USA > Delaware > Sussex County > Lewes > History of Lewes, Delaware. Read before the Historical Society of Delaware, Nov. 17, 1902 > Part 2
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THE BEACH AT LEWES.
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confidence as to attract some of the Indians on board where he heard from them the account of the tragedy substantially as here given.
De Vries, who was a wise and just man, did not care to investigate too closely a deed which was beyond recall or amendment to any good end ; but he felt assured it resulted from some provocative or brutal conduct of his own men, whom he well knew to be capable of cruel debauchery and he attributed the killing of Hossett and his men to "mere jangling with the Indians," to use his own words, and instead of seeking revenge or continuing a bloody quarrel with them, he made a treaty of peace with the red men and sealed it by making them the customary presents of duffels, kettles, &c.
Lingering through December in and near the Hoornkill or Lewes Creek, De Vries, on New Year's Day, 1633, sailed northward and reached Fort Nassau, near Gloucester, on the 5th of January. After a river cruise and some conferences with Indian chiefs he dropped down stream and lay for a time near the mouth of Minqua's kill, now our Christiana, where he encountered cold weather and obstructing ice, and thence returned to Zwaanendael. Arriving there on the 20th of Feb- ruary De Vries within a fortnight again weighed anchor and sailing for Virginia, there procured supplies for his colony. Upon his return he found his men had in his absence taken a number of whales yielding considerable oil, but he thought these returns not sufficient to justify the expenses involved, and, as the colony was now too small for self-support and defence against the natives De Vries took the few remaining adventurers and sailing homeward by way of Manhattan reached Holland sometime in the summer of 1633.
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Thus was the South or Delaware Bay abandoned to the +red natives. The hush and solemmity of primeval nature once more reigned supreme, and for five years until the coming of the Swedes in 1638 its solitudes were unvexed with the presence of Europeans. But as before stated, such abandonment was not the voluntary act of the colonists. Their desertion of the country was not their choice, but their misfortune. The De Vries settlement of 1631 was made for the valid purposes of actual occupancy and cul- tivation of the soil, both of which were achieved before the savage slaughter of the occupants and cultivators. This exempted the land from the grant to Lord Baltimore, made on the 20th of June, 1632, and thus neither by the accepted English rule established under Queen Elizabeth's reign requiring occupancy of wild land to secure its possession, nor upon any basis of precedent, principle or justice could the proprietary of Maryland fairly ground a claim for the possession of Delaware.
The first white occupants of the site of Lewes had prob- ably been Dutch traders who established a post there for Indian traffic as early as 1622. Following the Indian massacre of the De Vries settlement in 1631, the Dutch two years later, as before stated, totally abandoned the region of the Delaware Bay, but they continued their possession of New York, then New Amsterdam, and having regained control of northern Delaware by the conquest of the Swedish forts at New Castle and Christiana in 1655, they held at least nominal rule over lower Delaware, and in 1658 re-established a post at Lewes for trading with the Indians. But they were in constant dread of English claims to the country, and with a view of strengthening their
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title Beekman and D'Hinoyossa, representing the interests, respectively of the West India Company and of the City of Amsterdam, its creditor, came down from northern Del- aware to the Hoornkill and sent word to Indian chiefs to meet them for a new treaty of peace and land trade. In this they were successful as shown by a report to Governor Stuyvesant, under date of June 14th, 1659, and the same year a fort was built at the Hoornkill for defence against apprehended assault from the English. And thus for the second time the Dutch secured the Indians' title and prior right to the country embracing the site of Lewes.
It is not certainly known when the first actual settlers came to the Hoornkill after the Indian massacre in 1631, but following the re-establishment of the Dutch trading post in 1658 and the Dutch surrender to the English in 1664, all customs were abolished in October, 1670, when new settlers began to come in and by a census taken May 8th, 1671, there was a total population of 47 in the Hoornkill, while transfers of landed property, which had already commenced, became more numerous. On the 7th of July, 1665, 80 acres were granted to Alexander Molestedy (Molestine) "lying upon Whorekill neare unto the mouth of the kill," and 130 acres to Hermanus Wiltbank on the Whorekill and Pagan's Creek. On the 12th of January, 1670, a grant was made to James Mills of a "neck of land lying to the southward of the town called Whorekill," while following the English conquest in 1664 among the earliest deeds for land in lower Delaware was one for a tract from the British governor, Sir Francis Lovelace on the 2d of July, 1672, to Hermanus Frederick Wiltbank, designated as "all that piece of land at the Horekill signed and called Lewes, in Delaware Bay,
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which piece of land is called ye West India fort." It would be well to say here, however, as a matter of curious history, if nothing more, that prior to any land transfers by or to English parties, on the 7th of February, 1635, two years after the departure of De Vries and his colonists the whole of the patroon lands stretching 32 miles along the Delaware shore, including the site of Lewes, and embracing 12 square miles, including Cape May on the New Jersey side, were sold by Godyn, Blommaert and associates to the Dutch West India Co. for 15,600 guilders or $6,240, constituting the first land sale between white parties upon the Delaware Bay or River, and probably ending in this region all individual landed interests held under patroon tenure.
During their brief re-possession of power the Dutch in 1673 established a court at Lewes, which was continued by the English when they resumed control the following year. When the new justices were appointed May 28th, 1680, they took steps looking to a permanent seat of government, and upon petition for a change of name Gov. Andross promptly rechristened the Horekill or Whorekill, both being a corrup- tion of the original Hoornkill, with the name of "Deale," which appellation it bore until the coming of William Penn, who named the county Sussex, while Lewes took its name from an English town in the English shire of Sussex.
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Under the new auspices linked with William Penn's acquisition of the country, a new interest was inspired in Lewes with special hopes of making it a merchant port. The court was instructed to grant titles upon conditions implying the building of good sized houses on pain of fine and forfeiture, upon which basis various improvements were encouraged, and quaint petitions urged with odd specifica-
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tions, are to be found in the curious transactions of its ancient records. John Brown, shipbuilder, petitioned the court for "a lotte at Lewes on which he might build a sloop or shallop, as the one he now occupies is not fit;" and the same year William Beverly was sued by Hermanus Wiltbank for neglect of his work in building the vessel. Shipbuilding was then a growing industry in Lewes, while the records show that tobacco was then largely grown and used in nearly all business transactions.
From various causes largely connected with the Quaker immigration and influence led by William Penn, Lewes now had a fairly prosperous growth, and by a census taken in 1725 the town contained 58 families, while 15 families were settled at Quatertown two miles inland. Among the settlers at Lewes after Penn's arrival in 1682 where a number of immigrants from Scotland and northern Ireland, who be- longed to the religious sect called "Independents," to whom came, about the year 1691, the Rev. Samuel Davis as preacher, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. This appears to have been the beginning of organ- ized religious movements, and during the ensuing 30 years various denominations established themselves, while the London Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent over as missionary the Rev. William Beckett, who, selecting Lewis as a centre of operation, settled himself here in September, 1721; but the first church structure in Lewes was not finished until 1728. On October 3d, 1739, the emi- nent George Whitefield preached in Lewes and afterward reported that he thought its chief inhabitants "not troubled by the tender and melting story of a Saviour's sacrifice." In June, 1773, Gov. John Penn presented St. Peter's Church
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with an elegant communion service, which is still in use. The town has not been without seasons of special advance- ment, including improvement among its colored population, in religious and other matters:
Corresponding progress was attained in educational mat- ters which elicited the early interest of William Penn and his associates, with whom Lewes always seemed a favorite locality. Pertaining to this subject an interesting relic has recently been unearthed. In digging a cellar at Quakertown two miles distant workmen found beneath the surface a metallic seal about an inch and a half in diameter inscribed with the clearly cut words "Trustees of Penn's School Char- ter of Lewes." It bears no date and little has yet been ascer- tained regarding it, but it would seem to indicate a project early proposed in behalf of education and an early recognition of the importance of Lewes as the seat of such a movement, much as the historic interest and early importance of the place receive additional emphasis from its still standing ancient school house where four of Delaware's governors began their early education, coupled with the fact that in a single one of its burial places rest the remains of four of the same rank of chief magistrates formerly ruling its affairs. And here it would seem not amiss to refer to the early reputation borne by Lewes as a town of intelligence, when with other provisions for proper reading matter it was quaintly observed that they could not be fairly deemed supplied without a cer- tain newspaper printed in Philadelphia by one Benjamin Franklin; leaving the fair inference that the "certain news- paper" was accordingly duly subscribed for and faithfully perused by the good people of the intelligent town.
By virtue of the king's authority and long usage confirmed
والهدايا
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by express grant by the heirs of William Penn the tract of sandy level and marsh lying between Lewes and the bay was early consecrated as a public commons for the people's ben- efit; and by subsequent acts of the Legislature and Court of Quarter Sessions it was placed in charge of trustees. Since 1871 the control of the commons has been vested in the commissioners of the town, who authorized improvements to be made and buildings erected on leased lots. A highway across the marsh to the beach skirting the immediate bay front has also been constructed and wharves built out into deep water by which additional facilities it has been made possible to encourage shipping in lieu of that ruined by the filling up of the olden Hoornkill or modern Lewes Creek.
Lewes occupies both a protected and exposed situation- the one afforded by nature, the other incident to man. While sheltered from the ocean behind its sandhill cape, its very security conspires with its fine site, its watery access- ibility and the supporting fertility of its back country, to offer a tempting bait to sea marauders regular and irregular. In the colonial period in the latter part of the Seventeenth Century the coast was much harassed by pirates as well as in both the Revolutionary struggle and War of 1812. During the period first named French privateers threatened to lay waste such towns as refused to pay them tribute, and the court, fearing Lewes might prove a salient point for attack, took action on the 15th of July, 1695, to provide for a watch on the cape. Their fears were not immediately realized, but on the 27th of August, 1698, French pirates landed and pillaged nearly every house in Lewes. At the beginning of the war for independence early in 1775, a permanent look- out scout was stationed at Lewes, fifty to one hundred men
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were kept on guard at the lighthouse and pilots were warned against bringing any British armed vessels up the bay.
Lewes indeed contributed her full share to the success of our Revolutionary struggle and the trials and anxieties it involved. Originally of royal English stock the people of lower Delaware and adjoining Maryland counties were kept by their Peninsular isolation out of touch with the general growth of resistance to British oppression, and were very loath to cease their long devotion to the throne of their fathers. This greatly encouraged Tory hopes and emboldened the supporters of England in her course. Yet it was in Lewes that the largest assemblage ever seen in the State convened on the 28th of July, 1774, in earnest and devoted sympathy with the people of Boston when the British Parliament closed their port following the memorable wreckage of tea in Bos- ton harbor. The principal speaker was Thomas Mckean, the future "signer" of the Declaration of Independence, and in response to his stirring and exhaustive appeal to make common cause with the Bostonians the meeting took prompt action for home rights, fairly leading off in certain lines in radical proposals for redress of grievances. And it was doubt- less this resolute and defiant tone from a comparatively Tory quarter that at once aided in ripening colonial resistance into unity of feeling and gave early prominence to Delawareans in the Continental Congress. Moreover it is worthy of note. that at this early meeting in behalf of liberty the eloquent McKean with consistent faith and prescient wisdom depre- cated the prevalence of African slavery and hoped that an honorable expedient might soon "be found to put an end to an institution so dishonorable to us and so provoking to the most benevolent Parent of the Universe."
LANDING-PLACE OF FIRST SETTLERS AT LEWES IN 1631, AFTERWARDS SITE OF FORT IN REVOLUTION AND WAR OF 1812.
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Perhaps no place of equal size exceeded Lewes in the number and prominence of its actors in the Revolutionary struggle. The natives of the town included Shepherd Kollock, the distinguished officer, journalist and efficient patriot who fought at Trenton and other battles and after- ward published newspapers in various places-and Colonel David Hall, who raised a company in the town which participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and in the South-and who later recruited the celebrated Delaware Line Regiment, of which he became colonel, and fought through the war. These and other natives and residents of the town plunged with great zeal into the struggle. On the 27th of March, 1776, Henry Fisher of Lewes, notified the Pennsylvania Committee that the enemy had appeared in the Lewes roads, when prepara- tions for resistance were promptly begun. On the 11th of June, 1776, the Lewes Committee notified Congress of the reported assemblage of one thousand Tories at a spot eigh- teen miles distant, who intended to co-operate with the British vessels in front of Lewes. The British frigate Roebuck had manœuvered before Lewes with many threats and a few shots at the town with little effect, when in the first week of May she was joined by the sloop of war Liverpool, twenty-eight guns, and the two vessels sailed northward and cruised between Chester and the mouth of the Christiana where, in front of Wilmington, they were attacked by American row-galleys under Captain Houston of Philadelphia, and forced to retreat.
This was the first naval encounter with the enemy in the struggle for national existence while the last sea fight to that glorious end was the battle of April 8th, 1782, when
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the American sloop of war Hyder Alley, Captain Barney, defeated the British sloop General Monk at the entrance of Delaware Bay. Thus the opening and close of the naval part of the Revolutionary War occurred on Delaware waters, the first in front of Wilmington at one end of the State, and the last in front of Lewes, at the other end. It is but fair, however, to the town of Lewes to refer to the prior capture of four of Roebuck's crew near Cape Henlopen, and espe- cially to the gallant prior fight of a Lewes schooner and Lewes people with a tender of the Roebuck which, before sailing for northern Delaware, vainly attempted to prevent the landing of powder sent to the American forces ; so that, strictly speaking, the naval part of the Revolutionary strug- gle may be said to have opened and closed in sight of the town of Lewes.
In the course of our war for Independence the exposure and accessibility of Lewes subjected its people and neighboring farmers to many abuses and depredations, one of the most remarkable of which involved a member of the eminent Quaker family of Fisher, whose ancestors came to America with William Penn and whose branches have afforded worthy and influential actors in various high positions. During the severe winter of 1779-80, when the British war vessel Roebuck lay near Cape Henlopen, a press-gang from her crew, impelled by the urgent need of food supplies, seized upon Thomas Fisher, then a lad of 17, on his father's farm near Lewes, and, carrying him and a negro slave on board the vessel, sent peremptory notice to the parents of the boy that the only possible condition upon which the captives would be surrendered was their ransom by the speedy delivery of 100 bullocks on board the Roebuck.
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The condition was promptly accepted and the required cattle, chiefly afforded by the home herd, with a few neighboring contributions, were driven several miles on the ice to the war vessel and the captives liberated pursuant to the terms demanded.
It is unnecessary here to speak of Lewes' part in the War of 1812. It has not been long since we were favored with the reading of a valuable paper by William M. Marine, Esq., on the "Bombardment of Lewes," which not only covered the subject in ample detail, but told the story with such fervor of rhetorical delivery as summoned before a delighted audience ensanguined visions of a memorable conflict wherein, according to the rhyming participant quoted
The commander and all his men Shot a dog and killed a hen.
It will suffice to repeat here the well-known fact that such substantial service was rendered by the defenders of Lewes in protecting the whole coast of lower Delaware from British . depredations for army supplies as earned grateful thanks to the commander, Colonel Samuel B. Davis, a native of Lewes, and his soldiers, who were largely its citizens.
Local writers calmly assume as a fact what historical authorities deem at least problematical with respect to an interesting geographical point connected with Delaware's early settlement. It has long been a cherished and fixed belief among the people of Lewes that the suburbs of their town of the immediate vicinity embrace the olden "Paradise Point," where Peter Minuit and the first Swedish colonists landed in 1638, while enroute to their final destination on the Christiana. It is claimed that such resting place was
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really the high ridge of land on the then named Hoornkill, now the lower part of what is known as the Pilot Town part of Lewes; and they believe that a few of the Swedish immi- grants who then and there landed did not resume the voyage with Minuit, but remained in that locality where they were afterwards joined by Dutch traders through whose influence the Holland authorities caused a fort to be built on or near what was the landing spot both of the first Dutch settlers of the De Vries expedition and of the resting place of the Swedes, which they called "Paradise Point."
This is all pure conjecture, wholly unsupported by even the probabilities of the situation. While the exact identity of Paradise Point has never been certainly determined it is generally conceded to have been north of the Mispillion, between that creek and Murderkill, where the shore some- what projects into the bay. This would place it in Kent county at least fifteen miles north of the spot claimed in lower Pilot Town. All authorities speak of the Swedish stopping place as a "point," none of them as a cove or bay, or allude to a stream ascended to a high ridge on its banks upon which to land, by some one or more of which particulars the locality could have hardly failed to be charac- terized had the Swedes landed near the mouth of the Hoorn- kill or sailed up the stream for a landing place as claimed; however much the locality may have since changed; nor is there a hint from any source of any Swedes having stop- ped any where and discontinued their journey with Minuit to his destination on the Christiana.
But a locality so rich in historic interest as Lewes can well afford to dispense with additional distinction of this . kind. Standing on or near the site of the original De Vries -
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settlement, Lewes may be deemed the most ancient town in Delaware. Its origin and brief early existence assured the first requisite of a physical basis upon which to erect a polit- ical community. Except for that early Dutch settlement where now stands the town of Lewes Delaware would have been a part of Maryland. As a theatre of events affecting the latter welfare of the State, Lewes must ever stand forth in proud historic perspective. As involved in matters going alike to the making and defending of Delaware, Lewes is scarcely second, historically, to New Castle, its early seat of government, or Wilmington, the starting point of its first permanent settlement, while it has certainly been the great- est sufferer in its service and especially in its defence of our little commonwealth. Lewes is probably the only consider- able town in the State whose area was included in the terri- tory affected by the operations of the old Dutch patroon system of landed aristocracy. It was thus subjected to a first crushing blow from the savages, and it has borne the brunt of constant border piracy and naval attacks, regular and irregular, during two wars, while its early pilotage and protection to extensive maritime interests are not unworthy of mention.
With the Indians Lewes and its immediate vicinity were ever a favorite resort; and there have been incontestible evidences that an aboriginal village once occupied the present town site. A railroad excavation through a small hill has uncovered a burial place and many skeletons were exposed. 1 The succeeding white settlers seem to have endorsed the red men's choice alike as to the living and dead. The original court records as early as 1687 refer to an Ancient Burial Place, where the citizens of Horekill made interments, and'
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near the supposed scene of the first Dutch massacre by the - Indians one acre of ground was set apart for such use. This and other burial grounds contain the remains of persons interred prior to the year 1750, who lived in the preceding century. Among the many graves are notably those of four of Delaware's Governors, namely, Daniel Rodney, Caleb Rodney, Samuel Paynter and Dr. Joseph Maull.
Thus much for what may perhaps be fairly deemed a historical presentation of Lewes. As much more could be written of greater general interest touching personal inci- dents and matters of traditional and legendary nature, while in matters combining both the authentic and half-licensed fictions reminiscent of early frontier life and daring tales of the sea, the ancient town affords abundant material. Some legitimate matter of historical bearing has doubtless been overlooked ; nor has any attempts been made to describe the industrial or other modern interests of Lewes; while refraining from this and endeavoring to give emphasis to its historic character the writer hopes that the just and general characteristics of a place so deeply concerned with nature and history have not been neglected. And this is deemed a not unsuitable place to acknowledge the large extent to which material for this paper has been derived from Scharf's excellent history of Delaware and the aid received from the archives of the Pennsylvania Historical Society and the collections of the late Dr. Mustard of Lewes.
It is a matter of tradition that the British government built a good light house at Cape Henlopen as early as 1725, with a tower octagonal in shape, whose walls were seven feet thick and seven stories high, built with stones brought from England. For its benefit 200 acres were
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ordered to be surveyed by Governor John Penn in Novem- ber, 1763, and the same month provision was made for raising a fund by subscription and by means of a lottery to maintain a light and buoys at the mouth of Delaware Bay. The interior of the light-house was finished in wood which the British burned during the Revolutionary War and a piece of the charred remains resulting is among the relics preserved by the late Dr. Mustard of Lewes.
An incident which may be deemed at once legendary and historic in character is connected with a once stately man- sion which is still standing in Lewes. The edifice has always been associated with the well known Fisher family and is called the Fisher House.
It was once the residence of Colonel Samuel B. Davis, commander of the defending forces at the bombardment of Lewes in 1813. With the colonel, during his residence in this house, there lived a young lady as his ward, for whom he cherished great affection as one of his own chil- dren, while she had never suspected that she was not his daughter until she was playfully bantered by some friends upon a certain occasion in a way implying serious doubt of her real relationship with one she thought her father. Startled with suspicion and awed with harassing doubts she impatiently awaited a reliable test of the truth, and when the colonel left the house to attend church on the ensuing Sunday she quickly searched through his well stored papers among which found unquestionable evidence that she was not the daughter but the ward of her supposed father and the heiress of large estates in New Orleans. Her close and trusted connection with Colonel Davis is said to have remained undisturbed by her discovery and, marry-
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ing in due time she became known to the whole country as Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, probably the greatest litigant of her age. She was something of a poet when young, and a spot is pointed out in the fence surrounding the Fisher house where swung the familiar garden gate which inspired her pretty lines "Swinging on the Old Red Gate."
Another matter of mingled romance and reality seems entitled to a place here from its connection with a critical epoch in our national history in the War of the Revolution. The continental Congress had been deliberating upon the momentous question of total separation from the mother country, and the resolution for final action was to be voted upon with little further delay. Of the three Delaware dele- gates Thomas McKean and Cæsar Rodney earnestly favored the declaration for independence while George Read opposed it as at least premature. Pending the decision, Rodney went to Dover with the double object of arousing public sentiment for independence and of aiding to enlist troops for the army to support it, in both of which he was threatened with defeat by a third matter of more engrossing urgency; for at Dover Rodney met an enchantress in the person of Sarah Rowland from Lewes, a sprightly young Quaker widow, witty and fascinating, who was ardently devoted to the Royal side of the conflict. Cæsar Rodney, angular in person and honest in purpose had a facial affliction of a can- cerous nature which added a scarred and drawn expression to naturally plain features, but like most men of iron nerve and stalwart mould, his rough exterior was coupled with a warm heart and special susceptibility to female charms. With the quickness of woman's intuition the lady realized the situation and saw her opportunity. To much beauty of
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person she added winsome manners and rare powers of per- suasion, and, under her blandishments Cæsar's first prepos- session fast ripened to captivity of the heart. Begtrited by her wishes he innocently confided to his charmer the situa- tion of affairs in Congress and revealed the closeness of the expected vote favoring and opposing the Declaration of Independence. Meanwhile Rodney's colleague, McKean, was sending daily letters urging his speedy return; for in Rodney's absence the two other delegates would be tied and Delaware's voice silenced in the patriotic crises. Through the contrivance of the fair deceiver these letters had been intercepted; and Cæsar, suspecting no ill of one he loved, dreamed on in sweet beguilement.
Thus matters continued until near the evening of the third of July when suddenly a patriotic maid servant of the false woman rushed into Rodney's presence and drawing forth a package of the intercepted letters exclaimed "see how she's fooled you!" Cæsar Rodney hastily perusing the letters raised his hand to his forehead and uttering a cry of disgust and dispair, hurried away and mounting his horse, dashed off upon that well known night journey to Philadel- phia, which, if less renowned than Paul Revere's ride, ranks with the most momentous flights in lofty purpose and his- toric importance. By terrific speed and repeated relays of horses the rider reached Philadelphia in time to cast his vote for that glorious cause which has given license to the hide- ous fourth of July uproar with which we have ever since been annually afflicted. "Cæsar's Ride" was so exhaustive a night's trip that he looked pale and sick upon his appear- ance in Congress when John Adams said of him "Cæsar Rod- ney is the oddest looking man in the world; he is tall, thin,
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slender and pale; his face is not bigger than a large apple, yet there is sense and fire, spirit, wit and humor in his countenance." The beautiful Tory lady by whom he was so nearly betrayed afterward married a captain in the British navy, but Cæsar Rodney lived and died a bachelor; their story has been a fruitful theme for gay recital and graceful verse in the literature of our Revolutionary struggle.
Lewes has long been the home and headquarters of pilots. Their calling as a profession was recognized as early at least as 1765, when Friend Griffith an immigrating Quaker in that year wrote "on the ninth day of sixth month we made Cape Henlopen and a pilot came on board and he proved to be a native Indian." A large number of these men live in Lewes and own their homes and their craft and they form a thrifty and reliable class of good citizens. Their avocation and influence, the numerous houses with tightly shingled walls for protection from sea winds, the odor and feel of sea air, the talk of the people, and the visible signs on all hands of seafaring pursuits combine to give a character of its own to Lewes and distinguish: it from the average of Delaware towns. Its citizens tell of a long line of distressing ship- wrecks among the most notable of which was that of the British sloop of war De Braak, Capt. Drew, carrying letters of mark and reprisal from the English government against Bonaparte and his allies, and laden with the fruits of many victories, when, on the tenth of June, 1798, while near the mouth of the bay, and steered by a Lewes pilot, the vessel in a sudden gust went down with all on board; including fifteen prisoners and a fabulous store of gold, trophies and treasure.
Another memorable calamity was the wreck of the large
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French vessel upon which Jerome Bonaparte embarked for France upon his recall from America by his brother Napo- leon. While being blockaded by the British, his ship was utterly wrecked on the point of the cape during a fearful storm. Fortunately Jerome was among those saved alike from the storm and the enemy, and, reaching Lewes he became a guest in what was then the Peter Maull House. Many simi- lar disasters could be named. Indeed all about the neigh- boring coasts of bay and ocean is an unbroken line of wrecks representing every description of craft. Lewes is toned with the very sentiment and atmosphere of the sea. Tidings of hardship and heroic sacrifice have brought storied interest and world-wide sympathies to the firesides of her humble homes. But if a weird pathos is exhaled from her troubled past a hopeful future will come of the already quickening life of an industrial and more varied development, while brightening her seafront in ever inspiring presence, are the proud and protected shipping and noble life-saving appliance of an enlightened and generous nation.
On the very site of this ancient town first took root the corporate germ, the vital seed of a new political community. Here its soil was first cultivated and first stained with the whites man's blood; here the assaults of angry nature and hostile man have most left their scars; and, considering the unique origin of the town as the child of an alien oligarchy, in view of its varied characteristics, with all the lights and shades of its eventful career, it may well be doubted if any place in the State or elsewhere can furnish a more significant and picturesque history than Delaware's ancient town of Lewes.
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