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Beyond Penn's Treaty

Travels in Some Parts of North America

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the 14th of the 12th Month, 1763, 57 men well
mounted, and armed with firelocks, hatchets, and
hangers, came down from the two before-mentioned
townships, and, surrounding the little Indian vil-
lage at dawn of day, broke in upon the inhabitants
all at once, and fired upon, stabbed, and hewed in
pieces the poor defenceless creatures who hap-
pened to be in their huts; among them the good
old Shebeas was hewed in pieces in his bed. The
daughter of the venerable Shebeas, who for several
years past had devoted her time to waiting upon
her beloved father, was also slain. After taking
off the scalps of those who were thus murdered, and
setting fire to the village, the murderers mounted
their horses and rode away; disappointed in not
having found all the Indians at home, 14 out of the
20 being absent. It is not, perhaps, in the power of
language to express the feelings of the remaining
14 Indians, some of whom were little children, on
their return to the village, when they beheld the
mangled remains of their near and dear connexions,
and saw their habitations a heap of smoking ruins.

The Magistrates of Lancaster, hearing of what
had past, came over and took the survivors under
their protection, doing all in their power to con-
sole them; and, taking them by the hand, led them
to Lancaster; where, for their greater security,
they lodged them in a strong stone building in the
town, in which they were supposed to be in per-