Part II

America!

 

Peter and Heinrich Fleischer, along with  Peter’s family, arrived in Philadelphia on the Phoenix in November of 1752. The first thing the new immigrants were required to do upon arrival was to swear an oath of allegiance to the British Crown.  David Armstrong tells us that the Pennsylvania Gazette reported that the new immigrants “took their oaths before one Edward Shippen, Esq.”  It was then customary that several days after arrival new immigrants were expected to go to the court house in Philadelphia where they swore an “oath of abjuration”. This was a public declaration that the Pope had no right to appoint a ruling monarch of England.

So, what was this Philadelphia like when Peter an Heinrich Fleischer arrived on the Phoenix in November of 1752 and first walked its streets?  Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography, tells us he arrived in Philadelphia as a young man in 1723. Benjamin had long been a prominent printer and respected citizen when the Phoenix arrived. We learn that Walnut, Chestnut and Locust Streets  had long been laid out, but it would be four more years before Franklin could convince his fellow townsmen the streets should be paved.   As Peter and Heinrich trod the dusty streets to the court house to take their oath of abjuration they were probably unaware that Franklin had just been “appointed postmaster general by a commission from the postmaster general in England” with a sum of six hundred pounds a year.

Once in the New World, Heinrich and Peter Fleischer became Henry  and Peter Flesher.  We know nothing for sure about the whereabouts of young bachelor Henry and older brother Peter and his family, until they turned up on the South Branch of the Potomac River in what is now Pendleton County, WV, about 1759.

However, one can speculate.  It would seem natural that they would have first gone to Germantown, Pa. to be with their cousins Agnes and Balthasar and other acquaintances from their home village of Oberseemen until they got the lay of the land.  The French and Indian War was in full bloom with continuous Indian raids making  the western frontier unsafe.

Peter and Henry surely learned that there were alluring but dangerous trails leading to the west.  These were the trails of the Delaware, Iroquois and Shawnee, who, ever since  the invasion of the white race, were fleeing to the wilderness beyond the mountain ranges. These trails had various branches, some of which cut through the mountain gaps and intersected the paths leading to the fording places on the Susquehanna, the Juniata, the West Branch and the upper Allegheny.

Before the white man invaded this forest enshrouded wilderness, these winding Indian paths were the only trails through the tree-covered valleys and over the rugged mountains. Following the Indians over these same trails came the traders carrying their merchandise to the Indian villages on the Ohio, Allegheny, Beaver and even to the Muskingum and Scioto valleys, where they bartered their goods for the furs and pelts of the Indian hunters. When the white settlers went westward into the great wilderness to build their log cabins these same trader and Indian trails became the roadways which they traveled.  Later, when the struggle for the possession of the great western empire west of the mountains commenced between France and Great Britain, these trails became the military roads, over which the armies of Braddock and Forbes cut their way. By 1758 William Pitt had become British Prime Minister of England and he pushed for the final defeat of the French in North America.  His grand plan for the English forces included the capture of Louisbourg,  Forts Ticonderoga and Duquesne, with the final target: Quebec.

Throughout the fall of 1758, the British had been preparing for an
assault on Fort Duquesne. Brigadier General John Forbes assembled five thousand colonials and fifteen hundred Highlanders at Fort Cumberland, Virginia.  His second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Bouquet, was a Swiss mercenary, a professional soldier serving in the Royal Americans who would soon be recognized as one of the finest Indian fighters in America. Colonel George Washington led the Virginia regiment. On this, his third visit to the Ohio country, Washington hoped to see the end of the French fort.  The attack on Fort Duquesne was successfully concluded in November 1758.

With the fall of the fort and the subsequent curtailment of Indian raids, a feeling of safety prevailed which led to further colonization.  It was shortly thereafter, about 1759, when we find the two brothers, Henry and Peter, turning up on the South Branch of the Potomac river in what is now Pendleton County, WV.  They moved into the German community there which had been established in the 1740’s. George Washington had visited that community in 1748 and described it thus: “(we were) attended by a great company of people...that attended us through the woods...showing us their antic tricks.  I...think they seemed to be as ignorant a set of people as the Indians .  They would never speak English but when spoken to they speak all Dutch.”

The French attitude towards the Indians had always been more conciliatory than that of the English.  French Jesuit priests and traders had maintained friendly  and generous dealings with their Indians neighbors.  However, after the fall of Fort Duquesne, the British drove the French off the land and ended the French custom of giving presents to the Indians.   The victorious British aroused resentment  of the Western tribes by treating them arrogantly, building forts and permitting white settlement on Indian-owned lands.  This treatment of the Indians led to what became known as Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-66).

The Ottawa under their chief Pontiac, together with the Shawnees, Delawares, and other tribes overran the British forts  and harassed frontiersmen and their families during the harvest, scalping and killing many. Western parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia were kept in a state of terror but the Indians failed to seize British forts at Detroit and Fort Pitt  (now Pittsburgh). Finally, successful campaigns in Pennsylvania under Col. Bouquet forced the Delaware and Shawnee to sue for peace and a treaty was concluded with them. Without the support of his strongest allies, Pontiac signed a peace treaty in 1766 and was pardoned.

Throughout this period, Peter and Henry appear to have remained in the German community on the South Branch of the Potomac river. It appears Peter Flesher found contentment there and remained in Pendelton County raising a large family.  Henry, who married Elizabeth Bush about 1759, also remained on the South Branch of the Potomac for about eight years.  Seven of his children were born here, four daughters and three sons, including my ancestor Andrew in 1771.  According to records turned up by Walter Farwell, Henry was practicing the shoemaker trade and entered a claim of 50 acres on Canoe Run, a branch  of the South Fork of the Potomac in 1770.

Further to the west along the Ohio Valley, white encroachment on Indian lands in the 1760’s and 70’, led to increased disputes between Indians and settlers.  Then, at Yellow Creek in April of 1774, the unprovoked massacre of the family of one of the renowned Indian leaders, known as Logan, by Jacob Greathouse brought open warfare.  Logan who had been known as the “white man’s friend”, now became  the relentless seeker of revenge: his scalp-hunting raids spread panic along the whole frontier.  Settlement of the area around Jane Lew on Hackers Creek¹ had been made around 1770, but as a result the unrest along the frontier, the settlers of Hackers Creek took refuge by returning to the South Branch on the eastern side of the Alleghenys.

In 1774, Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, put together a force to quell these attacks in what came to be known as Dunmore’s War.  In November of 1774 the Shawnees attacked the forces consisting of 800 men, mostly well armed woodsmen, under the command of Col. Lewis at Point Pleasant on the Ohio (near present day Ripley, WV). The Shawnees were repulsed and defeated. Meanwhile, Lord Dunmore who had been carrying out operations further to the north had concluded peace with the tribes there.  He sent word to Lewis to discontinue his pursuit and planned attack on the Indian villages across the Ohio. With the conclusion of peace, the army began to return home in little companies.

With the pacification of the frontier, the settlers who had taken refuge on the South Branch returned to Hackers Creek in 1776. Henry must have become restless seeing the other settlers moving west.  So he took his young family and joined them, settling at the mouth of Stone Creek on the West Fork River in what is now Lewis County, West Virginia.

Due to an act passed in May 1779 by the general assembly of Virginia we have an exact description of Henry’s claim.  The act “...entitling  all persons who had by January 1, 1778, settled on these western waters, four hundred acres of land, or such smaller quantity as the party may choose... to include the settlers improvements.”  Accordingly, a commissioners office was set up in Clarksburg in April, 1781 before which Henry Flesher appeared and was issued a certificate for “...400 acres at the mouth of Stone Coal creek to include his settlement made in 1776.”  (This paragraph paraphrases information published by Walter Farwell in his biographical Sketch of Henry Flesher dated July 1984.  There is a map of the property set forth in Vol. 1, No. 1 of the Flesher Newsletter of 1990)

Ironically, the pacification of the Indians under Lord Dunmore’s leadership in 1775 was to be short-lived as the revolution would break out in 1776 and some of the very troops that had served under Dunmore’s command would now be fighting against him. And in a further ironical twist, the English, as a matter of policy during the Revolutionary War, would encourage the Indians, so recently pacified, to take up arms against the settlers!  Oh! Perfidious Albion!

So life did not run smoothly for Henry and his family in their new home.  Indian attacks on isolated pioneer settlements were a constant threat.  It was therefore not uncommon for the families to take refuge from time to time in the nearby forts.  But life went on.  In 1777 son Henry, Jr. was born and the older children were growing up. Records indicate that daughter Anna, age 17, married John Sleeth while the family was living “in fort” in 1778.

Again in October, 1781, frequent Indian attacks led Henry to take his family to Fort Buckhannon where they stayed until it broke up in March of 1782 when they moved on to Fort Richards on the West Fork. Two members of the group were killed by Indians during this period: John Finch and Lt. White. Eighteen year old son Adam described life in Fort Richards thus:

“...From March 1782 to March 1783 and up to March 1784, I was engaged the summer and fall in cultivating corn, etc.  Whilst some were working others were watching.  I worked and watched alternately as others were.  I was also out several times scouting and ranging in the woods...”

Mr. Farwell tells us, “That all adult men at Fort Richards had to take their turn at guarding, scouting, spying during their time at Fort, there can be little doubt.  But this particular aspect of the Revolutionary War was not recognized  under the 1832 pension act.” So there are no official records to show exactly what services Henry performed in the Revolutionary War.

In the spring of 1784 it appears Henry returned to his farm. A bit prematurely it seems.  In October he gained notoriety when he was again forced to abandon his home after an attack by Indians.  Early records of what is now Lewis County, WV record the following:

“It was just at the close of the Revolutionary War and the return of peace with England probably made some of the pioneers reckless as the attitude of the Indians was not yet certain.  The pioneers could not foresee that a hard war was yet to be fought with Indians alone  before General Wayne forced peace from the council of Greensville in 1795.

Henry’s encounter was the first in the war in that section of the frontier.  It occurred about the middle of October 1784 at the spot later chosen as the Lewis County government seat.  Henry had been engaged in hauling logs for a stable  where the Baptist Church of Weston was erected.  On his way to the cabin to get a bell for his horse which he was turning loose to graze in the woods, Henry was fired upon by Indians in ambush in the ravine which ran down the hill where Bank Street was later laid out.  Severely wounded by a ball passing through one of his arms, he nevertheless managed to run to the cabin, pursued by a band of howling Indians.  One was so close that when Henry was about to escape, swung his rifle at Henry.  At such close quarters, the rifle struck the door frame above Henry’s head, which deflected the blow.  Others inside the cabin fired on the Indians as Mrs. Flesher pulled her wounded husband  to safety, and the attackers then retreated.  Fearing a renewal of the attack, the family fled to the woods where Edward Hughes found them and led them to the West Fork.”

(At this point I would like to parenthetically note that this story of the Indian attack, while varying in some minor degrees, appears repeatedly in historical accounts of the time.  See “Indian Attack” at the end of this section for a list that I have found so far.)

Henry was just one month shy of his 50th birthday when he was wounded in the Indian attack in 1784. Two years late, his son William was born. Somewhere along the line, Henry acquired an additional 400 acres of land just north of present day Weston from Alexander Maxwell.  He had it surveyed and gained title to the property on 12 October 1786. His elder children were reaching maturity and getting married.  Wedding bells were ringing in 1788: Elizabeth (22) married Francis Ligget on 19 August;  Mary (19) married William Hannaman on 23 October.

At age 56, Henry was also preparing for his children’s future.  On 18 April 1790 he deeded 232 acres of the Maxwell acquisition to his son Adam.  However, life on the frontier was still a risky business.  Adam Flesher’s military records show that he was active as a ranger and Indian spy in the war with the North Western tribes in 1791 and 1792.  In 1792, Adam, who had been appointed corporal, was stationed at Flesher’s upper station (located on present site of Weston) with 8 men under his command.  Their duty was to range the frontier country in order to discover or repel any hostile Indians intent upon attacking the frontier settlements.  His brother-in-law, George Liggett, married to his sister Elizabeth, was killed by a small band of Shawnee Indians headed by the famous Tecumseh on 4 October 1791.

Nevertheless, life went on.  Adam (28) found time to marry Elizabeth Staats, not yet sixteen, on 21 February 1792.  A year later, younger brother Andrew (22), my direct ancestor, married Elizabeth Bibbee on 11 February 1793.  Two months later, on 18 April 1793, Henry deeded the newlyweds the remaining 168 acres of the 400 acre Maxwell acquisition. Then on 28 June 1793  son Peter (20) married Mary Bonnett.  Henry was 59.

Towards the end of Henry’s life, the frontier was beginning to quiet down.  Under the command  of General Anthony Wayne, the western tribes were subdued which culminated in the Peace Treaty of Greenville in August of 1795.  This huge land grab by the young United States opened up the lands of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

The following year, his daughter Mary Anna Flesher Sleeth, recently widowed at age 35, married Charles Parson on 30 April 1796.  Shortly before, on 18 April 1796, Henry deeded his son Peter all the lands of the original claim which lay on the west side of West Fork. Henry’s retained the land on the east side where he had his home.  There Henry remained until his death in February 1803 at age 68.

 Flesher Marker in Weston, WV

Appendix I to Part II,
America

Henry Flesher’s Farm, Weston, WV

Henry Flesher’s claim was surveyed in 1786 and according to research done by Walter Farwell, the following survey record can be found in the courthouse in Clarksburg.

October 9th 1786
Surveyed for Henry Flesher 400 acres of Land in Harrison County, By virtue of a certificate in the right of Settlement granted by the Commissioners for adjusting the claims to unpatented Lands in the District of Monongalia, Yohogania, & Ohio Situated on both sides of the Westfork, including the mouths of Stonecoal & Polk Creeks, and including his settlement, & bounded as followeth viz-- BEGINNING at a Whiteoak near Flesher’s run and running Thence N.66 W. 60 Poles crossing said fork to a Whiteoak , thence up said fork S.60. W. 50 to a Whiteoak N.20 W.87 to a Poplar thence N.35 E76 to a Linn, N.5 W.64 to a Whiteoak, N.50 E.30 to a Whiteoak, S.39 E.40 to a Poplar, N.32 E.107 to a Whiteoak S.44 E.121 crossing said fork to a Hickory, S.80 E.80 to a Walnut tree S.31 E.160 crossing Stonecoal to a Buckeye Tree, S.79 W. 264 crossing said Flesher’s run to the beginning.

Edward Jackson Asst.
to
No Variations W. Raymond S.H.O.

Harrison County, West Virginia
Survey Record Book No. 3
Page 35

Mr.Farwell goes on to state, “Henry Flesher made his home on this 400 acres, on the east side of the river. Smith’s 1920 “History of Lewis County”, on page 49 says:

“...Tradition states that his home was built near the present site of Whelan’s store, a few yards from the corner of First and Main; his barn stood near the corner of Center avenue and Second street; his threshing floor later occupied the site of the court house...”









I have included the following map of West, WV which shows where modern day Weston is built on Henry’s original 400 acres.

Weston, WV

Henry’s house (First & Main); Henry’s barn ( Center & Second)

Walter Farwell in his research and writings on The Flesher Family lists three versions in his Bio Sketch of Henry Flesher . 1.) Direct quotes from Andrew Flesher Jr. of Jackson County; 2.) John Flesher of Iroquois County, IL;
3.) 1911 History of Ritchie County, WV, pages 528-529.

He cites another version from Smith s  A History of Lewis County  1920 page 73.

I understand that Hardesty’s 1883  Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia  contains an account of The Shooting of Henry Flesher

The  Transallegheny Historical Magazine , page 246 of Volume one confirms part of the account.

The Flesher Connection newsletter published Noah Flesher‘s Early History of Lewis County which it states was published in the  Democrat  issue of May 24 1834.  (Noah was grandson of Henry and son of Adam Flesher.)

 
Author 1991, restaurant on site of Henry’s home and Indian attack

Appendix III to Part II

Significant dates

Henry “Weston” Flesher

Date         Age       Event
1734                        Born in Ober-Seemen, Hesse, Germany (11/12)

1752                18     Arr. in Phil. on Phoenix  (11/02)
                                    
1752-175?   18-24     Lived in PA

1758                24         Fall of Fort Duqesne (November)

1758/9?          24-25     Moved near Hardy-Pendleton Co. line on South Branch of Potomac

1759                 25          Married Elizabeth Bush

1761                 27           Daughter Mary Anna Nancy born (D 1846)

1763/66          29-32       Indian uprisings against British all along frontier

1764                30             Son Adam born 7/19 (d. 1854)

1766                 32             Daughter Elizabeth born (d. 1843)

1768                 34             Daughter Mary born  12/17  (d. 1840)

1771                 37             Son Andrew S. born 5/1 (d.9/6/1850)

1773                 39             Son Peter born (d. 1814)

1774                 40             Daughter Susanna born on South Branch

1774                                Dunmore’s War
1774                                July-  Col Fields attacked on Kanawaha River
1774                                Oct.  Col Lewis engages in battle with Indians at Point Pleasant on the Ohio and routes them. Dunmore                                         concludes peace with the tribes and calls off further attacks by Lewis. Western waters temporarily                                                 pacified

1776                 42             Beginning of Revolutioary War: Henry moves family to “western waters” where present day Weston is                                           located: settled . ..”400 acres at the mouth of Stone Coal” (Ref page  14/15 Walter Farwell)


1777                 43             Son Henry Jr. born (d, 1840)

1778                 44             Mary Anna, age 17, married John Sleeth “in Fort” (Farwell page 37)

1781                 47             Enters claim for 400 acres at Clarksburg

1781                 47             Family went to Buckhannons Fort because of frequent Indian raids (Farwell page 37) Family lived in                                               fort from October 1781 to March 1784 . They took turns standing guard while other group cultivated                                               corn. Two members of group were killed by Indians during this period: John Finch & Lt. White. Son                                               Adam served in scouting parties during this period. .

1782                 48             Son John born (d. 1866)

1782                 48            March -  Fort Buckhannon broke up and family moved to Fort Richards on the West Fork (Farwell                                                  page 22)

1784                 50            March -  Left Fort Richrds and returned to farm

1784                 50            October -  Indian attack on Henry. Went to West’s Fort (near present day Jane Lew) and remained until                                          start of winter (Farwell page 24)

1786                 52             Son William born (d/1817)
                                          12 October -  Gets title to additional 400 acres obtasined from Alexander Maxwell

1788                 54            4 Sep -  Elizabeth married Francis Ligget

1788                 54             23 Oct - Mary, age 19, married William Hannaman, age 25 (b.3/1763- d. 9/1839 )

1790                 56             15 Feb - deeded 232 acres of West Fork to Adam, age 26(Farwell page 39)

1791                 57            Adam becomes ranger and Indian spy

1791                 57            4 Nov -  Geo. Ligget, b-in-law of Elizabeth mudered by small group of Shawnee headed by the famous                                         Tecumseh (Farwell page 39)

1792                 58             21 Feb -  Adam marries Elizabeth Staat


1793                 59             21 Feb -  Son Andrew, age 22, married Elizabeth Bibbee

1793                 59            18 April -  Deeded 168 Acres remaing Maxwell 400 to Andrew


1793                 59            18 June -  Son Peter, age 20, married Mary Bonnett


1795                 61            August -  Treaty of Greenville

1796                 62            18 April -  deeds to Peter all lands of original claim west side of West Fork. ( Henry’s home on east bank)


1796                 62             30 April - Mary Anna Flesher Sleeth (35)(widow) marries Charles Parson


1802                 68            26 November -  Last will & testament: witnesses Paul S. Butcher & John Law

1803                 68            February -  Died

¹ Hackers Creek, Polk and Stonecoal Creek are tributaries of the West Fork of the Monongahela which flows northward and joins the Allegheny and becomes the Ohio at present day Pittsburg . South Branch refers to the Potomac River which flows northward, then east and south and into the Chesapeake Bay.

Part II America, page #