A Moravian missionary, he was born in 1710 in Polish Prussia, at Danzig, and died in 1785 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He came to Pennsylvania in 172 from Germany, and in 1743 went with the missionaries Pyrlaeus and Sensenman to Shekemokin, an Indian village in New York near the Connecticut border. Here he married his first wife, Rachel a Wampaganoag Indian woman. He preached to the Iroquois Indians and was arrested in Albany and imprisoned in New York for suspicion of abetting Indian raids. After his release, he preached to the Indians at Pachgatogoch, Connecticut, and worked as a joiner (carpenter). His first wife had died, and in 1847, he married for the second time, Agnes, a Delaware Indian woman. He then attempted a trip Labador to work among the Eskimos. The mission was aborted after half of the crew of his ship were lost at sea. The remaining crew sailed the ship to England c1749. He returned to Pennsylvania, and while at Bethelem, he was asked by the Pennsylvania government to carry a message to the western tribes, namely the Delaware, Shawnee, and the Mingos, to persuade them to support the British against the French. He is credited with keeping the Indians neutral and with securing help from Indian allies bringing about the surrender of the French at Fort Duquesne. As a result of this trip to Ohio country, he settled and built the first white man's cabin in Ohio on the Muskingum River. In 1763, he returned to Pennsylvania and married Mary Margaret MILLER HANDLEMAN BOLINGER, and with his new wife and adopted daughter in 1764, went to the Mosquito Coast and to Jamaica for two years to preach to the Indians. His step daughter, Mary Margaret HANDLEMAN, who would later become Mary HUMRICHOUSE, wife of Peter HUMRICHOUSE, of Hagerstown, would later tell of her native girl nurse being attacked and eaten by an alligator. POST, thoughout his missionary endeavors, had worked with Zeisberger, Heckewelder, and other great Moravian missionaries. POST in after his return to Pennsylvania, left the Moravian cause, and joined the Anglican Church.
During his numerous trips to the the Indians he kept a diary. Below are some excerpts from diary.
15 Jul 1758
"This day I received orders from his honor, the Govenor, to set out on my
intended journey, and proceeded as far as Germantown, where I found all the
Indians drunk. Williamegicken (an Indian) returned to Philadelphia for a horse
that was promised him."
16 Jul 1758
"This day I waited for Williamegicken till near noon, and when he came, being
very drunk, he could proceed no further, so that I left him, and went to
Bethelehem."
10 Aug 1758
"We were near Kushkushkee; and having traveled three miles, we met three
Frenchmen, who appeared very shy of us, but said nothing more then to inquire,
whether we knew of any English coming against Fort Venango. After we had
traveled two miles farther, we met with an Indian, and one that I took to be a
renegade English Indian trader; he spoke good English, was very curious about
examining everything, particularly the silver medal about Pisquitumen's neck. He
appeared by his countenance to be guilty. We inquired of them where we were, and
found we were lost, and within twenty miles of Fort Duquesne."
1 Sep 1758
There are a great number of Irish traders now among the Indians, who have always
endeavored to "spirit up" the Indians against the Indians." ....(And the same
day he wrote) "Then I said, My Brothers, I know you have wrongly been persuaded
by many wicked people; for you must know that thee are many Papists in the
country, in the French interest, who appear like gentlemen, but have sent many
runaway Irish Papist servants among you, who have put bad notions into your
heads, and set you against your brothers, the English."....(This footnote
follows this statement) "The Indian traders, French and others used to buy the
transported Irish, and other convices, as servants to be employed in carrying up
the goods among the Indians; many of these ran away from their masters and
joined the Indians. The ill behavior of these people has always hurt the
character of the English among the Indians."
Compiler's Note:
I have been trying to secure more information concerning these diaries, but have
not found the full text. Some additional sources that need to be checked:
The Forbidden Country, by Glenn D. Lough
Early History of Pennsylvania and the West
RETURN to HANDLERMAN #170 or
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