calling, "As your pastor, I command you to re-
linquish your design!" Whereupon, this same
Smith, presenting his rifle called, "Give way or
your horse dies !'' To save his horse, to which he
was much attached, Mr. Elder "gave way.'^
So much for the provocation! What man of
present-day Paxton, however law abiding, would
not admit "palliating circumstances"? Not the
least among them were the special bount}^ paid
for the scalps of women and children, and the
many mothers and wives of Paxton murdered
when visiting the sick or even while at their
daily milking and butter-making.
In the Eevolutionary War the men of Pax-
ton again bear their part as fighters for their
country, as, indeed, they have done in every war
this country has had. On a Sunday after har-
vest, about six months before Washington was
made Commander-in-Chief, Mrs. John Hamilton
visiting Paxton, finds the farmers full of their
wrongs and eager for war with the mother
country. And the pastor, now an old man, leads
them in their patriotic ardor, preaching in favor
of armed resistance from the text, "Let us break
their bands asunder, and cast away their cords
from us."
Two days after news came of Lexington, all
the able bodied men in the neighborhood were
organizing. Ten days later one of the first com-
panies raised in the Colonies was armed and
equipped under Capt. Matthew Smith, of Paxton.
Again in that discouraging winter of 1776
when the British were ravaging New Jersey,
62
Parson Elder one Sunday morning omitted the
discourse, but after a fervent prayer, talked pa-
triotism to such effect that in thirty minutes a
company was organized in the church, with his
son Kobert as captain and another son, sixteen
year old John, as one of the privates. This
company started next day, for the front in all
that bitter weather.
Of this prayer his son Thomas Elder writes:
"The saucy Tories tell a story on the old man's
prayer that is not true. They assert that he
begged and implored Heavenly aid to give suc-
cess to the American cause, praying, ^We be-
seech Thee, through our Lord and Saviour Christ
mercifully to give us triumph, yet not our but
Thy blessed will be done. And, oh. Lord God of
the Universe, if Thou art unwilling by Divine
Grace to assist us, do stand aside and let us fight
it outr''
Our last glimpse of the "Paxton Boys" is to
see sixty of them, one Sunday morning in 1779,
march off to Sunbury to aid the terrified settlers
of Northumberland County. There was glory to
be had and not much else for their Colonel Smith
writes, "Everything has been done to encourage
them but no promise of reward absolutely given.''
Later from the field comes word, "Provisions is
scarce but we will follow the savages and hope
to get at them."
In the same year Colonel Kobert Elder sends
off to Bedford, "the sixth class of this battalion"
under Captain John Rutherford, to protect the
farmers while putting in their spring crops.
63
Page 21
Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
calling, "As your pastor, I command you to relinquish your design!" Whereupon, this same Smith, presenting his rifle called, "Give way or your horse dies!" To save his horse, to which he was much attached, Mr. Elder "gave way."
So much for the provocation! What man of present-day Paxton, however law abiding, would not admit "palliating circumstances"? Not the least among them were the special bounty paid for the scalps of women and children, and the many mothers and wives of Paxton murdered when visiting the sick or even while at their daily milking and butter-making.
In the Revolutionary War the men of Paxton again bear their part as fighters for their country, as, indeed, they have done in every war this country has had. On a Sunday after harvest, about six months before Washington was made Commander-in-Chief, Mrs. John Hamilton visiting Paxton, finds the farmers full of their wrongs and eager for war with the mother country. And the pastor, now an old man, leads them in their patriotic ardor, preaching in favor of armed resistance from the text, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
Two days after news came of Lexington, all the able bodied men in the neighborhood were organizing. Ten days later one of the first companies raised in the Colonies was armed and equipped under Capt. Matthew Smith, of Paxton.
Again in that discouraging winter of 1776 when the British were ravaging New Jersey,
Parson Elder one Sunday morning omitted the discourse, but after a fervent prayer, talked patriotism to such effect that in thirty minutes a company was organized in the church, with his son Kobert as captain and another son, sixteen year old John, as one of the privates. This company started next day, for the front in all that bitter weather.
Of this prayer his son Thomas Elder writes: "The saucy Tories tell a story on the old man's prayer that is not true. They assert that he begged and implored Heavenly aid to give success to the American cause, praying, ^We beseech Thee, through our Lord and Saviour Christ mercifully to give us triumph, yet not our but Thy blessed will be done. And, oh. Lord God of the Universe, if Thou art unwilling by Divine Grace to assist us, do stand aside and let us fight it outr''
Our last glimpse of the "Paxton Boys" is to see sixty of them, one Sunday morning in 1779, march off to Sunbury to aid the terrified settlers of Northumberland County. There was glory to be had and not much else for their Colonel Smith writes, "Everything has been done to encourage them but no promise of reward absolutely given.'' Later from the field comes word, "Provisions is scarce but we will follow the savages and hope to get at them."
In the same year Colonel Kobert Elder sends off to Bedford, "the sixth class of this battalion" under Captain John Rutherford, to protect the farmers while putting in their spring crops.