The History Behind Our House

For the past couple months I've had to research the previous (to the original) owners of this house for the National Register, and, as with everything I find in this house, there was more than I bargined for! I made a new page on our website to explain how all the history ties in, but I'll put it in here, in case anyone finds it useful!

Ever since I've started on the research of the history of our home, I've been facinated with every detail I find. Well, after months of research, and countless hours tracking down ancestors, I now have a complete picture of this house, and the settlers of Paw Paw, IL. I thought I would share a synopsis of what I found. There's so much more, but I don't want to bore you!Paw Paw is located on what used to be called Galena-Chicago Road. Now named Chicago Road, it is also known as "Old Chicago Trail". This trail was a stagecoach line from Chicago to Galena, IL. The road was founded on a well used indian route, and was discovered by General Winfield Scott while tracking the indians during the Black Hawk War. People found this area attractive, because there was a large forested area of about 2,000 acres (with a grove of Paw Paw trees), and little disease or hardship. So, Paw Paw it became, and we're located on the Western edge of the 850 person village.

We live in what is called Wyoming Township. This township was named for Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, where the majority of the original settlers came from. For you history buffs, Wyoming Valley is an important piece of our American history. This was an influential battle during the Revolutionary War. The British allied with the Native Americans (called the Six Nations in that area), and used them as a tool to wipe out American settlers in the valley. What was so horrid about this battle, was not the battle itself, but what took place after the fact. After the settlers conceded to defeat, they drew up a treaty with the natives to stay on the land and farm, but not to draw up in arms again. The natives did not hold up their end. They came in, and no matter the age, sex, or abilities of the people of Wyoming, they captured and brutally tortured who they caught. There are tales of decaptitation, mutilation, and even eating infants alive by the savagery of the Iroquois. Even the indian "queen" danced around prisoners and smashed their heads in with a tomahawk. Who ever was able to flee the scene of carnage, had to make way through swamp land, where they were ambushed and tortured once again. Fewer than a dozen men survived. Hundreds of women and children perished from exhuastion and torture in the swamps. One of these women was Hannah Rogers, who collapsed from exhaustion, and she was documented as being buried under an upturned tree, with her epitaph written in charcoal.

The settlers that survived the massacre, wanted to return home, after hiding in neighboring settlements. One of the men, Josiah Rogers (Hannah's husband) is quoted to have said, "I will lay my bones in Wyoming". So, he and some of his neighbors attempted to return back to the valley, only to be persued again. These man fought the indians off, and while many minor battles occured for another couple years, the families remained. A generation later, the people of Wyoming Valley wanted to leave and forget the horrible memories. They traveled together, and headed West, eventually settling in Paw Paw.

Many of the surnames listed in the battle, are also listed in the censuses as settlers of Paw Paw (Wyoming Township), Illinois. There are two people from that area tied to this very home. One is William Sutton, Jr., grandson of James Sutton, who had a grist mill destroyed in the invasion of 1778. William Sutton is presumably the original builder of this house. The other is Francis Edwin (who later changed his name to Frank) Rogers, great-great-grandson of Hannah Rogers, the woman who died of exhaustion while fleeing the Iroquois. Francis's grandmother (Rhoda Drake) was the daughter of General Drake, who tried to defend the settlement, and was mortally wounded. Francis purchased this home from Mr. Sutton in 1878. I gathered this infomation through family trees on Ancestry.com, relatives of William Sutton, and through the Lee County Courthouse.

Other surnames from Pennsylvania, who also settled in Wyoming Township are: Jones, Keith, Roberts, Atkins, Hampton, Davis, Gorton, Benjamin, Siglin, Miller, Cole, Harding, Rosenkrans, and Marcus, taken from the 1860 & 1870 federal census.

Great link about the Wyoming Massacre: Durkees Men of Wyoming