Paxton Boys

According to historian Kevin Kenny, the Paxton Boys (also known as the Paxtang Boys or Paxton Rangers) were Pennsylvania's most aggressive colonists. This group of vigilantes from Lancaster and Cumberland counties formed in 1763 to defend themselves from attacks by the Lenape and Shawnee during Pontiac's War. The Paxton Boys murdered twenty Susquehannock in December 1763 in the Conestoga Massacre. In February 1764, the Paxton Boys marched on Philadelphia with the intent of murdering the Moravian Lenape and Mohican who had been moved there for their protection. They dispersed at Germantown after meeting with a delegation headed by Benjamin Franklin. Members of the group led by Lazarus Stewart later supported settlers from Connecticut in the Wyoming Valley during the Pennamite-Yankee Wars and Revolutionary War. Formation The Paxton Boys were drawn from Scots-Irish Presbyterians who lived in the hill country northwest of Lancaster, and across the Susquehanna River in Cumberland County. Many of these settlers were squatters who had encroached on indigenous territory, often in blatant violation of previously signed treaties. As a result, their scattered farms were targeted during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War by the Lenape and Shawnee. Reverend John Elder, who was the parson at Paxtang, was a dominant Presbyterian figure on the Pennsylvania frontier. He was known as the "Fighting Parson" and kept his rifle in the pulpit when he delivered his sermons. In 1763, Elder recruited 110 associators to defend against Lenape and Shawnee attacks. Elder realized that he did not have enough men to mount an effective defence, but was not able to convince the Pennsylvania government to allow his rangers to take offensive action.