Many histories of the Wyoming Valley Massacre of July 3, 1778 have been written. Learn more about it at this Wyoming Massacre Site. The history here was written by Mary Phelps Marks Brooks, a grand-daughter of Aaron Gaylord. She tells of the battle, Aaron Gaylord's death, and its impact on his family.

     The following is an exact copy of a paper which was recently loaned to Mrs. Sarah Gaylord Rice (my Grandfather‘s sister) by a Mrs. Bradley, on account of the interest she might have in the "paper" and her close connection to the Gaylords. She allowed me to take it and make a copy on account of its relation to family genealogy.

     The narrative was written by Mrs. Mary Brooks (a granddaughter of Aaron and Catherine Gaylord) of Baltimore, Md., at the age of 73 years. There is no date attached to show when it was written, but it is certainly several years old as the paper, etc. has begun to show signs of age.

     Our family is not descended from Aaron and Catherine Gaylord but it is from William Gaylord, who came to this country from England in 1630.

L. Vincent Gaylord.

INTRODUCTION.

     The Centennial Anniversary of the Massacre of Wyoming, which was celebrated on the 3rd and 4th of July, 1878, brings to mind the sad story which I learned when a child, as I stood at my grandmother's side and listened with tearful eyes, to recital of the events of that terrible day, when her husband Lieut. Aaron Gaylord, was killed by the Indians, and she with her three children obliged to flee for life to her friends in Connecticut.

History and Pedigree.

     Aaron Gaylord was a descendant of William Gaylord, a native of Devonshire, England, who descended from the Gaillairds of Normandy in the North of France and from the houses of York and Lancaster. The family coat of arms was "the roses". Chateau Gaillaird, the ruins of which are still standing, was a stronghold built by Richard Cour-de-Lion for the defence of the frontier of Normandy. It was considered impregnable except by starvation, and in the reign of Richard's successor, Philip Augustus, the Garrison after a siege of six months was obliged to surrender on this account.

     In the winter of 1629—30, William Gaylord joined a company of colonists under the lead of Rev. John Maverick and Rev. John Wareham, and came to New England. Arriving at Nantucket, Boston Bay, in the Spring of 1630, and settling in Dorchester, in 1638 or 1639, he removed to Windsor, Conn, then an infant settlement and as a delegate to the first "general court" at Hartford in 1639, which formed the "Commonwealth" of Connecticut." He was elected to the Connecticut Legislature for 41 sessions (semi—annual) and at the time of his death in 1673, was still a member of that body.

     He had four sons, known in all Gaylord tradition as the "four brothers" (all born in England) from whom descended the Gaylords of this country. Their names were William, Samuel, Walter and John. Walter the third son, was the father of our branch. His eldest son, Joseph, was born in 1649 and married Sarah Stanley in 1670. He lived in Waterbury, Conn. and after in .Durham, Conn. His sons were Joseph, John, William, and Benjamin. John, the second son of Joseph, (born 1677) had a large family. He lived for many years in Wallingford, Conn.

     His sons were Moses, Aaron, Ruben, Jesse, Edward and Eleazer.

     Aaron of Wyoming (the second son of Joseph) was my grandfather. He was born in Bristol, Conn. in 1745 and married Catherine Cole of the same place. They moved to Pennsylvania about the year 1775. Their journey which was made on horseback with their three children(Lemuel, Phebe and Lorena) and all their worldly goods, occupied about three weeks. They rode many a weary mile through the wilds of Pennsylvania where there were no roads and nothing to mark their way but the blazed trees, and settled themselves in the fertile valley of the Wyoming on the Susquehannah River.

WYOMING

     This valley had been a bone of contention from the earliest history. First, between the "Six Nations" and, the "Delaware Indians", and afterwards between Pennsylvania and the Plymouth Colony.

     At the time Aaron Gaylord, my grandfather, settled in Wyoming, the population was small. They were surrounded by Indians, but little danger was apprehended from them as they always appeared friendly. It was, however deemed expedient to build a fort for better protection and safety and several families lived within it. Among them was my grandfather's family and he was chosen commander of the fort. They had been at the settlement about three years before the Indians began to show signs of hostility. They had made clearings, had raised horses and cattle, had planted and sowed, and the waving wheat was ready for harvest, giving promise of plenty for them when the war cloud broke upon them.

THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE

     At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, the population of Wyoming was about 2500, among whom were a considerable number of Loyalists or Tories as they were called, because they favored the British cause and could not be trusted at such a time. In 1778, when all the able~bodied men had gone to the war, except a little company who had bean left to guard the women and children, the Indians began to make warlike demonstrations. They would land from their canoes in squads in front of the fort, covered with war paint, and making the most angry gesticulations. It soon became evident that they meant war, and it was ascertained that they were massing themselves a few miles away preparing for an attack.

     Col. Butler, an officer of the regular army, who was stopping at the fort called a council and proposed to go out to meet the Indians and give them battle. This measure was opposed by my grandfather with all the arguments he could command, My grandfather‘s advice was not taken, he was overruled in the council and yielded his judgment saying, "I will go, for I had rather die than be called a coward in such a time as this." He went and died like a brave man.

     They were to start early the following morning. He spent the night without sleep, in conversation with his wife as though he knew it was his last. At early morn he mounted his horse and rallied his company. He then rode to his own door, handed his purse containing a few dollars, to his wife saying, "Take this, If I never return it may be of some use to you". and then started with the rest to meet their wily foe.

     When they arrived at the place where they expected to meet the enemy, there were no Indians to be seen, so they incautiously moved on until they reached a place where the river was on one side of them, and a high hill on the other. Here their foes sprang from their ambush before and behind , and they found themselves surrounded by a force double that of their own and composed of Indians and whites disguised as red men.

     Finding they had fallen into a trap, out of which they could not retreat, and being greatly outnumbered there was nothing left for them but for each to defend his own life as best he could. They fought desperately and slaughter was terrible, but their numbers gradually diminished until nearly all had fallen victims to the scalping knife and tomahawk. Later in the afternoon, my grandfather and a neighbor who had fought by his side all day, finding themselves hardpressed by an Indian with tomahawk in hand, jumped into the river and swam to a little island covered with trees and bushes; the Indians closely followed them. The neighbor who was running ahead, discovered an uprooted tree surrounded by bushes and secreted himself in the cavity. Hardly had the bushes ceased swaying when the savage passed in pursuit of my grandfather, whom he soon overtook. He was gone about long enough to scalp a man when he returned past the uprooted tree, peering this way and that, in search of the other but did not discover him.

     He kept quiet until the dusk of evening, hearing my grandfather’s groans until the time the sun went down, when they ceased and all was still. As the evening drew on he crept cautiously from his hiding place. As he did so he hit his foot against something and stooped down and picked up my grandfather’s hat, which he took with him back to the fort, where he arrived about 9 o ‘clock, to tell the sad news of the day’s disaster to the waiting and anxious women and children and to hasten their flight to a place of safety.

THE FLIGHT

     They well knew the Indians would be down upon them in the morning, and they immediately set about making hurried preparations for leaving their homes. My grandmother collected a bag of provisions and a bag of clothing which she put upon one horse, while another horse was provided upon which she and her three children, Lemuel, Phebe and Lorena were to ride alternately. Lorena the youngest child, afterwords my mother, was only seven years old. As soon as the first dawn of day light appeared they started on their weary, perilous journey. Early as it was they were none to hastely in their flight for before the sun arose they looked back and. saw smoke of their burning homes, and expected to be pursued by their savage foes. They slept the first night in a house which had been deserted by its former owner for fear of the Indians, but the three, successive nights were passed in the woods without shelter. The tired children feeling secure with their heads upon their mother's laps slept soundly while she watched, the livelong nights, listening to the howling wolves, and to the rustle of the leaves which in her excited imagination was the stealthy tread of an Indian. After the second day's journey one of their horses became so lame, they were obliged to abandon it. They reached the river and put their little store of clothing and provisions upon a raft to go down the stream some miles, to a ford where they intended crossing so as to have the full benefit of their one horse. After doing so they heard that the Indians were in that direction and were afraid to go further down the river, so crossed in another place, and never saw or heard anything more of their baggage.

     After this they were obliged to subsist as they could, as they pursued (?) their difficult pilgrimage through that then sparsely settled country. At one time they went from Thursday to Sunday afternoon without food and then met a party of friendly Indians returning from a hunting tour, who gave them what provisions they had to relieve them of their present hunger. They were several weeks on this wearisome journey to her father’ s hone in Bristol, Conn., Meanwhile her father hearing of the Massacre of the Wyoming settlers and learning that his daughter had started for home, sent her brothers to meet her. The latter, not knowing the route she had taken, missed her on the way and she reached home before him. Her father saw her approaching the house with her children, and as he went out to meet her, she fell into his arms and burst into tears: the first tears she had shed since that fatal night when the stunning news was brought to her that her husband was dead, massacred, and she must seek safety for herself and children in speedy flight. No wonder that the scenes of that eventful period of her life were indelibly impressed upon her mind, and that she retained a vivid recollection of all the circumstances connected therewith, and could relate then accurately even down to extreme old age when more recent events had entirely faded from her memory.

     My grandfather's hat which was brought back to the fort after the massacre, she kept for many years, and her grandchildren remember to have seen it, but it became lost during the latter portion of her life.

     After her return from Wyoming she lived with her father. Her children grew up and left her and were married. When her father had become aged and infirm, past 90 years old, and had lost his hearing, he used to sit in his arm chair before the fire and dose away the time. One day she left him for a short time and. during her absence the house took fire from the roof. The wind was high and when the fire was discovered it was too late to save the house and it was with difficulty that her father was saved from the flames. Thus she was again left homeless. Her father lived but a short time after that, when she went to live with her youngest daughter (our mother) who had married Lynde Phelps of Burlington, Conn. My grandmother assisted my mother in raising a family of seven daughters, in whom she always took the most lively interest, and whom have always remembered with gratitude her kind motherly care. She died about 1840, in the 95th year of her age, having been an inmate of my father's family for nearly 40 years.

HER DESCENDANTS

     Lemuel, the only son of Aaron and Catherine Gaylord, was born Feb. 14, 1765. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War when only 15 years old, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. After the war he went back to Wyoming, where he married Silvia Murray, daughter of Rev. Noah Murray. He settled in Illinois and had a family of seven sons and three daughters. Of their descendants the writer knows but little.

     Phebe, the eldest daughter, married Lewis Frisbie of Burlington, Conn. and removed to Orvell, Penn. in 1800, where she died in the year 1852. They had two daughters and three sons: names Chauncey, Laura, Catherine, Lewis and Jebulon. The rest married and settled Bradford County, Penn. where many of their descendants are now living.

OUR BRANCH

     Lorena, the youngest daughter of Aaron and Catherine Gaylord was married (as has been previously stated) to Lynde Phelps of Burlington, Conn., in 1799. Lynde Phelps was a descendant of Samuel Phelps, one of the Colonists who came over from England in order that they might enjoy greater liberty of Conscience in the New World. He came to this country in the same vessel with William Gaylord in 1630 and settled with him in New Winsor, Conn. Lynde Phelps was of Scotch descent and the family at one time bore the name of Philips. His father‘s name was Joshua. He died before the writer was born. His mother’s name was Hannah Birge, a women of superior mind, combined with great firmness and decision of Character, and blended with Gentleness and refinement. She lived to the good old age or 96. Lovena, youngest daughter of Aaron Gaylord and wife of Lynde Phelps, was the mother of seven children all daughters.

     Maulla the eldest, married Chauncey Brooks of Burlington Conn. and settled in Baltimore, Md. She died in 1861, leaving a family of six sons, Walter B. who resides in Baltimore, Henry P. (deceased, wife and children living in Baltimore), Thorndyke, now living in Sykeville, Md., John C. residing in Baltimore, Franklin L. (deceased unmarried) Albert, Baltimore.

     Phebe Gaylord, second daughter, married Viel Bradley of Meriden, Conn. and they now reside in Plainville, Conn. They had three sons and two daughters, Lynde Phelps, Plainville, Helen M. (marries Seymour Potter and both now living in Plainville James Wolf, Plainville, Hoyt H. Deceased, wife and son living in Burlington, Mary E. (widow of Baxter Gridley, living in Southington

     Laura third daughter, married Isaac P. Steel of New Hartford Conn. He died in 1857. They had nine children. Newell, (deceased unmarried) Catherine, (unmarried), James G. Woodward, both now living in Toringford(?) Conn, Herbert A. New Hartford, R. Gaylord New Hartford, Abby Ann, (deceased unmarried) Angeline L. (now teaching in South Africa) Caroline, (married Alfred B. Humphrey both now living in Oregon) Cordelia, (married Seth C. Paine, both living in New Hartford)

     Mary (the writer of this sketch) fourth daughter of Lynde Phelps and Lorena Gaylord, married Almeron Marks of Burlington, Conn. and settled in Durham New York. They had three sons and two daughters. Mr. Marks died in 1853 and in 1862 his widow became the second wife of Chauncey Brooks of Baltimore where she and her husband now reside, Cordelia, oldest child of Almeron Marks and Mary Phelps, Marries Zadoc A, Ward. They are now living in Pittsfield, Mass. Arthur now living in Detroit Mich, Constant R. in Sioux City, Iowa, and Roland P. in Chicago, Ill. Mary Lorena the youngest married Alexander Whaler of Bridgeport, Conn, where they now live.

     Lorena and Lovena Phelps were twins. Lorena died at the age of 18 years. Lorena married Luman Spencer. They are now living in Burlington, Conn. They had one son, Edward Phelps who is now living in Burlington, Conn.

     Caroline the youngest daughter of Lynde and Lorena Phelps married William Pierce of Durham, New York, where they still live, They had two daughters, Caroline (married Grove Smith) and Fidelia all of whom are living in Durham, N.Y.

     The writer, one of the daughters of Lynde and Lorena Phelps and granddaughter of Aaron and Catherine Gaylord, now a grandmother herself, at age 73 years, has been induced at the request of her children and grandchildren, to writeout this simple narrative of facts respecting the massacre of Wyoming as she learned them from her grandmother that they might he remembered and seem more real and, less like fiction.

Mary Phelps Marks Brooks

The Gaylord Family

The Wyoming Massacre

Last Updated: 9/12/00

Hits since 9/12/00: [an error occurred while processing this directive]