USA > Delaware > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 23
USA > New Jersey > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 23
USA > Pennsylvania > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 23
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[torn] Wolves, and Bears, and Pa[torn]
[Fo]xes, Raccoons and Otters dwelleth here,
[Be]side all these the Nimble footed Dear; [T]he Hare so lightly runs for to escape;
[Y]et here are things of a more stranger shape, [T]he Female Possum, which I needs must tell ye, [Is] much admired with her double Belly; [T]he Belly for her Meat, she hath beside [A]nother where her Young Ones use to hide. [O] strange! 'tis hard, I think, for me to name [T]he Multitudes of Beasts, both Wild and Tame: [B]evers here are, whose Skins are soft as Silk, [H]orses to Ride on, Cows to give us Milk, [Be]sides the Beasts, whose Nature is so Rude,
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[To] speak of them, I think I must Conclude. [Al]so the Flocks of Fowle, and Birds, pray mind, [The] Swans, and Geese, and Turkyes in their kind, The Turky-Buzard, and Bald-Eagle high, Wild Ducks, which in great Companyes do fly; More sorts of fowle here are, than I need [tell], Yet here are other things, which do excell. The Fields, most fruitful, yield such Crops of Wheat, And other things most excellent to eat. As Barley, Rye, and other sorts of Grain; In peace we plow, we sow, and reap again, Good Indian Corn, which is a larger breed, It doth our Cattle, Swine and Horses feed, Buck-Wheat and Oats, beside, good store of Reed, A plentiful Land, O plentiful indeed, For Plants, and Roots, and Herbs, wee'l let them be, To name the Fruit that grows upon each Tree: The fruit Trees do flourish, and are green,
Where Apples, Peaches, Quinces, Plumbs are seen, With other Fruits, whose glittering Faces shine. The Grapes grow plenty on the fruitful Vine: Wall-Nuts, Chest-Nuts, Hazel-Nuts appear, These things are plenty with us every Year. More things I can relate, for all is true, And yet, not give the Country half his due. Also, here is of divers sorts of Fish, So good, so pleasant as a man need wish, Within our Rivers, swiming to and fro. Great ones we catch, but small ones let them go. Here are more things than I can well express, Strange to be seen in such a Wilderness. By Day we work, at Night we rest in Peace, So that each Day our Substance doth increase: O blessed be his Name, who doth provide For you, and us, and all the World beside.
The first part that I writ is good indeed, But yet perhaps the second may exceed: The Truth in Rhyme, which I do here compose, It may be spoken thus, as well as Prose:
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Therefore unto my words once more attend, Here are more Properties I shall commend.
The Riches of this Land it is not known, What in the after Ages may be shown; My words are true, for here was lately found Some precious Mettle under-neath the Ground, The which some men did think was Silver Oar, Others said Copper, but some think 'tis more. They say there is a vein of Lead or Tin, Where choicer Mettle lodgeth further in; So divers men have divers judgments spent, And so the matter lies in Argument. If men would venture for to dig below, They might get well by it, for ought I know: Those Treasures in the Earth which hidden be, They will be good, whoever lives to see. A certain place here is, where some begun To try some Mettle, and have made it run, Wherein was Iron absolutely found, At once was known about some Forty Pound.
We know no end of this great Tract of Land, Where divers sorts of Timber Trees doth stand, As mighty Oaks, also, here's Cedars tall, And other sorts, 'tis hard to name them all, The strong Hickery, Locust and lofty Pine, 'Tis strange to see what Providence divine Hath in the World ordained for to be, Which those that live at home do never see.
I also give you here to understand What People first inhabited this Land: Those that were here before the Sweeds and Fins, Were Naked Indians, Cloathed with their Skins, Which can give no account from whence they came; They have no Records for to shew the same; But I may think, and others may suppose What They may be, yet I think few men knows,
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Unless they are of Esau's scattered Seed, Or of some other wild corrupted Breed. They take no care to plow, nor yet to sow, Nor how to till their Land they do not know, Therefore by that we may observe it plain, That this can hardly be the Seed of Cain; Some Men did think they were the scattered Jews, But yet I cannot well believe such News: They neither do New Moons nor Sabbath keep, Without much Care they eat, they drink, they sleep; Their care for Worldly Riches is but light, By Day they hunt, and down they lie at Night. Those Infidels that dwelleth in the Wood, I shall conclude of them so far so good.
You that will seek a Country strange, Attend to what is true, All that are willing to exchange, An Old place for a New. We that our Country did forsake, And leave our Native Land, Will do the best we can to make Our Neighbours understand.
Although I have a good intent, Yet hardly can express, How we, through Mercy, were content In such a Wilderness. When we began to clear the Land, For room to sow our Seed, And that our Corn might grow and stand, For Food in time of Need, Then with the Ax, with Might and Strength, The Trees so thick and strong, Yet on each side, such strokes at length, We laid them all along. So when the Trees, that grew so high, Were fallen to the ground, Which we with Fire, most furiously To Ashes did Confound,
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Then presently we sought for Wood, I mean (not Wood to burn, But for) such Timber, choice and good, As fitted well our turn. A City, and Towns were raised then, Wherein we might abide, Planters also, and Husband-men, Had Land enough beside. The best of Houses then was known, To be of Wood and Clay, But now we build of Brick and Stone, Which is a better way.
The Names of Some of our Towns. Philadelphia, that great Corporation, Was then, is now our choicest Habitation. Next unto that there stands the German-Town, Also, within the Country, up and down, There's Haverford, where th' Welch-men do abide, . Two Townships more, I think, they have beside: Here's Bristol, Plymouth,1 Newtown, here doth stand, Chester, Springfield, Marple in this Land, Darby, and other famous Habitations, Also, a multitude of New Plantations.
The German-Town' of which I spoke before, Which is, at least, in length one Mile and More, Where lives High-German People, and Low-Dutch, Whose Trade in weaving Linnin Cloth is much, There grows the Flax, as also you may know, That from the same they do divide the Tow; Their Trade fits well within this Habitation, We find Convenience for their Occupation. One Trade brings in imployment for another, So that we may suppose each Trade a Brother; From Linnin Rags good Paper doth derive,
'Near present Norristown, in Montgomery County.
""A Town of Dutch and German People that have set up the Linnen Manu- factory, which weave and make many Hundred Yards of pure fine Linnen Cloath in a Year."-Letter of John Goodson, Philadelphia, 1690.
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A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF PENNSILVANIA 305.
The first Trade keeps the second Trade alive: Without the first the second cannot be, Therefore since these two can so well agree, Convenience doth approve to place them nigh, One in the German-Town, 'tother hard by. A Paper Mill1 near German-Town doth stand, So that the Flax, which first springs from the Land, First Flax, then Yarn, and then they must begin, To weave the same, which they took pains to spin. Also, when on our backs it is well [worn], Some of the same remains Ragged and Torn; Then of those Rags our Paper it is made, Which in process of time doth waste and fade: So what comes from the Earth, appeareth plain, The same in Time returns to Earth again.
So much for what I have truly Compos'd, Which is but a part of what may be disclosed, Concluding of this, and what is behind, I may tell you more of my Mind; But in the mean time be content with this same, Which at present is all from your Friend RICHARD FRAME.
1 The first paper-mill in America, erected in 1690, on a branch of Wissa- hickon Creek, in Germantown, by William Rittinghuysen or Rittenhouse (1644- 1708), a Mennonite paper-maker, with the assistance of a company consisting of William Bradford, the first printer of the middle colonies, and the wealthy Phila- delphia citizens, Samuel Carpenter, Robert Turner, and Thomas Tresse. Brad- ford obtained his paper from this mill. Rittenhouse was a native of the prin- cipality of Broich, near the city of Mulheim-on-the-Ruhr, Germany, not far from the borders of Holland. His ancestors for generations had been paper-makers at Arnheim. In 1678 he was a resident of Amsterdam; thence he came to New York, and in 1688 to Germantown, where he served as a minister in the Mennon- ite congregation.
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AN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AC- COUNT OF PENSILVANIA AND OF WEST- NEW-JERSEY, BY GABRIEL THOMAS, 1698
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INTRODUCTION
THE book here reprinted was the largest and most preten- tious that had yet appeared descriptive of the twin provinces on the Delaware. The author was a Welsh yeoman who, having been a pioneer in Penn's colony during the fifteen years of his young manhood, the very period of its rise and development to this time, had returned to the Old World, and in 1697 prepared this account from his experiences and observation. The work was published the following year in London. The first part, which has to do with Pennsylvania, is dedicated to William Penn, and apparently was issued with his knowledge and en- couragement, although Penn's recent removal to Bristol and subsequent travels in Ireland doubtless gave him no oppor- tunity to read either the manuscript or proof of the book.
Gabriel Thomas was the author. He had his origin in the extreme southeastern part of Wales, in Monmouthshire, not far from the English border and at no great distance from Bristol. Pontemoil, a little place nestling at the foot of a spur of the Drynos mountains, was his birthplace. There he first saw the light in March, 1661. His parents, Lewis and Grace Thomas, who had lived at the place as early as 1650, were Quakers. One Lewis Thomas, a dissenting Quaker liberated from Monmouth jail in 1671, was probably the father. No further records of Gabriel Thomas in Wales have been found.
In the fall of 1681, being then in his twenty-first year, Gabriel Thomas set out for Pennsylvania, sailing from London with the first company of Penn's emigrants in the ship John and Sarah. At Philadelphia, he informs us, "I saw the first Cellar when it was digging for the use of our Gouvernour Will. Penn." His parents with nearly all of their eight chil-
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dren also came over to the province, but the time of their arrival is unknown. In 1688 two of his sisters were married by the Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, his younger sister Rachel at that time becoming the bride of Thomas Wharton, the founder of the distinguished Philadelphia family of that name. In the same year the father died, being mentioned in one of the papers of his estate at Philadelphia, as "late of West Jersey" and in another as "late of Philadelphia." The mother died in Philadelphia in 1694. The records indicate Thomas's presence in the city in 1692 and in 1693 and that was probably in general his place of residence in Pennsylvania.
Proceeding to London about 1697, being then aged thirty- six, he saw his book through the press and remained there as late as 1702. In this year he figures in an acrimonious con- troversy with William Penn. With the plea, as he states, that his book on Pennsylvania had "proved to the province's great advancement by causing great numbers of people to goe over to those parts," he sought the proprietary post of collector of quit-rents for New Castle County. Penn failing to meet these expectations, Thomas took sides with Colonel Robert Quarry, judge of admiralty in the middle colonies, in the latter's cam- paign of aggression against Penn and the government of Penn- sylvania, and finally invoked the aid of the British Board of Trade in his endeavors to secure the place. In his petition to this body Thomas complains that he is now "reduced to great poverty by reason" of Penn's "unjust dealings" and is persecuted because of assistance given to Colonel Quarry. He then declares that he is ready to appear as evidence for the Crown against Penn. The incident closes with Penn's re- sponse to the board under date of August, 1702, in which he characterizes Thomas as "so beggarly and base a man, that I am sorry to finde time lost upon him."
By 1706 Thomas had come back to America and was living as a yeoman in Sussex County in the present state of Delaware,
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INTRODUCTION
where he possessed a plantation of about a thousand acres called "Pleasant," located on the north side of Prime Hook Neck. In 1712 he was again a resident of Philadelphia and there he doubtless continued until his death, which occurred in December, 1714, at the age of fifty-three.
Gabriel Thomas, as we have seen, was not only a birth- right Quaker, but he used the Quaker form of speech in his dedication to Penn, and is so named in the records of the British Board of Trade. In later life, however, his membership was discontinued, as both the burial records of the Philadelphia Friends and the manuscript "Beehive," kept by Pastorius, the contemporary German Quaker, enter him as a non-Quaker.
The intent of Thomas's history, like that of our other nar- ratives for this English epoch, was chiefly to incite the move- ment of European population to the Delaware. The book is written in a simple, descriptive style, but with an undercurrent of playfulness and occasional touches of satire that lend a certain charm and quaint pleasantness to the account. Along with these evidences of the Cymric temperament of the writer is a tendency to exaggerate in some of the passages; these lapses, however, are easily discernible. Where he writes what he himself knows he is in general reliable, but he falls sadly into error with respect to some of the dates and places that are without his own experience. These inaccuracies are cor- rected in the notes.
An Historical and Geographical Account is a sextodecimo book published in London in 1698. The part dealing with Pennsylvania comprises 8 + 55 pages. The second part con- cerns West New Jersey, and is inscribed to the proprietors of that province. Although bound up with the first part, it has its own title-page and separate pagination, numbering 11 + 34 pages. A map covering the region of both provinces is in- cluded in the volume. A German translation forming part of the Pastorius Continuatio der Beschreibung der Landschafft
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Pennsylvaniae (2 + 40 pages) was published at Frankfort and Leipzig about 1702. Our text is from a lithographic facsimile of the original London edition, published in New York in 1848 by Henry Austin Brady. The original edition was also reprinted in the Philadelphia Daily News, in August and De- cember, 1864, and again by Burrows Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1903 (pp. 83), with an introduction by Cyrus Town- send Brady.
A. C. M.
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AN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AC- COUNT OF PENSILVANIA AND OF WEST- NEW-JERSEY, BY GABRIEL THOMAS, 1698
An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of Pensilvania; and of West-New-Jersey in Amer- ica. The Richness of the Soil, the Sweetness of the Situation the Wholesomness of the Air, the Navigable Rivers, and others, the prodigious Encrease of Corn, the flourishing Condition of the City of Philadelphia, with the stately Buildings, and other Improvements there. The strange Creatures, as Birds, Beasts, Fishes, and Fowls, with the several sorts of Minerals, Purging Waters, and Stones, lately discovered. The Na- tives, Aborogines, their Language, Religion, Laws, and Cus- toms; The first Planters, the Dutch, Sweeds, and English, with the number of its Inhabitants; As also a Touch upon George Keith's New Religion, in his second Change since he left the Quakers, with a Map of both Countries.
By Gabriel Thomas, who resided there about Fifteen Years. London, Printed for, and Sold by A. Baldwin, at the Oxon Arms in Warwick-Lane, 1698.
The Dedication.
Friend William Penn,
I Here present Thee with a succinct (yet compleat) Account of the late Improvement, and Present State of the Noble Prov- ince, and Fertile Countrey of Pensilvania; with the strange things that have been found there, as the Salamander-Stone, and several others, mentioned in this Treatise; discovered since thou camest out of those Parts. I desire Thee to excuse me for addressing to Thee, such a Plain and Peasant-like Piece; yet however homely or coarse it may appear, Thou wilt find / here a true and genuine Description of that (once) obscure,
1 Asbestos.
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[1698
tho' (now) glorious Place. So considering how generous and candid a Man Thou art, I know thou wilt bear with my weak and imperfect Performance, and accept of my good Meaning and kind Intention, which may encourage me, in time to come, to add some more Memoirs to this rough Essay of mine. Being unwilling to tire Thee with any long or tedious Epistle, I take my Leave of Thee, .
(Most Noble and Excellent Governor) and am Thy hearty Well-wisher, ever ready to serve Thee on all Occasions, (in the way of Truth,) GABRIEL THOMAS.
The Preface.
Reader,
There never having been any fair or full Account given to the World of Pensilvania, I thought the Curious wou'd be gratified with an ample Description thereof.
For tho' this Country has made little Noise in Story, or taken up but small room in Maps, yet thus much with great Justice may be said of it, that notwithstanding the Difficulties and Inconveniencies the First English Colonies met with before they were well settled there, yet the mighty Improvements, J Additions, and Advantages that have been made lately there, are well worth Communicating to the Publick, and I am sensible they will be well receiv'd.
The late Tedious, Hazardous, and Expensive War' (in which England, in Conjunction with the Allies was so deeply engag'd) was without doubt no small Bar or Obstacle to the Flourishing of this New Country. The great Discouragements
7 the Traders thither lay under, (together with the frequent Capture of their Ships out and home, cou'd not chuse but baulk them in their honest Endeavours, which (now Peace is restor'd) they may pursue with greater Security and Satisfac- tion.
Nor is there the least question or doubt to be made, but this Noble Spot of Earth will thrive exceedingly, and that in a short time too, and advance considerably to the mighty Ad-
1 Known in the colonies as King William's War, 1689-1697, ending with the treaty of Ryswick in the latter year.
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vantage of the Present and Future Propietors, who have, and are willing to give all due Encouragement to any that shall Transport themselves thither.
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I cou'd say much here in Praise of that sweet Tract of Land, but having spoken so largely and particularly thereof in the Book it self, I shall forbear the least mention in this place. Nor will I Anticipate or forestal thee, by presenting thee here with what thou wilt find there, with the greater Satisfaction. And so I bid thee heartily farewel.
GAB. THOMAS.
The History of Pensilvania, etc.
PENSILVANIA lies between the Latitude of Forty and Forty five Degrees;1 West-Jersey on the East, Virginia on the West, Mary-Land South, and Canada? on the North. In Length three hundred, and in Breadth one hundred and eighty Miles.8 The Natives, or first Inhabitants of this Country in their Original, are suppos'd by most People to have been of the Ten Scattered Tribes, for they resemble the Jews very much in the Make of their Persons, and Tincture of their Complexions: They observe New Moons, they offer their first Fruits to a Maneto, or suppos'd Deity, whereof they have two, one, as they fansie, above (good,) another below (bad,) and have a kind of Feast of Tabernacles, laying their Altars upon Twelve Stones, observe a sort of Mourning twelve Months, Customs of Women, and many other Rites to be toucht (here) rather than
1 Although several of the boundaries of Pennsylvania were then either not fully determined or in dispute, yet Thomas even for that period had very errone- ous and inconsistent notions as to some of them. His absurd extension of the northern boundary to the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, the present northern line of the state of New York, included the province of New York in Pennsylvania, a claim at no time made by Pennsylvania; while his restriction of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania to the fortieth parallel, as contended by Maryland, left out Philadelphia, which is in 39º 57', and half of the province as then settled, not to speak of the Three Lower Counties of Delaware (now the state of Delaware), at that time constituting a part of Pennsylvania. The present state of Penn- sylvania lies between 39° 43' and 42° 15' north latitude.
' The province of New York not Canada was on the north.
' The present state of Pennsylvania is 307 miles long in its greatest length from east to west, and 177 miles wide from north to south. If "forty-five" is a misprint for "forty-three" Thomas has these directions in mind.
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dwelt upon, because they shall be handled more at large at the latter end of this Treatise.
They are very Charitable to one another, the Lame and the Blind (amongst them) living as well as the best; they are also very kind and obliging to the Christians.
The next that came there,' were the Dutch, (who call'd the Country New Neitherland) between Fifty and Sixty Years ago, and were the first Planters in those Parts; but they made little or no Improvement, (applying themselves wholly to Trafique in Skins and Furs, which the Indians or Natives fur- nish'd them with, and which they Barter'd for Rum, Strong Liquors, and Sugar, with others, thereby gaining great Profit) till near the time of the Wars between England and Them, about Thirty or Forty Years ago.
Soon after them came the Swedes' and Fins, who apply'd themselves to Husbandry, and were the first Christian People that made any considerable Improvement there.
There were some Disputes between these two Nations some Years, the Dutch looking upon the Swedes as Intruders upon their Purchase and Possession, which was absolutely terminated in the Surrender made by John Rizeing,' the Swedes Governour, to Peter Styreant," Governour for the Dutch, in 1655. In the Holland War about the Year 1665," Sir Robert Carr took the Country from the Dutch for the English, and left his Cousin, Captain Carr, Governor of that place; but in a short time after, the Dutch re-took the Country from the English, and kept it in their Possession till the Peace was concluded between the English and them, when the Dutch Surrendered that Country with East and West-Jersey, New-York, (with the whole Countries belonging to that Government) to the English
1 Evidently here referring not simply to Pennsylvania proper but to the larger Delaware River region which was first occupied by the Dutch at least seventy-five years before 1697, Fort Nassau in New Jersey being built in 1623.
"The first Swedish settlement was made at present Wilmington, Delaware, in 1638.
' Rising. ‘ Stuyvesant. · 1664.
· Captain John Carr accompanied his brother, not his cousin, Sir Robert Carr, on the conquering expedition of the English against the Dutch on the Dela- ware in 1664 and after the departure of his brother remained in command at New Castle (the new name for the New Amstel of the Dutch), until the reconquest by the Dutch in 1673.
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again.1 But it remain'd with very little Impovement till the Year 1681, in which William Penn Esq; had the Country given / him by King Charles the Second, in lieu of Money that was due to (and signal Service done by) his Father, Sir William Penn, and from him bore the Name of Pensilvania.
Since that time, the Industrious (nay Indefatigable) Inhab- itants have built a Noble and Beautiful City, and called it Philadelphia, which contains above two thousand Houses, all Inhabited; and most of them Stately, and of Brick, generally three Stories high, after the Mode in London, and as many several Families in each. There are very many Lanes and Alleys, as first, Huttons-Lane,' Morris-Lane,' Jones's-Lane," wherein are very good Buildings; Shorters-Alley," Towers- Lane," Wallers-Alley," Turners-Lane,' Sikes-Alley,' and Flowers- Alley.1º All these Alleys and Lanes extend from the Front Street to the Second Street. There is another Alley in the Second Street, called Carters-Alley." There are also besides these Alleys and Lanes, several fine Squares and Courts within this Magnificent City, (for so I may justly call it,) As for the particular Names of the several Streets contained therein, the Principal are as follows, viz, Walnut-Street, Vine Street, Mul- berry-Street," Chesnut-Street, Sassafras-Street," taking their Names from the abundance of those Trees that formerly grew
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