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WAR AND PEACE.

Twenty-five Years After Being Mustered Into Service the Survivors of the 143d Regiment Hold a Reunion on the Old Camp Ground.

On the 26th of August, 1862, occurred the mastering in of the 143d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the event was properly observed Aug. 26, 1887. Heretofore the annual meeting of the veterans has been held on Nov. 7, the anniversary of the departure for the front, but the inclemency of the weather has impelled a change of date, as above. The wisdom of the change is unmistakable, as everybody present yesterday enjoyed the August weather far more than they have enjoyed the blasts of November, on a bleak hillside, in the open air.

The veterans met at the Jones House, Luzerne Borough, and had an excellent dinner, a hundred or so strong, after which they formed in line and marched to the old camping ground, headed by the Star Drum Corps of Forty Fort, and the stars and stripes, borne by O. P. Hadsel. Arrived on the hill top a hollow square was formed and Captain P. Delacy made some interesting remarks and Secretary J. H. Campbell read the minutes of last year's meeting. Captain Delacy then introduced P. H. Campbell, Esq., of the Luzerne Bar, who was a sergeant in the 107th P. V., stating that he was one of the 12 prisoners sentenced to death by Gen. Joe Johnston for firing upon a Confederate provision train. Mr. Campbell's address was a capital one and was eagerly listened to. We append a synopsis:

The speaker said that this was not the first time that he had met the 143d. He had met them at three different times while in the service. The first time was soon after they joined the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac, in February, 1863. The second time was on Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg after being forced from the field, but not until they had left there over one-half of their number, either dead or wounded. The speaker here described the appearance of the men as they looked to him on that afternoon after being six hours engaged with an enemy, in a contest in which our men were outnumbered three to one. He gave a graphic account of the death of young Crippen, the color bearer of the 143d. The third and last meeting in the field with them was in front of Petersburg on the 30th of July, 1864, the day the fort was blown up. The speaker gave his experience with a mortar shell fired from the enemy's lines, which came nearly ending his usefulness as a soldier, and of his experience a few days afterwards when within the enemy's lines as a prisoner he could see the Union men and their works.

This was the 25th anniversary of the mustering into the service of the United States service. It occurred at a time when the government sorely needed aid. Three days afterward occurred the defeat at the Second Bull Run, and one week afterward Lee's invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania. No large bounties tempted you to enlist at that time. Nor was your pay very large-$13 per month, orabout $4.64 in gold. This included board, but not washing. The washing was done at the risk and expense of the boarder without recourse to the Government. Several instances were cited of heroic services performed by Luzerne County boys, to show that heroes do not live as far away as some are wont to imagine.

Your anniversary has been changed from the time of your leaving Camp Luzerne for the seat of war to the date of your muster into service. This latter occurs at the close of summer. With many of you it is symbolical of your lives. The great majority of you are nearing the close of life's summer, and soon will enter the autumn of life. Some since our last meeting have crossed over the river. Let us hope that they have found rest beneath the shade of the trees.

Two general officers have died in the city of Washington during the last year. Gen. Paul, who in the first day's fight at Gettysburg lost both eyes, and who for 24 years was led by his faithful wife. The other was he who as a private in the ranks of a Michigan regiment fought in the first battle of Bull Run and at the close of the war was retired as a major general. I refer to that great volunteer soldier and pure statesman, John A. Logan. However much some of us may have differed with him on political issues, we all must accord to him a sincerity of pnrpose and the manliness to assert them. In him the old soldier has lost a true friend.

The speaker paid a tribute to the brave and patriotic women both living and dead, who by their noble example and fidelity to the cause for which we fought, served in no small degree, to crown our cause with suc

cess.

As to the surplus in the National Treasury, the speaker favored the giving all deserving old soldiers a liberal pension. Not $2 per month as is the case now in many instances, but a liberal pension. I know of no better way of helping to keep down the surplus that is giving us so much trouble just now. The generations that are coming after as will not begrudge the money spent in paying pensions. They will learn the magnitude of the task performed by those living in the trying times of war. They will learn that in April, 1861, the army of the United States numbered less than 14,000, and that 10,000 of those at that time were stationed

in the Southern States, leaving less than 5,000 men for duty at the North. That on the first of May, 1865, there were on the muster rolls of the army 1,000,516 men, and that in less than 60 days from the time the last rebel surrendered, this vast army had been disbanded and were again pursuing the peaceful life that they had left, some of them four years previously.

Capt. Delacy read a letter of regret from Major Thomas Chamberlain of the 150th P. V. and presented a lot of interesting matter relative to the tablet to be erected at Gettysburg to locate the position of the 143d. The committee, consisting of Gen. Dana, Col. Conyngham, Col. Reichard, Capt. Blair and Lieut. Vaughn,are to meet at Gettysburg on the first of September to make the final arrangements and it is hoped that the monument will be in place by the first of July, 1888. The monument is to be erected on the historic field of Gettysburg, upon the MacPherson farm, where the first day's fight took place, in which the First Corps sustained a loss of over 6,000 out of about 8,500 men, and at the spot where Roy Stone's, afterwards Dana's brigade of Pennsylvanians, made such a brilliant fight. The monument commemorates the heroism of the 143d Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the design illustrates one of the most heroic incidents of the war, in which Color-Sergeant Ben Crippen, of Luzerne, now Lackawanna County, was the hero. The episode is narrated as follows in Carleton's history of the war:

"General A. P. Hill, who commanded the rebels on the first day's fight at Gettysburg, gazed with admiration upon the retreating Union troops. Lieutenant Colonel Freemantle, of the English army, who rode by Hill's side as a spectator, described the thrilling scene as follows: "A Yankee colorbearer floated his standard in the field and the regiment fought around it; and when at last it was obliged to retreat, the colorbearer retired last of all, turning round now and then to shake his fist in the face of the advancing Confederates. He was shot."

The tablet is to be of granite and $1,500 of the cost will be paid by the State, the Legislature having appropriated this amount for each regimental monument. Persons desiring to contribute can do so by purchasing photographs of the design from any of the G. A. R. veterans at one dollar each. The artist thus describes his idea of the design:

"The rough boulder is suggestive of the solid substantial record that the 143d regiment made during its entire term of service. Rough and ready, ever a rock of defense, sturdy and able to bear the brunt of the fight if needs be. No effort is made to substitute an artificial base under it. Resting

on its own base it is symbolic of the independence that characterized the 143d in the performance of every duty. On the face of this stone is chiseled the story of the Color-Sergeant Ben. Crippen-young in years but old in pluck and courage, and matured in heroism. The old first corps badge looking down upon the story willing to acknowledge to the tourist and to future generations that it is proud to number the boys of the gallant 143d Pennsylvania Regiment among its defenders, and lower down in the face of the stone in close company with the dear old flag we see the brigade and division."

You

Gen. Edmund L. Dana, who was the regiment's colonel in the service, was loudly called for. He responded with one of his characteristically happy speeches. He complimented the address of Sergt. Campbell. It was valuable in the view of an outsider. He also complimented the ladies for their presence. The change of date of the anniversary, too, was a manifest success. The occasion marked an important date, that of the beginning of your lives as soldiers. It was a day of plumes and feathers and epaulets, but we soon found these played no real part in war. It was men that were wanted, not display. There is no pomp and splendor to-day, yet you are the men who carried the country through the greatest war in history. Few are allowed to pass through such a period as you passed through, for most generations are uneventful. met the occasion and filled every requirement. You can fly the flags as yours, the country as yours, for you defended them. I can smell the smoke of battle now, and can hear the roar of the artillery as I look into your faces. You learned war, not in the safe retirement of West Point, but on the battle field. You are soldiers all over, through and through. We meet to see one another, not to recall experiences. There is no recalling. Your war experiences are a part of yourselves. On Ang. 26, 1863, you were near the Rapahannock. A year had passed and beardless boys had become veterans, for you had fought at Fort Royal, Chancellorville, Gettysburg. On Aug. 26, 1864, you were at Petersburg. On Aug. 26, 1865, the war was ended and you were on your way home. Alexander, Cæsar, Napoleon, conquered the armies of their enemies, but never conquered their love. You did the latter and we now witness a happy, reunited and prosperous country-a proud achievement. Nexth month will be celebrated the Centennial of the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Where would that Constitution have been had it not been for you. You have been brave soldiers, you deserve the title Emeritus, and it becomes you as brave soldiers to be good, honest and

honorable men. [Cheers.]]

Secretary Campbell read the following list of veterans present:

Gen. E. L. Dana, colonel commanding. Company A-Lt. W. H. Bennett, Wm. Lawbach, Rudolph Fenner, J. A. Koat.

Company B-Capt. D. C. Graham, Ira Cosner, Ira Hardy.

Company C-E. H. Groff, Geo. W. Engle, Chas. Shotten, Max Buskirk, Morris Bush, Geo. Deitrick, Wm. Keating, G. W. Keller, C. S. Gabel, F. W. Hawrecht.

Company D-Capt. P. Delacy, Lt. Wilbur F. Rice, M. M. Covert, Sergt. Thomas A. Daily, C. P. Little, Cyrus Rummage, C. J. Turpin, I. D Willis, Aaron Porter, Ira Ransom, Charles Hoover, Henry Hockenbury.

Company E-Capt. M. L. Blair, Sergt. W. H. Harding Samuel Rogers, Daniel Hunt.

Company F-Capt. H. M. Gordon, Aaron Freeman, Sergt. Alex McDaniels, Sergt. James Kester, J. B. Hoppes, Sergt. J. H. Campbell.

Company G-Sergt. Wm. W. Schooley, Wm. Knoor, Lyman Harris, C. D. Kunkle, Chas. A. Westfield.

Company I-F. M. Lockard, Philip S. Hartman, J. F. Moss, Wm. S. Downing, J. M. Wolfe.

Company K-Capt. O. E. Vaughn, Jacob Bono, John Wilbur, Eli Nichols, Frank Furman, Henry Maynard, Wm. Russel.

The visitors whose names were obtainable were these:

Sergt. G. W. Rimer, Sweet Valley, 149th Pa.; N. Vanarsdale, Luzerne, 58th Ill., E. Canningham, Nicholson, 50th N. Y. Engineers; James A. Decker, Springville, 203d Pa.; A. Aten, Luzerne, 31st N. J.; Joseph Congledon, Pleasant Hill, 151st Pa.; Robert Wallace, Luzerne, 48th Pa.; G. W. Lapha, Luzerne, 57th Ohio; P. F.Welteroth, Wilkes-Barre, 2d Conn.; Edward Hughes, Luzerne, 9th Pa. Cav.; Capt. P. H. Campbell, Wilkes-Barre, 107th Pa.; O. P. Hadsel, Scranton, 41st Pa.; Sergt. A. A. Collins, Brown Hollow, 107th Pa.; Thos. Argood, Luzerne, b2d Pa.; Dr. E. N. Banks, WilkesBarre, Mexican War and Rebellion in 54th Ind.; Dr. C. H. Wilson, Plymouth, surgeon, 49th Pa.; H. C. Miller, Kingston, 52d Pa.; W. L. Milham, Wilkes-Barre, 52d Pa.; Cornelius Robins, 58th Pa.; J. R. Ehret, 1st N. Y. Cav.; Col. C. K. Campbell, 142d Pa.; George Hazle, 199th Pa; G.W. Barney, Signal Corps; Capt. C. W. Boone, 7th Cav.; Sergt. D. S. Clark. 2d Cav.; T. D. Wolf, Third Heavy Artillery.

H. H. Tyler, 84th Pa., now of Binghamton, sang in stirring manner "We've drunk from the same canteen."

Announcement was made that the ladies of Luzerne Borough desired to entertain the veterans at next year's meeting and the invitation was unanimously accepted.

F. W. Hawrecht produced the fife that he had carried through the war and into Southern prisons, and played several of the stirring airs that used to cheer the boys in the times that tried men's souls.

Capt. Vaughn and Post Commander Deitrick made brief remarks and after the final announcement the veterans formed for dress parade, were inspected by their old colonel, and then marched back to the hotel where dismissal occurred.

All the officers were re-elected-Capt. Delacy, president; Comrades Rice and Deitrick, vice presidents; Comrade_Bennett, treasurer, and Comrade J. H. Campbell, secretary.

Luzerne Borough was gaily decorated.

West Branch History.

The Historical Journal (Williamsport) for September contains a fund of interesting matter pertaining to pioneer life in the West Branch region. The first installment is given of the personal journal of Hon. Samuel Macla", who was one of the commissioners appointed by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania to examine the territory in the northwestern part of the State lately purchased of the Indians and to discover if possible a route for a road to connect the waters of the Allegheny with the West Branch of the Susquehanna. The journal is now published for the first time and will run through several numbers.

GIRLS' NAMES

Some of the Quaint Ones Common 8 Hundred Years Ago.

In a recent communication to the Bangor Historical Magazine, Joseph Williamson, Esq., of Belfast, has given a list of marriages in Belfast from 1774 to 1814, inclusive. The names of most of the men are familiar to-day. We find John, James, Charles, Jacob, Henry, William, &c., occuring again and again. It is interesting to observe the names of the women. Among them are Jarah, Deborah, Lois, Keziah, Priscilla, Barsheba, Theodate, Narassa, Grizel, Rachel, Phoebe, Wealthy, Love, Charity, Temperance.

The 112 girls used but 45 Christian names among them. Polly, Betsey, Sally, Jane, Susannah, Nancy, Abagail, and Mehitable, very popular names among our grandmothers, have been put away, like the old ball dresses and high-heeled slippers that figured in society in the days of Gen. Knox. To-day, distinguished by such names as Annie, Alice, Mabel, Jennie and Grace, the beauty transmitted from other generations continues its perpetual sway. Another thing noticeable is the disappearance of such quaint names as Wealthy, Love, Charity, and Temperance.

They have gone with the Pollies and Sallies. Delight alone among the names of 1887 is left to suggest that a trace of the old Puritan sentiment yet survives.

An Historic Island.

The late Thompson Derr, of this city, owned an island in the Susquehanna, in Dauphin County, which is thus alluded to in the Historical Journal, (Williamsport):

It was formerly called Juniata Islandthen Duncan's Island, because a man named Duncan was the proprietor for many years. It was a favorite spot with the Indians. Two tribes once dwelt there. Tradition speaks of a great battle having been fought between the Delawares and Cayugas at an early day. It was so severely contested that the gullies ran red with the blood of the slain warriors. and the bodies of a thousand or more were buried on the field. The Delawares were defeated and driven away. When the canal was constructed hundreds of skeletons were exhumed. Rev. David Brainerd, the missionary, visited the Indians, who dwelt on the island, in 1745, but found them very savage and intractable. The earliest white settler was named Hulings. He came in 1746 and remained until about 1761, when he and his family were driven off by the Indians. The fine mansion stands on the lower end of the island and has been a conspicuous object for nearly a century. It is a substantial stone house of 20 or more rooms, grand in all its surroundings, which in early days was the headquarters for stage and packet passengers under the hostelry of Mrs. Duncan. This house is built of river stone and rough cast finish. The walls are three feet thick; all partitions are two feet stone walls to second floor. With such massive walls it will stand for ages. The house was built for Robert Calandar Duncan, son of Judge Duncan, and his wife Rebecca Huling Duncan, granddaughter of Marcus Hulings, the founder of the island. Some of the original furniture of this grand old mansion is still in the possession of P. F. Duncan (grandson of Robert C. and Rebecca H. Duncan), of Duncannon, Pa. At the death of Robert C. Duncan the property went to Mrs. Duncan, aud at her death in 1850 to Dr. Thomas and Benjamin Stiles Duncan, the former's interest being sold and bought by Benjamin Stiles Duncan. At his death, in 1870, it went to his heirs, namely: Mary L., Jane M., Priscy M. and P. F. Duncan. When the settlement was made P. F. Duncan took it at appraisement and since sold it to Thompson Derr, now deceased, of WilkesBarre, for $30,000, whose estate still owns it. It is managed by William H. Richter as a stock and breeding farm. Under the present ownership it has been much improved, a large barn having been built at a

cost of $11,000. They also have a good race course of one-half mile. The large stone mansion is occupied by Mr. Richter and sister, who are a nephew and niece of the late Thomson Derr. Mrs. Duncan, with some outside support. built a Methodist Church on the island, which was washed away by the 1865 flood. The older residents of the island are fast dwindling away. Of the older families there still remain Capt. Samuel German, A. Lukens, George, Thomas and James Carpenter, the latter being the most successful river pilot plying between the headwaters and the sea. The floods of 1865, 1868, 1874, 1878 and lesser ones, have damaged the island to a great extent.

A Relic of Pioneer Days.
[Tunkhannock Democrat.]

A relic of antiquity, in the shape of a pair of knee buckles, was shown in our office on Tuesday last by Chas. C. Harding, of Eaton Township,this county,a son of Jesse Harding, who is now upwards of 80 years of age and, we are sorry to learn, totally blind. The Hardings are descendants of the pioneer settlers of Wyoming Valley who braved dangers and death that they might carve out homes for themselves and future generations. But to the relic. The buckles were taken from the clothing of Benjamin Harding who, with his brother Stokely, was murdered by the Indians just opposite Falling Spring, a few miles up the river from Pittston, in 1778, a few days before the Wyoming massacre, and whose remains lie buried in a small three cornered cemetery in the heart of the village of West Pittston. These two young men went out in the morning of about July 1, 1778, to hoe corn on a small clearing at the point designated, little suspecting that treacherous savages were lurking near with murderous intent, and not returning at the accustomed time, search was instituted and their bodies found near the scene of their labors.

Benj. and Stokely Harding were uncles of Jesse Harding and the late Elisha Harding, and these relics have been kept as souvenirs in the family of Jesse Harding for many years, and no doubt will be preserved by his descendants for generations to come as a memento which will link them with the past and the "days which tried men's souls." The outside, or rim, of the buckles is of pure silver, and the tongues of steel, and they were used in those "early times" for fastening the stockings to the pants-short knee pants being worn in those days.

[Besides the two Hardings killed, there was a younger brother, John, who succeeded in making his escape. Judge Garrick M. Harding, of Wilkes-Barre, is a grandson of John.-ED. RECORD.]

VOL. I.

The Historical Record

AUGUST, 1887.

A CURIOUS CHAPTER OF HISTORY. An Event Said to Have occurred at Wyoming in 1755, But Not Found in Any of the Usual Authorities.

In a recent issue the RECORD mentioned a rare old history of Pennsylvania, originally published in German about 1755, and translated and published in French in 1768, it being now in the possession of Hon. Steuben Jenkins, of Wyoming. Mr. Jenkins has furnished the following translation with comments of his own to Dr. Egle's Notes and Queries, he meanwhile asking for some other authority as to the treaty at Wyoming in 1755.

The war which broke out in Canada, between England and France, in 1754, very soon embraced all the neighboring countries, and Pennsylvania was not spared. The French, persuaded that they would there find only a feeble resistance, because of the pacific principles of the Quakers, menaced that State with an invasion

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the middle of the year 1755. Aided by some parties of savages from the vicinity of the Ohio River they completely overcame, on the 9th of July in that year, Gen. Braddock, who was killed in the action. This victory rendered them masters of all the Western country, from the Ohio to the point of the division of the river Susquehanna into two branches at Shamokin, and resulted in fixing in their party all the savages of these countries. Different detachments of these savages showed themselves at 20 leagues from Philadelphia; others went among the Delawares who were at peace, to determine them to raise the hatchet against the English; but it was the following imprudence that engaged them to declare themselves, and which failed to bring in its train the loss of all Pennsylvania:

"Some English, sent on a reconnoisance, had come to Shamokin, a village of the Delawares, on the Susquehanna. They then learned that a party of savages and French were in the neighborhood, and were in the Valley of the Juniata. Scarroyadi, one of the chiefs of the Iroquois, warned the English to withdraw, and counseled them to return by the East branch of the Susquehanna. The English did, in effect, withdraw, but in place of taking their route by the shore of the East Branch they followed

No. 12.

the shore of the West Branch, fell into an ambuscade of a party of French, who killed four of them. Flight saved four or five others of the party.

"Immediately after the affair, an English trader having arrived at Wyoming, another village of the Delawares, said to them that it was known that it was they who had killed his compatriots and that vengeance would be poured out on their nation. This indiscreet discourse spread among these people and made them assemble at Wyoming with the design of resisting the English if they were attacked. On the other side the English regarded this assemblage of savages as a first step which announced a disposition to commence hostilities. Consequently, without seeking more particular information, or waiting until the Delawares should attack him, they seized all those who were established in the Colony, and arrested them to the number of 232 persons of every age and sex.

"One of these prisoners having escaped, spread the news among his compatriots, and informed them of all that had taken place in Pennsylvania. They redoubled their watchfulness, and on all sides there was nothing but preparation for war. In the meantime four English deputies to treat with the Indians on the misunderstanding, arrived at Wyoming, where they at once assembled in council. When they had made report of their mission and agreed on some principles of accommodation, the savage who had escaped from prison, seeing that the Delawares were ready to aoquiesce in the demands of the English,

cried out:

"Give no faith to what these people say to you! They have no other design than to deceive you to make you their prisoners, or to put you to death at the edge of the sword!" Immediately the savages, interrupting the conference, leaped to their feet and killed the four deputies.

"Since this fatal epoch, the savages ceased not to commit hostilities and the most frightful cruelties. They especially distinguished themselves in the month of October, 1755. There are no events of this kind in history that we are able to put as a parallel with the barbarities they executed.

"At Gnadenhutten, a small establishment of Moravians, in the county of Northampton, the inhabitants, peacefully assembled,

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