Chief Cornplanter

(GY-ANT-WA-CHIA)
The Last War Chief of the Senecas

Chief Cornplanter, or "the corn planter" to the Senecas, was born in the little town of Conewaugus on the Genessee River in New York state. Although the exact date of his birth is not known, it was somewhere between the years 1732 and 1740. Cornplanter was a half breed, the son of a white man and an Indian royaneh, a memeber of a Seneca noble family and a hereditary matron of the Wolf clan. There has always been some question as to whether his father was an Englishman, John O'Bail, or a Dutch trader, John O'beel or Abeel. It is most probable that the latter is correct. At any rate, his father hailed from the Mohawk Valley.

Cornplanter's English name came down as John O'Bail. He was the earliest settler in Warren County, Pennsylvania, and a contemporary of George Washington. They became close friends during the Revolutionary War. Cornplanter was often referred to as one of the most valiant warriors of his tribe, of superior sagacity and eloquence. He first fought with the British during the war as chief of the Seneca Nation, but when his people were deserted by their British allies he took part in Indian treaties with the American government. For his help during the ensuing Indian war he was given land in several locations.

In 1789 the recommendation was made that Chief Cornplanter be given a grant of 1500 acres of land in western Pennsylvania. By act of the Pennsylvania assembly passed February 1, 1791, he was granted lands for which the patents were issued March 16, 1796. The final gift, an area of about 700 acres, was the Cornplanter Grant, located in Warren County about three miles below the southern boundary of New York state. There were three separate units in this grant, Planter's Field and the town of Jennesedaga on the mainland along the Allegheny River, and two adjacent islands, Liberality and Donation. This land was a partial recognition to Cornplanter for his services to the state, and he settled on the grant with his family, remaining there until his death in 1836. Chief Cornplanter was awarded the distinction of a biography in the "Encyclopedia Britanica" as one of Warren County's two most famous men.