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The Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, West
Street, in West Seneca, picture by the author
This
story is about murder, witchcraft, violent death, a celebrity murderer, a
celebrity witness, a restless ghost; and oh yes, the independence and
sovereignty of the Seneca Nation.
“Wait
a second”, you say, “you always write about survival, woods-lore and the
wilderness, what gives…”?
You
are right, I do. However, in 1821, what
today is the Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, on West Main Street, in West Seneca, was
then the edge of the Old Northwest Frontier and the wilderness was just outside
the cabin door. Besides it is Halloween
and you will have to forgive me for writing about a good ghost story that still
haunts the Lower Ebenezer Cemetery and the story of the of the ensuing murder
trial, the ghost of which still haunts the halls of the Governor’s Mansion in
Albany, New York.
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A excerpt from Publications of the
Buffalo Historical Society, Vol. XXIV, p 110
It
all started in the spring of 1821, on the Buffalo Creek Reservation, in western
New York state, near the mouth of the Buffalo River, where modern day Buffalo,
New York stands today.
That
spring a Seneca man, living about three miles from the mouth of the Buffalo
River and the frontier village of Buffalo, on the Buffalo Creek Reservation;
sickened and died a lingering death. The
Seneca Medicine Men were perplexed, and thought the circumstances surrounding
his lingering illness and symptoms were suspicious. They concluded that he was a victim of
witchcraft and evil sorcery. They blamed
a Seneca woman, named Kau-qua-tau, who had nursed him and watched over him at
his bed side. They named her as the prime suspect in his murder by witchcraft
and sorcery with the aid of an evil spirit!
Kau-qua-tau
knew that the penalty for witchcraft and sorcery in Seneca society, from time
immemorial, was death: so, she fled her cabin and the Buffalo Creek Reserve and
crossed the Niagara River into Canada.
Her
flight to Canada was considered proof of her guilt and she was followed,
arrested, tried by the Seneca council who had crossed into Canada after her,
found guilty and sentenced to death.
But
the Seneca council had a problem. They
knew that if they carried out the sentence of death outside of their territory,
either in Canada or in anywhere in the Unites States, except in the Buffalo
Creek Reserve, it would be considered murder and they would be found guilty of
it. So somehow, they convinced Kau-qua-tau
to return with them, back to the Buffalo Creek Reserve. There they planned on carrying out their
sentence of death for the crime of witchcraft and sorcery!
They
arrived back into their own territory on May 2nd, 1821 and the Seneca Sachems
expected that their duly designated executioner would perform his duty, then
and there: however, for some reason he refused.
At this point a Seneca Chief named So-on-on-gise, who was called Tommy
Jemmy by his American neighbors and was thought to be related to the Seneca man
who had died the lingering death, seized a knife and slit Kau-qua-tau’s throat,
killing her on the spot!
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| The log cabin at the lower left, belonged to Seneca Chief Red Jacket, from Images of America: West Seneca, by Jim Pace, page 33 |
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From Images of America: West Seneca,
by Jim Pace, page 20
|
It
is said that Kau-qua-tau was buried under the earthen floor of her cabin, which
stood on the grounds of today’s Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, on the bluff above
Cazenovia Creek. And here our ghost
story rests in an uneasy grave until 1842, and the removal of the Senecas from
the Buffalo Creek Reserve and the purchase of what is today West Seneca by the
religious Community of True Inspiration, commonly known as the Ebenezer
Society.
The
Seneca’s abandoned cabins and homes were assigned to various members of the
Ebenezer Society. Not knowing the bloody
history of the cabin on the bluff above Cazenovia creek, some Ebenezer’s moved
into the old cabin and came to live in Kau-qua-tau’s old cabin. According to legend, it wasn’t long until
they began to hear strange sounds and see visions and complain of
sleeplessness. In fact, anyone who tried
to stay in the old cabin claimed to experience the same sensations. Eventually the Ebenezer Society leader,
Christian Metz, in attempt to dispel the claims, stayed overnight in
Kau-qua-tau’s old cabin. The legend says
that the tormented spirit of Kau-qua-tau, bloody and bound in chains, appeared
to Metz. The next day the Kau-qua-tau’s
old cabin was burned to the ground and the clearing where it stood was
consecrated as a cemetery. Tradition
also has it that no one was ever buried on the site of the Kau-qua-tau’s burned
cabin and grave!
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| The Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, West Street, in West Seneca, in 1956, from Images of America: West Seneca, by Jim Pace, page 111 |
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The Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, West Main
Street, in West Seneca, today, picture by the author
|
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The Lower Ebenezer Cemetery, West Main
Street, in West Seneca, today, picture by the author
|
And
so, that is the end of our ghost story and a ghost story is all it would have
been, except back in 1821 the American inhabitants of the village of Buffalo
were shocked and horrified by the charges of witchcraft, sorcery and murder. Forgetting that the Seneca were, to a certain
extent at least, an independent community with their own laws, customs and
jurisdictions, they arrested So-on-on-gise on a charge of murder for the
killing of Kau-qua-tau! And thus, begins
a story of a murder trial, the ghost of which still haunts the halls of the
Governor’s Mansion in Albany, New York, to this very day.
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An excerpt from Niles' Weekly
Register, from August 4, 1821, p. 358-359; discussing the first trial of
So-on-on-gise
The
arrest and trial of So-on-on-gise was big news in 1821, it had a celebrity
murderer, allegations of witchcraft, evil sorcery and murder, and even a famous
witness!
So-on-on-gise
was a celebrity and had led a troupe of Seneca performers to England from 1817
to early 1819, with Storrs and Company of Canandaigua, New York, where they had
played in an Indian Show, with great success.
He was also a Seneca elder and chief and as late as 1835 was still a
signatory on official letters to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs and
President Andrew Jackson1, but that is getting ahead of our
story.
So-on-on-gise,
or Tommy Jemmy as he was called by the newspaper reporters who covered the
trial and who turned it into a sensation, was arrested and thrown into prison
in the village of Buffalo, on Saturday, May 5th, 1821. So-on-on-gise, during his first trial before
a Circuit Court session held in Buffalo, which started in mid-July 1821; never
denied killing Kau-qua-tau. In fact, he
plead not guilty because, “…the Seneca Indians were a sovereign and
independent nation, exercising exclusive jurisdiction of all offences committed
by any of its members within their own territory”2. Since both Kau-qua-tau and So-on-on-gise were
Seneca and both the judicial execution and the alleged witchcraft had occurred
on Seneca territory, according to So-on-on-gise, his legal counsel and the
Seneca Nation, this was not a matter for the courts of New York State. The Senecas felt that the entire issue was
about their sovereignty and independence, which was guaranteed by treaties with
the Federal Government of the United States and the U.S. Constitution; and that
even though their territory was completely surrounded by New York State, they
were independent from the State of New York.
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Picture by the author
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An excerpt from William Leete Stones,
The Life and Times of Red-Jacket, page 320-321, reporting some of Red Jacket’s testimony
at the trial
|
So-on-on-gise’s
first trial started in mid-July 1821, and featured testimony from the famous
orator, and Native American spokesman, Red Jacket, or as he was known to the
Senecas, Sa-go-ye-wat-ha. Red jacket was
put on the stand as a witness for So-on-on-gise and his plea of not
guilty. The trial ended later that same
month, with the jury quickly determining that, all “…the allegations
contained in the prisoner’s plea were true”3. Tommy Jemmy, or So-on-on-gise as he was known
to the Senecas, was found not guilty!
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An excerpt from Niles' Weekly
Register, from August 25, 1821, p. 411-412; discussing the second trial of
So-on-on-gise
Not
to be undone, the prosecution quickly referred the case to the New York Supreme
Court, and so started the second trial of So-on-on-gise. However, the New York Supreme Court, which
started proceedings in August 1821, was unable to deny the Seneca’s claims to a
“qualified sovereignty”4 and another New York State court
allowed So-on-on-gise to go free!
But
New York State, which is never willing to admit that it was wrong, passed a
bill in the New York Assembly, on April 8, 1822, which unconstitutionally
declared the supremacy of the jurisdiction of New York State courts over a “a
sovereign and independent nation” and at the same time pardoned
So-on-on-gise, who had not been convicted of a crime by two different New York
State courts. This strange bill was
quickly ratified by Governor De Witt Clinton and the Council of Revisions on
April 12, 1822 and it gave life to the ghost of the trial of So-on-on-gise. The ghost of So-on-on-gise’s trial and the
question of Seneca sovereignty still haunt the New York State Governor’s
Mansion to this very day, with legal issues being tried or arbitrated from time
to time.
Ooohh…spooky! Have a fun and safe Halloween!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and my videos at
BandanaMan Productions and don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s
Journal Online and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and if you
have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric
Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds,
so watch for me.
Notes
1
Dennis, Matthews; “Murder! Or the Remarkable Trial of Tommy Jemmy, 19th-Century
Seneca Witch-Hunter and Defender of Indian Sovereignty”
2
Stone, William Leete; The Life and Times of Red-Jacket, page 319
3
Stone, William Leete; The Life and Times of Red-Jacket, on page 321
4
Stone, William Leete; The Life and Times of Red-Jacket, on page 322
Sources
Dennis,
Matthews; “Murder! Or the Remarkable Trial of Tommy Jemmy, 19th-Century Seneca
Witch-Hunter and Defender of Indian Sovereignty”, Readex Report, Vol. 7, Issue
2, [Readex. 2019]
Niles'
Weekly Register, Volume 20, No. 23, August 4, 1821
[Baltimore, MD,], p. 358-359,
Niles'
Weekly Register, Volume 20, No.
26, August 25, 1821 [Baltimore, MD,], p. 411-412
Pace,
James; Images of America: West Seneca, [Arcadia Publishing, Charleston,
South Carolina, 2011], p. 111
Severance,
Frank H.; Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, Vol. XXIV,
[Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, NY, 1920], p. 110,
Stone, William Leete; The Life and
Times of Red-Jacket, Or Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, [Wiley and Putnam, New York, NY,
1841], p. 317-321,
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