An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in AmericaMacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)
History
An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America
MacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)
Scots -- America; Scots -- United States
The Indians withdrew exasperated, but none the less determined to seek
vengeance. With elastic step, and in single file they pressed forward,
and an hour later came to another clearing, in the midst of which stood
a dwelling, occupied by the family of John Allen, consisting of five
persons, viz., himself and wife and three children. Temporarily with
them at the time were Mrs. Allen's sister, two negroes and a negress.
John Allen was notoriously in sympathy with the purposes of the British
king. When the Indians stealthily crept to the edge of the clearing they
observed the white men busily engaged reaping the wheat harvest. They
decided to wait until the reapers retired for dinner. Their white
prisoner begged to be spared from witnessing the scene about to be
enacted. This request was finally granted, and one of the Indians
remained with him as a guard, while the others went forward to execute
their purpose.
When the family had become seated at the table the Indians burst upon
them with a fearful yell. When the neighbors came they found the body of
John Allen a few rods from the house. Apparently he had escaped through
a back door, but had been overtaken and shot down. Nearer the house, but
in the same direction, were the bodies of Mrs. Allen, her sister, and
the youngest child, all tomahawked and scalped. The other two children
were found hidden in a bed, but also tomahawked and scalped. One of the
negroes was found in the doorway, his body gashed and mutilated in a
horrible manner. From the wounds inflicted on his body it was thought he
had made a desperate resistance. The position of the remaining two has
not been distinctly recollected.
George Kilmore, father of Mrs. Allen and owner of the negroes, who lived
three miles distant, becoming anxious on account of the prolonged
absence of his daughter and servants, on the Sunday following, sent a
negro boy on an errand of inquiry. As the boy approached the house, the
keen-scented horse, which he was riding, stopped and refused to go
farther. After much difficulty he was urged forward until his rider got
a view of the awful scene. The news brought by the boy spread rapidly,
and the terror-stricken families fled to various points for protection,
many of whom went to Fort Edward. After Burgoyne had been hemmed in, the
families cautiously returned to their former homes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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