David McClure Preaches To The Indians

I have really enjoyed reading David McClure’s journal of his missionary journey to the trans-Appalachian Indians in the years immediately preceding the War for Independence.  It’s refreshing just to see his transparency about his personal feelings, but his descriptions of the scenes he viewed are especially helpful to those who are interested in history.  In this post, I wanted to look more into his efforts at evangelizing the native populations.

       The Muskingum is a beautiful country. The soil is rich and deep. The land gradually rises from the river & forms extensive meadows and plains. Some places are covered with luxuriant grass, & neither tree or bush growing upon them for some miles in length and breadth, & in a state of immediate preperation [sic] for the plow. I sometimes paused to enjoy the prospect, and was ready to anticipate the speedy approach of the time, when, there would be another race of people there, who would properly estimate the advantages which that country will give to its future inhabitants. When populous town & cultivated fields shall arise; and Schools and Colleges & Churches, erected for the advancement of Science and the honor of the Saviour be seen through that extensive & now howling wilderness.  ¹   

While this certainly isn’t politically correct today, it seems obvious that McClure didn’t ascribe to cultural relativism.  That is, he seems to be in agreement with the idea that it is not true that each and every culture is exactly equal and worthy of replication.  It is those cultures that are truly Christian, those that have most closely followed the teachings of Christ and His apostles, that have enjoyed the greatest amount of prosperity and personal liberty.  The native American cultures were and are no different than any and every other culture in the history of man… they are comprised of depraved sinners.  The fact that the native Americans exhibited greater levels of depravity relative to the cultures surrounding them has more to do with their ignorance of the life-changing Gospel message than it has to do with anything inherent in them.  It’s too bad that McClure uses the term “another race” in his vision of the future.  The Bible says all men are “of one blood” (Acts 17:26), and it is also clear the native populations that had embraced Christian civilization had “populous towns and cultivated fields.”  Just look at the Stockbridge, Moravian Indians and others!  McClure was probably influenced in his thinking by his recent treatment in the Indian villages where the drunken revellings of the inhabitants kept him in fear of his life, supposing that having lost any inhibitions the Indians would come after him.  He actually left the village to avoid any such confrontation.  

       We arrived at Kekalemehpehoong, a little before sun setting. The Indians had nearly exhausted the quantity of rum. I found the king sober. He had ordered the remainder of the rum to be carried out of town, to a house about 2 miles up the river. A number were fast bound in sleep. Those who were able to walk, went along the bank of the river, following the keg of rum, which was carried in front. They made a long file, staggering and singing as they went. I was glad to see them depart. Among these poor savages, the Devil seems to hold an uncontrouled power. They appear to be given over to all manner of vice. To venture back among them, before they had finished the rum, especially considering what had taken place in the morning, was somewhat hazardous, and I should have tarried at the village, had I not apprehended that the night there might be similar to that which I had already passed. Seeing the drunkards go out of town, on our entrance, I persuaded myself that we should find rest. ²

It’s easy to look back on the various Indian tribes and wag our fingers at their lack of civilization and sophistication.  We smugly act as if we are so morally superior, more intelligent, etc. but how many in our day are also under the power of the Devil?  How many in our day “appear to be given over to all manner of vice?”  That’s seems to be more of an indictment of our day than McClure’s.

       Accordingly the night following, the town was still, and I slept in peace. My companions were alarmed for my safety in the evening, for I had retired into the woods, partly to avoid being seen by the Indians, and for contemplation. It was to me a consoling consideration, that God rules in the moral as well as the natural world; and that he will permit the wrath of the heathen to rage no further than shall be for his glory, and the best good of those who humbly confide in his almighty & fatherly protection. Under the omnipotent protection of his providence, who moves the planetary worlds, and all the stars in their regular order, beauty & harmony, I felt a humble confidence, that in the way of my duty, and feeble attempts to spread the knowledge of Christ among the heathen, I was most safe; & to God endeavoured to commit myself. ³

What a precious truth to realize that we serve a sovereign God who works “all things after the counsel of His own will!” (Eph. 1:11)  It is interesting to watch McClure go from being somewhat fearful to be being a bold preacher.

       Thursday.  The Indians, about 50 met in the Council House, and I preached to them with freedom, on  Sin.  My subject was drawn from the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans, in which the Apostle gives a dreadful catalogue of the vices, to which the Gentiles were addicted. I dwelt particularly on the vices of drunkenness & fornication, which were shockingly common among those pagans. Some seemed affected with conscious guilt. One observed to my Interpreter, after Sermon, "that if all the things which I had mentioned were sins, he believed that all were sinners, and no one was free from sin." Another asked him, how the white man knew what he had done, and who told him? for said he, he mentioned all the bad things I have ever done, and he talked to none but me? Thus the Divine Spirit is pleased in some instances, to make application of the word even to a heathen, who only occasionally hears it. But this Indian shunned me; and his temporary conviction served to make him my enemy.

       They gave me liberty to preach again to them the next day. I preached to them to-day (Friday) on the depravity of our nature, and sins of the heart. The audience was small and attentive. At the close, I mentioned that I would preach again the next day, Saturday, Sept.  3. Having shown them, in preceding discourses the Apostacy and pollution of our nature by sin, and the condemnation of sin on all men, to-day I gave them an historical account of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, his Obedience & satisfaction for sin, and the terms of pardon & life through him. ⁴

Can you imagine? McClure stands in front of the assembled Indians and what does he do?  Does he tell them “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!”?  No.  In fact, he preaches the Gospel to them!  He preaches from the very text that probably exposes their sins more than any other.  He gives them the whole truth, the Law and the Gospel.  He doesn’t affirm their culture; he doesn’t try to “fit in” with the Indians by dressing or acting like them; he doesn’t speak to them solely about moral reformation.  He presents to them the resurrected Christ Who is their only hope, and the only hope of every other man no matter what his skin color, or heritage, or ethnic background.  Modern missions and the church as a whole today would do well to learn from McClure’s example here.

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)      Franklin B. Dexter, ed., Diary of David McClure (New York, NY: Knickerbocker Press, 1899), p. 77.

2)      Ibid., p. 78.

3)      Ibid., p. 78-9.

4)      Ibid., p. 79-80.

David McClure Views The Scene of Braddock's Defeat

As promised, here is some more from David McClure’s journal.

23.[Aug. 1772]—Preached at the request of Major Hamilton, in the Fort [Pitt], to the Garrison about 200, who were paraded under arms, during divine service, & to the inhabitants of the Village. The greater part of the soldiers had lately arrived from Fort Chartres on the Mississippi, & had not heard a sermon for 4 years. In the afternoon Mr. Frisbie preached in the Village. A great part of the people here make the Sabbath a day of recreation, drinking & profanity… 28.—Rode with McCallaster to Joseph Hunter's, near the Yohio Geni [Yohogany] River. In the evening arrived Dr. John Connolly, voluntier [sic] in the british service. He had lately come from Fort Chartres. Says the climate there is unhealthy, the people subject to fevers, supposed occasioned by stagnated waters on the flat & low lands of that country. There is a french settlement at the Fort, subject to the english governm. ¹

Having been to the historic site of Ft. de Chartres on a number of occasions, I found it interesting to hear that the British troops stationed there were so cut off from the rest of civilization that they hadn’t heard a sermon preached in 4 years!  What must that have been like for the British soldiers stationed there, living in essentially a foreign land, since the local residents were French?  And then, as if the separation from civilization weren’t bad enough, the soldiers had to fight disease as well as boredom!  The British couldn’t have been too sorry when flood waters compromised the walls of the fort and they were forced to evacuate the post in 1772.

30.—Sunday returned to Mr. Hunter's, 3 miles, where I preached, two sermons to a serious & attentive audience. Some of the settlers here had not heard a sermon for 14 years. There was no settled minister or church organized in all the country westward of the Appalachian Mountains. The people are generally presbyterians. A few illiterate preachers of the baptist persuasion, have preached about, zealous to make proselytes. Baptized 2 childn [sic] John & Jane Mitchel. A number of families here talk of removing to the Natchez on the Missisipi [sic]. ²

Again… imagine going 14 years without hearing a sermon!  How often do we take attending services on the Lord’s Day for granted?  How often do we “skip church” for the lamest of excuses?  As these settlers were most likely Scots or Scots-Irish, they probably hadn’t attended a worship service since leaving Ireland or Scotland.  How isolated they must have felt, living in a wild country with little of the comforts they were used to back home.

Monday rode to Braddock's field. This memorable spot is about 11 miles above Pittsburgh on the bank of the Monongehala. It is a gradual ascent from the bank to the top of a hill, extending about 1/4 of a mile. Up & down this Ascent the army consisting of about 1400 chosen troops were paraded, rank & file, three deep in platoons, with intervals for field pieces. They were a fatal mark for the Indians, who lay on the ground, concealed by the trees. About 1000 of the army fell; & it was not known that a single Indian was hurt. The trees in front of the army were wounded with grape shot about five feet from the ground. I got a handful of the shot from one of the trees. It was a melancholy spectacle to see the bones of men strewed over the ground, left to this day, without the solemn rite of sepulture. The fact is a disgrace to the british commanders at Fort Pitt. The bones had been gnawed by wolves, the vestiges of their teeth appearing on them. Many hundreds of skulls lay on the ground. I examined several, & found the mark of the scalping knife on all. I put one, & a jaw bone, in my portmantau, which I afterwards presented to Mr. Stewart's Museum in Hartford. The harness of the horses remained unconsumed on the ground. A man who lives near the field of battle, & whose corn field takes in a part of it, had humanely collected a great number of the bones & laid them in small heaps. I departed from the place with serious & solemn reflections on the vanity of life, & the deep depravity of our fallen nature, the dreadful source of fighting & war, & all the miseries that man delights to inflict on man.  "Oh! why will men forget that they are brethren !"  ³

I think McClure makes a good point here.  It is hard to understand why, after 17 years have elapsed, that the British commanders at nearby Ft. Pitt had made no effort to inter the remains of the fallen.  It could be for no other reason than just plain indifference to the fate of the remains of those who died to help secure the very ground those British commanders held.  It’s no wonder at all that such a scene would make a man, especially a Christian man, reflect on the brevity of life.  How many of those proud soldiers under Braddock’s command in 1755 expected to leave their corpses to rot for years on that ground?  Very few, if any, to be sure.  How many of us also presume that today and tomorrow we will do this or that, forgetting that our very breath comes as a gift from the hand of God and that He may, as our Creator, choose to withhold it as and when He pleases?  How deep is our depravity?  God only knows!  In man’s quest to exalt himself he sets about to put others down.  As James says in his epistle, these wars and fightings we engage in come about from our own lusts.  McClure’s heart was one that, by God’s grace, was open to reflect on the lessons to be learned from this grotesque scene.  Let us pray that God would be so gracious as to give us hearts that would be always contemplating and his great and abundant mercy!

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)      Franklin B. Dexter, ed., Diary of David McClure (New York, NY: Knickerbocker Press, 1899), p. 46-7.

2)      Ibid., p. 47-8.

3)      Ibid., p. 48-9.

1

David McClure's Pennsylvania Travels

In a previous post, I shared an incident that occurred between the missionary David McClure and the famous Indian chief Logan.  I’ve been recently reading through the entirety of McClure’s diary and hope to share a few more excerpts from it in the next few posts.  This particular one interested me because of the famous people he mentions in it as well as his description of his frontier hospitality.

Aug. 18.[1772]—Crossed the Laurel hanning [Loyalhanna], a pleasant stream which runs through Ligonier, & rode to Col. Proctors. Here we found Kiahshutah, Chief of the Senecas, on his way to Philadelphia & from thence Sr. Wm. Johnson's, who, as his interpreter Simon Girty informed us, had sent for him, relative to a treaty held some time ago at the Shawaness [Shawnee] towns. He was dressed in a scarlet cloth turned up with lace, & a high gold laced hat, & made a martial appearance. He had a very sensible countenance & dignity of manners. His interpreter informed him of the business on which we were going. I asked him his opinion of it. He paused a few moments, & replied that he was afraid it would not succeed; for said he, "the Indians are a roving people, & they will not attend to your instructions; but take courage & make trial. The King of the Delawares & the warriors are now at home, & you will see them." He also mentioned that there was a minister at Kuskuskoong, on Bever [sic] Creek, & that one half of the Indians were offended with the other for hearkening to him.

From Col. Proctor's we travelled with an intention of lodging at Mr. Irwine's. We arrived a little before the setting of the Sun, at his house, but found he had removed, & the house empty. The next house was 11 Miles distant, & the road was through a wilderness. We proceeded on and were overtaken by darkness & rain, our horses frequently wandered from the path, about 11 O'Clock we passed through a cleared field, near to which Col. Bouquet fought the Indians, in a bloody battle 1764. Wandering on we came to the house of one Byerly a Dutchman. We intreated [sic] admittance, but he refused to let us in. We proceeded on & crossed Bushy Run, the banks were mud & mire, the stream up to the horses bellies, & such was the darkness that we could scarcely see the water. By good providence we got safely through & soon arrived at another Dutchman's, one Tegart. We knocked at the door & awoke one, who held a conversation with us, while the rain was pouring down. At first he declined letting us in, alleging that the house was full of indian traders from Pittsburgh &c. At last we wrought a little upon his humanity, & he unbared [sic] the door. It is strange that there should be so wide a difference in point of hospitality, between the Germans & the Scotch and Irish of this country. The former will put themselves to no trouble to oblige you, & expect a reward for every service, the latter, we found cheerfully shewing us any kindness which we needed, without any other reward, except the satisfaction of obliging a stranger. Around the dirty room of the Log house lay asleep and snoaring [sic], a number of men. No bed or bedding was to be had. We persuaded the fellow who let us in, to make up a fire, we were obliged however, to bring in the wood, & we partly dried our clothes. He also brought us two dirty blankets, & spreading them on the muddy floor, before the fire, we lay down supperless to try to sleep. But such swarms of fleas from the blankets attacked us on all quarters, that sleep refused us its oblivious soothing comforts. The Dutchman, with a beard an inch in length, sat on a block in the corner of the chimney place smoaking [sic] his pipe, & to while away the tedious hours, I asked him to relate over the battle of Col. Boquet with the Indians, not far from that place: & he told a long & blundering story, & retired leaving us to our own reflections & tormentors. We quitted our uneasy couch at dawn & got our horses. The Landlady arose & looking at us, made an apology for our coarse accommodations, & charged nothing for our lodging. We rode about 2 Miles to Mr. Lion's, & got refreshments. From thence passing near the field where Braddock was defeated, reached Elliot's. Mr. Frisbie's horse tiring, we walked most of the way from Elliots to Pittsburgh, 7 miles. ¹

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)   Franklin B. Dexter, ed., Diary of David McClure (New York, NY: Knickerbocker Press, 1899), p. 42-4.

The Wounded Indian

I thought this was such a compelling story I figured I would share it.  Take it for what it’s worth… you just can’t make this stuff up.

Striking characteristics of border life during the Revolution were exhibited in the episode of the lame Indian. This was a Delaware warrior, wounded during a raid on a settlement, who surrendered at Fort Pitt to escape starvation and was afterward given up to a band of frontiersmen for execution. His story is rather an interesting one.

The settlement attacked was Walthour's station. It was a small stockade surrounding the log house of Christopher Walthour, on an elevated spot south of Brush creek, about a mile and a half east of Irwin. It was the chief rallying place for the Brush creek settlement, composed almost exclusively of German families, whose descendants are still numerous in that neighborhood. The Indian raid took place in April, 1782. Depredations by the savages had already been committed in several parts of Westmoreland county and the families of the farmers were gathered for refuge in the stockades scattered about the frontier. From these stockades the men issued in small parties, well armed, to perform the necessary work of planting the crops. Near Walthour's station half a dozen men were at work in a field. Among them was a son-in-law of Christopher Walthour, of the name of Willard, whose daughter, 16 years old, was also with the party, probably for the purpose of carrying water to the men.

The workers were surprised by a band of Delawares, who captured the girl. The laborers seized their guns and made a running fight as they retired toward the fort in the face of superior numbers. Two of the white men were killed. One of them, Willard, fell not far from the stockade. An Indian rushed out of the bushes to scalp Willard, and was just twisting his fingers in the white man's long hair when a rifle bullet, fired from the fort, wounded the savage severely in the leg. The Delaware uttered a howl of pain and limped away into the thicket, leaving his gun behind him, beside the body of his victim.

As soon as a considerable band of frontiersmen could be collected, pursuit of the savages was undertaken. Their trail was followed to the Allegheny river, over which they had escaped into the Indian country. It was almost two months afterward when hunters found the decomposed body of the girl in the woods, not far from Negley's run. The head had been crushed with a tomahawk and the scalp was gone.

One evening, 38 days after the attack on Walthour's station, a lame Indian hobbled into the village of Pittsburg and made his way to the porch of one of the houses. He walked with the aid of a pole, and was, in appearance, a living skeleton. A young woman stepped forth to see him. He asked, feebly, for a drink, and she gave him a cup of milk. It was evident that he was nearly starved. After he had eaten ravenously of the food given to him, he told the members of the family, in broken English, that he had been hunting on Beaver river with a Mingo, who had quarreled with him and had shot him in the leg.

Word was sent to the garrison, and the Indian was taken down to the fort. There he was recognized as Davy, a Delaware sub-chief, who had often visited the fort. The surgeon discovered that the Indian's wound was an old one, and the officers told Davy that his story about the Mingo was plainly a lie.

After being treated tenderly and having recovered somewhat from his fatigue and hunger, the Indian confessed that he was the man who had killed Willard and had been wounded while trying to take the scalp. The shot had broken the bone of his leg and he was unable to keep up with his comrades when they fled. He had dragged himself into a dense thicket, where he lay in one spot for three days. During that time the settlers were scouring the woods and the wounded man was afraid to stir. When the pursuit was given up Davy crawled forth and sought for food. He found nothing but berries and roots and on such articles he lived for more than five weeks. They barely kept soul and body together and he was also weakened by the loss of blood from his painful wound. He made progress slowly toward the Allegheny river. He came within sight of a small stockade on Turtle creek and for a long time lay on a hill, meditating surrender. He finally satisfied himself that the garrison of the little fort consisted of militiamen and he knew that surrender to them meant death. The Indians were well aware of the difference between militia and regulars and knew that from the buck-skinned frontiersmen they could expect no mercy. Davy hobbled onward until he reached the Allegheny river.

On the bank of the river the wounded Indian lay for many days, finding scanty food while he watched for some of his countrymen. No one came and no possibility offered of his being able to cross the stream. Driven to desperation by hunger, he decided to make his way to Fort Pitt and give himself up to the regular soldiers.

Davy was confined in the guard house in the fort, in the expectation that opportunity might offer to exchange him for some white person held prisoner by the Indians. The news of his capture and his identity reached the settlement at Brush creek and caused considerable excitement there. The kindred and neighbors of the victims of the Indian raid were hot for revenge and now the chance for it was presented. Mrs. Mary Willard, the widow of the man whom Davy had killed, went to Fort Pitt in company with a party of neighbors and asked General Irvine to give up the prisoner, that he might be "properly dealt with" by those who had suffered.

At that time it was not known that Mrs. Willard's daughter had been killed by her captors and the prospect was presented to the woman that Davy might be traded for her daughter. In the hope of such an arrangement Mrs. Willard consented that the Indian should remain some time longer at Ft. Pitt. But when the mutilated body of the girl was found, the people of Brush creek demanded the life of the captive savage. A mass meeting was held and a committee was chosen to go to Fort Pitt and renew negotiations with General Irvine for the surrender of the Indian. The members of this delegation were Joseph Studebaker, Jacob Byerly, Francis Byerly, Jacob Rutdorf, Henry Willard and Frederick Willard. The last two were probably brothers of the man who was slain.

Having many other things to worry him at that time, General Irvine yielded to the pleadings of the committee and surrendered the prisoner; but he compelled the delegates to agree to a method of procedure, which he hoped would save the Indian from abuse and torture. Here is the order of General Irvine given to the six frontiersmen:

"You are hereby enjoined and required to take the Indian delivered into your charge by my order and carry him safe into the settlement of Brush creek. You will afterward warn two justices of the peace, and request their attendance at such place as they shall think proper to appoint, with several other reputable inhabitants. Until this is done and their advice and direction had in the matter you are, at your peril, not to hurt him nor suffer any person to do it. Given under my hand at Fort Pitt, July 21,1782.

"William Irvine."

At the same time the general sent a letter to Mrs. Willard, urging her to do nothing rashly in retaliating her vengeance on the prisoner and not to permit him to be put to death until after "some form of trial."

With great glee the borderers set their prisoner on a horse and conducted him to Walthour's. There preparations was made to burn him on the very spot where Willard died. The frontiersmen felt sure of the acquiesence of the two justices, for all through the settlements there was but one opinion as to the proper way to deal with Indians. Davy was placed in a log blockhouse for two or three days and nights, while word went out for the assembling of the magistrates and the settlers on a certain day. Then a form of trial was to be gone through with and the fiery execution was to be witnessed by the multitude.

On the night preceding the great day the young men who were stationed outside of the blockhouse to guard it all fell asleep. The one who first awoke in the morning peeped in to see if the prisoner was still there. The blockhouse was empty! The guard aroused his companions and an investigation quickly established the fact that Davy had actually escaped. The great door had been securely locked. No human being could go through one of the loopholes. There was but one way for escape, and that was through the narrow space between the overjutting roof and the top of the wall. It seemed almost impossible for the crippled savage to have climbed up the wall and squeezed through that opening, but there was no other way out of it.

Great was the disappointment and rage among the assembled settlers when they learned that their prey had escaped. In all directions eager searching parties ranged the country, but found not the wounded Delaware. For two days the hunt was maintained, but Davy had left no trail.

On the third day a lad who had gone into the wood to bring in some horses, ran almost breathless to Walthour's station and said that an Indian had stolen a gray mare. He had discovered the savage, who seemed to be crippled, mounting the mare from a large log. The Indian got astride, belabored the beast with a stout stick and went cantering off toward the Allegheny river.

Then the pursuit was taken up by a large body of men. The trail of the horse was followed with some difficulty. The Indian had ridden along the beds of shallow streams and on hard, stony places where the footprints were faint. But the tracks were followed patiently until they approached the river near the mouth of the Kiskiminetas. There the gray mare was found, covered with sweat, cropping grass in a glade near the water's edge, but no trace of the Indian was discovered. The river bank was searched for miles, up and down, but the frontiersmen were forced to return home empty handed.

A few years later, when peace had been restored, inquiries were made of members of the Delaware tribe concerning Davy's fate. He had never returned to his home. He had either been drowned while trying to swim the river, or had starved to death in the forest wilderness. ¹

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)   Edgar W. Hassler, Old Westmoreland:A History Of Western Pennsylvania During The Revolution (Pittsburgh, PA: J.R. Weldin & Co., 1900), p. 170-75.