USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume I > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
It has been alleged that Richard Buffington, the first male child born of English parents in Pennsylvania, was born at Chester this year. This event was corroborated by his father, Richard Buffington, in the year 1739, on the an- niversary of his eighty-fifth birthday, by assembling all his descendants, who numbered 115, at his house in Chester ; the first born, Richard, in the sixtieth year of his age, was among the number.
On December 15, Richard Noble was commissioned Surveyor of Upland in the place of Walter Wharton, deceased, who had held the office for both New Castle and Upland counties. On May 28, 1680, Governor Andros issued a new commission to "Mr Otto Ernest Coch, Mr Israel Helm, Mr. Henry Jones, Mr Lawsa Cock, and Mr George Brown to bee Justices of ye Peace in ye Jurisdiction of Upland Court or County, in Delowar River & dependencies." It will be perceived that the number of justices is reduced from six to five- that two Englishmen have been substituted in the place of two Swedes, and that of the old bench only two justices have been retained. Though it is not known that any jealousy existed between the Swedes and English, the number of Englishmen who had settled on the west side of the river, made it necessary that they should be represented on the bench. As nearly as can be ascertained the places of residence of the justices were as follows :- Israel Helm, at Up- land ; Otto Ernest Coch, at Tinicum; Henry Jones, at or near Wicaco; Law- rence Cock, at Moyamensing, and George Brown, nearly opposite to Trenton. As the Duke of York about this time, upon the judgment of Sir William Jones, yielded his rights to the government of West Jersey, the jurisdiction of the new justices did not extend to the east side of the river. They held their first court at Upland on June 8th, and among other things ordered a poll tax of one scipple of wheat, or 5 guilders to be levied, "for defraying ye charges of this court's sitting, to be brought unto Justice Otto Ernest, att Tinnagcong Island."
V
8+
DELAWARE COUNTY
The justices also assumed the authority of removing the seat of justice from Upland. They say "that in regard that Upland crecke where ye Court hitherto has sate, is att ye lower end of y' County, The Court therefore for ye most Ease of ye people, have thought fitt for ye future to sitt and meet att ye towne of Kingsesse in ye Schuylkills." It does not appear that this first re- moval of our seat of justice met with any serious opposition from the inhabi- tants of Upland or its vicinity.
The first court was held at the new seat of justice, on October 13th. If the increased amount of law business and the character of a considerable por- tion of it resulted from the removal of the court, the justices gained but little by the change. Among the cases tried, were three for "Slaunder and defama- tion."
For the due preserving "of ye peace of or Souerayne Lord ye King," &c., the court found it necessary to appoint a constable "to officiate between the Schuylkill and Nieshambenies kill." The court also found it necessary to ap- point two "viewers of ye Highwayes & roads & fences," who resided in the same district. There was one jury trial at this court, but the names of the jurors are not given. The court did allow "of ye jury's verdict," and passed judgment accordingly.
No other court was held till March, 1681, when nothing of importance was transacted. At the court held in the following June, "Justice Otto Ernest Coch acquaints the Court, that hee has bought and paid of ye Indian proprie- tors a certaine swampy or marshy Island called by ye Indians quistconk Lying att the upper End of Tinnachkonk Island in ye river opposit andrews Boones creek : and desires ye Corts approbation. The Cort haning well informed them- selves about ye p"mises, doe allow thereof." There was also a jury of seven men empanelled at this court, viz .: "James Sauderlins, Will : Boyles, John Boeyar, harmen Ennis, Will : orian, andries petress and oele raesen."
The Dutch clergyman at Wicaco, "Magistr Jacobus fabritius," "not find- ing his dues regularly paid," upon application to the court, obtained an order "that ye church wardens of the peticonrts church doe take care that Every one of those as haute signed and promised towards his maintaynance, doe pay him ye sumes promised, upon payne of Execution agst ye defective." This magister did well to make sure of his pay in time. The advent of a new government was at hand, in which such claims could not be viewed with much favor.
Roads and highways are frequently mentioned in the proceedings of the Upland and New Castle courts, but it is not to be supposed that these ways, at this early day, were used for wheeled vehicles of any kind. The usual mode of travelling was either by water or on horseback; but the roads, such as they were, required some repairs, and hence the appointment of overseers. No taxes were laid, but those who refused to work on the highways were sub- jected to a fine. This practice continued for many years under Penn's govern- ment. The imposition of a fine of 25 guilders, for neglecting to work on the roads was among the last acts of the Upland court under the Duke's govern- ment.
85
DELAWARE COUNTY
During the year 1680, William Penn had been perseveringly, but success- fully negotiating with King Charles the Second and his ministers for a grant of the territory that now constitutes our great commonwealth. The only Eu- ropean settlements comprised within its limits were included in Upland county, and were subject to the jurisdiction of Upland court. Though Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, was aware of every step taken by Penn to secure his grant, and, through his agents, interposed objections, it is not probable that the people included within the limits of the embryo province had the faintest idea that they were about to be transferred from the iron rule of the un- scrupulous Duke of York, to the mild and peaceful government of the Quaker proprietor. The patent to Penn was executed on March 4th, 1681, while the last Upland court, under the Duke of York adjourned on the 14th of June, "till ye 2ª Tuesday of ye month of September,"-the very last act of the judges being the appointment of a surveyor and overseer of the highways from Poetquessing creek to the Falls of the Delaware, (Trenton,) the furthest point to which settlements had then been extended.
Information of the grant to William Penn must have been communicated officially to the government at New York very shortly after the adjournment of the last session of the Upland court. Governor Andros being absent, the king's letter on the subject, addressed to the inhabitants within the limits of the grant, was laid before Anthony Brockholl, the commander, and his coun- cil, no doubt, by William Markham, who, at the same time, submitted his com- mission from William Penn to be his deputy governor of the province. On June 21st, the commander and council addressed a letter "To ye severall Jus- tices of ye Peace, magistraets and other officers inhabiting wthin ye bounds and limits" of the grant to Penn, notifying them of the change in their govern- ment, which letter was sent by Colonel Markham, who, no doubt, within a few days after the date of the letter, reached his government, and entered upon the duties of his office. This letter is the last entry made in the book containing the record of the Upland court.
Before parting with this record, which throws so much light on the his- tory of the time during which it was made, and from which I have drawn so liberally, it will be necessary to make some general observations.
The territorial jurisdiction of the court, it will have been observed, was very extensive. Except the provisional line that separated it from New Castle county, its jurisdiction at first extended to the last approaches that civilization had made on the home of the savage. Subsequently its jurisdiction was limited to the west side of the Delaware. The earliest notice of a court at Upland, is on the 18th of August, 1672. Evidence of the existence of records of an earlier date than those which have come down to us, is found in these records themselves. These commence on the 14th of November, 1676, and end at the time just mentioned. When a court was first established at Upland cannot now be ascertained. It was in all probability as early as the establish- ment of English authority on the river, and may have been earlier. If but one court was at first established by the English, its probable location was at New
86
DELAWARE COUNTY
Castle. Upon the establishment of two, the natural location of one of them would be Upland. At the time our record commences, it was one of three courts on the river-"one at New Castle, one above at Uplands, another below at the Whorekill:" the latter evidently being of recent establishment. The court established at New Castle was the most important, being held monthly ; the others were to be held quarterly, "or oftener if occasion ;" but that of Up- land was really held less frequently.
These courts possessed both criminal and civil jurisdiction. In criminal matters their powers were about equal to those of our courts of quarter ses- sions, while in civil cases not involving more than £20 the judgment of each court was final. In cases involving a larger amount, an appeal could be taken to the court of assizes of New York, and so of crimes of the higher grades. Parties could demand a trial by jury, but in the Upland court this privilege was only claimed in three or four instances during the nearly five years that its records have been preserved, and in one of these instances the verdict of the jury was wholly disregarded by the court. By the "Duke's Lawes," no jury could "exceed the number seaven nor be under six, unless in special causes upon life and death, the justices shall think fitt to appoint twelve." This will account for only seven men being empanneled in one of the cases where the jurors' names are given in the record. Except in cases of life and death, the major part of the jury, when agreed, could give in a verdict, "the minor being concluded by the major without any allowance of any protest by any of them to the contrary."
In equity matters the court of Upland exercised jurisdiction. It also made local regulations, which in these days would have required an act of the legislature. The justices, either as a court or a board, performed all the duties that are now performed by county commissioners, directors of the poor, and auditors. The court granted applications for taking up land, received returns of surveys, and had acknowledgments of transfers of real estate between parties made before it. It regulated the affairs of the church, and exercised a general supervision over the various concerns of the body politic-such as the repairs of highways, the maintenance of fences, the sale of the time of ser- vants, and even to the recording of the ear marks of cattle. Besides the court the sheriff and surveyor, the government possessed no agent charged with the performance of civil duties within the county of Upland.
A legal gentleman who has carefully examined the record of the Upland court. remarks "that the forms of proceeding were of a character no less prim- itive and incongruous than the jurisdiction of the court, partaking rather of the nature of suits before an ordinary justice of the peace than those of a court of record. The 'Instructions' directed 'all writts, warrants, and proceed- ings at Lawe to be in his majesty's name.' A declaration, or informal state- ment of the cause of action seems to have been required, and a rule was adopted directing it to be entered at least one day before the court met. Al- though the technical names of actions were used in many cases, such as action on the case, slander, &c., no actual division of actions was known, these names
87
DELAWARE COUNTY
having probably been taken from 'ye Lawe Booke' referred to occasionally. There does not, in fact, seem to have been any clearly drawn distinction be- tween civil and criminal cases ; a proceeding exclusively civil in its character frequently resulting in a judgment, partially at least, appropriate to a criminal case. In short, the whole method of practice was rather a dispensation of jus- tice, as the ideas of it existed in the heads, and was tempered by the hearts of the judges, than the administration of any positive law, written or unwritten."
Offences, criminal in their nature, were usually punished by the imposi- tion of a fine; the want of a jail precluded imprisonment. Corporal punish- ment by whipping, was, in a few instances, resorted to by the court at New Castle, but it forms no part of any sentence of the court of Upland contained in the record. But this record has been mutilated by cutting out two leaves ; and as the minutes of the court next following that of which the record is thus defective, contains a bill of costs against parties of bad repute, in which there is a charge of 101 guilders "for payment of the In lians that whipt." etc., it may be inferred that corporal punishment was resorted to in one single instance, and that Indians were employed in its infliction. In this view of the matter, it is not difficult to account for the mutilation of the record.
The fines imposed were sometimes remitted by the court. This was especially the case when one of the justices had an interest in the matter. In one instance, a fine of 1000 guilders was thus remitted. An open acknowledg- ment in court of the offence committed, or the asking of forgiveness from the offended party, sometimes constituted a part or the whole of a sentence.
The justices were uneducated, but well-meaning men. A commendable de- sire to maintain the dignity of the positions they occupied had some little in- fluence upon their acts. Otherwise, the most careful scrutiny of the records will show that they acted with the strictest regard to justice and the preserva- tion of the public morals. This record, and that of New Castle court, give us a good idea of the condition of our people in these early times, socially and otherwise.
Common labor, per day, was worth from 50 styvers to 4 guilders, accord- ing to the season. Wheat was worth 5 guilders, rye and barley 4. and Indian corn 3 per scipple. Tobacco or pork was worth 8 styvers per lb., and bacon double as much. In 1677. New Castle court ordered "that the gilder pay should be recond agst Tobbe in Maryland at 6 styyrs pr lb." A cow was appraised at 150 guilders, and other cattle at rather less prices.
It was the practice of the Swedes to erect their dwellings immediately on the margin of the river or tide water creeks. Up to this time, very few if any houses had been erected in any other situations,-the few English settlers fol- lowing the example of the Swedes.
With the recent accession of English Friends from New Jersey, the en- tire population of Upland county could not have exceeded five hundred, at the arrival of Governor Markham; of these, less than one-third resided within the territorial limits of Delaware county.
It has generally been supposed that Colonel Markham was accompanied
88
DELAWARE COUNTY
to Pennsylvania by emigrants ; and Proud, in his "History of Pennsylvania," leaves it to be inferred that this was the case, and that he did not arrive till near the close of the year. His commission as deputy governor, first pub- lished in Hazard's Annals, is dated April 10, 1681, and we find it was laid be- fore the government at New York previous to June 21, following. Colonel Markham doubtless proceeded directly to his government, and entered upon the responsible duties with which he had been entrusted. He could have made but little delay : for we find that on September 13 .- the very day to which the old Upland court had adjourned,-a newly organized court for Up- land county was sitting and transacting business, composed of justices, sheriff, and clerk, holding their appointments under him ; and on November 30th the Deputy Governor himself presiding over the same court.
Governor Markham was the bearer of a letter, dated two days earlier than his commission, from William Penn, "for the inhabitants of Pennsylvania," which he was directed to read. In this letter the proprietor promises his peo- ple that they shall be governed by laws of their own making: that he will not usurp the rights of any, nor oppress his person ; and in short, that he would heartily comply with whatever sober and free men could reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own happiness. This letter is in the well-known hand of William Penn.
The commission to Colonel Markham empowers him "to call a council, and that to consist of nine, he presiding." In pursuance of this authority, he selected for that important trust Robert Wade, Morgan Drewet, William Woodmanson, William Marriner, Thomas Fairman. James Sandelandes, Will. Clayton, Otto Ernest Koch and Lacy Cock. Unfortunately, no part of the record of the doings of this council has come down to us, except their attesta- tion, in which they say, "wee do hereby bind ourselves by our hands and seales, that wee neither act nor advise, nor consent, unto anything that shall not be according to our own consciences the best for ye true and well Govern- ment of the sª Province, and Likewise to keep secret all ye votes and acts of us ye sd Councell unless such as by the General Consent of us are to be Pub- lished." This attestation is "Dated at Vpland ye third day of August 1681," the day on which a government was first established for the province of Penn- sylvania. Upland was undoubtedly the seat of that government. These gen- tlemen councillors omitted to append their "seales" to their signatures, and two of them did not write their own names.
Colonel Markham also bore a letter from the King to Lord Baltimore, apprising him of the grant of Pennsylvania to Penn. Being authorized by his commission "to settle bounds" between the Proprietary and his neighbors ; and as it is said the King's letter required both parties to adjust boundaries, an in- terview was brought about between Lord Baltimore and Markham at Up- land. By an astronomical observation made during this interview, it was as- certained that even Upland itself was twelve miles south of the parallel of 40 degrees, which indicated the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. This dis- covery terminated the conference. and was the prelude to the protracted con-
89
DELAWARE COUNTY
troversy between Penn and Lord Baltimore and their descendants, which at length resulted in the line of Mason and Dixon-a line, that for its notoriety has been compared by a late writer to the equator.
This discovery, it is supposed, was communicated to William Penn, and he having been an applicant to the Duke of York for a grant of New Castle and the settlements below on the Delaware, was thereby induced to press his ap- plication more strenuously, under the apprehension that he might lose the whole peninsula, in case of failure. On August 20th of the following year, Penn obtained from the Duke a release of all claim to the territory embraced within the limits of his patent, and, subsequently, a release of the territory now constituting the State of Delaware.
With the royal charter, Penn published in England some account of his newly acquired province, with valuable suggestions and information necessary for persons disposed to become colonists under him. This paper is drawn up with much care and truthfulness. Much of it is taken up in demonstrating the importance of plantations or colonies to the mother country. The description of the province is brief, and by no means exaggerated ; valuable directions are given to those who determine to emigrate, and he concludes with a desire to all who may determine to go to those parts, "to consider seriously the premises, as well as the present inconveniences, as future ease and plenty, that none may move rashly, or from fickle, but solid mind, having above all things an eye to the providence of God in the disposal of themselves."
While the public mind in England, particularly the Quaker element of it was thus directed to the new province. Governor Markham was administer- ing affairs here very much after the fashion that had heretofore prevailed. He appears to have been indisposed to make any unnecessary innovations on the established order of things. It has already been mentioned that the first court under the new government was held on the day to which the last session of the former court had adjourned. The first session of the new court was not, however, at "the towne of Kingesse," but at Upland, where, no doubt, Governor Markham had fixed his residence. The justices of this court were "Messrs. William Clayton, Wm. Warner, Robert Wade, Otto Ernst Cock, Wil- liam Byles, Robert Lucas, Lasse Cock, Swan Swanson and Andreas Bankson ;" the sheriff, John Test, and clerk, Thomas Revell. Of the justices, five are Englishmen and four Swedes, two of whom had been members of the former Court. The "Duke's Laws" were now inoperative. In pursuance of the Dep- uty Governor's instructions, all was to be done "according to the good laws of England." But the new court, during the first year of its existence, failed to comply with these laws in a very essential particular,-persons were put upon trial without the intervention of a Grand Jury. No provision was made under the Duke's laws for this safeguard of the citizen, and the new justices acted for a time in accordance with former usage. A petit jury, so rare under the former court, now participates in every trial where facts are in dispute. In criminal cases, the old practice is adhered to of making the prosecutor plain- tiff
90
DELAWARE COUNTY
The first case that came up for consideration was that of Peter Errickson, Plff. vs. Harmon Johnson and Margaret his wife, Deft. An action of "Assault & Batty." Jurors-Morgan Drewett, Wm. Woodmanson, Win. Hewes, James Browne, Henry Reynolds, Robert Schooley, Richards Pittman, Lassey Dal- boe, John Ackraman, Peter Rambo, Jr., Henry Hastings, and William Oxley. Witness, William Parke. The jury find for the plaintiff ; give him 6d. dam- ages, his costs of suit.
In the next case the parties are reversed : the offence charged being the same, and tried by the same jurors. The witnesses were Anna Coleman, Rich- ard Buffington, and Ebenezer Taylor. The jury find for the plaintiffs 40 [ shillings] and their costs of suit.
At this first session of the court, nine cases were tried and sixteen with- drawn; among the latter were two "for disobeying the justice's order." In the last case tried, which was for debt, the verdict was 62 guilders-an evidence of the lasting influence of the ascendency of the Dutch on the river.
It having come to the ears of Justice Lassey Cock that he had been ac- cused of speaking certain improper words to the Indians, proclamation was made in the court "that if any had anything against him, they should declare it ; whereupon Daniel Brenson and Charles Brigham, upon oath, together with Walter Humphrey, upon his solemn attestation, declared what they heard cer- tain Indians speak against him and Captain Edmund Cantwell ; the said Lassey Cock, upon oath, declared his innocency, and that he had never spoken those words to the Indians, or any of that nature, was thereupon cleared by the court."
Letters of administration were granted by the court to Caspar Fiske on the estate of Eusta Daniell-security in £100, given to Robert Wade and Wil- liam Clayton.
Besides the English names already mentioned, there occur in the proceed- ings of this court those of Richard Ridgeway, Francis Stephenson, Richard Noble, John Champion, Thomas Nossiter, John Wood, and William Cobb. These and many others had become residents of Upland county prior to the date of Penn's patent. Most of those who were Friends emigrated with the early West Jersey settlers, but for some reason settled on the west side of the river.
At the next court, which was held on November 30, Deputy Governor Markham presided, and James Sandelandes and Thomas Fairman, with all those who held the last court, sat as justices, except William Warner, who was absent. But four cases were tried at this court ; one withdrawn and one con- tinued.
Three ships sailed from England for Pennsylvania this year; two from London and one from Bristol. No particulars of the arrival of the "John and Sarah," which is said to have arrived first, are given ; but we are informed by Proud, that the Bristol "Factor," Roger Drew, commander, "arrived at the place where Chester now stands, on December II, where the passengers seeing some houses, went on shore at Robert Wade's landing near the lower side of Chester
-
91
DELAWARE COUNTY
creek ; and the river having froze up that night, the passengers remained there all winter." The other ship, the "Amity," "having been blown off to the West- Indies, did not arrive until the spring of the next year."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.