  Death of Thomas Quick, Sr., and the Threat of His Son Tom. decorative line Many years have passed since William Wallace and Thomas Powers passed up the Delaware Valley. Then the country was one unbroken forest, inhabited by wild beasts and Indians only. Now all has changed. The Indians have mostly left, and the whites have taken their place. The flat land from Milford to Mamakating is mostly improved, and is yielding to the farmer an abundant harvest. Stacks of hay and grain are to be seen in every field. The flail is But now a cloud appears. It was the cloud that Cahoonshee had foretold many years before. That: “There would be a war of extermination between the white men and the Indians, and the Indians would be exterminated.” The Indians claimed that they had been cheated by the whites, and robbed and driven from their soil and the graves of their fathers. Revenge smothered in their breasts, and at a council held by the remnants of several of the tribes, it was resolved to destroy all the whites in the Delaware and Neversink Valleys. The whites did not see the danger that was impending over them, or the dark cloud that would soon deluge the Valley with blood and cause mourning in every house. Most of the inhabitants thought the Indians friendly, and those that were unfriendly too few to make war on the whites. For this reason they became careless, and went to their fields and on journeys unarmed, and thus became easy victims of the savages. Thomas Quick, Sr., was now living on his farm at Milford, and had always been a staunch friend of the Indians. His house had always been open for their reception and his table bountifully spread to satisfy their wants. His son, Tom spent most of his time among them and appeared to think more of them and their savage life than he did of his father and the comforts of home. He thought that this would protect him, and that if war was made upon the whites, he would not be molested. But he was deceived. Instead of being passed by, he was doomed to be the first victim. His sentence had already been passed, and the wily Indians were waiting in ambush for an opportunity to execute it. Having occasion to use some hoop-poles, he, with his son Tom and his son-in-law, went up the river to cut them unarmed. At this time the Indians were concealed, planning an attack on the Milford settlement, with the intention of putting to death the entire population. Knowing that Quick and his sons kept trusty rifles and that their aim was deadly, they faltered and argued as to the best mode of attack. In the midst of this harangue, Quick and his sons were seen coming toward them. It was immediately resolved to take their scalps. An Indian by the name of Muswink fired, and Quick fell mortally wounded. He advised his son to leave him to his fate and save themselves. But they persisted in trying to save him. He cried again as the Indians rushed upon them. Leave me and save yourselves and those that are at the house. It was a struggle for Tom to leave his father, and it was not until he saw them coming in great numbers that he fled. Farewell, Father, Farewell, your death shall be avenged. Then he fled across the river on the ice, a volley of bullets followed him. He falls. The war whoop is sounded. Tom is dead—Tom is dead! But Tom is neither dead nor wounded. He springs to his feet and escapes to the Jersey Shore. A ball had struck the heel of his shoe and tripped him. In the meantime his father had been killed and scalped. Tom sought the opportunity and recovered the scalped body of his father and gave it christian burial. His love for the Indians and their society now forsook him, and the uppermost thought in his mind was revenge. He covered the grave with green sod, and taking his knife in his right hand, and his rifle in his left, looking toward heaven, exclaimed: “By the point of the knife in my right; and the deadly bullet in my left; By heaven and all there is in it, by earth and all there is on it; By the love I bore my father, here on his grave I swear eternal vengeance against the whole Indian race. I swear to kill all, to spare none; The old man with silver hair, The lisping babe without teeth, the mother quick with child, and the maid in the bloom of youth shall die. A voice from my father’s grave cries Revenge! Eternal revenge!” and he threw himself across his father’s grave. How well Tom kept his promise and how many Indians his rifle sent to the Spirit world will appear in the next chapter. |
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