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 33
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In 1763 Dr. Smith paid another visit to England, where he was the guest of Thomas Penn (see page 386, Vol. I); during which time he received the degree of D. D. from Trinity College, Dublin, and also had private audiences with King George III-who had ascended the throne some three years previously. Dr. Smith's position in the Established Church, and his frequent visits to England and audiences with the King, made him the object of criticism by both Quakers and Presbyterians, and strong efforts were made to destroy his popularity with the Trustees of the College. He gained the ill-will of Benjamin Franklin, firstly, by opposing the latter's application to Oxford University for the degree of LL. D., and secondly, by advocating the claims of Ebenezer Kinnersly to the discovery of the principles of elec- tricity-which discovery Professor Kinnersly claimed to have communicated to Benjamin Franklin, who had appropriated the same and failed to give due credit for the discovery.
Dr. Sinith drew up the charter and fundamental rules for the American Philosophical Society, Phila- delphia, was Secretary of the Society for many years, and was a member of the committee appointed by that body to observe the transit of Venus in June, 1769, and the eclipse of the sun in 1777. About 1764 or '65 Dr. Smith began to interest himself in land speculations in the unsettled parts of Pennsylvania. In 1767 he laid out the present town of Huntingdon upon a tract of land which he owned in what was then Cumberland, and is now Huntingdon, County. He named the town in honor of the Countess of Hunt- ingdon, a lady of remarkable piety and liberality, who, at the solicitation of Dr. Smith during his so- journ in England in 1762, had made a handsome donation to the funds of the College of Philadelphia.
About 1771 or '72 Dr. Smith was sent by the Board of Trustees of the College to South Carolina to collect funds for the institution, and he succeeded in securing more than £1,000 sterling.
There are many strong evidences in William Bartou's "Life of David Rittenhouse" (see page 792) of the interest which Dr. Smith took in the advancement of that self-taught philosopher, and Galt, in his " Life of Benjamin West" (see page 139, Vol. I), also makes honorable mention of Dr. Smith. He was the means of drawing West from obscurity, and he bestowed upon him, while yet a youth. instruction which corrected his taste and enlarged his imagination. Dr. Smith's writings were multifarious, for he lived during an eventful period and touched upon most of the important subjects which then agitated the public mind. His writings were generally popular, and his discourses from the pulpit unusually so. He delivered several military sermons, of which that preached in Christ Church, Philadelphia, June 23, 1775, at the request of the officers of Col. John Cadwalader's battalion (the 3d) of Volunteer Militia, occasioned an unusual sensation, both here and in England. In a few weeks it ran through several American editions, and the Chamberlain of London ordered 10,000 copies to be printed at his expense, in so cheap a form as to be sold at two pence each. The sermon was violently condemned by the Tories, and as liberally eulogized by the Whigs. Dr. Joseph Priestley praised it in The Monthly Review of August, 1775, and the venerable John Wesley, with one foot in the grave, attempted to reply to it, but in a manner which proved that his faculties had "fallen in the sear."
July 20, 1775-the occasion being the observance of the first "solemi day of fasting and prayer" recommended by the American Congress-Dr. Smith preached a sermon at All Saints' Church, Philadel- phia, which caused much criticism, inasmuch as, in praying for the King, he used a modified form of his own composition instead of the words contained in the Book of Common Prayer.
June 18, 1774, Dr. Smith became a member of the Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, and a month later he was a Deputy in the Provincial Convention of Pennsylvania. During the War for American Independence he delivered various patriotic addresses and sermons before the Pennsylvania Assembly and the Continental Congress, and to the American troops at Valley Forge and elsewhere.
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College of Philadelphia, had prepared and published the document in refutation of the claim of Connecticut. Under the date of January 18, 1774, Dr. Smith sent a copy of the abovementioned pamphlet to Dr. William Samuel Johnson, at Stratford, Connecticut, and at the same time wrote to him as follows : * * "The author [of the pamphlet] you may possibly guess. He says that he is not conscious of having strained a single point, or used a single argument which reason and candour will not justify. ** * Whatever some people of little knowledge or influ- ence may have told Colonel Dyer, you may depend that this Province, I may say even unanimously, is convinced that Connecticut has not any right to lands within our Charter, nor will it ever obtain any countenance from the Crown for the present intrusions. Some time is requisite to rouse and unite Pennsylvanians in one cause ; but when this is once done, no People can be more firm or determined !
"You may have heard that our Assembly were not unanimous in their Resolves. It is true that an alteration was contended for in one of them, lest it might be construed as engaging the Province to bear all the expence-but this being clearly neither intended nor desired, the Resolve passed as you see it, without amendment. In all things else there was a perfect agreement. No tongue was lifted even to suggest a possibility of a right on the part of your Colony, and last night an Address was sent to the Governor from the Assembly, without a dissenting voice, containing expressions even stronger than any in the Resolves. This I told you beforehand would be the case. How far your people will venture their Charter in the prosecution of this matter I cannot tell-but no giving way is now to be expected from us, for we think we stand on firm ground, and rio delay will be made in bringing the matter before His Majesty. In the meantime it should be the wish and endeavour of every good man to prevent bloodshed ; and this can only be done by keeping back your people from further intrusions, if you are really in earnest to support and prosecute your claim."
In reply to the foregoing letter Dr. Johnson wrote from Stratford to Dr. Smith, in part as follows :
which accompanied it. * "I am extremely obliged for your favor of the 18th January and the pamphlet * From the very cursory reading I gave it I think it is well done, and states the Proprietary arguments in support of their title-or rather those in derogation of the Connecticut title -- in a very advantageous point of light. * I *
* shall not, I assure you, take up the gauntlet, unless it should be enjoined upon me. I have an infinity of affairs, of much more importance to me to attend to, which I cannot neglect. And of what good are these appeals to the people? The appeal must finally be to Cæsar-or to a greater than Caesar ! " * * *
November 27, 1779, a law was passed by the Legislature abrogating the Proprietary charters of the Col- lege of Philadelphia, and removing from office the Provost, Vice-Provost, professors and all others con- nected with the College; and it was provided that the institution and the corporation should thereafter be known as " The University of the State of Pennsylvania." In the office of Provost Dr. John Ewing, a native of Maryland, succeeded Dr. Smith, and the latter removed to the parish of Chester, Maryland, where he served as rector from 1780 till 1789, and as President of Washington College (founded by him) from 1782 till 1789. In June, 1783, he was elected Bishop of Maryland, but the convention of 1786 refused to sanction the election, and he was not consecrated. In 1789 he was restored to the office of Provost of the University, and he continued to exercise its duties until 1791, when he retired finally.
Dr. Smith was prominent as a Free Mason, having been a member of the Craft for some fifty years. June 24, 1755, he preached in Christ Church, Philadelphia, before a large number of the Brethren of the Craft-assembled in "Grand Communication," with Benjamin Franklin at their head-the first of his many Masonic sermons, which afterwards became historic. This sermon was an earnest exhortation to religion, brotherly love and public spirit. For some time-at least from 1778 till 1782-Dr. Smith was Grand Secretary of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. In December, 1778. Congress being in session in Philadelphia, General Washington visited that city, and on Monday, the 28th of December, St. John the Evangelist's Day was celebrated there by the Free Masons. Some 300 of them, properly clothed and wearing their jewels and regalia, assembled at the College of Philadelphia (on Fourth Street below Arch) and proceeded thence to Christ Church. Washington, as a member of the Craft, marched in the procession, near its head, supported by the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master. At the church prayers were read by the Rev. William White (then the Rector of Christ Church, and afterwards Bishop of Pennsylvania), and a sermon was preached by Dr. Smith, which was subsequently published in pamphlet form, dedicated to Washington. (For a further reference to this sermon see Chapter XVIII.) Following the sermon nearly £400 were collected for the relief of the poor. After the service the procession returned to the College, "the musical bells belonging to the church, and the band of music attached to Colonel Procter's regiment, playing proper Masonic tunes." The " Ahiman Rezon " of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania having been abridged and digested by Dr. Smith, it was adopted by the Grand Lodge November 22, 1781, and in 1783 was published, containing a dedication to General Washington written and signed by Dr. Smith. In December, 1791, Dr. Smith and the officers of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania were appointed a committee to prepare and present an address to their "illustrious Brother, George Washington, President of the United States." This address was written by Dr. Smith, and, having been approved by the Grand Lodge, was formally presented to Washington.
The Rev. Dr. Smith was married June 3, 1758, at Moore Hall, to Rebecca, daughter of Justice William Moore, previously mentioned-an attachment having sprung up between the minister and the maid as a result of the repeated visits of the latter to the City Jail during the confinement of her father and Dr. Smith. William Moore Smith, born June 1, 1759, was the son of the Rev. William and Rebecca ( Moore) Smith. He was graduated at the College of Philadelphia in 1775, and later practised law in that city. In 1796 and 1797 he was R. W. Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Penn- sylvania. He died at Philadelphia March 12, 1821. The Rev. William Smith died there May 14. 1803. About the time of his death there was published at Philadelphia, in two 8vo. volumes, a collection of his sermons and addresses compiled and edited by himself.
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About the time Dr. Johnson wrote to Dr. Smith, as aforemen- tioned, the following extract, from a letter written by a gentleman in Philadelphia to a friend in Connecticut, was published in The Con- necticut Courant.
" We have nothing more new among us except Dr. Smith's piece on the Connecti- cut Claim. This is considered by the Doctor himself, and the Government connections, as full and satisfactory on that side of the case, and no one among us can be so hardy as to attempt an answer. The Proprietaries' friends are not pleased to hear any objections or doubts hinted concerning their claim. There is great reason to believe that, during the sitting of our House of Assembly, those members who objected to the propriety of any legislative proceedings on a matter of private proprietary right, thought themselves unreasonably treated within, but more especially out of, doors. The fact is, the Doctor hurried his book, and even had some copies struck off incomplete, for the Members of the House, and they had them two or three days, and made their Resolves, before it was known abroad or the public had the ' Examination of the Case ' before them. I believe the generality of our people think the Assembly were imprudent in taking up the mat- ter ; but the connection between our great men and great parties is too powerful to be withstood."
According to the Rev. Benjamin Trumbull's "History of Connecti- cut" (II : 479) the Rev. Dr. Smith's "Examination of the Connecticut Claim" was "officiously spread in the Colony [of Connecticut]. The people were thrown into a great ferment. The malcontents were for turning out the gentlemen of the Upper House and forming a new Assembly." In The Connecticut Courant of January 18th "proposals" for printing and publishing a pamphlet by subscription were adver- tised in the following words :
"OBSERVATIONS on a pamphlet entitled ' The Right of the Governor & Company, of the Colony of Connecticut, to Claim and Hold the Lands lying West of the Province of New York " *- with Critical Notes and Crotchical Remarks, dedicated to The Susque- hanna Company. To which will be annexed some modest observations on the propri- etors of the Susquehanna Purchase who are Members of the General Assembly sitting and voting in matters in which they are immediately concerned ; in consequence of which a vote has been obtained to send certain queries to Old England, to the great lawyers there, and also Plenipotentiaries to Philadelphia to treat witli Governor Penn relative to those matters-all at the cost and charge of this Colony.
" Price, 9d. to subscribers, with a great allowance to those who purchase numbers to give away ; and also to Hawkers and Peddlers.
"Very necessary to be read in all families that pay taxes in this Colony.
" The author proposes the same shall be delivered to subscribers before 1st April next."
According to adjournment the General Assembly of Connecticut met at Hartford on Wednesday, January 12, 1774, and continued in session until Saturday, January 29th. Early in the session the report of Commissioners Dyer, Johnson and Strong, relative to their negotia- tions with Governer Penn, was presented, and the Assembly ordered that £171, 19s. 11d., lawful money, be paid to the Commissioners for their services and expenses. It was also voted that the salary of Thomas Life, Esq., the Colony's Agent in England, be increased from £50 to . £100 per annum, and that he be empowered "to plead, pursue, answer and defend" in behalf of the Colony in all Courts and in all canses and matters relative to the title and claim of Connecticut to the lands granted in the Charter to the Colony fromn King Charles II. At the same time the Assembly authorized and instructed Governor Trumbull to transmit to Agent Life "all such papers, documents, intelligence, &c., relative to the lands claimed west of the Delaware, as the Governor and the Committee appointed by the Assemblyt should be able to collect."
Next, the Assembly passed an Act authorizing and empowering the Governor to issue a proclamation forbidding "all and every person
* See page 770, ante, relative to this pamphlet.
+ See page 778.
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or persons whatsoever taking up, entering on, or settling any of the lands contained and included in the Charter from King Charles II to this Colony, lying westward of the Province of New York, without liberty first had and obtained from the General Assembly of the Colony." January 27, 1774, the Governor's proclamation was duly published in The Connecticut Courant and other newspapers.
Finally the Assembly passed the following :
" WHEREAS, the General Assembly of this Colony at their sessions in May, 1771, did resolve and declare that the lands west of the River Delaware, and in the latitude of that part of this Colony eastward of the Province of New York, are well contained within the boundaries and descriptions of the Charter of King Charles II to this Colony ; And Whereas a large number of people are settled on part of those lands, at or near a place called Wyoming, under the claim of this Colony, and have made their humble applica- tion to this Assembly to take them under the protection and government of this Colony; And Whereas many persons of suspicious and bad characters, to escape from Justice and to carry on their villainous designs with impunity, do resort to said place to the great disquiet of the well-disposed people settled there, whereby publick Justice may be evaded and Iniquity encouraged .-
"For remedy thereof, Be it enacted : That the inhabitants dwelling within the bounds of this Colony, on the west side of the River Delaware, be and they are hereby made and constituted a distinct Town, with like powers and privileges as other Towns in this Colony by law have, within the following bounds and limits, viz .: Bounded east by said Delaware River, north by the north line of this Colony, west by a north and south line across the Colony at fifteen miles distance west from a place on Susquehanna River called Wyoming, and south by the south line of this Colony ; which town is hereby an- nexed to the County of Litchfield, and shall be called by the name of WESTMORELAND. " Provided, nevertheless, that no person dwelling in any other town in this Colony shall be liable to be sued before any Justice of the Peace in Said Town of Westmoreland, nor shall any person inhabiting within said Town of Westmoreland be sued or called from thence to answer in any civil action before a Justice of the Peace in any other Town ; nor shall the Sheriff of the county of Litchfield, nor any of his deputies dwell- ing in any other town in this Colony, be compelled to receive any writs to be served in said Town of Westmoreland in any civil action.
" Resolved, That the committee appointed by this Assembly to assist his Honor Governor Trumbull in preparing the necessary exhibits and evidences to support the claim of the Colony to the western lands, be, and they are hereby, authorized to engage, procure and employ suitable persons to ascertain the latitudes and longitudes of the north and south lines of the Colony at such places as they shall find necessary and con- venient.
" Resolved by this Assembly, That Roger Sherman and James Abraham Hillhouse, Esquires, and Mr. Thomas Howell be and they are hereby appointed a committee, upon application to them made to take into consideration the claims and settlements lately made by divers persons on the lands situate on or near the waters of the Susquehanna River within the limits and boundaries of the Charter to this Colony, and to endeavor to adjust and settle with such claimants and settlers what and how much of their re- spective claims they shall hold and be quieted in under the title of this Colony, and on what terms ; *
* and that those people who have been settled within the limits of this Colony on the west side of the Delaware for more than fifteen years last past, be quieted in their respective settlements."
The last of the aforementioned resolutions related, of course, to those settlers who had not derived their titles or their "rights" from either The Susquehanna Company or The Delaware Company.
Having erected the town of Westmoreland, the Assembly appointed " Capt. Zebulon Butler and Mr. Nathan Denison* Justices of the Peace
*NATHAN DENISON was born in the Town of Windham, Windham County, Connecticut, September 17, 1740, according to the public records (Book "A," page 170) now preserved at Willimantic. He was the third child and second son of Nathan and Ann (Cary) Denison.
About 1631 William Denison and his wife Margaret, natives of England, immigrated to America with their three sons-Daniel, Edward and George-and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts William Denison, who early became Deacon of the Church there-whose first pastor was the Rev. John Eliot, "the Apostle to the Indians"-died at Roxbury January 25, 1653, aged sixty-seven years. George Denison (born in 1618), youngest son of William and Margaret, resided with his parents at Roxbury until his marriage in 1640 to Bridget, daughter of John Thompson, deceased, a native of Preston, Northamptonshire, England, whose widow Alice had come to America and settled in Roxbury. Bridget ( Thompson) Denison died in the Summer of 1643, leaving two daughters, and almost immediately afterwards George Denison de- parted for England, where he joined the Parliament army under Oliver Cromwell. At the battle of Naseby, in Northamptonshire, June 14, 1645, when 7,500 Royalists under Charles I were defeated by 14,000 Parliamentarians under Fairfax and Cromwell, Capt. George Denison was severely wounded. While convalescing he formed the acquaintance of Anne Borodel, born in Corsica in 1615, the only daughter of Mr. John Borodel, an Irish gentleman of wealth. Captain Denison having persuaded Anne to marry
THE OLD NATHAN DENISON HOUSE MENTIONED ON PAGE 788. From a photograph taken in 1902.
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him, and to share his fortunes in the New World, they crossed the ocean early in 1646 and took up their residence at Roxbury. where, July 14, 1616, their first child, John, was born.
In 1651 Captain Denison removed with his family from Roxbury to the infant town of New London (founded by the Hon. John Winthrop, Jr., in June, 1646), on the western bank of the River Thames, near its mouth. December 30, 1652, a grant was made to Captain Denison of 200 acres on the east side of Mystic River, in what was known as the Pawcatuck Plantation, and in the Spring of 1654 he sold his property in New London town-plot and removed to the new settlement. At that time the Colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts were each claiming jurisdiction in Pawcatuck. In June, 1658, the Pawca- tuck settlers-two of whom were Capt. George Denison and Capt. John Gallup (mentioned in the note on page 629, ante)-signed " Articles of Association," wherein they did " promise, testify and declare to maintain and defend" with their " persons and estates the peace of the place, and to aid and assist one another according to law and rules of righteousness." The contention of the two Colonies relative to Paw- catuck was adverse to the prosperity and progress of the settlement, and in September, 1658, by the de- cision of a "Court of Commissioners " Pawcatuck was adjudged to Massachusetts. The privileges of a town were immediately conferred upon the inhabitants of the plantation, and with the new name of Southerton the town was annexed to Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Captain Denison was authorized to solemnize marriages, and the prudential affairs of the town were confided to him and three others.
The Charter of Connecticut granted by King Charles II in 1662 (see page 242, Vol. I) extended the jurisdiction of the Colony to the Pawcatuck River. The title of Connecticut to "Pawcatuck Planta- tion," or " Southerton," could not now be disputed, and in October, 1664, the General Court, or Assembly, of Connecticut passed an " Act of Oblivion " for all past offenses, implying a contempt of their authority, to all inhabitants of Mystic and Pawcatuck-"Captain Denison only except." His offense was more aggravated than that of the others, for he had continued to exercise his office as magistrate, commissioned by Massachusetts, after the Charter of 1662 was in operation and he had been warned by the Connecticut authorities to desist. In October, 1665, the name of Mystic was given to Southerton, but the General Court at its session in May, 1666, changed the name of the town to " Stonington," which it has ever since borne. At that same session the Court passed an "Act of Indemnity " to Captain Denison, "upon the same grounds as was formerly granted to other inhabitants of Stonington."
In February, 1676, during the progress of King Philip's, or the Narragansett, War, some 200 Connec- ticut volunteers, belonging mainly to New London, Stonington and Norwich, were formed into compan- ies under Captain Denison, Capt. James Avery (see note on page 662, ante), and two other officers, "for the annoyance of the enemy." A number of Mohegan and Pequot Indians (see note, page 193, Vol. I) were engaged to be associated with them "for the sake of plunder and other considerations " -- the Mohegans being under the command of Owaneco, the son and successor of the great sachen Uncas, the faithful ally of the English colonists. Early in March, 1676, the Council of War of Connecticut decreed that such soldiers as should go forth under the command of Captain Denison and the other officers previ- ously referred to " shall have all such plunder as they shall seize, both of persons, or corn, or other estate." Some days later Captain Denison began a very successful incursion into the country of the Narragansetts, and in the course of sixteen days his command killed and captured nearly fifty of the hostile Indians, without the loss of a single soldier. This success was the more important because of the capture of the chief sachem of all the Narragansetts-Canonchet, son of Miantonomoh and inheritor of all his pride and of his insolence and hatred towards the English. Governor Hutchinson, the carly historian of Massachusetts (see page 615. last paragraph). in referring to this campaign against the Indians. wrote : " The brave actions of the Connecticut volunteers have not been enough applauded. Denison's name ought to be perpetuated."
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