USA > Delaware > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 14
USA > New Jersey > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 14
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On the 5th, the Dutch ships went up to Third Hook1 where they landed their men, who then passed over to Timber Island,' and thence over the great falls' and so invested Fort Christina on all sides. They brought their ships into the mouth of the creek, and planted their great guns on the western side of the fort, and when we burnt a little powder in a couple of pieces to scale them, they fired several shots over our heads from Timber Island, where they had also taken post in a house, and announced to us, that they had taken up a position on the west side, by regular volleys. We continued to prepare ourselves to make the best defence which our strength would allow, if we should be attacked, for we were not yet satisfied what the Dutch intended; but in a short time an Indian came in to us with a letter from Stüvesant, in which he arrogantly demanded the surrender of the whole river, and required me and all the Swedes either to evacuate the country, or to re- main there under Dutch protection, threatening with the consequences in case of refusal. Hereto I answered briefly, by letter, that, since so strange a demand was sent by him to me, I would reply by special messengers, and sent him my answer by the same Indian. We then held a general council of war, as to what should be done, if the Dutch assaulted us by storm or battery; and it was determined that we should in any case maintain the defensive, and make the best resistance we could, but should not commence or provoke hostilities, on account of our weakness and want of supplies; that we should wait until they fired upon us, or began to storm the works, and then de-
1 An elevated piece of firm land on the north side of Brandywine Creek, be- low the railroad bridge in Wilmington, Delaware.
'Timber Island, on the north-east side of the Brandywine Creek, near Fort Christina.
" Of Brandywine Creek, at present Wilmington, Delaware.
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fend ourselves as long as we could, and leave the consequences to be redressed in the future by our gracious superiors.
The Dutch now began to encroach upon us more and more every day. They killed our cattle, goats, swine and poultry, broke open houses, pillaged the people outside the sconce of their property, and higher up the river they plundered many, and stripped them to the skin. At Gothenburg they robbed Mr. Papegoija's wife of all she had, with many others, who had collected their property together in the Hall there. They daily continued to advance their approaches to Fort Christina, (which was a small and feeble work, and lay upon low ground, and could be commanded from the surrounding heights), and threw up two batteries besides those on the opposite bank and on Timber Island, and hoisted their flags on all of them, as well as on our ship in Fish Creek,1 all which hostile acts, in- juries, and insults we were, to our great mortification, com- pelled to witness and suffer, being unable to resist them, by reason of our want of men and of powder, whereof our supply scarcely sufficed for a single round for our guns. Notwith- standing all this, we still trusted that they would at length be persuaded to hear reason, and accordingly on the 7th we sent messengers down to Stuvesant at Fort Casimir, with a writ- ten commission, whereby we sought to dissuade him from fur- ther hostilities, protesting against his invasion and disturbance of our proper territory without cause assigned, or declaration denying, as far as they could, our right of possession in the river; also suggesting to him the displeasure of our respective sovereigns, and other consequences of great moment which would ensue; that we were determined to defend our rights to the utmost of our strength, and that he must answer for all consequences, and finally required him to cease hostilities, and to retire with his people from Fort Christina. But all this availed nothing with him, and on the contrary he per- sisted in his claim to the whole river, and would listen to no terms of accommodation, declaring that such were his orders, and that those who had given them might answer for the con- sequences. He then wrote me a letter on the 9th, in which he anticipates all terms of accommodation, will not allow that we have any rights to the said river, seeks to refute our argu-
1 Now Brandywine Creek, near the site of Fort Christina.
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THE SURRENDER OF NEW SWEDEN
1655]
ments, and styles our possession a usurpation, and so interprets every point to his own advantage.
As we still determined to maintain our own defence, and abide the result, the enemy continued to carry on their ap- proaches day and night, and with our little force of about thirty men we could make no sorties, or prevent him from gaining positions from which he could command the sconce so completely, that there was not a spot on the ramparts . where a man could stand in security, and as he now daily advanced his works, and summoned us to capitulate, with threats of giving no quarter, our men proposed to us to go out and try to bring Stuvesant to reason, both on account of our want of supplies, and the advanced condition of the enemy's works, and especially because our provisions were scanty and would soon be exhausted. Besides, our few and hastily collected people were getting worn out, partly sick, and partly ill disposed, and some had deserted .- From these considerations, and the fear of a mutiny, it was agreed, that I and Elzvii should go out the next day and hold a parley with Stuvesant, and endeavor to restrain him from forcible measures, and to bring him to reason. We accordingly went out for this purpose on the 13th, and Stuvesant and Nicatius de Sylle' met us between the sconce and their most advanced work. We solemnly protested against his procedure and his hostile conduct, and replied verbally to his last mentioned letter, confirmed our title with the best arguments we could, and held a long discussion with them; but all this produced no impression upon them, and they maintained their first ground, and insisted upon the surrender of Fort Christina and the whole river; to which we replied that we would defend ourselves to the last and would await them, clearly showing them that they were unjustly invading our possessions, and declaring that we would appeal to our government to redress our wrongs, and protect our rights thus forcibly trenched upon,
1 Nicasius de Sille (b. 1610), a member of the council of New Netherland, ranking next to Stuyvesant in the expedition, was a native of Arnheim, in the eastern part of the Netherlands, his father being a native of Namur, in Belgium. He had served as advocate to the court of Holland, and as captain in the forces of the States General. He came to New Netherlands in 1653 and was actively concerned in the governmental affairs of the colony until 1660.
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[1655
and so we went back to the sconce, exhorted our men to a manly defence, and encouraged them as well as we were able.
As soon as the Dutch had nearly completed their works, they brought the guns of all their batteries to bear upon us, and on the 14th instant, formally summoned Fort Christina, with harsh menaces, by a drummer and a messenger, to capitu- late within twenty-four hours. We then assembled a general council of the whole garrison, and it was found to be their unanimous opinion, that inasmuch as we had not sufficient strength for our defence, (the Dutch having completed their works against the sconce, and neither the sconce nor the gar- rison being able to stand an assault), and were in want both of powder and other munitions, and had no hope of relief, there- fore they were all of opinion, that we should make the best terms we could obtain with the Dutch; all which may be seen by the documents. So the next day we announced to the enemy, that we would consider their summons within the time prescribed, and being now reduced, by our want of sup- plies and weak condition, to yield to the violence practised upon us, we concluded a capitulation with Stüvesant, as may be found by the original among the documents, and surren- dered Fort Christina to him on the 15th instant, stipulating that the guns and all the effects belonging to the crown or the Company should be restored by the Dutch, according to the inventory, upon demand, and reserving the restitution of our sovereign's rights in time and manner fitting; providing also, that the Dutch should freely transport to Sweden both us, and as many Swedes as chose to accompany us, for we held it better that the people should be restored to their Fatherland's service than to leave them there in misery, without the neces- saries of life, in which case they would have entered the ser- vice of the Dutch or English, and never again advantaged their country.
THE EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS, RESPECTING WEST JERSEY, 1676
1
INTRODUCTION
THE preceding narratives have to do with the Dutch and Swedish period. The narratives that follow concern the Eng- lish period alone. The two groups differ, moreover, in that while the accounts in the first group are mainly official reports addressed to superior authority with no intent of publication, those of the second were contemporaneously put into print, for the most part to attract European immigrants to the shores of the Delaware an object which they accomplished with great success.
In the two decades that intervene between the two parts thus defined, the region of the Delaware had experienced some extensions of settlement and had come under the successive control of two great rival powers. During nearly the whole of the first decade the Dutch held sway. Then the English, with their revival of interest in trade and colonization after the Res- toration, which resulted in endeavors to deprive the Dutch of their commercial supremacy and of their American opportu- nities, began war, in 1664, and seized New Netherland. This acquisition supplied the one link hitherto missing in the chain of England's American colonies. The Delaware region, along with the remainder of New Netherland, acquired by the English, was transferred by their king, Charles II., to his brother, James, duke of York.
Of the Duke's tenure and government, of his grants of ter- ritory, and of the later sub-grants with their tedious and in- volved recitals, the essentials for our purpose may be found in the succeeding pages. Let it suffice here to state that the large portion of the English conquest on the east side of the
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Delaware, the moiety of New Jersey called West New Jersey, came as a trust into the hands of three eminent members of the persecuted sect of English Quakers (the joint authors of this Epistle): and it is this territory that is the theme of their disquisition as here reprinted.
The Quakers, whose leaders for years had been on the lookout for a home of refuge in the New World, first became directly concerned in the founding of colonies there in the year 1673-1674, when two of their number, John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge, old Cromwellian soldiers in England, purchased this tract of West New Jersey. A dispute as to the land arising between Fenwick and Byllynge, the foremost of all Quakers was called in as arbiter. This was William Penn, son of the Duke's favorite admiral in the Dutch War, and the future Founder of Pennsylvania, who thus made his first entry into the field of American colonization.
"The present difference between thee and E. B. fills the hearts of Friends with grief," wrote Penn to Fenwick. "I took care to hide the pretences on both hands as to the original of the thing, because it reflects on you both and which is worse on the truth" [i. e., on the profession of Quakerism]. Fen- wick endeavored to evade the award, but finally submitted to it. Byllynge accepted his allotment, but meeting business reverses, was compelled for the satisfaction of his creditors to convey his rights (February 14, 1675) to the above-mentioned trustees, William Penn and two creditors, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas.
Fenwick, also, notwithstanding extensive sales of his share of the land, fell into debt and had to lease those parts yet unsold to two other Quakers, Eldridge and Warner, as security for money borrowed. They in turn conveyed their claim to Penn, Lawrie, and Lucas, so that the latter secured control of prac- tically the whole of West New Jersey. In 1675 Fenwick brought over the initial Quaker colony in the ship Griffin, and planted
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INTRODUCTION
Salem, the first permanent English settlement on the east side of the Delaware.
Gawen Lawrie has been ascribed to Hertfordshire, but in 1676-1677 he is mentioned as a merchant of King's Court, Lombard Street, London. In 1684 he came over with his family to East New Jersey as Deputy Governor, and took up his residence at Elizabethtown. There he died in the fall of 1687. He wrote several accounts of East New Jersey. Nich- olas Lucas was a maulster, of Hertford, suffering persecution in that town for his Quaker belief as early as 1658. In 1664 he was the joint author of a Quaker tract and in the same year was confined in Hertford jail, under sentence of banishment,. being kept there for eight years.
The Epistle may be accepted as a careful statement of the facts. Judging especially from the use of the first person under the tenth heading, it was evidently composed in large part by Penn himself, although the other two men doubtless had a hand in the draft. It is mentioned in Joseph Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books (1867), volume II., p. 295, as a broadside, with no title, dated 1676. It was reprinted in 1775 in Samuel Smith's History of New Jersey (Burlington, N. J.), pp. 88-91. Our text is from Smith's book. It also appears in Robert Proud's History of Pennsylvania, I. 141- 142 (1797), and in New Jersey Archives I. 231-235 (1880).
A. C. M.
THE EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS, RESPECTING WEST JERSEY, 1676
Dear friends and brethren,
IN the pure love and precious fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ, we very dearly salute you: Forasmuch as there was a paper printed several months since, entitled, The description of New-West-Jersey,1 in the which our names were mentioned as trustees for one undivided moiety of the said province:" And because it is alledged that some, partly on this account, and others apprehending, that the paper by the manner of its ex- pression came from the body of friends," as a religious society of people, and not from particulars,‘ have through these mis- takes, weakly concluded that the said description in matter and form might be writ, printed and recommended on purpose to prompt and allure people, to dis-settle and transplant themselves, as it's also by some alledged: And because that we are informed, that several have on that account, taken encouragement and resolution to transplant themselves and families to the said province; and lest any of them (as is feared by some) should go out of a curious and unsettled mind, and others to shun the testimony of the blessed cross of Jesus, of which several weighty friends have a godly jealousy upon their spirits; lest an unwarrantable forwardness should act or hurry any beside or beyond the wisdom and counsel of the lord, or the freedom of his light and spirit in their own hearts, and not upon good and weighty grounds: It truly laid hard upon us, to let friends know how the matter stands; which we shall endeavor to do with all clearness and fidelity.
1. That there is such a province as New-Jersey, is certain.
2. That it is reputed of those who have lived and have
1 The Description of the Province of West Jersey is mentioned in Joseph Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books, II. (1867), 295, as a large broadside [c. 1676]. ' I. e., of the province of New Jersey.
' Or Quakers. "Individuals.
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EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS
1676]
travelled in that country, to be wholesome of air and fruitful of soil, and capable of sea trade, is also certain; and it is not right in any to despise or dispraise it, or disswade those that find freedom from the Lord, and necessity put them on going.
3. That the duke of York' sold it to those called lord Berkeley, baron of Stratton, and sir George Carteret, equally to be divided between them, is also certain.
4. One moiety or half part of the said province, being the right of the said lord Berkeley, was sold by him to John Fen- wick, in trust' for Edward Byllinge,' and his assigns.
5. Forasmuch as E. B. (after William Penn had ended the differences between the said Edward Byllinge and John Fen- wick) was willing to present his interest in the said province to his creditors, as all that he had left him, towards their satisfaction, he desired William Penn (though every way un- concerned) and Gawen Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas, two of his creditors, to be trustees for performance of the same; and because several of his creditors, particularly and very import- unately, pressed William Penn to accept of the trust for their sakes and security; we did all of us comply with those and the like requests, and accepted of the trust.
6. Upon this we became trustees for one moiety of the said province, yet undivided: And after no little labor, trouble and cost, a division was obtained between the said sir George Carteret and us, as trustees: The country is situated and bounded as is expressed in the printed description.
7. This now divided moiety is to be cast into one hundred parts, lots, or proprieties; ten of which upon the agreement made betwixt E. Byllinge and J. Fenwick, were settled and conveyed unto J. Fenwick, his executors and assigns, with a
1 James, duke of York, who received the grant of New Jersey from his brother Charles II. in 1664, at the time of the English conquest of New Nether- land, reconveyed it the same year to his two favorites, John lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.
' West New Jersey. The sale, for £1,000, took place March 18, 1673/4.
" As later alleged.
Edward Byllynge (p. 1684-1685), a Quaker brewer of Westminster, and a former Cromwellian soldier.
' Fenwick and Byllynge disputing the title to West New Jersey, William Penn had been called in as arbiter. Fenwick, then, February 10, 1674/5, re- linquished to Byllynge's assignees nine-tenths of his purchase for £400.
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considerable sum of money, by way of satisfaction for what he became concerned in the purchase from the said lord Berkely, and by him1 afterwards conveyed to John Edridge and Ed- mond Warner, their heirs and assigns.
8. The ninety parts remaining are exposed to sale, on the behalf of the creditors of the said E. B. And forasmuch as several friends are concerned as creditors, as well as others, and the disposal of so great a part of this country being in our hands; we did in real tenderness and regard to friends, and especially to the poor and necessitous, make friends the first offer; that if any of them, though particularly those that being low in the world, and under trials about a comfort- able livelihood for themselves and families, should be desirous of dealing for any part or parcel thereof, that they might have the refusal.
9. This was the real and honest intent of our hearts, and not to prompt or allure any out of their places, either by the credit our names might have with our people throughout the nation, or by representing the thing otherwise than it is in itself.
As for the printed paper sometime since set forth by the creditors, as a description of that province; we say as to two passages in it, they are not so clearly and safely worded as ought to have been; particularly, in seeming to limit the winter season to so short a time; when on further information, we hear it is sometime longer and sometime shorter than therein expressed; and the last clause relating to liberty of conscience, we would not have any to think, that it is promised or intended to maintain the liberty of the exercise of religion by force and arms; though we shall never consent to any the least violence on conscience; yet it was never designed to encourage any to expect by force of arms to have liberty of conscience fenced against invaders thereof.
1 John Fenwick, after his settlement with Byllynge, having sold over 100,000 acres of land to about fifty purchasers, Fenwick leased all his unsold tenth, July 17-19, 1675, for 1,000 years to Eldridge and Warner as security for money bor- rowed. Eldridge and Warner shortly after conveyed the same to Penn, Lawrie, and Lucas. John Edridge, or Eldridge, Quaker, was a tanner of Gravel Lane, St. Paul's Shadwell, county Middlesex, in 1676. Edmond Warner (d. 1683), also & Quaker, was a citizen and poulterer of London, and is said to have come over to Pennsylvania with his family as early as 1683.
' Quakers.
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EPISTLE OF PENN, LAWRIE, AND LUCAS
1676]
10. And be it known unto you all, in the name and fear of Almighty God, his glory and honour, power and wisdom, truth and kingdom, is dearer to us than all visible things; and as our eye has been single, and our heart sincere to the living God, in this as in other things; so we desire all whom it may con- cern, that all groundless jealousies may be judged down and watched against, and that all extremes may be avoided on all hands by the power of the Lord; that nothing which hurts or grieves the holy life of truth in any that goes or stays, may be adhered to; nor any provocations given to break precious unity.
This am I, William Penn, moved of the Lord, to write unto you, lest any bring a temptation upon themselves or others; and in offending the Lord, slay their own peace: Blessed are they that can see, and behold him their leader, their orderer, their conductor and preserver, in staying or going: Whose is the earth and the fullness thereof; and the cattle upon a thousand hills. And as we formerly writ, we cannot but re- peat our request unto you, that in whomsoever a desire is 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 endeavour to obtain their good wills, the unity of friends where they live; that whether they go or stay, it may be of good favour before the Lord (and good people) from whom only can all heavenly and earthly bless- ings come. This we thought good to write for the preventing of all misunderstandings, and to declare the real truth of the matter; and so we commend you all to the Lord, who is the watchman of his Israel. We are your friends and brethren, WILLIAM PENN, GAWEN LAWRIE, NICHOLAS LUCAS.
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THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COLONY OF WEST-JERSEY, 1681
INTRODUCTION
IN the gap of five years from our last document the Quaker settlements of West New Jersey made marked progress. Byllynge's trustees soon effected sales of large tracts of land to two Quaker companies in England, one in southern York- shire and contiguous territory and the other in London. Much of the land being resold, the number of proprietors rapidly increased. Preparations for sending over another Quaker colony were then energetically forwarded, in connec- tion with which a thoroughly democratic constitution embody- ing the Quaker ideals was drawn up in England. This was the famous Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of West New Jersey, a document of deep import in American constitutional history. It was signed by Penn, who has been credited with its drafting, and one hundred and fifty other persons representative of the groups mentioned in the title. By this instrument the government was placed in the hands of a board of ten commissioners-to be chosen at first by the proprietors and in a law-making assembly freely elected by the inhabitants.
The second colony of two hundred persons, bearing this constitution, went over in the ship Kent in 1677 and laid the foundations of the town and settlement of Burlington, more than fifty miles up the Delaware from Salem. The Yorkshire and London tracts were located respectively north and south of the new town. Questions having arisen as to the validity of the West New Jersey title, particularly as concerned the power of government, which, it was asserted, had not been in- cluded in the original real estate transfer, the commissioners
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for the first three years managed the affairs of the settlement under authority of Andros, the Duke's governor at New York. Penn, in the meantime, with persistence and skill, finally in- fluenced the Duke to recognize the Quaker title in both the land and government, the latter however being vested solely in Byllynge. It is this reconveyance of the Duke, dated August 6, 1680, that is here announced in The Present State. Byllynge, on assuming control, sent over Samuel Jenings as the first Deputy Governor and authorized the call of the As- sembly, which met for the first time in November, 1681.
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