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CftfrttiwM* fcf Indiana(tbohtdtottted by the Historical*nd Gewsatogieal Society of Jndi-itta GoitiKy.)Chart®* .damjjbeM, came from Franklin dny Ml % ana♦re c ted ttvfe fbdttty’a firtt grist mill it what is still kfiewh as Camb-bell's Mill, In Staefcllek Township,Samuel Dixofi catne from the same locality and settled not far from Campbells: Levi and John Gibson took up land, some of which is Mil) owned by Gibson descendants in the old Gordon school district; and Randall Laughlin owned the tract now the properly of Mrs,Riitanhing. Here they ran the gauntlet and were made to undergo drill, to the great amusement of the redskins. They were mighty hungry those first few days, and when served a groundhog roasted Indlan-style they ate it with great relish. From Kiltanning the Black-11 ck Township boys were taken on fool to Detroit, and had they not been young and husky such a jaunt might have finished them, At Detroit they were turned over to the British. We were then fighting Great Britain for our inde pendence. The British took them to Quebec, and after y. severe;John Mclntire. on Route 600, ini winter there, the boys were ex-whet was once the Hunter school I changed the following autumn, aft-district. Back in the 1770's these families hastened across the Cone-maugh to Fort Wallace when there was danger of Indians.II so happened they were all at Fort Wallace in September, J777, when one morning Randall Laugh-lin found his horses had disap-er they had been gone from home almost r year. Exchange meant Americans were traded for British prisoners we had taken during the war.Iti the meantime the note had been found on Laughlin'a door, but no further word was received fromthe men. Thera seemed nothingpeered. Thinking they may have left for the wives to do but go wandered back across country to back to their folks in what is now their own stable, as horses are! Franklin County. At least that Is likely to do, Randall asked his!what Mrs, Laughlin and Mrs. neighbor* if they would go with Campbell chose to do, but it is him to his cabin to see if the not known what the Gibson worn-horse* • were there. Weil, it was en and Mrs. Dixon decided, a risky trip, but the young fel- Mrs. Laughlin. who was ElJza-lows, knowing the value of a horse to the pioneer quickly agreed to go with Laughlin. So away they went up the valley, and all went well until they arrived at Laughlin’s cabin.At thii point the story differs; one Is that the neighbors wtere in the cabin preparing a meal where they were surprised by Indians led by a Frenchman. They told our boys to surrender or they would be burned with the, cabin. After talking it over they decided to give up. They asked the captors if they might write a message and tack on the door, and the request was granted. The note stated they had been captured but all hoped to escape death and -return honte. The other story i* that they were captured at the spring, and that is the one that ha* passed down from father to son in the Mcfntire family. The cabin and spring were further from, road, but on the same side as the present Mclntire buildings. Both stories are traditional and it's only a stone’s throw from the cabin to the spring.The .Indians marched them off, and us far as we know their first atop was at the Indian village ofbeth Warnock before marriage, made her way as best she coulcli to her own family and waited, not knowing if her husband was dead or alive. There Randall found her when he finally reached home, and saw for the first lime their first child, bom after his capture.Charles Campbell kept a journal, and from it we learn that the men were separated after they reached Quebec and only one prisoner confined at each.' place. There things happened that were not generally known to all of them. Campbell arrived in Boston by ship from Quebec in October, 1778, and after, several weeks reached his old home in Franklin County, after a time it was thought 1781 when Fergus Moorhead and James Kelly returned, Campbell brought hi* family back to Campbell's Mill: Samuel Djxon and John Gibson returned but there is no record of their experience. Levi Gibson, who owned a part of the present Earl Strong farm, died while the men. were in captivity, but we know nothing of his illness or where he was buried.All these neighbor* took up the reins again, became well known residents and leader* in their com-
Newspaper Details
Indiana Evening Gazette
Indiana, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Mar 14, 1953
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
PA, USA 19 Oct 2019
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