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No work upon Erie County
would be complete without a sketch of the career of Gen. Anthony Wayne, whose
last sickness, death and burial are inseparably associated with its history.
He was born in the township of Eastown, Chester County, Penn.,
on the 1st of January, 1745, being the son of Isaac Wayne, who served several
terms as a member of the Provincial Legislature and took part in one or more
Indian expeditions. After receiving a good education, Anthony embraced the
profession of a surveyor, at which he was engaged for a brief period in his
native county. In 1765-66, he visited Nova Scotia
as the agent of a Philadelphia
land association, and on returning home was elected to several county
offices. He formed an early friendship with Dr.Franklin,
and, like him, was one of the first to espouse the cause of American
independence. A member of the Assembly in 1774, and of the Provincial Convention
in the same year, to consider the troubles with Great Britain, he became one of
the Committee of Safety in 1775. Believing war to be inevitable, he resigned
his civil office in September, and, after some time spent in military study
and practice, raised a regiment, of which he was commissioned Colonel. His
first service was with Gen. Sullivan in the spring of 1776, and he bore a
brilliant part in the battle of three Rivers,
Canada. When
the expedition returned, he was placed in charge of the posts of Ticonderoga
and Mt. Independence. In February, 1777, he
was commissioned a Brigadier General, and served with Washington
in the New Jersey and Delaware Valley
campaign. On the 20th of September, 1777, while stationed at Paoli, near his Chester County home, with a detachment of
1,500 men, his position was betrayed by some tories
to the enemy, who fell upon him during the night and killed and wounded
one-tenth of his command. By Wayne's
coolness and bravery, his little army was rallied, and retreated to a place
of safety. This was the affair generally known as the
"Massacre of Paoli"
"A court-martial convened by Gen. Washington, at Wayne's urgent request,
decided, after minute investigation, that he did everything that could be
expected from an active, brave and gallant officer under the orders which he
then had." He led the attack of the American right wing at Germantown, and received the special applause of Washington for his
conduct at Monmouth. His surprise and capture of Stony Point, one of the
strongest British positions on the Hudson,
was among the most gallant events of the war, and elicited resolutions of
thanks from Congress and the Legislature of Pennsylvania. After other
valuable services in the North, Wayne
was transferred to the South, where he co-operated with marked skill in the
operations which led to the surrender of Cornwallis. His last sphere of duty
during the Revolution was in Georgia,
from which he succeeded in driving the enemy. He was distinguished in all
councils of war for supporting the most energetic measures, from which and
from his wonderful dash and courage, he won the popular appellation of
"Mad Anthony." At the close of the war, he retired to his farm in Chester County. He was called in 1789 to serve
in the Pennsylvania
convention, and in that body advocated the adoption of the United States
Constitution with all of his old-time earnestness and patriotism.
His Western Campaign
In the year 1792, Wayne
was commissioned a Major General, and assigned to the Northwestern frontier,
for the purpose of forcing the Indians into subjection. After various minor
engagements, he gained a signal victory over the savages on the Maumee, in August,
1794. His skill, promptness and bravery made a strong impression among the
hostile tribes, and they hastened to sue for forgiveness. He was then
appointed sole Commissioner to deal with them on the part of the United States, and effected a treaty of peace
at Greenville, Ohio,
in 1795, which paved the way for the settlement of Northwestern Pennsylvania
and Northern Ohio.
Sickness and Death
Gen. Wayne's mission being fulfilled, in the fall of 1796 he embarked in a
small vessel at Detroit for Presque Isle, now Erie, on his way
homeward. During the passage down the lake, he was attacked with the gout, which
had afflicted him for some years, and been much aggravated by his exposure in
the Western wilds. The vessel being without suitable remedies, he could
obtain no relief, and on landing at Presque Isle was in a dangerous
condition. By his own request, he was taken to one of the block houses on the
Garrison tract, the attic of which had been fitted up as a sleeping
apartment. Dr. J. C. Wallace, who had served with him as a surgeon during his
Indian campaign, and who was familiar with his disease, was then stationed at
Fort Fayette,
Pittsburgh.
The General sent a messenger for the doctor, and the latter started instantly
for Erie, but on reaching Franklin was astonished to learn the news
of his death, which occurred on the 15th of December, 1796. During his illness
every attention was paid to the distinguished invalid that circumstances
would permit. Two days after his death the body was buried, as he had
directed, in a plain coffin, with his uniform and boots on, at the foot of
the flagstaff of the block-house. Among those who helped to lay out and inter
the remains was Capt. Daniel Dobbins, long one of the best known citizens of Erie. The opt of the
coffin was marked with the initials of his name, "A. W.," his age
and the year of his decease in round-headed brass tacks, driven into the
wood.
His Appearance and Bearing
An account of Gen. Wayne at the age of thirty two describes him as
"about middle size, with a firm, manly countenance, commanding port and
eagle eye. His looks corresponded well with his character, indicating a soul
noble, ardent and daring. In his intercourse with his officers and men, he
was affable and agreeable, and had the art of communicating to their bosoms
the gallant and chivalrous spirit which glowed in his own. * * * His dress
was scrupulously neat and elegant, his movements were quick, his manners easy
and graceful."
Disinterment of the Remains
In the fall of 1808, Gen. Wayne's daughter, Mrs. Altee,
was taken seriously ill. While upon her sick bed, she was seized with a
strong desire to have her father's remains moved to the family burying
ground. Realizing that it was her last sickness and anxious to console her
dying moments, Col. Isaac Wayne, the General's son, consented to come on to Erie for the purpose of
complying with her wishes. The journey was made in the spring of 1809,
through what was then a wilderness for much of the distance, with a horse and
sulky. On arriving in Erie, Col. Wayne put up at Buehler's Hotel, and sent
for Dr. Wallace, the same one who had been called to minister to the General.
The Doctor agreed to attend to the disinterment and preparation of the
remains, and Col. Wayne gave him entire charge of the operation, declining to
witness it on the ground that he preferred to remember his father as he knew
him when living. Thirteen years having elapsed, it was supposed that the
corpse would be decomposed, but, on opening the grave, all present were
amazed to find the body petrified with the exception of one foot and leg,
which were partially gone. The boot on the unsound leg had decayed and most
of the clothing was missing. Dr. Wallace separated the body into convenient
parts and placed them in a kettle of boiling water until the flesh could be
removed from the bones. He then carefully scraped the bones, packed them in a
small box and returned the flesh, with the implements used in the operation,
to the coffin, which has been left undisturbed, and it was again covered over
with earth. The box was secured to Col. Wayne's sulky and carried to Eastern
Pennsylvania, where the contents were deposited in a second grave among those
of the General's deceased relatives. In the labor of dissection, which took
place on the garrison grounds, Dr. Wallace was assisted by Robert Murray,
Robert Irwin, Richard Clement and perhaps others. Gen. Wayne's sound boot was
given to James Duncan, who found that it fitted him, had a mate made for it
and wore the pair until they could no longer be used.
Appearance of the Body
At the time of the disinterment, Capt. Dobbins and family were living on the
Garrison grounds in a large building erected for the use of the commanding
officer. Mrs. Dobbins was allowed to look at the body, with some of her lady
acquaintances, and obtained a lock of the dead hero's hair. She had a vivid
recollection of the incident when nearly in her one hundredth year. The body,
she said, was not hard like stone, but was more of the consistency of soft
chalk. The hairs of the head pulled out readily, and the general appearance
of the corpse was much like that of a plaster of Paris cast.
In explanation of Dr. Wallace's course, it is argued that he acted in
accordance with what the circumstances of the case seemed to require. It was
necessary that the remains should be placed in as small a space as possible,
to accommodate the means of conveyance. Col. Wayne is reported to have said,
in regard to the affair: "I always regretted it; had I known the state
the remains were in before separated I think I should certainly have had them
again deposited there and let them rest, and had a monument erected to his
memory."
William H. Holstein, a grandson of Gen. Wayne, in a letter printed in the
Erie Observer of February 13, 1880, states that "Col. Wayne was
not aware of the condition of his father's remains until all was completed or
he would not have consented to the removal."
A Second Disinterment
Some years ago, Dr. Germer, of Erie, who has a
profound veneration for Wayne's memory, read a sketch of the burial and
removal, and was prompted to look up the place of the grave. He first ascertained
the site of the blockhouse, which had long before disappeared with the other
structures, and digging down at the probably foot of the flagstaff readily
found the grave and coffin. The lid of the coffin, with the initials, etc.,
before described, upon it, was fairly preserved, but the balance had mostly
rotted away. Largely through the efforts of Dr. Germer
and Capt. Welsh, an appropriation was obtained from the Legislature, with
which a substantial log block-house in imitation of the original was built to
mark the site, and the grounds were surrounded by a railing with cannon at
each of the four corners. The grave has been neatly and substantially built
up with stone, and the coffin lid, with other relics of the early days, is
carefully sheltered within the block-house -- the whole forming as
appropriate a monument to the hero as could well be devised.
His Eastern Tomb
The Wayne family burial ground, where the bones of the gallant General
repose, is in the cemetery attached to St. David's Episcopal Church, at
Radnor, Delaware County, not far from the Chester County line, less than an
hour's walk from Wayne Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and fourteen
miles west from Philadelphia. Not far distant is Paoli, the scene of the
massacre which was so brilliantly avenged at Stony Point. The Pennsylvania
State Society of the Cincinnati erected a monument over the grave on the 4th
of July, 1809, which is still in position. In close proximity are the last
resting places of Gen. Wayne's wife, son and daughter, and of numerous
relations. The house where Wayne was born, near Paoli, is still standing, or
was in 1876, and his descendants, who occupy it, have collected and preserved
many articles of interest as having been associated with his long and illustrious
career.
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