Hello You-All, Several years ago, John Mallery took over as superintendant of public schools in Warren County, PA; John is the husband of a lady in my family tree. When he took over, he discovered the famous painting of Chief Cornplanter hanging in a small schoolhouse which was to be shut down as it only was used by 4 - 5 students. Thereafter, he took the painting to his office, where it hung for about 12 years. Then, he donated the painting to the Warren County Historical Society, where it can be seen to this day. John told me at our "Tidioute History Tour" last July 1999 that the painting of Cornplanter was done in Philadelphia, PA. Doug Cornplanter Indian Grant - In the northwestern part of Warren county. Named >for Chief Cornplanter, A Seneca chieftain to whom the lands were given by the >Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1791. Located in Elk township, nearly all of >the Grant Lands were taken by the United States Corps of Engineers when the >Kinzua Dam-Allegheny River Reservoir was constructed in 1966. The few acres >of Grant Lands not taken are nearly inaccessible and are not inhabited. The >story of Cornplanter and his people is a most interesting one and not well >known, so it is presented briefly here. Cornplanter was a half-breed whose >Dutch father was John Abeel of Albany and his mother was a Seneca woman from >an important family. Born near Avon, New York, about 1752, the young >half-breed lived, fought, thought, and finally died as an Indian. >Fortunately, he inherited the best virtues of both the white and Indian blood >from which he stemmed. After the British victory at Quebec and the peace of >1763, the French withdrew from what is today northwestern Pennsylvania. >Later, the Seneca joined with Pontiac who led an unsuccessful conspiracy in >an attempt to expel the English from the Ohio Valley region. Defeated in this >attempt, the Seneca traveled in greater numbers than before into the >Allegheny River area and by 1775 were generally settled in towns from the >present Kinzua Dam site to Olean, New York. At a council meeting at Oswego in >July 1777, the greater part of the Six Nations decided to fight on the side >of the British during the Revolutionary War. Cornplanter and a few others >seemed loath to approve this decision but they were outvoted and after the >matter was settled, they fully supported the Indian cause. Cornplanter was >among the Indian leaders made a Captain by the British. By 1779 the Seneca >found they had guessed wrong in siding with the British. General Sullivan in >New York State and Colonel Daniel Broadhead in Western Pennsylvania had >burned their crops and towns, defeated them in battle, and made life >extremely difficult. It must be remembered that west of the Alleghenies, the >Revolution was chiefly an Indian fight with Mohawk Joseph Brant, serving the >British interest among the tribes. When peace came in 1782, these western >Indians had trouble believing the British had been defeated, for the >Americans were still holed up in Fort Pitt and did not act like victors! >About this time Cornplanter moved to the upper Allegheny River region and >became the spokesman for the Seneca located there. His leadership, though >several times taken away from him for short periods when he did not follow >the wishes of his people, was solidly based. For one thing, his uncle was >Kiasutha, who had been a brilliant leader of the western New York Seneca, and >for another, his mother and wife both came from prominent Seneca families. >More important, Cornplanter had shown his prowess in battle, and his >diplomatic skill and his ability to speak for his people were demonstrated at >Oswego and Fort Stanwix. Recognizing his ability, the Americans supported >Cornplanter and relied on his influence. They used his services often. Joseph >Brant's British leanings were increasingly unpopular and he did not attend >the meetings at Fort Stanwix. His place was taken by a Mohawk chieftain and >Cornplanter. Cornplanter's determination to live at peace with the Americans >seemed to be gaining favor. Cornplanter was called on to aid Pennsylvania at >the treaty of Fort Harmar (Marietta, Ohio) in 1789. At this assembly >Pennsylvania materially bettered its title to Indian lands included in the >now famous Erie Triangle area. Following the treaty, one of the >commissioners, General Richard Butler, wrote President Mifflin of the >Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council suggesting a gift of land to the >Seneca leader for past services and "to fix his attachment to the State." On >January 22, 1791, Mifflin, who had now become governor, recommended that a >land gift be made by the new legislature. In place of land within the Erie >Triangle, however, Cornplanter requested three separate tracts elsewhere, and >an act granting this request was passed January 29 and approved three days >later. A survey of the tracts was ordered two days after that. As finally >surveyed, one tract was called " Richland", near the present site of West >Hickory in Forest county, and this was promptly sold by the chief to his good >friend, General John Wilkins Jr. Another, the "Gift" tract, was the site of >the present Oil City and included a famous oil spring much used by the >Indians. This was sold in 1818, and it is said Cornplanter received worthless >money and notes as payment, but neither he nor his heirs ever succeeded in >recovering the land or securing suitable payment. The third tract, "Planter's >Field", comprised six hundred acres on the west side of the Allegheny River, >beginning just south of the New York state line. It included Jenuch-Shadega, >the main town of Cornplanter and his people, and two river islands called >"Donation" and "Liberality". These lands were given Cornplanter in fee, and >the land remaining at the Grant is still owned by his heirs. It is tax-exempt >but not an ordinary reservation and the national government has no special >jurisdiction over it. The fact that Cornplanter personally owned the land >made it a natural haven for many Indians who were fearful of the gradual but >steady encroachment upon their lands by white settlers. In 1866 Pennsylvania >erected a monument on the Grant in memory of Cornplanter and this was the >first monument erected in honor of an Indian in the United States. Off and on >over the years the Quakers conducted a school on the Grant. In 1857 the >Commonwealth supplied a teacher and building and continued to do so until the >Indian school closed forever in 1953. With the construction of the Kinzua Dam >in 1966, all but a few acres of the Grant Lands have disappeared beneath the >waters. > >To be continued................ > >Dennis R. Davis >R8459@aol.com > >