From The Scrap Book
August 20, 1990
By Dr. Bill Randall
The Murder of John McGeorge
The community of Lake George got its name from John McGeorge, one of the pioneer settlers and the victim of a treacherous and widely heralded murder. I have before me four ac counts of the events related to the incident, and like the news stories of 1990, they reflect differing attitudes and points of view. The fact that it occurred in January 1822 makes it a bit difficult to purport to tell you the real true story.
John McGeorge lived near Gallowshire, Scotland. He and another young man by the name of Lawson made up their minds to go to America. Landing at Saint John, they took a steamboat to Fredericton, then by canoe, ferried their scant supplies, probably to a point we now call Kings Landing. Back-packing all they could carry, they followed an Indian trail on a south-west course for about six miles until they came to a beautiful lake. There they built a camp and applied for a grant for this land; two hundred acres each. Soon they sent back to Scotland for their family members to join them. John’s sister and her husband, John Rae and an adopted child, called Little John Rae came to join them. As other settlers moved into the area, John McGeorge was looked up to as a leader of Lake George.
McGeorge shot a game animal – caribou – moose – or deer (depending on which source you get your story from); he shot it in his farm yard – or two miles to the west. The incident aroused the indignation of an Indian who, with his squaw, claimed to have been stalking the animal for three days, and now extremely hungry, asked for a portion of the meat. McGeorge refused and the Indians went back into the forest. Early the following morning McGeorge’s neighbor, Rae, noticed that McGeorge’s cow was outside the hovel. This being unusual, Rae went to tell McGeorge and McGeorge said he didn’t under stand it, so they went out to see about it. As they neared the barn, Rae saw the flash of a gun, saw McGeorge fall and heard the report of a gun. Rae came upon two Indians standing at the barn door. According to him the shorter Indian was engaged in reloading the gun. Speculation was that the irate Indians had returned during the night, evacuated the cow from the barn, and lay in ambush for McGeorge. Rae made his way to the nearest neighbors and they at once organized for pursuit.
Due to the wood skills of the Indian he was soon lost. At about the same time, John McGeorge died, and the intensity of the pursuit was rekindled.
One morning Captain Joslin, at the mouth of Joslin Creek, looked north-ward out of his kitchen window, and saw across the Saint John River a “small smoke”, as an Indian fire was described in those days. Alerting his neighbor, Mr. Ingraham, they crossed the river to the mouth of Sinnett Creek and called on Mr. Sinned. He allowed as to how he’d missed a sheep, and suspected an Indian of the thievery. Another search party was organized. While some of the searchers followed a log brush fence up-the-creek, Henry Niles, Ben Atherton and Ira Ingraham decided to scout out around a back road leading to Scotch Lake. There a man named Jack Gibson lived, and near his place they found a trail with drops of blood on the snow. One man went back to the creek to alert the others, while the finders pursued the trail. Near Mill Hill, there is a steep gulch and a little flat nook with a high, steep, over-looking the bank on the river side. When the party reached the bluff they saw a small fire down on the flat and a piece of meat roasting. Here the different stories became a bit confusing but it appears the Indian made his way hastily up the north bank and disappeared. He was next seen some half a mile further on where there is a sharp little horseback on the upper side of the Scotch Lake Road. There he was intercepted by Joshua Hallett and John Gibson who forced him to ward Niles and Atherton, who in turn got the Indian to surrender.
He was said to have been in a half starved condition and with frozen knees. He told how the chase had taken such a heavy toll of strength that he has been forced to put his squaw to death to relieve her suffering. He .was also said to have been wearing an outer coat of fine cloth, but bear skin moccasins from which the black hair was falling off and which had subsequently helped to establish his trail.
The Queensbury captors chided the party from Prince Wil liam asking them whether or not there were any more Indians they wanted caught.
The captive was taken to Captain Joslin’s who had retrieved the Indian’s musket from a hollow log. The Indian was then taken to jail in Fredericton and tried for murder. Mr. John Rae’s lack of ability to convincingly identify the captive as the murder of John McGeorge, along with other
in conclusive evidence led to the dismissal of the case. (Though one source said he was hanged!) A statement by E. M. Lyons, sheriff of York County says, “I the undersigned Sheriff enquired from all sources and I have been unable to locate any records.”
So, even though I’ve had help from many sources, including Mrs. George Joslin aged 92, it may still remain one of the “Unsolved Mysteries”.
Some things are more permanent. The musket, though once a flint lock, now converted to percussion, has been in the Joslin family ever since and is now in the possession of Lloyd Joslin, the great, great grandson of Captain Joslin.
The grave of John McGeorge was originally located close to the shore of Lake George. However, Little John Rae re moved the body to the present grave site and established a stone for John McGeorge and his adoptive parents John and Agnes Rae. The stone was once vandalized and stolen but due to the efforts of Phillip Moore it was restored to its present position with the words:
John McGeorge who was treacherously shot by an Indian Jan. 1822. Aged 40 years. Jane McGeorge died 1824 aged 30 years. John Rae died 1855 aged 80 years. Also his wife Agnes died 1853 aged 81 years.
Due to the wood skills of the Indian he was soon lost. At about the same time, John McGeorge died, and the intensity of the pursuit was rekindled.
One morning Captain Joslin, at the mouth of Joslin Creek, looked north-ward out of his kitchen window, and saw across the Saint John River a “small smoke”, as an Indian fire was described in those days. Alerting his neighbor, Mr. Ingraham, they crossed the river to the mouth of Sinnett Creek and called on Mr. Sinned. He allowed as to how he’d missed a sheep, and suspected an Indian of the thievery. Another search party was organized. While some of the searchers followed a log brush fence up-the-creek, Henry Niles, Ben Atherton and Ira Ingraham decided to scout out around a back road leading to Scotch Lake. There a man named Jack Gibson lived, and near his place they found a trail with drops of blood on the snow. One man went back to the creek to alert the others, while the finders pursued the trail. Near Mill Hill, there is a steep gulch and a little flat nook with a high, steep, over-looking the bank on the river side. When the party reached the bluff they saw a small fire down on the flat and a piece of meat roasting. Here the different stories became a bit confusing but it appears the Indian made his way hastily up the north.
Source: Rev. Bill Randall’s “From The Scrapbook Vol. One.”
