From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Pownall, [before 20 September 1755]
To Thomas Pownall
MS not found; extract reprinted from New York Colonial Documents, VI, 1008–9.6
[before Sept. 20,] 1755
Conraed Weiser informs me that the Six Nations have actually sent a Message to the Indians in their Alliance at Aukwick and the Ohio, to sharpen their arrows and prepare for war, for they are now determined to drive the French from Ohio, and do all in their power to assist the English.7
6. In a letter from Pownall to the Board of Trade, Sept. 20, 1755. The quoted extract is prefaced by the words: “I received to day a letter from Mr. Franklin who says.”
7. A letter from Weiser to Governor Morris, dated from Heidelburg, Berks Co., Sept. 12, 1755, read to the Pennsylvania Council September 18, contains a passage in much the same words. Pa. Col. Recs., VI, 614. Aughwick (now Shirleysburg), near the confluence of Aughwick Creek and the Juniata River, was where George Croghan lived. See map, above, V, 225. The letter to Morris does not mention Aughwick but cites the Indians at “Adeeky on Ohio,” which the present editors have not located.