Harding-Massacre

The Harding Massacre

At the beginning of June 1778 the people of Wyoming Valley became aware that there were greater dangers than scattered Indian attacks facing them. Major John Butler and his "Rangers", along with a large body of Seneca Indians, were moving down the Susquehanna River. Butler planned to invade the Wyoming Valley, one of the most populous and defenseless inland settlements. He hoped that the attack would cause some of the detachments of the American army to come to the Valley's rescue. If this happened perhaps the British forces under Howe, Cornwallis, and Clinton could overthrow the depleted American army more easily.

    The two Westmoreland Independent Companies that would be called upon to protect this area were sadly lacking in manpower. Colonel Zebulon Butler tried to strengthen these forces by asking the War Office for reinforcements. He then helped the Westmorland Companies and the people of the Valley to make the best possible preparations for the forthcomming attack.

    There was a wave of anxiety and fear spreading through the Valley. Every male (man or youth) who had a gun or could obtain one and had the strength to fire it was called into service. During the last days of June many family members moved to the protection of the forts, block houses, and stockades scattered throughout the Valley. Men armed themselves as they preformed the necessary work in the fields.

    Scouts went up the river almost daily, but none went further than Wyalusing and little word of Major Butler's doings reached the Valley. One small scouting party under the command of Captain Dethick Hewitt left Wyoming on June 26th.   His party encountered a large force of Major Butler's Tories, British, and Indians. On the afternoon of the 30th, he returned to warn the people.

    However, on the morning of the 30th before Capt. Hewitt's return, a party of twelve men and boys left Jenkins Fort, where many of the people from surrounding isolated farms had taken shelter. The party traveled about five miles to the mouth of Sutton's Creek in Exeter Township. There they split into three groups. The Hardings, Benjamin, 25, Stukely, 23, and Stephen, Jr, along with John Gardner and a boy named Rogers went three-quarters of a mile further up the river to work in the fields of Stephen Harding, Jr. James Hadsall, Jr. his younger brother John, Ebenezer Reynolds, and Daniel Wallen went to work in Hadsall's cornfield on an island just above the mouth of the creek. The remainder of the party, composed of James Hadsall Sr. Daniel Carr (Hadsall's son-in-law) and a Negro severant named Quocko, worked in Hadsall's tanyard on the nearby mainland.

    Late in the afternoon Michael Showers and Frederick Anker, both suspected Tories from Wintermute's Fort, approached the Harding brothers who was standing guard. They offered to keep watch while Harding helped the other finish hoeing. He agreed, but the pair disappeared after a short time. Suspecting Showers and Anker of treachery, Stephen Harding went to get the party's horses in preparation for returning to the fort. When Stephen returned, he found that his companions were walking toward a deerlick which they had planned to visit. Their path followed a small stream which emptied into the river. This stream ran along the bottom of a deep, narrow ravine in which Showers and Anker, along with some Indians and Tories who had joined them, lay hidden, awaiting the party. When the party appeared, the Tories opened fire. Benjamin and Stukely Harding were wounded but were abel to return fire. The Indians rushed upon the Hardings, attacking them with spears and tomahawks. Benjamin and Stukely fought bravely but were soon overpowered, brutally murdered, and scalped, becoming the first victims of the Battle of Wyoming. John Gardner, having no weapon took no part in the fight and, consequently, was taken prisoner. Stephen Harding and the boy Rodgers escaped uninjured into the surrounding woods.

    Meanwhile another party belonging to the same band of Indians and Tories took the men at Hadsall's tanyard by suprise, making James Hadsall, Sr. Daniel Carr, and quocko their prisoners. As these men returned to the mainland, the Tories fired upon them, killing James Hadsall, Jr. Ebenezer Reynolds was wounded, but he managed to escape into the woods along with Daniel Wallen. Young John Hadsall had remained behind to tie up the canoe. When he heard the shots, he hid in a thicket of willows that overhung the water. One of the Indians searching for him walked out on the log under which John was concealed, but his hiding place went undiscovered. After nightfall John safely returned to Jenkin's Fort to relay the news of the capture and death of the members of his party.

    The two bands of Indians and Tories reunited soon after the second attack and, with their captives, Hadsall Sr., Gardner, Carr, and Quocko, moved about three miles up Sutton's Creek where they camped for the night. Here James Hadsall Sr. and the Negro Quocko were tortued and eventually killed. (John Gardner was taken to New York where he too was tortured and killed. Carr's fate is disputed.) On the morning of July 1 this group joined the main body of Major Butler's invaders at their camp located just behind Mount Lookout.

    On the same morning Stephen Harding Jr., Ebenezer Reynolds, Daniel Wallen, and the boy Rogers arrived at Jenkin's Fort after wandering the woods throughout the night. Their reports of what had occurred were sent to all parts of the Valley. The Westmoreland militia assembled and a cry of battle, a cry of "Remember the Harding's", went up as the men of Wyoming Valley seized their weapons and hurried to join forces.

    The Westmoreland militia under Colonels Zebulon Butler and Nathan Dennison set forth from Forty Fort. They marched silently up the river, hoping to meet and attack the enemy before the invaders reached the Valley's settlements. How ever, they reached Sutton's Creek without incident. At the creek the militia stopped and sent a squad of men under the command of Lieutenant Roasel Franklin forward to the spot where the Harding's were killed on the previous aftetnoon. Two Indians were seated near the bodies in expectation of obtaining more victims when the dead men's friends came to bury the remains. Lieutenant Franklin and his party aproached the Indians without warning. One of the Indians was killed immediately, the other was wounded and tried to escape by swimming the river. Franklin and one of his men followed him in a canoe and brought him to an end.

    The remains of Benjamin and Stukely Harding were returned to Jenkin's Fort. They were buried the next day in the Jenkin's burial ground in West Pittston. A monument was erected in 1912 near the spot where they met their fate. It bears the following inscription:

    On June 30, 1778, in or near the ravine leading to the river, not far from this spot, Benjamin and Stukely Harding were killed by Indians, being amoung the first that lost their lives in the days immediately preceding the massacre of July 3rd. Erected by Dial Rock Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, June 30, 1912. This site donated by Sen. P.F. Joyce.