USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume II > Part 28
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At a town-meeting held at "Wilksbarre February 16, 1773," with Captain Butler acting as Moderator, the following business was trans- acted# :
"Voted by this Company to continue ye Revd Mr. Jacob Johnson in ye work of ye Gospel ministry amongst us.
"Voted by this company to appoint a Comtee to draw a plan in order to suppress vice and immorality that abounds so much amongst us, and lay ye same before ye next meeting. Mr. [Elisha] Swift, Capt. [Obadiah] Gore, Deacon [Timothy ] Hopkins, Capt. [Zebulon] Butler and Capt. [Stephen ] Fuller is appointed to draw ye plan.
"Voted by this Compy that each town [is] to warn a town-meeting, and for each town to appoint a Comtee of two men from each town to confer with ye Revd Mr. Jacob Johnson concerning his preaching ye Gospel amongst us & How his time shall be divided amongst us ; and to confer with ME Johnson upon ye premises and lay ye same before ye next meeting."
The next town-meeting was held March 1, 1773, when the follow- ing matters were disposed of§ :
"Voted, That Lieut. [Joseph] Gaylord, Mr. Parshall Terry, Capt. [Caleb] Bates, William Stewart, Isaac Tripp, Esq., are appointed as Comtee men to joyn with ye other Comtee men that was apptd ye last meeting in order to draw a plan to suppress vice & im- morality.
"Voted, to continue guarding & scouting as formerly for ye future.
"Voted, That if any of ye Proprs & settlers now on ye land shall refuse or neglect to pay in their taxes in defraying charges in making roads, building bridges, &c., ye several Collectors are ordered to levy their warrants upon their lands, where other Estate can't be found, & post ye same in order for sale in twenty days after such warrant is levied, & sell ye same to ye highest bidder as ye law directs. * *
"Voted, That those persons that are settlers in the Susquehanna Purchase that shall die a natural death, or lose his life any other way, his right or rights shall lie eight months without being manned, and not forfeited to ye Company."
At a town-meeting held March 22, 1773-Elisha Swift being Mod- erator-it was voted "to continue guarding and scouting as formerly." Also, a committee was appointed "to collect in all those bonds given to ye use of those settlers that took & regained possession" in 1771 of the lands in the Susquehanna Purchase. Eight days later another town- meeting was held at Wilkes-Barré, when the following business was transacted | :
* JOHN McDOWEL, mentioned on pages 730 and 736, ante.
+ In the burial lot mentioned on page 756, but more fully described in Chapter XLIX.
# See page 1,087 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre." § See ibid., p. 1,088.
| See "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre," pages 1,094 and 1,097.
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"Voted, That Captain Butler, Captain Fuller and Major Peirce be and are by this Company appointed as a Comtee to receive all ye Bonds given by a number of persons for settling rights for ye use of those persons that took & regained ye possession of our land at Wyoming in August, 1771. * * It is the intention and meaning of all parties upon ye executing of their bonds that ye same is not to be collected untill the title of ye Susqh lands is confirmed to ye sd proprs ; if never confirmed, never to be paid, &c.
"Voted, That Frederick Eveland is appointed to collect the road tax in Plymouth in ye room of Deacon [Timothy] Hopkins, deceased.
"Voted, That the Comtee of Settlers be desired to send to the several towns, or to their Comtees , requiring them to call all the inhabitants in each of ye sd towns to meet on Thursday next [April 1, 1773], at five a clock in ye afternoon on sd day, in some con- venient place in sd town, & that they then choose one person in each of sd towns as an officer to muster them & see that all are equipped according to law with fire-arms and ammunition ; and that they choose two Sergeants and a Clerk ; & that the sd chief officer is hereby commanded & directed to call ye sd inhabitants together once in fourteen days, for ye future, until this Compy orders otherwise ; & that in case of an alarmı, on ye appearance of an enemy, he is directed to call ye sd inhabitants together & stand for ye defence of the sd towns & settlement without any further orders-always obeying all orders he or they shall receive from ye Comtee of Settlers from time to time."
Under the date of April 2, 1773, William Maclay*, Esq., wrote from Sunbury to James Tilghman, Esq., Secretary of the Pennsylvania Land Office, as followst :
"If Hell is justly considered as the rendivous of Rascals, we cannot entertain a doubt of WIOMING being the Place ! Burn'd Hands, cut Ears, &c., are considered as the certain certificates of superior merit ; we have certain Accounts of their having had several meetings lately to chuse a Sovereign & settle the State, &c., for it seems they have not now any Dependance on the Government of Connecticut. The time of the Descent on the West Branch, Fort Augusta, &c., is now fixed for May next ; I have no Doubt but the Desperate Tempers of these People will hurry them into some tragical affair, which will at least rouse our Government, when it may be too late to repair the mischief done by them. At the same time I am told there are some among them who would willingly become quiet subjects, and are afraid to own their sentiments."
At a town-meeting held at Wilkes-Barre, six days after the fore- going letter was written, Capt. Timothy Smitht was appointed to at- tend the meeting of The Susquehanna Company to be held at Hart- ford, Connecticut, April 27, 1773, "to lay before ye meeting at home ye Report that is now read before this company." The caption of
* WILLIAM MACLAY (mentioned on pages 724 and 725) was born at New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1737, the son of Charles and Eleanor (Query) Maclay. Charles Maclay had im- migrated to America in 1734, and he lived in Chester County until 1740 and then removed to Cumberland County. In 1758 William Maclay accompanied General Forbes on his expedition into western Pennsyl- vania, as a Lieutenant in the "First Battalion" commanded by Lieut. Col. Hugh Mercer. (See note "§", page 361, Vol. I.) In 1763 Lieutenant Maclay accompanied Gen. Henry Bouquet's expedition to Fort Pitt. In April, 1760, Lieutenant Maclay having studied law was admitted to the Bar of York County, Pennsyl- vania, but he never practised his profession. He soon devoted his attention to land-surveying, and later, assisted by his younger brother, Samuel Maclay (who served in the Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant Colonel, and from 1803 to 1808 was a United States Senator from Pennsylvania), surveyed the lands on the West Branch of the Susquehanna which had been granted to the officers who had served in the Pennsyl- vania battalions during the French and Indian War. William Maclay himself acquired a considerable body of these lands.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War William Maclay was active in raising and equipping troops for the Continental service, and, marching to "the front" with the Pennsylvania Associators, he participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Later in the war he served in the Commissary Department. In 1781 he was elected a member of the Provincial Assembly. In September, 1783, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania appointed commissioners to, among other things, "ascertain where the northern boundary of the State will fall." William Maclay, James Wilkinson and William Mont- gomery were the commissioners appointed. William Montgomery resigned, and Joseph Montgomery was appointed in his place August 17, 1784. The commissioners never accomplished much, and were relieved from duty in the Spring of 1785. The same year Maclay was appointed one of the Deputy Surveyors to survey the lands of the Commonwealth acquired by the last purchase from the Indians-which was in 1784. In 1789 William Maclay was elected with Robert Morris to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, and he drew the short term, ending March 3. 1791. He was a leader of the Opposition during the Administration of President Washington, and "the records show," states Meginness in his "History of the West Branch Valley," "that he [Maclay] was the actual founder of the Democratic party." He regarded Alexander Hamilton as totally corrupt. At the expiration of his term Senator Maclay retired to his farm near the present city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1795 he was a Representative in the Pennsylvania Legislature; in 1796 he was a Presidential Elector for Thomas Jefferson ; from 1801 to 1803 he was an Associate Judge of the Dauphin County Courts, and in 1803 and '01 he served again as a Repre- sentative in the Legislature. He wrote "Sketches of Debate in the First Senate of the United States, 1789-'91 " He was married April 11, 1769, to Mary McClure, daughter of John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg, and they became the parents of three sons and six daugliters. William Maclay died at Harrisburg April 16, 1804.
+ See Meginness' "History of the West Branch Valley," edition of 1889, page 396.
# Mentioned on page 718, ante. Upon the organization of the male inhabitants of Kingston Township into a train-band, or militia company-in pursuance of the vote passed at the town-meeting held March 30, 1773, as previously noted-Timothy Smith, then in the thirty-third year of his life, had been elected Captain.
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the "report" thus referred to (the original document is MS. No. 25 in the collection mentioned in paragraph "(3)", page 29, Vol. I) is worded as follows : "Petition of John Durkee, Zebn Butler, Silas Parke, Ezekiel Peirce, Obadialı Gore, Jr., Stephen Fuller and Christopher Avery, and their associates whose names are hereto annexed," and it is dated at "Wilksbarre April 3, 1773." The petition recites the purchase of the Susquehanna lands from the Indians in 1754 ; the attempts of the New Englanders to settle the lands in 1762, '63, '69, &c., and then sets forth that there are "about 2,500 [sic] persons [on the lands] who are at this time under the greatest difficulty, distress, confusion and inconvenience imaginable, for want of being incorporated, and officers civil and military appointed among us [them]-not only for our [their] defence, security and protection against the vile incroachments of our neighbours the Penn- silvanians, but to keep up good order and regularity among ourselves." In conclusion it is prayed that a county may be erected and organized. Appended to the document are the names of 315 men-nearly all written by the same hand.
The New England settlers at Wyoming, and the chief men of The Susquehanna Company in Connecticut, had sought persistently, from the very beginning of their settlements on the Susquehanna, to obtain from the General Assembly of Connecticut not only a forinal recognition of the existence of the infant colony, but the establishment therein of some authoritative form of government under the Connecticut Charter. In the Spring of 1773 it had been determined by the settlers that, inasmuch as they were rapidly increasing in number, and "peace prevailed and prosperity was enjoyed," they would make another earnest effort to secure the accomplishment of their political desires. Hence the meino- rial, or petition, just referred to.
With this memorial in hand Capt. Timothy Smith set out from his home in Kingston Township April 13, 1773, bound for Connecticut, where he arrived in time to attend the meeting of The Susquehanna Company held at Hartford on April 22d. This meeting was largely at- tended, and many important affairs were disposed of, as is shown by the following extracts from the original minutes.
"Whereas there are many memorials and Complaints now exhibited to this meeting, of interesting Consequence to the settlers, and this Company is not furnished with proper Exhibits justly to determine the same, it is now thought best and
"Voted, to refer the Consideration of all the aforesaid Complaints and Memorials to the Consideration of this Company at their Adjourned Meeting in June next, and that there shall be a letter of advice wrote to the Settlers on said Susquehanna land, advising them of the time of the adjournment of this meeting, and that they endeavor to make an amicable Settlement of all their plaints and grievances, and that the settlers appoint a proper Committee to appear at said adjourned meeting and inform said meeting relative to said Complaints, that they may be heard and Equitably redressed, if not settled before. "Upon the memorial of Elisha Williams, Thomas Baldwin and Silas Dean, a Com- mittee of the Towns of New Wethersfield, Yalestown, Bethlehem, Judea, Charlestown and New Simsbury, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River-in part of their general rights in said Purchase-praying that they may have a township granted to them on the said West Branch, *
* to settle on compact together, in order to secure said West Branch-Voted, That the proprietors of said Townships shall have one Township of land laid out on the West Branch in some proper place ( for the security and defence of said West Branch), six miles square ; and that the proprietors of said Township shall forthwith settle in said Township to the number of 120 settlers, and hold and keep said Township in opposition to any claim but the claim of this Company ; and that said town- ship now granted shall be considered as one of the three townships formerly granted by this Company on the West Branch of said river, to be settled for the security and defence of our said Purchase ; and that this so settling and defending and holding said township now granted shall be considered and allowed in lieu of the settlements on the above [three] townships, according to the votes of this Company, and to delay the settlement
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on said township for the term of five years, or to settle sooner, if it can be done with safety to themselves and the Company.
"Voted, That Col. Elizur Talcott and Samuel Gray, Esq., as agents for this Com- pany, prefer a memorial to the Honorable the General Assembly of the Colony of Con- necticut, to be held at Hartford in May next, representing the great difficulty that the settlers of the Susquehanna Purchase are under for want of civil government and authority, and praying that civil government may now be appointed for and among the settlers on the Susquehanna Purchase.
"Whereas, there is some difficulty with respect to the votes relative to the town- ship of Hanover, and the number of settlers to be placed in said township, it is the under- standing of this meeting that, by the votes of this Company, Capt. Lazarus Stewart and Williamn Stewart and their associates should have the direction of filling up said town of Hanover, and that there shall not be less than thirty-six settlers in said town to hold the same ; the regulations of said town to be nevertheless under the control of this Company, as the other towns are."
One of the written "complaints" referred to in the foregoing min- utes is herewith printed for the first time. A copy of the original "com- plaint," or petition-without the names of the signers-was sent to Zebulon Butler after the meeting at Hartford, and from that copy the following has been taken-the spelling and punctuation of the original copy not being strictly adhered to, however.
"TO THE GENTLEMEN OF THE SUSQUEHANNA LAND CO.
"Sirs : As we are remote from ye Government to which we consider ourselves as belonging, and are destitute of ye advantages of civil authority, and being numerous, all of wh. we are sensible makes it the more a duty incumbent upon us to maintain & keep up good order and regularity among us. We are also sensible that divisions and animosi- ties amongst our settlers is dangerous and hurtful to the increase and growth of our set- tlement, and would undoubtedly be a matter of grief and real concern in your minds for us.
"And now, Gentlemen, we must beg leave to inform you that it is too much ye case with us at present-and through care and concern lest these misunderstandings and divisions should arise to a still higher pitch, we have thought best & most prudent to appoint a comtee to draw up and lay before you ye cause & foundation of this great uneasiness, which is as follows :
"As ye votes of ye Susquehannah Company we receive and acknowledge to be our guide and direction and ye rule by which we are to be governed relative to our settlement. Now we think and are fully of ye opinion that ye Comtee of Settlers are under a mistake and have made a wrong construction of ye votes of ye Susquehannah Company relative to a man's forfeiting his right, for we suppose that a man's conducting disorderly and in- consistent with ye good of ye company, &c .-- whereby his right is endangered-it must be laid before a meeting of ye settlers properly convened to hear & determine ye matters, or by a comte chosen by ye Company to act in conjunction with ye Comtee of Settlers to determine ye same. Now this has always been ye method that we proceeded in until some time last May [1772]-so that there has been a comtee to act in conjunction with this present Conitee of Settlers at their first officiating in that business until ye time above sd And then after that time ye Company's Comtee was neglected for reasons that we know not, and in that situation matters has gone on until this time, and we judge that a forfeiture of some rights has been required upon some very trifling causes or even no just grounds or color of misconduct.
"There has been one forfeiture-required while ye man was under embarrassments by ye Pennamites and could not be present with us. Another man was absent by leave for his family, but they [being] taken sick on the road and not able to move &c. he out stayed his furlough a short time, and his right is made a forfeit, &c. Another instance of a man's being absent after his family by leave from one of ye Comtee, and, before his license was out, his right is taken from him and given to another, &c. Such proceedings as this we think is counter to ye votes of ye Susquehanna Company and hurtful to our settlement, and if our rights is upon so loose a footing as this what are they worth ? Our interest in lands and labour to be transferred over to another without any consideration at all, together with ye disappointment &c. It is hard to ye last degree ! And they must unavoidably suffer unless they are restored.
"We think this highly alarming & of bad consequence, & what concerns ye whole settlement, &c., & we have at a meeting of settlers passed some votes counter to ye doings of ye Comtee and gave it as our opinion that these rights are not forfeited &c .- as by ye votes of sd meeting may appear. However, in vindication of these doings, it is alleged on ye Comtees side that they had some private instructions at home by which they venture to proceed in this sort. And now, Gentlemen, we sincerely request that you would more par- ticularly explain your votes relative to these things, and inform us if it be your minds that ye Comtee shall act alone in these weightiest of matters, or whether otliers sliall act also."
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Immediately after the adjournment of The Susquehanna Company the following letter was written to Zebulon Butler by the Clerk of the Company.
"HARTFORD, APRIL 23D. 1773.
"Capt BUTLER. Sir :- Yours of the 13th inst. was duly received and now lies be- fore the meeting, to which has been presented a number of petitions respecting certain decisions on the forfeiture of settling rights, and other matters, in which the complain- ants think themselves aggrieved. Though the Company are affected with whatever ap- pears likely to disturb the peace and harmony of the Settlement, yet they consider these complaints as the unhappy consequence of the present unsettled state of Government in the Settlement, rather than of the bad disposition of the settlers, or ill designs of any concerned.
"As the setting up, and fixing some certain mode, of Government, will effectually remove these difficulties and give the highest reputation to the increasing Settlement, it is the prime object the Company at present have in pursuit, and for various reasons they are induced to think a more favorable season than the present has not occurred since the beginning of the Settlement ; accordingly an Agent is appointed once more to apply to the honble Gen !. Assembly for this purpose, and the meeting have adjourned untill the 2d Day of June next at this place, by which Time they will know the Result of their ap- plication, & at which time the Meeting will hear the several Petitions, and complaints now lying before them, if they are not previously adjusted and quieted.
"And as well for a fair and impartial hearing, & determining them, as for consult- ing the Interest of the Company, and Settlement, in several important matters, at that time, this Meeting do now recommend to the settlers to convene together, and appoint a Number, by way of Committee, to attend this Meeting at its said adjournment ; and that they bring with them a state of the Number of settlers that are already on the Lands, and the situation & circumstances of the Settlement in general, so that the meeting at that Time may act with certainty respecting the matters before them, and come into such determination for the future well regulating the Settlement as may prevent the Difficul- ties & misunderstandings that begin to arise, from increasing. Meantime the meeting in the most pressing and affectionate manner recommend Peace and unanimity among the Settlers, without which the firmest Government on Earth will be unhappy, &, in their situation, will be instantly fatal.
"It will give the Company the highest Pleasure to find at their adjourned meeting that the complaints now before them are settled in a Friendly manner, but if a difference of Sentiment then subsists it is proper the Facts on both sides should be justly stated and well avouched, that an impartial decision may then be had.
"You are desired to read this Letter to the settlers, whom we wish the greatest peace & happiness.
Humle Servt.,
"I am in behalf of self & the meeting convened, Sir, Your Most Obedt & very [Signed] "SAML GRAY, Clerk."
"P. S. The affair of Ross and Judd seems so particularly urgent, that the meeting cannot omit recommending an immediate compromise & settlement thereof by admitting Peren Ross to his first Right in Wilksbury, and Judd continued as he is, viz., in the pos- session of the Right he purchased of Asa Stevens, and as voted to him by the settlers at Wyoming."
"To Capt. ZEBULON BUTLER and the rest
of the Comtee of Settlers att Susquehh "
Under the date of April 29, 1773, Jeremiah Ross of New London, Connecticut, wrote from that town to Zebulon Butler at Wilkes-Barré, as follows :
"My son [Peren] informs me that yourself with the rest of the gentlemen com- mittee has been very friendly and kind to him, for which I am grately oblidgd to you. I hope my son's conduct will be worthy of your regard. * * Sorry that you could not be at the meeting, for your character was very illy represented. . The meeting is adjourned to the 2d June. I hope you will endeavor to be there, for the Company is determined to have some better regulations than has been."
The following is an extract from page 1,106 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre" :
"Att a meeting of proprietors & settlers on ye Susquehanna Purchase, legally warned & held in WILKSBARRE FORT May 3, 1773-Mr. Elisha Swift chosen Moderator. "Voted, to continue guarding & scouting as formerly until June 1st.
"Obadiah Gore, Jr., is appointed agent for this Company to prefer a memorial to ye General Assembly to be held at Hartford May 12th.
"Voted, That those Persons that have made Disturbance this day at ye Generall meeting, legally warned, &c., are ordered to agree before ye adjourned meeting and to have ye whole of their trouble laid before this Company, and to be dealt with according to the votes of sd Coinpy "
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Three days later another town-meeting was held at the fort in Wilkes-Barré, when the following business was transacted :
"Voted, That Obadh Gore, Jr., Timothy Smith & Capt. Caleb Bates is appointed Comtee men to attend an adjourned meeting of ye Susquehannah Company to be held at Hartford ye 2d day of June next, to lay ye state of ye whole affair of ye settlers on sd Purchase ; & ye circumstances of ye settlement in generall, &c.
"Voted, That John Staples, James Burt, Thomas Porter & John Burt shall make suitable satisfaction to this Compy for their misconduct at ye last meeting, or be dealt with according to ye votes of ye Susquehannah Company.
"Voted, That it is ye opinion of this meeting that Mr. William Raynolds* shall not disturb Mr. [Thomas] Heath in the possession of ye Right he is now on, until the affair is determined at their [the Company's] meeting at home, &c."
At a lawfully warned meeting of the settlers held at "Wilks Barre, May 25, 1773," with Isaac Tripp, Esq., as Moderator, and Christopher Avery as Clerk, pro tem., the following matters were disposed of : -
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