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Note: Adam emigrated to America about 1760 with his brother Jacob and widowed mother Catherine and two step-brothers. The family was to sail to Baltimore but for some reason the ship was diverted to Philadelphia. Their passage was paid at the dock by Nathan Haines, a well-to-do plantation owner. Adam, Jacob, and possibly Catherine, were in his employ until the passage was repaid.
While working off his indenture, Adam courted Nathan's daughter Elizabeth and they were married in 1774. After the birth of their first child Rebecca in New Jersey, the relocated to Pennsylvania and began homesteading in the Chillisquake Hills close to the town of Northumberland at the confluence of the west and north branches of the Susquehanna River on land owned by Nathan Haines.
The frontier was a perilous place with frequent Indian raids. During the Indian attacks, Adam and his family were able to take refuge at Fort Augusta in the present day city of Sunbury, about ten miles from their farm. However, as the Revolutionary War began to require more manpower, the small militia protecting the settlers was withdrawn leaving them unprotected. The Indians, seizing the opportunity, increased their raids which eventually caused the settlers to give up their homes in July 1778 and begin a headlong dash for safer country. This was referred to as the Great Runaway in local history.
Adam emigrated to America about 1760 with his brother Jacob and widowed mother Catherine and two step-brothers. The family was to sail to Baltimore but for some reason the ship was diverted to Philadelphia. Their passage was paid at the dock by Nathan Haines, a well-to-do plantation owner. Adam, Jacob, and possibly Catherine, were in his employ until the passage was repaid.
While working off his indenture, Adam courted Nathan's daughter Elizabeth and they were married in 1774. After the birth of their first child Rebecca in New Jersey, the relocated to Pennsylvania and began homesteading in the Chillisquake Hills close to the town of Northumberland at the confluence of the west and north branches of the Susquehanna River on land owned by Nathan Haines.
The frontier was a perilous place with frequent Indian raids. During the Indian attacks, Adam and his family were able to take refuge at Fort Augusta in the present day city of Sunbury, about ten miles from their farm. However, as the Revolutionary War began to require more manpower, the small militia protecting the settlers was withdrawn leaving them unprotected. The Indians, seizing the opportunity, increased their raids which eventually caused the settlers to give up their homes in July 1778 and begin a headlong dash for safer country. This was referred to as the Great Runaway in local history.
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