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Title: History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania / v.1
Authors: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933., Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-19
Pg. 93
ROBERT CAMPBELL lived with his parents in Fairfield, now Cook Twp., near the Pleasant Grove Church. In July, 1776, he and his brothers WILLIAM and THOMAS were working in the harvest field and were unguarded, for there had been no rumor of the presence of Indians for some time. Suddenly a party of Indians swooped down on them. The lads started to run home, and this disclosed to the Indians the direction of their cabin, if they did not know it before. The boys being but half-grown, were soon overtaken by the Indians, who then divided, one set of them guarding the prisoner boys, while the others went to the CAMPBELL cabin. The mother, with an infant babe in her arms, started to run away, but she was soon overtaken and struck down with one blow from a tomahawk which crushed her skull. In falling she is supposed to have killed her babe. Both were found the next day and were interred in one grave. Both had been scalped. There were left in the cabin three girls, named POLLY, ISABEL and SARAH, all of whom, with ROBERT, WILLIAM and THOMAS, taken in the field, were taken away as prisoners. The Indians had stolen their horses and now rode them away. The boys were compelled to walk, but the girls were taken on the horses, each one riding behind an Indian. The youngest of the girls (pg. 94) could not stay on the horse, so they killed her with a blow from a tomahawk and threw her body by the wayside, where it was found a few days afterward. This was about one mile north of their cabin. They traveled northward and crossed the Kiskiminetas below Saltsburg, and then went up through Pennsylvania to New York. There the children were separated. THOMAS was sold to an English officer and was afterwards taken to England. The two girls were kept four years, and then released and returned to the valley. WILLIAM came back at the close of the Revolution. While ROBERT was being taken north, he was in charge of a band of Indians who had a good many other prisoners with them. One night a prisoner, a half grow boy, escaped, but was retaken the day following. Shortly after that he again escaped and was again recaptured. The second attempt was not forgiven by the Indians. As soon as he was returned to camp all the prisoners were brought out and the boy was tied to a tree and gradually burned to death and to ashes. This horrible spectacle all prisoners were compelled to witness, perhaps to deter them from attempting to make an escape. After being six years in captivity ROBERT escape and in 1782 reached his old home, where he lived the remainder of his days. He was known far and near as “ELDER” ROBERT CAMPBELL, to distinguish him from others of the same name who perhaps were less pious, for he was a leader in the Presbyterian Church at Pleasant Grove. He was a most placid tempered man, and the progenitor of a large family which has since inhabited Cook and Donegal townships. He is buried in the little cemetery at Pleasant Grove.
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