100 HISTORY OP when Brant was about to tie him lest lie should escape, Wood remonstrated, and said lie was a gentleman, and promised not to escape, j^l^ey did not tie him, but directed him to lie aown between two Indians, who informed him that if he at- tempted to escape they would tomahawk him. The blanket on which he slept caught fire during the night, and he dared not move from his position to extinguish it, lest he should ex- perience the reality of the threat, and be tomahawked. At last the fire reached his feet, and he kicked it out. The blanket belonged to Brant, and Wood was harshly treated by him ever after ; and when asked the reason of his conduct, he said, ^ D — n you, you burnt my blanket.' Wood resided in the county for many years, and was a very respectable citizen. But we are of opinion, from all the circumstances of the case, and the character of Wood, that he was not a Freemason; and from the reason of the enmity of Brant, as expressed in the above anecdote, that Wood was innocent of any fraud upon Brant, and that the suggestion was a slander. Among the killed was Moses Thomas, second son of the gentleman of that name who was murdered by the savages at at the block-house in Cochecton. He was slain by a tory named Case Cole.* For forty-three years the bones of these victims
- Moses Thomas, second, enlisted during the early part of the war,
and was with the army some time at "West Point and Newburgh. Be- coming dissatisfied with his officers, he hired a substitute, and return- ed to his family, who were in Minisink. When Brant fell upon that point, Thomas volunteered, and was killed, as stated. His widow mar- ried a man named Nathan Chapman, and they removed to the valley of Wyoming, where, he was murdered by the Indians. Chapman, and a Mr. Jamison, were in company, on horseback, when some savages, who were in ambush, fired upon them. Jamison fell dead, and his companion, who was mortally wounded, clung to his horse until he reached a house, where he soon after died. Mrs. Chapman subse- quently married a Mr, Jesse Drake. Her descendants are among the most respectable inhabitants of Cochecton.
