Caching Around Sunbury 9/10/2009

This moring we printed out some caches and left to do some of them before the rains come. In fact the first cache was only 175' from our coach under a small rock at a memorial to Joesph Priestly. Joseph Priestley (March 13, 1733–February 8, 1804) was a British natural philosopher, Dissenting clergyman, political theorist, theologian, and educator. He is usually credited with the discovery of oxygen gas. A member of marginalized religious groups throughout his life and a proponent of what was called "rational Dissent," Priestley advocated religious toleration and equal rights for Dissenters. He argued for extensive civil rights, believing that individuals could bring about progress and eventually the Millennium; he was the foremost British expounder of providentialism. Priestley also made significant contributions to education, including the publishing, among other things, of a seminal work on English grammar. In his most lasting contributions to education, he argued for the benefits of a liberal arts education and of the value of the study of modern history. In his metaphysical works, Priestley "attempt[ed] to combine theism, materialism, and determinism," a project that has been called "audacious and original." Because many of Priestley's texts were written during the French Revolution, they aroused public and governmental suspicion; he was eventually forced to flee to the United States after a mob burned down his home and church in 1791. Throughout his life, Priestley was known not only as a political and theological controversialist but also as a natural philosopher. His scientific reputation rested on his invention of soda water, his writings on electricity and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley named "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). But Priestley's determination to reject Lavoisier's "new chemistry" and to cling to phlogiston theory left him isolated within the scientific community. Priestley's science was never divorced from his religion and he consistently tried "to combine Enlightenment principles with a modernized Christian theism."
Next caches were at a boat ramp, on a pulloff on a local road across from the only high rise in Sunbury, at a local BBQ restaurant that we plan on eating at on Friday and in a small park.
Next cache was at the Keithan Blue Bird Garden. In the 1920’s, Sunbury resident Charles Keithan started a hobby garden that grew, unexpectedly, into a beloved part of the community landscape. Located on a 1.5 acre tract along Sunbury’s riverside, the park still contains some of the exotic trees that Keithan imported from around the world, as well as representative species of two of his favorite plants - azaleas and rhododendrons. Like a hardy perennial, the garden has bounced back a few times. All but destroyed by a 1930’s flood, the park was rebuilt by Keithan. After his death in the 1980’s, volunteers maintained Keithan’s Bluebird Gardens until around five years ago, when the city took over and hired The Murrays as Rejeuvenators & Protectors. Many times a year the garden is used for weddings along with the small house in the garden.
Next cache was located in a small cemetery in Sunbury, next was a cache at the Keefer Station Covered Bridge Burr Arch Truss, built by George W. Keefer in 1888, and the next was a cache along a small stream in the woods where there was a small waterfall.
Next cache was in a very small cemetery named Hunter Cemetery which was in back of the site where Fort Augusta used to stand and dates back to the late 1700's. Located in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, at the confluence of the West and North Branches of the Susquehanna River, (Sunbury, PA today) an area not yet obtained by agreement from the Indians, and named for the mother of the future King, George III, Fort Augusta was the largest of the Provincial forts. It was built on a square plan 204 feet by 204 feet, with 4 corner bastions and at least 6 buildings, a well and an underground Powder Magazine built in 1758 (see pictures below) contained within. In addition, it had palisades with blockhouses to secure the river shore from landward attack. It was designed and built to accommodate 400 men. Construction began in July of 1756 and it was garrisoned through the French and Indian (Seven Years) War, Pontiac's Rebellion, and until June of 1765. According to William Hunter in his marvelous work, Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier 1753-1758, Augusta was, "the most impressive of the forts built by Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War, the one longest garrisoned by provincial troops, and the last one used for military purposes." The 3rd Battalion Pennsylvania was formed of troops from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, plus some recruits, specifically to build and garrison Fort Augusta. It became known as The Augusta Regiment. In 1758, after the re-organization of the Pennsylvania Regiment, the 3rd Battalion was tied more closely to the rest of the provincial defense system. Hunter says, that during the 1759-1763 interwar period, "the most important activity at Fort Augusta was the Indian trade carried on at the provincial store." After 1761 Fort Augusta was the only provincial fort maintained in the colony. Ft. Augusta once again served the area during the American Revolution as a haven of safety for local citizens when Indians threatened, as a base for Ranging Companies who watched over the Frontier Chain of Forts (mostly stockaded private homes in or near settlements along the River and tributary creeks) along both branches of the Susquehanna from Antes Fort in the west to Jenkins Fort in the east, as the base for Hartley's Expedition in 1778 to Wyalusing, and as a supply base for Sullivan's Expedition against the Iroquois in 1779. In addition, troops from Ft. Augusta were engaged in numerous skirmishes and patrols throughout the West and North Branch Valleys. Other engagements and attacks against the settlements occurred at Forty Fort, at Wyoming on November 3, 1778 (Wyoming Massacre), at Ft. Freeland, July 28, 1779 with the loss of 21 patriots, at Fort Montgomery (a.k.a. Ft. Rice), Ft. Muncy, Ft. Brady, Ft. McClure, to mention a few. At the conclusion of the American Revolution, Colonel Samuel Hunter, commandant of Ft. Augusta was still living in the commandant's house in the fort. His family of 4 children had been born there. Hunter died on April 10, 1784, and was buried in back of the fort. Fortunately, the Hunter Cemetery has been preserved and can be visited today. It was stated above that Ft. Augusta was built upon land which had not been purchased from the Indians. Through the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix in 1768, this land became the property of the Penns, and in 1786 was sold to the Hunter family by way of a kinsman, William Wilson. Col. Hunter's daughter, Nancy, lived in the commandant's headquarters all of her 67 years, dying in 1834. Her son, Samuel, lived there until 1852, when it was destroyed by fire. The current Hunter mansion was built to replace it. Fort Augusta itself was dismantled in 1794. The Powder Magazine still exists, and is a reminder of the building of this magnificent fort which played such a vital role in preventing the French from taking this valley. "Fort Augusta was," as Harry S. Knight, Esquire, so eloquently stated, "the stronghold in the wilderness where it was determined whether the language of the North American Continent should be English or French, whether the dominant race should be Anglo-Saxon or Latin, whether its laws be based upon the Common Law of England or the Code of France."
Next cache was at a memorial to Shikallemy and Swataney the enlightener and the representattive of the six nations in this province. Shikellamy (?- December 6, 1748), also known as Swatana, was an Oneida chief and overseer for the Iroquois confederacy. In his position as chief and overseer, Shikellamy served as a supervisor for the Six Nations, overseeing the Shawnee and Lenape tribes in central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River and protecting the southern border of the Iroquois Confederacy. While his birth date is not known, his first recorded historical appearance was in Philadelphia in 1728. In 1728 he was living in a Shawnee village in Pennsylvania near modern Milton, and moved in 1742 to the village of Shamokin, modern day Sunbury, at the confluence of the West and North Branches of the Susquehanna. Shikellamy was an important figure in the early history of the Province of Pennsylvania and served as a go-between for the colonial government in Philadelphia and the Iroquois chiefs in Onondaga. He welcomed Conrad Weiser to Shamokin and served as Weiser's guide on his journeys into the frontier of Pennsylvania and New York. Although it is not known when or where Shikellamy was born, his first appearance in the historical record is his 1728 visit to Philadelphia, the provincial capital of Pennsylvania. The Quaker leadership in Philadelphia soon realized that Shikellamy was an important Indian leader and he was invited back to the capital in 1729. He was described as "Shekallamy,...a trusty good Man & great Lover of the English."[1] Shikellamy was sent by the government of Pennsylvania to invite the leaders of the Iroquois Confederacy to a council in 1732. The initial meeting was a success and both sides agreed to meet once again in the future. These meetings were arranged by Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy.
During a later meeting, Shikellamy, Weiser and the Pennsylvanians negotiated a 1736 treaty in Philadelphia, including a deed whereby the Iroquois sold the land drained by the Delaware River and south of the Blue Mountain. Since the Iroquois had never until then laid claim to this land, this purchase represented a significant swing in Pennsylvanian policy toward the Native Americans. William Penn had never taken sides in disputes between tribes, but by this purchase, the Pennsylvanians were favoring the Iroquois over the Lenape. Along with the Walking Purchase of 1737, also arranged with the assistance of Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser, this treaty exacerbated Pennsylvania-Lenape relations. The results of this policy shift would help induce the Lenapes to side with the French during the French and Indian Wars, which would result in many colonial deaths. It did, however, help induce the Iroquois to continue to side with the British over the French.
Shikellamy had originally lived in a Shawnee village in the vicinity of modern Milton, along the West Branch Susquehanna River. The Shawnee moved to the west by 1742, and in that year Shikellamy moved to Shamokin village, which was an important Lenape town and home of Sasoonan (also known as Allumapees), a leader who was regarded by Pennsylvania authorities as the Delaware (Lenape) "king." This title had no traditional meaning for the Delawares, who lived in autonomous villages. However, since British colonial governments preferred to deal with a single leader rather than numerous village elders, Sasoonan emerged as the Delaware "king". Pennsylvania officials found Sasoonan useful because he could be induced (with the help of gifts and abundantly free liquor) to sign away Indian lands.
Shikellamy was rewarded for his efforts in the Walking Purchase and other treaties by the colonial government of Pennsylvania. In 1744 Conrad Weiser supervised the construction of a house for Shikellamy at Shamokin. The house was 49.5 feet (15.1 m) long, 17.5 feet (5.3 m) wide, and was covered with a shingle roof.
Shikellamy's position and status at Shamokin made him an important person in the eyes of the Moravian missionaries who sought to spread the gospel to the Indians of Pennsylvania. Count Zinzendorf, a bishop of Moravian Church and native of Germany, visited with him in 1742. The Count believed that Shikellamy, who had converted to Christianity, could serve as a vital agent of change in converting all Indians to the Christian faith. Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to maintain an outpost at Shamokin and served as an emissary between the Moravians and Madame Montour's village of Otstuagy at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek and French Margaret's village at the mouth of Lycoming Creek. Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to stay at Shamokin because he believed that they had the Indians' best interest at heart.[2] He knew that, unlike other white men, the Moravians had no interest in the Indians' furs and did not want to take their land. The missionaries also did not give Shikellamy's people any alcohol, which played a major role in the devastation of the Native Americans all over North America. Shikellamy so admired the Moravians that he permitted them to stay in his home, lent them horses for work, and helped them build their homes. Shikellamy formally converted to Christianity in November 1748 at the Moravian city of Bethlehem. On his return journey Shikellamy became ill. Despite the efforts of his Moravian friends at Shamokin, the Indian leader succumbed to the illness on December 6, 1748.
Shikellamy converted to Christianity and attempted to live in peace with the encroaching European colonists. He believed that the Indians should not become like the white man. It was his belief that his people needed to continue to live according to their own ways in order to be the masters of their destiny. After his death, he was succeeded by his son John Shikellamy (also known as John Logan). Another one of Shikellamy's sons, James Logan, was named for James Logan, the Quaker Provincial Secretary of Pennsylvania and de facto Superintendent of Indian Affairs. One of these two sons—historians have disagreed which one—later became well-known in American history as "Chief Logan," who played a pivotal role in Dunmore's War in 1774 and issued an oft-quoted speech known as "Logan's Lament."
Our last cache was also near the campgrounds and was at a memorial to Thomas Edison. Most of us have heard of Thomas Edison, the inventor. What most of us don't know, is that on July 4, 1883, he lighted the first building in the world with incadecent lights right here in Sunbury. Today, it is called the Hotel Edison. The location of this cache is at a historical marker which proclaims " Thomas A Edison, 1847-1931, Greatest Inventor In History, First Electrification Project, Sunbury."
Then it on back to the coach for the afternoon and dinner. Well until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad