There are several accounts of Fort Seybert and the Indian attack on 28 April 1758. The following is assembled based on these accounts.
Johan Jacob Seybert (Jacob) came from Eisleben, Germany to America with his mother Johanna and step-father Heinrich Lorentz, along with other kin, arriving in Philadelphia on 9 Sep 1738 on the ship Glascow from Rotterdam. He settled for some time Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he married Maria Elizabetha Theiss in Tulpehocken. At least their first chilren were born in Berks County. According to family lore, when they moved to Augusta County, Virgina, they came from Frederick, Maryland.
On 21 May 1755, Jacob purchased a mill and lands from John Patton, Jr. The mill stood on the west bank of the South Fork, South Branch of the Potomac River in what was then August County, Virginia, and is now Brandywine, Pendelton County, West Virginia near where Rt 3 (Sweedlin Valley Road) crosses the river.
This was during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and the area was in constant danger from Indian attacks, as the French had promised rewards in exchange for scalps, as well as the return of their lands. In 1756, a plan was made to build forts along the frontier in Augusta County for the protection of the settlers in the region.
In March 1757, Jacob Seybert was commissioned Captain to head up the militia on the South Branch. At that time, a fort was built on Jacob's land within 100 yards of the mill, and the fort was called Fort Seybert. There are two descriptions of the fort, one being a rectangular collection of cabins, a blockhouse, and a stockade. A more credible description is provided by Morton (1910):
"There was a circular stockade with a two-storied blockhouse inside. The diameter of the stockade was about 90 feet. According to the practice of the day, the wall was composed of logs set in contact with one another and rising at least ten feet above the ground. For going in or out there was a heavy gate constructed of puncheons. The blockhouse stood near the center of the circle, and was apparently about 21 feet square. From loopholes in the upper room the open space around the stockade could be commanded by the garrison."
On 27 April 1758, Chief Bemino, known also as John Killbuck, lead a party of about 40 Shawnees in an attack on Fort Upper Tract, about 12 miles northwest of Fort Seybert. The attack left twenty-two persons massacred and the fort burnt to the ground – there were no survivors. The following morning, his forces attacked Fort Seybert. Many of the men of Fort Seybert were away on business across the Shenandoah mountain, and only three men were left to defend the fort. At some point during the furious assault, Nicholas Seybert, Jacob's son at 17 years of age, shot one of the Indians in the head who briefly raised from his cover behind a rock (he would be the only Indian fatality in the attack, and he died later of his wounds on the trail). Killbuck offered to spare the lives of the defenders if they would surrender. Low on ammunition and sensing helplessness, Captain Jacob Seybert was prepared to open the gate to parlay with the Indians. There are multiple versions of what happened next – in one story, Nicholas disagreed with his father's decision and threatened to kill his father rather than let him surrender the fort, but Nicholas was overpowered by the other defenders – in another version, Nicholas fired at Killbuck, but his father had pushed the rifle down and the ball hit the ground at Killbuck's feet. Either way, the gate was opened and Indians charged into the fort, and Killbuck struck Captain Seybert in the mouth using the pipe end of his tomahawk. (During the immediate confusion of the scene, one defender escaped – a man named Robinson.)
The Indians spared eleven lives that day, killing the rest. One of the people spared was Nicholas, who would later recount:
"They bound ten, whom they conveyed without the fort, and then proceeded to massacre the others in the following manner: They seated them in a row upon a log, with an Indian standing behind each; and at a given signal, each Indian sunk his tomahawk into the head of his victim: an additional blow or two dispatched them." (Kercheval, page 80)
The eleventh person saved was Sarah (Dyer) Hawes, who had fainted after seeing her father, Roger Dyer, killed, and who was taken along with the ten bound survivors. The party left, first climbing South Fork Mountain, reaching Greenawalt Gap by nightfall. It was here the Indian mortally wounded by Nicholas died of his wounds. According to Morton, there was a verbal exchange between Nicholas and Killbuck after this death in which Killbuck praised Nicholas, "Brave boy – you'll make a good warrior. But don't tell my people what you did."
Among the seventeen to twenty-one killed by the Indians were Captain Jacob Seybert, his wife Maria Elisabetha (Theiss), and his mother Johanna Lorentz.
The children of Captain Jacob and Elisabetha (Theiss) Seybert who were taken prisoner were:
Nicolas Seybert
John Heinrich Seybert
Christian Seybert
Maria Margaret Seybert
Catherine Seybert
George Seybert
Elizabeth Seybert
(Some family genealogies include an oldest son, John Casper Seiber (1739 - 1804), who appears to have not been at the fort during the attack, and was not listed among those taken captive.)
Nicholas was sold to the French and taken to Canada, where he escaped in 1761. The other Seyberts were released after the War in 1764. Sarah Hawes was rescued by her brother-in-law seven years after being taken captive.
Sources:
Kercheval, Samuel. (1850). A History of the Valley of Virginia (2nd edition). Woodstock, Virginia.
Lough, Alonzo Dice (June 13, 18, & 19, 1919). Fort Seybert Massacre. The Daily Independent. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Morton, Oren F. (1910). A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia. Ruebush-Elkins Company.
Talbot, Mary Lee Keister. (1937). The Dyer Settlement: The Fort Seybert Massacre, Fort Seybert, West Virginia. Larson-Dingle Printing Co. Chicago, Illinois.
Johan Jacob Seybert (Jacob) came from Eisleben, Germany to America with his mother Johanna and step-father Heinrich Lorentz, along with other kin, arriving in Philadelphia on 9 Sep 1738 on the ship Glascow from Rotterdam. He settled for some time Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he married Maria Elizabetha Theiss in Tulpehocken. At least their first chilren were born in Berks County. According to family lore, when they moved to Augusta County, Virgina, they came from Frederick, Maryland.
On 21 May 1755, Jacob purchased a mill and lands from John Patton, Jr. The mill stood on the west bank of the South Fork, South Branch of the Potomac River in what was then August County, Virginia, and is now Brandywine, Pendelton County, West Virginia near where Rt 3 (Sweedlin Valley Road) crosses the river.
This was during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and the area was in constant danger from Indian attacks, as the French had promised rewards in exchange for scalps, as well as the return of their lands. In 1756, a plan was made to build forts along the frontier in Augusta County for the protection of the settlers in the region.
In March 1757, Jacob Seybert was commissioned Captain to head up the militia on the South Branch. At that time, a fort was built on Jacob's land within 100 yards of the mill, and the fort was called Fort Seybert. There are two descriptions of the fort, one being a rectangular collection of cabins, a blockhouse, and a stockade. A more credible description is provided by Morton (1910):
"There was a circular stockade with a two-storied blockhouse inside. The diameter of the stockade was about 90 feet. According to the practice of the day, the wall was composed of logs set in contact with one another and rising at least ten feet above the ground. For going in or out there was a heavy gate constructed of puncheons. The blockhouse stood near the center of the circle, and was apparently about 21 feet square. From loopholes in the upper room the open space around the stockade could be commanded by the garrison."
On 27 April 1758, Chief Bemino, known also as John Killbuck, lead a party of about 40 Shawnees in an attack on Fort Upper Tract, about 12 miles northwest of Fort Seybert. The attack left twenty-two persons massacred and the fort burnt to the ground – there were no survivors. The following morning, his forces attacked Fort Seybert. Many of the men of Fort Seybert were away on business across the Shenandoah mountain, and only three men were left to defend the fort. At some point during the furious assault, Nicholas Seybert, Jacob's son at 17 years of age, shot one of the Indians in the head who briefly raised from his cover behind a rock (he would be the only Indian fatality in the attack, and he died later of his wounds on the trail). Killbuck offered to spare the lives of the defenders if they would surrender. Low on ammunition and sensing helplessness, Captain Jacob Seybert was prepared to open the gate to parlay with the Indians. There are multiple versions of what happened next – in one story, Nicholas disagreed with his father's decision and threatened to kill his father rather than let him surrender the fort, but Nicholas was overpowered by the other defenders – in another version, Nicholas fired at Killbuck, but his father had pushed the rifle down and the ball hit the ground at Killbuck's feet. Either way, the gate was opened and Indians charged into the fort, and Killbuck struck Captain Seybert in the mouth using the pipe end of his tomahawk. (During the immediate confusion of the scene, one defender escaped – a man named Robinson.)
The Indians spared eleven lives that day, killing the rest. One of the people spared was Nicholas, who would later recount:
"They bound ten, whom they conveyed without the fort, and then proceeded to massacre the others in the following manner: They seated them in a row upon a log, with an Indian standing behind each; and at a given signal, each Indian sunk his tomahawk into the head of his victim: an additional blow or two dispatched them." (Kercheval, page 80)
The eleventh person saved was Sarah (Dyer) Hawes, who had fainted after seeing her father, Roger Dyer, killed, and who was taken along with the ten bound survivors. The party left, first climbing South Fork Mountain, reaching Greenawalt Gap by nightfall. It was here the Indian mortally wounded by Nicholas died of his wounds. According to Morton, there was a verbal exchange between Nicholas and Killbuck after this death in which Killbuck praised Nicholas, "Brave boy – you'll make a good warrior. But don't tell my people what you did."
Among the seventeen to twenty-one killed by the Indians were Captain Jacob Seybert, his wife Maria Elisabetha (Theiss), and his mother Johanna Lorentz.
The children of Captain Jacob and Elisabetha (Theiss) Seybert who were taken prisoner were:
Nicolas Seybert
John Heinrich Seybert
Christian Seybert
Maria Margaret Seybert
Catherine Seybert
George Seybert
Elizabeth Seybert
(Some family genealogies include an oldest son, John Casper Seiber (1739 - 1804), who appears to have not been at the fort during the attack, and was not listed among those taken captive.)
Nicholas was sold to the French and taken to Canada, where he escaped in 1761. The other Seyberts were released after the War in 1764. Sarah Hawes was rescued by her brother-in-law seven years after being taken captive.
Sources:
Kercheval, Samuel. (1850). A History of the Valley of Virginia (2nd edition). Woodstock, Virginia.
Lough, Alonzo Dice (June 13, 18, & 19, 1919). Fort Seybert Massacre. The Daily Independent. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Morton, Oren F. (1910). A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia. Ruebush-Elkins Company.
Talbot, Mary Lee Keister. (1937). The Dyer Settlement: The Fort Seybert Massacre, Fort Seybert, West Virginia. Larson-Dingle Printing Co. Chicago, Illinois.
There are several accounts of Fort Seybert and the Indian attack on 28 April 1758. The following is assembled based on these accounts.
Johan Jacob Seybert (Jacob) came from Eisleben, Germany to America with his mother Johanna and step-father Heinrich Lorentz, along with other kin, arriving in Philadelphia on 9 Sep 1738 on the ship Glascow from Rotterdam. He settled for some time Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he married Maria Elizabetha Theiss in Tulpehocken. At least their first chilren were born in Berks County. According to family lore, when they moved to Augusta County, Virgina, they came from Frederick, Maryland.
On 21 May 1755, Jacob purchased a mill and lands from John Patton, Jr. The mill stood on the west bank of the South Fork, South Branch of the Potomac River in what was then August County, Virginia, and is now Brandywine, Pendelton County, West Virginia near where Rt 3 (Sweedlin Valley Road) crosses the river.
This was during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and the area was in constant danger from Indian attacks, as the French had promised rewards in exchange for scalps, as well as the return of their lands. In 1756, a plan was made to build forts along the frontier in Augusta County for the protection of the settlers in the region.
In March 1757, Jacob Seybert was commissioned Captain to head up the militia on the South Branch. At that time, a fort was built on Jacob's land within 100 yards of the mill, and the fort was called Fort Seybert. There are two descriptions of the fort, one being a rectangular collection of cabins, a blockhouse, and a stockade. A more credible description is provided by Morton (1910):
"There was a circular stockade with a two-storied blockhouse inside. The diameter of the stockade was about 90 feet. According to the practice of the day, the wall was composed of logs set in contact with one another and rising at least ten feet above the ground. For going in or out there was a heavy gate constructed of puncheons. The blockhouse stood near the center of the circle, and was apparently about 21 feet square. From loopholes in the upper room the open space around the stockade could be commanded by the garrison."
On 27 April 1758, Chief Bemino, known also as John Killbuck, lead a party of about 40 Shawnees in an attack on Fort Upper Tract, about 12 miles northwest of Fort Seybert. The attack left twenty-two persons massacred and the fort burnt to the ground – there were no survivors. The following morning, his forces attacked Fort Seybert. Many of the men of Fort Seybert were away on business across the Shenandoah mountain, and only three men were left to defend the fort. At some point during the furious assault, Nicholas Seybert, Jacob's son at 17 years of age, shot one of the Indians in the head who briefly raised from his cover behind a rock (he would be the only Indian fatality in the attack, and he died later of his wounds on the trail). Killbuck offered to spare the lives of the defenders if they would surrender. Low on ammunition and sensing helplessness, Captain Jacob Seybert was prepared to open the gate to parlay with the Indians. There are multiple versions of what happened next – in one story, Nicholas disagreed with his father's decision and threatened to kill his father rather than let him surrender the fort, but Nicholas was overpowered by the other defenders – in another version, Nicholas fired at Killbuck, but his father had pushed the rifle down and the ball hit the ground at Killbuck's feet. Either way, the gate was opened and Indians charged into the fort, and Killbuck struck Captain Seybert in the mouth using the pipe end of his tomahawk. (During the immediate confusion of the scene, one defender escaped – a man named Robinson.)
The Indians spared eleven lives that day, killing the rest. One of the people spared was Nicholas, who would later recount:
"They bound ten, whom they conveyed without the fort, and then proceeded to massacre the others in the following manner: They seated them in a row upon a log, with an Indian standing behind each; and at a given signal, each Indian sunk his tomahawk into the head of his victim: an additional blow or two dispatched them." (Kercheval, page 80)
The eleventh person saved was Sarah (Dyer) Hawes, who had fainted after seeing her father, Roger Dyer, killed, and who was taken along with the ten bound survivors. The party left, first climbing South Fork Mountain, reaching Greenawalt Gap by nightfall. It was here the Indian mortally wounded by Nicholas died of his wounds. According to Morton, there was a verbal exchange between Nicholas and Killbuck after this death in which Killbuck praised Nicholas, "Brave boy – you'll make a good warrior. But don't tell my people what you did."
Among the seventeen to twenty-one killed by the Indians were Captain Jacob Seybert, his wife Maria Elisabetha (Theiss), and his mother Johanna Lorentz.
The children of Captain Jacob and Elisabetha (Theiss) Seybert who were taken prisoner were:
Nicolas Seybert
John Heinrich Seybert
Christian Seybert
Maria Margaret Seybert
Catherine Seybert
George Seybert
Elizabeth Seybert
(Some family genealogies include an oldest son, John Casper Seiber (1739 - 1804), who appears to have not been at the fort during the attack, and was not listed among those taken captive.)
Nicholas was sold to the French and taken to Canada, where he escaped in 1761. The other Seyberts were released after the War in 1764. Sarah Hawes was rescued by her brother-in-law seven years after being taken captive.
Sources:
Kercheval, Samuel. (1850). A History of the Valley of Virginia (2nd edition). Woodstock, Virginia.
Lough, Alonzo Dice (June 13, 18, & 19, 1919). Fort Seybert Massacre. The Daily Independent. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Morton, Oren F. (1910). A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia. Ruebush-Elkins Company.
Talbot, Mary Lee Keister. (1937). The Dyer Settlement: The Fort Seybert Massacre, Fort Seybert, West Virginia. Larson-Dingle Printing Co. Chicago, Illinois.
Johan Jacob Seybert (Jacob) came from Eisleben, Germany to America with his mother Johanna and step-father Heinrich Lorentz, along with other kin, arriving in Philadelphia on 9 Sep 1738 on the ship Glascow from Rotterdam. He settled for some time Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he married Maria Elizabetha Theiss in Tulpehocken. At least their first chilren were born in Berks County. According to family lore, when they moved to Augusta County, Virgina, they came from Frederick, Maryland.
On 21 May 1755, Jacob purchased a mill and lands from John Patton, Jr. The mill stood on the west bank of the South Fork, South Branch of the Potomac River in what was then August County, Virginia, and is now Brandywine, Pendelton County, West Virginia near where Rt 3 (Sweedlin Valley Road) crosses the river.
This was during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and the area was in constant danger from Indian attacks, as the French had promised rewards in exchange for scalps, as well as the return of their lands. In 1756, a plan was made to build forts along the frontier in Augusta County for the protection of the settlers in the region.
In March 1757, Jacob Seybert was commissioned Captain to head up the militia on the South Branch. At that time, a fort was built on Jacob's land within 100 yards of the mill, and the fort was called Fort Seybert. There are two descriptions of the fort, one being a rectangular collection of cabins, a blockhouse, and a stockade. A more credible description is provided by Morton (1910):
"There was a circular stockade with a two-storied blockhouse inside. The diameter of the stockade was about 90 feet. According to the practice of the day, the wall was composed of logs set in contact with one another and rising at least ten feet above the ground. For going in or out there was a heavy gate constructed of puncheons. The blockhouse stood near the center of the circle, and was apparently about 21 feet square. From loopholes in the upper room the open space around the stockade could be commanded by the garrison."
On 27 April 1758, Chief Bemino, known also as John Killbuck, lead a party of about 40 Shawnees in an attack on Fort Upper Tract, about 12 miles northwest of Fort Seybert. The attack left twenty-two persons massacred and the fort burnt to the ground – there were no survivors. The following morning, his forces attacked Fort Seybert. Many of the men of Fort Seybert were away on business across the Shenandoah mountain, and only three men were left to defend the fort. At some point during the furious assault, Nicholas Seybert, Jacob's son at 17 years of age, shot one of the Indians in the head who briefly raised from his cover behind a rock (he would be the only Indian fatality in the attack, and he died later of his wounds on the trail). Killbuck offered to spare the lives of the defenders if they would surrender. Low on ammunition and sensing helplessness, Captain Jacob Seybert was prepared to open the gate to parlay with the Indians. There are multiple versions of what happened next – in one story, Nicholas disagreed with his father's decision and threatened to kill his father rather than let him surrender the fort, but Nicholas was overpowered by the other defenders – in another version, Nicholas fired at Killbuck, but his father had pushed the rifle down and the ball hit the ground at Killbuck's feet. Either way, the gate was opened and Indians charged into the fort, and Killbuck struck Captain Seybert in the mouth using the pipe end of his tomahawk. (During the immediate confusion of the scene, one defender escaped – a man named Robinson.)
The Indians spared eleven lives that day, killing the rest. One of the people spared was Nicholas, who would later recount:
"They bound ten, whom they conveyed without the fort, and then proceeded to massacre the others in the following manner: They seated them in a row upon a log, with an Indian standing behind each; and at a given signal, each Indian sunk his tomahawk into the head of his victim: an additional blow or two dispatched them." (Kercheval, page 80)
The eleventh person saved was Sarah (Dyer) Hawes, who had fainted after seeing her father, Roger Dyer, killed, and who was taken along with the ten bound survivors. The party left, first climbing South Fork Mountain, reaching Greenawalt Gap by nightfall. It was here the Indian mortally wounded by Nicholas died of his wounds. According to Morton, there was a verbal exchange between Nicholas and Killbuck after this death in which Killbuck praised Nicholas, "Brave boy – you'll make a good warrior. But don't tell my people what you did."
Among the seventeen to twenty-one killed by the Indians were Captain Jacob Seybert, his wife Maria Elisabetha (Theiss), and his mother Johanna Lorentz.
The children of Captain Jacob and Elisabetha (Theiss) Seybert who were taken prisoner were:
Nicolas Seybert
John Heinrich Seybert
Christian Seybert
Maria Margaret Seybert
Catherine Seybert
George Seybert
Elizabeth Seybert
(Some family genealogies include an oldest son, John Casper Seiber (1739 - 1804), who appears to have not been at the fort during the attack, and was not listed among those taken captive.)
Nicholas was sold to the French and taken to Canada, where he escaped in 1761. The other Seyberts were released after the War in 1764. Sarah Hawes was rescued by her brother-in-law seven years after being taken captive.
Sources:
Kercheval, Samuel. (1850). A History of the Valley of Virginia (2nd edition). Woodstock, Virginia.
Lough, Alonzo Dice (June 13, 18, & 19, 1919). Fort Seybert Massacre. The Daily Independent. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Morton, Oren F. (1910). A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia. Ruebush-Elkins Company.
Talbot, Mary Lee Keister. (1937). The Dyer Settlement: The Fort Seybert Massacre, Fort Seybert, West Virginia. Larson-Dingle Printing Co. Chicago, Illinois.
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