 8, wounded and taken to Vincennes, but was soon released, and accomplished his mission. In May, 1766, he made a settlement, four miles above Fort Pitt. He continued to render valuable service in pacifying the Indians, until 1776. He was an object of suspicion to the Revolutionary authorities, in 1778, but as he continued to reside on his farm, he was doubtless unjustly accused.

George Croghan's 'settlement was undoubtedly the first, except Gist's, within the County of Allegheny. The house stood on the bank of the Allegheny River, a few rods from the late residence of Judge McCandless. Two ancient apple trees mark the exact spot, on the draft of survey. The White Mingo Castle is marked on the north side of the river, at the mouth of Pine Creek. At his residence here, he held frequent conferences with the Indians, some of whom were frequently there when he was at home. In Washington's " Journal of a Tour to the Ohio River," in 1770, is entered, October 18, "Dined with Col. Croghan." In the MS. copy of Land Office Survey, in June, 1769, for George Croghan's tract of 1,352 acres, the White Mingoes' Castle is laid down on the north side of the river, opposite to the land surveyed, and near the mouth of Pine Creek, on the east side. Clarkson's Diary, of 1766, refers t*o this " Indian Settlement of the Mingoes," and as the " White Mingo's Town," in Schoolcraft's "American Abridged Archives," Volume IV, pp. 269-271. It was, however, a much older place of resort by the Indians. The present Kittanning, Pennsylvania road, from half a mile above the mouth of Pine Creek, direct to Kittanning, Pennsylvania, was the old Kittanning, Pennsylvania path of the Indians, and so called by the older white settlers, within the memory of the writer. In 1753-4, William Trent and George Croghan, partners in the Indian trade, had a storehouse above the mouth of Pine Creek; also fenced fields of Indian corn and numbers of large canoes and batteaux, all of which were seized by the French in 1754. (15)

Pine Creek empties into the Allegheny River, on the north side, five Miles above the site of Fort Pitt, near the present towns of Sharpsburgh and Etna. Indians of the Six Nations appear to have built the town at this point, soon after the erection of Fort Pitt. It was known as the " White Mingo Town," from the head chief. These Indians came from the "Mingo town," on the northwest side of the Ohio, about three miles below the site of the present city of Steubenville, near the mouth of Indian Cross Creek and "Mingo Junction," of the Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Pittsburgh and Wheeling railways. It was a town inhabited chiefly by the Senecas, called with others of the Six Nations, " Mingoes." (16) Washington visited it in October and November, 1770, on his way to and from the Kanawha. He states that it then had about twenty cabins and seventy inhabitants of the Six Nations. According to Thomas Hutchins, it was the only Indian village, in 1766, between Fort Pitt and the Falls of the Ohio. It then contained sixty families. The Monsies were a tribe of the Delawares, speaking a somewhat different dialect. Their settlement was probably the Sewickly town on Evans' Map of 1755, and Scull's of 1770, where the town of Springdale now stands, twelve miles above Pittsburgh, on the northwest side of the Allegheny River. Conrad Weiser passed a night there. John Conolly and Captain Ed. Ward were relatives of George Croghan; their exact relationship is not known. Susannah, wife of General Prevost, was his only child; she died at Milgrove, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, March, 1791. Her heirs tried to recover part of his property, but were unsuccessful. The history of George Croghan, the Indians' friend and generous protector, is the history of the Indians of Pennsylvania;—their conferences, treaties, and treatment by the white usurpers. (17) George Croghan's house, on the Allegheny, was erected in 1759-60; burned by the Indians during their outbreak in the Summer of 1763 ; rebuilt on the same spot; was standing the beginning of this century.

DEED TO GEORGE CROGHAN.

Whereas Johonisse, Scarayoday and Teedyuscung chiefs or sachems of the Six united Nations of Indians did by their deed duly executed having date the 2d day of August A D 1749 for the consideration therein mentioned grant bargain and sell to George Croghan in fee a certain tract of land Beginning on the eastern side of the river Ohio to the northward of an old Indian town called Shannopins Town at the mouth of a run called the Two mile run and running thence up the said two mile run to where it intersects with the heads of the two mile springs where it empties into the Monongahela river, thence down the said two mile springs the same course thereof into the said river Monongahela, thence up the said river Monongahela to where Turtle creek empties itself into the said river, thence up the said creek to the first forks thereof, thence up the north or northerly branch of the said creek to the head of the same, thence north or a northerly course until it strikes Plumb Creek, thence down said Plumb creek until it empties itself into the river Allegheny and thence down the said river Allegheny to the place of beginning where the aforesaid two mile run discharges itself into the said river Ohio containing by estimate Forty thousand Acres be the same more or less as by the same deed more fully appears. And whereas said Chiefs or Sachems fully representing the six united Nations aforesaid in full council assembled at Fort Stanwix did by their Deed Poll duly executed bearing date the nth November 1768 for the consideration therein mentioned, granted and conveyed to his most sacred Majesty George III king of Great Britain, for the benefit and behoof of said George Croghan all the before mentioned tract of land ; for part of which said lands George Croghan made application unto the Secretarys office at Philadelphia April ist 1769 and obtained a special grant for part of the same from the Proprietor of Pennsylvania as appears from the records of the Land Office at Philadelphia, reference being had thereto may more fully appear, which application with French and Indians coming down the river, the Indians are in such confusion that there is no knowing who to trust. I expect they will all join the French except the Delawares, as they expect no assistance from the English. The Low Dutch- mans name that was with the Party that robbed our People is Philip Philips, his mother lives near Col. Johnsons, he was taken by the French Indians about six years ago and has lived ever since with them; he intends sometime this summer to go and see his mother, if your Honour pleases to acquaint the Governor of Ne.w York with it, he may possibly get him secured by keeping it secret, and acquainting Col. Johnson with it and ordering him to apprehend him ; if the Dutchman once come to understand it, they will contrive to send him word to keep out of the way. I intend leaving directly for Allegheny with provisions for our People that are coming through the woods and up the river. I am your Honours most obedient humble servant

Footnotes

  • (1) Pennsylvania Archives." Evans' Map of the Middle Colonies, 1749. Rupp.
  • (2) "Weiser's Journal." (176)
  • (3) "Colonial Records," 1747.
  • (4)"Colonial Records," Vol. V. 3
  • (5) New York Colonial History."
  • (6) Assembly Journals," 1750.
  • (7) Colonial Records," Vol. V. 3 "
  • (8) New York Colonial History," Vol. VII. Pennsylvania Assembly Journals.
  • (9) Colonial Records," Vol. V, pp. 524-34.
  • (10) Votes of Assembly. " Colonial Records." " New York Colonial History," Vol. VII, p. 268.
  • (11) " Colonial Records," Vol. V.
  • (12) "Colonial Records," Vol. V.
  • (13A) " Pennsylvania Archives."
  • (13B) "Colonial Records."
  • (14) "Colonial Records."
  • (15) MS. affidavit of Croghan, and others, Carlisle, 1756.
  • (16) George Croghan's Journal.
  • (17) See Ecuyer's Journal in " Fort Pitt."

Records

From Chalkley’s Augusta County Records:


  • Vol. 2 - 1754---Page 3, Robert Jackson, Merchant, (March, 1754); page 15, Wm. Miller, Frederick, (March, 1754), Record Dunbarr's deeds; page 19, John Buchanan, Miller, (March, May); Walter Cunningham, Hampshire; page 20, Elizabeth Howard, Frederick; page 23, Robert Finla, King of Pedlers, (March), Recording Beverley's deeds, Recording Brown's deeds, vs. Ramsey; page 30, John Norton, York, (March, May, August, November); page 36, John Ramsey, Pheasant Head, see page 69; page 39, John Lewis, Gloucester, (March), vs. Pickens; Thomas Foster, Pennsylvania, (March), vs. Strother; page 40, Archibald Bourland, for your wife Jane; page 41, Andrew Caldwell, Frederick; Joseph Fitzpatrick, Albermarle; page 48, Hugh Hicks, Fairfax, (March), vs. Strother; The Hon Geo. Crohan (Ceohan), Esquire, Logs Town, (March), vs. Strother; page 59, Robert Young, griner; page 61, Samuel Hairstone, Albemarle; page 63, Benjamin Scott, Hampshire; page 66, Joseph James, Culpeper; page 99, John Thompson, Hanover; page 102, John Smith, Weaver; page 125, Doctor Thomas Hunt; page 126, Wm. Thompson, North River.
  • Page 1.--4th November, 1768. Abraham, a Mohawk Chief; Sennghors, an Oneida Chief; Sagnarisera, a Tuscarora Chief; Chenangheata, an Onondaga Chief; Tagaaia, a Cayuga Chief, and Gaustrax, a Seneca Chief, chiefs and sachems of the six united nations, to George Croghan. Recorded in Philadelphia 12th January, 1769; recorded at Augusta County Court at Pittsburg 23d September, 1775; recorded at Staunton August 19, 1777.
  • Vol. 1 - MARCH 15, 1774. - Page (302) New Commission of Justices, viz: Silas Hart, John Dickison, Danl. Smith, John Poage, Abram Smith, George Moffett,* James Lockhart, John Christian, Archibald Alexander, Felix Gilbert, Samuel McDowel,* Sampn. Mathews, Alexr. McClenachan,* Mathew Harrison, George Mathews. Alexr. Robertson,* John Hays, James Craig, John Frogg,* William Tees, George Croghan, John Connelly,* Thos. Smallman, Wm. Bowyer,* John McClenachan,* Michael Bowyer, John Gratton,* Thos. Huggart, Elijah McClenachan, Josiah Davidson, John Skidmore, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Dawsey Penticost, John Gibson. (Those marked (*) qualified.)
  • JANUARY 17, 1775. - (30) New Commission from Dunmore, viz: Silas Hart, John Dickinson, James Lockhart, John Christian, Daniel Smith,* John Poage, Abraham Smith,* George Moffett,* Alexr. McClenachan,* Mathew Harrison, Michael Bowyer,* John Gratton, Thomas Hughes, Elijah McClenachan,* Josiah Davidson, John Skidmore, John Campbell, Thos. Smallman, John Gibson, John Stephenson, John Cannon, Silas Hedge, William Gee (McGee?), Archd. Alexander, Felix Gilbert,* Samuel McDowell,* Sampson Mathews,* William Bowyer,* George Mathews,* Alexr. Robertson,* John Hayes,* James Craig, John Frogg, Wm. Teas,* George Croghan, Edward Ward, Dawsey Pentecost, Wm. Crawford. John McCullough, Geo. Vallendegham and David Shepherd. (Those marked (*) qualified.)
  • Virginia's governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, traveled to Pittsburgh, which Virginia claimed as part of its territory, to appoint government officials under the Virginia charter. In 1774, the Virginia assembly separated the western portion of Augusta County's territory and formed the District of West Augusta.
16 May 1775 - "At a meeting of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta County that lies on the west side of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania), at Pittsburgh, the 16th day of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a committee for the said district, viz.: George Croghan, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, John Canon, John McCullough, William Goe, George Vallandigham, John Gibson, Dorsey Pentecost, Edward Cook, William Crawford, Devereux Smith, John Anderson, David Rogers, Jacob Van Meter, Henry Enoch, James Ennis, George Wilson, William Vance, David Shepherd, William Elliott, Richmond Willis, Samuel Semple, John Ormsby, Richard McMaher, John Nevill, and John Swearingen." Geography: District of West Augusta included all that part of Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny and Ohio, south of the Indian boundary line at Kittanning, Pennsylvania and west of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania). Yohogania County included that part of District of West Augusta north of the mouth of Cross Creek and the point where Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania) crosses the south line of Pennsylvania.
  • Vol. 1 - AUGUST 19, 1777. - (201) Indenture from the Sachems of the Six Nations of Indians to George Croughan, formerly partly proved in the Court of West Augusta, now proved by Thomas Walker, Jr., and recorded.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at George Croghan. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
References
  1. Col. George Croghan, in Find A Grave.
  2.   The Family of Col. George Croghan, Born 1715 in Ireland, Died 1782 in Philadelphia, Pa., a Deputy Indian Agent, about 1755: Croghan Family of Allegheny, Cumberland and Philadelphia Counties, Pa.
  3.   Hanna, Charles Augustus. The Wilderness Trail, or, The ventures and adventures of the Pennsylvania traders on the Allegheny Path: with some new annals of the Old West, and the records of some strong men and some bad ones. (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Wennawoods Publishing, c1995)
    Page 84.

    It has sometimes been stated that George Croghan and William Trent were brothers-in-law. How they became so is not clear. William Trent's only sister, Mary, married Nathaniel French, of Philadelphia. Trent himself married Sarah Wilkins, possibly a daughter of one of the Indian Traders of that name. Croghan 's nephew, it will be remembered, was Doctor John Connelly, the Loyalist. Connolly was the son of John Connelly, Sr., a native of Ireland, and of Susanna Howard, sister of Gordon Howard, one of the early Indian Traders of Lancaster County. She first married James Patterson, the Trader, and after his death. Dr. Thomas Ewing, of Lancaster. John Connolly, Sr., was her third husband. Doctor Connolly, their son, married Susanna Semple, daughter of Samuel Semple, the innkeeper of Fort Pitt, who furnished Washington such good entertainment in 1770. If Croghan's wife was a Wilkins, and sister to William Trent's wife, it is possible she also may have been a sister to Samuel Semple's wife, the mother of Susanna Connolly; and this would have made Connolly Croghan's nephew, by marriage. The name of Croghan's own daughter, as shown by his will, was Susanna; which was also the Christian name of Connolly's mother, as well as that of his wife. But it is difficult to see how Croghan could have been a brother-in-law to Trent, who married Sarah Wilkins, and also to John Connolly, Sr., who married Susanna Howard, the widow of Doctor Ewing, unless, indeed, Sarah Wilkins and Susanna Howard may have been half-sisters, and one of them Croghan's wife's sister.

  4.   Finding aid prepared by Kate Colligan, Angela Manella, and Matt Gorzalski. Ohio Company Papers, 1736-1813, DAR.1925.02: Darlington Collection, Special Collections Department, . (ULS Archives Service Center University of Pittsburgh Library System: University of Pittsburgh, January 2009).

    The Ohio Company, founded in 1747, represented the trading and land prospecting interests of a handful of Virginia planters. In 1748, company representative George Mercer secured a land grant from the British Crown for 200,000 acres in the Ohio territory, a colloquial term for what is now modern day West Virginia, much of Ohio, western Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland. The company employed frontiersman Christopher Gist to survey the area of the grant and negotiate a treaty with the Native Americans in the 1750s. Gist embarked on three separate journeys into the Ohio territory in 1750-51, 1751-52, and 1753-54. The Ohio Company’s efforts in the contested region were largely stymied by the outbreak of the French and Indian War, despite its continued existence until its formal dissolution in 1779. Members of the company included Virginians George Mason, brothers Lawrence, Augustine, and George Washington, Virginia colony Governor Robert Dinwiddie, and British merchant John Hanbury. This collection includes manuscript copies of the Case of the Ohio Company, a collection of materials compiled by George Mercer to demonstrate the progress made by the Ohio Company, and a number of debt notes related to the company’s trade in dry goods. The collection documents the involvement of John Mercer, James Mercer, George Mercer, George Mason, George Croghan, Thomas Cresap, Adam Stephen, and William Crawford in the company. Digital reproductions of the collection are available electronically by following the respective "Digitized Folder Contents" links within the finding aid.

  5.   Margaret Pearson Bothwell. The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine: Edward Ward Trail Blazing Pioneer. (Pennsylvania, June 1960)
    Vol. 43. No. 2, June 1960.

    Edward Ward Trail Blazing Pioneer
    Page 101 - Edward Ward Was A Half Brother to Colonel George Croghan (1720-1782) - Edward's Father's name was Thomas Ward
    Page 102 - Edward Ward was a Single man in 1750 and later married Hannah Sample, daughter of Samuel Sample.

  6.   Bagby, Alfred. King and Queen County, Virginia. (New York: Neale Pub. Co., 1908)
    Page 378.

    This from Col. Fleet of Culver: Thos. Walker, ancestor of the distinguished Dr. Thos. Walker, and Riveses of Albemarle (see Thomas Walker (explorer)), and Gov. Thos. Walker Gilmer (see Thomas Walker Gilmer), was from K. & Q." - Semple, John and James S., were sons of Rev. James Semple of England. John settled in King and Queen, marrying a Miss Walker. There son, Robert B.A. Croghan[sic] Semple[recte] married Lucy Clark, and their son, Major Croghan, then a mere youth, held the fort at Sandusky against Gen. Proctor (see Henry Procter (British Army officer)) with a large force of Indians and whites. He also distinguished himself at Tippecanoe (see Battle of Tippecanoe).

  7.   Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. Pennsylvania archives. Sixth series. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Pub. Co., state printer, 1906-1907)
    Vol. 2, Page 3.

    Committee Of Observation
    "At a meeting of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta County that lies on the west side of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania), at Pittsburgh, the 16th day of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a committee for the said district, viz.: George Croghan, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Thomas Smallman, John Canon, John McCullough, William Goe, George Vallandigham, John Gibson, Dorsey Pentecost, Edward Cook, William Crawford, Devereux Smith, John Anderson, David Rogers, Jacob Van Meter, Henry Enoch, James Ennis, George Wilson, William Vance, David Shepherd, William Elliott, Richmond Willis, Samuel Semple, John Ormsby, Richard McMaher, John Nevill, and John Swearingen." Geography: District of West Augusta included all that part of Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny and Ohio, south of the Indian boundary line at Kittanning, Pennsylvania and west of the Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania). Yohogania County, Virginia included that part of District of West Augusta north of the mouth of Cross Creek and the point where Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania) crosses the south line of Pennsylvania.