History of Delaware : 1609-1888, Part 24

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Delaware > History of Delaware : 1609-1888 > Part 24

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1 Watson, in his " Annals of Philadelphia," says that Markham was but twenty-one years of age when he came out to Pennsylvania, but this must be a mistake, as it would make hit ordy forty-five when he died. At that time he was spoken of as the "old gentleman," and he had two grandchildren. Besides, he died of retrocedent gout, seldom fatal at such an early age. Ilts knowledge of affairs and the confidential positions aven him would imply a much older man. He left a widow, a daughter, + son in-law, two gratulchildren, and a "daughter in-law, " at his death. 1. is probable that Markhim's retirement was on accobut of suspiepis truinstances conter ting him with the pirates, who, since the French Admital Pointis had driven them away from the Caribbean sea, were be- onur active in Northern waters Koll harbored about New York, Avery vai Blackbeard about the Delaware ; sothe of Avery's men webs in prison Pinladelphia, and Colonel Quarry complained more than once that their confinement was a farce, as they could go when and where they "how. It is certain that Markham and red some of these ment wwliv b.vl their pockets full of gold) to be treated very lentently One of Sony's men, Birmingham by name, hand intrusted his money to Mark- him's keeping, and he was albeved ww sheriff Claypoole to wilk the ettels in summer in custody of a deputy, and in winter to have his own Ste Another person suspected of emtection with Avery was James Lowas, member of the Assembly from Rent in les, and then called n a route of his relations to the parates. Petits had low frested in Er for having come over with Asmy. He was sent to Boston to be : and by the Earl of Bellamont, Governor of New York. This mit is Totally suspected of having been Markham's son-in-law the husband of ", , laughter, "Mr. Ann Brown ' Bruns letter to Markham, dated "th January, Itt-14, is generally supposed to refer to hit. It is as ! !! w4: "Con Markham, -When I was with thee to-day thon offered to Total for thy son in-law should he bring thee into trouble, it is all a Portion I believe he has with the daughter What they hast I may ' dur- to sty thou hast gott by this Govetunt. I think it strange yifaire For shouldet make a Difficulty in latpling thy Executive with thyelf 'r lus appwearaner, Should another be bound, no man will take thy Hud for thy own life, only for a counter security. That knowest 1. 1 entry to the form of all obligan as, & I cannot but take it hand i should be . . unwilling to venture so much for thy own Credit . well as that of the Governas and for the Husband of thy only Child 1 those I am not concerned with. I expert a nome express answer ao thun hast yet given and remain thy ath climate Kinsman,-W P."- !. . . Archivos, i. 120 )

tila was the pirates were largely reinforced after the price of Rs- *. k. alot they mute harbor on the Delaware, because they could . pily . .. on the unarmed, parine wpMakers, They sacked the town of .... and capamed many vesele ad the Delaware ragas. There is noprobabb in the supposition that Markham was retired of ar- est of the mettretive means employed by Im for the suppression of > juil.c plnuderets.

Birch, collector of customs at New Castle, wrote to Penn under date of May 28, 1700, complaining of vessels having gone down from and come up to Philadelphia without reporting to him. Penn answered he was sorry that masters were so lack- ing in respeet. There was a bill now before the Assembly to make the offense penal. But he thinks a customs collector ought to have a boat, if he wanted to secure the enforcement of the laws, which were all on his side. "Thou eanst not ex- peet that any at Philadelphia, 40 miles distant from you, can putt Laws in execution at N. Castle, without any care or vigilance of officers there, if so there needed none in the place, especially since no place in the River or Bay yields ye prospect yt is at New Castle of seeing 20 miles one way and a dozen the other, any vessel coming either up or down." Penn confesses he thinks the particu- lar care he had taken of the interests of the king and his immediate officers deserved a better re- turn "than such testy expressions as thou flings out in thy Letters both to myself and of one to ye members of Couneil." Birch is reminded that he has forgotten the respect due to the proprietary's station and conduct, and that he should not make Penn a sufferer on account of his pique against the eull etor at Philadelphia, a matter with which he neither had nor wanted anything to do. "Let your Masters at home decide it ; what comes fairly before me I shall acquitt myself of, with Hon' & Jus- tive to ye best of my understanding u" out regard to jear or favour, for those sordid passions shall never more y' Propriet & Gor of Pensilvania." But I'enn was not done with Mr. Birch yet. In a post- script he says he hears that the collector talks of writing home, and making he knows not what com- plaint: " I hope thou wilt be cautious in that point lest I should write too, which, when I due, may prove loud enough to make thee sensible of it at a dis- tance. If thou understands not this, it shall be ex- plained to thee at our next meeting, when I am more at Leisure." This letter, full of conscious power, was palpably means tor Quarry quite as much as Birch. Penn sent the whole correspondence to the Lords of Trade, and when Birch died shortly after- wards, Penn himself appointed his successor pro tym., in order, as he said, to protect His Majesty's interests,-in other words, implying that those

HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

interests were not served by either Birch or Quarry.

At the session of the Assembly and Council, in October, 1700, at New Castle, there was a general revision of laws, and a tax bill was passed to raise two thousand pound -. One hundred and four acts were passed at this session of the General As- sembly, the most of them being modifications of existing laws, or acts of local character and minor importance. The purchase of land from Indians without consent of the proprietary was forbidden ; better provision was made for the poor. Dueling and challenging to combat visited with three months' imprisonment ; bound servants forbidden to be sold without their consent and that of two magistrates, and at the expiration of their term of service were to have clothes and implements given them. An act relating to roads gave the regula- tion of county roads to county justices, and the king's highway and publie roads to the Governor and Council; inclosures were to be regulated, eorn-field fences to be made pig-tight and five feet high, of rails or logs; when such fences were not provided, the delinquent to be liable to all damages from stock. The counties were to provide railed bridges over streams at their own expense, and to appoint overseers of highways and viewers of fences. A health bill was also passed, providing quarantine for vessels with disease aboard.

A new Assembly was called to meet on the 15th of September, 1701. The proprietary told them he would have been glad to deter the session to the usual time, but he was summoned away to England by news seriously threatening hi- and their interest>. A combined effort was making in Parliament to obtain an act for annexing the sev- eral proprietary governments to the crown A bill for that purpose had passed a second reading in the House of Lords, and it was absolutely necessary for Penn to be on the spot to prevent the success of these schemes. When the Assembly met, Penn told them he contemplated the voyage with great reluctance, " having promised myself the Quietne-s of a wilderness," but, finding he eould best serve them on the other side of the water, " neither the rudeness of the season nor the tender circumstances of my family can overrule my intention to undertake it." At the first regu- lar session of the Assembly since his return ( April, 1700) Penn had addressed them on the subject of reforming the charter and laws. Some laws were obsolete, he said, some hurttil, some imper- fect and needing improvement, new ones to be made also.

All this, however, was simply preliminary. The Assembly made a remonstrance and petitions of the people of Philadelphia which had been pre- sented to Governor Markham in April, 1697, and again brought before Penn, were made the occasion

for an address to the proprietary.' This adult. in twenty-one articles, embracing the sub-fans what the Assembly conceived should be entert. in any new charter. It was made up of >p demand- for political privileges and territorial. cessions, and, as Gordon observes, was " the : of a long and bitter controversy." The polin privileges demanded were that in case the prop tary left the province, due care should be take: have him represented by persons of integrity .. considerable known estate, with full power to o. with lands and titles, that an ample proter! charter should be granted, that all property q' tions should be settled in the courts, and no lon .. allowed to go before Governor and Council, a . that the justices should license and regulate of. naries and drinking-houses. The rest of the ar eles were in reference to the land que-tion, and ti freedom of the demands provoked the Govern .. who said, on hearing the articles read, that if . had freely expressed his inclination to indul_ them, " they were altogether as free in their era: ings," and there were several of the articles whi could not concern them " as a House of Repi sentatives conven'd on affairs of Gov'm't." I. fact, the Assembly demanded (1 ) that the proprie tary should cease to exercise the right of reviewin_ and altering the land contract> made in his nat .. by the Deputy-Governor, and that the latte should have power to remedy all shortages and over measures; (2) that the charter should secure a titles and clear all Indian purchases ; (3) that there should be no more delay in confirming land- and granting patents, and the ten in the hundre, should be allowed as agreed upon ; (+) no surveym' secretary, or other person to take any extra fo. beyond the law's allowance; (5) the ancient la. records, made before Penn's coming, should 1. " lodged in such hands as ye Assembly shall jul- to be must safe;" (6) a patent office should ; created, like that of Jamaica ; (7) that the origin terms for laying out Philadelphia were clogs with rents and reservations contrary to the dosi." of the first grant, and these should be eased; . " that the Land lying back of that part of ti. town already built remain for common, and ties no leases be Granted, for the future, to make 1: closures to the damage of the Publick, until sta time as the respective owners shall be ready : build or Improve thereon, and that the I-lais - and flats near the Town be left to the Inhabitan . of this town to get their winter flodder;" (9. tt .. the streets of the town should be regulated a :.. bounded, the ends on Delaware and Schuylkill . be unlimited and left free, and free publie landi :..

I It was a protest against the right of the Assembly and Cont then constituted, to pass laws and the takes. It was signed In \' Couch and one lantelrod and thirteen bowling mittens of the place referred it to Robert Turner, Gratth Jones, Francis Rawle and J . Wilcox.

DELAWARE UNDER WILLIAM PENN.

places be confirmed at the Blue Anchor Tavern counties from Pennsylvania. Finally the Assem- and the Penny Pot-House; (10) the deeds of bly was dissolved on Oct. 28, 1701, the Governor having signed an act to establish courts of jndica- ture for the punishment of pretty larceny: for minor attachments; for preventing clandestine marriages ; for preventing fires in towns; for pre- venting swine from running at large; for the destruction of blackbirds and crows, and against selling rum to the Indians. Penn also signed the Charter of Privileges, " with a Warrant to Affix the Great Seal to it, wrh was delivered with it to Thomas Story, Keeper of the said Seal, and master of' the Rolls, to be Sealed and Recorded."

The Charter of Privileges, after a specific pre- amble, begins by confirming freedom of conscience and liberty of religious profession and worship in ample terms, as had been done in the earlier form of government; it provided for an Assembly of four members from each county, to be elected by

PEA

MENT

FT.

SEAL OF THE INROLMENT OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1683.

Penn now made answer to the address, article by article; he would appoint such deputies as he had confidence in, and he hoped they would be of the freemen each year on October 1st, and meet in General Assembly October 14th, at Philadel- phia. The Assembly to choose its own Speaker and officers, judge the qualification and election of its own members, sit upon its own adjournments, appoint committees, prepare bills in or to pass into laws, impeach criminals and redress grievances, "and shall have all other powers and privileges of an Assembly, according to the rights of the free- born subjects of England, and as is usual in any of the King's Plantations in America." The honest character, unexceptionable, and capable of doing what was right by proprietary and province; he was willing to grant a new charter, and to dispense with delays in granting patents ; fees he was willing should be regulated by law, but hoped he would not be expected to pay them ; the custody of the records was as much his business as the Assembly's; if the Jamaica patent law would im- prove things he was willing to have it adopted ; the claim for town lots was erroneous ; the reservations in the city were his own, not the property of the freemen of each county, on the election day for inhabitants; improvements of bed of streets con- reded; license proposition conceded ; the derde for Delaware counties were recorded by Ephraim Herman ; the other propositions, in substance, so far as they were important, were negatived or referred for revision.

In the course of the discussions the representa- tives of the lower counties took offense and with- drew from the Assembly ; they objected to having the Assembly confirm and re-enaet the laws passed at New Castle, since they regarded these as already [wrmanent and established. This was only pre- liminary to the final separation of the Delaware

Assemblymen, were to select two persons for sheriff and two for coroner, the Governor to commission a sheriff and a coroner, each to serve for three years, from the persons so chosen for him to select from. If the voters neglected to nominate candi- dates for these offices, the county justices should remedy the defeet. " Fourthly, that the Laws of this Govrm' shall be in this >tile, viz. [By the Governour with the Consent and Approbation of the freemen in General Assembly mett] and shall be, after Confirmation by the Governour, forthwith Recorded in the Rolls office, and kept at Philadia, unless the Govr. and Assembly shall agree to

enteoffment from the Duke of York for the lower counties should be recorded in their courts, and all lands not disposed of then be letted at the old rate of a bushel of wheat the hundred acres ; (11) New Castle should receive the one thousand acres of common land promised to it, and bank-lots these to be confirmed to owners of front lots at low-water mark, at the rent of a bushel of wheat per lot ; ( 12) all the hay marshes should be laid out for commons, except such as were already granted ; ( 13 ) that all patents hereafter to be granted to the territories should be on the same conditions as the warrants or grants were obtained, and that people should have liberty to buy up their quit-rents, as formerly promised.

Penn informed the Assembly that their address was solely on property, and chiefly in relation to private contracts between him and individuals, whereas he had recommended them to consider their privileges, the bulwark of property. He would never suffer any Assembly to intermeddle in his property. The Assembly retorted that they were of opinion they had privileges sufficient as Englishmen, and would leave the rest to Provi- dence. As to the king's letter demanding a sub- sidy, the country was too much straitened of late by the necessary payment of their debts and taxes; other colonies did not seem to have done anything, and they must, therefore, beg to be ex- eused.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE.

appoint another place." " Fifthly. all criminals to have the same privilege of witness and counsel as their aceusers ; complaints as to property not to be heard anywhere but in courts of justice, unkss upon appeal lawfully provided for ; no licenses for ordinaries, &e., to be granted but upon recom- mendation of the County Justices, who also can suppress such houses for disorder and misconduct ; suicide was not to work escheat of property nor atleet its regular descent to legal heirs ; no fortei ure of estates to proprietary in consequence of accident -. " The charter was not to be amended or altered in any way but by consent of the Governor and six- sevenths of the Assembly, and the first article, guaranteeing liberty of conscience, " shall be kept and remain without any alteration, Inviolably for- ever." The Assembly, by thi- charter, at last secured what it had been contending for ever since

WILLIAM PENN'S BURIAL-TLACL.

the first session at Upland,-the parliamentary privilege of originating bills, which must be inherent in every properly constituted legislative body. Penn, in fact, coneeded everything but the margin of acres for shortage, the town lots, and the quit- rents. To expedite the conveyance of patents. titles, and land-grants he created a commission of property, consisting of Edward Shippen, Griffith Owen, Thomas Story, and James Logan, with power to grant lots and lands and make titles. The new charter did away with an eleetive Council, and the legislative power was vested exclusively in the Assembly. But Penn commissioned a Council under his own seal to consult and as-ist him or his deputy or lieutenant in all the public affairs of the province. The Council thus commissioned were to hold their places at the Governor's pleasure. the Deputy-Governor to have the power to appoint men where there was a vacaney, to nominate a president of Council, and even to increase the

number of members. The Council as nomi: by Penn con-isted of Edward Shippen, .I Guest, Samuel Carpenter, William Clarke, The .. Story, Griffith Owen. Phineas Pemberton, San Finney, Caleb Pusey, and John Blunston, any i. of them to be a quorum.

On or about November 1, 1701, William P ... with his wife Hannah, his daughter Letitia, :. his infant son John, embarked on board the - " Dalmahoy " for England. Penn commission. Andrew Hamilton, formerly Governor of ] .. and West New Jersey, to be his Lieutenant-G. ernor ; and he made James Logan provine secretary and clerk of Council. While the sh dropped down the river the proprietary wrote I. letter of instructions to Logan, from which extra. have been given above. And so Penn pa --. . away from the province he had created, never return to it again. He died on the 30; of July, 1718 (O. S.), in the sevent: fourth year of his age. The funeral too place August 5th, in the burial-grou !. at Jordan's Quaker meeting-house. i. Buckinghamshire, where his first wi: and several of his family were already interred.

After Penn's departure from the Data ware the proceedings of the Governor. Council, and Assembly of the provino became monotonous and dreary. A con. stant struggle was going on, but it haa no variations. The sanie issues were In ing all the time fought out, over the san familiar ground and by the same partie- The interests of the erown, the interes ;- of the proprietary, the interests of t! people, did not harmonize ; there was .. continual and incessant clash, and ye: nothing was settled. The Governors wir of inferior metal, the people vexed and complain ing, the Penns wanted money, the erown wanto! supplies and money, was jealous and solicitot . about prerogative, everything seemed to be :: odds and outs, yet the colony grew and prospere ! amazingly. The various and conflicting intere -:- did not disturb a people who were peacefull; reaping the fruits of their labors on a kindly - in a gentle climate, alnost untaxed and alm -: ungoverned, and immigration flowed in like a steady mountain tide.

On July 10, 1701, in advance of official instruc. tions, Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Hamilton al . Council ordered Anne of Denmark to be pr claimed Queen of Great Britain, principally br cause war had been declared with France an : Spain, and the use of the sovereign's name wa- necessary in calling out the militia for defels This determination to involve the colony in mi .. tary measures at ghee provoked the passive rest:

PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS.

ance of the Quakers. When the time came sent from England with a view to suppress these (November 14, 1701) for the Assembly to met, nuisances. But notwithstanding the interest attach- the lower counties on the Delaware were it ing to it, the matter has not as yet received the careful attention of historians, and writers have the- far preferred to use the subject as the basis of romances and fabulous tales of adventure such as are pleasing to juvenile tastes. represented. An adjournment was had, elections held, and new representatives chosen, but they likewise refused to go to l'aildelphia, and so the Quakers of that county, Bucks and Chester had things all their own way.

701

CITY

SEAL OF PHILADELPHIA IN 1701.

Ilamilton died April 20, 1703, and was suc- ceeded, on February 2, 1704, by John Evans, Penn's new Governor. He failed in procuring the return of the representatives of the lower counties to the Assembly, alienating them more completely still, and irritating the represented counties by his methods of procedure.

CHAPTER X.

PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS.

AMONG the many hardships with which our forefathers bad to contend in the early colonial period were the incursions and depredations of pirates, freebooters and privateers. As soon as they succeeded in building their quiet little town- ships along the coast, and, through their thrift and energy, established themselves in comfortable homes ready to start out in life in the New World, they fell an easy prey to pirates, allured by the comfortable and trugal appearance of their home- Heads. They suffered not only at the hands of strangers and foreigners, but frequently adven- turers would go out from their own mid-t, di-ap- , pointed or dissatisfied with American soil, and, in collusion with friends who remained on shore. would make regular attacks on the habitations of their former friends. A vast quantity of material is in existence bearing on this phase of endomial lite, to be found chiefly in the depositions of wit- nesses before the Councils of the Governor-, the Populations pa- cd in thecolenteyer the in struction; .

As early as 1655 we find accounts of the pirat- ical excursions of Thomas Baxter, a resident of New Amsterdam. Holland and England were then at war, and it was Baxter's plea to pillage the Dutch vessels and towns and then take refuge in the harbor, of the English settlers, who protected him from his Dutch pursuers. Others followed the example of Baxter, and the condition of atlairs was such that act- of piracy could be committed with absolute impunity. The Datch retaliated on the English and offered their ports as places of refuge for those who had plundered the English. The region about Long Island and the shores of the East River finall ; Icame so infested with these robbers that both the English and the Dutch found it to their advartage to take measures to suppress them. Stuyvesant raised a force, a part of which was always on guard. Yachts were kept plying along the coast keeping a vigilant watch for purates, and severe penalties were intheted on those who offered protection to suspicious characters; and it was only after these measures were rigidly enforced that the New Netherlanders were relieved of the excesses practiced by theze freebooters.

Being thus driven from the scene of a profitable occupation, they were forced to find a new feld in which to carry on their daving operations, and it is doubtless due to this interruption that we find them a few years later perpetrating their outrages along the coast of Delaware.

Delaware being then a part of Pennsylvania, it is, therefore to the records and archives of the latter State that we must look for information and light upon this subject. The earliest appearance of pirates off the coast of Delaware, of which we have any definite knowledge was about 16:5. bat for the first two years they were not aggressive, and satisfied themselves with occasional sallies, accompanied by no great damage. In 1687, how- ever, they suddenly tweeme holder and more anda- cious, and their hostile exhibitions were so frequent and devastating as to demand the attention of the government in England. Deoming it best to deal with them mildly at first, James IL. issued an under requiring the colonial authorities to use every precaution to check the abuses and cent a fleet to aid them in the work ; but he authorized the pir- don of any pirate who, having been captured within twelve months of the date of the instruc- tions ( August 21, 16 7%, should give security to keep the peace in the future.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Delaware : 1609-1888, Part 24

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards Number of Pages: 776

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. J. Richards
Number of Pages: 776