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Tales by Josiah Newsletter>
Say What? No Indians in Adams County
May 20, 2008
Although Native Americans, or Indians, used the area as a
thoroughfare and hunting ground, there is no conclusive
evidence they made it their permanent residence. Europeans
began coming into the county in the 1730s and 1740s. Most
were Scotch- Irish, English, and Irish in origin. A few
were Germans. The existence by 1750 of Presbyterian,
Quaker, Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed
congregations is evidence of the diversity of the earliest
residents.
The above is an excerpt from the ACHS website about the
early residents of the County!
I list this info only to say to that I disagree with its
content and as well with it's intent. I have personally
viewed and found extensive artifacts including various
points,knives and other stone implements by the score, one
of our most respected residents of the recent past John
Geistleman who collected many of those relics from the time
he was 10 years old personally told me that he would find
various points and implements in the cornfields that
existed in his youth, those cornfields were much different
than the modern no till fields, the rows were wide and
could easily be navigated after a rain.
Until John's declining health, he owned a private museum
with a large impressive private collection of many of those
ancient relics, unfortunately for the history of the county
of Adams his collection has been scattered to the winds by
auctions of his grand collective evidence of a world that
has been lost to us all. It seems that the powers that be
overlook much of the history of the original people of the
area.
In the History of Adams County the native peoples played a
large part in establishing paths throughout the wilderness
that still exist as foundations for our modern roads, much
of this history is overlooked due to it's back burner
status to the history of the Battle of Gettysburg yet that
horrible incident still hangs over the area as though it
were yesterday yet many various accounts giving opinions of
the native people being the first residents of the area. We
know for a fact that dinosaur tracks were found in
Trostle's quarry so if ancient people were hunting them
hence the many sites and massive amount of stone implements
found throughout the Adams County area.
History of Settlement according to the Latimore Township
website
The first human activity in the area was probably hunters
and trappers of the Delaware, Susquehannocks and Shawnee
Indian tribes who found an ideal environment in the hills
and streams.
I personally have viewed an area of Adams County where
there is such an abundance of points of an amazing variety
that this was certainly an area where they produced these
items and I do agree with the observation that yes the
native peoples of the area were nomadic but they hunted and
lived in this area for thousands of years prior to the
white man showing up to invade the domain they held sacred.
So saying that they never made their home here is just a
reckless statement. They are buried on this land we call
Adams County and are as much if not more a resident of the
county than any white or other nationality who is interred
in this wonderful land I call home.
{A source for information below is from the 1876 History of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania}
The Moravian and Jesuit missionaries of the 17th and 18th
centuries are the instruments of our knowledge about what
they called the Aborigines {we must also state that the
native peoples did not always trust the missionaries so
they did not always give truthful answers to the folks
querying them!} At this period of time the territory
embraced ran from the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence
River to the north and the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac to
the South, this territory was inhabited by two families of
tribes, they were the Algonquin and the Huron Iroquois.
Under the families of the Algonquin were the Miamies Foxes,
Sacs, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Mohegans, Mic-Macs, Illinois
and the Chippewas.
The Delawares of Pennsylvania and many of the Maryland and
Virginia tribes aligned with the more civilized and
powerful tribes the Huron/Iroquois {from the combined
monikers of the two most powerful nations of the group, The
Huron or {Wyandots} of Upper Canada and the Iroquois or
{Five Nations of New York} also included in this group were
the Neuters on the Niagara, the Dinondadies of Upper
Canada, the Andastogues or Susquehannas on the Susquehanna
River, the Eries to the south of Lake Erie; the Nottaways
and some other Virginia tribes and also to the South the
Tuscaroras of North Carolina and possibly the Cherokees
whose language is very similair in nature to this lineage
of tribes.
Hello once more folks Hope everyone had a good Memorial
Day.
"The best thing which we derive from history is the
enthusiasm it raises in us. " Goethe
To continue our exploration of the Native peoples who lived
hunted and are buried in Adams County PA I will begin with
the fact that both of the families of tribes explained
before claim a western origin,in their progress eastward
they seemed to have driven out of the Ohio Valley the
Quappas,called by the Algonquins, Arkansas or Allegewi
retreated down the Ohio and the Mississippi to the land
which still holds the name given to them by the Algonquin.
After the various tribes had taken residence along the
Atlantic border they became divided and warfare broke out
among the various tribes.The Algonquin were a superior
tribe to the Iroquois and drove them out of the Saint
Lawrence Valley into the lake regions of New York, where
the Iroquois by great determination, will, valor and the
greater cultivation and union become the powerful tribe and
were superior to the Canadian and New York Algonquins.
The Susquehannas who settled along the river by he same
name also became the powerful force in the area defeating
the tribes of Maryland and Virginia.
Prior to 1600 according to the French source the Relation
de la Nouvelle the Susquehannas and Mohawks the most
Eastern tribe of the Iroquois came into severe conflict and
the Susquehannas nearly exterminated the Mohawks in a truly
savage war which lasted some ten years.
It was reported that in 1608 Captain John Smith whilst
exploring the Chesapeake Bay area and it's tributaries
encountered a party of these Sasquesahanocks as he called
them and they were still warring with the Massawomekes or
Mohawks. Some 25 years later
DeVries notes states he found them at war with the
Armewamen and Sankiekans ,Algonquin tribes on the Delaware
maintaining their supremacy in a campaign of absolute
butchery which instilled fear into the hearts of the
enemies.
At this stage the Susquehanna were friendly with the Dutch
settlers and when the Swedes arrived on the frontier the
friendly intercourse began by the Dutch continued they
bought lands from the Susquehannas and cemented their
friendship.
The Susquehannas continued their battle for absolute
supremacy southward as they battled with the Yaomacoes,the
Piscataways, th Patuxent, they were so troublesome to the
frontier that in 1642 Governor Calvert declared the tribe
public enemies.
Next time I will be continuing about the Huron and the
blows dealt by the five nations.
So til next time "Keep yer powder dry!"
This is a newsletter in progress so please check back for
more information on the Native Peoples of the Adams County
Pennsylvania Area. I will be talking about the warring
tribes where one conflict between tribes lasted some ten
years.
....So Stay tuned Folks....
Thanks for your interest and please email at
kidfalcon@comcast.net.....
Hello to all I will be continuing this line of thought with
the next {July"s newsletter}.
But considering this is the 145th Anniversary of the Battle
of Gettysburg I am going to tell some stories of Adams
county and it's forgotten side This one is about the Battle
of Fairfield the beginning of a series of stories about my
cousin David Stoops and me! Oh! Sorry, Josiah Kepner.
This is not the entire tale just a little bit to introduce
y'all to me and David
Thanks
Josiah
New newsletter in the works stop back for more!
"Battle for the Fairfield Road?"
As told by Josiah Kepner
Howdy Folks I’m Josiah Kepner I grow'd up not a fer piece
from here in the mountains near Fairfield {Mount Hope
exactly} when the battle of Gettysburg was happen'n! It
was a scary time with all the shoot'n and the talk we heard
about the loot'n and all that was happen'n. There was
soldiers a rid'n around everywhere…. both Johnny rebs and
Billy yanks a com'n and goin' in all directions, all the
folks was try'n to find places up in the mountains to hide
the cows, pigs and chickens sos the soldiers would n't take
'em an slaughter 'em for food. My cousin David Stoops and
me was a doing just that taken their ol' milk cow Bessie up
in the woods on Mary's Hill to hide her when we heard what
we thought was a thundergust off in the distance but it was
louder an any we heard afore it seemed to be going on for a
long time .....{It was as we heard later the thundergust
noise was all the cannons shoot'n at what they called
Pickett's Charge!!} which took place at the same time as
the fight we saw}……just about the same time me an David
heard some gunshots an they was a bunch closer than the
other thunder'n noise, we wanted to know what was happe'n
so we hid ol' Bessie in a thicket …….tied her up and snuck
toward the edge of Mary's Hill and there it was……. we was a
see'n the elephant right before our eyes….. there was a
bunch o' Johnny Rebs with wagons com'n up the sunken road
that headed to Cashtown and then there was a what looked
like a dust storm foller'n em' it was really a coupla
hundred Yanks…..the Reb wagons had a whole bunch of
mounted troops rid'n with em'….. next thing we knew, the
Yanks had kinda caught up close to the wagons they got off
their horses and were spread'n out along a little ridge at
an a orchard….them Rebs rode hard in an attack toward the
Yanks but the Rebs fell back..... just then, we saw the
Rebs had brought up some horse drawn cannons and were
set'n up and fire'n on the Yanks…… when that was happen'n
the horse mounted Rebs attacked again.......and sent the
Yanks scatter'n.... this ended up with an all out horse
mounted battle ..........it was so loud me and David could
here the "Thundering Sabers.................. a clash'n an
gnarlin' as the Yanks were battlin' on their horses while
retreat'n across the fields toward the Fairfield Gap.......
men was a fallin'...... everywhere.... and the rest was
ridin' hard in the direction of David's farm where he lived
nearer to Fairfield. Me and David took off a runnin' but
stayed just inside the heavy woods that opened up on to the
hellish area we was watch'n. My heart was throbbin' as I
had never known afore……. It was for sure a sight to behold
for me and David. Them Rebs run the Yanks for good ways
till we could'nt see nuthin' but dust probably a coupla
miles right past the Stoops farm and through Fairfield but
the Rebs give up after a while and the Yanks got away from
em' so we heard later.
The rest of the story to come in the new Josiah Tales
Newsletter so Stop back Please Stay tuned Folks
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