The Wyoming Massacre of the Revolutionary War
This story describes the tragic end of three of our cousins:
John Abbott (1741-1778) – second cousin (eight times removed)
Stephen Fuller (1755-1778) – third cousin (seven times removed)
Thomas Fuller (1757-1778) – third cousin (seven times removed)
Our direct line of Abbott ancestors stayed in Massachusetts all the way through Arthur Merrill Abbott, but some of our cousins started wandering away from Massachusetts soon after settlement in New England. One of those was Philip Abbott (1699-1748) a grandson of George Abbott (1615-1681) and Hannah Chandler (1630-1711). George and Hannah are our direct ancestors and four of their 13 children are also our direct ancestors. Philip was a son of William (1657-1713) who is not one of our direct line.
Philip Abbott, two of his brothers, and one of his sisters went to Windham, Connecticut by about 1720. Philip married Abigail Bickford (1703-?) and they had seven children. Two of the children of Philip and Abigail are featured in this story.
John Abbott (1741-1778) married Alice Fuller (1741-1816) and Mary Abbott (1732-1803) married Alice’s brother Stephen Fuller (1730-1813). These two families and other extended family members packed up and headed out to Pennsylvania where they settled and had many children.
Our cousin John Abbott and two of his nephews, Stephen Fuller and Thomas Fuller, were killed in the aftermath of the Battle of Wyoming, Pennsylvania which occurred July 3, 1778.
John Abbott was a private in the Connecticut militia although he was living in Pennsylvania at the time of the Revolutionary War. The Battle of Wyoming was part of a campaign by the British to wage a guerilla war against colonial frontier settlers. The British recruited colonial Loyalists who were under the command of Colonel John Butler; this militia was known as Butler’s Rangers. Other British commanders recruited native warriors such as Seneca. These bands conducted raids on frontier settlements. In the summer of 1778, they decided on raids of the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania where our cousins were living. The Loyalist troops with Seneca warriors engaged the little trained Patriot militia men on July 3, 1778. The Loyalist forces numbered about 1,000 compared to 350 Patriots. It is reported that the Loyalist forces had 3 killed while all but 60 of the Patriots were killed. This included the taking of 227 scalps. Raiding in the area in the aftermath included burning 1,000 homes of the settlers. There were reported follow-up raids by Iroquois with more killing of settlers. The aftermath also included regrouped Patriot militias conducting raids on Indian villages in the area.
After the massacre, most of our cousins remained in Pennsylvania. However, Alice, the widow of John Abbott, had nine children and was left destitute. It is reported that she walked with her children the 300 miles back to Connecticut.
Family group sheet for John Abbott and Alice Fuller: http://sites.rootsmagic.com/colonialgenealogy/family.php?f=2965
Family group sheet for Stephen Fuller and Mary Abbott: http://sites.rootsmagic.com/colonialgenealogy/family.php?f=2963