THE MCKAY FAMILY AND THE WYOMING VALLEY MASSACRE ON JULY 3, 1778

The memorable Battle of Wyoming, which took place July 3, 1778 and the bloody massacre that then took place in that beautiful valley, have been embalmed in history and celebrated in song, but many thrilling incidents of interest to individuals and to families have never yet appeared in print.  Alexander McKay and his family, consisting of his wife and nine children, 3 sons and 6 daughters, the eldest 19 and the youngest about 2 years of age, were participants in those exciting scenes.

Narrative:

In the spring of 1778, apprehensions of an approaching enemy were sufficiently strong to induce the inhabitants of the Valley of Wyoming to build fortifications in various places.  A Dutch settler built one fort near the battleground by the name of Wintermait, another was built on the opposite side of the river from where the battle was fought and was called Lackawanna fort.  The inhabitants never suspected hostility from the Wyoming side of the river until the notorious Butler and Brant marched down at the head of a large party of Tories and Indians and found the doors of the fort, built by Wintermait, open for their reception.  At this, the inhabitants were panic-stricken and leaving their dwellings fled to the Fort Lackawanna for protection.  The McKay family took refuge in this fort, and all possible preparation was made for defense.  Our Commander was Colonel Butler, a cousin of the commander of the same name on the other side.  They agreed upon an open field fight, on an open plain, but a dense pine thicket would have to pass through to reach the field agreed upon.  Alexander McKay warned them against going, for fear of an ambush, but they paid no heed to his warning and went, and as soon as they entered the thicket, the whole host of Indians sprang upon them and cut them down with a great slaughter.  The survivors of our men stood their ground and fought valiantly until each one that was left, seeing no one near, and supposing all killed but himself, fled for his life.  It was indeed a dreadful slaughter.  One Phineas Owen, nephew of Alexander McKay, found himself pursued by an Indian with a raised tomahawk, and throwing away his gun, and being expert at leaping fences, gained a little upon his pursuer and jumped into a canebrake and was out of sight, but up to his arms in a quagmire.  His pursuer looked for him in vain, but seemed positive that he was near by, and as it was growing dark laid down close by and son appeared to be asleep.  But Owen believing this to be only a deception kept still until a marked change in his breathing convinced him that sleep was not feigned.  He then crept out carefully and escaped as fast as his stiffened limbs would permit, making his way down the river to what was called Fort Forty, some eight or ten miles distant below, where his parents were.  (This fort derived its name by being  built by forty of the inhabitants for the protection of their families.

Meanwhile, the news of the disaster had reached this fort, and its occupants made all possible preparations to evacuate early in the morning.  The planned to go down the river for safety, and when in the morning they had all embarked and just about to push off, Mrs. Owen, the mother of Phineas, declared she must go back to the fort.  They all remonstrated, and asked her why she must go back.  She said she did not know why, but her mind was so wrought upon that she must go, and she went; and as she opened the door to go in on one side of the fort, her son Phineas opened the door on the opposite side.  She beckoned for him to hasten, and they were soon on their way down the river.

Another incident was the escape of two brothers.  The banks of the river were covered with vines, and one of them trying to escape over these vines fell through, and being very tired and feeling safe, lay still.  Soon his brother, going the same way fell into the same place, and it being very dark each mistook the other for an Indian, and they grappled in with each other in a terrible hug until one of them spoke and his well known voice revealed his identity, and then came the reaction from fear and they hugged for joy.  They soon crawled out, swam the river and made their escape.  In the evening, after the battle, the Indians rolled up long heaps of wood and burned our dead and wounded soldiers, keeping up a war dance and hideous yells that were plainly seen and heard from Lackawanna fort, although two miles distant.  The next day a detachment of the enemy crossed the river and took possession of the Lackawanna fort, which contained the old men, the women and children, and a company of soldiers commanded by Captain Blanchard, and when they laid down their arms, a Mr. Brown, an old neighbor of Alex McKay, took Alex's gun, but too much ashamed to look McKay in the face.  A number of Indians also came into the fort and put the prisoner's mark upon them, an old Indian placing it upon the old and matronly looking and a young Indian placing it upon the youinger ones.  This mark consisted of a spot of red paint aobut the size of a silver dollar painted upon each cheek.  One woman refused to have the paint put upon her cheek.  The next day a tall Indian with a tomahawk came into the fort, and taking this woman by the hair pulled her head backward until her face was nearly on a level, raised his tomahawk up at full arm's length and then brought it down till the edge touched her face, at the same time exclaiming "Now!"  This he repeated three time, and then released her and said, "Now you go paint," and she painted.

The Indians would go into the houses about the fort and take whatever they found, especially such articles of clothing as had red or other bright colors.  They discovered a red skirt on a woman and made her take it off.

Each family in the fort had their own separate meals, as best they could, for the Indians would come in and make signs to the women go to give them food.  One day the McKay family had some fresh meat and made a pot pie and set one to watch if any come to take it, and just as it was done, an Indian came towards them, whereupon Mrs. McKay set the pot containing the dinner out on the floor and threw a feather bed over it, and sat down on one side of it.  The Indian came in and made signs for victuals.  She took a large pewter platter from the cupboard, which he accepted and went his way.  They then ate their dinner from the pot, keeping a sentinel at the door.

After a few days the conquering army held a council of war and gave the prisoners their choice, to accompany them to Canada or be paroled.  Some, who had relatives in the army, chose to go with them, but most of them chose to be paroled.  So they were given liberty to depart, but before they could get themselves in readiness for so doing the order was countermanded.  The next day the same scene was reenacted.  So Mr. McKay told his family to be in readiness to start the moment the leave was again given.  The next day leave was again given and they started at once.  They had been prisoners fourteen days.  The family consisted of Alexander McKay, Mary Sackett McKay, with nine children, to which a tenth child, Daniel McKay, the father of the author hereof, was born in just six weeks.

The family all had measles at the time except one, and that one was sick with fever.  Mrs. McKay's measles turned that morning.  The date was August 9, 1778, forty - two days before Daniel was born on September 20, 1778.

About 10 o'clock they had to ford the Susquehanna River.  The water was so deep that Elizabeth (afterwards Mrs. Alanson Edwards), then a girl of 12 years, having a new pair of shoes and not wishing to get them wet, had to hold them up quite high, and had the misfortune to drop one in the river and it was lost, which in those days was quite a calamity.

One incident connected with the family the write had related to him by Elizabeth after she was 60 years old and herself the mother of a large family, as follows:
 

Mr. McKay's measles had not yet turned and they feared to have him go into the water, so Mrs. McKay carried him over the river in her arms, and then returned and carried the children over, one by one, who were not old enough to wasde the river.   In the course of the day, they were overtaken by others, some of whom had a cart drawn by oxen which had been kept hidden in the woods, as were also provisions and other stores, and the sickest of the sick ones were put into the cart.  But the oldest of the McKay girls, Polly (later Mrs. Wadsworth), then 15 had to carry little Sarah, 2 years old, (later Mrs. Weed)  They traveled 100 miles or more before they felt it was safe to stop.

Towards night the second day it rained very hard, and as it son began to darken they prepared to camp, as many as possible under the cart, but others came along with a lantern and told them there was a deserted log house a short distance further on, and they hastened on to build a fire in advance of the rest.  They had not been there long when others came pouring in until the house was literally overflowing, and when poor Polly had found a place for all the invalid brothers and sisters of her charge to sleep, there was no place for her except a small vacanc behind the door.  She had but just lain down when another company came in bring a wounded man and the inquiry arose, where shall we put him?  Behind the door seemed the safest place, so Polly had to vacate her lodging place.  They then found some boards and laid them on a bedstead that had been left in the house and some lay upon it, while others lay under it, but Polly found no place on the floor to sit or stand, but on the ground in the vicinity of the hearth was a cobblestone on which she sat till early morning, when a man awoke and changed places with her.  She had slept but a little while when when the others began to get up, and there was no more sleeping in the noise and stir that followed.

They traveled from ten to fifteen miles a day, finding deserted houses from six to eight miles apart.  They had full liberty to kill cattle for food or use whatever food they found in the houses for the sustenance.  In the houses they found pork, lard and other provisions and cooking utensils, and in the woods they found cows with their calves, which furnished them with milk.  Thus they arrived at the Hudson river, where they washed the paint from their faces, for the Indians gave them red paint and told them their safety depended on keeping it bright.

The McKay family stayed a short time with an aunt and then went into a school house.  While here their boy Seth, 4 was sent to the post office, which was kept in a dwelling house.  The family at that time had considerable company, who began to question him about their captivity.  He was quite animated, and balancing back and forth on one foot and then on the other, giving his bod a swinging motion from side to side (a habit he had through life when animated), he said:  "I had a hen with a great many chickens in the hovel, and they set fire to the hovel and burned them all up, and I cried about it, and I feel just so now, boohoo!!  Whereupon their sympathies were wrought upon and they contributed money enough to buy another hen and chickens.

The only cooking utensil Mrs. McKay had wa a frying pan with a long handle.  With this she heated water for washing; and to boil her clothes she would heat large stones and put them into the tub with the clothes.  One day she got a large stone very hot, and dropping it into the tub too suddenly burst the bottom out of the tub.

From the school house they went to live in an ashery, and there she had the potash kettle to use, and after a while they went to live in a Dutch settlement of rich farmers, where they found ready employment and the comforts of life more plentiful.

All the facts in the foregoing narrative were given to the undersigned by Mrs. Alanson Edwards - Elizabeth McKay who was 12 years old when the facts transpired, and an eyewitness to most of them, and to all of them that relate to the McKay family.  The facts related were also corroborated by Polly, the oldest daughter of Alex McKay, who was 16 years old, and also an eye witness to the events narrated.  They can be relied upon as authentic and true.

    Doctor James Adolphus McKay, son of Daniel McKay, born September 20, 1778 on the road from Wyoming
 

The next information leads us to Charles McKay, who married Hanna Butler.
 

Dr. McKay's narrative is very inclusive and complete, but unfortunately little information has been transcribed in his journals about my ancestor Charles.  Let us read what he has written:
 

But little is known of this branch of the McKay family.  He emigrated to the "Far West" some time in 1815 or 1816.  At that time the "Far West" was no further west than Ohio.  Since his emigration but little has been known of him by his relations, but from all rumors concerning him, it is rendered probable that he died some time in 1854.  Of his family nothing is known

I found it odd that hardly any information could be compiled by Dr. McKay, whose meticulous journal included vast generations of the others, but scarsely a trace of Charles and Hannah.  Could there have been a falling out between Charles and his parents?  Surely, he had some history before his emigration to Ohio in 1815.. If his birthdate is correct he would have been almost thirty by then.  But it is strange that no information passed on by his siblings exists in these passages..
 
 More to come..... thanks to Blanche and Harry McKay for these narratives. Published here with their permission.