An Early History of Thomas McMicking
by E. L. Dennis
(archived by Ontario Historical Society)
Thomas McMicking was born in Gallowayshire, Scotland in 1750A.D. and immigrated to the United States with his mother, sister, and her two children about the beginning of the revolutionary war and settled near the mouth of the Delaware River.
During the war his sister, her two children and himself were taken prisoners by the Indians. His mother alone escaping, she being confined to her bed by a broken limb caused by falling from her horse a few days previous to the attack by the indians. After taking Mr McMicking his sister and her two children prisoners the indians left one man to guard the house and the sick lady, intending to return later and dispose of them. But while they were carrying the prisoners away the indian left on guard stood watching the departure of the party and in the meantime the sick lady seeing what seemed to be her only chance crawled from bed and while the indians back was turned worked her way around to the rear of the cabin, then using the cabin as a screen from her guard she crawled back into the woods and concealed herself behind a large log, all the time suffering until agony from her broken limb and fearing lest the indians discover her hiding place.
Upon returning the war party found that their prisoner was not where they had left her and after a thorough search of the house without finding her they decided that she must be in the cellar under the house, it never ocuring to the that she could leave the house and get by the guard in her crippled condition. As the only visible entrance to the cellar was a heavy log-trap-door which was very hard to remove. So to save all unnecessary labor on their part they decided to burn the house thereby put an end to their prisoner. Therefore after setting fire to the house they returned to their camp and informed Mr. McMicking that they had burned his house and that his mother had perished in the flames.
Shortly after this while he was still held a prisoner by the Indians three indians were returning to camp with two prisoners and while camping for the night a short distance from the Indian camp they were set upon by the two prisoners and two of the Indians were killed and the third left for dead but he recovered sufficiently to make his way to camp and tell the Indians what happened and they immediately held a Council of War and decided that they would have to kill three of the white prisoners to be revenged for the death of the two Indians. So to decide which of the prisoners they should put to death they made them run the gauntlet, which consisted of two rows of brush placed so as to form a V shape and a prisoner was placed in this enclosure and an Indian was placed at the small end where the two rows of brush nearly met just allowing room for one man to pass through and the prisoner was to start at the widest end of the enclosure and passing through the narrowest and was to run to the Chiefs tent which was as a rule about a half a mile distance and immediately upon the prisoner leaving the enclosure the Indian that was stationed there would start in pursuit and if he overtook the prisoner before he reached the Chiefs tent he would kill him with his tomahawk and if he did not overtake the prisoner before he reached the Chiefs tent he was safe for the time being. This delightful form of exercise was to be continued until three of the prisoners were killed.
Mr McMicking not having been adopted by an Indian family or not given a belt of wampum was still considered a prisoner and had to run the gauntlet. he started and passed the Indian stationed at the head of the V shaped enclosure and as long as they ran on level ground Mr McMicking gained in his race for life but while running up a hill the Indian gained on him and when they reached the top the Indian seeing it was impossible for him to get any near to his victim threw his tomahawk inflicting an ugly wound on Mr McMicking’s head but even with this handicap Mr McMicking reached the chief's tent first and was safe to the time being. Mr McMicking carried the scar of the wound he received in this race to his grave.
In March the Indians started with him and some other prisoners down to the mouth of the Niagara river to Fort Niagara where they sold him to Butlers Rangers a troop of British soldiers that were stationed at the fort. He worked for these rangers for one year after which time he became a subject of Great Britain and a soldier of the United Empire Loyals Then he earned money enough to buy his sister and her children from the Indians and in 1785 he took up a small tract of government land at Queenston Ont.
After the war was over and he had gained his liberty he went to look for his mother, not believing the story the Indians had told him of her death. On returning none of the settlers there could tell him anything of his Mother and he thought she must have died as the Indians had told him.
Returning to Mrs McMicking, after her escape from the Indians she hid behind the log and after the Indians had gone and then she crawled to the nearest neighbors a mile distant. This neighbor took her with his family to Albany N.Y. where the white settlers were thicker and the danger from the Indians much less.
Mrs McMicking did not know what had become of her son but every stranger she met she would ask if they knew a Thomas McMicking. One evening there was a party at the house of the people where she was staying in honor of a young man from Canada and during the evening while conversing with the young man she asked him if he had ever met a man by the name of Thomas McMicking and he told her that a man by that name liven in Stamford on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. That this man had worked for him on his farm. Mrs McMicking could not believe that it was true at first, so she asked the young man if the Thomas McMicking that he knew was a Tall man with black hair and he replied that the Thomas McMicking he knew was a short thick set man with red hair, she replied "that is my son and I am going to find him." She had described him wrong purposely so there would be no mistake as to his identity. So she started all alone on her long journey from Albany N.Y. to Stamford, Canada and the first Mr. McMicking heard of her was when she was at Niagara Village eight miles from his home at Stamford Canada. He came to Niagara Village and met her and took her to his home at Stamford where she spent the remainder of her life.”
Transcription of additional hand written account (date unknown, but appears to predate the foregoing):
Thomas McMicking emigrated from Scotland (Gallowshire) and settled on an improved lot of land lying on the Delaware river and in a few years sent for his Mother and a sister who was a widow with two small children.
In the month of October a party of Indians surrounded the house and made prisoners of Mr. McMicking, his Sister and her two children. His mother had by a fall from her horse broken her leg about a week previous and was unable to walk. The indians therefore determined to kill her but before doing so would remove the rest of the family a short distance from the house. Consequently the whole party of indians went with the prisoners except one sentinel who stood with his back to the house looking after the prisoners. The old lady taking advantage of this crawled out of the house on her hands and knees and getting the house between her and the sentinel she got behind a log a short distance from the house. When the party of indians returned to perpetrate the horrid act of cruelty they cold not find their victim. There was a cellar under the house and the only entrance to it was by a trap door in the floor the Indians knew by the sound there was a cavity under the floor and thought the old woman was there but could not find the entrance. They therefore set fire to the house and told Mr McMicking that they had burned the house and his mother in it. After the Indians were gone the old lady crawled about a mile through the woods to the nearest house and the family there taking the old lady with them removed to Albany. But more severe trials yet awaited Mr. McMicking. Three or 6 days travel through the woods brought them to the Indian town on the Susquehanna river in the State of Pennsylvania. A few days after that news was brought to the town that three Indians and an Indian boy in exchange of three negro prisoners and who conducting them to the town. that in the night the Negroes killed the three Indians and wounded the boy but who was able to reach the town and tell the news the Indians thereupon held a council of War and resolved to kill three white men in retaliation for the loss of their three warriors and Mr McMicking was one of the last prisoners brought in and had not been adopted into any family or received a belt of wampum was selected as one of the victims to expiate their revenge and atone for the loss they had sustained and was given to understand by an interpreter that he must run the gauntlet for his life and was forthwith taken half a mile from the town followed by a greater part of the Indians in the town to enjoy the sport to where a gateway had been made of brush as a starting point. the distance to be run was between the gateway and the Chiefs House in the Town one of the Indians around with a tomahawk and Scalping knife Stood by the gateway on the side next to the Town and the prisoner was to start from the other side and run through the gate and as soon as through the Indians was to start from a standing posture that was all the advantage in the start allowed the prisoners and if they could reach the Chiefs house without being killed no matter how much wounded they were pardoned and others run until the required number were killed.
While on level ground Mr McMicking outran the Indian but coming up a hill on which the Town was built the Indian gained on him and when he was within a few rods of the Chiefs house the Indian as a last effort threw his tomahawk and struck him with the edge of it on the top of his head the scar of which he carried to his grave he however succeeded in reaching the chiefs house and was pardoned. He remained a prisoner with them all winter suffering from cold and hunger. in the month of March when the snow was a foot deep a party of indians started for Niagara taking their prisoner Mr. M with them. After travelling ten days through the woods and sleeping each night in the snow they arrived at Niagara where they sold their prisoner to a party of Butlers Rangers who had arrived there a short time previous. Mr McMicking enlisted with the Rangers for one year at the expiration of which he took up a lot of land in the township of Stamford and settled on it on which he remained until his death in 1830 and bought his sister and her children from the Indians and brought his Mother from Albany in 1785 was married in 1787 to Isabel Gass and resided in Stamford until 1830 the time of his death being 80 years of age.
During the war his sister, her two children and himself were taken prisoners by the Indians. His mother alone escaping, she being confined to her bed by a broken limb caused by falling from her horse a few days previous to the attack by the indians. After taking Mr McMicking his sister and her two children prisoners the indians left one man to guard the house and the sick lady, intending to return later and dispose of them. But while they were carrying the prisoners away the indian left on guard stood watching the departure of the party and in the meantime the sick lady seeing what seemed to be her only chance crawled from bed and while the indians back was turned worked her way around to the rear of the cabin, then using the cabin as a screen from her guard she crawled back into the woods and concealed herself behind a large log, all the time suffering until agony from her broken limb and fearing lest the indians discover her hiding place.
Upon returning the war party found that their prisoner was not where they had left her and after a thorough search of the house without finding her they decided that she must be in the cellar under the house, it never ocuring to the that she could leave the house and get by the guard in her crippled condition. As the only visible entrance to the cellar was a heavy log-trap-door which was very hard to remove. So to save all unnecessary labor on their part they decided to burn the house thereby put an end to their prisoner. Therefore after setting fire to the house they returned to their camp and informed Mr. McMicking that they had burned his house and that his mother had perished in the flames.
Shortly after this while he was still held a prisoner by the Indians three indians were returning to camp with two prisoners and while camping for the night a short distance from the Indian camp they were set upon by the two prisoners and two of the Indians were killed and the third left for dead but he recovered sufficiently to make his way to camp and tell the Indians what happened and they immediately held a Council of War and decided that they would have to kill three of the white prisoners to be revenged for the death of the two Indians. So to decide which of the prisoners they should put to death they made them run the gauntlet, which consisted of two rows of brush placed so as to form a V shape and a prisoner was placed in this enclosure and an Indian was placed at the small end where the two rows of brush nearly met just allowing room for one man to pass through and the prisoner was to start at the widest end of the enclosure and passing through the narrowest and was to run to the Chiefs tent which was as a rule about a half a mile distance and immediately upon the prisoner leaving the enclosure the Indian that was stationed there would start in pursuit and if he overtook the prisoner before he reached the Chiefs tent he would kill him with his tomahawk and if he did not overtake the prisoner before he reached the Chiefs tent he was safe for the time being. This delightful form of exercise was to be continued until three of the prisoners were killed.
Mr McMicking not having been adopted by an Indian family or not given a belt of wampum was still considered a prisoner and had to run the gauntlet. he started and passed the Indian stationed at the head of the V shaped enclosure and as long as they ran on level ground Mr McMicking gained in his race for life but while running up a hill the Indian gained on him and when they reached the top the Indian seeing it was impossible for him to get any near to his victim threw his tomahawk inflicting an ugly wound on Mr McMicking’s head but even with this handicap Mr McMicking reached the chief's tent first and was safe to the time being. Mr McMicking carried the scar of the wound he received in this race to his grave.
In March the Indians started with him and some other prisoners down to the mouth of the Niagara river to Fort Niagara where they sold him to Butlers Rangers a troop of British soldiers that were stationed at the fort. He worked for these rangers for one year after which time he became a subject of Great Britain and a soldier of the United Empire Loyals Then he earned money enough to buy his sister and her children from the Indians and in 1785 he took up a small tract of government land at Queenston Ont.
After the war was over and he had gained his liberty he went to look for his mother, not believing the story the Indians had told him of her death. On returning none of the settlers there could tell him anything of his Mother and he thought she must have died as the Indians had told him.
Returning to Mrs McMicking, after her escape from the Indians she hid behind the log and after the Indians had gone and then she crawled to the nearest neighbors a mile distant. This neighbor took her with his family to Albany N.Y. where the white settlers were thicker and the danger from the Indians much less.
Mrs McMicking did not know what had become of her son but every stranger she met she would ask if they knew a Thomas McMicking. One evening there was a party at the house of the people where she was staying in honor of a young man from Canada and during the evening while conversing with the young man she asked him if he had ever met a man by the name of Thomas McMicking and he told her that a man by that name liven in Stamford on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. That this man had worked for him on his farm. Mrs McMicking could not believe that it was true at first, so she asked the young man if the Thomas McMicking that he knew was a Tall man with black hair and he replied that the Thomas McMicking he knew was a short thick set man with red hair, she replied "that is my son and I am going to find him." She had described him wrong purposely so there would be no mistake as to his identity. So she started all alone on her long journey from Albany N.Y. to Stamford, Canada and the first Mr. McMicking heard of her was when she was at Niagara Village eight miles from his home at Stamford Canada. He came to Niagara Village and met her and took her to his home at Stamford where she spent the remainder of her life.”
Transcription of additional hand written account (date unknown, but appears to predate the foregoing):
Thomas McMicking emigrated from Scotland (Gallowshire) and settled on an improved lot of land lying on the Delaware river and in a few years sent for his Mother and a sister who was a widow with two small children.
In the month of October a party of Indians surrounded the house and made prisoners of Mr. McMicking, his Sister and her two children. His mother had by a fall from her horse broken her leg about a week previous and was unable to walk. The indians therefore determined to kill her but before doing so would remove the rest of the family a short distance from the house. Consequently the whole party of indians went with the prisoners except one sentinel who stood with his back to the house looking after the prisoners. The old lady taking advantage of this crawled out of the house on her hands and knees and getting the house between her and the sentinel she got behind a log a short distance from the house. When the party of indians returned to perpetrate the horrid act of cruelty they cold not find their victim. There was a cellar under the house and the only entrance to it was by a trap door in the floor the Indians knew by the sound there was a cavity under the floor and thought the old woman was there but could not find the entrance. They therefore set fire to the house and told Mr McMicking that they had burned the house and his mother in it. After the Indians were gone the old lady crawled about a mile through the woods to the nearest house and the family there taking the old lady with them removed to Albany. But more severe trials yet awaited Mr. McMicking. Three or 6 days travel through the woods brought them to the Indian town on the Susquehanna river in the State of Pennsylvania. A few days after that news was brought to the town that three Indians and an Indian boy in exchange of three negro prisoners and who conducting them to the town. that in the night the Negroes killed the three Indians and wounded the boy but who was able to reach the town and tell the news the Indians thereupon held a council of War and resolved to kill three white men in retaliation for the loss of their three warriors and Mr McMicking was one of the last prisoners brought in and had not been adopted into any family or received a belt of wampum was selected as one of the victims to expiate their revenge and atone for the loss they had sustained and was given to understand by an interpreter that he must run the gauntlet for his life and was forthwith taken half a mile from the town followed by a greater part of the Indians in the town to enjoy the sport to where a gateway had been made of brush as a starting point. the distance to be run was between the gateway and the Chiefs House in the Town one of the Indians around with a tomahawk and Scalping knife Stood by the gateway on the side next to the Town and the prisoner was to start from the other side and run through the gate and as soon as through the Indians was to start from a standing posture that was all the advantage in the start allowed the prisoners and if they could reach the Chiefs house without being killed no matter how much wounded they were pardoned and others run until the required number were killed.
While on level ground Mr McMicking outran the Indian but coming up a hill on which the Town was built the Indian gained on him and when he was within a few rods of the Chiefs house the Indian as a last effort threw his tomahawk and struck him with the edge of it on the top of his head the scar of which he carried to his grave he however succeeded in reaching the chiefs house and was pardoned. He remained a prisoner with them all winter suffering from cold and hunger. in the month of March when the snow was a foot deep a party of indians started for Niagara taking their prisoner Mr. M with them. After travelling ten days through the woods and sleeping each night in the snow they arrived at Niagara where they sold their prisoner to a party of Butlers Rangers who had arrived there a short time previous. Mr McMicking enlisted with the Rangers for one year at the expiration of which he took up a lot of land in the township of Stamford and settled on it on which he remained until his death in 1830 and bought his sister and her children from the Indians and brought his Mother from Albany in 1785 was married in 1787 to Isabel Gass and resided in Stamford until 1830 the time of his death being 80 years of age.