Saturday, January 16, 2010

Driving directions to Monument for Massacre at French Jacob's Mill and Etzweiler Gravesite

From Lewisburg, Pa.

Massaacre at French Jacob's Mill: Rte.192 west from Lewisburg approx. 10 miles to Forest Hill. Monument is approx. 1 mile past Forest Hill on right. Stone monument with plaque.

Gravesite: Rte. 45 west from Lewisburg approx. 7.1 miles, turn left on Grove Rd. Grove Rd. becomes Brouse Rd. continue 1.8 miles to top of hill. Gravesite is on right surrounded by wrought iron fence.

GPS coordinates will come later.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Frontier Rangers

Indian Fighters of Union County in Early Struggle

Data compiled by Charles M. Steese

Article printed in The Daily Item (Sunbury, PA), date unknown.

Updated by Don Leitzel (August 2008)

One of the main factors of the British winning the support of the Indians during the Revolutionary War was the boundary dispute which antedated the struggle for independence. The Indians never forgot how the early settlers encroached on lands they had reserved in their sales to, and treaties with the whites, and it was an easy matter for the English to enlist their sympathies.

The years 1778 and 1779 were bad ones for the colonists along the frontier. Many of them were away from home serving tours of duty with the Continental Army, and the backwoods settlements were left with little or no protection against invasion. The "Great Runaway" which followed the Indian raids left the settlements in Buffalo Valley practically desolate. But, late in 1779 the Frontier Rangers were organized and settlers then began to return to their plantations in the valley.

Just two hundred and twenty-eight years ago, in May, 1780, a famous company of the Frontier Rangers was mustered into service in Buffalo Valley. This company was recruited by Captain George Overmeyer the first week in May of that year, and was composed of 51 officers and enlisted men, most of whom had seen service in the earlier years of the Revolutionary War.

After being mustered in, an arrangement was made whereby only two patrols (of six men each) would be on active duty at one time. It was the duty of these patrols to pass along the frontier, and in case of attack or other necessity, the alarm was to be given and the entire company called out. This plan allowed those soldiers not in the patrols a chance to work their plantations which had stood idle so long after their owners had fled during the "Great Runaway."

The official record of the service of Overmeyer's Company will be found in the Third Series of the Pennsylvania Archives, on pages 344 and 345 of Volume 23. The complete roster of the Company here follows: George Boop, Jacob Brooner, Jacob Catherman, James Chambers, Robert Chambers, Edward Crawford, George Etzweiler, William Fisher, Anthony Fisher, John Forster, Jr. Robert Forster, Thomas Frederick, John Gethert, Jacob Harbster, Frederick Haney, David Harbster, Hironamus Haney, Christopher Haney, Adam Haney, John Ingram, Paschal Lewis, Samuel McLaughlin, Alexander McCalley, James McCoy, Lieut. William Moore, Ensign James Moore, Robert Noble, John Neese, Capt. George Overmeyer, Peter Overmeyer, George Overmeyer, Jr., Christopher Pergas, Andrew Pontius, Henry Pontius, George Pontius, Nicholas Pontius, Frederick Pointius, Daniel Parkinson, John Rearick, Martin Reinhart, Jacob Reinhart, George Reinhart, Frederick Reinhart, John Reasner, John Stewart, Christian Shively III, Edward Tate, Jacob Wise, Frederick Wise, Patrick Watson and Hugh Watson.

It was on May 16, 1780, when one of the patrols of this company was billeted at French Jacob's Mill (in West Buffalo township, Union county) that a raiding band of Delaware Indians attack the mill while the soldiers were washing their linen in the nearby stream. At the sound of the first shot all six of the patrol rushed for the mill to secure their guns. Four of them, James Chambers, John Forster, Jr., George Etzweiler and Samuel McLaughlin were killed. The other two members of the patrol, William Fisher and Patrick Watson, reached the mill in safety and gave the alarm. Soon many other members of the Ranger Company gathered and drove the Indians back into the forest.

Only a week later, Patrick Watson and his mother were killed, at their home near White Springs, by this same band of Indians. William Fisher was the only one of the patrol left to tell the story of the attack, and he too had a narrow escape, for while running into the mill a bullet intended for his head hit the door jam. William Fisher died in 1819, at his Union County home, and is buried in the Lewis Graveyard near Mifflinburg. Attorney David R. Crossgrove, of Lewisburg is one of his descendants.

Captain George Overmeyer was born in Germany in Germany near Blankenloch-Baden, on October 27, 1727, o son of John George and Anna Overmeyer. He came to America September 16, 1751, and following the survey of 1769 settled in Buffalo Valley near New Berlin. In 1776 he raised a company which saw service in the continental line. In 1717 he was a Member of the Committee of Public Safety of Northumberland County. Before coming to Buffalo Valley he married (in 1753) Eva Rosenbaum, who bore him four children. She died in 1759, and Captain Overmeyer married Anna Barbar Vogt in 1760. They were the parents of 10 children. Two of Capt. Overmeyer's sons Peter and George Jr., served with him in the Revolution. He died in 1805 and is buried in the Old Settlers Graveyard along Penn's Creek just west of New Berlin.

James Chambers was a son of Robert and Mary Caldwell Chambers and was born in Hopewell Township, Cumberland County on May 19, 1761. His elder brother Robert Chambers Jr., served with him in the Ranger Company. His father, Robert Chambers Sr., was an officer in both the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars. James Chambers is buried in the Lewis Graveyard near Mifflinburg.

John Forste Jr., was a brother of Major Thomas Forster of Revolutionary fame. Another brother Robert Forster was a member of Overmeyer's Ranger Company. All three of these brothers are buried in the Lewis Graveyard.

Samuel McLaughlin came to Buffalo Valley in 1775. There is very little information obtainable about him, other than his service in the Ranger Company. He is buried in the Old Settlers Graveyard near New Berlin.

George Etzweiler was a son of John George Etzweiler, a Swiss immigrant who came over in September,1743. The father died in one of the eastern counties. George Etzweiler married Mary Shorah in 1767, and came to Buffalo Valley in 1775. He served in Capt. John Clark's Company in 1776, and was one of the first to enlist in Overmeyer's Ranger Company. He is buried on a farm near the Turkey Run School House in Limestone Township. In 1888, Hon. G. Alfred Schoch, who then owned the farm, erected a marble tombstone at his grave and had an iron fence built around it. A son of Etzweiler, also named George, lived at McKees Half Falls, (In Snyder County) as late as 1812, and then moved to Dauphin County, where many of his descendants live today.

The regulation U. S. War Department marble markers were placed at the graves of John Forster Jr., James Chambers, Samuel McLaughlin, William Fisher and Patrick Watson in 1939. A year earlier, the Pennsylvania Historical Commission placed a monument near the site of French Jacob's Mill.

The roster of this entire company should find general interest as there are many descendants of these men living today in Union and Snyder counties.