Tanacharisson, the Half-King

Queen Aliquippa Sevan Tanacharison Dau=of Cakundawanna Straight tail Iriquois G9XJ-RZ1 1712-1754
Both Queen Aliquippa and Chief Half King Tanacharison met and fought with George Washington in the French and Indian War. Noted in Historical Fiction: "George Washington and the Half-King Chief Tanacharison, the Alliance that Began the French and Indian War" by Paul R. Misencik. Queen Aliguippa is noted with Tanacharison page 122."On Saturday, June 1, 1754, Tanacharison, Queen Aliquippa and about 85 Indian Men, women and children arrived at the Great Meadows encampment....Washington was glad to have Tanacharison's warriors..."

Tanacharison or Tanaghrisson (c. 1700 to 4 October 1754) was a Native American leader who played a pivotal role in the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was known to European-Americans as the Half King, a title also used to describe several other historically important Native American leaders. His name has been spelled in a variety of ways.

TANAGHRISSON (Deanaghrison, Johonerissa, Tanacharison, Tanahisson, Thanayieson, and, as a title, the Half King), a Seneca, a leading person among the Iroquois settled on the upper Ohio River from about 1748; d. 4 Oct. 1754 at Harris Ferry (Harrisburg, Pa.).

Origins and family

Little is known of Tanaghrisson's early life. Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros* de Lacy wrote that he was a Flathead (Catawba) by birth, but had been captured young and adopted by the Senecas; Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire reported that he came from the Lac des Deux-Montagnes and that was formerly inclined to the French, but at present he is more than English. He would later claim that the French boiled and ate his father. His early years were spent on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie in what is now western New York state.

Not much is known of Tanaghrisson's family. Gahickdodon, the half King's son, attended treaty negotiations at Carlisle in January 1756. Two daughters, one of them the Indian wife of a trader, John Owen, remained for a time at Aughwick, where Fort Shirley had been built, but they left in July 1756 with a soldier from the garrison. A daughter-in-law, identified as Nancy, was living on the upper Susquehanna River in this same year.

Biography

Half King (Scruniyatha, Seruniyattha, Tanacharison, Tannghrishon, etc.) A Seneca chief, born about 1700; died at the house of John Harris, at the site of harrisburg, PA., Oct. 1, 1754. He appears to have first come into notice about 1748, at which time he lived at or in the vicinity of Logstown, PA. (q.v.) According to some statements his residence was in this village, but according to others it was on Little Beaver cr., about 15 m. distant It was to Half King that most of the official visitors to the Indians of the Ohio region, including Weiser, Gist, Croghan, and Washington, applied for information, advice, and assistance, Logstown being their stopping place for this purpose. He accompanied Washington both on his journey of 1753 and on his expedition of 1754.

Half King claimed that he killed Jumonville, the French officer, during the skirmish at Great Meadows, PA., May 28, 1754, in revenge of the French, who, he declared, had killed, boiled, and eaten his father; and it was he who had advised Ensign ward, when summoned by Contracoeur, the french officer, to surrender Ft. Necessity, at the site of Pittsburg, PA., to reply that his rand did not invest him with power to do so, thus obtaining delay. Half King was a prominent figure on the Indian side in the treaty with the Virginia commissioners in 1752, and for this and other services was decorated by Gov. Dinwiddie and given the honorary name "Dinwiddie," which, it is said, he adopted with pride. On the advice of Crogan, he with other Indians removed to Aughquick (Oquaga) cr., PA., in 1754. Half King has been confused with the Huron Half King of Sandusky, Ohio, known also as Pomoacan, also with Schoroyady (Scaraouady, etc.), the Oneida Half King, and with Monakatuatha (Monacatootha, etc.) See Drake, Aborig. races, 531, 1880; Rupp, Hist. West. Pa., 71, 1846; Dinwiddie Papers, i, 148, 1883; Col. Records Pa., v, 358, 1851. (C.T.)

http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-01-02-0029

Instructions from Robert Dinwiddie, 30 October 1753
Instructions from Robert Dinwiddie
[Williamsburg, 30 October 1753] Instructions for George Washington Esqr. Whereas I have received Information of a Body of French Forces being assembled in an hostile Manner on the River Ohio, intending by force of Arms to erect certain Forts on the said River, within this Territory & contrary to the Peace & Dignity of our Sovereign the King of Great Britain. These are therefore to require & direct You the said George Washington Esqr. forthwith to repair to the Logstown1 on the said River Ohio; & having there informed Yourself where the said French Forces have posted themselves, thereupon to proceed to such Place: & being there arrivved to present Your Credentials, together with my Letter to the chief commanding Officer,2 &, in the Name of His Britanic Majesty, to demand an Answer from him thereto. On Your Arrival at the Logstown, You are to address Yourself to the Half King,3 to Monacatoocha4 & other the Sachems of the Six Nations; acquainting them with Your Orders to visit & deliver my Letter to the French commanding Officer; & desiring the said Chiefs to appoint You a sufficient Number of their Warriors to be Your Safeguard, as near the French as You may desire, & to wait Your further Direction. You are diligently to enquire into the Numbers & Force of the French on the Ohio, & the adjacent Country; how they are like to be assisted from Canada; & what are the Difficulties & Conveniencies of that Comunication, & the Time required for it. You are to take Care to be truly informe™d what Forts the French have erected, & where; How they are Garrisond & appointed, & what is their Distance from each other, & from Logstown: And from the best Intelligence You can procure, You are to learn what gave Occasion to this Expedition of the French. How they are like to be supported, & what their Pretentions are. When the French Commandant has given You the required & necessary Dispatches, You are to desire of him that, agreeable to the Law of Nations, he woud grant You a proper Guard, to protect You as far on Your Return, as You may judge for Your Safety, against any stragling Indians or Hunters that may be ignorant of Yr Character & molest You. Wishing You good Success in Yr Negotiations & a safe & speedy return I am Sr Yr hble Servt Copy, P.R.O., C.O. 5/1328, f. 47; copy, P.R.O., C.O. 5/14, f. 76; copy, P.R.O., C.O. 5/1344, f. 199; copy, House of Lords, Record Office. For background to this document, see the editorial note to Commission from Robert Dinwiddie, 30 Oct. 1753.

1. Logstown was an Indian village on the banks of the Ohio River about 18 miles below its confluence with the Monongahela. Settled by Shawnee and Delaware, it attracted Indians of various tribes and soon became a major trading post. It was a frequent site for Indian conferences.

2. Pierre Paul de La Malgue, sieur de Marin, was commandant of the French fort-building expedition until his death at Fort Le Boeuf in Oct. 1753. He was succeeded by Jacques Le Gardeur, sieur de Saint-Pierre, to whom GW delivered Dinwiddies letter at Fort Le Boeuf, about 20 miles south of Lake Erie.

3. The Half-King (c.1700 to 1754), or Tanacharison, a Seneca chief, was a prominent negotiator and adviser on Indian affairs to the British. He assumed a leading role as a representative of the Ohio Indians at the Logstown Treaty in 1752. By Oct. 1753 the Half-King, firmly opposed to the French incursion into the Ohio country, had already sent a delegation to the French warning them they were trespassing on Indian lands. Although GW was occasionally suspicious of the Half-King loyalty, the chief remained a faithful supporter of the British when many of the other chiefs defected to the French after the surrender of Fort Necessity. A few days before his death in Oct. 1754 he remarked that he would live and die with the English (Pa. Arch., Col. Rec., 6:183).

4. Monacatoocha, or Scarouady, a pro-English Oneida chief ranking second only to the Half-King in authority, had represented the Six Nations at Logstown.

TANAGHRISSON (Deanaghrison, Johonerissa, Tanacharison, Tanahisson, Thanayieson, and, as a title, the Half King), a Seneca, a leading person among the Iroquois settled on the upper Ohio River from about 1748; d. 4 Oct. 1754 at Harris's Ferry

Links

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanacharison
• http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tanaghrisson_3E.html
• https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Tanacharisson-Descendants-1
• http://blog.nyhistory.org/ahmc-of-the-month-a-half-king-in-america-2/
• https://books.google.com/books/about/George_Washington_and_the_Half...
• https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&con...
• http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvhs/wvhs2401.pdf
• https://www.nps.gov/people/tanaghrisson-the-half-king.htm
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Catawba-1
• https://wvancestry.com/Files/John_Owens_Indian_Trader.pdf