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HISTORY

CRAWFORD COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA,

Containing A History of the County; its Townships, Towns,

Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, etc.; Portraits of

Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies;

History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and

Miscellaneous Matter, etc.. etc.

IXjLTJSTIE^J^TEID.

CHICAGO: WARNER, BEERS & CO 1885.

JOHN MORRIS SUCCESSOR TO

F 1 5 ^/

PREFACE.

THE material that comes within the legitimate scope of a history of Crawford County may appear commonplace when compared with that which is embodied in national history; nevertheless the faithful gathering and the truthful narration of facts relating to its aboriginal and pre-Amer- ican period, the coming of the white race to occupy its soil, and the dangers, hardships and privations encountered by its pioneers while engaged in advancing the standards of civilization, together with its sub- sequent moral and material growth and development, is a work of no small magnitude.

The first settlers who acted so important a part in this portion oE the State, and who heretofore have been the sole custodians of much historical knowledge essential for such a work as this have all passed away, but for- tunately a few of the men who bore the burdens of the pioneer, left to their children a written record of early days in Crawford County, thus pre- serving for fnfciire generations the history of the first American settlement in the Valley of French Creek. In connection with these records the descendants of the pioneers in every part of the county have been inter- viewed, and their recollections given due weight in the compilation of its history.

For the convenience of its readers the book has been divided into parts. The outline history of the State was prepared expressly for us by Prof. Samuel P. Bates, a well known author of Meadville. The history of Craw- ford County and the City of Meadville was written by Mr. R. C. Brown, of Chicago 111. ; while the history of the City of Titusville and the several townships of the county was compiled by Mr. J. B. Mansfield, of Ashland, Ohio. The biographical sketches which appear in the latter part of the book are purely complimentary, and a proof of each sketch was submitted by mail to the subject for correction.

The most authentic publications bearing on early events in Northwestern Pennsylvania have been consulted, and the State and county records have also been freely utilized as reliable -sources of information. The scarcity in many instances of authentic local data, has been overcome by a system- atic and careful research of family manuscripts and the old newspaper tiles, dating back to 1805, from which were gathered many of the most important local events that have transpired during the past three -equarters of a century. The private papers of Gen. David Mead, " Reminiscences of the Olden Time," by the late John Reynolds, Esq., the recollections of the

PREFACE. iy

late John Dick, Esq., the autobiography of Cornelius Van Home, Esq., Mr. Alfred Huidekoper's "Incidents in the Early History of Crawford County, Penn.," and the address of William H. Davis, Esq., on the history of the county, delivered in 1848, before the Meadville Literary Union, were all of invaluable aid to the county historian.

The series of articles contributed to the press by the late Thomas Kus- ton Kennedy, Esq. , were, too, of great assistance to the same writer, which can also be said of live lectures on the Holland and Pennsylvania Population Land Companies, the churches, schools, agriculture and internal improve- ments of the county, which were respectively prepared and delivered in Meadville, by Alfred Huidekoper, Esq., Eev. Eichard Craighead, Prof. Sam- uel P. Bates, Joshua Douglass, Esq., and Hon. William Reynolds, each of whom extended to Mr. Brown kindly advice and generous sympathy from the inception until the close of his labors.

Among others whose assistance we desire to acknowledge, are the late Judge David Derickson, Hon. Hiram L. Richmond, Rev. J. V. Reynolds Hon. G. B. Delamater, Col. Alexander Power, David M. Farrelly, Esq., Joseph Dickson, Esq., Dr. Edward Ellis and Mrs. Jane Bemus, while the county ofiBcials and the leading members of every profession and calling throughout the county were always willing to lend a helping hand in fur- thering the labors of the historians. Special acknowledgments are due to Francis C. Waid, Esq., of Woodcock Township, for his generous and munificent patronage to the work, and the unqualified interest he has dis- played in its welfare. The publishers avail themselves of this opportunity to thank all who have thus aided in the preparation of the work; for what- ever of merit the history of Crawford County contains is due, in a large measure, to their assistance.

We undertook the publication of a history of this county, upon the advice and encouragement of a goodly number of the leading members of the "Historical Society of Crawford County," and after more than a year of unceasing toil we present the book to our many hundred patrons, with the belief that we have fulfilled every promise made in our prospectus, and with the satisfaction of knowing that we bring what we guaranteed.

THE PUBLISHERS.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PAGE.

CHAPTER I.— Introductory 15-23

Cornelis Jacobson Mey, 1624-25. William Van Hulst, 1625-26. Peter Minuit, 1626-33. David Petersen de Vries, 1632-33. Wouter Van Twiller, 1633-38.

CHAPTER II 23

Sir William Keift, 1638-47. Peter Minuit, 1638-41. Peter Hollandaer, 1641-43. John Printz, 1643-53. Peter Stuyvesant, 1647-64. John Pappagoya, 1653-54. John Claude Rysingh, 1654-55.

CHAPTER III 33-35

John Paul Jacquet, 1655-57. Jacob Alrichs, 1657-59. Goeran Van Dyck, 1657-58. Will- iam Beekman, 1658-63. Alex. D'Hinoyossa, 1659-64.

CHAPTER IV 35-41

Richard Nichols, 1664-67. Robert Need- ham, 1664-68. Francis Lovelace, 1667-73. John Carr, 1668-73. Anthony Colve, 1673-74. Peter Alrichs, 1673-74.

CHAPTER V 41-50

Sir Edmund Andros, 1674-81. Edmund Cantwell, 1674-76. John Collier, 1676-77. Christopher Billop, 1677-81.

CHAPTER VI 51-61

William Markham, 1681-82. William Penn, 1682-84.

CHAPTER VII 61-69

Thomas Lloyd, 1684-86. Five Commis- sioners, 1686-88. John Blackwell, 1688-90. Thomas Lloyd, 1690-91. William Markham, 1691-93. Benjamin Fletcher, 1693-95. Will- iam Markham, 1693-99

PAGE

CHAPTER VIII 69-75

William Penn, 1699-1701. Andrew Hamil- ton, 1701-03. Edward Shippen, 1703-04. John Evans, 1704-09. Charles Gooken, 1709-17.

CHAPTER'IX 75-89

Sir William Keith, 1717-26. Patrick Gor- don, 1726-36. James Logan, 1736-38. George Thomas, 1738-47. Anthony Palmer, 1747-48. Jam es Hamilton, 1748-54.

CHAPTERS 89-97

Robert H. Morris, 1754-56. William Den- ny, 1756-59. James Hamilton, 1759-63.

CHAPTER XI 98-104

John Penn, 1763-71. James Hamilton, 1771. Richard Penn, 1771-73. John Penn, 1773-76.

CHAPTER XII 104-114

Thomas Wharton, Jr., 1777-78. George Bryan, 1778. Joseph Reed, 1778-81. William Moore, 1781-82. John Dickinson, 1782-85. Benjamin Franklin, 178.5-88.

CHAPTER XIII 114-121

Thomas Mifflin, 1788-99. Thomas Mc- Kean, 1799-1808. Simon Snvder, 1808-17. William Findlay, 1817-20. Joseph Heister, 1820-23. John A, Shulze, 1823-29. George Wolfe, 1829-.30. Joseph Ritner, 1835-39.

CHAPTER XIV 122-131

David R. Porter, 1839-45. Francis R. Shunk, 1845-48. William F. Johnstone, 184R- 52. William Bigler, 1852-55. John Pollock, 1855-58. William F. Packer, 1858-61. An- drew G. Curtin, 1861-67. John W. Geary, 1867-73. John F. Hartranft, 1873-78. Henry F. Hoyt, 1878-82. Robert E. Pattison, 1882.

Gubernatorial Table 1.32

PART II.

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.— Archeology 137-142

The Mound Builders — Evidences of a Van- ished Race — Delaware Tradition of the Al- legewi — Pre-historic Remains in Crawford County— Stone Mound. Near Oil Creek- Old Meadows on French Creek and Indian Tradition Regarding Them— Circular Forts and Mounds Below Meadville — Indian Graves and Relics — Description of a Large Fort near Pymatuning Swamp— Numerous Artificial Oil Pits Found by the Pioneers in the Vicinity of Titusville — Mounds in Other Portions of the County — Archaeological Conclusions Regarding These Monuments of Antiquity.

CHAPTER IL— Indian History 142-153

The Eries Occupy the Southern Shore of

Lake Erie— They are Conquered and Dis- persed by the Iroquois— Catholic Missiona- ries who have Written of the Eries — Defini- tion of Their Name— Mention of the Eries on Two Old French Maps at Harrisburg— Seneca Tradition Regarding the War of Extermination— The Senecas Occupy the Conquered Territory— War Between the Senecas and Massassaugas — ^Indian Villages in Crawford County— Friendly Indians and White Prisoners Found Here by the First Settlers— Neighboring Indian Towns— Biog- raphy of Corn-planter— Ancient Indian Trace — Delegations of Wyandots and Sene- cas Pass Through Meadville in 1808— Coun- cil at Jennesedaga Between Citizens of Crawford County and the Senecas— The Lat- ter Join the Americans in the War of 1812-15.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

CHAPTER III.— French Navigators, Etc.154-169 Cartier discovers the St. Lawrence— Champlain Founds Quebec and Montreal- French Explorations— Catholic Missionaries Visit the Fries and Iroquois— Joncaire— French and English Traders— Conflicting Claims— Celeron's Expedition— The French Take Possession of the Allegheny and Ohio Valleys and Build Forts Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, Machault and DuQuense— Catholic Church Erected at Presque Isle— Eng- lish Resistance to the Claims of France- Washington's Mission to the French Com- mandant of LeBceuf— War Between the Two Nations— Old French Road Through Crawford County— French Fort at Site of Meadville— Evacuation of the Country by the French, and English Occupancy— Forts Presque Isle and LeBa?uf Repaired and Venango and Pitt Erected— Indian Dissatis- faction—Pontiac's Conspiracy and Capture of Forts Venango, LeBauf and Presque Isle— Revolutionary War and American Possession— Indian Treaties— Erection of Fort Franklin— Soldiers Stationed at Mead's Block-house— French Creek Settlers Organ- ize for Protection— English and Indian C)p- position to American Occupation — Wayne's Victory and Final Peace.

CHAPTER IV.— Pioneers of French Creek

170-181

David and John Mead Visit the Valley in 1787— Appearance of the Country at that Time— First Settlement Made in May, 1788, by David, John and Joseph Mead, Thomas Martin, John Watson, James Fitz Randolph, Thomas Grant, Cornelius Van Home and Christopher Snyder — They Plow and Plant a Field of Corn in the Bottom West of French Creek— Selections of Lands— David and John Mead Bring Out Their Families— Ar- rival of Darius Mead, Robert Fitz Randolph and Frederick Baum — First Birth in the Settlement — Biographies of David Mead, John Mead, Cornelius Van Home, Robert Fitz Randolph and Edward Fitz Randolph —The Heritage They Left to Their De- scendants.

CHAPTER v.— Indian Depredations 181-191

Friendly Indians — The Settlers Leave the Valley in April, 1791— Return of Cornelius Van Home, Thomas Ray and William Uregg — Capture of Van Home by the Indians and his Subsequent Escape — He Meets Ensign Jeffers at Mead's Block-house and goes to Fort Franklin — Ray Captured and Gregg Killed by the Savages— The Former taken to Detroit, but Finally Gains his Freedom — Capture and Death of Darius Mead— Un- settled State of French Creek Valley — Mead's Block-house CJarrisoned by Ensign Bond — Indians Attack James Dickson— Cornelius Van Home raises a Company of Volunteers to Protect the Settlement— The Settlers Erect a Blockhouse at Meadville — Fearless Character of the Pioneers — Findlay and iMcCormick Killed by the Indians- Raid on William Power's Camp by the Same Band and Capture of James Thompson- Closing Events of Indian Hostility.

CHAPTER VI.— Northwestern Pennsylva- nia 191-205

Formation of Counties — Territory Em- braced in Allegheny County — Erection of Crawford County and Location of the Seat of Justice at Meadville — Surrounding Coun- ties Erected and Temporarily Attached to Crawford for Judicial Purposes— The Mer- cer and Erie County Boundary Lines Estab- lished—Biography of Col. William Crawford, After Whom the County was Named— His Useful Career and Cruel Death — Location and Boundaries of Crawford County— Town- 8hips,Size, Area and General Appearance

PAGE.

— Population Statistics — French Creek— The Stream as a Highway of Navigation- New Channel at Meadville— Its Tributaries — Cussewago and Other Streams— Oil Creek — Conneaut Creek — Shenango and Crooked Creek— Lake Conneaut— Oil Creek Lake- Sugar Lake.

CHAPTER VII.— Topographical Features

OF Crawford County 205-225

Elevations, Surface Dip and Physical Phenomena of Streams , Lakes and Swamps — Drainage of Conneaut Marsh — Pymatun- ing Swamp— Geological Series— Drift— Bur- ied Valleys — Pottsville Conglomerate — Homewood Sandstone, Mercer Group, Cono- quenssing and Sharon — Sub-conglomerate Formations — Shenango, Meadville and Oil Lake Groups— Venango Oil Sand Group- Venango Upper Sandstone, Upper Shales, Middle Sandstone, Lower Shales and Lower Sandstone.

CHAPTER VIII.-Lands 226-2::!5

Land Provision made for Pennsylvania Soldiers of the Revolution by the Act of 1780— Depreciation Certificates— Act of 17«<3 — Depreciation Lands — Donation Lands — Survey and Distribution of Military Lauds West of the Allegheny River— tJnseated Lands — Act of 1792 — Prevention Clause in said Act, and the Litigation and Troubles Arising Therefrom— Organization of Land Companies — Holland Land Company — Pennsylvania Population Company — North American Land Company— John Reynolds' Reminiscences of the Conflict Between the Settlers and Land Companies and the In- jury Thereby Inflicted on the Settlement and Prosperity of the County.

CHAPTER IX. Agriculture 2.36-246

First Land Cultivated by the Pioneers in the Valley of French Creek, and First Corn Crop Planted— Pioneer Nursery — Introduc- tion of Potatoes. Wheat, Rye, Buckwheat, Oats, Barley, Etc.— Rapid Increase of the Cereals— Horses and Cattle^ — Merino Sheep brought into the County — Anecdote of a Sheep Speculation— Swine of the Past and the Present — Stock and Land in 1826 — Wool Production — Leading Fine Stock Breeders, Dealers and Importers— Agricultural Socie- ties of Crawford County— Agricultural Im- plements, their Changes and Wonderful Im- provements during the Past Century— Pio- neer Mode of Farming — Dairy Interests- First Cheese Factories Erected in the County— Their Rapid Increase and Present Prosperity of the Business — Dairymen's As- sociation— Dairymen's Board of Trade.

CHAPTER X.— Primitive Appearance of

Crawford County 249-262

Timber and Fruit Bearing Trees and Vines— Roots and Herbage— Pioneer Days and Trials — Habitations of the First Settlers — Furniture, Food and Medicines — Habits, Labor and Dress— Early Manners and Cus- toms— "Bees" and Weddings — The Hom- iny Block and Pioneer Mills — Store Cioods and Produce— Old Cash Book at Fort Frank- lin—Mode of Living— Churches and Schools —Period of 1812-15— Alfred Huidekoper's List of Wild Animals, Birds and Reptiles— An Old Settler— Game— The Inhabitants of Northwestern Pennsylvania Petition the Legislature to Enact a Law for the Destruc- tion of Squirrels— Hunts Inaugurated— Pheasants, Pigeons, Bees and Fish— Wolves- Premium on Wolf and Fox Scalps— Bears- Panther — Fur Bearing Animals — The Rattle-snake and other Pests of Early Times.

CHAPTER XL— Internal Improvements..263-286 Early Roads and Navigation— Salt Trade

CONTENTS.

— Discovery and Manufacture of Salt in Crawford County— Freightage of Salt Be- tween Erie and Pittsburgh — Turnpike Roads — State Appropriations for Navigation and Roads— Old State Road— County Ex- penditures for Roads and Bridges from 1804 to 1834— Mode of Travel in Pioneer Days- Plank Roads— First Bridges Built Across French Creek — Stage Lines and Mail Routes — Boating and Navigation on French Creek — Canals and Canal Building — French Creek Feeder and the Beaver and Erie Canal — Introduction of Steamboats on the Alle-' gheny, and Slack-water Navigation on French Creek — Completion of the Beaver and Erie Canal — Railroads of Crawford County.

CHAPTER XII.— The Burr Conspiracy, etc.

286-294

One of Burr's Agents Visits Meadville and Enlists Men for the Expedition — Capture of Boats on the Ohio— The Democracy of Craw- ford County Hold a Celebration at Mead- ville to Rejoice Over the Failure of the Con- spiracy— Suggestive Toasts Drank on the Occasion — The Federalists Take Ottense.and attempt Retaliation — Partisan Strife Be- comes Bitter, but Finally Dies out and Peace Prevails — Religious Phenomena of Pioneer Days^-Strange Actions of Those Affected- Vivid Descriptions of the Excite- ment— Early Murders — Killingcif a Squaw in Meadville — Murder of Hugh Fitzpatrick by Van Holland— Arrest, Trial and Execution of the Murderer — Hanging of Lamphier for Killing Constable Smith — Charles Higgen- bottom Killed by George Gosnell — The Lat- ter Sent to the Penitentiary— Slavery in Crawford County — John Brown of Ossawa- tomie.

CHAPTER XIIL— Judiciary 295-311

Pioneer Courthouses, Their Simplicity and Many Uses— First Buildings Used for County Purposes in Crawford County — First Term of Court and Amusing Incident Connected Therewith— Second Session and First (hand Jury Impaneled— Indictments Found by This Jury— Pioneer Mode of Set- tling Disagreements — Anecdote of Judge Mead— Second Grand Jury — First Jury Trial in Crawford County — Early Practice and Practitioners — The Bench and Bar — President, District and Additional Law Judges — Associate Judges — Deputy Attor- ney-Generals and District Attorneys — United States Courts— The IVIen Who Organ- ized the First Court at Meadville — Brief Biographies of Leading Members of the Bench and Bar— Present Bar of the County — Resident Attorneys out of Practice — De- ceased Attorneys.

CHAPTER XIV.— Official Roster 311-320

Members of Congress — State Senators — State Representatives — Prothonotaries — Clerks— Registers and Recorders — Sheriffs — Commissioners — Treasurers — Surveyors —

Coroners— County Buildings and County Farm— The Old State Arsenal.

CHAPTER XV.— Education, etc 321-.3.30

The Old Block-house Wherein the First School in Crawford County Was Taught— The Act Erecting the County Provides for a Seminary of Learning at the County Seat — Pioneer Schoolhouses— School Law of 1809 — Free Schools Established in 1834— Nationality and Educational Characteristics of the Early Settlers — Teachers of Pioneer Days — Organ- ization of the Crawford County Teachers' Institute — Its Growth and Progress and the Work It has Accomplished — School Law of 1854 — Office of County Superintendent Created — Establishment of Normal Schools — Superintendents Since 1854 — Present Con- dition of the Schools— Crawford County Medical Society — Homoeopathic Medical Society of Crawford County — Crawford County INIutual Insurance Company— Farm- ers' Mutual Fire Insurance of Crawford County.

CHAPTER XVI,— Military History !..331-.343

English Intrigue and Indian Hostility — Tecumseh and the Battle of Tippecanoe — War of 1812-1.5— Preparing for the Conflict —Organization of the Militia— Gen. David Mead and Brigade-Inspector William Clark Engaged in the Work— Military Camp Es- tablished at Meadville by Gen. Tannehill's Brigade— Political Trouble Between the Sol- » iers While in Camp — The Comruaud Leaves irthe Front— Excitement Caused by Hull's cflrjTender — Patriotism of the Pioneers- Tanaehill's Brigade Disband — Testimonial to Maj. James Herriott— Recruiting OfiBce at Meadville— Building of Perry's Fleet — Gen. Mead's Stirring Appeal to the People —Perry's Letter of Thanks to Gen. Mead- Battle of Lake Erie — Second Letter from Perry to Mead — Mead's Troops Stationed at Erie in 1813-14— Capt. Morris Recruiting at Meadville — List of Officers — Peace Pro- claimed— Brief Review of the War — Mexi- can War.

CHAPTER XVII.— Crawford County in the

War of the Rebellion 344-365

Patriotic Feeling Among its People — Meet- ing Held to I)enounce Treason and Uphold the Government— First Volunteers Sent to the Front— Erie Regiment— Thirty-eighth Regiment, Ninth Reserve— Thirty-ninth Regiment, Tenth Reserve— Fifty-seventh Regiment— Fifty-ninth Regiment, Second Cavalry — Eighty-third Regiment — One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment — One Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment, Twelfth Cavalry— One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment — One Hundred and Thirty- seventh Regiment— One Hundred and For- ty-fifth Regiment— One Hundred and Fif- tieth Regiment — One Hundred and Sixty- third Regiment, Eighteenth Cavalry— One Hundred and Ninetieth and Ninety-first Regiment — Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment— Close of the War.

PAET III.

MEADVILLE AND TITUSVILLE.

CHAPTER I.— Meadville..

Appearance and Topography of the City —The Town Laid Out by David Mead— First Sales of Lots and the Purchasers — Anecdote of the First Survey — Pioneers — Resurvey and Enlargement of the Town Plat— Brief Sketches of Those Who Located Perma- nently in Meadville Prior to 1805— Early

PAGE.

Physicians — Natural Phenomena of Pio- neer Days— Strange Psychological Phenome- non — Visit of LaFayette — Meadville in 1830— Business Men Then Residing Here- Old Houses Yet Remaining— The Changes Which Fifty-four Years Have Wrought in the Town.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

CHAPTER II.— Religious History 389-403

First Presbyterian Church— Second Pres- byterian Church— Cumberland Presbyterian and United Presbyterian Churches— First Methodist Episcopal Church— State Street Methodist Episcopal Church— African Meth- odist Episcopal Church— Christ Protestant Episcopal Church — Independent Congrega- tional Church— First Baptist Church— Lu- theran Evangelical Trinity Church — St. Paul's Reformed Church— St. Agatha's Cath- olic Church— St. Bridget's Catholic Church — Meadville Hebrew Society— First Evan- gelical Protestant Church— Park Avenue Congregational Church.

CHAPTER III.— Schools of Me.\dville..404-426 The Old Block-house Remodeled by David Mead for School Purposes — First School Opened in the Town— Night School- Mead- ville Academy Founded by the Legislature — Original Subscribers to the Fund for Its Establishment— The Academy Opened Un- der Rev. Joseph Stockton — Its Early Teach- ers and Future Progress — Free Schools — Growth of Exiucation in Jleadville and Present Condition of the Schools — Alle- gheny College— History of the Institution from Its Inception to the Present Time — Meadville Theological School— Meadville Business College.

CHAPTER IV.— Newspapers, etc 426-443

Crawford Weekly Messenger — Allegheny Magazine — Western Standard — Meadvitfi Gazette — Unitarian Essayist — Western f««^>' — Meadville Courier— Crawford DemofrahX- Statesman — American Citizen — Democratic Republican — Meadville Gazette — Crawford Journal— Pennsylvania Sentinel- Cussewa-

go Chronicle— Spirit of the Age— Meadville Republican — Meadville Index — Crawford County Post— Meadville Reporter— Demo- cratic Messenger— Messenger Democrat- Morning News— National Vindicator— Chau- tauquan— Chautauqua Assembly Herald- Pennsylvania Farmer— Meadville Tribune —Past and Present Manufacturing Inter- ests of the City. •

CHAPTER v.— Meadville, Concluded 443-462

Incorporation of Meadville as a Borough -First Election of Otficers— Meadville Be- comes a City— Population of the Town by Decades Since 1800-Burgesses— Mavors— Postmasters— The Old Cemetery— (jreen- dale Cemetery— City Hall— Market House— St. .Joseph's Hospital— Meadville City Hos- pital—Fire Department— Meadville (ias and Water Company —Electric Light— Meadville Water Company — Telegraph, Telephone and ExpressCompanies—Bauks— Hotels— Secret and Other Societies— Pioneer Shows and Public Halls— Public Library— Parks— Con- clusion.

CHAPTER VI.— Titusville 462-475

Historical — Early Settlements — First Things— Lumbering Industry— Discovery of Petroleum — Oil Companies Organized— Oil Wells— Refineries— Great Oil Fire— Oil Ex- change— Industries.

CHAPTER VII.— Titusville, Concluded...476-4'J1 Incorporation— City Hall — Water Works — Gas and Water Company — Fire Compa- nies—Sewers—Banking—Library Associa- tion— Agricultural Association — The Press — Schools — Churches — Cemeteries — Societies — Miscellaneous.

PAET IT.

TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.

CHAPTER I.— Athens Township 495-501

Boundary — Lands — Early Settlements- Organization — Population— Streams — Rail- roads— Topography — Timber — Industries — Schools— Post Offices— Little Cooley— First Settlers — Industries, etc. — Churches.

CHAPTER II— Beaver Township 502-505

Erection — Boundaries — Physical Features —Industries — Land Titles — Settlements- Salt Industry — Mills — Schools —Beaver Cen- ter— Churches.

CHAPTER III — Bloompield Township and

Borough of Riceville 505-513

Organization— Boundaries— Physical Fea- tures — Lands — Early Settlers — Thomas Bloomfield— Richard Shreve— Other Settlers —Money— Schools— Lincolnville— Churches — Chapman ville — Bloomfield — Cheese Fac- tories— Mills.

Borough of Riceville 511

Incorporation— Officers— Early Settlers — Schools— Industries— Churches— Societies.

CHAPTER IV.— Cambridge Township and

Borough of Cambridgeboro 513-521

Formation — Location — Name— Physical Features— Early Settlers— Drake's Mills- Schools.

Borough of Cambridgeboro 516

Location — Population — Settlement- Growth— Business— The Rail road— Present

Industries— Incorporation— Officers— News- paper — Churches — Societies — The Con- servatory of Music — Schools.

CHAPTER v.— Conneaut Township 522-526

Organization— Boundaries— Name— Phys- ical Features — Area and Population — Land Companies — First Purchasers — Early Set- tlers— Mills — Schools — Friends — Churches — Summit — Penn Line — Steamburg.

CHAPTER VI.— CussEWAGO Township 526-532

Formation and Boundaries — Name — Streams — Soil — Population — I^irst Owners- Pioneer Life — Early Settlers— Mills — Cheese Factories— Schools — Mosiertown- Crossing- ville — Churches.

CHAPTER VII.— East Fairfield Township

and Borough of Cochranton 533-540

Petition — Election — Physical Features — Titles— Trials of Pioneers— First Settlers- Early School Teachers — Shaw's Landing — Pettis Postoffice-Stitzerville— Churches.

Borough of Cochranton 535

Petition — Election — Officers — Name — Population and Present Industries— School — Press — Churches — Societies — Cemetery.

CHAPTER VIII.— East Fallowfield Town- ship 541-545

Fallowfield and Boundaries— Division of the Original Township — Physical Features —

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Population Company Contracts— First Set- tlers—Other Settlers— Early ifchools— Lost Child — Mills — Atlantic — Societies — Churches.

CHAPTKR IX.— F.4IKF1ELD To-\v>-ship 546-552

Boundaries— Location— Physical Features — Population — First Settlers — Lands — Later Settlements — Conscription — State Road — Library Association— Schools— Great Snow — Mill — Calvin's Corners — Churches.

CHAPTER X.— Greenwood Township and

Borough of Geneva 552-559

Location— Area — Population — Physical Features— Field's Claim— Early Settlers- Early Mills — Distilleries— Early Teachers — Glendale — West Greenwood — Mills — Churches.

Borough of Geneva 556

Population — Incorporation — Election^ — Offi- cers-Early Residents— Schools— Churches —Societies.

CHAPTER XL— Hayfield Township 559-564

Organization — Area — Physical Features — Population — Early Settlers — Land Titles — Pioneer Trials — Mills — Schools — Churches — Hayfield— Coon's Corners.— Norrisville.

CHAPTER XII.— Mead Township 5G4-575

Formation — Size^Valuation^Population — Boundaries — Rev.Timothy Alden, on Mead Township — Early Settlers — Titles from the Holland Land Company— Other Settlers — Mills — Wayland — Frenchtown — Bousson — Schools — Churches.

CHAPTER XIII.— North Shenango Town- ship 576-579

Original Township — Subdivision — Popula- tion— Physical Features — Mounds — Espy- ville Station— Espyville Postofflce— Churches —Land Titles— Early Settlers— Mills— Dis- tilleries— Early Teachers.

CHAPTER XIV —Oil Creek Township and

Borough of Hydetown 579-585

Erection — Boundaries — Physical Features —Land Titles— Early Settlers— Early Mer- chants— Postoffice— Slills — Distilleries — Oil Wells — Early Teachers — Religion — Churches-Kerr's Hill.

Borough of Hydetown 584

First Settlers — Early Business Interests — School— Present Business— Incorporation — Officers — Churches — The Equitable Aid Union — Literary Society.

CHAPTER XV.— Pine Township and Borough

of Linesville —586-595

Population— Organization— Name— Physi- cal Features— Land Companies — Deeds — Early Settlers— Colt's New Station.

Borough of Linesvili.e 591

Location — Origin^Plat Recorded — Post- office— Early Settlers— Mill— Press— School — Churches — Societies — Police Company — Incorporation — Business — Professions.

CHAITER XVI.— Randolph Township 595-601

Location — Organization — Lands — Popula- tion — Physical Features ■ — Settlements — Land Titles— Pioneers— Soldiers' Titles- Later Settlers— Mills— Schools— Guy's Mills —Societies— Churches.

CHAPTER XVII.— Richmond Township... 601-605 Boundaries — Physical Features — Dona- tion Lands— Soldiers' Claims— Pioneers— Tannery— Mills— Cheese Factories— Early Schools — New Richmond — Lyona — Ceme- teries— Churches.

CHAPTER XVIII.— Rockdale Township...605-612 Original Boundaries — Present Limits — Population— Physical Features— Early Mills —Land Titles— Early Settlers— Other Mills —First Schools— Roads— Miller's Station— Church— Cemetery— Brown Hill.

CHAPTER XIX.— Rome Township and

BoROU(iH OF Centreville 612-620

Organization— Boundaries— Area —Popu- lation—Physical Features— Land Titles— Pioneers— Early Tax Payers— Mills— Early School Teachers — Churches.

Borough of Centreville gig

Incorporation— Election — Officers— Early Settlement- Present Business Interests- School— Cemeterv—t hurches— Societies.

CHAPTER XX.— Sadsbury Township and

Borough of Evansbufg 620-625

Original Boundaries — Present Area — Pop- ulation—Canal— Railroads— Conneaut Lake- Physical Features — Land Companies — Early Settlers— Distilleries — Early Teachers — Shermanville—Aldenia— Stony I'oint Post- office

Borough of Evansburg 623

Location— Incorporation — Hotels— Popu- lation— Business — Religious Organizations —Societies— The Fouudei — Early Settleis and Business Pursuits.

CHAPTER XXL— South Shenango Town- ship 625-630

Erection— Population— Physical P'eatures — Westford — Marshall's Corners — McLean's Corners— Population Company f'ontracts — Early Settlers— Indians— First Teachers- Religious Organizations.

CHAPTER XXIL— Sparta Township and

Borough of Spartansburg

Boundaries — Erection — Population —

Physical Features— Mills— Land Companies

—Early Pioneers— Early Justice— Early

School Teachers.

Borough of Spartansburg 633

Location — Business — Early Settlers —

First Name — Incorporation — Officers —

Religious Organization — Societies.

CHAPTER XXIIL — Spring Township and

Boroughs of Conneautville and Spring 635-652

Name — Physical Features — Population- Land Titles— Early Settlers— Adventures of Pioneers— Early Mills— Lumbering — Early Schools — Teachers — Religious Organizations — Rundel's Postoffice. BOROUGHOF Conneautville 642

Incorporation — Election — Officers— Fire Department — Population — Canal Days- Present Industries— Mercantile Pursuits- Alexander Power — Original Plat — First Settlers— Press— Bank— Cemetery— Agricul- tural Societies — Schools— Churches— Socie- ties. Borough of Spring 650

Location — Population — Business— First Settlers — Postofflce — Incorporation — Elec- tion— Officers — School — Churches — Societies.

CHAPTER XXIV.- Steuben Township and

Borough of Townville 6.53-6.58

Erection — Boundaries — Lands — Early Settlers — Lumbering — Early Mills — Tryon- ville — Proposed Railroad — Clappville — Tryonville Methodist Episcopal Church.

Borough of Townville 6.56

Incorporation — Officers — Population — Business Interests— Name— Early Residents Schools— Press— Religious Organizations- Societies.

CHAPTER XXV —SuMMERHiLL Township 658-662 Boundaries— Organization— Physical Fea- tures—Pioneers—Land Titles— Distilleries— Mills— Early School — Dick,sonburg — Reli- gious Organizations — Society.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

CHAPTER XXVI.— Summit Township ...662-667

Boundaries — Formation — Population — Physical Features — First Settlements- Land Titles — Pioneers — Conneaut Lake— Cemeteries— Early Methodist Organization —Canal— Peat and Marl— Mills— Religious Organizations — Harmonsburg- Churches- Lodges.

CHAPTER XXVII.— Troy Township ...668-672

Boundaries — Organization — Election — Population — Physical Features — Land Tracts— Troubles of Early Settlers — Pio- neers—Early Deaths and Burials — Mills — Schools— Troy Center— Newtontown— Reli- gious Organizations.

CHAPTER XXVIIL— Union Township 672-67.5

Petition — Proposed Bounds— Election- Physical Features — Population — Early Set- tlements—Killing by Indians- Early Deeds — Other Pioneers — Religious Organization -Mills.

CHAPTER XXIX— Venango Township and

Borough OF Venango 675-680

Organization — Boundaries — Physical Features— Name — Early Settlers— Distillery — Mills — Religious Societies.

Borough of Venango 678

First Settlement — Industries — Incorpor- ation — Officers — Population — Business — Schools— Religious Organizations— Societies.

CHAPTER XXX.— Vernon Township and

Borough of Vallonia 680-685

Organization — Population — Physical Feat- ures — Industries— First Settlers— Holland Company Titles — Kerrtown — Fredericks- burg or Stringtown — Religious Organiza- tions.

Borough of Vallonia 684

Location — Incorporation — Election — Popu- lation— Growth — First Residents — Distillery — Postoffice — School — Mission Chapel.

CHAPTER XXXI.— Wayne Township 685-688

Formation — Limits — Population — Physi- cal Features— Sugar Lake— Indians— Rattle-

PAGE.

Deer — Wild Animals — Titles- Early Settlers— Mills— Schools— Decardville Religious Oganizations.

CHAPTER XXXII. — West Fallowfield Township and Borough of Harts- town 689-(

Formation — Population — Physical Fea- tures—Pennsylvania Population Land Ti- tles-Early Settlers — Early Presbyterian Congregation — Adamsville — Religious Organizations — Schools.

Borough of Hartstown

Incorporation — Officers— Location —Pop- ulation—Business Houses— Name— Churches —A. O. U. W.

CHAPTER XXXIII.— West Shenango Town- ship

Petition— Elections — Population— Physi- cal Features— Penn Population Company Titles— Early Settlers— Early Mills— Cheese Factory— Early Teachers — Turnersville— Religious Organizations.

CHAPTER XXXIV.— Woodcock Township AND boroughs of Blooming Valley

Saegertown and Woodcock 695-705

Boundaries— Erection— Population— Phys- ical Features — Early Settlements and Settlers Holland Land Company Tit es— Actual Set- tlers— Other Pioneers — Schools — Taverns — Gravevards — Mills — Cheese Factory — Paper Mill.

Borough of Blooming Valley- 699

Location — Population — Name — Postoffice —Village Plat— Business Interests— Schools — Press — Incorporation — Election — Officers — — Religious Organizations — Societies.

Borough of Saegertown 801

Location — Population — The Founder — Early Business — Incorporation — Officers — Present Business — Cemetery — Schools- Churches — Societies.

Borough of Woodcock 803

Location — Population — Rockville — Kep- lertown — First Settlers — Incorporation — Offi- cers—Present Business— Societies— Churches — Grange— Fairs.

PAET Y.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Meadville 709

Athens Township 776

Beaver Township 788

Bloomfield Township 791

Cambridge Township 800

Conneaut Township 819

Cussewago Township 841

East Fairfi^d Township 857

East Fallowfield Township 863

Fairfield Township 864

Greenwood Township 869

Hayfield Township 871

Mead Township • 891

North Shenango Township 904

Oil Creek Township 913

Pine Township 919

Randolph Township 925

Richmond Township 943

Rockdale Township 962

Rome Township 970

Sadsbury Township 985

South Shenango Township 993

Sparta Township 999

Spring Township lOlO

Steuben Township IO66

Summerhill Township 1055

Summit Township 1080

Titusville 1088

Troy Township lioi

Union Township 1107

Venango Township 1112

Vernon Township 1123

Wayne Township 1137

West Fallowfield Township 1139

West Shenango Township 1141

Woodcock Township 1143

Jamestown, Mercer County 1184

CONTENTS. PORTBAITS.

PAGE.

Bemus Dr., Daniel, Meadville 46

Brawley Francis, Mead Township 187

Britton A. T., Randolph Township 267

Brown Gideon, Vernon Township 547

Birchard D. D., Cambridge Township 167

Chamberlain E., Richmond Township 367

Culbertson J. H., Cambridfje Township 218

Cutshall G. W., Randolph Township 378

Davis Wm., Jr., Meadville 134

Davis James H., Mead Township 178

Dick John, Meadville 79

Doane I. S., Mead Township 307

Gamble W. J., Cussewago Township 348

Gamble Mrs. Esther Jane, C'nssewago Township.. 349

Gamble H. M., South Shenango Township 387

Gibson Dr. William, Jamestown, Mercer County. 207

Herrington Edward, Union Township 158

Hotchkiss Mrs. Elizabeth, Cussewago Township.. 607

Humes John M., Woodcock Township 407

Johnson Dr. Wm. M., Venango Township 438

Johnson R. C, Fairfield Township 227

Kean John S., Sadsbury Township 527

Kepler S. W., Meadville 538

Mclvav Neal, Randolph Township 278

Miller" Robert P., Pine Township 447

Morse William, Richmond Township 298

PAGE.

Pettis S. Newton, Meadville 487

Reitz C, Union Township 458

Richmond H. L., Meadville 197

Richmond A. B., Meadville 247

Ross A. B., Cambridge Township 258

Ryan Geo. P., Woodcock Township 497

Sperry Isaac, Spring Township 398

Virtue J. C, Randolph Township 558

Waid John, Steuben Township 427

Waid Ira C, Woodcock Township 147

Waid Mrs. Elizabeth P., Woodcock Township... 148

Waid Francis C, Woodcock Township 328

Waid Mrs. Eliza C, Woodcock Township 329

Waid Robert L., Woodcock Township 507

Waid George N., Woodcock Township 518

Waid Franklin I,, Woodcock Township 568

Waid Mrs. Maggie E., Woodcock Township 569

Waid Guiunip P., Woodcock Township 588

Waid Mrs. Anna M., Woodcock Township 589

Waid Fred F., Woodcock Township 618

Warner William, Randolph Township 287

Wilcox George, Rockdale Township 468

Wilcox Mrs. Sarah, Rockdale Township 469

Williams F„ Spring Township 418

Wilson Jacob, Randolph Township 238

Wing D. 0., Rockdale Township 318

MISCELLANEOUS.

Map of Crawford County between 12 and 13

Map Showing Various Purchases from the Indians 113

Diagram Showing Proportionate Annual Production of Anthracite Coal since 1820 118

Table Showing Amount of Anthracite Coal Produced in Each Region Since 1820 119

I Jam estovi/zv

>^NjLL_iU

PART I.

History«'Pennsylvania,

BY SAMUEL P. BATES.

"God, that has given it xne through n^iany difficulties, "Will, I believe, bless and niake it the seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care to the government that it be vv^ell laid at first. ----- I do, therefore, desire the Lord's -wisdom to guide me, and those that may be concerned ■with me, that "we may do the thing that is truly -wise and just."

WILLIAM PENN.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

OHAPTEE I.

Introductory — Cornelis Jacobson Mey, 1624-25— William Yan Hulst, 1625- 36— Peter Minuit, 1626-33— David Petersen de Vries, 1632-33— Wouter Van Twiller, 1633-38.

IN the early colonization upon the American continent, two motives were principally operative. One was the desire of amassing sudden wealth without great labor, which tempted adventurous spirits to go in search of gold, to trade valueless trinkets to the simple natives for rich furs and skins, and even to seek, amidst the wilds of a tropical forest, for the fountain whose healing waters could restore to man perpetual youth. The other was the cherished purpose of escaping the unjust restrictions of Government, and the hated ban of society against the worship of the Supreme Being according to the honest dictates of conscience, which incited the humble devotees of Christianity to forego the comforts of home, in the midst of the best civilization of the age, and make for themselves a habitation on the shores of a new world, where they might erect altars and do homage to their God in such habiliments as they preferred, and utter praises in such note as seemed to them good. This pur- pose was also incited by a certain romantic temper, common to the race, es- pecially noticeable in youth, that invites to some uninhabited j spot, and Ras- selas and Robinson Crusoe- like to begin life anew.

William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, had felt the heavy hand of persecution for religious opinion's sake. As a gentleman commoner at Ox- ford, he had been fined, and finally expelled from that venerable seat of learn- ing for non-comf ormity to the established worship. At home, he was whipped and turned out of doors by a father who thought to reclaim the son to the more certain path of advancement at a licentious court. He was sent to prison by the Mayor of Cork. For seven months he languished in the tower of Lon- don, and, finally, to complete his disgrace, he was cast into Newgate with com- mon felons. Upon the accession of James II, to the throne of England, over fourteen hundred persons of the Quaker faith were immured in prisons for a conscientious adherence to their religious convictions. To escape this harassing persecution, and find peace and quietude from this sore proscription, was the moving cause which led Penn and his followers to emigrate to America.

Of all those who have been founders of States in near or distant ages, none have manifested so sincere and disinterested a spirit, nor have been so fair ex- emplars of the golden rule, and of the Redeemer's sermon on the mount, as William Penn. In his preface to the frame of government of his colony, he says: " The end of government is first to terrify evil-doers; secondly, to cher- ish those who do well, which gives government a life beyond corruption, and

16 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

makes it as durable in the world, as good men shall be. So that government seems to be a part of religion itself, a thing sacred in its institution and end. For, if it does not directly remove the cause, it crushes the effects of evil, and is an emanation of the same Divine power, that is both author and object of pure religion, the difference lying here, that the one is more free and mental, the other more corporal and compulsive in its operations; but that is only to evil-doers, government itself being otherwise as capable of kindness, goodness and charity, as a more private society. They weakly err, who think there is no other use of government than correction, which is the coarsest part of it. Daily experience tells us, that the care and regulation of many other affairs more soft, and daily necessary, make up much the greatest part of government. Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them, and as govern- ments are made and moved by men, so by them are they ruined, too. Where- fore, governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad. If it be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil to their turn. * * * That, therefore, which makes a good constitution, must keep it, men of wisdom and virtue, qualities, that because they descend not with worldly inheritances, must be carefully propagated by a vir- tuous education of youth, for which, after ages will owe more to the care and prudence of founders and the successive magistracy, than to their parents for their private patrimonies. * * * We have, therefore, with reverence to God, and good conscience to men, to the best of our skill, contrived and composed the Frame and Laws of this government, viz. : To support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the people from the abuse of power, that they may be free by their just obedience, and the magistrates honorable for their just administration. For liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedi- ence without liberty is slavery."

Though born amidst the seductive arts of the great city, Penn's tastes were rural. He hated the manners of the corrupt court, and delighted in the homely labors and innocent employments of the farm. '* The country," he said, '*i3 the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates the power, wisdom and goodness of God. It is his food as well as study, and gives him life as well as learning." And to his wife he said upon taking leave of her in their parting interview: " Let my children be husbandmen, and house- wives. It is industrious, healthy, honest, and of good report. This leads to consider the works of God, and diverts the mind from being taken up with vain arts and inventions of a luxurious world. Of cities and towns of concourse, beware. The world is apt to stick close to those who have lived and got wealth there. A country life and estate I love best for my children."

Having thus given some account at the outset of the spirit and purposes of the founder, and the motive which drew him to these shores, it will be in place, before proceeding with the details of the acquisition of territory, and the coming ftf emigrants for the actual settlement under the name of Pennsyl- vania, to say something of the aborigines who were found in possession of the soil when first visited by Europeans, of the condition of the surface of the country, and of the previous attempts at settlements before the coming of Penn.

The surface of what is now known as Pennsylvania was, at the time of the coming of the white men, one vast forest of hemlock, and pine, and beech, and oak, unbroken, except by an occasional rocky barren upon the precipitous mountain side, or by a few patches of prairie, which had been reclaimed by annual burnings, and was used by the indolent and simple-minded natives for the culture of a little maize and a few vegetables. The soil, by the annual

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17

accumulations of leaves and abundant growths of forest vegetation, was luxu- rious, and the trees stood close, and of gigantic size. The streams swarmed with fish, and the forest abounded with game. Where now are cities and hamlets filled with busy populations intent upon the accumulation of wealth, the mastery of knowledge, the pursuits of pleasure, the deer browsed and sipped at the water's edge, and the pheasant drummed his monotonous note. Where now is the glowing furnace from which day and night tongues of fiame are bursting, and the busy water wheel sends the shuttle flashing through the loom, half-naked, dusky warriors fashioned their spears with rude implements of stone, and made themselves hooks out of the bones of animals for alluring the finny tribe. Where now are fertile fields, upon which the thrifty farmer turns his furrow, which his neighbor takes up and runs on until it reaches from one end of the broad State to the other, and where are flocks and herds, rejoicing in rich meadows, gladdeaed by abundant fountains, or reposing at the heated noontide beneath ample shade, not a blow had been struck against the giants of the forest, the soil rested in virgin purity, the streams glided on in majesty, un vexed by wheel and unchoked by device of man.

Where now the long train rushes on with the speed of the wind over plain and mead, across streams and under mountains, awakening the echoes of the hills the long day through, and at the midnight hour screaming out its shrill whistle in fiery defiance, the wild native, with a fox skin wrapped about his loins and a few feathers stuck in his hair, issuing from his rude hut, trot- ted on in his forest path, followed by his squaw with her infant peering forth from the rough sling at her back, pointed his canoe, fashioned from the barks of the trees, across the deep river, knowing the progress of time only by the riding and setting sun, troubled by no meridians for its index, starting on his way when his nap was ended, and stopping for rest when a spot was I'eached that pleased his fancy. Where now a swarthy population toils ceaselessly deep down in the bowels of the earth, shut out trom the light of day in cutting out the material that feeds the fires upon the forge, and gives genial warmth to the lovers as they chat merrily in the luxurious drawing room, not a mine had been opened, and the vast beds of the black diamond rested unsunned beneath the superincumbent mountains, where they had been fashioned by the Creator's hand. Rivers of oil seethed through the impatient and uneasy gases and vast pools and lakes of this pungent, parti -colored fluid, hidden away from the coveting eye of man, guarded well their own secrets. Not a derrick protruded its well-balanced form in the air. Not a drill, with its eager eating tooth de- scended into the flinty rock. No pipe lino diverted the oily tide in a silent, ceaseless current to the ocean's brink. The cities of iron tanks, filled to burst- ing, had no place amidst the forest solitudes. Oil exchanges, with their vex- ing puts and calls, shorts and longs, bulls and bears, had not yet come to dis- turb the equanimity of the red man, as he smoked the pipe of peace at the council fire. Had he once seen the smoke and soot of the new Birmingham of the West, or snuffed the odors of an oil refinery, he would willingly have for- feited his goodly heritage by the forest stream or the deep flowing river, and sought for himself new hunting grounds in less favored regions.

It was an unfortunate circumstance that at the coming of Europeans the territory now known as Pennsylvania was occupied by some of the most bloody and revengeful of the savage tribes. They were known as the Lenni Lenapes, and held sway from the Hudson to the Potomac. A tradition was preserved among them, that in a remote age their ancestors had emigrated eastward from beyond the Mississippi, exterminating as they came the more civilized and peaceful peoples, the Mound-Builders of Ohio and adjacent States, and who

18 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

were held among the tribes by whom they were surrounded as the progenitors, the grandfathers or oldest people. They came to be known by Europeans as the Delawares, after the name of the river and its numerous branches along which they principally dwelt. The Monseys or Wolves, another tribe of the Lenapes, dwelt upon the Susquehanna and its tributaries, and, by their war- like disposition, won the credit of being the fiercest of their nation, and the guardians of the door to their council house from the North.

Occupying the greater part of the teritory now known as New York, were the five nations — the Senacas, the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Cayugas, and the Onondagas, which, from their hearty union, acquired great strength and came to exercise a commanding influence. Obtaining firearms of the Dutch at Albany, they repelled the advances of the French from Canada, and by their superiority in numbers and organization, had overcome the Lenapes, and held them for awhile in vassalage. The Tuscaroras, a tribe which had been expelled from their home in North Carolina, were adopted by the Five Na- tions in 1712, and from this time forward these tribes were known to the English as the Six Nations, called by the Lenapes, Mingoes, and by the French, Iroquois. There was, therefore, properly a United States before the thirteen colonies achieved their independence. The person and character of these tribes were marked. They were above the ordinary stature, erect, bold, and commanding, of great decorum in council, and when aroused showing native eloquence. In warfare, they exhibited all the bloodthirsty, revengeful, cruel instincts of the savage, and for the attainment of their purposes were treacherous and crafty.

The Indian character, as developed by intercourse with Europeans, exhibits some traits that are peculiar While coveting what they saw that pleased them, and thievish to the last degree, they were nevertheless generous. This may be accounted for by their habits. " They h eld that the game of the for- est, the fish of the rivers, and the grass of the field were a common heritage, and free to all who would take the trouble to gather them, and ridiculed the idea of fencing in a meadow." Bancroft says: " The hospitality of the Indian has rarely been questioned. The stranger enters his cabin, by day or by night, without asking leave, and is entertained as freely as a thrush or a blackbird, that regales himself on the luxuries of the fruitful grove. He will take his own rest abroad, that he may give up his own skin or mat of sedge to his guest. Nor is the traveler questioned as to the purpose of his visit. He chooses his own time freely to deliver his message." Penn, who, from frequent intercourse came to know them well, in his letter to the society of Free Traders, says of them: "In liberality they excel; nothing is too good for their friend. Give them a fine gun, coat or other thing, it may pass twenty hands before it sticks; light of heart, strong afl'ections, but soon spent. The most merry creatures that live; feast and dance perpetually. They never have much nor want much. Wealth circulateth like the blood. All parts partake; and though none shall want what another hath, yet exact observers of property. Some Kings have sold, others presented me with several parcels of laud. The pay or presents I made them, were not hoarded by the particu- lar owners, but the neighboring Kings and elans being present when the goods were brought out. the parties chiefly concerned consulted what and to whom they should give them. To every King, then, by the hands of a per- son for that work appointed is a proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with th at gravity that is admirable. Then that King subdivideth it in like man- ner among his dependents, they hardly leaving themselves an equal share with one of their subjects, and be it on such occasions as festivals, or at their common meals, the Kings distribute, and to themselves last. They care for

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19

little because they want but little, and the reason is a little contents them. In this they are sufficiently revenged on us. They are also free from our pains. They are not disquieted with bills of lading and exchange, nor perplexed with chancery suits and exchequer reckonings. "We sweat and toil to live; their pleasure feeds them; I mean their hunting, fishing and fowling, and this table is spread everywhere. They eat twice a day, morning and evening. Their Heats and table are the ground. Since the Europeans came into these parts they are grown great lovers of strong liquors, rum especially, and for it exchange the richest of their skins and furs. If they are heated with liquors, they are restless till they have enough to sleep. That is their cry, ' Some more and I will go to sleep; ' but when drunk one of the most wretched spec- tacles in the world."

On the 28th of August, 1609, a little more than a century from the time of the first discovery of the New World by Columbus, Hendrick Hudson, an English navigator, then in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, hav- ing 'been sent out in search of a northwestern passage to the Indies, discovered the mouth of a great bay, since known as Delaware Bay, which he entered and partially explored. But finding the waters shallow, and being satisfied that this was only an arm of the sea which received the waters of a great river, and not a passage to the western ocean, he retired, and, turning the prow of his little craft northward, on the 2d of September, he discovered the river which bears his name, the Hudson, and gave several days to its examination. Not finding a passage to the West, which was the object of his search, he returned to Holland, bearing the evidences of his adventures, and made a full report of his discoveries in which he says, " Of all lands on which I ever set my foot, this is the best for tillage."

A proposition had been made in the States General of Holland to form a West India Company with purposes similar to those of the East India Com- pany; but the conservative element in the Dutch Congress prevailed, and while the Government was unwilling to undertake the risks of an enterprise for which it would be responsible, it was not unwilling to foster private enter- prise, and on the 27th of March, 1614, an edict was passed, granting the privileges of trade, in any of its possessions in the New World, during four voyages, founding its right to the territory drained by the Delaware and Hudson upon the discoveries by Hudson. Five vessels were accordingly fitted by a company composed of enterprising merchants of the cities of Am- sterdam and Hoorn, which made speedy and prosperous voyages under com- mand of Cornells Jacobson Mey, bringing back with them fine furs and rich woods, which so excited cupidity that the States General was induced on the 14th of October, 1614, to authorize exclusive trade, for four voyages, extend- ing through three years, in the newly acquired possessions, the edict designat- ing them as New Netherlands.

One of the party of this first enterprise, Cornelis Hendrickson, was left behind with a vessel called the Unrest, which had been built to supply the place of one accidentally burned, in which he proceeded to explore more fully the bay and river Delaware, of which he made report that was read before the States General on the 19th of August, 1616. This report is curious as dis- closing the opinions of the first actual explorer in an official capacity: "He hath discovered for his aforesaid masters and directoi-s certain lands, a bay, and three rivers, situate between thirty-eight and forty degrees, and did their trade with the inhabitants, said trade consisting of sables, furs, robes and other skins. He hath found the said country full of trees, to wit, oaks, hick- ory and pines, which trees were, in some places, covered with vines. He hath

20 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

seen in said country bucks and does, turkeys and partridges. He hath found the climate of said country very temperate, judging it to be as temperate as this country, Holland, He also traded for and bought from the inhabitants, the Minquas, three persons, being people belonging to this company, which three persons were employed in the service of the Mohawks and Machicans, giving fur them kettles, beads, and merchandise,"

This second charter of privileges expired in January, 1618, and during its continuance the knowledge acquired of the country and its resources promised so much of success that the States General was ready to grant broader privi- leges, and on the 3d of June, 1621, the Dutch West India Company was in- corporated, to extend for a period of twenty-four years, with the right of renewal, the capital stock to be open to subscription by all nations, and "privileged to trade and plant colonies in Africa, from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, and in America from the Straits of Magellan to the remotest north!" The past glories of Holland, though occupying but an in- significant patch of Europe, emboldened its Government to pass edicts for the colonizing and carrying on an exclusive trade with a full half of the entire world, an example of the biting off of more than could be well chewed. But the light of this enterprising people was beginning to pale before the rising glories of the stern race in their sea girt isle across the channel. Dissensions were arising among the able statesmen who had heretofore guided its afiairs, and before the periods promised in the original charter of this colonizing com- pany had expired, its supremacy of the sea was successfully resisted, and its exclusive rights and privileges in the New World had to be relinquished.

The principal object in establishing this West India Company was to secure a good dividend upon the capital stock, which was subscribed to by the rich old burgomasters. The fine furs and products of the forests, which had been taken back to Holland, had proved profitable. But it was seen that if this trade was to be permanently secured, in face of the active competition of other nations, and these commodities steadily depended upon, permanent set- tlements must bo provided for. Accordingly, in 1623, a colony of about forty families, embracing a party of Walloons, protestant fugitives from Belgium, sailed for the new province, under the leadership of Cornells Jacobson Mey and Joriz Tienpont. Soon after their arrival, Mey, who had been invested with the power of Director General of all the territory claimed by the Dutch, see- ing, no doubt, the evidences of some permanence on the Hudson, determined to take these honest minded and devoted Walloons to the South River, or Del- aware, that he might also gain for his country a foothold there. The testi- mony of one of the women, Catalina Tricho, who was of the party, is curious, and sheds some light upon this point. " That she came to this prov ince either in the year 1623 or 1624, and that four women came along wHh her in the same ship, in which Gov. Arien Jorissen came also over, which four women were married at sea, and that they and their husbands stayed about three weeks at this place (Manhattan) and then they with eight seamen more, went in a vessel by orders of the Dutch Governor to Delaware River, and there settled." Ascending tlie Delaware some fifty miles, Mey landed on the eastern shore near where now is the town of Gloucester, and built a fort which he called Nassau. Having duly installed his little colony, he re- turned to Manhattan; but beyond the building of the fort, which served as a trading post, this attempt to plant a colony was futile; for these religious zealots, tiring of the solitude in which they were left, after a few months abandoned it, and returned to their associates whom they had left upon the Hudson. Though not successful in establishing a permanent colony upon the

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21

Delaware, ships plied regularly between the fort and Manhattan, and this became the rallying point for the Indians, who brought thither their commodi- ties for trade. At about this time, 1626, the island of Manhattan estimated to contain 22,000 acres, on which now stands the city of New York with its busy population, surrounded by its forests of masts, was bought for the insig- nificant sum of sixty guilders, about $24, what would now pay for scarcely a square inch of some of that very soil. As an evidence of the thrift which had begun to mark the progress of the colony, it may be stated that the good ship " The Arms of Amsterdam," which bore the intelligence of this fortunate pur- chase to the assembly of the XIX in Holland, bore also in the language of O'Calaghan, the historian of New Netherland, the " information that the col- ony was in a most prosperous state, and that the women and the soil were both fruitful. To prove the latter fact, samples of the recent harvest, consist- ing of wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, were sent forward, together with 8,130 beaver skins, valued at over 45,000 guilders, or nearly $19,000." It is accorded by another his! orian that this same ship bore also " 853^ otter skins, eighty-one mink skins, thirty-six wild cat skins and thirty-four rat skins, with a quantity of oak and hickory timber." From this it may be seen what the commodities were which formed the subjects of trade. Doubt- less of wharf rats Holland had enough at home, but the oak and hickory tim- ber came at a time when there was sore need of it.

Finding that the charter of privileges, enacted in 1621, did not give suffi- cient encouragement and promise of security to actual settlers, further con- cessions were made in 1629, whereby " all such persons as shall appear and desire the same from the company, shall be acknowledged as Patroons [a sort of feudal lord] of New Netherland, who shall, within the space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the chambers of the company here, or to the Commander or Council there, undertake to plant a colony there of fifty souls, upward of fifteen years old; one- fourth part within one year, and within three years after sending the first, making together four yfears, the re- mainder, to the full number of fifty persons, to be shipped from hence, on pain, in case of willful neglect, of being deprived of the privileges obtained." * * " The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall be permitted, at such places as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles along the shore, or two miles on each side of a river, and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit."

Stimulated by these flattering promises, Goodyn and Bloemmaert, two wealthy and influential citizens, through their agents — Heyser and Coster — secured by purchase from the Indians a tract of iand on the western shore, at the mouth of the Delaware, sixteen miles in length along the bay front, and extending sixteen miles back into the country, giving a square of 256 miles. Goodyn immediately gave notice to the company of their intention to plant a colony on their newly acquired territory as j>atroons. They were joined by an experienced navigator, De Vries, and on the 12th of December, 1630, a vessel, the Walrus, under command of De Vries, was dispatched with a company of settlers and a stock of cattle and farm implements, which arrived safely in the Delaware. De Vries landed about three leagues within the capes, " near the entrance of a fine navigable stream, called the Hoarkill," where he pro- ceeded to build a house, well surrounded with cedar palisades, which served the purpose of fort, lodging house, and trading post. The little settlement, which consisted of about thirty persons, was christened by the high sounding title of Zwanendal — Valley of Swans. In the spring they prepared their fields and planted them, and De Vries returned to Holland, to make report of his proceedings.

22 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

But a sad fate awaited the little colony at Zwanendal. In accordance with the custom of European nations, the commandant, on taking possession of the new purchase, erected a pust, and affixed thereto a piece of tin on which was traced the arms of Holland and a legend of occupancy. An Indian chieftain, passing that way, attracted by the shining metal, and not understanding the object of the inscription, and not having the fear of their high mightinesses, the States General of Holland before his eyes, tore it down and proceeded to make for himself a tobacco pipe, considering it valuable both by way of orna- ment and use. When this act of trespass was discovered, it was regarded by the doughty Dutchman as a direct insult to the great State of Holland, and so great an ado was raised over it that the simple minded natives became frightened, believing that their chief had committed a mortal offense, and in the strength and sincerity of their friendship immediately proceeded to dis- patch the offending chieftain, and brought the bloody emblems of their deed to the head of the colony. This act excited the anger of the relatives of the mur- dered man, and in accordance with Indian law, they awaited the chance to take revenge. O'Calaghan gives the following account of this bloody massa- cre which ensued: "The colony at Zwanendal consisted at this time of thirty- four persons. Of these, thirty- two were one day at work in the fields, while Commissary Hosset remained in charge of the house, where another of the set- tlers lay sick abed. A large bull dog was chained out of doors. On pretence of selling some furs, three savages entered the house and murdered Hosset and the sick man. They found it not so easy to dispatch the mastiff. It was not until they had pierced him with at least twenty-five arrows that he was destroyed. The men in the fields were then set on, in an equally treacherous manner, under the guise of friendship, and every man of them slain." Thus was a worthless bit of tin the cause of the cutting off and utter extermination of the infant colony.

De Vries was upon the point of returning to Zwanendal when he received intimation of disaster to the settlers. With a large vessel and a yacht, he set sail on the 24th of May, 1632, to carry succor, provided with the means of prosecuting the whale fishery which he had been led to believe might be made very profitable, and of pushing the production of grain and tobacco. On ar- riving in the Delaware, he fired a signal gun to give notice of his approach. The report echoed through the forest, but, alas! the ears which would have been gladened with the sound were heavy, and no answering salute came from the shore. On landing, he found his house destroyed, the palisades burned, and the skulls and bones of his murdered countrymen bestrewing the earth, sad relics of the little settlement, which had promised so fairly, and warning tokens of the barbarism of the natives.

De Yries knew that he was in no position to attempt to punish the guilty parties, and hence determined to pursue an entirely pacific policy. At his invitation, the Indians gathered in with their chief for a conference. Sitting down in a circle beneath the shadows of the somber forest, their Sachem in the centre, De Vries, without alluding to their previous acts of savagery, concluded with them a treaty of peace and friendship, and presented them in token of ratification, "some duffels, bullets, axes and Nuremburg trinkets."

In place of finding his colony with plenty of provisions for the immediate needs of his party, he could get nothing, and began to be in want. He accord- ingly sailed up the river in quest of food. The natives were ready with their furs for barter, but they had no supplies of food with which they wished to part. Game, however, was plenty, and wild turkeys were brought in weigh- ing over thirty pounds. One morning after a frosty night, while the little

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23

craft was up the stream, the party was astonished to find the waters frozen over, and their ship fast in the ice. Judging by the mild climate of their own country, Holland, they did not suppose this possible. For several weeks they were held fast without the power to move their floating home. Being in need of a better variety of food than he found it possible to obtain, De Vries sailed away with a part of his followers to Virginia, where he was hospitably enter- tained by the Governor, who sent a present of goats as a token of friendship to the Dutch Governor at Manhattan. Upon his return to the Delaware, De Vries found that the party he had left behind to prosecute the whale fishery had only taken a few small ones, and these so poor that the amount of oil ob- tained was insignificant. He had been induced to embark in the enterprise of a settlement here by the glittering prospect of prosecuting the whale fishery along the shore at a great profit. Judging by this experience that the hope of great gains from this source was groundless, and doubtless haunted by a superstitious dread of making their homes amid the relics of the settlers of the previous year, and of plowing fields enriched by their blood who had been so utterly cut off, and a horror of dwelling amongst a people so revengeful and savage, De Vries gathered all together, and taking his entire party with him sailed away to Manhattan and thence home to Holland, abandoning utterly the settlement.

The Dutch still however sought to maintain a foothold upon the Dela- ware, and a fierce contention having sprung up between the powerful patroons and the Director General, and they having agreed to settle differences by the company authorizing the purchase of the claims of the patroons, those upon the Delaware were sold for 15,600 guilders. Fort Nassau was accordingly re-oc- cupied and manned with a small military force, and when a party from Con- necticut Colony came, under one Holmes to make a settlement upon the Dela- ware, the Dutch at Nassau were found too sti'ong to be subdued, and Holmes and his party were compelled to surrender, and were sent as prisoners of war to Manhattan.

CHAPTER 11.

Sm William Keift, 1638-47— Peter Minuit, 1638-41— Peter Hollandaer, 1641-43— John Printz, 1648-53— Peter Stuyvesant, 1647-64— John Pappagota, 1653-54— John Claude Rysingh, 1654-55.

AT this period, the throne of Sweden was occupied by Gustavus Adolphus, a monarch of the most enlightened views and heroic valor. Seeing the activity of surrounding nations in sending out colonies, he proposed to his people to found a commonwealth in the New World; not for the mere purpose of gain by trade, but to set up a refuge for the oppressed, a place of religious liberty and happy homes that should prove of advantage to " all oppressed Christendom." Accordingly, a company with ample privileges was incorpo- rated by the Swedish Government, to which the King himself pledged $400,000 of the royal treasui-e, and men of every rank and nationality were invited to join in the enterprise. Gustavus desired not that his colony should depend upon serfs or slaves to do the rough work. " Slaves cost a great deal, labor with reluctance, and soon perish from hard usage. The Swedish nation is laborious and intelligent, and surely we shall gain more by a free people with wives and children."

24 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In the meantime, the fruits of the reformation in Germany were menaced, and the Swedish monarch determined to unsheath his sword and lead his people to the aid of Protestant faith in the land where its standard had been successfully raised. At the battle of Ltitzen, where for the cause which he had espoused, a signal victory was gained, the illustrious monai-ch, in the flower of life, received a mortal wound. Previous to the battle, and while engaged in active preparations for the great struggle, he remembered the interests of his contemplated colony in America, and in a most earnest manner commended the enterprise to the people of Germany.

Oxenstiern, the minister of Gustavus, upon whom the weight of govern- ment devolved during the minority of the young daughter, Christina, declared that he was but the executor of the will of the fallen King, and exerted him- self to further the interests of a colony which he believed would be favorable to " all Christendom, to Europe, to the whole world. " Four years however elapsed before the project was brought to a successful issue. Peter Minuit, who had for a time been Governor of New Netherlands, having been displaced, sought employment in the Swedish company, and was given the command of the first colony. Two vessels, the Key of Calmar and the Griffin, early in the year 1638, with a company of Swedes and Fins, made their way across the stormy Atlantic and arrived safely in the Delaware. They purchased of the Indians the lands from the ocean to the falls of Trenton, and at the mouth of Christina Creek erected a fort which they called Christina, after the name of the youthful Queen of Sweden. The soil was fruitful, the climate mild, and the scenery picturesque. Compared with many parts of Finland and Sweden, it was a Paradise, a name which had been given the point at the entrance of the bay. As tidings of the satisfaction of the first emigrants were borne back to the fatherland, the desire to seek a home in the new country spread rap- idly, and the ships sailing were unable to take the many families seeking pas- sage.

The Dutch were in actual possession of Fort Nassau when the Swedes first arrived, and though they continued to hold it and to seek the trade of the Indians, yet the artful Minuit was more than a match for them in Indian bar- ter. William Keift, the Governor of New Netherland, entered a vigorous protest against the encroachments of the Swedes upon Dutch territory, in which he said " this has been our property for many years, occupied with forts and sealed by our blood, which also was done when thou wast in the service of New Netherland, and is therefore well known to thee." But Minuit pushed forward the work upon his fort, regardless of protest, trusting to the respect which the flag of Sweden had inspired in the hands of Banner and Torstensen. For more than a year no tidings were had from Sweden, and no supplies from any source were obtained; and while the fruits of their labors were abundant there were many articles of diet, medicines and apparel, the lack of which they began to sorely feel. So pressing had the want become, that application had been made to the authorities at Manhattan for permission to remove thither with all their effects. But on the very day before that on which they were to embark, a ship from Sweden richly laden with provisions, cattle, seeds and merchandise for barter with the natives came joyfully to their relief, and this, the first permanent settlement on soil where now are the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, was spared. The success and prosperity of the colony during the first few years of. its existence was largely due to the skill and policy of Minuit, who preserved the friendship of the natives, avoided an open conflict with the Dutch, and so prosecuted trade that the Dutch Governor reported to his government that trade had fallen off 30,000 beavers. Minuit

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA 25

was at the head of the colony for about three years, and died in the midst of the people whom he had led

Minuit was succeeded in the government by Peter Hollandaer, who had previously gone in charge of a company of emigrants, and who was now, in 1641, commissioned. The goodly lands upon the Delaware were a constant attraction to the eye of the adventurer; a party from Connecticut, under the lead- ership of Robert Cogswell, came, and squatted without authority upon the site of the present town of Salem, N. J. Another company had proceeded up the river, and, entering the Schuylkill, had planted themselves upon its banks. The settlement of the Swedes, backed as it was by one of the most powerful nations of Europe, the Governor of New Netherland was not disposed to molest; but when these irresponsible wandering adventurers came sailing past their forts and boldly planted themselves upon the most eligible sites and fer- tile lands in their territory, the Dutch determined to assume a hostile front, and to drive them away. Accordingly, Gen. Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam— his very name was enough to frighten away the emigrants — was sent with two vessels and a military force, who routed the party upon the Schuylkill, destroy- ing their fort and giving them a taste of the punishment that was likely to be meted out to them, if this experiment of trespass was repeated. The Swedes joined the Dutch in breaking up the settlement at Salem and driving away the New England intruders.

In 1642, Hollandaer was succeeded in the government of the Swedish Colony by John Printz, whose instructions for the management of affairs were drawn with much care by the officers of the company in Stockholm. " He was, first of all, to maiutain friendly relations with the Indians, and by the advan- tage of low prices hold their 'rade. His next care was to cultivate enough grain for the wants of the colonists, and when this was insured, turn his atten- tion lo the culture of tobacco, the raising of cattle and sheep of a good species, the culture of the grape, and the raising of silk worms. The manufacture of salt by evaporation, and the search for metals and minerals were to be prose- cuted, and inquiry into the establishment of fisheries, with a view to profit, especially the whale fishery, was to be made." It will be seen from these in- structions that the far-sighted Swedish statesmen had formed an exalted con- ception of the resources of the new country, and had figured to themselves great possibilities from its future development. Visions of rich silk products, of the precious metals and gems from its mines, flocks upon a thousand hills that should rival in the softness of their downy fleeces the best products of the Indian looms, and the luscious clusters of the vine that could make glad the palate of the epicui'e filled their imaginations.

With two vessels, the Stoork and Kenown, Printz set sail, and arrived at Fort Christina on the 15th of February, 1643. He was bred to the profession of arms, and was doubtless selected with an eye to his ability to holding posses- sion of the land against the conflict that was likoly to arise. He had been a Lieutenant of cavalry, and was withal a man of prodigious proportions, " who weighed," according to De Vries, " upward of 400 pounds, and drank three drinks at every meal." He entertained exalted notions of his dignity as Govern- or of the colony, and prepared to establish himself in his new dominions with some degree of magnificence. He brought with him from Sweden the bricks to be used for the construction of his royal dwelling. Upon an inspection of the settlement, he detected the inherent weakness of the location of Fort Christina for commanding the navigation of the river, and selected the island of Tiuacum for the site of a new fort, called New Gottenburg, which was speedily erected and made strong with huge hemlock logs. In the midst of

Zb HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the island, he built hie royal residence, which was surrounded with trees and shubbery. He erected another fort near the mouth of Salem Creek, called Elsinborg, which he mounted with eight brass twelve-pounders, and garrisoned. Here all ships ascending the river were brought to, and required to await a permit from the Governor before proceeding to their destination. Gen. Yan Ilpendam, who had been sent to drive away the intruders from New England, had remained after executing his commission as commandant at Fort Nassau; but having incurred the dis- pleasure of Director Keift, be had been displaced, and was succeeded by An- dreas Hudde, a crafty and politic agent of the Dutch Governor, who had no sooner arrived and become settled in his place than a conflict of authority sprang up between himself and the Swedish Governor. Dutch settlers secured a grant of land on the west bank of Delaware, and obtained possession by pur- chase from the Indians. This procedure kindled the wrath of Printz, who tore down the ensign of the company which had been erected in token of the power of Holland, and declared that he would have pulled down the colors of their High Mightinesses had they been erected on this the Swed- ish soil. That there might be no mistake about his claim to authority, the testy Governor issued a manifesto to his rival on the opposite bank, in which were these explicit declarations:

" Andreas Hudde! I remind you again, by this written warning, to discon- tinue the injuries of which you have been guilty against the Royal Majesty of Sweden, my most gracious Queen; against Her Royal Majesty's rights, pre- tensions, soil and land, without showing the least respect to the Royal Majes- ty's magnificence, reputation and dignity; and to do so no more, considering how little it would be becoming Her Royal Majesty to bear such gross violence, and what great disasters might originate from it, yea, might be expected. * * * All this I can freely bring forward in my own defense, to exculpate me from all future calamities, of which we give you a warning, and place it at your account. Dated New Gothenburg, 3d September, stil, veteri 1646."

It will be noted from the repetition of the high sounding epithets applied to^ the Queen, that Printz had a very exalted idea of his own position as the Vicegerent of the Swedish monarch. Hudde responded, saying in reply: " The place we possess we hold in just deed, perhaps before the name of South River was heard of in Sweden." This paper, upon its presentation, Printz flung to the ground in contempt, and when the messenger, who bore it, demanded an answer, Printz unceremoniously threw him out doors, and seizing a gun would have dispatched the Dutchman had he not been arrested; and whenever any of Hudde's men visited Tinicum they were sure to be abused, and frequently came back " bloody and bruised. " Hudde urged rights acquired by prior posses- sion, but Printz answered: " The devil was the oldest possessor in hell, yet he, notwithstanding, would sometimes admit a younger one." A vessel which had come to the Delaware from Manhattan with goods to barter to the Indians, was brought to, and ordered away. In vain did Hudde plead the rights acquired by previous possession, and finally treaty obligations existing between the two nations. Printz was inexorable, and peremptorily ordered the skipper away, and as his ship was not provided with the means of fighting its way up past the frowning battlements of Fort Elsinborg, his only alternative was to return to Manhattan and report the result to his employers.

Peter Stuyvesant, a man of a good share of native talent and force of char- acter, succeeded to the chief authority over New Netherland in May, 1647. The affairs of his colony were not in an encouraging condition. The New England colonies were crowding upon him from the north and east, and the

HISTORV OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27

Swedes upon the South River were occupying the territory which the Dutch for many years previous to the coming of Christina's colony had claimed. Amid the thickening complications, Stuyvesant had need of all his power of argument and executive skill. He entered into negotiations with the New En- gland colonies for a peaceful settlement of their difficulties, getting the very best terms he could, without resorting to force; for, said his superiors, the officers of the company in Holland, who had an eye to dividends, " War can- not be for our advantage; the New England people are too powerful for us." A pacific policy was also preserved toward the Swedes. Hudde was retained at the head of Dutch affairs upon the Delaware, and he was required to make full reports of everything that was transpiring there in order that a clear in- sight might be gained of the policy likely to be pursued. Stuyvesant was en- tirely too shrewd a politician for the choleric Printz. He recommended to the company to plant a Dutch colony on the site of Zwanendal at the mouth of the river, another on the opposite bank, which, if effectually done, would com- mand its navigation; and a third on the upper waters at Beversreede, which would intercept the intercourse of the native population. By this course of active colonizing, Stuyvesant rightly calculated that the Swedish power would be circumscribed, and finally, upon a favorable occasion, be crushed out.

Stuyvesant, that he might ascertain the nature and extent of the Swedish claims to the country, and examine into the complaints that were pouring in upon him of wrongs and indignities suffered by the Dutch at the hands of the Swedish power, in 1651 determined to visit the Delaware in his official capac- ity. He evidently went in some state, and Printz, who was doubtless impressed with the condecension of the Governor of all New Netherland in thus coming, was put upon his good behavior. Stuyvesant, by his address, got completely on the blind side of the Swedish chief, maintaining the garb of friendship and brotherly good-will, and insisting that the discussion of rights should be carried on in a peaceful and friendly manner, for we are informed that they mutually promised " not to commit any hostile or vexatious acts against one another, but to maintain together all neighborly friendship and correspond- ence, as good friends and allies aro bound to do. ' ' Printz was thus, by this agreement, entirely disarmed and placed at a disadvantage; for the Dutch Governor took advantage of the armistice to acquire lands below Fort Chris- tina, where he proceeded to erect a fort only five miles away, which he named Fort Casimir. This gave the Dutch a foothold upon the south bank, and in nearer proximity to the ocean than Fort Christina. Fort Nassau was dis- mantled and destroyed, as being no longer of use. In a conference with the Swedish Governor, Stuyvesant demanded to see documental proof of his right to exercise authority upon he Delaware, and the compass of the lands to which the Swedish Government laid claim, Printz prepared a statement in which he set out the "Swedish limits wide enough." But Stuyvesant de- manded the documents, under the seal of the company, and characterized this writing as a "subterfuge," maintaining by documentary evidence, on his part, the Dutch West India Company's right to the soil.

Printz was great as a blusterer, and preserver of authority when personal abuse and kicks and cuffs could be resorted to with(jut the fear of retaliation; but no match in statecraft for the wily Stuyvesant. To the plea of pre-occu- pancy he had nothing to answer more than he had already done to Hudde's messenger respecting the government of Hades, and herein was the cause of the Swedes inherently weak. In numbers, too, the Swedes were feeble com- pared with the Dutch, who had ten times the population. But in diplomacy he had been entirely overreached. Fort Casimir, by its location, rendered

28 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

the rival Fort Elsinborg powerless, and under plea that the mosquitoes had be- come troublesome there, it was abandoned. Discovering, doubtless, that a cloud of complications was thickening over him, which he would be unable with the forces at his command to successfully withstand, he asked to be relieved, and, without awaiting an answer to his application, departed for Sweden, leaving his son-in-law, John Pappegoya, who had previously received marks of the royal favor, and been invested with the dignity of Lieutenant Governor, in supreme authority.

The Swedish company had by this time, no doubt, discovered that forcible opposition to Swedish occupancy of the soil upon Delaware was destined soon to come, and accordingly, as a precautionary measure, in November, 1653, the College of Commerce sent John Amundson Besch, with the commission of Captain in the Navy, to superintend the construction of vessels. Upon his arrival, he acquired lands suitable for the purpose of ship-building, and set about laying his keels. He was to have supreme authority over the naval force, and was to act in conjunction with the Governor in protecting the interests of the colony, but in such a manner that neither should decide anything without consulting the other.

On receiving the application of Printz to be relieved, the company ap- pointed John Claude Rysingh, then Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, as Vice Director of New Sweden. He was instructed to fortify and extend the Swedish possessions, but without interrupting the friendship existing with the English or Dutch. He was to use his power of persuasion in induc- ing the latter to give up Fort Casimir, which was regarded as an intrusion upon Swedish possessions, but without resorting to hostilities, as it was better to allow the Dutch to occupy it than to have it fall into the hands of the En- glish, ' ' who are the more powerful, and, of course, the most dangerous in that country." Thus early was the prowess of England foreshadowed. Gov. Rysingh arrived in the Delaware, on the last day of May, 1654, and immediately demanded the surrender of Fort Casimir. Adriaen Van Tienhoven, an aide- de-camp on the staflf of the Dutch commandant of the forfc, was sent on board the vessel to demand of Gov. Rysingh by what right he claimed to dis- possess the rightful occupants; but the Governor was not disposed to discuss the matter, and immediately landed a party and took possession without more opposition than wordy protests, the Dutch Governor saying, when called on to make defense, "What can I do? there is no powder." Rysingh, however, in justification of his course, stated to Teinhoven, after he had gained possession of the fort, that he was acting under orders from the crown of Sweden, whose embassador at the Dutch Court, when remonstrating agaiiDst the action of Gov. Stuyvesant in erecting and mauning Fort Casimir had been assured, by the State's General and the offices of the West India Company, that they had not authorized the erection of this fort on Swedish soil, saying, " if our people are in your Excellency's way, drive them off." "Thereupon the Swedish Governor slapped Van Teinhoven on the breast, and said, ' Go! tell your Gov- ernor that.'" As the capture was made on Trinity Sunday, the name was changed from Fort Casimir to Fort Trinity.

Thus were the instructions of the new Governor, not to resort to force, but to secure possession of the fort by negotiation, complied with, but by a forced interpretation. For, although he had not actually come to battle, for the very good reason that the Dutch had no powder, and were not disposed to use their lists against fire arms, which the Swedes brandished freely, yet, in mak- ing his demand for the fort, he had put on the stern aspect of war.

Stuyvesant, on learning of the loss of Fort Casimir, sent a messenger to the

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29

Delaware to invite Gov. Rysingh to come to Mant attan to hold friendly confer- ence upon the subject of their difficulties. This Rysingh refused to do, and the Dutch Governor, probably desiring instructions from the home GovernmeLit be- fore proceeding to extremities, made a voyage to the West Indies for the purpose of arranging favorable regulations of trade with the colonies, though without the instructions, or even the knowledge of the States General. Cromwell, who was now at the head of the English nation, by the policy of his agents, rendered this embassy of Stuyvesant abortive.

As soon as information of the conduct of Eysingh at Zwanendal was known in Holland, the company lost no time in disclaiming the representa- tions which he had made of its willingness to have the fort turned over to the Swedes, and immediately took measures for restoring it and wholly dispossess- ing the Swedes of lands upon the Delaware. On the 16th of Novembei', 1655, the company ordered Stuyvesant " to exert every nerve to avenge the insult, by not only replacing matters on the Delaware in their former position, but by driving the Swedes from every side of the river," though they subsequent- ly modified this order in such manner as to allow the Swedes, after Fort Casi- mir had been taken, "to hold the land on which Fort Christina is built," with a garden to cultivate tobacco, because it appears that they had made the pur- chase with the previous knowledge of the company, thus manifesting a disin- clination to involve Holland in a war with Sweden. "Two armed ships were forthwith commissioned; 'the drum was beaten daily for volunteers ' in the streets of Amsterdam; authority was sent out to arm and equip, and if neces- sary to press into the company's service a sufficient number of ships for the expedition." In the meantime, Gov. Rysingh, who had inaugurated his reign by so bold a stroke of policy, determined to ingratiate himself into the favor of the Indians, who had been soured in disposition by the arbi- trary conduct of the passionate Printz. He accordingly sent out on all sides an invitation to the native tribes to assemble on a certain day, by their chiefs and principal men, at the seat of government on Tinicum Island, to brighten the chain of friendship and renew their pledges of faith and good neighbor- hood.

On the morning of the appointed day, ten grand sachems with their at- tendants came, and with the formality characteristic of these native tribes, the council opened. Many and bitter were the complaints made against the Swedes for wrongs suffered at their hands, " chief among which was that many of their number had died, plainly pointing, though not explicitly saying it, to the giving of spirituous liquors as the cause." The new Governor had no answer to make to these complaints, being convinced, probably, that they were but too true. Without attempting to excuse or extenuate the past, Rysingh brought forward the numerous presents which he had taken with him from Sweden for the purpose. The sight of the piled up goods produced a prof ound impression upon the minds of the native chieftains. They sat apart for conference before making any expression of their feelings, Naaman, the fast friend of the white man, and the most consequential of the warriors, according to Campanius, spoke: " Look," said he, "and see what they have brought to us." So say- ing, he stroked himself three times down the arm, which, among the Indians, was a token of friendship; afterward he thanked the Swedes on behalf of his people for the presents they had received, and said that friendship should be observed more strictly between them than ever before; that the Swedes and the Indians in Gov. Printz's time were as one body and one heart, striking his breast as he spoke, and that thenceforward they should be as one head; in token of which he took hold of his head with both hands, and made a motion

2

30 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

as if he were tying a knot, and then he made this comparison: " That, as the calabash was round, without any crack, so they should be a compact body with- out any fissure; and that if any should attempt to do any harm to the Indians, the Swedes should immediately inform them of it; and, on the other hand, the Indians would give immediate notice to the Christians, even if it were in the middle of the night." On this they were answered that that would be indeed a true and lasting friendship, if every one would agree to it; on which they gave a general shout in token of consent. Immediately on this the great guns were fired, which pleased them extremely, and they said, ^'Poo, hoo, hoo; mokerick picon,'^ that is to say "Hear and believe; the great guns are fired." Rysingh then produced all the treaties which had ever been concluded between them and the Swedes, which were again solemnly confirmed. " When those who had signed the deeds heard their names, they appeared to rejoice, but, when the names were read of those who were dead, they hung their heads in sorrow."

After the first ebulition of feeling had subsided on the part of the Dutch Company at Amsterdam, the winter passed without anything further being done than issuing the order to Stuyvesant to proceed against the Swedes. In the spring, however, a thirty- six-gun brig was obtained from the burgomasters of Amsterdam, which, with four other crafts of varying sizes, was prepared for duty, and the little fleet set sail for New Netherland. Orders were given for immediate action, though Director General Stuyvesant had not returned from the West Indies. Upon the arrival of the vessels at Manhattan, it was an- nounced that " if any lovers of the prosperity and security of the province of New Netherland were inclined to volunteer, or to serve for reasonable wages, they should come forward," and whoever should lose a limb, or be maimed, was assured of a decent compensation. The merchantmen were ordered to furnish two of their crews, and the river boatmen were to be impressed. At this junct- ure a grave question arose: "Shall the Jews be enlisted?" It was decided in the negative; but in lieu of service, adult male Jews were taxed sixty-five stivers a head per month, to be levied by execution in case of refusal.

Stuyvesant had now arrived from his commercial trip, and made ready for opening the campaign in earnest. A day of prayer and thanksgiving was held to beseech the favor of Heaven upon the enterprise, and on the 5th of Septem- ber, 1655, with a fleet of seven vessels and some 600 men, Stuyvesant hoisted sail and steered for the Delaware. Arrived before Fort Trinity (Casimir), the Director sent Capt. Smith and a drummer to summon the fort, and ordered a flank movement by a party of fifty picked men to cut ofl" commiinication with Fort Christina and the headquarters of Gov. Rysingh. Swen Schute, the com- mandant of the garrison, asked permission to communicate with Rysingh, which was denied, and he was called on to prevent bloodshed. An interview in the valley midway between the fort and the Dutch batteries was held, when Schute asked to send an open letter to Rysingh. This was denied, and for a third time the fort was summoned. Impatient of delay, and in no temper for parley, the great guns were landed and the Dutch force ordered to advance. Schute again asked for a delay until morning, which was granted, as the day was now well spent and the Dutch would be unable to make the necessary preparations to open before morning. Early on the following day, Schute went on board the Dutch flag-ship, the iJalance, and agreed to terms of surrender very honorable to his flag. He was "permitted to send to Sweden, by the first opportunity, the cannon, nine in number, belonging to the crown of Sweden, to march out of the fort with twelve men, as his body guard, fully accoutered, and colors flying; the common soldiers to wear their side arms. The com-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 31

mandant and other officers were to retain their private property, the muskets belonging to the crown were to be held until sent for, and finally the fort was to be surrendered, with all the cannon, ammunition, materials and other goods belonging to the West India Company. The Dutch entered the fort at noon with all the formality and glorious circumstance of war, and Dominie Megap- olensis, Chaplain of the expedition, preached a sermon of thanksgiving on the following Sunday in honor of the great triumph.

While these signal events were transpiring at Casimir, Gov. Rysing, at his royal residence on Tinicum, was in utter ignorance that he was being desjxjiled of his power. A detachment of nine men had been sent by the Governor to Casimir to re-enforce the garrison, which came unawares upon the Dutch lines, and after a brief skirmish all but two were captured. Upon learning that the fort was invested, Factor Ellswyck was sent with a Hag to inquire of the in- vaders the purpose of their coming. The answer was returned " To recover and retain our property." Rysingh then communicated the hope that they would therewith rest content, and not encroach further upon Swedish territory, having, doubtless, ascertained by this time that the Dutch were too strong for him to make any efifectual resistance. Stuyvesant returned an evasive answer, but made ready to march upon Fort Christina. It will be remembered that by the terms of the modified orders given for the reduction of the Swedes, Fort Christina was not to be disturbed. But the Dutch Governor's blood was now up, and he determined to make clean work while the means were in his hands. Discovering that the Dutch were advancing, Rysingh spent the whole night in strengthening the defenses and putting the garrison in position to make a stout resistance. Early on the following day the invaders made their appearance on the opposite bank of Christina Creek, where they threw up de- fenses and planted their cannon. Forces were landed above the fort, and the place was soon invested on all sides, the vessels, in the meantime, having been brought into the mouth of the creek, their cannon planted west of the fort and on Timber Island. Having thus securely shut up the Governor and his garri- son, Stuyvesant summmoned him to sun-ender. Eysingh could not in honor tamely submit, and at a council of war it was resolved to make a defense and " leave the consequence to be redressed by our gracious superiors." But their supply of powder barely sufficed for one round, and his force consisted of only thirty men. In the meantime, the Dutch soldiery made free with the property of the Swedes without the fort, killing their cattle and invading their homes. "At length the Swedish garrison itself showed symptoms of mutiny. The men were harassed with constant watching, provisions began to fail, many were sick, several had deserted, and Stuyvesant threatened, that, if they held out much longer, to give no quarter." A conference was held which ended by the return of Rysingh to the fort more resolute than ever for defense. Finally Stuyvesant sent in his ultimatum and gave twenty-four hours for a final answer, the generous extent of time for consideration evincing the humane disposition of the commander of the invading army, or what is perhaps more probable his own lack of stomach for carnage. Before the expiration of the time allowed, the garrison capitulated, " after a siege of fourteen days, dur- ing which, very fortunately, there was a great deal more talking than cannon- ading, and no blood shed, except those of the goats, poultry and swine, which the Dutch troops laid their hands on. The twenty or thirty Swedes then marched out with their arms; colors flying, matches lighted, drums beating, and fifes playing, and the Dutch took possession of the fort, hauled down the Swedish flag and hoisted their own."

By the terms of capitulation, the Swedes, who wished to remain in the

32 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

country, were permitted to do so, od taking the oath of allegiance, and rights of property were to be respected under the sway of Dutch law. Gov. Ry- singh, and all others who desired to return to Europe, were furnished passage, and by a secret provision, a loan of £300 Flemish was made to Rysingh, to be refunded on bis arrival in Sweden, the cannon and other property belonging to the crown remaining in the hands of the Dutch until the loan was paid. Before withdrawing Stuyvesant offered to deliver over Fort Christina and the lands immediately about it to Rysingh, but this ofier was declined with dig- nity, as the matter had now passed for arbitrament to the courts of the two na- tions.

The terms of the capitulation were honorable and liberal enough, but the Dutch authorities seem to have exercised little care in carrying out its provis- ions, or else the discipline in the service must have been very lax. For Ry- singh had no sooner arrived at Manhattan, than he entered most vigorous pro- tests against the violations of the provisions of the capitulation to Gov. Stuy- vesant. He asserted that the property belonging to the Swedish crown had been left without guard or protection from pillage, and that he himself had not been assigned quarters suited to his dignity. He accused the Dutch with having broken open the church, and taken away all the cordage and saila of a new vessel, with having plundered the villages, Tinnakong, Uplandt, Fin- land, Printzdorp and other places. " In Christina, the women were violently torn from their houses; whole buildings were destroyed; yea, oxen, cows, hogs and other creatures were butchered day after day; even the horses were not spared, but wantonly shot; the plantations destroyed, and the whole country so desolated that scarce any means were left for the subsistence of the inhab- itants." "Your men carried off even my own property, " said Rysingh, " with that of my family, and we were left like sheep doomed to the knife, without means of defense against the wild barbarians."

Thus the colony of Swedes and Fins on the South River, which had been planned by and had been the object of solicitude to the great monarch himself, and had received the fostering care of the Swedish Government, came to an end after an existence of a little more than seventeen years — 1638-1655. But though it no longer existed ao a colony under the government of the crown of Sweden, many of the colonists remained and became the most intelligent and law-abiding citizens, and constituted a vigorous element in the future growth of the State. Some of the best blood of Europe at this period flowed in the veins of the Swedes. "A love foK Sweden," says Bancroft, "their dear mother country, the abiding sentiment of loyalty toward its sovereign, con- tinued to distinguish the little band. At Stockholm, they remained for a century the objects of disinterested and generous regard; affection united them in the New World; and a part of their descendants still preserve their altar and their dwellings around the graves of their fathers."

This campaign of Stuyvesant, for the dispossessing of the Swedes of terri- tory upon the Delaware, furnishes Washington Irving subject for some of the most inimitable chapters of broad humor, in his Knickerbocker's New York, to be found in the English language. And yet, in the midst of his side-splitting paragraphs, he indulges in a reflection which is worthy of remembrance. "He who reads attentively will discover the threads of gold which run throughout the web of history, and are invisible to the dull eye of ignorance. * * * By the treacherous surprisal of Fort Casimir, then, did the crafty Swedes enjoy a transient triumph, but drew upon their heads the vengeance of Peier Stuyvesant, who wrested all New Sweden from their hands. By the conquest of New Sweden, Peter Stuyvesant aroused the claims of Lord Balti-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33

more, who appealed to the cabinet of Great Britain, who subdued the whole province of New Netherlands. By this great achievement, the whole extent of North America, from Nova Scotia to the Floridas, was rendered one entire dependency upon the British crown. But mark the consequence: The hith- erto scattered colonies being thus consolidated and having no rival colonies to check or keep them in awe, waxed great and powerful, and fiaally becoming too strong for the mother country, were enabled to shake off its bonds. But the chain of effects stopped not here; the successful revolution in America pro- duced the sanguinary revolution in France, which produced the puissant Bonaparte, who produced the French despotism."

In March, 1656, the ship "Mercury," with 130 emigrants, arrived, the government at Stockholm having had no intimation of the Dutch conquest. An attempt was made to prevent a landing, and the vessel was ordered to report to Stuyvesant at Manhattan, but the order was disregarded and the col- onists debarked and acquired lands. The Swedish Government was not dis- posed to submit to these high-handed proceedings of the Dutch, and the min- inters of the two courts maintained a heated discussion of their differences. Finding the Dutch disposed to hold by force their conquests, the government of Sweden allowed the claim to rest until 1664. In that year, vigorous meas- ures were planned to regain its claims upon the Delaware, and a fleet bearing a military force was dispatched for the purpose. But, having been obliged to put back on account of stress of weather, the enterprise was abandoned.

CHAPTEE III.

John Paul Jacquet, 1655-57— Jacob Alrichs, 1657-59— Goeran Yan Dyck, 1657 -58— William Beekmax, 1658-63— Alexander D'Hinoyossa. 1659-64.

^T^HE colonies upon the Delaware being now under exclusive control of the _L Dutch, John Paul Jaqaet was appointed in November, 1655, as Vice Director, Derek Smidt having exercised authority after the departure of Stuy- vesant. The expense of fitting out the expedition for the reduction of the Swedes was sorely felt by the West India Company, which had been obliged to borrow money for the purpose of t^e city of Amsterdam. In payment of this loan, the company sold to the city all the lands upon the south bank of the Delaware, from the ocean to Christina Creek, reaching back to the lands of the Minquas. which was designated Nieur Amstel. Again was there di- vided authority upon the Delaware. The government of the new possession was vested in a commission of forty residents of Amsterdam, who appointed Jacob Alrichs as Director, and sent him with a force of forty soldiers and 1 50 colonists, in three vessels, to assume the government, whereupon Jaquet relin- quished authority over this portion of his territory. The company in commu- nicating with Stuyvesant upon the subject of his course in dispossessing the Swedes, after duly considering all the complaints and remonstrances of the Swedish government, approved his conduct, " though they would not have been displeased had such a formal capitulation not taken place," adding as a paren- thetical explanation of the word formal " what is written is to6 long preserved, and may be produced when not desired, whereas words not recorded are, in the lapse of time, forgotten, or may be explained away."

34 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Stuyvesant still remained in supreme control over both the colony of the city and the colony of the company, to the immediate governorship of the lat- ter of which, Goeran Van Dyck was appointed. But though settlements in the management of affairs were frequently made, they would not remain set- tled. There was conflict of authority between Alrichs and Van Dyck. The companies soon found that a grievous system of smuggling had sprung up. After a searching examination into the iri'egularities by Stuyvesant, who vis- ited the Delaware for the purpose, he recommended the appointment of one general agent who should have charge of all the revenues of both colonies, and "William Beekman was accordingly appointed. The company of the city seems not to have been satisfied with the profits of their investment, and ac- cordingly made new regulations to govern settlement, by which larger returns would accrue. This action created discontent among the settlers, and many who were meditating the purchase of lands and the acquisition of homes, de- termined to go over into Maryland where Lord Baltimore was offering far more liberal terms of settlement. To add to the discomforts of the settlers, " the miasms which the low alluvial soil and the rank and decomposed vegetation of a new country engenders, ' ' produced wasting sicknesses. When the planting was completed, and the new soil, for ages undisturbed, had been thorousrhly stirred, the rains set in which descended almost continuously, producing fever and ague and dysentery. Scarcely a family escaped the epidemic. Six in the family of Director Alrichs were attacked, and his wife died. New colo- nists came without provisions, which only added to the distress. " Scarcity of provisions," says O'Calaghan, "naturally followed the failure of the crops; 900 schepels of grain had been sown in the spring. They produced scarcely 600 at harvest. Rye rose to three guilders the bushel; peas to eight guilders the sack; salt was twelve guilders the bushel at New Amsterdam; cheese and butter were not to be had, and when a man journeys he can get nothing but dry bread, or he must take a pot or kettle along with him to cook his victuals." " The place had now got so bad a name that the whole river could not wash it clean." The exactions of the city company upon its colony, not only did not bring increased revenue, but by dispersing the honest colonists, served to notify Lord Baltimore — who had laid claim to the lands upon Delaware, on account of original discovery by Lord De la War, from whom the river takes its name, and from subsequent charter of the British crown, covering territory from the 38th to the 40th degree of latitude — of the weakness of the colonies, and persuade him that now was a favorable opportunity to enforce his claims. Accordingly, Col. Utie, with a number of delegates, was dispatched to demand that the Dutch should quit the place, or declare themselves subjects of Lord Baltimore, adding, " that if they hesitated, they should be responsible for whatever innocent blood might be shed."

Excited discussions ensued between the Dutch authorities and the agents of the Maryland government, and it was finally agreed to refer the matter to Gov. Stuyvesant, who immediately sent Commissioners to the Chesapeake to settle differences, and enter into treaty regulations for the mutual return of fugitives, and dispatched sixty soldiers to the Delaware to assist in preserving order, and resisting the English, should an attempt be made to dispossess the Dutch.

Upon the death of Alrichs, which occurred in 1659, Alexander D'Hinoyossa was appointed Governor of the city colony. The new Governor was a man of good business capacity, and sought to administer the affairs of his colony for the best interests of the settlers, and for increasing the revenues of the com- pany. To further the general prosperity, the company negotiated a new loan

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35

with which to strengthen and improve its resources. This liberal policy had the desired effect. The Swedes, who had settled above on the river, moved down, and acquired homes on the lands of the city colony. The Fins and dis- contented Dutch, who had gone to Maryland, returned and brought with them some of the English settlers.

Discouraged by the harassing conflicts of authority which seemed inter- minable, the West India Company transferred all its interests on the east side of the river to the colony of the city, and upon the visit of D'Hinoyossa to Holland in 1663, he secured for himself the entire and exclusive government of the colonies upon the Delaware, being no longer subject to the authority of Stuyvesant.

Encouraged by liberal terms of settlement, and there being now a prospect of stable government, emigrants were attracted thither. A Mennonite commu- nity came in a body. " Clergymen were not allowed to join them, nor any ' intractable people such as those in communion with the Roman See, usurious Jews, English stiff-necked Quakers, Puritans, foolhardy believers in the mil- lennium, and obstinate modern pretenders to revelation.' " They were obliged to take an oath never to seek for an ofiSce; Magistrates were to receive no com- pensation, " not even a stiver." The soiJ and climate were regarded as excel- lent, and when sufficiently peopled, the country would be the " finest on the face of the globe."

CHAPTEE IV.

Richard Nichols, 1664-67— Robert Neelham, 1664-68— Francis Lovelace, 1667-73— John Carr, 1668-73— Anthony Colve, 1673-74— Peter Alrichs,

1673-74.

AFFAIRS were scarcely arranged upon the Delaware, and the dawning of a better day for the colonists ushered in, before new complications began to threaten the subversion of the whole Dutch power in America. The English had always claimed the entire Atlantic seaboard. Under Cromwell, the Navigation act was aimed at Dutch interests in the New World. Captain John Scott, who had been an officer in the army of Charles I, having obtained some show of authority from the Governor of Connecticut, had visited the towns upon the west end of Long Island, where was a mixed population of Dutch and English, and where he claimed to have purchased large tracts of land, and had persuaded them to unite under his authority in setting up a government of their own. He visited England and " petitioned the King to be invested with the government of Long Island, or that the people thereof be allowed to choose yearly a Governor and Assistants." By his representation, an inquiry was instituted by the King's council, "as to his majesty's title to the premises; the intrusions of the Dutch; their deportment; management of the country; strength, trade and government; and lastly, of the means necessary to induce or force them to acknowledge the King, or if necessary, to expel them together from the country. " The visit of Scott, and his prayer to the King for a grant of Long Island, was the occasioh of inaugurating a policy, which resulted in the overthrow of Dutch rule in America. But the attention of English statesmen had for some time been turned to the importance of the territory which the Dutch colonies had occupied, and a belief that Dutch trade in the New World was yielding great returns, stimulated inquiry. James,

36 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Duke of York, brother of the King, who afterward himself became King, was probably at this time the power behind the throne that was urging on action looking to the dispossession of the Dutch. The motive which seemed to actuate him was the acquisition of personal wealth and power. He saw, as he thought, a company of merchants in Amsterdam accumulating great wealth out of these colonies, and he meditated the transfer of this wealth to himself. He was seconded in this project by the powerful influence of Sir George Downing, who had been Envoy at The Hague, under Cromwell, and was now under Charles II. "Keen, bold, subtle, active, and observant, but imperious and unscrupulous, disliking and distrusting the Dutch,'' he had watched every movement of the company's granted privileges by the States General, and had reported every- thing to his superiors at home. "The whole bent," says O'Calaghan,'' of this man's mind was cc>n8tantly to hold up before the eyes of his countrymen the growing power of Holland and her commercial companies, their immense wealth and ambition, and the danger to England of permitting these to pro- gress OQward unchecked.'"

After giving his testimony before the council, Scott returned to America with a letter from the King recommending his interests to the co-operation and protection of the New England colonies. On arriving in Connecticut, he was commissioned by the Governor of that colony to incorporate Long Island under Connecticut jurisdiction. But the Baptists, Quakers andMenuonites,who formed a considerable part of the population, " dreaded falling into the hands of the Puritans." In a quaint document commencing, '"In the behalf e of sum hun- dreds of English here planted on the west end of Long Island wee address," etc. , " they besought Scott to come and settle their difficulties. On his arrival he acquainted them with the fact, till then unknown, that King Charles had granted the island to the Duke of York, who would soon assert his rights. Whereupon the towns of Hemstede, Newwarke, Crafford, Hastings, Folestone and Gravesend, entered into a "combination" as they termed it, resolved to elect deputies to draw up laws, choose magistrates, and empowered Scott to act as their President; in short set up the first independent State in America. Scott immediately set out at the head of 150 men, horse and foot, to subdue the island.

On the 22d of March, 1664, Charles II made a grant of the whole of Long Island, and all the adjoining country at the time in possession of the Dutch, to the Duke of York. Borrowing four men-of-war of the king, James sent them in command of Col. Richard Nicholls, an old officer, with whom was as- sociated Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, Esq., and a force of 450 men, to dispossess the Dutch. To insure the success of the expedition, letters were addressed to each of the Governors of the New England colonies, enjoining upon them to unite in giving aid by men and material to Nicholls. The fleet sailed directly for Boston, where it was expected, and whence, through one Lord, the Dutch were notified of its coming. The great- est consternation was aroused upon the receipt of this intelligence, and the most active preparations were making for defense. But in the midst of these preparations, notice was received from the Chambers at Amsterdam, doiibtless inspired by the English, that " no apprehension of any public enemy or dan- ger from England need be entertained. That the King was only desirous to reduce the colonies to uniformity in church and state, and with this view was dispatching some Commissioners with two or three frigates to New England to introduce Episcopacy in that quarter. " Thrown completely off his guard by this announcement, the Director General, Stuyvesant abandoned all preparations for resistance, and indulged in no anticipations of a hostile visitation. Thus

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 37

were three full weeks lost in which the colonies might have been put in a ver}- good state of defense.

Nicholls on arriving in American waters, touched at Boston and Connecti- cut, v/here some aid was received, and then hastened foward to Manhattan. Stuyvesant had but a day or two before learned of the arrival, and of the hos- tile intent. Scarcely had he issued ordei-s for bringing out his forces and for fortifying before Nicholls scattered proclamations through the colony promis- ing to protect all who submitted to his Brittanic majesty in the undisturbed possession of their property, and made a formal summons upon Stuyvesant to surrender the country to the King of Great Britain. The Director found that he had an entirely different enemy to treat with from Rysingh, and a few half- armed Swedes and Fins upon the Delaware. Wordy war ensued between the Commissioners and the Director, and the English Governor finding that Stuy- vesant not in the temper to yield, landed a body of his soldiers upon the lower end of the island, and ordered Hyde, the commander of the fleet, to lay the frigates broadside before the city. It was a critical moment. Stuyvesant was stand- ing on one of the points of the fort when he saw the frigates approaching. The gunner stood by with burning match, prepared to fire on the fleet, and Stuyvesant seemed on the point of giving the order. But he was restrained, and a further communication was sent to Nicholls, who would listen to nothing short of the full execution of his mission. Still Stuyvesant held out. The inhabitants implored, but rather than surrender " he would be carried a corpse to his grave." The town was, however, in no condition to stand a siege. The powder at the fort would only suffice for one day of active operations. Pro- visions were scarce. The inhabitants were not disposed to be sacrificed, and the disaffection among them spread to the soldiers. They were overheard mut- tering, " Now we hope to pepper those devilish traders who have so long salted us; we know where booty is to be found, and where the young women live who wear gold chains."

The Rev. Jannes Myapoleuses seems to have been active in negotiations and opposed to the shedding of blood. A remonstrance drawn by him was finally adopted and signed by the principal men, and presented to the Director Gen- eral, in which the utter hopelessness of resistance was set forth, and Stuyve- sant finally consented to capitulate. Favorable terms were arranged, and Nicholls promised that if it should be finally agreed between the English and Dutch governments that the province should be given over to Dutch rule, he would peacefully yield his authority. Thus without a gun being fired, the En- glish made conquest of the Manhattoes.

Sir Robert Carr, with two frigates and an ample force, was dispatched to the Delaware to reduce the settlements there to English rule. The planters, whether Dutch or Swedes, were to be insured in the peaceable possession of their property, and the magistrates were to be continued in office.

Sailing past the fort, he disseminated among the settlers the news of the surrender of Stuyvesant, and the promises of protection which Nicholls had made use of. But Gov. D'Hinoyossa was not disposed to heed the demand for surrender without a struggle. "Whereupon Carr landed his forces and stormed the place. After a fruitless but heroic resistance, in which ten were wounded and three were killed, the Governor was forced to surrender. Thus was the complete subversion of the State's General in America consummated, and the name of New Amsterdam gave place to that of New York, from the name of the English proprietor, James, Duke of York.

The resistance offered by D'Hinoyossa formed a pretext for shameless plunder. Carr, in his report which shows him to have been a lawless fel-

38 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

low, says, " Ye soldiers never stoping iintill they stormed ye fort, and sae con- sequently to plundering; the seamen, noe less given to that sport, were quickly within, and have gotton good store of booty." Carr seized the farm of D'Hinoyossa, hi- brother, John Carr, that of Sheriff Sweringen, and Ensign Stock that of Peter Alrichs. The produce of the land for that year was seized, together with a cargo of goods that was unsold. " Even the inoffensive Men- nonists, though non-combatant from principle, did not escape the sack and plunder to which the whole river was subjected by Carr and his marauders. A boat was dispatched to their settlement, which was stripped of everything, to a very naile."

Nicholls, on hearing of the rapacious conduct of his subordinate, visited the Delaware, removed Carr, and placed Robert Needham in command. Pre- vious to diripatching his fleet to America, in June, 1664, the Duke of York had granted to John, Lord Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, and Sir George Carteret, of Saltnun in Devon, the territory of New Jersey, bounded substantially as the present State, and this, though but little settled by the Dutch, had been in- cluded in the terms of sui-render secmred by Nicholls. In many ways, he showed himself a man of ability and discretion. He drew up with signal success a body of laws, embracing most of the provisions which had been in force in the English colonies, which were designated the Duke's Laws.

In May, 1667, Col. Francis Lovelace was appointed Governor in place of Nicholls, and soon after taking charge of affairs, drew up regulations for the government of the territory upon the Delaware, and dispatched Capt. John Carr to act there as his Deputy Governor. It was provided that whenever complaint duly sworn to was made, the Governor was to summon " the schout, Hans Block, Israel Helm, Peter Rambo, Peter Cock and Peter Alrichs, or any two of them, as counsellors, to advise him, and determine by the major vote what is just, equitable and necessary in the case in question." It was further provided that all men should be punished in an exemplary manner, though with moderation; that the laws should be frequently communicated to the counsellors, and that in cases of difficulty recourse should be had to the Gov- ernor and Council at New York.

In 1668, two murders were perpetrated by Indians, which caused consider- able disturbance and alarm throughout the settlements. These capital crimes appear to have been committed while the guilty parties were maddened by liquor. So impressed were the sachems and leading warriors of the baneful effects of strong drink, that they appeared before the Council and besought its authority to utterly prohibit the sale of it to any of their tribes. These re- quests were repeated, and finally, upon the advice of Peter Alrichs, " the Governor (Lovelace) prohibited, on pain of death, the selling of powder, shot and strong liquors to the Indians, and writ to Carr on the occasion to use the utmost vigilance and caution."

The native murderers were not apprehended, as it was difficult to trace them; but the Indians themselves were determined to ferret them out. One was taken and shot to death, who was the chief offender, but the other escaped and was never after heard of. The chiefs summoned their young men, and in presence of the English warned them that such would be the fate of all offend- ers. Proud justly remarks: "This, at a time when the Indians were numer- ous and strong and the Europeans few and weak, was a memorable act of jus- tice, and a proof of true friendship to the English, greatly alleviating the fear, for which they had so much reason among savages, in this then wilder- ness country."

In 1669, a reputed son of the distinguished Swedish General, Connings-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 39

marke, commonly called the Long Fin, with another of his nationality, Henry Coleman, a man of property, and familiar with the language and habits of the Indians, endeavored to incite an insurrection to throw oflf the English rule and establish the Swedish supremacy. The Long Fin was apprehended, and was condemned to die; but upon reconsideration his sentence was commuted to whipping and to branding with the letter R. He was brought in chains to New York, where he was incarcerated in the Stadt-house for a year, and was then transported to Barbadoes to be sold. Improvements in the modes of administering justice were from time to time introduced. New Castle was made a corporation, to be governed by a Bailiff and six associates. Duties on importations were laid, and Capt. Martin Pringer was appointed to collect and make due returns of them to Gov. Lovelace.

In 1673, the French monarch, Louis XFV, declared war against the Neth- erlands, and with an army of over 200,000 men moved down upon that de- voted country. In conjunction with the land force, the English, with a power- ful armament, descended upon the Dutch waters. The aged Du Ruyter and the youthful Van Tromp put boldly to sea to meet the invaders. Three great naval battles were fought upon the Dutch coast on the 7th and 14th of June, and the 6th of August, in which the English forces were finally repulsed and driven from the coast. In the meantime, the inhabitants, abandoning their homes, cut the dikes which held back the sea, and invited inundation. Deem ing this a favorable opportunity to regain their possessions wrenched from them in the New World, the Dutch sent a small fleet under Commodores Cornelius Evertse and Jacobus Benkes, to New York, to demand the surrender of all their previous possessions. Gov. Lovelace happened to be absent, and his representative, Capt. John Manning, 8urrendered with but brief resistance, and the magistrates from Albany, Esopus, East Jersey and Long Island, on being summoned to New York, swore fealty to the returning Dutch power. Anthony Colve, as Governor, was sent to Delaware, where the magistrates hastened to meet him and submit themselves to his authority. Property in the English Government was confiscated; Gov. Lovelace returned to England, and many of the soldiers were carried prisoners to Holland. Before their de- parture. Commodores Evertse and Benkes, who styled themselves "The honora- ble and awful council of war, for their high mightinesses, the State's General of the United Netherlands, and his Serene Highness, the Prince of Orange," commissioned Anthony Colve, a Captain of foot, on the 12th of August, 1673, to be Governor General of "New Netherlands, with all its appendences," and on the 19th of September following, Peter Alrichs, who had manifested his subserviency and his pleasure at the return of Dutch ascendancy, was ap- pointed by Colve Deputy Governor upon the Delaware. A body of laws was drawn up for his instruction, and three courts of justice were established, at New Castle, Chester and Lewistown. Capt. Manning on his return to En- gland was charged with treachery for delivering up the fort at New York with- out resistance, and was sentenced by a court martial "to have his sword broken over his head in public, before the city hall, and himself rendered incapable of wearing a sword and of serving his Majesty for the future in any public trust in the Government. "

But the revolution which had been affected so easily was of short duration. On the 9th of February, 1674, peace was concluded between England and Holland, and in the articles of pacification it was provided "that whatsoever countries, islands, towns, ports, castles or forts, have or shall be taken, on both sides, since the time that the late unhappy war broke out, either in Europe, or elsewhere, shall be restored to the former lord and proprietor, in the same con-

40 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

dition they shall be in when the peace itself shall bo proclaimed, after which time there shall be no spoil nor plunder of the inhabitants, no demolition of fortilications, nor carrying away of guns, powder, or other military stores which belonged to any castle or port at the time when it was taken. ' ' This left no room for controversy about possession. But that there might be no legal bar nor loophole for question of absolute right to his possessions, the Duke of York secured from the Kiug on the 29tb of June following, a new patent cov- ering the former grant, and two days thereafter sent Sir Edmund Andros, to possess and govern the country. He arrived at New York and took peaceable possession on the 31st of October, and two days thereafter it was resolved in council to reinstate all the officers upon Delaware as they were at the surrender to the Dutch, except Peter Alrichs, who for his forwardness in yielding his power was relieved. Capt. Edmund Cantwell and William Tom were sent to occupy the fort at New Castle, in the capacities of Deputy Governor and Sec- retary. In May, 3675, Gov. Andros visited the Delaware, and held court at New Castle " in which orders were made relative to the opening of roads, th»» regulation of church property and the support of preaching, the prohibition of the sale of liquors to the Indians, and the distillation thereof by the inhab- itants." On the 23d of September, 1676, Cantwell was superseded by John Collier, as Vice Governor, when Ephraim Hermans became Secretary.

As was previously observed, Gov. Nicholls, in 1664, made a complete di- gest of all the laws and usages in furce in the English-speaking colonies in America, which were known as the Duke's Laws. That these might now be made the basis of j udicature throughout the Duke's possessions, they were, on the 25th of September, 1676, formally proclaimed and published by Gov. Lovelace, with a suitable ordinance introducing them. It may here be ob- served, that, in the administration of Gov. Hartranft, by act of the Legislature of June 12, 1878, the Duke's Laws were published in a handsome volume, to- gether with the Charter and Laws instituted by Penn, and historical notes covering the early history of the State, under the direction of John B. Linn, Secretary of the commonwealth, edited by Staughton George, Benjamin M. Nead, and Thomas McCarnant, from an old copy preserved among the town rec- ords of Hempstead, Long Island, the seat of the independent State which had been set up there by John Scott before the coming of Nicholls. The num- ber of taxable male inhabitants between th(^ ages of sixteen and sixty years, in 1677, for Uplandt and New Castle, was 443, which by the usual estimate of seven to one would give the population 3,101 for this district. Gov. Collier having exceeded his authority by exercising judicial functions, was deposed by Andros, and Capt. Christopher Billop was appointed to succeed him. But the change resulted in little benefit to the colony; for Billup was charged with many in-egularities, " taking possession of the fort and turning it into a stable, and the court room above into a hay and fodder loft; debarring the court from sitting in its usual place in the fort, and making use of soldiers for his own private purposes. "

The hand of the Euglish Government bore heavily upon the denomination of Christians called Friends or Quakers, and the earnest-minded, conscientious worshipers, uncompromising in their faith, were eager for homes in a land where they should be absolutely free to worship the Supreme Being. Berke- ley and Carteret, who had bought New Jersey, were Friends, and the settle- ments made in their territory were largely of that faith. In 1675, Lord Ber- keley sold his undivided half of the province to John Fenwicke, in trust for Edward Byllinge, also Quakers, and Fenwicke sailed in the Griffith, with a company of Friends who settled at Salem, in West Jersey. Byllinge, having

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 41

become involved in debt, made an assignment 'of bis interest for the benefit of his creditors, and William Penn was induced to become trustee jointly with Gowen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas. Penn was a devoted Quaker, and he was of that earnest nature that the interests of his friends and Christian devotees were like his own personal interests. Hence he became zealous in promoting the welfare of the colony. For its orderly government, and that settlers might have assurance of stability in the management of affairs, Penn drew up " Con- cessions and agreements of the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of West New Jersey in America" in forty- four chapters. Foreseeing difficulty from divided authority, Penn secured a division of the province by " a line of par- tition from the east side of Little Egg Hai'bor, straight north, through the country to the utmost branch of the Delaware River." Penn's half was called New West Jersey, along the Delaware side, Carteret's New East Jersey along the ocean shore. Penn's purposes and disposition toward the settlers, as the founder of a State, are disclosed by a letter which he wrote at this time to a Friend, Richard Hartshorn, then in Amei'ica: "We lay a foundation for after ages to understand their liberty, as men and Christians; that they may not be brought into bondage, but by their own consent; for we put the power in the people. * * So every man is capable to choose or to be chosen ; no man to be arrested, condemned, or molested, in his estate, or liberty, but by twelve men of the neighborhood; no man to lie in prison for debt, but that his estate satisfy, as far as it will go, and he be set at liberty to work; no man to be called in question, or molested for his conscience." Lest any should be in- duced to leave home and embark in the enterprise of settlement unadvisedly, Penn wrote and published a letter of caution, " That in whomsoever adesire to be concerned in this intended plantation, such would weigh the thing before the Lord, and not headily, or rashly, conclude on any such remove, and that they do not offer violence to the tender love of their near kindred and relations, but soberly, and conscientiously endeavor to obtain their good wills; that whether they go or stay, it may be of good savor before the Lord and good people."

CHAPTER Y.

Sir Edmund Andros, 1674-81— Edmund Cantwell, 1674-76— John Collier, 1676- 77— Christopher Billop, 1677-81.

WILLIAM PENN, as Trustee, and finally as part owner of New Jersey, became much interested in the subject of colonization in America. Many of his people had gone thither, and he had given much prayerful study and meditation to the amelioration of their condition by securing just laws for their government. His imagination pictured the fortunate condition of a State where the law-giver should alone study the happiness of his subjects, and his subjects should be chiefly intent on rendering implicit, obedience to just laws. From his experience in the management of the Jerseys, he had doubtless discovered that if he would carry out his ideas of government suc- cessfully, he must have a province where his voice would be potential and his will supreme. He accordingly cast about for the acquirement of such a land in the New World.

Penn had doubtless been stimulated in his desires by the very roseate ac- counts of the beauty and excellence of the country, its salubrity of climate, its

42 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

balmy airs, the fertility of its soil, and the abundance of the native fish, flesh and fowl. In 1680, one Malhon Stacy wrote a letter which was largely circu- lated in England, in which he says: " It is a country that produceth all things for the support and furtherance of man, in a plentiful manner. * * * i have seen orchards laden with fruit to admiration; their very limbs torn to pieces with weight, most delicious to the taste, and lovely to behold. I have seen an apple tree, from a pippin- kernel, yield a barrel of curious cider; and peaches in such plenty that some people took their carts a peach gathering; I could not but smile at the conceit of it; they are very delicious fruit, and hang almost like our onions, that are tied on ropes. I have seen and know, this summer, forty bushels of bold wheat of one bushel sown. From May till Michaelmas, great store of very good wild fruits as strawberries, cranberries and hurtleberries, which are like our billberries in England, only far sweeter; the cranberries, much like cherries for color and bigness, which may be kept till frnit comes again; an excellent sauce is made of them for venison, turkeys, and other great fowl, and they are better to make tarts of than either goosoDerries or cherries; we have them brought to our houses by the Indians in great plenty. My brother Robert had as many cherries this year as would have loaded several carts. As for venison and fowls, we have great plenty; we have brought home to our countries by the Indians, seven or eight fat bucks in a day. We went into the river to catch herrings after the Indian fashion. * * * We could have filled a three-bushel sack of as good large herrings as ever I saw. And as to beef and pork, here is great plenty of it, and good sheep. .The common grass of this country fpeds beef very fat. Indeed, the couatry, take it as a wilderness, is a brave country."

The father of William Penn had arisen to distinction in tne British Navy. He was sent in Cromwell's time, with a considerable sea and land force, to the West Indies, where he reduced the Island of Jamaica under English rule. At the restoration, he gave in his adhesion to the royal cause. Under James, Duke of York, Admiral Penn commanded the English fleet which descended upon the Dutch coast, and gained a great victory over the combined naval forces led by Van Opdam. For this great service to his country, Penn was knighted, and became a favorite at court, the King and his brothor, the Duke, holding him in cherished remembrance. At his death, there was due him from the crown the sum of £16,000, a portion of which he himself had ad- vanced for the sea service. Filled with the romantic idea of colonization, and enamored with the sacred cause of his people, the son, who had come to be re- garded with favor for his great father's sake, petitioned King Charles II to grant him, in liquidation of this debt, " a tract of land in America, lying north of Maryland, bounded east by the Delaware River, on the west limited as Maryland, and northward to extend as far as plantable." There were con- flicting interests at this time which were being warily watched at court. The petition was submitted to the Privy Council, and afterwai-d to the Lords of the committee of plantations. The Duke of York already held the counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex. Lord Baltimore held a grant upon the south, with an indefinite northern limit, and the agents of both these territories viewed with a jealous eye any new grant that should in any way trench upon their rights. These claims were fully debated and heard by the Lords, and, being a matter in which the King manifested special interest, the Lord Chief Justice, North, and the Attorney General, Sir William Jones, were consulted both as to the grant itself, and the form or manner of making it. Finally, after a careful study of the whole subject, it was determined by the highest authority in the Government to grant to Penn a larger tract than he had asked

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 43

for, and the charter was drawn with unexampled liberality, in unequivocal terms of gift and perpetuity of holding, and with remarkable minuteness of detail, and t'hat Penn should have the advantage of any double meaning con- veyed in the instrument, the twenty-third and last section provides: "And, if perchance hereafter any doubt or question should arise concerning the true sense and meaning of any word, clause or sentence contained in this our present charter, we will ordain and command that at all times and in all things such interpretation be made thereof, and allowed in any of our courts whatsoever as shall be adjudged most advantageous and favorable unto the said William Penn, his heirs and assigns."

It was a joyful day for Penn when he finally reached the consummation of his wishes, and saw himself invested with almost dictatorial power over a country as large as England itself, destined to become a populous empire. But his exultation was tempered with the most devout Christian spirit, fearful lest in the exercise of his great power he might be led to do something that should be displeasing to God. To his dear friend, Robert Turner, he writes in a modest way: " My true love in the Lord salutes thee and dear friends that love the Lord's precious truth in those parts. Thine I have, and for my business here know that after many waitings, watchings, solicitings and dis- putes in council, this day my country was confirmed to me under the great seal of England, with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania, a name the King would give it in honor of my father. I chose New "Wales, be- ing, as this, a pretty hilly country; but Penn being Welsh for a head, as Pen- manmoire in Wales, and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckingham- shire, the highest land in England, called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or head woodlands; for I proposed, when the Secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; and though I much opposed it, and went to the King to have it struck out and altered, he said it was past, and would take it upon him; nor could twenty guineas move the Under Secretary to vary the name ; for I feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a respect in the King, as it truly was to my father, whom he often mentions with praise. Thou mayest communicate my grant to Friends, and expect shortly my proposals. It is a clear and just thing, and my God, that has given it me through many difficulties, will, I be- lieve, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care to the government, that it be well laid at first."

Penn had asked that the western boundary should be the same as that of Maryland; but the King made the width from east to west five full degrees. The charter limits were " all that tract, or part, of land, in America, with the islands therein contained as the same is bounded, on the east by Delaware River, from twelve miles distance northwards of New Castle town, unto the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude. * * * *

The said land to extend westward five degrees in longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds; and the said lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude, and, on the south, by a circle drawn at twelve miles distance from New Castle northward and westward unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude; and then by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned."

It is evident that tne royal secretaries did not well understand the geo^a- phy of this section, for by reference to a map it will be seen that the begin- ning of the fortieth degree, that is, the end of the thirty-ninth, cuts the District of Columbia, and hence Baltimore, and the greater part of Maryland

44 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and a good slice of Virginia would have been included in the clear terms of the chartered limits of Pennsylvania. But the charters of Maryland and Vir- ginia antedated this of Pennsylvania. Still, the terms of the Penn charter were distinct, the beginning of the fortieth degree, whereas those of Maryland were ambiguous, the northern limi fc being fixed at the fortieth degree ; but whether at the beginning or at the ending of the fortieth was not stated. Penn claimed three full degrees of latitude, and when it was found that a contro- versy was likely to ensue, the King, by the hand of his royal minister, Con- way, issued a fui'ther declaration, dated at Whitehall, April 2, 1681, in which the wording of the original chartered limits fixed for Pennsylvania were quoted verbatim, and his royal pleasure declared that these limits should be respected " as they tender his majesty's displeasure." This was supposed to settle the matter. But Lord Baltimore still pressed his claim, and the ques- tion of southern boundary remained an open one, causing much disquietude to Penn, requiring watchful care at court for more than half a century, and until after the proprietor's death.

We gather from the terms of the charter itself that the King, in making the grant, was influenced "by the commendable desire of Penn to enlarge our British Empire, and promote such useful commodities as may be of benefit to us and our dominions, as also to reduce savage nations by just and gentle manners, to the k>ve of civil society and Christian religion," and out of "re- gard to the memory and merits of his late father, in divers services, and par- ticularly to his conduct, courage and discretion, under our dearest brother, James, Duke of York, in the signal battle and victory, fought and obtained, against the Dutch fleet, commanded by the Herr Van Opdam in 16G5."

The motive for obtaining it on the part of Penn may be gathered from the following extract of a letter to a friend: •' For my country I eyed the Lord in obtaining it; and more was I drawn inward to look to Him, and to owe it to His hand and power than to any other way. I have so obtained and desire to keep it, that I may be unworthy of His love, but do that which may answer His kind providence and people."

The charter of King Charles II was dated April 2, 1681. Itest any trouble might arise in the future from claims founded on the grant previously made to the Duke of York, of "Long Island and adjacent territories occupied by the Dutch," the prudent forethought of Penn induced him to obtain a deed, dated August 31, 1682, of the Duke, for Pennsylvania, substantially in the terms of the royal charter. But Penn was still not satisfied. He was cut oflf from the ocean except by the uncertain navigation of one narrow stream. He therefore obtained from the Duke a grant of New Castle and a district of twelve miles around it, dated on the 24th of August, 1682, and on the same day a further grant from the Duke of a tract extending to Cape Henlopen, embracing the two counties of Kent and Sussex, the two grants comprising what were known as the territories, or the three lower counties, which were for many years a part of Pennsylvania, but subsequently constituted the State of Delaware.

Being now satisfied with his province, and that his titles were secure, Penn drew up such a description of the country as from his knowledge he was able to give, which, together with the royal charter and proclamation, terms of settlement, and other papers pertaining thereto, he published and spread broadcast through the kingdom, taking special pains doubtless to have the documents reach the Friends. The terms of sale of lands were 40 shillings for 100 acres, and 1 shilling per acre rental. The question has been raised, why exact the annual payment of one shilling per acre. The terms of the grant by

MantJui uixmcu

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 47

the royal charter to Penn were made absolute on the " payment therefor to us, our heirs and successors, two beaver skins, to be delivered at our castle in Windsor, on the 1st day of January in every year," and contingent payment of one-fifth part of all gold and silver which shall from time to time happen to be found clear of all charges." Penn, therefore, held his title only upon the payment of quit-rents. He could consequently give a valid title only by the exacting of quit-rents.

Having now a great province of his own to manage, Penn was obliged to relinquish his share in "West New Jersey. He had given largely of his time and energies to its settlement; he had sent 1,400 emigrants, many of them people of high character; had seen farms reclaimed from the forest, the town of Burlington built, meeting houses erected in place of tents for worship, good Government established, and the savage Indians turned to peaceful ways. With satisfaction, therefore, he could now give himself to reclaiming and set- tling his own province. He had of course in his published account of the country made it appear a desirable place for habitation. But lest any should regret having gone thither when it was too late, he added to his description a caution, " to consider seriously the premises, as well the inconveniency as future ease and plenty; that so none may move rashly or from a fickle, but from a solid mind, having above all things an eye to the providence of God in the disposing of themselves." Nothing more surely points to the goodness of heart of William Penn, the great founder of our State, than this extreme solicitude, lest he might induce any to go to the new country who should af- terward regret having gone.

The publication of the royal charter and his description of the country attracted attention, and many purchases of land were made of Penn before leaving England. That these purchasers might have something binding to rely upon, Penn drew up what he termed " conditions or concessions " between himself as proprietor and purchasers in the province. These related to the settling the country, laying out towns, and especially to the treatment of the Indians, who were to have the same rights and privileges, and careful regard as the Europeans. And what is perhaps a remarkable instance of provident forethought, the eighteenth article provides " That, in clearing the ground, care be taken to leave one acre of trees for every five acres cleared, especially to preserve oak and mulberries, for silk and shipping." It could be desired that such a provision might have remained operative in the State for all time.

Encouraged by the manner in which his proposals for settlement were received, Penn now drew up a frame of government, consisting of twenty- four articles and forty laws. These were drawn in a spirit of unexampled fairness and liberality, introduced by an elaborate essay on the just rights of government and governed, and with such conditions and concessions that it should never be in the power of an unjust Governor to take advantage of the people and practice injustice. " For the matter of liberty and privilege, I pur- pose that which is extraordinary, and leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of one man may not hinder that of a whole coun- try. This frame gave impress to the character of the early government. It im- planted in the breasts of the people a deep sense of duty, of right, and of obli- gation in all public affairs, and the relations of man with man, and formed a framework for the future constitution. Penn himself had felt the heavy hand of government for religious opinions and practice' sake. He determined, for the matter of religion, to leave all free to hold such opinions as they might elect, and hence enacted for his State that all who " hold themselves obliged

48 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

in conseience, to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall, in no ways,, be molested, nor prejudiced, for their religious persuasion, or practice, in mat- ters of faith and worship, nor shall they be compelled, at any time, to fre- quent, or maintain, any religious worship, place, or ministry whatever. " At this period, such govermental liberality in matters of religion was almost un- kaown, though Koger Williams in the colony of Ehode Island had previously, under similar circumstances, and having just escaped a like persecution, pro- claimed it, as had likewise Lord Baltimore in the Catholic colony of Mary- land,

The mind of Penn was constantly exercised upon the affairs of his settlement Indeed, to plant a colony in a new country had been a thought of his boyhood, for he says in one of his letters: "I had an opening of .joy as to these parts in the year 1651, at Oxford, twenty years since." Not being in readiness to go to his province during the first year, he dispatched three ship loads of set- tlers, and with them sent his cousin, William Markham, to take formal pos- session of the country and act as Deputy Governor Markham sailed for New York, and upon his arrival there exhibited his commission, bearing date March 6, 1681, and the King's charter and proclamation. In the absence of Gov. An- dros, who, on having been called to account for some complaint made against him, had gone to England, Capt. Anthony Brockholls, Acting Governor, re- ceived Markham's papers, and gave him a letter addressed to the civil officers on the Delaware, informing them that Markham's authority as Governor had been examined, and an official record made of it at New York, thanking them for their fidelity, and requesting them to submit themselves to the new author- ity. Armed with this letter, which was dated June 21, 1681, Markham pro- ceeded to the Delaware, where, on exhibiting his papers, he was kindly re- ceived, and allegiance was cheerfully transferred to the new government. In- deed so frequently had the power changed hands that it had become quite a matter of habit to transfer obedience from one authority to another, and they had scarcely laid their heads to rest at night but with the consciousness that the morning light might bring new codes and new officers.

Markham was empowered to call a council of nine citizens to assist him in the government, and over whom he was to preside. He brought a letter ad- dressed to Lord Baltimore, touching the boundary between the two grants, and exhibiting the terms of the charter for Pennsylvania. On receipt of this let- ter. Lord Baltimore came to Upland to confer with Markham. An observation fixing the exact latitude of Upland showed that it was twelve miles south of the forty-first degree, to which Baltimore claimed, and that the beginning of the fortieth degree, which the royal charter explicitly fixed for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, would include nearly the entire State of Maryland, and cut the limits of the present site of the city of Washington. "If this be allowed," was significantly asked by Baltimore, "where is my province?" He returned to his colony, and from this time forward an active contention was begun before the authorities in England for possession of the disputed territory, which required all the arts and diplomatic skill of Penn.

Markham was accompanied to the province by four Commissioners sent out by Penn — William Crispin, John Bezer, William Haige and Nathaniel Allen. The first named had been designated as Surveyor General, but he having died on the passage, Thomas Holme was appointed to succeed him. These Commissioners, in conjunction with the Governor, had two chief duties assigned them. The first was to meet and preserve friendly relations with the Indians and acquire lands by actual purchase, and the second was to select the site of a great city and make the necessary surveys. That they might have a

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 49

suitable introduction to the natives from him, Penn addressed to them a dec- laration of his purposes, conceived in a spirit of brotherly love, and expressed in such simple terms that these children of the forest, unschooled in book learning, would have no difficulty in apprehending his meaning. The refer- ring the source of alljpower to the Creator was fitted to produce a strong im- pression upon their naturally superstitious habits of thought. " There is a great God and power, that hath made the world, and all things therein, to whom you and I, and all people owe their being, and well being; and to whom you and I must one day give an account for all that we do iu the world. This great God hath written His law in our hearts, by which we are taught and com- manded to love, and help, and do good to one another. Now this great God hath been pleased to make me concerned in your part of the world, and the King of the country where I live hath given me a great province therein; but I de- sire to enjoy it with your love and consent, that we may always live together, as neighbors and friends; else what would the great God do to us, who hath made us, not to devour and destroy one another, but to live soberly and kindly together in the world ? Now I would have you well observe that I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustice that have been too much exercised toward you by the people of these parts of the world, who have sought them- selves, and to make great advantages by you, rather than to be examples of goodness and patience unto you, which I hear hath been a matter of trouble to you, and caused great grudging and animosities, sometimes to the shedding of blood, which hath made the great God angry. But I am not such a man, as is well known in my own country. I have great love and regard toward you, and desire to gain your love and friendship by a kind, just and peaceable life, and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all things be- have themselves accordingly; and if in anything any shall ofiend you or your people, you shall have a full and speedy satisfaction for the same by an equal number of just men on both sides that by no means you may have just occasion of being offended against them. I shall shortly come to you myself, at which time we may more largely and freely confer and discourse of these matters. In the meantime, I have sent my Commissioners to treat with you about land, and form a league of peace. Let me desire you to be kind to them and their people, and receive these presents and tokens which I have sent you as a testimony of my good will to you, and my resolution to live justly, peaceably and friendly with you."

In this plain but sublime statement is embraced the whole theory of Will iam Penn's treatment of the Indians, It was the doctrine which the Savior of mankind came upon earth to promulgate — the estimable worth of every human soul. And when Penn came to prupose his laws, one was adopted' which forbade private trade with the natives in which they might be overreached; but it was required that the valuable skins and furs they had to sell should bo hung up in the market place where all could see them and enter into compe- tition for their purchase. Penn was offered £6,000 for a monopoly of trade. But he well knew the injustice to which this would subject the simple-minded natives, and he refused it saying: "As the Lord gave it me over all ana great opposition, I would not abuse His love, nor act unworthy of His provi.r dence, and so defile what came to me clean " — a sentiment worthy to be treas- ured with the best thoughts of the sages of old. And to his Commissioners fce gave a letter of instructions, in which he says: "Be impartially just to all; that is both pleasing to the Lord, and wise in itself. Be tender of offending the Indians, and let them know that you come to sit down lovingly among them. Let my letter and conditions be read in their tongue, that they may see

50 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

we have their good in our eye. Be grave, they love not to be smiled on." Acting upon these wise and just considerations, the Commissioners had no diffi- culty in making large pm'chases of the Indians of lands on the right bank of the Delaware and above the mouth of the Schuylkill.

But they found greater difficulty in settling the piace for the new city. Penn had given very minute instructions about this, and it was not easy to find a tract which answered all the conditions. For seven weeks they kept up their search. Penn had written, " be sure to make your choice where it is most navigable, high, dry and healthy; that is, where most ships may bestride, of deepest draught of water, if possible to load and unload at the bank or key's side without boating and lightening of it. It would do well if the river coming into that creek be navigable, at least for boats up into the country, and that the situation be high, at least dry and sound and not swampy, which is best known by digging up two or three earths and seeing the bottom." By his instructions, the site of the city was to be between two navigable streams, and embrace 10,000 acres in one block. " Be sure to settle the figure of the town so that the streets hereafter may be uniform down to the water from the country bounds. Let every house be placed, if the person pleases, in the middle of its plat, as to the breadth way of it, that so there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards or fields, that it may be a green country town, which will never be burnt and always wholesome." The soil was examined, the streams were sounded, deep pits were dug that a location might be found which should gratify the desires of Penn. All the eligible sites were inspected from the ocean far up into the country. Penn himself had anticipated that Chester or Upland would be adopted from all that he could learn of it; but this was rejected, as was also the ground upon Poquessing Creek and that at Pennsbury Manor above Bristol which had been carefully considered, and the present site of Philadelphia was finally adopted as coming nearest to the requirements of the proprietor. It had not 10,000 acres in a solid square, but it was between two navigable streams, and the soil was high and dry, being for the most part a vast bed of gravel, excellent for drainage and likely to prove healthful. The streets were laid out regularly and crossed each other at right angles. As the ground was only gently rolling, the grading was easily accomplished. One broad street, Market, extends from river to river through the midst of it, which is crossed at right angles at its middle point by Broad :Btreet of equal width. It is 120 miles from the ocean by the course of the .fiver, and only sixty in a direct line, eighty-seven miles from New York, ninety-five from Baltimore, 136 from Washington, 100 from Harrisburg and 300 from Pittsburgh, and lies in north latitude 39^ 56' 54", and longitude 75° '8' 45" west from Greenwich The name Philadelphia (brotherly love), was ojie that Penn had before selected, as this founding a city was a project which he had long dreamed of and contemplated with never-ceasing interest.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 51

CHAPTER YL

William Markham, 1681-82— AVilliam Penn, 1682-84.

HAVING now made necessary preparations and settled hia affairs in En- gland, Penn embarked on board the ship Welcome, in August, 1682, in company with about a hundred planters, mostly from his native town of Sussex, and set his prow for the New World. Before leaving the Downs, he addressed a farewell letter to his friends whom ho left behind, and another to his wife and children, giving them much excellent advice, and sketching the way of life he wished them to lead. With remarkable care and minuteness, he points out the way in which he would have his children bred, and educated, married, and live. A single passage from this remarkable document will indicate its general tenor. " Be sure to observe," in educating his children, " their genius, and do not cross it as to learning ; let them not dwell too long on one thing ; but let their change be agreeable, and let all their diversions have some little bodily labor in them. When grown big, have most care for them ; for then there are more snares both within and without. When marriageable, see that they have worthy persons in their eye ; of good life and good fame for piety and understanding. I need no wealth but sufficiency ; and be sure their love be dear, fervent and mutual, that it may be happy for them." And to his children he said, " Betake yourselves to some honest, industrious course of life, and that not of sordid covetousness, but for example and to avoid idle- ness. ***** Love not money nor the world ; use them only, and they will serve you ; but if you love them you serve them, which will debase your spirits as well as offend the Lord. ***** Watch against anger, neither speak nor act in it ; for, like drunkenness, it makes a man a beast, and throws people into dcKperate inconveniences." The entire letters are so full of excellent counsel that they might with great profit be committed to memory, and treasured in the heart.

The voyage of nearly six weeks was prosperous ; but they had not been long on the ocean before that loathed disease — the virulent small-pox — broke out, of which thirty died, nearly a third of the whole company. This, added to the usual discomforts and terrors of the ocean, to most of whom this was probably their first experience, made the voyage a dismal one. And here was seen the nobility of Penn. "For his good conversation" says one of them, " was very advantageous to all the company. His singular care was manifested in contributing to the necessities of many who were sick with the small-pox then on board."

His arrival upon the coast and passage up the river was hailed with dem- onstrations of joy by all classes, English, Dutch, Swedes, and especially by his own devoted followers. He landed at New Castle on the 24th of October, 1682, and on the following day summoned the people to the court house, where pos- session of the country was formally made over .-o him, and he renewed the commissions of the magistrates, to whom and to the assembled people he an- nounced the design of his coming, explained the nature and end of truly good government, assuring them that their religious and civil rights should be re- spected, and recommended them to live in sobriety and peace. He then pro-

52 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ceeded to Upland, hencefoward known as Chester, where, on the 4th of Novem- ber, he called an assembly of the people, in which an equal number of votes was allowed to the province and the territories. Nicholas Moore, President of the Free Society of Traders, was chosen speaker. As at New Castle, Penn addressed the assembly, giving them assurances of his beneficent intentions, for which they returned their grateful acknowledgments, the Swedes being especially demonstrative, deputing one of their number, Lacy Cock, to say " That they would love, sei-ve and obey him with all they had, and that this was the best day they ever saw. " We can well understand with what satisfac- tion the settlers upon the Delaware hailed the prospect of a stable government established in their own midst, after having been so long at the mercy of the government in New York, with allegience trembling between the courts of Sweden, Holland and Britain.

The proceedings of this first assembly were conducted with great decorum, and after the usages of the English Parliament. On the 7th of December, 1682, the three lower counties, what is now Delaware, which had previoiisly been under the government of the Duke of York, were formerly annexed to the province, and became an integral part of Pennsylvania. The frame of govern- ment, which had been drawn with much deliberation, was submitted to the assembly, and, after some alterations and amendments, was adopted, and be- came the fundamental law of the State. The assembly was in session only three days, but the work they accomplished, how vast and far-reaching in its influence !

The Dutch, Swedes and other foreigners were then naturalized, and the government was launched in fair running order: That some idea may be had of its character, the subjects treated are here given: 1, Liberty of conscience; 2, Qualification of officers; 3, Swearing by God, Christ or Jesus; 4, Swearing by any other thing or name; 5, Profanity; 6, Cursing; 7, Fornication; 8, In- cest; 9, Sodomy; 10, Eape; 11, Bigamy; 12, Drunkenness; 13, Suffering drunkenness; 14, Healths drinking; 15, Selling liquor to Indians; 16, Arson; 17, Burglary; 18, Stolen goods; 19, Forcible entry; 20, Eiots; 21, Assaulting parents: 22, Assaulting Magistrates; 23, Assaulting masters;' 24, Assault and battery; 25, Duels; 26, Riotous sports, as plays; 27, Gambling and lotteries; 28, Sedition; 29, Contempt; 30, Libel; 31, Common scolds; 32, Charities; 33, Prices of beer and ale; 34, Weights and measures; 35, Names of days and months; 36, Perjury; 37, Court proceedings in English; 88, Civil and crim- inal trials; 39, Fees, salaries, bribery and extortion; 40, Moderation of fines; 41, Suits avoidable; 42, Foreign arrest; 43, Contracts; 44, Charters, gifts, grants, conveyances, bills, bonds and deeds, when recorded; 45, Wills; 46, Wills of non compos mentis; 47, Registry of Wills; 48, Registry for servants; 49, Factors; 50, Defacers, corruptors and. embezzlers of charters, conveyances and records; 51, Lands and goods to pay debts; 52, Bailable offenses; 53, Jails and jailers; 54, Prisons to be workhouses; 55, False imprisonment; 56, Magistrates may elect between fine or imprisonment; 57, Freemen; 58, Elec- tions; 59, No money levied but in pursuance of law; 60, Laws shall be printed and taught in schools; 61, All other things, not provided for herein, are re- ferred to the Governor and freemen from time to time.

Very soon after his arrival io the colony, after the precept had been issued, but before the convening of the Assembly, Penn, that he might not be wanting in respect to the Duke of York, made a visit to New York, where he was kind- ly received, and also after the adjournment of the Assembly, journeyed to Mary- land, where he was entertained by Lord Baltimore with great ceremony. The settlement of the disputed boundaries was made the subject of formal confer-

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA 53

* ence. But after two days spent in fruitless discussion, the weather becoming severely cold, and thus precluding the possibility of taking observations or making the necessary surveys, it was agreed to adjourn further consideration of the subject until the milder weather of the spring. We may imagine that the two Governors were taking the measure of each other, and of gaining all possible knowledge of each other's claims and rights, preparatory to that struggle for possession of this disputed fortieth degree of latitude, which was destined to come before the home government.

With all his cares in founding a State and providing a government over a new people, Penn did not forget to preach the "blessed Gospel," and wherever he went he was intent upon his " Master's business." On his return from Maryland, Lord Baltimore accompanied him several miles to the house of William Richardson, and thence to Thomas Hooker's, where was a religious meeting, as was also one held at Choptauk. Penn himself says: "Ihave been also at New York, Long Island, East Jersey and Maryland, in which I have had good and eminent service for the Lord." And again he says: "As to outward things, we are satisfied — the land good, the air clear and sweet, the springs plentiful, and provisions good and easy to come at, an innumerable quantity of wild fowl and fish; in tine, here is what an Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be well contented with, and service enough for God; for the fields are here white for the harvest. O, how sweet is the quiet of these parts, freed from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries and perplexities of woeful Europe! * * * Blessed be the Lord, that of twenty-three ships, none miscarried; only two nr three had the small-pox; else healthy and swift passages, generally such as have not been known; some but twenty-eight days, and few longer than six weeks. Blessed be God for it; my soul fervently breathes that in His heavenly guiding wisdom, we may be kept, that we may serve Him in our day, and lay down our heads in peace." And then, as if re- proached for not having mentioned another subject of thankfulness, he adds in a postscript, "Many women, in divers of the ships, brought to bed; they and their children do well."

Penn made it his first care to take formal possession of his province, and adopt a frame of government. When this was done, his chief concern was to look to the establishment of his proposed new city, the site of which had already been determined on by his Commissioners. Accordingly, early in November, at a season when, in this section, the days are golden, Penn em- barked in an open barge with a number of his friends, and was wafted leisurely up the Delaware to the present site of the city of Philadel- phia, which the natives called .Coaquannock. Along the river was a bold shore, fringed with lofty pines, which grew close down to the water's edge, so much so that when the first ship passing up with settlers for West Jersey had brushed against the branches, the passengers remarked that this would be a good place for a city. It was then in a wild state, the deer browsing along the shore and sipping the stream, and the coneys burrowing in the banks. The scattered settlers had gathered in to see and welcome the new Governor, and when he stepped upon the shore, they extended a helping hand in assisting him up the rugged bluff. Three Swedes had already taken up tracts within the limits of the block of land chosen for the city. But they were given lands in exchange, and readily relinquished their claims. The location was pleasing to Penn, and was adopted without further search, though little could be seen of this then forest-encumbered country, where now is the home of countless industries, the busy mart, the river bearing upon its bosom the commerce of many climes, and the abiding place of nearly a million of people. But Penn did not con-

54 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

aider that he had as yet any just title to the soil, holding that the Indians were its only rightful possessors, and until it was fairly acquired by purchase from them, his own title was entirely void.

Hence, he sought an early opportunity to meet the chiefs of the tribes and cultivate friendly relations with them. Tradition fixes the first great treaty or conference at about this time, probably in November, and the place under the elm tree, known as the " Treaty Tree," at Kensington. It was at a sea- son when the leaves would still be upon the trees, and the assembly was called beneath the ample shade of the wide-sweeping branches, which was pleasing to the Indians, as it was their custom to hold all their great deliberations and smoke the pipe of peace in the open air. The letter which Penn had sent had prepared the minds of these simple-hearted inhabitants of the forest to regard him with awe and reverence, little less than that inspired by a descended god. His coming had for a long time been awaited, and it is probable that it had been heralded and talked over by the wigwam fire throughout the remotest bounds of the tribes. And when at length the day came, the whole popula- tion far around had assembled.

It is known that three tribes at least were represented — the Lenni Lenape, living along the Delaware; the Shawnees, a tribe that had come up from the South, and were seated along the Lower Susquehanna; and the Mingoes, sprung from the Six Nations, and inhabiting along the Conestoga. Penn was probably accompanied by the several officers of his Government and his most trusted friends. There were no implements of warfare, for peace was a cardi- nal feature of the Quaker creed.

No veritable account of this, the great treaty, is known to have been made; but from the fact that Penn not long after, in an elaborate treatise upon the country, the inhabitants and the natives, has given the account of the manner in which the ladians demean themselves in conference, we may infer that he had this one in mind, and hence we may adopt it as his own description of the scene.

" Their order is thus: The King sits in the middle of a half moon, and hath his council, the old and wise, on each hand; behind them, or at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same figure. Having consulted and i-e- solved their business, the King ordered one of them to speak to me. He stood up, came to me, and, in the name of the King, saluted me; then took me by th# hand and told me he was ordered by the King to speak to me; and now it was not he, but the King that spoke, because what he would say was the King's mind. * * * * During the time that this person spoke, not a man of them was observed to whisper or smile; the old grave, the young reverant, in their deportment. They speak little, but fervently, and with ele- gance."

In response to the salutation from the Indians, Penn makes a reply in suitable terms: "The Great Spirit, who made me and you, who rules the heavens and the earth, and who knows the innermost thoughts of men, knows that I and my friends have a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with you, and to serve you to the uttermost of our power. It is not our custom to use hostile weapons against our fellow-creatures, for which reason we have come unarmed. Our object is not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. We are met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage is to be taken on either side; but all to be open- ness, brotherhood and love." Having unrolled his parchment, he explains to them through an interpreter, article by article, the nature of the business, and laying it upon the ground, observes that the ground shall be for the use of

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55

both people. " I "will not do as the Marylanders did, call you children, or brothers only; for parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes will differ; neither will I compare the friendship between US to a chain, for the rain may rust it, or a tree may fall and break it; but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts." Having ended his business, the speaker for the King comes forward and makes great promises "of kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love as long as the sun gave light." This ended, another Indian makes a speech to his own people, first to explain to them what had been agreed on, and ihento exhort them "to love the Christians, and particularly live in peace with me and the people under my government, that many Grovernors had been in the river, but that no Governor had come himself to live and stay here be- fore, and having now such an one, that had treated them well, they should never do him nor his any wrong." At every sentence they shouted, as much as to say, amen.

The Indians had no system of writing by which they could record their dealings, but their memory of events and agreements was almost miraculous. Heckewelder records that in after years, they were accustomed, by means of strings, or belts of wampum, to preserve the recollection of their pleasant in- terviews with Penn, after he had departed for England. He says, " They fre- quently assembled together in the woods, in some shady spot, as nearly as pos- sible similar to those where they used to meet their brother Miquon (Penn), and there lay all his words and speeches, with those of his descendants, on a blanket, or clean piece of bark, and with great satisfaction go successively over the whole. This practice, which I have repeatedly witnessed, continued until the year 1780, when disturbances which took place put an end to it, probably forever."

The memory of this, the "Great Treaty," was long preserved by the na- tives, and the novel spectacle was reproduced upon canvas by the genius of Benjamin West. In this picture, Penn is represented as a corpulent old man, whereas he was at this time but thirty-eight years of age, and in the very height of manly activity. The Treaty Tree was preserved and guarded from injury with an almost superstitious care. During the Revolution, when Phila- delphia was occupied by the British, and their parties were scouring the coun- try for firewood. Gen. Simcoe had a sentinel placed at this tree to protect it from mutilation. It stood until 1810, when it was blown down, and it was ascertained by its annual concentric accretions to be 283 years old, and was, consequently, 155 at the time of making the treaty. The Penn Society erected a substantial monument on the spot where it stood.

Penn drew up his deeds for lands in legal form, and had them duly exe- cuted and made of record, that, in the dispute possible to arise in after times, there might be proof definite and positive of the purchase. Of these purchases there are two deeds on record executed in 1683. One is for land near Nesha- miny Creek, and thence to Penypack, and the other for lands lying between Schuylkill and Chester Rivers, the first bearing the signature of the great chieftain, Taminend. In one of these purchases it is provided that the tract " shall extend back as far as a man could walk in three days. " Tradition runs that Penn himself, with a number of his friends, walked dut the half this purchase with the Indians, that no advantage should be taken of them by mak- ing H great walk, and to show his consideration for them, and that he was not above the toils and fatigues of such a duty." They began to walk out this land at the mouth of the Neshaminy, and walked up the Delaware ; in one day

56 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and a half they got to a spruce tree near the mouth of Baker's Creek, when Penn, concluding that this would include as much land as he would want at present, a line was run and marked from the spruce tree to Neshaminy, and the remainder left to be walked when it should be wanted. They proceed- ed after the Indian manner, walking leisurely, sitting down sometimes to smoke their pipes, eat biscuit and cheese, and drink a bottle of wine. In the day and a half they walked a little less than thirty miles. The balance of the purchase was not walked until September 20, 17b3, when the then Governor of Pennsylvania offered a prize of 500 acres of land and £o for the man who would walk the farthest. A distance of eighty-six miles was covered, in marked contrast with the kind consideration of Penn.

During the first year, the country upon the Delaware, from the falls of Trenton as far as Chester, a distance of nearly sixty miles, w^s rapidly taken up and peopled. The large proportion of these were Quakers, and devotedly attached to their religion and its proper observances. They were, hence, morally, of the best classes, and though they were not generally of the aristocracy, yet many of them were in comfortable circumstances, had valuable properties, were of respectable families, educated, and had the resources within themselves to live contented and happy. They were provident, industrious, and had come hither with no fickle purpose. Many brought servants' with them, and well supplied wardrobes, and all necessary articles which they wisely judged would be got in a new country with difficulty.

Their religious principles were so peaceful and generous, and the govern- ment rested so lightly, that the fame of the colony and the desirableness of settlement therein spread rapidly, and the numbers coming hither were unpar- alleled in the history of colonization, especially when we consider that a broad ocean was to be crossed and a voyage of several weeks was to be endui-ed. In a brief period, ships with passengers came from London, Bristol, Ireland, Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, Holland, Germany, to the number of about fifty. Among others came a company of German Quakers, from Krisheim, near Worms, in the Palatinate. These people regarded their lot as particularly fortunate, in which they recognized the direct interposition and hand of Provi- dence. For, not long afterward, the Palatinate was laid waste by the Preach army, and many of their kindred whom they had left behind were despoiled of their possessions and reduced to penury. There came also from Wales a com- pany of the stock of aacient Britons.

So large an influx of population, coming in many cases without due pro- vision for variety of diet, caused a scarcity in many kinds of food, especially of meats. Time was required to bring forward flocks and herds, more than for producing grains. But Providence seemed to have graciously considered their necessities, and have miraculously provided for them, as of old was pro vision made for the chosen people. For it is recorded that the "wild pigeons came in such great numbers that the sky was sometimes darkened by their flight, and, flying low, they were frequently knocked down as they flew, in great quantities, by those who had no other means to take them, whereby the} supplied themselves, and, having salted those which they could not immedi- ately use, they preserved them, both for bread and meat." The Indians were kind, and often furnished them with game, for which they would receive no compensation.

Their first care on landing was to bring their household goods to a place of safety, often to the simple protection of a tree. For some, this was their only shelter, lumber being scarce, and in many places impossible to obtain.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 57

Some made for themselves caves in the earth until better habitations could be secured.

John Key, who was said to have been the first child born of English par- ents in Philadelphia, and that in recognition of which William Penn gave him a lot of ground, died at Kennet, in Chester County, on July 5, 1768, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He was born in one of these caves upon the river bank, long afterward known by the name of Penny-pot, near Sassa- fras street. About six years before his death, he walked from Kennet to the city, about thirty miles, in one day. In the latter part of his life he went under the name of i'irst Born.

The contrasts between the comforts and conveniences of an old settled country and this, where the heavy forests must be cleared away and severe la- bors must be endured before the sun could be let in sufficiently to produce anything, must have been very marked, and caused repining. But they had generally come with meek and humble hearts, and they willingly endured hardship and privation, and labored on earnestly for the spiritual comfort which they enjoyed. Thomas Makin, in some Latin verses upon the early set- tlement, says (we quote the metrical translation):

"Its fame to distant countries far has spread, And some for peace, and some for profit led; Born in remotest climes, to settle here They leave their native soil and all that's dear, And still will flock from far, here to be free, Such powerful charms has lovely liberty."

But for their many privations and sufferings there were some compensat- ing conditions. The soil was fertile, the air mostly clear and healthy, the streams of water were good and plentiful, wood for fire and building unlimit- ed, and at certain seasons of the year game in the forest was abundant. Rich- ard Townsend, a settler at Germantown, who came over in the ship with Penn, in writing to his friends in England of his first year in America, says: "I, with Joshua Tittery, made a net, and caught great quantities of fish, so that, notwithstanding it was thought near three thousand persons came in the first year, we were so providentially provided for that we could buy a deer for about two shillings, and a large turkey for about one shilling, and Indian corn for about two shillings sixpence a bushel."

In the same letter, the writer mentions that a young deer came out of the forest into the meadow where he was mowing, and looked at him, and when he went toward it would retreat; and, as he resumed his mowing, would come back to gaze upon him, and finally ran forcibly against a tree, which so stunned it that he was able to overmaster it and bear it away to his home, and as this was at a time when he was sufiering for the lack of meat, he believed it a direct interposition of Providence.

In the spring of 1688, there was great activity throughout the colony, and especially in the new city, in selecting lands and erecting dwellings, the Sur- veyor General, Thomas Holme, laying out and marking the streets. In the center of the city was a public square of ten acres, and in each of the four quarters one of eight acres. A large mansion, which had been undertaken be- fore his arrival, was built for Penn, at a point twenty-six miles up the river, called Pennsbury Manor, where ho sometimes resided, and where he often met the Indian sachems. At this time, Penn divided the colony into counties, three for the province (Bucks, Philadelphia and Chester) and three for the Territories (New Castle, Kent and Sussex). Having appointed Sheriffs and other proper officers, he issued writs fof the election of members of a General

58 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Assembly, three from each county for the Council or Upper House, and nine from each county for the Assembly or Lower House.*

This Assembly convened and organized for business on the 10th of Jan- uary, 1683, at Philadelphia. One of the first subjects considered was the revising some provisions of the frame of government which was effected, re- ducing the number of members of both Houses, the Council to 18 the As- sembly to 36, and otherwise amending in unimportant particulars. In an assembly thus convened, and where few, if any, had had any experience in serving in a deliberative body, we may reasonably suppose that many crude and impracticable propositions would be presented. As an example of these the following may be cited as specimens: That young men should be obliged to marry at, or before, a certain age; that two sorts of clothes only shall be worn, one for winter and the other for summer. The session lasted twenty two days.

The first grand jury in Pennsylvania was summoned for the 2d of Feb- ruary, 1683, to inquire into the cases of some persons accused of issuing counterfeit money. The Governor and Council sat as a court. One Picker- ing was convicted, and the sentence was significant of the kind and patriarchal nature of the government, "that he should make full satisfaction, in good and current pay, to every person who should, within the space of one month, bring in any of this false, base and counterfeit coin, and that the money brought in should be melted down before it was returned to him, and that he should pay a fine of forty pounds toward the building a court house, stand committed till the same was paid, and afterward find security for his good behavior."

The Assembly and courts having now adjourned, Penn gave his attention to the grading and improving the streets of the new city, and the managing the affairs of his land oflEice, suddenly grown to great importance. For every section of land taken up in the wilderness, the purchaser was entitled to a certain plot in the new city. The Kiver Delaware at this time was nearly a mile broad opposite the city, and navigable for ships of the largest tonnage. The tide rises about six feet at this point, and flows back' to the falls of Trenton, a distance of thirty miles. The tide in the Schuylkill flows only about five miles above its confluence with the Delaware. The river bank along the Delaware was intended by Penn as a common or public resort. But in his time the owners of lots above Front street pressed him to allow them to construct warehouses upon it, opposite their properties, which importunity in- duced him to make the following declaration concerning it; ''The bank is a top common, from end to end; the rest next the water belongs to front-lot men no moi'e than back- lot men. The way bounds them; they may build stairs, and the top of the bank a common exchange, or wall, and against the street, common wharfs may be built freely; but into the water, and the shore is no purchaser's." But in future time, this liberal desire of the founder was dis- regarded, and the bank has been covered with immense warehouses.

*It may be a matter of curiosity to know the names of the members of this first regularly elected Legis- lature in Pennsylvania, and they are accordingly appended as given in official records:

Council : William Markham, Christopher Taylor, Thomas Holme. Lacy Cock, William Haige, John Moll, Ralph Withers, John Simcock, Edward Cantwell, William Clayton, William Biles, James Harrison, William Clark, Francis Whitewell, John Richardson, John Hillyard.

Assembly: From Bucks, William Yardly, Samuel Darke, Robert Lucas, Nicholas Walne, John Wood, John Clowes, Thomas Fitzwater, Robert Hall, James Bovden ; from Philadelphia, John Longhurst, John Hart, Wal- ter King, Andros Binkson, John Moon, Thomas Wynne (Speaker), Griffith Jones, William Warner, Swan Swan- «on, from Chester, John Hoskins, Robert Wade, George Wood, J<5hn Blunston, Dennis Rochford, Thomas Bracy, John Bezer, John Harding, Joseph Phipps ; from New Castle, John Cann, John Darby, Valentine Holl- ingsworth, Gasparus Herman, John Dchoaef, James Williams, William Guest, Peter Alrich, Henrick Williams; from Kent, John Biggs, Simon Irons, Thomas Hatfold John Curtis, Robert Bedwell, William Windsmore, John Brinkloe, Daniel Brown, Benony Bishop; from Sussex, Luke Watson, Alexander Draper, William Futcher, Henry Bowman, Alexander Moleston, John Hill, Robert Bracy, John Kipshaven, Cornelius Verhoof.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 59

Seeing now his plans of government and settlement fairly in operation, as autumn approached, Penn wrote a letter to the Free Society of Traders in London, which had been formed to promote settlement in his colony, in which he touched upon a great variety of topics regarding his enterprise, extending to quite a complete treatise. The great interest attaching to the subjects dis- cussed, and the ability with which it was drawn, makes it desirable to insert the document entire; but its great length makes its use incompatible with the plan of this work. A few extracts and a general plan of the letter is all that can be given. He first notices the injurious reports put in circulation in En- gland during his absence: " Some persons have had so little wit and so much malice as to report my death, and, to mend the matter, dead a Jesuit, too. One might have reasonably hoped that this distance, like death, would have been a protection against spite and envy. * * * However, to the great sorrow and shame of the inventors, I am still alive and no Jesuit, and, I thank God, very well." Of the air and waters he says: " The air is sweet and clear, the heavens serene, like the south parts of France, rarely overcast. The waters are generally good, for the rivers and brooks have mostly gravel and stony bot- toms, and in number hardly credible. We also have mineral waters that operate in the same manner with Barnet and North Hall, not two miles from Philadelphia. " He then treats at length of the four seasons, of trees, fruits, grapes, peaches, grains, garden produce: of animals,beasts,bii'ds, fish, whale fish- ery, horses and cattle, medicinal plants, flowers of the woods; of the Indians and their persons. Of their language he says: "It is lofty, yet narrow; but, like the Hebrew, in signification, full, imperfect in their tenses, wanting in their moods, participles, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections. I have made it my busi- ness to understand it, and I must say that I know not a language spoken in Europe that hath words of more sweetness or greatness in accent and emphasis than theirs." Of their customs and their children: " The children will go very young, at nine months, commonly; if boys, they go a fishing, till ripe for the woods, which is about fifteen; then they hunt, and, after having given some proofs of their manhood by a good return of skins, they may marry, else it is a shame to think of a wife. The girls stay with their mother and help to hoe the ground, plant corn and carry burdens. When the young women are fit for marriage, they wear something upon their heads as an advertisment; but so, as their faces hardly to be seen, but when they please. The age they marry at, if women, is about thirteen and fourteen; if men, seventeen and eighteen; they ai'e rarely elder." In a romantic vein he speaks of their houses, diet, hospitality, revengefulness and concealment of resentment, great liberality, free manner of life and customs, late love of strong liquor, behavior in sickness and death, tlieir re- ligion, their feastings, their government, their mode of doing business, their manner of administering justice, of agreement for settling difficulties entered into with the pen, their susceptibility to improvement, of the origin of the Indian race their resemblance to the Jews. Of the Dutch and Swedes whom he found set- tled here when he came, he says: " The Dutch applied themselves to traffick, the Swedes and Finns to husbandry. The Dutch mostly inhabit those parts that lie upon the bay, and the Swedes the freshes of the Delaware. They are a plain, strong, industrious people; yet have made no great progress in culture or propagation of fruit trees. They are a people proper, and strong of body, so they have fine children, and almost every house full; rare to find one of them without three or four boys and as many girls — some, six, seven and eight sons, and I must do them that right, I see few young men more sober and laborious." After speaking at length of the organization of the colony and its manner of government, he concludes with his own opinion of the country: "I say little

60 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of the town itself; but this I will say, for the good providence of God, that of all the many places I have seen in the world, I remember not one better seated, so that it seems to me to have been appointed for a town, whether we regard the rivers or the convenieney of the coves, docks, springs, the loftiness and soundness of the land and the air, held by the people of these parts to be very good. It is advanced within less than a year to about fourscore bouses and cottages, where merchants and handicrafts are following their vocations as fast as they can, while the countrymen are close at their farms. * * * I bless God I am fully satisfied with the country and entertainment I got in it; for I find that particular content, which hath always attended me, where God in His providence hath made it my place and service to reside."

As we have seen, the visit of Penn to Lord Baltimore soon after his arrival in America, for the purpose of settling the boundaries of the two provinces, after a two days' confereace, proved fruitless, and an adjournment was had for the winter, when the efforts for settlement were to be resumed. Early in the spring, an attempt was made on the part of Peun, but was prevented till May, when a meeting was held at New Castle. Penn proposed to confer by the aid of counselors and in writing. But to this Baltimore objected, and, complain- ing of the sultryness of the weather, the conference was broken up. In the meantime, it had come to the knowledge of Penn that Lord Baltimore had issued a proclamation offering settlers more land, and at cheaper rates than Penn had done, in portions of the lower counties which Penn had secured from the Duke of York, but which Baltimore now claimed. Besides, it was ascertained that an agent of his had taken an observation, and determined the latitude without the knowledge of Penn, and had secretly made an ex parte statement of the case before the Lords of the Committee of Plantations in En- gland, and was pressing for arbitrament. This state of the case created much uneasiness in the mind of Penn, especially as the proclamation of Lord Balti- more was likely to bring the two governments into conflict on territory mutu- ally claimed. But Lord Baltimore was not disposed to be content with diplo- macy. He determined to pursue an aggressive policy. He accordingly com- missioned his agent, Col. George Talbot, under date of September 17, 1683, to go to Schuylkill, at Delaware, and demand of William Penn " all that part of the land on the west side of the said river that lyeth to the southward of the fortieth degree." This bold demand would have embraced the entire colony, both the lower counties, and the three counties in the province, as the fortieth degree reaches a considerable distance above Philadelphia. Penn was absent at the time in New York, and Talbot made his demand upon Nicholas Moore, the deputy of Penn. Upon his return, the proprietor made a dignified but earnest rejoinder. While he felt that the demand could not be justly sus- tained, yet the fact that a controversy for the settlement of the boundary wa& likely to arise, gave him disquietude, and though he was gratified with the success of his plans for acquiring lands of the Indians and establishing friendly relations with them, the laying-out of his new city and settling it, the adop- tion of a stable government and putting it in successful operation, and, more than all, the drawing thither the large number of settlers, chiefly of his own religious faith, and seeing them contented and happy in the new State, he plainly foresaw that his skill and tact would be taxed to the utmost to defend and hold his claim before the English court. If the demand of Lord Balti- more were to prevail, all that he had done would be lost, as his entire colony would be swallowed up by Maryland.

The anxiety of Penn to hold from the beginniog of the 40° of latitude was not to increase thereby his territory by so much, for two degrees which he

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 61

securely had, so far as aroount of land was concerned, would have entirely satisfied him; but he wanted this degree chiefly that he might have the free navigation of Delaware Bay and River, and thus open communication with the ocean. BJe desired also to hold the lower counties, which were now well settled, as well as his own counties rapidly being peopled, and his new city of Philadelphia, which he regarded as the apple of his eye. So anxious was he to hold the land on the right bank of the Delaware to the open ocean, that at his second meeting, he asked Lord Baltimore to set a price per square mile on this disputed ground, and though he had purchased it once of the crown and held the King's charter for it, and the Duke of York's deed, yet rather than have any further wrangle over it, he was willing to pay for it again. But this Lord Baltimore refused to do.

Bent upon bringing matters to a crisis, and to force possession of his claim, early in the year 1684 a party from Maryland made forcible entry upon the plantations in the lower counties and drove off the owners. The Governor and Council at Philadelphia sent thither a copy of the answer of Penn to Baltimore's demand for the land south of the Delaware, with orders to William Welch, Sheriff at New Castle, to use his influence to reinstate the lawful owners, and issued a declaration succinctly stating the claim of Penn, for the purpose of preventing such unlawful incursions in future.

The season opened favorably for the continued prosperity of the young colony. Agriculture was being prosecuted as never before. Goodly flocks and herds gladdened the eyes of the settlers. An intelligent, moral and in- dustrious yeomanry was springing into existence. Emigrants were pouring into the Delaware from many lands. The Government was becoming settled in its operations and popular with the people. The proprietor had leisure to attend to the interests of his religious society, not only in his own dominions, but in the Jerseys and in New York.

OHAPTEE VII.

Thomas Lloyd, 1684-86— Five Commissioners, 1686-88— John Blackwell, 1688 -90— Thomas Lloyd, 1690-91— William Markham, 1691-93— Benjamin Fletcher, 1693-95— William Markham, 1693-99.

BUT the indications, constantly thickening, that a struggle was likely soon to be precipitated before the crown for possession of the disputed terri- tory, decided Penn early in the summer to quit the colony and return to En- gland to defend his imperiled interests. There is no doubt that he took this step with unfeigned regret, as he was contented and happy in his new country, and was most usefully employed. There were, however, other inducements which were leading him back to England. The hand of persecution was at this time laid heavily upon the Quakers. Over 1,400 of these pious and in- offensive people were now, and some of them had been for years, languishing^ in the prisons of England, for no other offense than their manner of worship. By his friendship with James, and his acquaintance with the King, he might do something lo soften the lot of these unfortunate victims of bigotry.

He accordingly empowered the Provincial Council, of which Thomas Lloyd was President, to act in his stead, commissioned Nicholas Moore, Will- iam Welch, William Wood, Robert Turner and John Eckley, Provincial

62 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Judges for two years; appointed Thomas Lloyd, James Claypole and Robert Turner to sign land patents and warrants, and William Clark as Justice of the Peace for all the counties; and on the 6th of June, 1684, sailed for Europe. His feelings on leaving his colony are exnibited by a farewell address which he issued from on board the vessel to his people, of which the following are brief extracts: "My love and my life is to you, and with you, and no water can quench ii, nor distance wear it out, nor bring it to an end. I have been with you, cared over you and served over you with unfeigned love, and you are beloved of me, and near to me, beyond utterance. I bless you in the name and power of the Lord, and may God bless you with His righteousness, peace and plenty all the land over. * * * Oh! now are you come to a quiet land; provoke not the Lord to trouble it. And now liberty and author- ity are with you, and in your hands. Let the government be upon His shoulders, in all your spirits, that you may rule for Him, under whom the princes of this world will, one day, esteem their honor to govern and serve in their places * * * And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what serv- ice and what travail has there been, to bring thee forth, and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee! * * * go, dear friends, my love again salutes you all, wishing that grace, mercy and peace, with all temporal blessings, may abound richly among you — so says, so prays, your friend and lover in the truth. William Penn."

On the 6th of December of this same year, 1684, Charles II died, and was succeeded by his brother James, Duke of York, under the title of James II. James was a professed Catholic, and the people were greatly excited all over the kingdom lest the reign of Bloody Mary should be repeated, and that the Catholic should become the established religion. He had less ability than his brother, the deceased King, but great discipline and industry. Penn en- joyed the friendship and intimacy of the new King, and he determined to use his advantage for the relief of his suffering countrymen, not only of his sect, the Quakers, but of all, and especially for the furtherance of universal liberty. But there is no doubt that he at this time meditated a speedy return to his province, for he writes: "Keep up the peoples' hearts and loves; I hope to be with them next fall, if the Lord prevent not. I long to be with you. No temptations prevail to fix me here. The Lord send us a good meeting." By authority of Penn, dated 18th of January, 1685, William Markham, Penn's cousin, was commissioned Secretary of the province, and the proprietor's Sec- retary.

That he might be fixed near to court for the furtherance of his private as well as public business, he secured lodgings for himself and family, in 1685, at Kensington, near London, and cultivated a daily intimacy with the King, who, no doubt, found in the strong native sense of his Quaker friend, a valued ad- viser upon many questions of difficulty. His first and chief care was the set- tlement of his disagreement with Lord Baltimore touching the boundaries of their provinces. This was settled in November, 1685, by a compromise, by which the land lying between the Delaware and Chesepeake Bays was divided into two equal parts — that upon the Delaware was adjudged to Penn, and that upon the Chesapeake to Lord Baltimore. This settled the matter in theory; but when the attempt was made to run the lines according to the language of the Royal Act, it was found that the royal secretaries did not understand the geography of the country, and that the line which their language described was an impossible one. Consequently the boundary remained undetermined till 1732. The account of its location will be given in its proper place.

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 63

Having secured this important decision to his satisfaction, Penn applied himself with renewed zeal, not only to secure the release of his people, who were languishing in prisons, but to procure for all Englishmen, everywhere, enlarged liberty and freedom of conscience. His relations with the King fa- vored his designs. The King had said to Penn before he ascended the throne that he was opposed to persecution for religion. On the first day of his reign, he made an address, in which he proclaimed himself opposed to all arbitrary principles in government, 'and promised protection to the Church of England. Early in the year 1686, in consequence of the King's proclamation for a gen- eral pardon, over thirteen hundred Quakers were set at liberty, and in April, 1687, the King issued a declaration for entire liberty of conscience, and sus- pending the penal laws in matters ecclesiastical. This was a great step in ad- vance, and one that must ever throw a luster over the brief reign of this un- fortunate monarch. Penn, though holding no official position, doubtless did as much toward securing the issue of this liberal measure as any Englishman.

Upon the issue of these edicts, the Quakers, at their next annual meeting, presented an address of acknowledgment to the Ring, which opened in these words: "We cannot but bless and praise the name of Almighty God, who hath the hearts of princes in His hands, that He hath inclined the King to hear the cries of his suffering subjects for conscience' sake, and we rejoice that he hath given us so eminent an occasion to present him our thanks." This ad- dress was presented by Penn in a few well-chosen words, and the King re- plied in the following, though brief, yet most expressive, language: "Gentle- men— I thank you heartily for your address. Some of you know (I am sure you do Mr. Penn), that it was always my principle, that conscience ought not to be forced, and that all men ought to have the liberty of their consciences. And what I have promised in my declaration, I will continue to perform so long as I live. And I hope, before I die, to settle it so that after ages shall