Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Matthew Dean




Husband Matthew Dean 1

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


         Father: [Father] Dean (      -      )
         Mother: 


       Marriage: 

• Note: This may be the same person as : Matthew Dean.




Wife

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


Children
1 F Margaret Dean 2

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Hugh Means (      -      ) 1



General Notes: Husband - Matthew Dean


. . . settlers built a fort on the farm of Robert Lowry, on the south side of Fox Run, some time in 1778, which was intended to protect them from Indian incursions. The fort was placed in command of a Capt. Simonton, who lived on the Enoch Isenberg place on the river road, and who was one of the nearest neighbors of Matthew Dean, who resided on the present Thomas Cunning place. At this time Dean was regarded as one of the most popular and influential men of the valley, but unfortunately there was some animosity between him and Mr. Lowry, which had embittered him to such an extent that he vowed that he would not avail himself of the protection of Lowry's fort, which was but a short distance from his farm. Although there were several alarms, no mischief was done by the Indians until the fall of 1780. One Sabbath evening that year Capt. Simonton, his wife, and a young son visited Mr. Dean, when the probability of Indian outrages was discussed. The captain told his neighbor that it was reported that Indians were about, and that he should forego his vows and take his family, which consisted of more than half a dozen children, to the fort at Lowry's. To this Mr. Dean did not yield his consent. When Capt. Simonton arose to return home his little boy begged to be permitted to stay at Mr. Dean's, and as Mrs. Simonton had promised to visit Mrs. Dean on the following day to perform some friendly office for her, when he could return with her, he was allowed to remain. The next morning Mr. Dean took two boys and two girls into the cornfield to sow some rye, the boys managing the cultivator, the girls hoeing around the hills of corn where the plow could not be brought to bear. After Mr. Dean had sowed the rye he went into the adjoining woods to shoot some wild pigeons. Seeing a dense smoke issuing from his house he got his children and started home, on the way meeting Mrs. Simonton, who was going to his house. The sad truth soon burst upon them. The Indians had massacred Mrs. Dean and the children he had left at home and then set fire to the house.
A little girl was found scalped in the yard, and the charred remains of Mrs. Dean and three children were taken from the ruins of the house, but no trace of the Simonton boy could anywhere be found, although a strong party, headed by the Beattys, had started in pursuit of the Indians as soon as they had heard of the outrage. That day Capt. Simonton went to Minot's mill (where Barree Iron-Works now are), and on his way home heard the sad news at Water Street. He rode with all possible speed to Dean's, and got there just as they had recovered the murdered woman and children from the ashes, and as his boy could nowhere be found he was forced to believe that he had been taken captive.

One of the Dean girls, who was with her father at the time of the massacre, married into the Caldwell family, and the other Hugh Means. The sons became the heads of large families, removing from the township at an early day.

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Sources


1 J. Simpson Africa, The History of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1883), Pg 321.

2 J. Simpson Africa, The History of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1883), Pg 322.


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