An honor guard from the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment Revolutionary War Reenactors fired off a volley to honor Benjamin and Stuckley Harding, two brothers murdered on June 30, 1778, just two days before the Battle of Wyoming.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
First casualties of Battle of Wyoming remembered in West Pittston
Mary Portelli, West Pittston Historical Society president, addresses the largest crowd to date over the five years of holding First to Fall, at the Jenkins Harding Cemetery, Wyoming Ave., West Pittston, on Sunday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Lucas Scavone, a rising sixth-grade student at Lake-Lehman School District, is shown portraying Jonah Rogers, who narrowly escaped the attacking Indians and Torres in 1778. Rich Jenkins, left, portrayed distant relative Stephen Harding Jr.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Mark Kahn, portraying Rev. Joshua Entwhistle, foreground, prays over the graves of brothers Benjamin and Stuckley Harding, who were brutally murdered by the Indians and Torres in 1778.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Jason Harding, left, Jeanmarie Harding, center, and Cathleen Reese, all descendants of brothers Benjamin and Stuckley Harding, stand at their gravesite at the Harding Jenkins Cemetery, West Pittston.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WEST PITTSTON – Over the past five years, the West Pittston Historical Society (WPHS) has honored brothers Benjamin and Stuckley Harding, considered the first two casualties of the Battle of Wyoming in 1778, each year at the Harding-Jenkins Cemetery, located at Wyoming Avenue and Linden Street in the borough.
The brothers were buried at the West Pittston cemetery after being ambushed and killed by Native American warriors on June 30, 1778, just two days before the Battle of Wyoming began.
The Jenkins-Harding Cemetery is the oldest and most historically significant burial ground in the Wyoming Valley. It is closely tied to the earliest settlement of the region, the Revolutionary War, and the events leading up to the Battle of Wyoming.
In 1778, Judge John Jenkins donated approximately one-half acre of land as a public burial ground.
Jenkins was a member of the Susquehanna Company, which established Connecticut settlements in the Wyoming Valley.
Atty. John Jenkins, a descendant of the Jenkins family, set up long-term care of the cemetery supported through the Jenkins-Harding Cemetery Preservation Fund, administered by the Luzerne Foundation, ensuring the historic site continues to be preserved. The WPHS had maintained the cemetery with the help of volunteers for many years.
Each year, a program is held on the Sunday closest to the anniversary of the deaths of the Harding brothers.
Mary Portelli, WPHS president, said Carl Rosencrance, Jr. initially came up with the idea over five years ago to honor the Harding brothers, and this year was the first year the event was supported by the largest crowd in attendance. Rosencrance, Jr. serves as the First to Fall chairman.
Sunday’s First to Fall program featured a dramatization of the events leading up to the Battle of Wyoming by area actors.
“The first few years we had speakers, which were all excellent, but I think our actors have just brought a whole different feel to the event, especially this year since they were so dramatic,” Portelli said. “We had a nice crowd, and it brought a lot of attention.”
Portelli estimated over 125 people attended this year’s First to Fall.
Sherry Rule Emershaw is not only a West Pittston native growing up just a block away from the Harding-Jenkins Cemetery, but she is also a member of the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment Revolutionary War Reenactors. Emershaw said she looks forward to participating in the First to Fall program each year.
“This (First to Fall) is a part of the 24th’s history,” Emershaw said, according to history. “Nathan Dennison went up the river to encounter the enemy, but there was never an encounter, and instead, they found the bodies of the Harding brothers and brought the bodies back to Fort Jenkins.”
The 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment Reenactors have been participating in the First to Fall program every year.
Harding descendants of Benjamin and Stuckley were on hand for the day’s First to Fall program.
“It’s very important to preserve history here,” John Jenkins remarked. “My parents grew up here (West Pittston), and our family has been here for seven or eight generations, and if someone doesn’t step up to the preservation, it will all be lost.”
Jenkins’ grandparents are buried in the Jenkins-Harding Cemetery. His grandfather, Wally, as many older residents of Greater Pittston could recall, was the owner of Jenkins Hardware, formerly located across the street from Carter’s Ice Cream stand.
“This is a great event and every year, through Mary and the WPHS, the event gets bigger and bigger, and it’s great they maintain the living history,” Jenkins concluded.
Portelli said 2028 will be the 250th anniversary of the events leading up the Battle of Wyoming were a much bigger First to Fall event will be planned.
