Murder of John Tidd, 23 June 1757

From the journal of Captain Johannes Van Etten, 1757, as reprinted in “Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania”:

“[June 1757:]

23. In the morning, near Eleven O’c, the fort was allarm’d by some of the neighbours who had made their escape from the Enemy, five of them in Company near Brawdhead’s [Brodhead’s] house, seeking their horses in order to go to mill, was fir’d upon by the Enemy, and said that one of them, John Tidd by name, was Kill’d, whereupon I immediately Draughted out 9 men, myself making the tents, in as private a manner as possible, and as privately went back into the mountains in order to make a discovery… […Here follows an account of pursuing and driving off the Indians...] Being come, we found him Kill’d and Scalp’d, his Body and face Cut in an inhuman manner, Cattle also lying dead on the Ground, where upon they all went of and left me with my small number to take care of the Dead man; whereupon we took him up and Returned to the fort; in which time my men that went to Easton Return’d to the fort.

24. Att about nine in the morning, having made redy, I went with 18 men and buried the man [Tidd], then went from the grave in search and found 15 Cattle, Horses and hogs dead, besides two that was shot, one with 5 bulits, the other with one, and yet there are many missing, out of which the Enemy took, as we Judg, the value of two Beaves and almost one Swine – in the Evening sent an Express by two men to the Maj’rs.”