Mom’s family was thick as thieves in the Poconos area of Pennsylvania! That includes the families of my 5th great grandparents, John SEELY and Katrin (Katherine) BRINKER. I talked about the BRINKERs in the previous post. Now I want to talk about the SEELYs.

John SEELY’s parents were Samuel J. SEELY, Jr. and Mary DeHAVEN. Samuel was born 4 April 1710 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut. Mary was born in 1714 in Trappe, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Trappe is now a suburb of Philadelphia. Samuel and Mary married sometime in 1729-1730 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. They had 6 children that I am aware of – William, Isaac, John, Samuel, Sarah, and Jonas. The line from Samuel and Mary is: Samuel and Mary’s son John, John’s son George, George’s son Charles, Charles’ daughter Mary and Mary’s son (and my great grandpa) Albert BATES.

Just for background, all the stories I’ve been telling recently about Easton and the Indian raids, etc. – all of that still applies to Samuel so keep it in mind. You can find a brief history and one researcher’s interpretation of the documentation available on Samuel SEELY here. This particular SEELY cousin (Sandra McGINNIS) has a very interesting Facebook blog where she celebrates hers and her husband Ed’s ancestors with biographical Facebook blog posts. In the post I linked above she gives a brief biographical sketch of Samuel SEELY. She and I haven’t come to all the same conclusions but I respect her work and contributions to the family history and encourage you to go take a look at her post about Samuel SEELY. You can also find information about Samuel SEELY on Kevin SHOLDER’s website at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rdrunner/web_data/p52607.htm.

Some researchers say Samuel was an Ironmaster. He served as a wagon master during the French and Indian Wars. He owned a considerable amount of land including 196 acres plus 68 “perches” of land. At the end of his life, he was a tavernkeeper. This job as a tavernkeeper is what would take his life and that’s what I want to talk about today – the tragic end of Samuel SEELY. Samuel SEELY’s murder was the earliest recorded murder in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

The Tragic End of Samuel Seely

There is a place in Easton, Pennsylvania called Gallows Hill. Lehigh Valley Live confirms that it takes it’s name from the public hangings that used to take place there very early in Easton’s history. Today you’ll find St. Bernard’s Catholic Church there. It’s on South Fifth Street if you ever get a chance to go to Easton. The most famous executions that took place at Gallows Hill were the executions of three soldiers from General John SULLIVAN’s expedition. Their more immediate commander was Lieutenant Colonel Adam HUBLEY. If you’ll remember, John SULLIVAN was the one that basically took over Brinker’s Mill in Sciota when he went through there on his “take-no-prisoners” quest to quell the Iroquois uprising. Andreas BRINKER’s granddaughter, Katrin or Katherine – my 5th great grandmother – married John SEELY, the son of this post’s Samuel SEELY. It all connects.

The Lehigh Valley Live website briefly mentions the execution of the three soldiers but it’s so sanitized it would be easy to read over it and forget it but don’t! It has so much meaning to our family history.

The most famous executions were the hangings of three soldiers in the Sullivan Expedition. William McCoy, Patrick Drogan and Daniel Monaghan  were hanged on June 12, 1779, for the murder of a tavernkeeper near  Stroudsburg.

Lehigh Valley Live, accessed on 17 June 2022.¹

That tavernkeeper that was murdered? That was my maternal 6th great grandfather, Samuel SEELY. Why was he murdered? Who were the people that murdered him? I had so many questions when I learned of his murder.

Off the Beaten Path

Samuel’s tavern was “off the beaten path” – at least for Sullivan’s Expedition, it was. No one that I’ve read or studied is really sure how 3 soldiers from Sullivan’s Expedition ended up at Samuel’s tavern, but they did. Looking at a map, Brinker’s Mill (which, if you’ll remember was taken over by Sullivan for his campaign’s/soldiers’ benefit) is 19 miles away from Echo Lake where Samuel lived (about 30 minutes’ drive time but considerably longer if you’re walking or on horseback). At the time of his murder, Samuel owned 196 acres plus 68 “perches” of land in Lower Smithfield Township.

I want to show you what the Seely Grove/Seely Pond (now Echo Lake) looks like just so you have an idea.

I tried researching the three men. It’s as if they dropped onto Earth to murder Samuel and then vanished again. No trace of them whatsoever. They were said to be from Colonel Adam HUBLEY’s regiment. Whatever happened, the men ended up at Samuel’s tavern wanting drinks. Samuel, for whatever reason, refused to serve the soldiers the alcohol they demanded. For this, William McCOY, Patrick DROGAN, and Daniel MONAGHAN killed him.

The Documents That Remain

Only a couple of documents survive from the court case according to Monroe Legal Reporter. In this handful of documents we receive all the information we may ever know about Samuel’s murder. We know he was killed in 1779. The murder happened less than 2 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, one of the Supreme Court Justices who upheld the guilty verdict and death sentence was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence (Chief Justice Thomas McKEAN). We know the Justices met on 17 May 1779 in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania for the May term of the Oyer and Terminer Court. In the original trial, all 3 men (McCOY, MONAGHAN, and DROGAN) pled not guilty. The jury was called 18 May 1779. They found all 3 men guilty and the men were sentenced to be hung. The justices upheld the verdict and sentencing and the hanging was set for 12 June 1779. All 3 men were hung on that date at Gallows Hill in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

As far as I can tell, the three men who were Justices at that time were Thomas McKEAN, William Augustus ATLEE, and John EVANS.² Other attorneys and judges were named but these were the Supreme Court Justices. I was surprised that all the jurors were named in the documents. Just something I noted: the anniversary of the hanging of these three men was a mere 5 days ago from the day I started writing this blog post.

In addition to the names listed above, the book Pennsylvania’s Traitors and Criminals During the Revolutionary War³ and also in the Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania⁴ (from which I’m quoting), lists the following Esquires so I’m not sure if they’re attorneys or judges:

PHILAD’A, Wednesday, May 26, 1779.

PRESENT:

His Excell’y JOSEPH REED, Esq’r, President. Hon’ble GEORGE BRYAN, Esq’r, Vice President.

Joseph Hart, John Macky, James Read, Jac’b Arndt, & Matt’w Smith, Esqu’rs.

A Transcript of the record of conviction of William McCoy, Dan’l Monaghan, & Patrick Drogan, late of the County of Northampton, before the Judges of the Supreme Court held at Easton, for the County of Northampton, on the seventeenth day of May, inst., of Murder, and the sentence of the Court thereupon “that they, the said Will’m McCoy, Dan’l Monaghan, & Patrick Drogan, be hanged by the Neck ’till they be dead,” being read;

On Consideration,

Ordered, That Saturday the twelfth day of June next be appointed for the execution of the said sentence between the hours of ten of the Clock of the Forenoon & two of the Clock in the Afternoon of the same day, at the usual place of Execution, & that a Warrant, under the less Seal of the State, signed by the President & attested by the Secretary, be accordingly issued.

The Hon’ble the Congress of these United States having transmitted to this board the following resolution, Viz:

“In Congress, 22d May, 1779.

The final word in the sentencing related to the murder conviction of the men who murdered Samuel SEELY in Smithfield, Pennsylvania, in 1778. This information is also available in the Colonial Records, Vol. 12.⁵

Digging Deeper: The Officers’ Journals

I decided to continue looking one last time before I published this post and I found a book of Officers’ journals. The journal entries were written at the time of the hanging so I feel the information is more reliable than what I had previously found. Harvard University has a copy of the book of journals online at Hathitrust. It’s entitled, Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan Against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779 with Records of Centennial Celebrations.¹¹ Captain Daniel LIVERMORE’s entry for 12 June 1779 gives a few different details about the execution carried out on this date:

Saturday, June 12. This day, at four, P.M., the troops parade to attend the execution of three criminals, inhabitants of this State, convicted of murder and highway robbery. They were tried before the civil authority, and have been under sentence eleven months. Nothing more worthy of notice this day.

Harvard University/Hathitrust¹¹ Journal of Captain Daniel LIVERMORE, page 180.

This was the first time I saw any indication of a crime other than murder. It’s also the first time I’m seeing information that Samuel was killed in 1778, not 1779. If this journal is to be believed (and I think it would be much more reliable since it was written at the time of the event), a robbery occurred in addition to a murder. Perhaps the murderers had their drinks after all. Even more disturbing though was the entry for the following day in this journal:

Sunday, June 13. This day, one of the criminals executed yesterday, was dug up and dissected of which I was a spectator. Nothing further worthy of notice this day.

Harvard University/Hathitrust.¹¹ Journal of Captain Daniel LIVERMORE, page 180.

This is the only place I’ve found any of these details in a months’ worth of researching. So although the details were grim, I’m glad I stuck with it. There is nothing I’ve found that gives details about these men’s burials other than what is written in this journal. There is no record of their final resting place, no record of family, nothing. While I detest the acts they committed, I can’t find it in my heart to wish them an eternity of anonymity. I wish the journal writer had named the one that was dug up or stated where the three soldiers were buried. I suspect they were buried at Gallows Hill which means they are under the Catholic Church that now stands there. However, no one will ever know unless some other documents are located by researchers in the future. While I’m sad that I don’t know exactly where my Samuel (the murder victim) is buried, I’m glad that at least part of the information is now out there as to the final resting place of the murderers.

Sergeant Thomas ROBERTS gave his account of the triple execution in a journal he kept. I retained the spelling used in the journal:

12th. theare was three Solgers hanged for Murder I never saw so many Specttators in my Life I think. According to my opinion theare was 4,000 that night one was taking up again [the Doctor] Cut his arm and Leg and Examined him and the next night then buried him again.

Harvard University/Hathitrust.¹¹ Journal of Sergeant Thomas ROBERTS, page 240.

Lieutenant Samuel M. SHUTE gave his account stating:

June 12th. There were executed three soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line for murdering a man who refused to sell them more drink.

Harvard University/Hathitrust.¹¹ Journal of Lieutenant Samuel M. SHUTE, page 268.

The triple hanging caused quite a stir in Easton. Sergeant Major GRANT noted that the “whole of the Troops on the ground were present at this melancholy occasion”.⁹ I am thankful that all these officers kept journals no matter how brief their entries were. It provides just a couple of extra details that would not have otherwise been retained about the murder.

One additional thing I noted in the records were that two of Samuel’s sons, Jonas and Isaac, were called as witnesses in the case. It’s horrifying to think that Samuel’s sons witnessed his murder and then had to testify about it.

Final Notes

While I have not found any information that I can say is definitively about the three men who murdered Samuel SEELY, I have found some intriguing information that future researchers may want to follow up on. I believe the possibility is strong that this book talks about the same William McCOY who murdered Samuel. The book is William McCoy and His Descendants by Lycurgus McCoy. You can find the book online at the link. I believe the correct William McCOY can be found beginning on page 22.⁸

I like to walk away from a story with a lesson or principle to make your life (and mine) better. The thing that’s on my mind tonight is that life is so precious and so fleeting. Treat everyone as though you’re speaking to them for the last time because when it really is our “last time”, we don’t typically get advance notice of that. You never know when the last time is THE “last time”. So speak with love, show charity to others, and pray for forgiveness for yourself and others. Life is so short. Love your people.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources

1. https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/g66l-2019/01/a7e3ea84774575/how-15-lehigh-valley-places-got-their-weird-names.html, accessed 17 June 2022.
2. https://www.pacourts.us/learn/history/historical-list-of-supreme-court-justices, accessed 17 June 2022.
3. Corbly, Don. Pennsylvania’s Traitors and Criminals During the Revolutionary War. Accessed on Google Books on 18 June 2022.
4. Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania. Supreme executive council, Minutes. 1853. Accessed online at Google Books on 18 June 2022.
5. Colonial Records, Vol. 12. 1853. Accessed online at Google Books on 18 June 2022.
6. Hayburn, Timothy. Who Should Die?: The Evolution of Capital Punishment in Pennsylvania,1681-1794. Accessed online at the Lehigh University Library website on 18 June 2022.
7. The History of Easton, Penn’a, from the Earliest Times to the Present, 1739-1885. Accessed online at Internet Archive on 18 June 2022.
8. McCoy, Lycurgus. William McCoy and His Descendants. Accessed online at Forgotten Books on 18 June 2022.
9. Zellers-Frederick, Andrew A. “Maj. Gen. John Sullivan and the Occupation of Easton, Pennsylvania, May 7-June 18, 1779.” Journal of the American Revolution, Frontier, Native Americans, The War Years (1775-1783). February 13, 2020. Accessed online at https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/02/maj-gen-john-sullivan-and-the-occupation-of-easton-pennsylvania-may-7-june-18-1779/ on 18 June 2022.
10. Hoffman, Luther S. The Unwritten History of Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Accessed online at Digital Books and at Penn State University Library. Both accessed on 18 June 2022.
11. Cook, Frederick. Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan Against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779 with Records of Centennial Celebrations. Accessed online at Harvard University/Hathitrust on 7 July 2022.