Extracted from the account of John Dillon. History of Indiana, 1859<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pp492-494 and “Pigeon Roost Massacre” by Lizzie D. Coleman 1904. As printed in “The Collings, Richeys and The Pigeon Roost Massacre”
compiled by Constance A. Hackman, Leona M. Lawson and Kenneth Scott.
Used by permission of Constance Hackman and Alice Scott.In the afternoon of the third of September, 1812, Elias Payne and man<\/p>\n\n\n\n
whose name was Coffman were hunting for “bee trees” in the woods about<\/p>\n\n\n\n
two miles north of the Pigeon Roost settlement and were surprised and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
killed by a party of Indians. This party of Indians, which consisted of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ten or twelve warriors, nearly all of whom were Shawnees, then attacked<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Pigeon Roost settlement about sunset and, in the space of about one<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hour, they killed one man, five women and sixteen children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Jeremiah Payne (Who lived near a fort at Vienna, but seven miles north<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from Pigeon Roost) was warned of danger when his cows, bellowing very<\/p>\n\n\n\n
loud, came running to the house with spears and arrows stuck in their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sides.) Taking his wife and only child, Lewis to the fort at Vienna,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the father started on foot to warn his only brother, Elias (who lived<\/p>\n\n\n\n
five miles away), of their threatened trouble. He ran in a “turkey<\/p>\n\n\n\n
trot”, as he called it – but too late. He found that the Indians had<\/p>\n\n\n\n
been before him and already done their deadly work. The wife and seven<\/p>\n\n\n\n
children of his brother had been massacred – part of their bodies cut<\/p>\n\n\n\n
into strips and strung around trees….”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Another unprotected woman, Mrs. Richard Collings, and her seven<\/p>\n\n\n\n
children (Mr. Collings being away in the service of the government), are<\/p>\n\n\n\n
soon in the thralldom of the savage mob in their own home. Their lives<\/p>\n\n\n\n
are soon taken.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Going southwest from here, they met Mrs. Rachel Collings (wife of Henry<\/p>\n\n\n\n
) who had just returned home from Payne’s where she had been to get<\/p>\n\n\n\n
spools for warping. Words are inadequate for describing the barbarity<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of results here. Mrs. Collings was pregnant at the time, having been<\/p>\n\n\n\n
made the victim of the Indian mob, the child was taken from the womb and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
scalped, afterwards found laid on the bosom of the woman. The incentive<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to such a diabolical deed was the five-dollar British reward offered for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
each scalp.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They next approached the home of William E. “Longknife” Collings. “In<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Collings home on this memorable afternoon was the aged father<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William, Lydia and Captian Norris, an old Indian fighter, who had<\/p>\n\n\n\n
engaged in the battle of Tippecanoe and was here now to warn the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
settlers of their threatened danger.” He “had come to confer with them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
concerning the need of a fort.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Captain and Collings had been taling but a short time, perhaps no<\/p>\n\n\n\n
more than an hour.” “…Captain Norris espied the Indians<\/p>\n\n\n\n
approaching.” Collings said they should go into the cabin and fight<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and he handed one gun to Captain Norris. Norris had been severely<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wounded at the battle of Tippecanoe and couldn’t easily handle the heavy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
gun. After some discussion they decide to try and hold off the Indians<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and try to escape after dark. While William was shooting, daughter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lydia was molding bullets in the cabin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“William E. Collings, espying a big Indian standing in the doorway (at<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Henry Collings house)….takes aim, fires, and the force of the mudering<\/p>\n\n\n\n
foe is reduced.” “One Indian assumes the appearance of a woman, having<\/p>\n\n\n\n
decked himself in Mrs. Henry Collings’ shawl, and while thus plotting he<\/p>\n\n\n\n
falls a victim at the hand of the matchless marksman.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the meantime John , aged thirteen, had caught a horse and was ready<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to after the cows when he saw an Indian approaching. Dropping the rein,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
he fled, but was pursued. He realized that the savage was gaining on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
him whe he heard the report of his father’s rifle;… glancing back he<\/p>\n\n\n\n
saw the savage fall with the blood streaming from his breast. Now he<\/p>\n\n\n\n
knew that he was saved and quickly made his way to the house.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When darkness fell, they knew the Indians would fire the house so they<\/p>\n\n\n\n
made their way from the house to the corn field nearby. As William<\/p>\n\n\n\n
passed the corn crib, an Indian, hiding behind it, fired. “Collings<\/p>\n\n\n\n
raised his gun to returnt he shot when found that the savage in missing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his aim had broken the lock of his wonderful gun.” He called forNorris<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to send back the other gun but Norris either couldn’t hear or didn’t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hear the request and Collings was left alone to meet the enemy. “When<\/p>\n\n\n\n
they came too near he would raise his flintlock and pretend that he<\/p>\n\n\n\n
would fire and thus frightened them.” They knew his abilities with a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
rifle so for “Collings, the useless gun was his salvation.” By “early<\/p>\n\n\n\n
next morning he was sheltered at his son Zebulon’s” blockhouse about<\/p>\n\n\n\n
five miles south of Pigeon Roost. Captain Norris and the children also<\/p>\n\n\n\n
made it to the blockhouse safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Henry Collings, who was at work in the field, was wounded in the head<\/p>\n\n\n\n
by an unexpected missle. He cautiouly made his way to an old shed and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
concealed himself under a pile of flax. here he was found a day or two<\/p>\n\n\n\n
later ….” He told the others that “I went to jump the fence and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Little Kill Buck shot me.” Henry died of the wounds received that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About sundown, Jane Collings Biggs had taken her children, one just a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
baby, with her to bring up their cow. Returning to edge of the woods,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she saw Indians surrounding her house. Jane hastily retreated into the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
woods to hide and save her children. The Indians fired the cabin and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
took to the woods hunting for the occupants. Jane could hear the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
footsteps and voices of the Indians. In the midst of this danger the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
baby began to cry and Jane reportedly covered its mouth to prevent it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from giving away their position. [ Many reports of the day, as well as<\/p>\n\n\n\n
later ones, reported that the baby had smothered and died. Direct<\/p>\n\n\n\n
descendants of Jane Collings Biggs have reported that this report was in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
error.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Indians had passed by, Jane and her children turned their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
footsteps to her father’s house for help. Leaving the children hidden<\/p>\n\n\n\n
near the road, she went to the house and found the door partially open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smelling gunpowder she hurried back to road with her children and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
started for the blockhouse at her brother Zebulon’s five miles away. She<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the children arrived safely at the blockhouse in the morning. How<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she escaped the Indians at her father’s house remains a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. John Richey and Sichey Collings were the first couple married in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Co. in 1810. They lived in the area of the settlement to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
southwest. Dr. John was working in the field when he heard shots and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
saw smoke rising from the homes of the settlement. Realizing what was<\/p>\n\n\n\n
happening, he took Sichey upon his back and fled through the cornfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They hid in the woods until dark and then laboriously made their way to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zebulon’s blockhouse the following morning. Sichey delivered their<\/p>\n\n\n\n
first child shortly after the massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“… the Indians managed to steal and carry away captive a little girl,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ginsey McCoy, three years of age. She was a relative of Mrs. Jeremiah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Payne and at the time was making her home with Mrs. Payne. Some fifteen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
years later she was reported seen with the Indians along the Kankakee<\/p>\n\n\n\n
River. These Indians migrated to Kansas where Rev. Isaac McCoy, uncle<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of Ginsey, doing missionary work there among the Indians, found the lost<\/p>\n\n\n\n
child. Through the years she remembered her name, but now was the wife<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of an Indian chief with a family. Rev. McCoy persuaded her to return on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a visit to Indiana…” “Not being contented away from her family, she<\/p>\n\n\n\n
returned to her tribe and children and spent the remainder of her life<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“After the time of the Pigeon Roost Massacre, many of the settlers on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the northern and western frontiers of Clark, Jefferson, Harrison and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knox counties lived in a state of alarm until the close of the war in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1815.” Mr. Zebulon Collings, who had the blockhouse within five or six<\/p>\n\n\n\n
miles of the Pigeon Roost settlement says: “The manner in which I used<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to work in those perilous times was as follows: On all occasions I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
carried my rifle, tomahawk, and butcher knife, with a loaded pistol in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
my belt. When I went to plow, I laid my gun on the plowed ground and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
stuck up a stick by it for a mark so I could get to it quickly in case<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it was wanted. I had two good dogs. I took one into the house, leaving<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the other out. The one outside was expected to give the alarm, which<\/p>\n\n\n\n
would cause the one inside to bark. I would then be awakened, and my<\/p>\n\n\n\n
guns were always loaded. I kept my horses in a stable close to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
house, which had a porthole so that I could shoot to the stable door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the two years, I never went from home with any certainty of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
returning – not knowing the minute I might receive a ball from an<\/p>\n\n\n\n
unknown hand; but in the midst of all these dangers, God, who never<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sleeps nor slumbers, has kept me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1904 the State of Indiana erected a monument as a lasting memorial to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the massacred pioneers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
submitted by Pat Mount<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Originally Posted 28 Jun 2000)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Extracted from the account of John Dillon. History of Indiana, 1859 pp492-494 and “Pigeon Roost Massacre” by Lizzie D. Coleman 1904. As printed in “The Collings, Richeys and The Pigeon Roost Massacre”compiled by Constance A. Hackman, Leona M. Lawson and Kenneth Scott.Used by permission of Constance Hackman and Alice Scott.In the afternoon of the third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentuckianagenealogy.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}