Fellow Citizens of Wyoming Valley: There are doubtless persons upon this ground whose memories revert to the time when this monument was a shapeless heap of mountain stones, some partly chiseled, some in the rough, with an ancient derrick protruding from the apex and a rusty chain dangling from the armature; when neither tree nor shrub dared yet assert itself upon these premises; when a Virginia worm fence was the only enclosure; when no diamond drill had yet penetrated the soil of this valley and its rich lands possessed a value estimated in corn units which grew upon the surface, nourished by the sturdy arm of the husbandman.

In the time to which I refer there were those who had long dreamed that this memorial pile might be a success, but that success was thought to be contingent upon pecuniary aid from the people of a little commonwealth in Yankeedom.

In Connecticut, the miniature land of steady habits, was centered the ardent hopes of the progenitors of this memorial stone. Westmoreland, the Connecticut county which embraced the sterile territory from the Delaware to the North Mountain, could never be rich enough to build a pile like this. That a single acre of Wyoming soil could ever attain a value one hundred times greater than the projected expense of this monument was a vision beyond the utmost ken of the pioneer and his immediate descendants.

Of the incipient steps of this enterprise I cannot speak. I am here to-day in compliance with an invitation from the president and officers of the Wyoming Monument Association, instructed by them to give a simple recital of the prominent incidents in the history of the Association. I commence the duty by a brief quotation from the appendix to Hon. Charles Miner's history of our valley:

"Public attention having been awak"ened to the claims of Wyoming upon "Connecticut, a committee consisting of "General William Ross, Capt. Hezekiah "Parsons and Charles Miner, Esq., all "citizens of Connecticut, repaired to "Hartford, where a joint committee of "the House and Senate was appointed "to give them audience, and after an "eloquent appeal in their behalf by "Isaac Toucey, Esq., a unanimous re"port was given in favor of the claim,

"the amount being fixed at three thous"and dollars. No farther progress was "made at that time. In May, 1841, a "new memorial was prepared and sent "by the hands of Captain Parsons, the "Hon. Chester Butler and Henry Petti"bone, Esq. This document was some"what lengthy, stating clearly and in "order the several grounds upon which "the claim was supposed to rest. The "undeniable facts, that Wyoming was "the child of Connecticut, settled un"der her authority as a part of Litch"field county, paying the State its full "quota of all taxes, bearing a thribble "burden as part of her military force"the 24th Regiment of her line-credit"ed with two companies attached to "Washington's army, yet owing to its "distance denied the proper protection, "and above all, the fact that in the final "adjustment of her land claims Con"necticut had been assigned the West"ern Reserve of Ohio-two million "acres of rich land, stretching "across that great State-as com"pensation for herself and her chil"dren, yet that this great benefaction "conceived for the relief of 'sufferers "by war' had brought to this, our West"moreland, no relief, but had enured en"tirely to the benefit of others at large. "And now came the decision. The vote "was taken for or against a donation. "The House by a large majority grant"ed the sum asked, but the Senate re"fused to concur and the attempt "failed. One benevolent old gentleman "of Hartford presented the committee "with a dollar, and with this they were "politely bowed out of the city and the "State!"

Statesmen and lawyers having now failed to do anything towards securing a covering for these old bones which had bleached upon "Abraham's Plains" it was now time for woman to take the lead. The mothers and sisters and daughters of Wyoming met and discussed the situation.

An organization was effected with Mrs. Chester Butler as president, Mrs. Hollenback and Mrs. Carey vice presidents, Miss Emily Cist, treasurer; Miss Gertrude Butler, secretary, and Mrs. Donley and Mrs. Lord Butler as corresponding committee, and ten ladies as an executive committee. It was decided to hold a fair and festival in be half of the sacred enterprise.

Time rolled on apace, but work rolled with it, and the sound of the hammer and clink of the chisel were daily heard. In due time all preliminaries were accomplished, and on the 3rd of July, 1842, this pediment and obelisk were duly dedicated with an eloquent oration by Doctor Thomas W. Miner, and all appropriate ceremonies of civic and martial parade. Little or no attempt was made at adornment and the casual visitor saw the grounds without much improvement for many years, protected, however, by the care of several families adjacent and interested, among whom it is proper for me to mention those of Col. Chas. Dorrance, Fisher Gay, Wm. Swetland, Payne Pettibone and Steuben Jenkins, Esqrs., and the neighboring citizens of the village.

In the year 1860, however, the year before the opening of our civil war, the enthusiasm, engendered by that conflict, caused a renewal of interest in history of the civil strife which had so long before existed for the first possession of this beautiful valley.

The ensign of American glory was then going up to the summit of steeple and fane throughout the country, and great feeling was stirred to renew the fires of patriotism at this favorite

shrine.

The result was seen in almost daily visiting parties here, and soon a public call summoned all citizens interested to meet here and bring with them tools, trees and shrubs. Through the attention and care received this small grove of firs now began to make itself conspicuous upon the landscape. I cannot do justice to all and I therefore deny myself the pleasure of mentioning any of our patriotic fellow citizens who participated in these exercises. Paths were laid out and graded, the monument cleaned and pointed afresh, flag staffs erected and a substantial fence constructed under supervision of Mr. Pettibone, assisted by his neighbors and friends, who soon formed the nucleus of what is now the Wyoming Commemorative Association.

Application was then made and an Act passed of which I will now read the substance.

An Act to incorporate the "WYOMING MONUMENT ASSOCIATION." Sec. 1. Names the incorporators, to wit, Catharine M. Jenkins and thirtynine others, ladies and citizens of Luzerne county, and their associated successors and assigns, to have and hold such real estate as they may purchase

or as may be given them on or near which the Wyoming Monument now stands, not exceeding in the whole five (5) acres.

Sec. 2. Officers to consist of president, vice presidents, four managers, treasurer and secretary, to be elected by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting at the first Saturday in April in each and every year. In case no election shall be held at the aforesaid time the officers of the preceding year to continue in office until an election be held. The president, vice president, treasurer and secretary shall fill all vacancies which may occur in their own body out of the members of the association; shall also take charge of the monument, lay out and ornament the grounds, erect such struc-. tures as may be necessary, appoint all necessary officers others than the above and fix their duties and compensation and make all necessary by-laws, rules and regulations for conducting the affairs of the corporation and controlling its property.

Sec. 3. Any person contributing one dollar to the fund or purpose of the Association to be a member thereof and continue so to be on such annual payments repeated, not exceeding one dollar or as prescribed by the Association and the payment of five dollars to constitute life membership.

Sec. 4. Extends the provisions of the Act of Assembly of May 7, 1855 relative to punishments and penalties for injuring and wilfully violating such premises so that the same shall cover the premises herein described.

Sec. 5. Exempts the above monument grounds and property from taxation for State and municipal purposes, and from levy and sale for any debt of the said Association, and forbids the sale of the real estate of said Association by said Association itself and commands that the same forever be and remain for the use of said monument.

Sec. 6. Exempts this Act from the payment of an enrollment tax and every other tax to the commonwealth.

(Signed.) JOHN M. THOMPSON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. WM. M. FRANCIS, Speaker of the Senate. Approved 3rd April A. D. 1860.

WM. F. PACKER,
Governor.

It wil be seen that by this Act a perpetuity is created and that no failure to carry out the objects of the Association shall work a forfeiture of the property or privileges of the corporation. Under its provisions Catharine M. Jenkins, the first corporator mentioned was duly elected President on the 16th day of July, 1895 and at the same time Elizabeth Carpenter was chosen vice president; Elvira A. Fear, secretary; Ellen A. Law, treasurer, and Kate J. Wilcox, Martha S. Green, Cornelia E. Hurlbut and Anna Hutchins, managers.

At the meeting in April of the current year the officers remained unchanged, with the exception that Mrs. Langford and Mrs. Harriet Coward took the place of Mrs. Hurlbut and Mrs. Hutchins.

At the same time the charter of the Association as to-day recited was read for the information of all concerned, and acommittee was appointed to arrange for the present celebration.

Mr. Chapman closed by reading the following stanzas from a poem appearing in a volume by Mrs. Jane Lewers Gray:

Lines written by Mrs. Jane Lewers Gray, of Easton, Pa., forwarded with a generous contribution in the name

VOL. VII.

INDIAN QUEEN WHITEWASHED.

In the History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, written by H. C. Bradsby and published in Chicago, 1893, I find the following statement:

"It is pretty generally now conceded that the story of Queen Esther and the Bloody Rock were without foundation; that the queen was not there at all." Page 121.

Now I am one that does not concede any such thing. I was acquainted with Martha Bennett when she was very old and totally blind. She was in the Fort, when the patriots marched out on that fatal 3d of July. She was then a full grown young lady. She it was that visited the Indian queen a few days before the battle, in the queen's tent, which stood within a few rods of the Bennett cabin at the mouth of Shoemaker's Creek, where the cemetery and the old Forty Fort church now are.

She went with her mother and they had a long conversation. The queen seemed to be sorry and shed tears at the thought of bloodshed, but insisted that the whites had killed her son. Of course, this does not prove that she was at Bloody Rock on the evening of the battle, but it does prove that she was not far from it and there is no proof whatever on any records that she was anywhere else on that terrible evening. Where was she if not at Wyoming? Who can tell? I challenge the world to prove an alibi. The truth is these numerous writers who have had any hand in compiling this late Luzerne County history will not make the attempt to prove it, and certainly should not assert it, much less claim that it is generally "conceded." Who concedes it?

Lebbeus Hammond saw the queen at Bloody Rock and he saw her lift the hatchet and dash out the brains of eleven prisoners, brave patriots, who had been overcome and disarmed, and he saw his own brother William Hammond, placed upon the terrible rock already stained with the blood of the ten and when he fell bleeding, then it was

that

No. 2.

Hammond and Joseph Elliott sprang from the clutches of the red warriors who were preparing to lead them to the rock where their brave brothers had perished. They escaped. They had seen enough for all purposes of testimony and the other two, making fourteen, had to be slain in the absence of these two. It is barely possible that these two were slain by a weapon in some other hand than that of Queen Esther. They did not stay to see and never undertook to tell of seeing any more than the twelve (12) whom they had seen dispatched by the queen herself.

These two men lived to old age and told this story a hundred times. Joseph Elliott lived and died in Pennsylvania, not far from the village of Wyalusing, Bradford County, and Lebbeus Hammond worked on the farm for William Ransom in Tioga Center, N. Y., and William Ransom, second, told me the story after hearing it from Hammond himself. This Wiliam Ransom was a grandson of Captain Samuel Ransom who fell on the fatal 3d of July and whose bones rest under the monument and his name is carved on the tablet.

When in the thickest of the fight Hammond saw that captain Ransom had fallen with a broken thigh he rushed to his assistance, but the brave captain said, "No, you can escape, for you are not hurt, but I must stay and perish. Both were overcome. Hammond stayed only long enough to be an eye witness of Queen Esther's Bloody Rock and then took his leave, and he paused not for ceremony. He was never a writer of sensational stories, but told facts of history, and Joseph Elliott's naratives agreed with Hammond's in all particulars of what they saw up to the time of their separation at the Bloody Rock. The queen was not there then, after all!

You man, or men, or women, who put such an assertion on paper can take it back or not as you please. I take the privilege of thrusting it down your cowardly throats.

The daughter of Andrew Bennett is now living and she will tell you that the story of the slaying of prisoners was never doubted in their family, and she believes it now as firmly as her father did, or her grandfather, and he was one of the forty. The two Bennetts with Lebbeus Hammond, after the massacre killed six Indians at Meshoppen, two each, and wounded the seventh.

The granddaughter of Thomas Bennett and the daughter of Andrew lived only five minutes' walk from "Bloody Rock," which is said to be "without foundation." You historians who doubt the story of Queen Esther's bloody hatchet would do well to talk with the widow of Henry Polen of Wyoming, or John Jackson of Forty Fort. Talk with the widow of Rev. John D. Safford. Her grandfather, Elisha Blackman, escaped from the Indians on that dark Friday. She is now living and her memory is good. You had better keep back your outlandish assertions until we are all dead and the granite shaft has crumbled and the names carved there are no longer legible, and the Miners, the Jenkinses, the Starks, the Searles, the Myers and the Bennetts have passed out of human recollection, and the names of Dorrance, Bidlack, Pearce, Stewart, Hewitt, Franklin Gore, Atherton, Carey, Johnson and Jackson are no longer spoken on these shores. Then tell your stories to the wild winds and wait for the wounded hands of dead heroes to strike you down. J. K. Peck.

Kingston, Pa., Nov. 23, 1896.

SULLIVAN'S ARMY AT WYALUSING

Wyalusing, Dec. 3, 1896.-Apropos of what was said by your Tunkhannock correspondent in the other day's Record concerning Sullivan's army camping at that place when it passed up this valley in August, 1779, it can be said that Wyalusing claims a similar or greater honor, that army having passed at least two days here. Leaving Tunkhannock, the army encamped the next night, Aug. 4, at Black Walnut, reaching Wyalusing on the 5th, it being claimed that the ground occupied by the troops was near the site of the old Presbyterian Church, those with the boats

stopping at a point along the river a mile below. The command remained here the 6th and 7th, leaving the 8th. History says that when at Black Walnut a soldier was taken sick and left there, where he died in a day or two, his remains being brought to Wyalusing and buried with those of Martin Johnson, a Jersey sergeant who died in camp here, it being possible that these graves were the nucleus' of the village cemetery, whose location is near the camp. ing ground of the army. Resuming the slow march, the next night found Sullivan at the "Standing Stone," a point along the river one mile below the hamlet and railroad station bearing that name. The historian says that the soldiers the next morning used the stone for a target, planting a cannon opposite it and breaking off a corner of the huge perpendicular rock by firing against it.

AN OLD WYOMING FAMILY. [Daily Record, Dec. 8, 1896.]

Martin Carey of Milnesville died yesterday of general debility, aged 62 years. Mr. Carey was well known and highly respected, having resided in the lower end of the county for over forty years. He was all of that period a mechanical engineer for A. Pardee & Co. of Hazleton. He was born in Plainsville in 1832, and was unmarried. He was a son of Nathan Cary, who was born in Pittston in 1797, who had thirteen children, the following of whom survive him: Mrs. Fanny Frace, of Colfax, Iowa; Mrs. Louisa Evans of Ohio; Merritt Cary of Illinois; George Cary of Kentucky; Hamilton Cary of Parsons, and William J. Cary of Wyoming.

Deceased was a cousin of Thomas Williams of Mill Creek and C. M. Williams of Plainsville. His grandfather, Samuel Cary, was taken prisoner at the massacre of Wyoming, July 3, 1778, in his 19th year, and was taken by the Indians and British to Canada, and was a prisoner there for six years. The French secured his release and he returned to Wyoming Valley, married and raised a family of ten children. Carey avenue, this city, was named in honor of his family. Eleazer Carey, a cousin of Nathan Cary, was the first postmaster at Pittston, in 1811. The family name was Carey, and Eleazer Carey was the first to spell the name with the ECarey-as it is at present spelled.