(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Eldred’s “Historically Speaking” column in the Jan.-Feb.-Mar.: 2011 issue of the Wayne County Historical Society Newsletter.)

The battle of the Cushetunk woman was reported by Nathan Skinner, according to memories of his family members.

Nathan Skinner was born in Newton, NJ, on April 4, 1777, where his family had fled from Cushetunk, PA, during the Revolutionary War.

He was the son of “Admiral” Daniel Skinner and Lillie (Healy) Skinner.

Lillie previous married a Mr. Richardson and had a daughter named Phoebe, but her husband was killed during the French and Indian Wars. Daniel and Lillie had nine children with Nathan being the eighth.

In the 1840s, Nathan wrote about the colonists who in the 1750s had settled along the Delaware River in the area the Indians called Cushetunk.

His booklet was later called “The Nathan Skinner Manuscript.” It was written after 1840 as Nathan mentions Barnes Corners, in western Damascus Township, PA, but John Barnes did not move to West Damascus until about 1840.

Nathan was born about 10 years after the battle of the women and had to rely on the memory of others. As the story was retold over the years,  certain details may have been elaborated by the family members. My favorite portion of the booklet is the battle of the women of Cushetunk.

According to Nathan, the success of his father Daniel Skinner in piloting logs down the Delaware River to the banks of the shipbuilding yards near Philadelophia caused jealousy among some of the other settlers of Cushetunk.

Abraham Ross, Nathaniel Evans, Phineas Clark and families were all crowded in one log house in the valley while Daniel Skinner had a spacious home a short distance up the valley.

The three men had discussed the possibility of driving Daniel Skinner out of the valley and taking over the logging work.

Their wives had urged the men to drive the Skinners out and were disappointed when the men refused to act.

In May of 1767, when the three men were absent, rafting down the Delaware, their wives—Sarah Evans, Huldah Ross and Mrs. Clark—decided that they could accomplish what their husbands had failed to do.

Nathan Skinner wrote that Mrs. Clark said that she would restrain Mrs. Skinner while the other ladies removed the Skinner belongings from the house and replace them with their own possessions.

On a sunny morning, the ladies marched to the Skinner dwelling but found Mrs. Skinner absent and only her daughter Phoebe there, taking care of the three infants.

The ladies began to remove the Skinner things, but Phoebe began putting them back in the house.

When Mrs. Clark attempted to stop Phoebe, the girl tripped her and knocked her out.

When Mrs. Skinner returned at this time, Huldah Ross hit her with a stone, cutting her head. Phoebe came to the aid of her mother, and Sarah Evans to the aid of Huldah.

The fight turned into a hair-pulling contest, which ended when Mrs. Skinner, finding a pile of ashes on the ground, threw them in the face of Huldah Ross, which disabled her.

With Mrs. Clark and Huldah out of the fight, the battle ended. Huldah went to the river to wash her face and Mrs. Clark gradually recovered and asked for peace.

The three ladies admitted that they were wrong and asked for forgiveness. Then the ladies all went to the river to wash and attempt to stop the bleeding of their heads.

Mrs. Skinner sent her daughter Phoebe to the house to prepare food for the ladies.

According to Skinner, the ladies lived after that in peace and friendship for many years.

The story is told from the Skinner viewpoint. Notice that after more than severnty-five years, Skinner could not remember Mrs. Clark’s first name.

I have shortened the story for the sake of space. It is a great tale, but how much of it is true remains an open question.