USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 12
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At the same time a bloody war was raging in Pennsylvania, which had grown out of alleged deceits practiced upon the Delawares in the sale of their lands. Sir William Johnson had listened to the recital of similar grievances ever since he took up his abode in the vicinity of the Six Nations, and became superintendent of Indian affairs. He believed that fraudulent purchases, or those which the Indians claimed as such, should be surrendered. He had repeatedly expressed his views to the Ministry and to the colonial governors. Hardy was of the same way of thinking, and recommended to the Assembly the passage of a law for vacating all grants, exorbitant or otherwise, which the Indians considered fraudulent. He said it appeared to him, in the alarming posture of affairs, not only a just but a necessary measure ; the fickle warriors must be induced if pos- sible to throw their whole assistance into the scale.
Sir Charles had, six months prior to this, proposed an act for annulling certain land-patents in Central and Western New York, upon the ground of their having been fraudulently obtained from the Indians, and the par- ties interested had traced it to the direct influence of Johnson.
The reply of the House to the governor's message was a carefully con- sidered document. It embodied no backwardness in the way of providing troops and warlike supplies for the coming year, "that, whatever may be the fate of our cause, we may not be in any way instrumental to our ruin, by tedious delays, timid resolutions, or an ill-timed parsimony." With respect to the boundary question, duty did not seem to stand out in quite so bold a light. The expense of commissioners would be a fatal outlay in this time of trial. The governors of those colonies with whom the dis-
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GOVERNOR HARDY RESIGNS.
putes raged ought to preserve peace and order in their respective borders until the common enemy should be repelled, and the fact established that either possessed lands to divide or jurisdiction to settle. "We would humbly observe that a line of a much more serious nature at present en- gages our whole attention and justly claims the substance we have to spare." 1
As to the fraudulent grants of land, it was admitted that such had un- doubtedly retarded settlements, and given the Indians cause of complaint, but that the owners had paid considerable sums, first to the Indians for their rights, and afterwards to the governor and other civil officers for the patents, - often more than the lands were worth, - and to deprive such owners of their possessions would be harsh and unjust. As affairs stood now, no settlements could be made upon them, and the Indians would con- tinue to be the sole occupants; thus the consideration of the subject might as well be postponed. " Ah," said Sir William Johnson to Hardy, " with half a dozen Livingstons in the House, all interested in their fathers' old disputed patent, and the De Lanceys owning the rich tract twenty miles in length on the banks of the Mohawk near Wood Creek, what else could have been expected !"
Governor Hardy had long since applied to the Lords of Trade for permission to resign his government and re-enter the navy. He was aware of his own incapacity. One branch of his office was to preside as chancellor. The first time the court opened there was a vacant seat between Judge Chambers and Judge Horsemanden. The hall became crowded and still no governor. Presently the chief justice made his ap- pearance, struggling through the dense mass of people towards the bench. His face wore a troubled expression, as if he was not quite satisfied with the propriety of taking such a step. The judges arose, and courteously placed him upon the bench, where he continued until two prisoners, one charged for murder and the other with theft, were arraigned and taken from the bar. The same day was appointed for arguing a demurrer to a bill in Chancery before the governor. There was considerable delay. Finally some of the lawyers were invited to his Excellency's private room, where he apologized for detaining them, by saying that he had desired the chief justice to be present and he had not yet come. "I can't take upon myself," he said, "to say I understand the law. I have been justice of the peace in England, but my knowledge, gentlemen, relates to the sea; that is my sphere. If you want to know when the wind and tide suit for going down to Sandy Hook, I can tell you, How can a captain of a ship understand your demurrers in law ?" De Lancey
1 Journals of the Assembly.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
came in to the delight of the sailor-executive; when the debate took place, the governor sat awkwardly by the side of the able and elegant chief justice, who pronounced the decree and dictated the entry in the register. "I beseech you, gentlemen," said Hardy, "to bring these kind of questions before me as seldom as possible. If you ever dispute about a fact, I can search the depositions, and perhaps tell you who has the best of it; but I know nothing about your points of law."
The Lords of Trade were open to conviction ; Hardy was out of his sphere, and they made him a rear-admiral in the contemplated naval expedition against Canada. He sailed at midnight on the 2nd of July, to join the forces at Boston, and the next morning De Lancey took the oaths, and continued in the supreme command of the province until his death.
In the mean time Morris had disputed with his Assembly in Pennsyl- vania, until, lover of disputations as he was, he cared to indulge in it no longer. The Assembly could not please him, nor frame a bill that he would sign. He showed his instructions, by which it was plainly ap- parent that only one course had been open to him. There was a rapid fire of addresses and replies, which had no effect, and could have none, except to exasperate. Morris, therefore, forwarded to England his resig- nation, and held his place only until his successor should arrive.
Franklin relates many anecdotes of his intercourse with Morris, while the latter occupied the gubernatorial chair. One afternoon in the height of the public quarrel the two notables met in the street : " Franklin," said Morris, "you must go home with me and spend the evening; I am to have some company whom you will like." Arm in arm, they proceeded to Morris's house. In gay conversation over their wine after supper, Morris remarked jestingly, that he " much admired the idea of Sancho Panza, who, when it was proposed to give him a government, requested it might be a government of blacks ; as then, if he could not agree with his people, he might sell them." One of the guests turned to Franklin and said, " Why do you continue to side with the Quakers ? Had you not better sell them ? The proprietor would give you a good price." " Oh !" replied Franklin, "the governor here has not yet blacked them enough."
It was in July, 1756, that Morris ceased to govern Pennsylvania, and William Denny ruled in his stead. "Change of devils is blithesome " (according to the Scotch proverb), wrote William Franklin. After a brief lull the strife and the bitterness arose again, and the Assembly and the new governor could agree upon nothing.
Franklin, who continued the leader of the popular party, was appointed by the House, agent of the province to proceed to England for the trans-
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THE IMMORTAL KITE.
action of important affairs, and his son, William Franklin, was permitted to resign his office of clerk of the House, and accompany his father. £ 1,500 were voted for the expenses of the voyage and residence in London.
It was five years since Franklin in a June thunder-storm had experi- mented with the immortal kite. Who does not know the story ? How he fashioned his kite and stole away, upon the approach of a storm, to a common, near an old cow-shed; how, wishing to avoid the ridicule of possible failure, he told no one except his son, a young man of twenty- two ; how father and son waited under the shed, presenting the specta- cle (if there had been any one to behold it) of two escaped lunatics trying to fly a kite in the rain ; how, when both were ready to despair of success, the fibers of the hempen string began to rise, as a boy's hair rises when he stands on the insulating-stool ; how the trembling hand was applied to the key, how the Leyden phial was charged, how the wet kite was drawn in, and how the triumphant philosopher went home the happiest man in Christendom. Who does not love to ponder upon the progress, henceforward, of Franklin's electrical studies, and see him bring the lightning into his library for constant examination ? He tried it upon magnets, he tried it in vacuo, he tried it upon the sick, he tried it upon the well, he tried it upon animals, he tried it upon men. He tried elec- tricity excited by friction, electricity drawn from the clouds, electricity generated in the cold and glittering winter nights, and the electricity of the electric eel. He had electrical correspondents everywhere. Masters of ships who encountered remarkable thunder-storms sent narratives of what they had seen to him. Lightning-rods made their way slowly into use. They were greatly feared, however. An earthquake occurred in 1755, and a good New England divine preached a sermon upon the sub- ject, in which he contended that the lightning-rods, by accumulating the electricity in the earth, had produced the earthquake. Science encoun- tered all manner of obstacles. But Benjamin Franklin became the ac- knowledged head of the electricians of the world.
In 1753, he had been commissioned postmaster-general for America. He immediately commenced improvements in this branch of the public service. There were as yet no mail-coaches ; the carriers rode on horse- back. America, however, was not far behind England. A Londoner could not send a letter to Edinburgh and receive an answer in less than ten days, and only thus speedily in case weather and highwaymen per- mitted. It was not uncommon then for a post-rider to leave London with only five or six letters for Edinburgh in his bag; on one occasion it is recorded that he carried but one letter.
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The office of postmaster-general of America was created in 1692. Twenty years before, New York had established the first mail-route (monthly) to Boston. As late as 1704 no post-rider went farther north than Boston, or farther south than Philadelphia. In 1753 the line of posts still began at Boston, and extended as far south as Charleston.1 There was no post into the interior of the country. Franklin named his son controller of the post-office, who managed its details for many years. He himself set out on a tour of inspection, and, traveling patiently over the routes, erected mile-stones (some of which are still standing), and es- tablished a new postal system, which was of the greatest advantage to the colonies. Instead of one mail a week in summer and one in two weeks in winter, between New York and Philadelphia, he soon started a mail from each of these cities three times a week in summer and once a week in winter. To get an answer from Boston a Philadelphian had been obliged to wait six weeks; the time was quickly reduced to three weeks. He reduced the rates of postage and instituted other improvements. And it was not a moment too soon, for all these better facilities for transmitting intelligence, were put into constant requisition in the organization of de- fense against the combined forces of a savage and civilized foe.
Franklin was five months in getting from Philadelphia to London. He left home on the 4th of April, traveling on horseback through New Jersey in order to take one of two packet-ships at New York which were ready to sail, and waiting only for Lord Loudoun to give the order. Loudoun had been to Philadelphia ostensibly to interpose between the governor and the Assembly. Franklin wrote afterwards : " I wondered much how such a man came to be intrusted with so important a business as the conduct of a great army ; but, since having seen more of the world, and the means of obtain- ing and motives for giving places and employments, my wonder has dimin- ished." It was eleven weeks before Loudoun permitted the packet to sail. Never was there a greater marvel of dilatoriness and procrastination than the commander-in-chief of the British army in America. Never were great interests so trifled with as by him. His indecision and indolence almost tax our credulity. His to-morrow never dawned. The packets were detained for his lordship to finish letters. Franklin went one morning to call upon Loudoun, and found in the antechamber an express messenger from Philadelphia, who said he had orders to call for the gen- eral's answer to the governor, the next morning at nine o'clock, and should set out immediately for home. Franklin hastened to his quarters, and, preparing a bundle of letters for his family, placed them in the messenger's hands. A fortnight afterward Franklin met Innis, the messenger, again
1 Many of these roads were mere bridle-paths through the forest.
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LOSS OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY.
in the same place, and exclaimed, " What ! so soon returned ?" " Re- turned; no, I am not gone yet," replied Innis. "How so ?" asked Franklin. " I have called here this and every morning these two weeks past for his lordship's letters, and they are not yet ready," said Innis. "Is that possible," exclaimed Franklin, "when he is so great a writer ? for I see him constantly at his escritoire." " Yes," said Innis satirically ; " but he is like St. George on the signs, - always on horseback, and never rides on."
Franklin could do nothing but dance attendance upon Loudoun, and en- joy the dinners which were given him quietly by De Lancey, and Cruger, and others. Loudoun treated him with the utmost politeness, often in- viting him to dinner, and sometimes asking his advice; but every matter of business was postponed.
The fleet was finally ready to sail for Halifax, and the packet was or- dered to attend Loudoun until his despatches should be ready. When five days out at sea, it was permitted to change its course and cross the Atlantic with its philosophic passengers.
Loudoun reached his destination the last day of June. He was joined, July 9, by Admiral Holburn, with sixteen ships of the line, and by Lord Howe with six thousand disciplined troops, thus increasing the land force to eleven thousand well-appointed and effective men. It was a beautiful, balmy summer, everything was favorable, but Loudoun was not disposed to move rashly. He laid out a vegetable garden and a fine parade-ground, and exercised his men in sham attacks upon sham forts, and finally altered his mind in regard to aggressive projects, and returned to New York with all his troops.
Montcalm took the opportunity, while Loudoun was amusing himself with his cabbages at Halifax, to swoop down upon Fort William Henry. General Webb was at Fort Edward with four thousand or more men, frantically calling to De Lancey and Sir William Johnson for help, but made no effort to go to the relief of the besieged. The militia were dis- gusted with their incompetent leaders, and deserted in great numbers. In one instance, out of a company of forty men, stationed at Fort Edward, ten only were left. Loudoun presently inundated New York City with his soldiers, and talked about encamping on Long Island for the defense of the continent.
Rumors that a large force of French and Indians were preparing to descend upon the settlements, reached Sir William Johnson very soon after the surrender of Fort William Henry. He wrote a plain letter to Abercrombie, telling him that the regulars stationed at the forts were arrogant and self-sufficient, and of no earthly use in protecting the
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settlers. Men qualified to act as rangers were wanted, who might be continually employed in scouring the country in search of scalping- parties. The garrison should also be increased, that effectual resistance might be made in case the enemy appeared in force. Abercrombie gave no heed to the advice. He was in Albany, drinking wine and eating good suppers. All at once, about three o'clock on the morning of November 12, sixty or more families residing at the German Flats were roused from their slumbers by the terrible war-whoop. The forts were burned, and the dwellings set on fire. The savages stationed them- selves near the doors of each house. and tomahawked the inmates as they rushed out to avoid the flames. Forty persons were inhumanly massa- cred, and one hundred and fifty carried into captivity. The enemy took away with them vast quantities of grain and money, besides three thou- sand horned cattle and the same number of sheep. The excitement was universal. The whole Mohawk Valley was in a wild panic, and the settlers hastened to send their effects to Albany and other places, and at one time it seemed as if the settlements would be entirely depopulated.
Loudoun was also at Albany when this affair occurred, and attributed the disaster entirely to the mismanagement of Indian affairs, and the treachery of the savages themselves. His generals busied their minds with charging the responsibility upon each other. Alas ! what could have been expected from officers whom children might outwit or terrify with popguns ?
Loudoun blustered. Blustering was his favorite pastime. He talked about making war upon the Six Nations, because some of them had been won over to Montcalm's interest through admiration of his superior bravery, and were of the murderous band who fell upon the German Flats. The very suggestion filled New York with horror. "Strike but one blow in that direction and we are lost," said Sir William Johnson. Colonel Peter Schuyler, who had been taken prisoner at the surrender of Oswego, left Quebec, October 22, and reached Albany about the middle of November, on parole, to return in May. He urged Loudoun to abandon the mad project of inaugurating hostilities with the Indians ; and other vigorous counsels fell thick as snow-flakes about the command- er's head.
Colonel Peter Schuyler was the son of Arent Schuyler of New Jersey. He had, since 1746, commanded the New Jersey forces, and was consid- ered one of the ablest of the colonial officers. His arrival in New York caused great rejoicing. The city was illuminated, a bonfire kindled on the common, and an elegant entertainment given him at the "King's Arms Tavern." The next day (Sunday) he set out for his home on the
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THIE SCHUYLERS OF NEW JERSEY.
east side of the Passaic River just above Newark, where he was saluted with thirteen discharges of cannon; and the following evening Newark was illuminated in his honor, bonfires kindled, and a grand banquet ten- dered him by the principal citizens. The period of his parole expired, and all efforts for his exchange having failed, he proceeded bravely to deliver himself over to Montcalm, then at Ticonderoga, who forwarded him to Montreal. He was empowered by Abercrombie to negotiate an exchange of prisoners, and in November (1758) succeeded in exchanging himself for Sieur de Noyau, the commander at Fort Frontenac captured by Bradstreet. He returned at once to New York, bringing with him twenty-six women and twelve children, whom he had redeemed from captivity with his own purse, and had fed for weeks from his own table. His benevolences while in Canada alleviated much of the suffering to which the English prisoners were subjected. Soon after his release he again led the New Jersey soldiers into Canada, and was one of the victori- ous band who entered Montreal when that city surrendered in 1760. His wife was Mary, daughter of John Walter, a man of great wealth, residing on Hanover Square, New York. His only daughter, Catharine, became the first wife of Archibald Kennedy (eleventh Earl of Cassilis).1
The home of the Schuylers on the Passaic was a great square stone and brick dwelling, which is still standing upon a beautiful site opposite the little city of Belleville. In its palmy days the lawns and gardens extended over many acres and to the water's edge, and for half a century the Schuyler deer-parks were pronounced the finest in America.2
1 Hon. Archibald Kennedy, the receiver-general, counselor, etc., secured, in 1724, a mag- nificent estate known as the Duke's farm in New Jersey. After his death, in 1763, it came into possession of his son Archibald, who, marrying Catharine Schuyler, heiress of not only the extensive estates of her father and mother, and of her grandfather, John Walter, but of Richard Jones, became a very rich man. The younger Kennedy was appointed captain in the Royal Navy in 1753. After the death of his first wife he married Ann, daughter of Hon. John Watts (April 27, 1769).
2 Arent Schuyler (the ancestor of the New Jersey branch of the Schuyler family, see page 154) bought, in company with Lieutenant-Governor Brockholls, over four thousand acres of land at New Barbadoes Neck, in 1695, and received a patent from Governor Fletcher in 1697. It was probably as late as 1710 before he went there to reside. The property proved of great value through the discovery of copper. A negro slave while ploughing one day turned up a greenish heavy stone, which he took to his master, and which Schuyler sent to England for analyzation. It was found to contain eighty per cent copper. Schuyler desired to reward the lucky slave, and told him to name three things which he most desired and they should be granted him. The gentleman of color asked, first, that he might remain with his master as long as he lived ; second, that he might have all the tobacco he could smoke ; and third, that he might have a dressing-gown like his master's with big brass buttons. Schuyler sug- gested that he should ask for something of more value. Upon mature reflection the negro filled the measure of his earthly happiness, by the request that he might have a little more
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Deter Schuyler_
It is doubtful whether Loudoun would have put his threats into exe- cution in any event. He was shortly disposing his troops through the provinces for the winter, quartering them upon the people in a magis- terial manner which gave fresh and general offense.
De Lancey convened the Assembly in De- cember, but the small- pox was raging in the city to such an alarming extent that they met in an " out-house " (a good
tobacco. Schuyler shipped considerable quantities of ore to the Bristol copper and brass works, England. His son John worked the mine still more extensively. In 1761 an engine was brought out from England, and with it came, as engineer, Josiah Hornblower, the father of the eminent chief justice of New Jersey. In 1765 the building and engine were destroyed by fire, and remained in ruins until 1793.
The children of Arent Schuyler were : 1, Philip, who married Hester, daughter of Isaac Kingsland (Isaac Kingsland was the founder of the honorable family of that name in New Jersey, whose son Edmund married the daughter of Judge Pinhorne, and was the grandfather of Elizabeth Kingsland, who became the wife of Josiah Hornblower, and mother of the chief justice), was a member of the New Jersey Assembly, and a large land-owner, a portion of his estate being now known as Pompton, in Passaic County, where many of his descendants reside, - his son Carparus had an only daughter, who married General William Colfax of Pompton, in 1783, and was the grandmother of Schuyler Colfax, late Vice-President of the United States ; 2, Olivia ; 3, Casparus, who settled in Burlington, New Jersey ; 4, John, who married Ann Van Rensselaer, and inherited the homestead and mine on the Passaic, - his son, Arent J., married his cousin, Swan Schuyler (in 1772), whose son, John A., married, 1, Eliza Kip, and, 2, Catharine Van Rensselaer, and the seven children of the latter inter- married with the principal families of New York and New Jersey, their descendants filling at the present time important positions in society ; 5, Peter, the famous military commander above mentioned, who died at his home on the Passaic, Sunday, March 7, 1762 ; 6, Adonijah, who married Gertrude Van Rensselaer, and had seven children (it was his daughter Swan who married her cousin Arent J.) ; 7, Eve, who married Peter Bayard of New York, and received from her father the gift of a valuable lot on Broadway ; 8, Cornelia, who mar- ried Pierre Guillaume, the younger son of Hon. Abraham De Peyster, first treasurer of the New York province. She also received from her father a lot on Broadway, and several negro slaves.
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RECALL OF LOUDOUN.
substantial stone dwelling which was occupied by his overseer) upon his own farm above Canal Street. Two of the newspapers of the day in- dulged in a strain of political sarcasm by speaking of the "Parliament of New York sitting at present in Mr. De Lancey's kitchen."
One of the most important subjects before the House at this session, was to divert a part of the funds raised for fortifications to the construc- tion of barracks for the soldiers, in order to relieve private families upon whom they had been billeted by Loudoun. The city corporation offered to replace the money.1 Then there was the maintenance of prisoners, the defense of the frontiers, and the salaries of the year to be looked after ; and laws to be passed for restraining the king's troops from intem- perance, for stricter discipline among the militia, for regulating the staples of flour, beef, pork, and butter, for continuing the excise upon tea, for a poll-tax upon negro slaves, and tonnage duty upon all vessels, not excepting those from Great Britain. A law was also passed to prolong the currency of the bills of credit, the royal inhibition to the contrary, notwithstanding.
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