Little Beard's Town, also known as Chenussio (in Seneca) and "Genesee Castle", was a powerful

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

town in the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

Valley near modern

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in Livingston County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where Cuylerville stands today. It surrounded the area that is now Rt. 39, between Geneseo and Cuylerville, New York. At the time of its destruction by Sullivan, the town was located on the west side of the Genesee River. Ten years prior, it had been on the east side of the river, as the Seneca villages were generally moved approximately every 10 years. The town was named after its founder,

Little Beard Little Beard or Si-gwa-ah-doh-gwih ("Spear Hanging Down") (died 1806), was a Seneca chief who participated in the American Revolutionary War on the side of Great Britain. After the war, he became reconciled with the outcome and continued to resid ...

, a prominent Seneca ''

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

'' in the late 18th century. It was famous for its beautiful surroundings and the productivity of its vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, and fields of corn. It had about 130 houses-- "finely built

log cabins Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathem ...

with ample furnishings; some even had glass window panes," as well as a large council building, built around a central square. It was located near three other Seneca towns, all of which were destroyed during the

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...

in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The Seneca and three other Iroquois nations fought on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

side during the

. Little Beard and his warriors participated in the

Cherry Valley massacre The Cherry Valley massacre was an attack by British and Iroquois forces on a fort and the town of Cherry Valley in central New York on November 11, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It has been described as one of the most horrific ...

and the

Boyd and Parker ambush The Boyd and Parker ambush was a minor military engagement in what is now Groveland, New York on September 13, 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. A scouting patrol of the Sullivan Expedition was ambushed by Loyalist soldiers led by Majo ...

, in which two soldiers were brought to Little Beard's Town and tortured. Subsequently, troops of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

under Major General John Sullivan attacked Little Beard's Town and other Iroquois settlements in the Genesee and Mohawk valleys, destroying buildings and crops. The residents had to flee. "Little Beard's Town was burnt by Sullivan-Clinton’s forces on Sept. 14-15, 1779." One famous resident fled with the Seneca to more secure villages, around

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, with three children. This was

Mary Jemison Mary Jemison (''Deh-he-wä-nis'') (1743 – September 19, 1833) was a Scots-Irish colonial frontierswoman in Pennsylvania and New York, who became known as the "White Woman of the Genesee." As a young girl she was captured and adopted into a Sen ...

, a Scots-Irish

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

colonist who had been captured by the Seneca at age 15 with her family, most of whom were killed. She was adopted and married into the tribe, and lived with them all her life. A fictional account of the burning of the town is given in ''The Scouts of the Valley'' by Joseph A. Altsheler. "The Men in Sullivans Army were so greatly impressed by the 22 inch long ears of corn, the fine vegetable gardens and the fruit orchards that many determined to return and settle on this land after the war." The site was reserved as a Seneca reservation in the 1797

Treaty of Big Tree The Treaty of Big Tree was a formal treaty signed in 1797 between the Seneca Nation and the United States, in which the Seneca relinquished their rights to nearly all of their traditional homeland in New York State—nearly 3.5 million acres. In ...

, along with five other parcels on the Genesee River; they sold those parcels to the Ogden Land Company in 1826, a sale that the modern

Seneca Nation of Indians The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New Yo ...

does not recognize as valid. In 2004, the 225th Anniversary of the Groveland Ambuscade and the Boyd-Parker Massacre, local historical societies set up a civilian camp for re-enactors at the site of Little Beard’s Town.

References

External links

* Mary Jemison's account of the burning of the town {{authority control Geography of Livingston County, New York Seneca tribe Iroquois populated places 1779 disestablishments in the United States Former populated places in New York (state) Former Native American populated places in the United States