It was called “one of the most revolting crimes of the Pennsylvania frontier.”

In the 21^st Century, a small stone (as pictured) marks the area of the Lee Family massacre. Although not the grave of Major General John Lee, the Union County Historical Society, through the aid of local legislators, procured the headstone. A dedication was held in August of 1939. It is located along U.S. Route 15, near what is now Winfield, Union County. Lee was a Revolutionary War Patriot, seeing service in the Northumberland County militia.

A number of historians, including Meginnes, Godcharles, and Linn, provide similar accounts of the August 13^th, 1782, massacre. A book entitled The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania, written in 1929 by C. Hale Sipe, provides numerous accounts of attacks across the Commonwealth in the 1700s. Here is his account of the Lee Massacre:

“Indian Outrages in Union County in 1782 began on May 6th of this year, when two men named Lee and Razoner were killed between Mifflinburg and New Berlin, and Edward Tate was badly wounded. They belonged to Captain George Overmeir's Company of Rangers.

 On the evening of August 13th, 1782, occurred the attack on the home of Major John Lee, in what is now Winfield, Union County. This was one of the most revolting crimes of the Pennsylvania frontier. The family and some neighbors were seated at supper when between sixty and seventy Indians rushed into the house, tomahawked and scalped Major Lee, an old man named John Walker, and Mrs. Claudius Boatman and her daughter.  A young woman named Katy Stoner hurried upstairs and hid behind a chimney, where she remained undiscovered and thus survived to relate the details of the tragedy.

Mrs. Lee, her small child, and a larger boy named Thomas were led away captives. Lee's son Robert, who was absent when the Indians came, returned just as the Indians were leaving, but was not observed by them. He then fled to Northumberland and gave the alarm.

The Indians fled along the Great Path, leading up that side of the valley of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, over White Deer Mountains, and then crossed to the east side of the river below Muncy. Colonel Samuel Hunter, with a band of twenty volunteers, hastened in pursuit from Fort Augusta, where Sunbury now stands. Arriving at the Lee home, Colonel Hunter's men found some of the victims of savage cruelty yet alive and writhing in the agony of their wounds. Both Major Lee and Mrs. Boatman's daughter were alive and were carried back to Fort Augusta on litters, where the Major died in great agony soon after his arrival, while Miss Boatman was nursed back to health.

Colonel Hunter and his party, without waiting to bury the dead, hastened after the Indians as rapidly as possible, and came in sight of them above Lycoming Creek. Mrs. Lee was accidentally bitten on the ankle by a rattlesnake while crossing White Deer Mountains, causing her leg to become terribly swollen and to pain her so severely that she traveled with great difficulty. The Indians, realizing they were being pursued, urged her along as rapidly as her strength would permit, but she became weaker and weaker, and when about four miles below where Jersey Shore now stands, her strength entirely failed her, and she seated herself upon the ground.

By this time. Colonel Hunter's party was close upon the Indians, and in order that the poor woman might not be recovered by the whites, a warrior stealthily slipped up behind her, (killing her with a shot in the head from a muzzleloader). Another Indian then snatched up her young child, and holding it aloft by the feet, dashed it against a tree. The whole Indian band then fled with renewed speed, crossing the river at Smith's fording, at Level Corner, and hurrying up through Nippenose Valley. When Colonel Hunter's men came to the spot where Mrs. Lee was murdered, they found her body still warm. Happily, her child was not dangerously injured but was moaning piteously.

The pursuit was now pressing with so much vigor that near Antes' Gap, the Indians hurriedly separated and ran up both sides of the mountains. Colonel Hunter then concluded that, since the band had separated, further pursuit was not prudent. His men then buried the body of Mrs. Lee and returned, bringing back the child. At the Lee home, they halted and buried the dead there.

Young Thomas Lee, who was taken prisoner, was not recovered until 1788. His brother, Robert, made arrangements with the Indians to bring Thomas to Tioga Point, where he was delivered to his relatives and friends. During his long stay with the Indians, he had become so attached to them and Indian life that he was very reluctant to return to civilization, and his friends were obliged to bind him and place him in a canoe. When the canoe arrived at Wilkes-Barre, he was untied, but the canoe had no sooner touched the shore than he darted away like a deer, and it was several hours before he was retaken. On reaching Northumberland, he became sullen and morose, longing to be with his forest friends and companions. By degrees, he became accustomed to civilized life. He eventually became a useful citizen.

The massacre at the Lee home resulted in the death of seven persons and the capture of six. Of the latter, only four were recovered by their relatives and friends. Among these were Rebecca Lee, who was restored to her brother, Robert, at Northumberland, in 1785, and another sister, who was recovered at Albany in 1786.

Judge John Henry wrote to Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, February 5, 1807, a report of the Lee tragedy, which in part varies from the generally accepted story, but in which he tells of the captive children, as follows: "The survivors two girls and two boys--none of them above twelve years of: age, were held in Indian bondage till 1784-85.

The latter two, Robert and Thomas, I have been informed, have of late years been honored by the general government with military command. The particulars of this story, which are numerous, very pathetic, and interesting, I have derived from Rebecca, one of the children. My father, when a delegate to Congress, from 1784-85, coming from New York to Lancaster, found the returning captives desolate and moneyless. He brought her to his own home, and, in a few months, returned her to her relatives. H. Lee made three Captain journeys into the country of the Senecas in search of his uncle's (Major John Lee) children. The first journey produced the recovery of Rebecca, my informant; he brought her to Albany, and, by considerable ransom, redeemed another of the children. A third voyage, by the Mohawk River, Oneida, Ontario, and Erie Lakes, in pursuit of the captives, obtained a third of these orphans. Thomas came in a few years later." 

About the time of the massacre at the Lee home, a boy was shot by Indians while on his way to a mill near Lewisburg. (Linn's "Annals of Buffalo Valley," pages 210 to 213).”

Thomas lived on the home farm for many years, as is proved by a deed which he and his wife, Eliza, executed on April 1, 1797, to William Beard and Sarah, his wife. Robert Lee and his descendants lived on part of the property as late as the beginning of the 19th century.

Claudius Boatman was a Frenchman, and after the massacre of his wife, he took the remainder of his family in 1786 and settled far up Pine Creek. He had several daughters, one of whom married John English. Claudius died in 1802 and was buried in the village of Waterville.

About the time of the massacre at the Lee home, a boy was shot by Indians while on his way to a mill near Lewisburg. (Linn's "Annals of Buffalo Valley," pages 210 to 213).”