Person:Orpha Askey (2)

From: THE CENTRE DEMOCRAT Bellefonte, PA. Thursday March 4, 1909

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ASKEY FAMILY Were among the Pioneers of the Bald Eagle Valley ANCESTORS' HONORABLE ROLL

    On January 6th, 1909, Mrs. Orpha Fletcher dies at her home near Howard, PA. She was the widow of the late D.P. Fletcher, and was born Orpha Askey, near Howard, in 1825. The Askey name is closely identified with the early history of Howard and the Bald Eagle Valley, and in her death the last of her name in that neighborhood passed away.
    The incident brought to our office an interesting and carefully prepared article that was published in the Bulletin, Freeport, Ill. About nine years ago, which we republish owing to the local historical data it contains in reference to the death of Ellis Askey, formerly of Howard.

THE ASKEY FAMILY Were among Centre Country's Famous Pioneers (FROM FREEPORT, ILL, BULLETIN)

Pale twin of sleep, why do men dread to meet thee? For all earth's ills, they anodyne is best. Come gently, death, then weary life shall greet thee, As greets the sun the rosy curtained west.

    Ellis Askey, one of the oldest residents of Ridott and one of the best loved men of Stephenson County, died Wednesday, Jan. 17, 1900 at 10 o'clock. His age was over 83 years. The cause of his death was rheumatism.
    Ellis Askey was born near Howard in Bald Eagle township, Centre County, PA. Oct. 6, 1816, died at Ridott, Stephson county, Ill. Jan. 17, 1900.
    He was married in Centre county, Pa., to Eliza Fox, Nov. 7, 1844. She died at their home in Ridott, Ill, on June 6, 1892. Their children, towit: Lizzie, widow of Herman Shallenberger, Red Oak, Iowa; John T. Iowa: F.M. and Albert Askey of Ridott, Ill,; Mary, wife of William Beard, Maywood, Ill. Two children, Nelson and Orpha, died in infancy.
    Ellis Askey is the fourth and last survivor of the sons of John Askey. The latter was also born in the old homestead near Howard, A.D. 1772, died at the same place, from injuries received from a spirited horse, Sept. 20, 1840, at the age of 68 years. The maiden name of his wife, mother of Ellis, was Elizabeth Evans, of Scotch-Irish descent. She died at the old homestead 8-11-1868.
    Ellis Askey is of a family of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all born in the old homestead, namely; William, born February 5, 1804, died at home July 23, 1827; Thomas, born Nov. 10, 1805, was a resident of rock Grove, Stephensen county, Ill. At the time of his death which occurred in 1875; John, Oct. 19, 1807, died at Nittany Hall, Pa. August11, 1890; Rachael (Mrs. Snavely) born 28, 1812, died at Cedar Springs, Clinton country Feb. 19, 1897; Mary Ann (Mrs. Reber) born July 29, 1814, died at Howard 1892; Ellis, born Oct. 6, 1816; Rebecca (Mrs. Beachdale) born Nov. 18, 1818, died at Beech Creek, August 9, 1855; Nelson born May 6, 1821, died at Williamsport, Pa.; Orpha (Mrs. Pletcher) still living at Mount Eagle, born Feb. 1825; Armstrong, born Aug. 17, 1827, died at Jackson, Amador County, Ca.
    Ellis Askey made his first trip from Pennsylvania to Illionois with horse and buggy in 1846 in company with John Swanzey who was a cherished friend and neighbor until his death. Mr. Swanzey remained in the west, Ellis Askey returned to the east for his family and moved to Stephenson county in 1849, located upon his farm south of the village of Ridott, now occupied by his son F.M. Askey.
    Ellis, (affectionately known as Father Askey) was one of nature's noblemen - a gentleman of the old school, the representatives of which are rapidly vanishing. He was of a genial and hospitable disposition, never so well pleased as when dispensing his liberality and good will to those with whom he was associated.
    His beloved face was an index to his character. His dark hazel eyes - the windows to his soul - would beam when pleased, and flash with excitement when aroused. He was quick in action, loathed with contempt anything low and degrading and his firm set lips were not slow in giving expressions to his thoughts. His voice, in accord, was ever on the side of the helpless, and many are living who will have cause to mourn his departure. He rounded out more than half a century of his life in the neighborhood where death claimed him, and his highest eulogy is the good words and deep feeling expressed by all that a truly good and upright man has left an untarnished record upon the scroll of time - a noble example to his children, relatives and friends.
    His ancestry - he comes of rugged Scotch-Irish revolutionary ancestry, paternal and maternal - whose history is traced in the annals of the earliest settlements of central Pennsylvania.
    I quote from the Pennsylvania historical collections, page 29: "In 1763 General Gage had determined to repel the invasion of the Indians by carrying the war into their own country and Col. Bouquet was to proceed with a small army against the Delawares and Shawnees beyond the Ohio. Mark the following: Id. 'It creates a feeling of sadness to know that this grandson of William Penn, in the city of brotherly love itself in July 1764, offered proclamation, the following bounties for the capture or scalps and death of Indians ranging from $50 to $150, according to age of victim.
    "O! Quam mutatbus ab illo!" Id. "Bouquet'ss to the Muskingum in the autumn of 1764 overawed the Indians who sued for peace, etc." The foregoing is quoted as an introduction of what is to follow:
    In the "Annals of Buffalo Valley, 1755-1855 p.p. 26 and 27 I quote - "Nov. 5, 1768. On the 15th of Nov. 1768, Thomas and Richard Penn purchased from the six nations at Fort Stanwix (now Rome, N.Y.) the remainder of the valley whose annals we are writing. As one of the incentives to this purchase, I may state that as early as the year 1764, the officers of the first and second battalions who served under Col. Bouquet, made an agreement with each other in writing at Redford that they would apply to the proprietaries for a tract of land sufficiently extensive and conveniently situated whereon to erect a compact a defensible town and also to accommodate each with a reasonable and subsistence for themselves and by their arms and increase, become a powerful barrier to the province, and they therefore payed the proprietarium to make the purchase and make them a grant of forty thousand (40,000) acres of valuable land on the west branch of the Susquehanna. The mementos of the association are published in full in the first volume of the collections of the historical society of Pennsylvania.
    Feb. 3, 1769, the commissioners of the officers of the first and second battalions met at the governor's and obtained an order allowing them to take up twenty-four thousand (24,000) acres to be divided among them in district surveys on the waters of the west branch of the Susquehanna, each three hundred (300) acres to be seated with a family within two years from the time of survey, paying 5 pounds sterling per hundred and one penny per acre etc. Among the names of the officers in whose favor the order of survey issued were Col. Francois Major de Haas. In the latter part of February many of the officers of the first and second battalions met at Fort Augusta and agreed to take the land upon the terms proposed by the proprietaries and that one of the tracts should be surveyed on the west branch adjoining Montour's place (Chillisquaque Creek) and one in Buffalo valley. In order to expedite business it was agreed that Capts. Plunkett, Piper, Brady and Lieut. Askey should go along with Mr. McClay to Buffalo valley and Capts. Hunier and Irvine with Mr. Scull to direct the survey in the Forks. (Id May 16, 1769) Lots were drawn for the choice of lands. Lieut. Askey chose the site of Mittlinburg. Id. P. 36 March 9, 1771. The officers of the first and second battalions held another meeting. Charles Lukens reported that the whole tract surveyed by him on Bald Eagle creek contained only eight thousand three hundred and eighty acres which is 1,524 acres less than the quantity allowed them. He divided the Bald Eagle tract into twenty shares, the last of which Lieut. Askey got.
    These surveys are recorded as the officer, surveys in the new purchase. Major de Haas, one of the officers mentioned, located his tract adjoining Lieut. Askey. Bear in mind that the foregoing history is previous to the Revolutionary War - the officers were the actors in the French and Indian War.
    (Historical collections, p. 201.). Few details of the adventures of the early settlers of Centre county have been preserved. Prior to the revolution Northumberland county and its history is interwoven with that of the lower settlements on the west branch.
    History says that Capt. John Askey another soldier of the Revolutionary War etc. with McGee and others, located where the village of Howard is now, in 1782. The first settlers of the county were, as a general thing, people of education and ability. I quote the foregoing in order to correct the statement with reference to Capt. Askey. The pioneer's name was Thomas, not John as stated. He was Lieut. Askey of the French and Indian was and also Capt. Askey of the Revolution, and grandfather to Ellis Askey of Ridott, Ill. John was a son of Thomas, the pioneer, and father of Ellis, born at the old homestead near Howard in 1772. Thomas Askey, pioneer - place of birth uncertain. He hailed from Cumberland county, Pa., during the French and Indian war; was married to a daughter of Col. Robert Baker of Path Valley.
    Thomas Askey, the pioneer, served during the Revolution as an officer under that noble, ardent, and daring Gen. Wayne, with whom he was a personal friend and of whom he was a great admirer. His oldest son Robert also served under Wayne in later years against the Indians. General Wayne was knows to the Indians as "Mad Anthony".
    Capt. Askey was in the army facing the British invaders at a time when his wife and family in their habitation, where, nightly could be heard, in those days, the howl of the wolf and the cry of the panther, exposed to the tomahawk and scalping knife of the ruthless savages under their noted chieftan, Bald Eagle, upon the banks of the stream that bears his name - a chief that showed no mercy to the white race.
    It will be remembered that Lieut. Askey was a co-worker and companion of Captain John Brady.
    Bald Eagle, who was bold and fearless, had his wigwam and his house on the banks of the stream of that name near where Milesburg now stands, in Centre county, in the midst of an Indian village, which is called the Bald Eagle Nest, led the party of savages in 1778 that murdered James Brady, son of Capt. John Brady and younger brother of the brave Same Brady of the rangers, in a harvest field along with his fellow laborers a short distance below the present site of Willimsport. Wounded with a spear, tomahawked  and scalped, young Brady still lived long enough to describe the horrible scene with great minuteness.
    He said the Indians were lad by Bald Eagle. "Vengeance not loud but deep", says the historian, "was breathed against Bald Eagle, but he laughed it to scorn till the fatal day at Brady's Bend on the Allegheny." Hazzard, in his Register of Pennsylvania, vol. 9 p. 237, gives the following account of the death of the celebrated chief: "Several years after the death of James Brady, Bald Eagle Nest. Capt. Sam Brady recognized Bald Eagle that day and fired at him. When the battle was over, he searched for his body and found it. The ball had pierced his heart, and the blood of the young captain at Loyal Rock was fatally avenged by the hands of his brother on the banks of the Alleghany."
    There is nothing on record, and not a tradition to prove that Bald Eagle was ever anything but an enemy to the whites, yet they have honored him and perpetrated his name by conferring it upon an extensive valley, a beautiful stream, and a grand range of mountains. The finest point of view is from the elevation on the old Askey homestead where the home now stands.
    Grandfather Askey, mother of Ellis Askey, was a prim unassuming little lady, and a favorite with her grandchildren. She lived to a ripe old age and retained her mental faculties unimpaired to the close of life. Often has the writer sat, gathering from her lips, the incidents and hardships of a pioneer's life, of the time when the grandmother of Ellis was rearing her family on the banks of the Bald Eagle, while her husband was in the army, when she had for neighbors the Milses, the Boggs, and the Holts, etc., of the time when she gathered her children and hastened to the woods and remained concealed over night, listening to the whoops and howls of Bald Eagle's savages who she imagined were massacring her friends and neighbors. When the morning dawned, she saw an Indian whom she knew and who had been friendly, approaching and passing her place of concealment on his way to her habitation. His appearance and movements did not indicate that he was on the war path, and she made known to him her presence, when he informed her that his tribe was executing capital punishment upon an Indian of another tribe, by stoning him to death. This was about the time when the Indians were preparing to go on the war path, and it was necessary to be on the alert for fear of treachery. Finally in the year 1778, the alarm was given to the inhabitants of the frontier, to flee to the settlements further east in order to escape the tomahawk and scalping knife. This fight is recorded as the "Big Runaway".
    She martialed her family and hastened to her former home in Path Valley. She remained in Path Valley till the close of the Revolutionary War, when in company with her husband and family returned to their homestead in Bald Eagle Valley. Capt. Askey received pay for his services in the Revolutionary War in continental money, which very soon became worthless, thus leaving him, as was the case of thousands of soldiers of that war, comparatively poor in his declining years. The names of his sons were Robert, William, David, John (father of Ellis), Samuel, and James - may not be named in the order of birth. Robert, however, was the oldest, also the son referred to as being in General Wayne's army when operating against the Indians in Ohio. The writer knows nothing further than the names of William and David given by Ellis.
    Samuel, known as Uncle Sam, was the pioneer of Showshoe, having settled there in 1818. His record would fill a volume. He was with the army on the shores of Lake Erie - when Commodore Perry, with his vessels, went forth to engage the enemy. He was not permitted to go along with the gallant man on account of having a wife and family - only single men were taken. He was a witness of the engagement, however, and one of the first to go on board after the trapper in the Alleghenies - a destroyer of wild savages and beasts that roamed the forests, the record of which in payment of bounties for scalps, were published at the time of his death, probably not exceeded by any hunter in central Pennsylvania.
    He bore the scars on his body to the grave received from the claws of a panther with which he engaged in a terrific encounter with a knife and with who afterward became the wife of Col. Wm. McKibben, and mother of Joseph, Thomas and Jesse McKibben, all of whom resided in this county, Joseph still, living in Freeport, Ill. She died at Ridott, Ill., at an advanced age. Capt. Askey had three daughters, two of whom were married to Lucases, descendants, I am told, of Charles Lukens, the name being afterwards changed to Lucas. Another daughter married a man by the name of Turner - nine children in all.

The biography of Thomas Askey, the pioneer, is not yet a part of the history of Centre county as far as knows to the writer. A portion of the material is gathered and verified as will be seen from the "Annals of Buffalo Valley" taken from Vol. 11 historical collections of Pennsylvania.

    A portion came through the mother of Ellis Askey, also Ellis, the last male survivor of John (son of Thomas - the pioneer), the descendants of whom kept in mind the traditions and who remained the longest upon the tract surveyed and allotted to the pioneer.

"DEMOCRATIC WATCHMAN", BELLEFONTE, PA., JANUARY 15, 1909 PLETCHER -- In the death of Mrs. Orpha Pletcher, widow of the late David B. Pletcher, Howard township loses one of the oldest and best known women. Although past four score years of age, she had been in good health up until two weeks prior to her death, when she contracted a bad cold, which rapidly developed into pneumonia, causing her death at 11:30 o'clock, on Wednesday night of last week. She was a native of Howard township and was 84 years and 3 months old. Practically her entire life was spent in the locality of her birth and no woman, in that section of the county was more loved and revered for her kindliness of heart and many acts of Christian charity than just "Mother Pletcher", as she was more familiarly known. Her husband died over seventeed years ago but surviving her are two sons, A.A. Pletcher, justice of the peace, of Howard, who himself has been quite ill for some time; and Sergius S. Pletcher, a clerk in auditing department in Washington, D.D. Funeral services were held in the Jacksonvill Presbyterian church at two o'clock Saturday afternoon, burial being made in the Jacksonville cemetery. (Copied by Jerry Lee Askey 1983)

1. ↑ Dick Paulsen & Grace Paulsen & family oral histories. Paulsen Family History.