June 26, 1971
     Frank Bashore, who lived at Hamlin, Berks County, Showed us a pair od buckskin pants, once worn by Mathias Bashore, who helped fight off the Indians during the Indian war of 1750's.  He was an ancestor of Issac and Michael Bashore.  A bullet hole in the buckskin pants was very neatly patched.

     The buckskin pants were handed down from seven generations of Bashores or approximately 220 years.  The residents of a large part of Berks County and much of Lebanon County had to flee from their homes as a result of widespread massacres of the white population of the times.  Many of their homes and farm buildings were burned to the ground by the Indians.  Most of the people killed in these massacres were scalped by the Indians.  A few people who were scalped lived to tell about it afterwards.  The Bashore family tried to get help from Governor Penn in Philadelphia.  But the Penn's were Quakers and did not believe in armed resistance.  Subsequently, the Bashore family used a Conestoga wagon, loaded with the bodies of dead settlers, killed by the Indians, and drove it to Philadelphia to show it to the Governor to get the arms and ammunition needed to fight the Indians.

     This old Conestoga wagon was handed down for 3 or 4 generations, until finally a picture was taken of it.  This old picture is still in the possession of someone in the Bashore family. (If you have it I'd like a copy for the site)

     Frank Bashore, now 59 years old, is the son of Michael, who was the son of Issac Bashore, buried in the cemetery at Merkey's old stone church, which is located on the road from Bethal to the Round Top.  It is within site of the home where the D.B.Bashore family lived from 1928 & 1929.  A much older Bashore Cemetery is located about a mile east of D. B. Bashore's mountain cabin.

    Ben and Elizabeth Bashore, children of Henry W. Bashore were with their Father and Grandfather (D.B. Bashore) at the time Frank Bashore relayed the information on the buckskin pants on June 26, 1971.

Mathias Bashore is mentioned in the old "History of Lebanon and Berks County," which was printed about 1844.

Page 65 - Mathias Bashore was wounded by the Indians at Hess's house.

Page 66 - Barnhart Beshore, Jacob Beshore, Mathias Beshore, fled from Berks County because of Indian attacks.  Please note the spelling of the Bashore name as it appeared in the publication "History of Lebanon and Berks County

Apparently one branch of the family spelled their names with an e or may have been a mistake in the publication.  It could have been spelled either way as it was from the original French name and if you are a Bashore, how many times has someone tried to put a Y in your name?