Item 34: A Copy by Zebulon Butler of His Original Letter to J[ohn Henry] Antes (removed to legal box #1), 1783 December 24
Item — Box: 10, Folder: 34
Dates
- Created: 1783 December 24
Creator
- Butler, Zebulon, 1731-1795 (Person)
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Letter.
Condition Note:
Good. Lightly tattered edges, some very minor folds, and a light browning of the paper present.
Measurements:
12 ⅞ in. x 8 ¼ in.
Description:
This letter, dated December 24, 1783, is written by Zebulon Butler, a lieutenant colonel during the American Revolutionary War, and is addressed to Revolutionary War veteran John Henry Antes, who is also known for building and defending Fort Antes near the Susquehanna River.
In the letter, Butler is writing to Antes to discuss the recent mistreatment of inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley. He writes that Daniel Gore is bringing with him a number of complaints from those residing in the valley after their struggles, noting that it will not be hard to sympathize with their experience. Butler also writes that, as the case will be made plainly in the accounts granted, that should Daniel Gore require bail under a Writ of Replevin, a court order directing the seizure and return of wrongfully taken or detained personal property to its rightful owner, that it should not be difficult for him to obtain one.
The suffering and experience of the inhabitants that Butler is addressing, though not explained explicitly by Butler, is likely referring to the third Yankee Pennamite War due to the time of the letter. The Yankee Pennamite Wars were a three part war between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, as they attempted to resolve a dispute over the land in the upper regions of what is now Pennsylvania. King Charles II granted the land twice, once to Connecticut in 1662, and again to William Penn as he founded Pennsylvania in 1681.
The Third Yankee Pennamite War was a military conflict following the Decree of Trenton decision to grant Pennsylvania ownership to the lands after decades of conflict between Connecticut and Pennsylvania. However, while the Decree of Trenton gave Pennsylvania the right to soil, it did not give them the right to title. Pennsylvania, however, under the command of the Pennsylvania Assembly and Patterson, forcibly removed “one-hundred and fifty” Connecticut families from their homes under Patterson’s command. They forced the families to “find their way through the wilderness of the Lackawaxen to the Delaware Valley, a distance of about eighty miles,” without supplies or clothing to sustain them (Gnichtel, The Trenton Decree of 1782). The violence and brutality levied by Patterson’s troops was so severe that it drew attention from neighboring states, and condemnation on the governing bodies of Pennsylvania. That critique ultimately led the Pennsylvania Assembly to remove Patterson from his position within the valley around July 1784, replacing him with colonel John Armstrong.
Location:
Wyoming, PA
Transcription:
Wyoming 24 Dec 1783
Dear Sir
I adress (sic) [address] you as A Magistrate of the
County. Mr. Daniel Gore will
Waite (sic) [wait] on you with A number of
Complaints Respecting the treatment
the people have hear (sic) [here]. Sir after you
Peruse them you will be abel (sic) [able] to Direct
him what way to proceed he with A
Number of others are in A Distressed
Situation and apply to you and others
in Office for Relief or Direction
As the papers he will produce will
be Sufficient to Inform you of their
Distress I need not add only that
Mr. Gore may be Depended on and if
he should want Bail for a Writt (sic) [writ]
of Replevin it will be safe for
any man to give it.
I am sir with Esteem your
most Od[edien]t Humbl[e] Serv[an]t
Zeb[ulo]n Butler
J Antes Esq[ui]r[e]
Back:
Coppy (sic) [Copy] Letter to J[ohn] Antis Esq[ui]r[e] Date 24th Dec[ember] 1783
Back:
Coppy (sic) [Copy] Letter to J[ohn] Antis Esq[ui]r[e] Date 24th Dec[ember] 1783
Creator
- Butler, Zebulon, 1731-1795 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu