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John Pellet (1715)

John Pellet
Born in Connecticutmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Father of
Died [date unknown] [location unknown]
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Profile last modified | Created 28 Apr 2011
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Biography

John was born in 1715. John Pellet ... [1]

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  1. Entered by Jessica Wrenn, Apr 27, 2011






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John Pellet b. 4 Apr 1715 (vr) Canterbury, Connecticut bpt 1 May 1715 Canterbury Congregational Church son of Richard Pellet and Ann Brooks m. 12 Nov 1741 (vr) at Canterbury, Hepsibah Felch

b. 20 Feb 1715/16 (vr) Canterbury bpt 23 July 1738 Canterbury Congregational Church daughter of John Felch and Elizabeth Johnson. John and Hepsibah were members of the Canterbury Congregational Church where their children were baptised.

John became interested in lands on the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Valley at what is now the present area of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. "The subscribers Inhabatants of Farmingtown Windham Canterbury Plainfield and Volingtown (Voluntown) in several other Towns and all In the Colony of Connectt Humbly Sheweth that whereas there is a Large Quantity of Land Lying upon a River called Suscohannah (Susquehanna) River and also at a Place Calld Quiwomock and that there is no English Inhabatants that Lives on sd Land Nor near thereunto and the Same Lyes about Seventy mills westerly of Dilleway (Delaware) River and as wee sopose within the Charter of the Colony of Connectt and that their is a number of Indians that Lives on or near the Place of Land afor Said who Lays Claim to the Same and wee the Subscribers to the number of one Hundred fifty Persons who are very desirous to Go and Inhabate the afor sd Land . . . dated this ye 29th day of March Anno domino 1753" (The Susquehannah Company Papers Vol I 1750-55 pp. 16-18).

Though the name of John Pellet appears on the list of of subscribers in 1753 there is no record of the Pellet family removing from Connecticut until twenty one years later when in 1774 they settled on Wallenpaupack Creek in present Pike County, Pennsylvania. The entire party consisted of several families. John Pellet was nearly sixty years of age and accompanied sons William and John, William being married with children. We have no record if Hepsibah made the journey or had died previously in Connecticut. It is uncertain if they were headed for the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania where several hundred families were residing on what was then the frontier or decided on settlement at Wallenpaupack, having made prior arrangements to settle there. The Indian trail by which the first settlers from Connecticut reached the Wyoming Valley passed through the Wallenpaupack, westward through CobbÂ’s Gap to the Lackawanna Valley and on to the Susquehanna River and Wyoming Valley. The original settlement at Wallenpaupack in 1774 contained about thirty families. "The Wallenpaupack settlement seems to have been made very independently. They did not derive any title from Connecticut, although it is probable the Connecticut claim led them to this country. They took no pains to obtain any titles from Pennsylvania and purchased no title from the Indians, but simply proceeded on the old theory that title is acquired by the first occupant. They found the beautiful Paupack flats, with a small Indian clearing, and here they located." The tract upon which they settled, contained twelve thousand one hundred and fifty acres and was surveyed 14 Oct 1751 "for the use of the proprietaries of Pennsylvania" called "The Wallenpaupack Manor." Titles to these lands were not secured by the settlers until 1804 and prior to this no deed had been held by an occupant for a single acre. As soon as the settlers located at Wallenpaupack they built a fort for protection, which contained about one acre within the enclosure and a "never-failing" spring of water. From their arrival in 1774 until 1777 they lived in relative peace. During the years 1777 and 1778 the settlers were often harassed by Indians and those loyal to Britain. On 3 July 1778 the battle of Wyoming occurred in which over three hundred settlers were killed by Indians and ButlerÂ’s forces of Loyalists. Preparations were hastily made for departure from the Wallenpaupack and before sunset on 4 July 1778 the entire settlement was on their way to the Delaware River. The Pellet families settled at a location later known as Pellet's Island near Goshen, Orange County, New York. It is related that after a few weeks in their new settlement, John Pellet Jr., Walter Kimble, Charles Forsythe, and Uriah Chapman, Jr., returned to Wallenpaupack to survey any damages. The fort and homes were still standing and they spent several days there harvesting crops and were working on the last farm when Indians surprised them. Except for Uriah Chapman being shot in the arm, they escaped and returned to Goshen, New York. Again in the spring of 1779 five young men went back to the settlement and found their homes still intact and made preparations to make maple sugar. Again, Indians surprised them and the men escaped. No further attempt would be made by the settlers to return for a few years. The following letter from Captain James Bonnel to Captain Westfall shows the condition of affairs in 1782.

Minisink, 31 August, 1782. Dear Sir: "I am exceeding happy to inform you that my scouts, which returned last evening and this morning from Shelolah, Bluminggrove and Laqueway, have made no discoveries of any savages or other Enemies. They inform me, that there is fourteen Houses Standing at Laqueway and that the grass and weeds have grown through the cracks of the Flour, and that they are confident from the appearance of things that there has not been any Enemy there this Summer."

Laqueway (Lackaway) was the Wallenpaupack settlement. It is related that seventeen families of the original settlers returned to the Wallenpaupack in 1783 among them the elder John Pellet and his son John Pellet Jr. John and HepsibahÂ’s son William and his family remained in Orange County, New York and did not return to the Wallenpaupack. John d. 15 Feb 1801 in the 86 year of his age (ts), Bingham Cemetery, Paupack. Hepsibah was living 20 July 1761 in the distribution of her father's estate, but there is no record of her after that date, her date of death and place of interment unknown and as previously stated it is unknown if she accompanied the family to Pennsylvania from Connecticut.

The Wallenpaupack first settled by these hardy pioneers has been changed forever. The farms are all gone and lay under the huge Wallenpaupack Lake which was created when a dam was built and is now a popular recreation resort.

Children of John Pellet and Hepsibah Felch: 1. William Pellet b. 17 Aug 1742 (vr) Canterbury, Connecticut. 2. Ann Pellet b. 28 Oct 1745 (vr) Canterbury bpt 30 Nov 1746. 3. John Pellet Jr., b. 2 Feb 1747/8 (vr) Canterbury bpt 20 Mar 1747/8. 4. Elizabeth Pellet b. 15 June 1750 (vr) Canterbury. 5. Sybil Pellet b. 15 Sept 1753 (vr) Canterbury bpt 5 Nov 1752. 6. Mary Pellet b. 5 Apr 1755 (vr) Canterbury bpt 8 Mar 1755. 7. Abigail Pellet b. 12 Dec 1757 (vr) Canterbury bpt Apr 1757.

posted 28 Apr 2011 by Jessica Wrenn
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