The "The Last of the Conestoga Indians" Story

It was an ordinary day. If you are a reader of this site then you probably will remember a few stories that I have written about the Conestoga Indians who were massacred in the south end of Lancaster County and the remainder of the tribe who were under alleged protection in the county jail when the Paxton Boys stopped by and murdered them.  

The old Lancaster Jail where the Conestoga Indians were murdered.

Well it seems that the city of Lancaster isn't going to let this 250 year old event go unnoticed.  It seems to be a black-eye on the community and needs to be resolved.  How, I'm not quite sure, but something needs to be done to make it right.  Sacrificing 26 Lancaster citizens certainly can't be the answer, but there has to be an answer!  These dual murders, 6 unarmed and peaceful Indians slaughtered in Manor Township and their town known as Indian Town was burned to the ground and then 20 more killed after being pulled out of their jail cell and savagely murdered, most by scalping and others with arms and feet chopped off, in front of the jail.  The guilty party, the Paxton Boys from near Harrisburg, PA were never held liable for the heinous crime they committed that December 27, 1763.  A conference was just held in Lancaster where 80 concerned citizens and historians gathered at the Millersville University's Ware Center which is located across the alley from the historic Fulton Opera House in Lancaster where the jail originally was located.  

This is the plaque that will be erected near
the Fulton Opera House in downtown Lancaster.
It was there that the Conestoga indians were killed.

At the end of the conference Lancaster City Mayor Rick Gray unveiled a state roadside marker that will be placed near the Fulton Opera House on N. Prince Street.  The marker reads in part: "They were killed by a vigilante group, the Paxton Boys.  No arrests were made."  Many residents still, after 250 years, are upset that these mounted frontiersmen from Dauphin County got away with murder.  Why didn't the local authorities who were given the job of protecting the Indians in the local jail take a stand?  Will we ever know?  Some think that Edward Shippen III, Lancaster County's chief magistrate, had advance warning of the Paxton raiders intentions, but did little to bring the killers to justice.  One person at the conference said, "This is a pretty town … but this place is a result of many growing pains and much hurt."  When I was going through the Manheim Township school system I never once studied the events of the massacre.  

The Reverend Thomas Barton from St. James
Episcopal Church in Lancaster.  He was holding
a church service as the Indians were massacred
three blocks away.  He is said to have informed
the Paxton Boys about the service, telling them
that most of the able-bodied men would be at
his church at the time of the massacre.  He also
was eventually given the 400 acres where the Indians
lived in Manor Township known as Indian Town.

At least I don't remember that I did.  I know that I hated social studies at the time, but this certainly would have made an impact on me.  Why was that part of Lancaster's history forgotten?  Kinda sad to look back 250 years and say that was awful, but should we now turn our backs to this awful event?  A little over a month ago 35 people gathered at the rear of the Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster, where part of the original wall of the jail still remains, to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the Native Americans who were slaughtered at that location.  Sad to think that this ethnic cleansing would not have happened if the people of Pennsylvania had not broken the treaty that had been given the Conestogoas by William Penn in 1701.  It was at that time that he gave them 3,000 acres of land in the Manor Township wilderness to call home. He also declared that the English and Conestogas "shall forever hereafter be as One Head and One Heart."  That treaty lasted only 16 years, since Penn's sons wanted the land for themselves.  Eventually only 400 acres remainded of the land, but all through the land grabbing, the Indians remained peaceful, learned English and were loyal to the crown during the French and Indian War.  So why did the group of 50 armed riders from the Paxton area near Harrisburg kill the remanding Conestogoas?  

This is the rear of the Fulton Opera House
where a few days ago 35 people gathered
to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of
the 14 innocent Conestoga Indians who were
murdered there 250 years ago.

Did the killers picture themselves above the law?  And did Lancaster's leaders chose to let them get away with their crime?  When Ben Franklin found out about it he was infuriated!  He predicted that "Justice, though slow, will come at last.  All good people everywhere detest your actions."  Maybe, but not in Lancaster!  At the time the murders occurred, most able-bodied men were three blocks away from the scene at church at St. James Episcopal, where I now attend.  By the time Rev. Thomas Barton heard what had happened it was too late for the men in church to act.  But, it was believed that Barton was an accomplice to the crime, telling the intruders the time of the service and later defending the crime.  Edward Shippen was a prominent member of St. James and was perhaps in cahoots with Barton.  Squatters from Paxton began laying claim to the 400 acres, but were made to leave and Rev. Barton was given the land.  Something fishy here don't you think!  At least that's what I thought until Leo, a friend from church and our church historian, told me that the Rev. Barton actually ministered to the Native Americans in Lancaster.  He was a close friend of Sir William Johnson, who was the British superintendent of Indian affairs, who sent his part-Native American son to live with Rev. Barton to further his religious studies.  After the massacre Barton asked Sir William to grant the Conestoga land for establishment of an Indian school.  Sir William turned him down, but did grant Barton the use of the land five years later to farm to support his family.  Doesn't sound like Rev. Barton was up to no good to me.  Well, no one was held accountable and the town of Lancaster gained a big black eye from the entire injustice.  Seems to some, and I guess I am one of them, that the massacre from 250 years ago remains a grim moment in local history.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.