Massacre at French Jacob Groshong’s in Union County, May 16, 1780

In the spring of 1780 occurred an Indian massacre at what was then known as French Jacob’s Mill. The site of this fatal attack is on a farm long in the possession of the Wohlheiter family, situated about one-half a mile southeast of the Forest House, at the end of Brush Valley Narrows, in what is now Union County.

Here in 1776 Jacob Groshong, or French Jacob, as he was called by his neighbors, built a log mill, which was patronized by the settlers for many miles around.

On May 16, 1780, a patrol of Continental soldiers on duty as a garrison at the mill, was attacked by a party of Indians, and four of the defenders were killed and several wounded. Those killed were John Foster, James Chambers, George Etzweiler and Samuel McLaughlin.

The soldiers were outside the mill at the time of the attack washing themselves. They had just returned from patroling that neighborhood and were confident the immediate country was free of redskins.

Christian Shively heard the firing as he was threshing grain in a field. He immediately concealed his wife and two small children near the creek, then rolled some logs into the stream and tied them into a raft, put his wife and children on, and floated down stream to safety. Henry Pontius, a neighbor, also heard the shots, secured his gun, hurriedly mounted a horse and made a circuit through the woods, and came to the mill just in time to see the Indians fleeing with their plunder.

An appeal for assistance was sent to the seat of Government, and the following day messengers set off for Philadelphia. A detail started for New Berlin, bearing the bodies of the murdered soldiers, but when John Clark’s farm was reached the party was divided. Those carrying the bodies of John Foster and James Chambers were compelled to make burial in the Lewis graveyard, as the weather was too excessively hot. The other party, bearing the body of George Etzweiler, buried it on the farm of John Brook, where his grave was suitably marked. The body of Samuel McLaughlin was carried to New Berlin and buried in the Dry Run Cemetery.

Colonel Matthew Smith sent a letter to General Joseph Reed, president of the State, dated Northumberland, May 18, 1780, in which he complained bitterly of the defenseless frontiers, and begged for immediate assistance. He said:

“Sir, unless some support can be instantly afforded, the State must shortly count one county less than formerly—which God forbid. I 344refer you, Dear Sir, to the bearer, General Potter, for further information, as he waits on horseback, whilst I write this imperfect, distressed account. Provisions none; cash none, nor can it be had in this place. General Potter’s account from this place to the Honorable Assembly, which I doubt not you will see, will fully satisfy you of the state of this place.”

This mill, where the Indian fight occurred, was a favorite place for visitors as long as it stood.

Some time between 1776 and 1779 Jacob Groshong built a little log mill on a site long afterward known as Solomon Heberling’s. He thought he had a clear title to the location, but he was defeated in a law suit for possession.

Groshong later moved up into the Nittany Mountain, in now Center County, and then went West. His name, or rather his nickname, is still preserved in connection with a rather large spring a little above the tavern, on the Bush Valley road. He is the hero of many of the wild tales of Indian troubles in that part of the valley.

On July 14, following this attack at French Jacob’s, the Indians attacked the family of Allens living at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, now Lewisburg. The woman succeeded in making her escape across the creek, but the husband and three children were killed.

The same day Baltzer Klinesmith was killed and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine, were carried off. This was in the vicinity of the present Dreisbach Church, Union County.

The Indians and their prisoners arrived at a spring north of New Berlin, where they left the girls in charge of an old Indian and went down Dry Valley. It soon began to rain and the Indian made the girls gather brush to cover a bag of flour they had stolen. He laid down under a tree with his tomahawk under his head. The girls, passing with brush, gradually worked it from under him as he slept. Elizabeth secured it and motioned to her sister to run. She then sank it into the old Indian’s head and made her escape.

The Indians returned about this time and pursued the girls, reaching them when they neared the house. A rifle ball passed through Catherine’s shoulder, which maimed her for life, but the girls succeeded in reaching their home and the men, already alarmed and prepared, gave chase to the savages.

Two days after these attacks Colonel John Kelly enrolled a company of Northumberland County militia, with James Thompson as captain; Joseph Poak, lieutenant, and Alexander Ewing, ensign.

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