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 32
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"The distresses of the inhabitants of the County of Northumberland, expressed in their petition, which will be delivered to you by the Secretary, appear to be of a very alarming Nature, and justly to call for the particular attention of this Government.
"The Insolent Outrages of a set of Men who have long bid defiance to the Laws of the Country, and have afforded protection to Offenders of the most Heinous kind, ought not, certainly, in a well regulated Society, to be suffered to pass with Impunity ; but when these men embody themselves, sally forth with arms in their Hands, and in a Warlike Manner attempt to dispossess the peaceable Inhabitants of the County lately laid out and Established by act of Assembly, within the known bounds of the Province, it is a pro- cedure of so dangerous a Tendency as not only to threaten the Destruction of that Infant County, but strikes at the Peace of the whole Province.
"I think it therefore Incumbent on me, Gentlemen, to recommend this Matter to your most serious Consideration, and to request you will Fall upon such Measures as will Strengthen the Hands of the Government on this Extraordinary and alarming Occasion, repel the Violence of these lawless Intruders, and afford the Petitioners that Immediate Protection and Relief which their Necessities and Situation Require."
On the morning of December 15th the Connecticut Commissioners formally notified Governor Penn of their arrival in Philadelphia, and requested an audience with him. In response to his invitation they repaired at noon the same day to his house in Chestnut Street, where they were received by the Governor and the following members of liis Council : Richard Peters, Benjamin Chew, James Tilghman and Edward Shippen, Jr .- all of whom are previously mentioned herein. The ne- gotiations between the Commissioners and Governor Penn continued for nine days, and were conducted chiefly in writing-" with much mutual complaisance, and with the most stately courtesy and excellent ability "; but they failed of results-which was what might have been expected. During the negotiations several expedients were proposed on both sides for preserving peace and good order among the inhabitants on the Susquehanna till the matters in dispute between the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and the Colony of Connecticut should receive a final determination before the King in Council. In a communication trans- mitted to the Governor on December 18th the Commissioners said :
"As the Colony [of Connecticut] has now taken up the matter, and expressly asserted their claim, that the like mischiefs may in future be prevented, and peace and good order preserved in that part of the country, we propose that, without prejudice to the rights of the Colony or the Proprietaries, a temporary line of jurisdiction be agreed upon, which neither party shall exceed, and within which each respectively may exercise such power and authorities as they judge proper. And as the settlements under the Proprietaries are chiefly upon the Western, and those under Connecticut principally upon the Eastern, Branch of the Susquehanna, we apprehend such temporary line may be so drawn as that Jurisdiction may be exercised by each over their respective settlers with- out much inconvenience. * * We cannot forbear observing to you tliat the primary possession of the people under Connecticut was taken at a time when the country was entirely a wilderness, under an Indian purchase approved of by the Colony and made
* See "Pennsylvania Archives," Fourth Series, III : 447.
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under their title of pre-emption from the Crown, when there was no person upon the land-much less anybody holding under the Proprietaries-and of course could not be attended with any force or violence."
On December 23d Governor Penn wrote to the Commissioners in part as follows :
"Gentlemen, you are in the prosecution of a claim which has long lain dormant, and surely that claim ought to be established by proper authority before you can, with any degree of propriety, think of extending your jurisdiction over a country which hath been legally possessed, and where the regular jurisdiction of another Government hath taken place, long before your Colony had concluded to prosecute their claim to it. As I cannot, for the reasons assigned, accede to the proposal of a temporary line of jurisdic- tion, so neither can I foresee any means that appear to me likely to effectuate Peace and Order-and to prevent for the future sucli violent Outrages as have been lately perpe- trated in that Part of the Country where the People of Connecticut are now settled-but their entirely evacuating the Lands in their Possession until a legal Decision of our Con- troversy may be obtained.
"And when it is considered that this Possession was effected by armed Bodies of People, in an hostile Manner expelling from their lawful Possessions those who had purchased their Lands and settled them under the Sanction of this Government, and that this was done without any Warrant or Authority from the Colony of Connecticut-nay, long before that Colony had even avowed a Claim to those Lands-I cannot but think it highly reasonable that such a tortious and unjustifiable Possession should be relinquished by the Colony at a time when they are pursuing a Claim on the Principles of Right and in a legal Way. Indeed, I cannot conceive, from the Measures that have been adopted by the Colony of Connecticut since they liave made their Claim, that they can wish to avail themselves of a Possession extorted by such lawless and violent Proceedings, or that they can imagine themselves under the least Obligation to support or abet a Sett of People who have been capable of acting in so outrageous and unjustifiable a Manner. I am, therefore, induced to hope, Gentlemen, that when this matter comes to be coolly considered by your Government-if their views are, like mine, directed to a speedy and peaceful Decision of this Dispute-they will use all possible Means to withdraw the Peo- ple thus settled, in the most expeditious and effectual Manner."
December 24th the Connecticut Commissioners replied to the fore- going communication in these words-in part :
* * " We consider our Negotiations with you as at an End, and have only to console ourselves that, whatever happens, we have on our Part faithfully endeavored not only to terminate the Controversy with all possible Dispatch, but also to provide for the Quiet of the Country while the Dispute shall be depending. * * *
We cannot but hope you will entertain in future more favorable sentiments of the Connecticut settlers and their former Proceedings thian have been attempted to be impressed upon you by the Representatives of interested Individuals, willing to magnify past Services or procure future Favors. * * We cannot omit to remind you that the established Jurisdiction under this Province [the erection of the county of Northumberland], of which you avail yourself, and to which you wish our People to submit, was erected, not only after the Possession above referred to, but after it was publicly known that the General Assembly of Connecticut had directed a State of their Claim to be drawn up and laid before learned counsel in England for their opinion, and was, perhaps, precipitated, to prevent if possi- ble the probable consequences of that Measure."
On Christmas-day the Connecticut Commissioners set out from Philadelphia for their homes, and early in January they prepared their report to the Governor and the Assembly. This was immediately printed in pamphlet form .*
It should be stated here that a large and respectable part of the inhabitants of Connecticut were opposed to having the Colony take any steps either with respect to the lands west of the Delaware or to the affairs or settlements of The Susquehanna Company. In some of the towns of the Colony resolutions were adopted, or instructions were pre- pared, by the Selectmen for the regulation of their Representatives in the Assembly. The following extracts are from a copy of one town's instructions, printed in The Connecticut Journal of December 3, 1773.
" We are informed that the General Assembly have sent to their Agents in England copies of all papers relating to the claim to lands under the purchase of The Susquehanna
* It is reprinted in full in " Connecticut Colonial Records," XIV : 46], et. seq.
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Company, * * and has resolved that they will take those lands under their care and jurisdiction, and defend our title thereto against the claim of Mr. Penn ; * * *
As we conceive measures are hastening fast, which may involve this Colony in an expensive controversy, * which controversy will bring this Colony under a heavy load of expense, *
* and [the lands] if obtained would be of no real advantage to this Colony, as it would drain 'us of our inhabitants, lessen the present value of our lands, &c. We therefore instruct you to use your utmost endeavours and influence to stop all further proceedings in the premises."
January 13, 1774, the Pennsylvania Assembly, having taken into consideration the Governor's message of December 14th, accompanied by the petition of the inhabitants of Northumberland County (see page 778), together with a report of the negotiations between the Governor and Connecticut's Commissioners, adopted the following* :
" Resolved, That a number of persons emigrating from the Colony of Connecticut have, under a pretense of right to lands within the limits and boundaries of the royal grants to the Proprietaries of this Province, * * in a riotous and tumultuous manner taken possession of a tract of country within the said known limits and boundaries, and have held, and still retain, their said possession in an hostile manner, to the great disturbance of the peace of the Province.
" Resolved, That the said emigrants, together with a number of ill-disposed per- sonst-with whom they are confederated-have, in defiance of the laws of the country and executive powers of this Government, afforded protection to offenders of the most atrocious kindį, and have, moreover, embodied themselves and, in an hostile manner, attempted to dispossess the peaceable inhabitants settled far within the limits of this Government.
" Resolved, That the Governor be earnestly requested to give special directions to all magistrates, sheriffs, and other officers * *
* to be vigilant and active in the dis- charge of their duties. * *
" Resolved, That this House will concur with the Governor in every reasonable measure to strengthen the hands of the Government in preserving the peace and sup- pressing all riots and tumults.
" Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for prevent- ing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing of the rioters."
In transmitting to the Governor a report of the action taken by the House with respect to his message, etc., Joseph Galloway, § the Speaker, " by order of the House " signed and sent the following com- munication || : * * " We have taken into serious consideration your message of the 14th ult. and the petition from the inhabitants of Northumberland County, with the papers respecting the claim of Connecticut ; and as we esteeni a due obedience to the laws, and the preserva- tion of the public peace, to be of the first moment to the happiness and welfare of the people, we heartily concur in sentiments with your Honor. * * Since we find, from repeated experience, that the mild laws of this Province have proved ineffectual to restrain these lawless disturbers of the peace within any bounds, we have thought it necessary to prepare and pass a Bill with more severe penalties, which we hope will in future deter
* See the Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia), January 17, 1774.
+ The Wyoming settlers, from New York, New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.
# Capt. LAZARUS STEWART and some of the other Hanoverians are here referred to.
¿ JOSEPH GALLOWAY-mentioned in the last paragraph on page 446-was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1730. Having removed to Philadelphia he became eminent in his profession as a lawyer before he had reached the age of thirty years. He was married to Grace, daughter of Lawrence Growden, October 18, 1757, and from that year until the Revolution he was annually elected a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was Speaker of the House in 1768 and 1774. The First Continental Congress met in September, 1774 (see page 602), and Joseph Galloway attended as one of the delegates from Pennsylvania. The appointment of these delegates had been made by the Assembly in the pre- vious July, and, although many members of the House suspected at that time that Mr. Galloway was not sincerely attached to the American cause, while others looked upon him as a downright Tory seeking control of affairs, yet, because he was Speaker of the House, a lawyer, and a gentleman of great talents and considerable property, and because he had been an active opponent of the Proprietaries, and pos- sessed the confidence of great numhers of the people, he was selected to sit in the Congress. During its sessions he submitted for its approval the " Albany Plan of Union," mentioned on page 266, Vol. I.
In December, 1776, when tlie fate of America seemed to be beyond question, and the attack on Tren- ton had not been made, Joseph Galloway deserted the cause of his country and went over to the enemy, whereupon his estate was confiscated by the State of Pennsylvania. He joined Lord Howe, and with the British forces entered Philadelphia, where he was made Superintendent of Police, for the city and its suburbs, and Collector of the Port. For five months he was the head of the civil government of the city, and resided at the south-east corner of Sixth and Market Streets At the evacuation of Philadelphia in 1778 he went with the British, and in October following sailed for England, where his pen was constantly employed on subjects connected with the Revolutionary War. He never returned to America, but died in Hertfordshire, England, August 29, 1803.
| See the Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia), January 24, 1774.
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them from the execution of their unwarrantable designs, &c. *
* We cannot avoid showing our just abhorrence of their conduct by most earnestly entreating your Honor to give special directions to the magistracy. *
* From the papers communicated by the Secretary we are sorry to find the Government of Connecticut has given countenance to the lawless possession of these emigrants by resolving to prosecute a claim, not only to the lands they have lately seated themselves on, but to a great part of the Province. * * * To prevent the mischievous effects of this unkind and unneighborly disposition in the Government of Connecticut, we request that your Honor will pursue every effect- ual measure to call the claimants before His Majesty in Council, and to bring their claim to an immediate decision."
At Philadelphia, about the 10th of January, 1774, there came from the press of Joseph Crukshank a 12mno. pamphlet of 124 pages, which attracted considerable attention in certain circles. It was entitled : " An Examination of the Connecticut Claim to Lands in Pennsylvania. With an Appendix, containing Extracts and Copies taken from Original Papers."* This important publication did not bear the name of its author, but it was an open secret among the Pennsylvania land claim- ants, as well as among the members of the Pennsylvania Assembly- all of whom were furnished with copies of the pamphlet as soon as it had left the press-that the Rev. William Smith, t D. D., Provost of the
* The whole of this pamphlet is reprinted in "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 127.
+ The Rev. WILLIAM SMITH, D. D. (mentioned on page 505, Vol. I, and 690, Vol. II), was born near Aber- deen, Scotland. September 7, 1727, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Duncan) Smith and grandson of James Smith, a noted astronomer. He was graduated B. A. at the University of Aberdeen in March, 1747, and shortly thereafter became the master of a parochial school. In 1750 he was sent up to london, in pursu- ance of some plan for the better endowinent of paro- chial schools. In May, 1751, he came to America as tutor to two sons of Governor Martin, who resided on Long Island, New York. In the latter part of 1753 Mr. Smith returned to England for the purpose of taking orders in the Established Church, and he was made a deacon in the palace at Fulham, by the Bishop of Lincoln, December 21, 1753. Two days later he was ordained a priest. Through a report made by him shortly after his return from America a society was organized in England for the education of the Ger- mans in America. On his return to America in May, 1754, the Rev. Mr. Smith was inducted into the office of Provost, and the chair of Natural Philosophy, of the College and Academy of Philadelphia, on the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin and the Rev. Richard Peters (mentioned on page 262).
In 1749 Benjamin Franklin had drawn up and pub- lished a plan for an academy and a charitable school, which went into operation the following year ; but, looking forward to a more improved state of society, Franklin declared this academy to be "intended as a foundation for posterity to erect into a college, or semi- nary of learning, more extensive and suitable to future circumstances." Franklin, it may be said, laid REV. WILLIAM SMITH, D. D. After a portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart. the foundation of the College of Philadelphia, but " William Smith erected and adorned this temple of science." The institution had been chartered in June, 1753, as " The Academy and Charitable School of Phila- delphia," but in May, 1755, it was re-chartered by the Proprietaries as "The College, Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia," and it was vested with the power of conferring degrees.
It has with truth been remarked that "Dr. Smith grew gray in literature and the advancement of letters in Pennsylvania." In October, 1757, he began the publication of The American Magazine, or Monthly Chronicle for the British Colonies, which was abruptly terminated in October, 1758, in conse- quence of an arbitrary proceeding on the part of the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania. In 1757 and '58 Dr. Smith was also editing a German newspaper, as agent for the educational society established in England, as previously mentioned. Formal complaints having been made to the Assembly respecting the official conduct of William Moore, Esq .. of Moore Hall, Chester County, Pennsylvania, President of the Court of Common Pleas of that County. the Assembly applied to Governor Denny to remove him from office. Justice Moore, in his vindication, presented " an humble address " to the Governor, which was expressed in terms which gave great offense to the Assembly-then composed largely of Quakers- and that august body resolved that " it was a libel." Dr. Smith translated the address into German and published it in his paper, and, refusing to make satisfactory acknowledgments to the Assembly for the constructive offense, he, as well as Justice Moore, became the object of Quaker resentment. The offen- sive address had been published both by Franklin and Bradford in their respective newspapers, but neither of them was molested. January 6, 1758, Justice Moore and Dr. Smith were thrown into the City Jail, where they were detained till the 11th of the next April. During that period the pupils of the Col- lege met daily in the jail and received their instruction from Provost Smith, so that the progress of the College might not be interfered with. Upon the reassembling of the House in September, 1758, Messrs. Moore and Smith were re-arrested and held until the Assembly adjourned in the following Winter. Without delay Dr. Smith then went to England, where he presented the case of himself and Justice
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Moore to King George II and petitioned for redress. The arbitrary proceedings of the Quaker law-mak- ers were fully exposed, and Dr. Smith was purged of libel.
March 27, 1759, while in England, Provost Smith received from Oxford University the honorary de- gree of I). D., on the recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of Durham, Salisbury, Oxford, and St. Asaph. About the same time he received a similar degree from Aberdeen University. Returning to America shortly afterwards, and taking up his duties at the College of Phila- delphia, Dr. Smith presided in April, 1760, over the first convention of the American Church in Pennsyl- vania. In 1761, the Trustees of the College finding that the income of the institution was insufficient to defray the expenses-and having exhausted the sources in the Province from which money could be obtained-determined to make application to the mother country for assistance. With this view they proposed to Dr. Smith that he should proceed to England, where his personal endeavors might be useful in promoting their design. He cheerfully acquiesced, and, being provided with the proper credentials, left his family and embarked for England. The amount which he collected during that visit was more than £6,000 sterling. Concerning Dr. Smith's labors in behalf of the College of Philadelphia at that period Nicholas Murray Butler, LL.D., President of Columbia University, New York. made the following statement in an address delivered before the University of Pennsylvania June 18, 1902 :
"The movement to found a college began in New York and in Philadelphia at about the same time. The inotives were in each case substantially the same, and representative men in each Colony were inter- ested Actual instruction seems to have begun in the same year in the institutions that we now know as Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. [Samuel] Johnson, the distinguished scholar who became Columbia's first President [see page 478, Vol. I], had declined a little earlier a call to take the headship of the Academy in Philadelphia, partly on the ground that the distance from his home in Stratford, Connecticut, was too great. On the other hand, Dr. William Smith, who was the first Provost of the College of Philadelphia, had previously lived in New York and had been much concerned with the movement to found a college there.
" Both King's College, afterward Columbia, and the College of Philadelphia, afterward the University of Pennsylvania, sought support from legislative grants, from private gifts, and, as was the custom at the time, from public lotteries. But the funds obtained from these sources did not suffice, and early in 1762 both institutions-though apparently without consultation-dispatched accredited representatives to England to seek aid for the colonial colleges in the mother country. William Smith, Doctor of Divinity, was the agent of the 'College, Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia in the Province of Penn- sylvania,' and James Jay, Doctor of Physics, was the agent of the 'College of the Province of New York, in the City of New York.' It is noteworthy that both gentlemen, the one a divine and the other a phys- ician, with a business sagacity that we falsely suppose to be peculiar to the very modern captain of industry, hit upon the idea of community of interest. Instead of competing with each other, they agreed to make a joint appeal and to divide the proceeds equally. So it appears that early academic pooling was the forerunner of modern academic reciprocity and co-operation. That the plan worked well may be seen from Dr. Smith's subsequent statement that 'taking the cause of New York along with us, rather than acting in opposition, by which each of us has got double of what we could in that case have hoped for singly.'
"King George III issued a royal brief which was printed and sent in advance to the incumbent of every parish in England that the agents were to visit, in which the two institutions were referred to as two seminaries, distant about 100 miles from each other, begun in two of the most important and populous trading cities in his American dominions, nearly at the same time, and with the same view. The royal brief went on to say that the object in founding the two seminaries had been ' not so much to aim at high improvement in knowledge as to guard against total ignorance, to instil into the minds of youths just principles of religion, loyalty, and a love of our excellent constitution ; to instruct them in such branches of knowledge and useful arts as are necessary to trade, agriculture, and a due improve- ment of our valuable Colonies, and to assist in raising up a succession of faithful instructors to be sent forth not only among our subjects there, but also among the Indians in alliance with us.' The original of this document is to be seen in the library of Lambeth Palace, indorsed by the Archbishop of Canter- bury in his own hand-' Brief for New York and Philadelphia Colleges, 19 Aug., 1762.'"
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