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Boyd and Parker Memorial Park

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Availability:	Open to the Public
Filed Under:	Historical Locations > The American Revolution Infamous Crimes
Added By:	Tom G
Added On:	September 06, 2008 - 02:31 AM UTC
Last Modified:	September 15, 2009 - 11:36 PM UTC
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Address
Boyd Parker State Park, New York 14510, USA (Leicester, New York)

Information
Boyd & Parker Memorial Park Also known as Boyd-Parker Memorial Park and Boyd-Parker State Park, this small park in Western New York is named for a pair of American soldiers who were tortured to death by Native Americans during the American Revolutionary War. A large burr oak estimated to be more than 240 years old looms over one corner of the park. It is believed to have been the tree used by the Senecas in the torture and execution of Lt. Thomas Boyd. The Sullivan Expedition In 1779, General John Sullivan and General James Clinton led a campaign against British loyalists and Native American tribes that had allied themselves with the British army. The majority of the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes had all joined with the British. The expedition was sent North into New York with orders to perform a scorched earth campaign. Native American villages were burned down and crops destroyed as the Sullivan expedition made its way along, leaving little behind in its wake. A scouting party of 29 men, led by Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, were sent ahead of Sullivan's troops. The scouting party's job was to seek out Genesee Castle, the village in which Seneca leader Chief Little Beard resided. Boyd's scouting party was ambushed by Seneca warriors on September 13, 1779 in what is now Groveland, New York. The Ambush Han Yerry, the Oneida Indian guide with the scouting party, warned the 23-year-old Lt. Boyd that he believed they were heading into an ambush. Despite the warning, Boyd chose to pursue a small group of Seneca warriors that ran from them. The fleeing Senecas did indeed lead them straight into an ambush. There were 1,000 British loyalists and Native Americans laying in wait. Fifteen of Boyd's men were slain during the ambush. Other members of the scouting party either escaped or were set free later. Thomas Boyd and Sergeant Michael Parker, were captured and brought roughly ten miles Northwest to Genesee Castle (now Cuylerville, a hamlet in the town of Leicester, New York) to go before British Army officers, John Butler (an American loyalist to the British) and Joseph Brant (a Mohawk enlisted as an officer by the British) for questioning. The officers then left the prisoners behind with Chief Little Beard and his tribe. The Torture Tree According to accounts, Boyd and Parker were taken to an oak tree by the Senecas. They were stripped naked and then whipped with branches. Their fingernails and toenails were pulled off. Their noses, tongues, right eyes and right ears were gouged and sliced off. Their genitals were mutilated. Their abdomens were sliced open and loops of their intestine were nailed to the oak tree. Thomas Boyd and Michael Parker were then forced to walk around the tree, their insides being pulled out and wrapped around the trunk. Finally their hearts were cut from their chests and their heads sliced off. Lt. Boyd's head was used for celebration that night by the Native Americans. It was partially skinned and placed on a spear used in a celebratory dance around the tree where the men had died so gruesomely. When General Sullivan's troops reached the area on September 15, they found the remains of the men, with the exception of Sergeant Parker's head. It was never found. Their remains were buried 50 feet from the tree where they died. The following are personal accounts of military men who discovered the remains of Boyd and Parker. Major General Sullivan: "It appears that our men had taken to a small grove, the ground around it being clear on every side for several rods, and there fought till Mr. Boid was shot through the body, and his men all killed except one, who, with his wounded commander was made prisoner. The firing was so close, before this brave party were destroyed, that the powder of the enemy's muskets was driven into their flesh. In this conflict the enemy must have suffered greatly, as they had no cover, and our men were possessed of a very advantageous one. This advantage of ground the obstinate bravery of the party, with some other circumstances, induced me to believe their loss must have been very considerable. They were so long employed in removing and secreting their dead, that the advance of General Hand's party obliged them to leave one alongside the riflemen, and at least a wagon load of packs, blankets, hats and provisions, which they had thrown off to enable them to act with more agility in the field. Most of these appeared to have appertained to the rangers. Another reason which induces me to suppose they suffered much was the unparalleled tortures they inflicted upon the brave and unfortunate Boid, who body, with that of the equally unfortunate companion, we found at Chinesee. It appeared that they had whipped them in the most cruel manner, pulled out Mr. Boid's nails, cut off his nose, plucked out one of his eyes, cut out his tongue, stabbed him with spears in sundry places, and inflicted other tortures which decency will not permit me to mention; lastly, cut off his head, and left his body on the ground with that of his unfortunate companion, who appeared to have experienced nearly the same savage barbarity." Lt. Erkuries Beatty: "... on entering the town we found the body of Lt. Boyd and another Rifle Man in a most terrible mangled condition. they were both stripped naked and their heads Cut off and the flesh of Lt. Boyds head was intirely taken of and his eyes punched out. the other mans hed was not there. they was stabed I supose in 40 Diferent places in the Body with a spear and great gashes cut in their flesh with knifes, and Lt. Boyds Privates was nearly cut of & hanging down, his finger and Toe nails was bruised of and the Dogs had eat part of their Shoulders away likewise a knife was Sticking in Lt. Boyds body. They was imediately buried with the honour of war." Maj. John Burrows: "Here we find Lieut. Boyd and one of the men laying on the ground just on the edge of the town, and so inhumanly murdered it is almost too much to describe. Their heads were cut off and scalpt. They had been whipped horribly. Their bodies speared all over and Lieut. Boyd partly skinned." Sgt. Moses Fellows: "When we Entered the Town We found Lt. Boyd & one man Dead and most Horribly mangled, they were Laying near a tree which we Suposed they were tyed To While they were massacred as their was Blood & other Signs near the tree; it appeared they first whipt them and Very Severely, then Cut Out their tongues & Plucked out their Eyes and nails, then Stabd them With Spears and after Venting all their Hellish Spite Cut off their Heads and Left them, this was a Horrid Spectacle to Behold Indeed, and from which we are taught nesesity of fighting those more then devil as Long as we have Life Tather then to Surender Ourselves prisoners..." Lt. Robert Parker: "At this place we found the bodies of Lieut. Boyd and another, (mentioned yesterday) in a putrified & mangled condition. Lieut. Boyd was found with his head cut off & skinned all over, his eyes torn out, his nails pulled off, his body bruised & beat all over, & every other cruelty exercised upon him that malice & savage barbarity could invent, some of which are too shocking to relate. The greatest part of their cruelties appears to hav been committed upon him while he was alive, in order to heighten his misery & satisfy their revenge. Thus died a good citizen, an agreeable friend & a gallant soldier..." Lt. Rudolphus Van Hovenburgh: "Boyd and the Sergent who were taken prisoners the day before most cruelly Butchered, his hed Skin'd his nails pull'd out by the Roots, his head cut off from his body his private parts skin'd his body speared most inhumanly." General Sullivan and his men proceeded to lay waste to Genesee Castle and a few other nearby Seneca villages following the same procedure they had with other Native American villages encountered along their way. The Senecas fled Northwest into the Niagara Falls area. A number of the soldiers involved in destroying Genesee Castle took note of the farms and orchards they were destroying, realizing that the area was good for agriculture. Many would later return following the war and settle into the area, which eventually became Cuylerville, New York. Restless Remains In 1807, grave-robbers dug up and looted the graves of Boyd and Parker. On August 19, 1841, a procession involving 5 military companies and invited guests transported the exhumed remains to Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. Boyd and Parker were reunited in death with the members of their company who had died and been buried in Groveland (which also wound up with a memorial park for the victims of the ambush). They too had been exhumed and moved to Mount Hope's Patriot Hill. Moved by the event, descendants of the grave-robbers who had desecrated the graves in 1807 returned the stolen items. The remains were stored in a wooden urn and a wooden crate on the hill. They sat there, unburied, until 1864. A caretaker discovered that damage to the containers had caused bones to fall out onto the ground. He took the remains to potter's field for reburial. In 1903, the Daughter's of the American Revolution Irondequoit, New York chapter discovered the whereabouts of the remains and had them transplanted again within the cemetery. They were finally given proper grave markers. Controversy There is some dispute over whether it really was Sergeant Michael Parker that was tortured to death with Lt. Boyd. Some believe that it was actually their Native American guide, Han Yerry, who was killed at the Torture Tree. While there are written accounts that it was Parker, the official report by Gen. Sullivan states only that a "companion" was slain with Lt. Boyd at the tree. There are a number of other accounts that don't give a name to the second victim along with Boyd. Lacking a head, the body was difficult to identify. Han has otherwise been believed to have died in the initial attack in Groveland. After the remains were brought to Mount Hope Cemetery, stories began to circulate among the Democrats that the Whigs (an American political party that died out before the Civil War) had actually not transplanted the remains of Boyd and Parker. Stories circulated for years that bear bones had been substituted for the deceased. The stories are baseless, as there were many witnesses to the exhumation of the remains. Accounts vary. There are differing reports over how many men were in Boyd's group. There are also varying accounts of how many actually survived and how, whether through escape or being set free. The tortures also vary slightly from story to story. It is clear, however that Lt. Boyd and one of his men were slain in a highly sadistic and slow manner. Boyd and Parker Wayside Shrine Following the removal of the remains in 1841, the spot where Lt. Thomas Boyd and Sgt. Parker are believed to have been killed became largely forgotten until 1897. In that year, William Pryor Letchworth approached the Livingston County Historical Society about purchasing the property and erecting a proper memorial to Boyd and Parker. It would be another 30 years (and 17 years after Letchworth's death) before this idea came to fruition. On September 17, 1927, the historical society held a dedication ceremony for the "Boyd and Parker Wayside Shrine." In 1930, the site became a New York State park and remained so until 1970, when the town of Leicester purchased the property back and changed the name to Boyd & Parker Memorial Park. Despite the location not having been a state park since 1970, it is listed as "Boyd Parker State Park" on various modern maps. Visiting Boyd & Parker Memorial Park Despite its diminutive size, the park is easily spotted from Cuylerville Road (Route 20A). The park lacks a specific address and online maps place the park a little off from where it actually stands. Using the address "3060 Cuylerville Road, Leicester, New York" will get visitors using online maps or GPS devices the closest. The park features a limited parking lot and a smattering of small monuments and historical plaques. Anyone planning a picnic will likely wish to bring a blanket to sit upon as there are no picnic tables. The public restrooms have also been closed down due to problems with vandalism. An old bur oak tree stands in the Northeast corner of the park. It is said to be the tree used in the torture and deaths of Boyd and Parker. The tree has been authenticated by arborists as being old enough to have been the Torture Tree. The park closes daily at 10:00 PM. A visit to the park can be easily combined with a visit to the Groveland Ambuscade Monument in Groveland, New York and Letchworth State Park, which are both not far away. The Groveland Ambuscade Monument rests on the spot where Boyd and his men were ambushed. Letchworth State Park covers more than 14,000 acres and features a gorge with many scenic spots and waterfalls. Letchworth is named after William Pryor Letchworth (who suggested the Boyd Parker Memorial to the Livingston County Historical Society) whose land donation led to that park's creation. Anyone wishing to make donations to maintain and possibly improve the Boyd & Parker Memorial Park may do so at the following address: Boyd Parker Trust Fund Town of Leicester, New York 14481

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Related Sites
Wikipedia: Boyd and Parker Ambush Wikipedia entry for the ambush of Lt. Thomas Boyd and his scouting party.
Vintage Views: Boyd-Parker Ambush Extensive article on the ambush of Lt. Thomas Boyd's scouting party and the subsequent torture.
Captain Selins Company: Boyd-Parker Ambush Web page dealing with the ambush of Lt. Boyd's scout patrol in 1779. Contains personal accounts of the men who discovered the remains.

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See Also on TheCabinet.com
Blog: The Gruesome Deaths of Boyd and Parker (09/13/08)
Blog: What Happened to Boyd and Parker After They Died? (09/19/08)
Blog: The Torture Tree (09/17/09)

Available from Amazon.com
The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)

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Images

The Torture Tree stands in the distance behind the stump of a fallen brother.
From: Tom G

Entrance to Boyd & Parker Memorial Park
From: Tom G

The shrine dedicated in 1927.
From: Tom G

The Stone with Plaque from the shrine.
From: Tom G

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The above content is for informational purposes only. Before making any travel arrangements, it is highly recommended that you contact those in charge of the property to check for updated availability and hours of operation. While we do our best to keep this information updated, we cannot guarantee that it is completely valid and up to date. Any destination marked "Closed to the Public" is marked that for a reason and we discourage any visits or attempts to gain access to that facility. Similarly, take note of any "Travel Advisory" that may be associated with a destination. Finally, treat any location and its local residents with respect. Any vandalism and/or unruly behavior is completely despicable and only ruins the experience for future visitors.

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