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 III > Part 63
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"Notwithstanding the great evils we have suffered from your Government, yet, in conform- ity to the Congressional decision of the jurisdiction of this territory (at Trenton), we make the following proposition of amity, and submission to your jurisdiction and laws-to prevent, if pos- sible, any further effusion of blood, and to terminate all disputes-to wit: Provided the Legis- lature of the State of Pennsylvania will, in the most explicit and unequivocal manner, ratify, confirm and secure to us the right of soil of the lands in the disputed territory, which we have purchased of the aboriginal proprietors and of the State of Connecticut (part of which we have improved, and are in possession of), that on this condition we, the said inhabitants, will submit to the jurisdiction and laws of the State of Pennsylvania.
"Should this condition-which is the bone of contention-be complied with on the part of the Government, we indulge a hope and strong expectation that harmony, justice and peace will succeed the evils and hostilities which have heretofore taken place; for we greatly esteem your just and equal Constitution, and revere the worthy censors and guardians of it, and have, with humble petitions, repeatedly implored your legislatures to confirm and quiet us in our pos- sessions and right of soil-but all to no purpose!
"Gentlemen, your Government hitherto have been extremely earnest to cram their laws down our throats, and do not fail to hold up to our view the sanctity thereof. "The Law', they say, 'is holy, just and good; but the said inhabitants, alias Yankees, are carnal, riotous, rebellious, and sold under sin, and their lands and labours must pay for it!' In fine, the inhabitants of Wyoming and its vicinity are so sinful and rebellious that you, gentlemen of the militia of Pennsylvania, must leave your farms and occupations, wives and children, and, at the hazard of your lives, kill and destroy those ugly Yankees who guarded your frontier in the late war, and who, if you do not extirpate them, will guard you in a subsequent one.
"But why are your Government so zealous to raise troopst and money for the avowed purpose of waging war with the inoffensive yeomanry of Wyoming? The cause (not reason) is not at all abstruse. The lands on the waters of the Susquehanna and the adjacent country- particularly the fertile fields of Wyoming-are too good to be possessed and enjoyed by rioters and disturbers of the peace 'who have not the fear of law before their eyes.' These lands would better grace the 'Pennsylvania Farmer' and his junto of counsellors and sage judges, attorneys and dependents who adore the law and 'make it honourable, and roll it as a sweet morsel under their tongues', thereby to cheat us out of our lands.
[Then follows a history of The Susquehanna Company's title to the Wyoming lands, and an account of the settlement of the lands.]
"Certainly, Gentlemen, when you have duly considered our address, you will adjudge that we have been unconstitutionally and illegally dealt with by the Government, and that the right of soil is rightfully ours; and if so, your land-jobbers will be confounded and will curse their stars since it amounts to a moral certainty that you, Gentlemen of the Militia, will not come forth in arms against us, in order to assist overbearing men to destroy us, merely for their own emolument' * * *
"That the people of the State at large have a right to judge, and even interpose, in this interesting dispute, will further appear when, by a Government swayed by interested and over- bearing men, they are ordered to march under arms to the hostile ground of Wyoming, and, at the hazard of their lives, fight against us for no other cause (not reason). but that we will not tamely surrender our farms, orchards, tenements, labours and right of soil to a junto of land- thieves. This is a matter which very nearly concerns the people of the State at large, as they, by order of Government, must encounter us in the field, in which few, if any, of the land-jobbers of *It was in the shape of a broadside, 18x24 inches in size, and had been printed by Ashbel Stoddard at Hudson, New York. The only copy of this document which the present writer has been able to find is preserved among the "Pickering Papers" -- LVII : 29.
tReference is here made to the resolution which was introduced in the Pennsylvania Assembly in March, 1786, authorizing the raising of volunteers for the suppression of the disturbances at Wyoming. See page 1494.
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any considerable importance will act a part. Their weapons are intrigue and legal deception. Such pions legalists had rather stand aloof in the day of battle, with law-books in their hands, and look on and see you, Gentlemen of the Commonalty, and those rebellions Yankees, smoke it out at the muzzle of the firelock; and, provided the event of war proves favourable to their claim, to take possession of the lands and labours which they have coveted. * * *
"Gentlemen, the original design and ultimate end of law is to secure the lives, liberty and property of the subjects. But when Government and Law are degenerated in the administration, and subverted to answer the overbearing, unjust and monopolizing purposes of cruel men, or to dispossess and ruin a large settlement of industrious yeomanry-the supporters of the world of mankind-then, in such cases, the oppressed have a jnst and natural right to make a bold and manly resistance, agreeably to the greatest of all laws, to wit: that of self-preservation.
"Nor is it, in the nature of things, possible that the human species should be under any obligation of allegiance to a Government that does not and will not protect them in their property. In all such instances as these the subjects are thrown into a condition commonly called a state of nature, and, from the sanctions of the eternal law of self-preservation, have a right to defend their persons and property against all manner of usurpation.
"This has been the condition of this settlement ever since the jurisdictional decision at Trenton, which will cancel our allegiance to the Government until they alter their measures and confirm to us our right of soil and administer law to us on the principles of the Constitution. *
[Signed] "ETHAN ALLEN, "JOHN FRANKLIN,
"JOHN JENKINS."
"Wyoming, September 12, 1786.
So far as is now known General Allen was not in Wyoming at this time. It is doubtful if he ever visited the Valley more than once-in the Spring of 1786, as hereinbefore related.
Immediately after the passage of the Act erecting Pennsylvania's seven- teenth County, Vice President Biddle directed Samuel Dale, Esq., "to proceed as soon as possible to Wyoming and there distribute as many of the laws that are [were] passed erecting the 'Northern part of the County of Northumberland into a separate County' " as he should think necessary. He was also instructed to "take every opportunity of acquainting the people with the favorable dis- position of Government to them; that, if they behave peaceable, they will not only be treated with Justice, but Generosity, by the State."
The "two Johns" left Philadelphia for Wyoming on September 23, 1786, arriving at Wilkes-Barré on the following Tuesday (September 26th). Upon the arrival here, some days later, of Samuel Dale, bearing official printed copies of the new Act of Assembly, Colonel Franklin issued to the inhabitants of Wyoming a "Notice", reading as follows :*
"Whereas, by a law of this State, enacted the twenty-third Day of September, one thousand seven hundred and Eighty-six, A new County is erected from the Nescopeck Creek on the south, to the north Line of the State, extending East to the Lehigh, and West to the ridge of land divid- ing the waters of the East Branch from the waters of the West Branch of the Susquehanna river, by the name of the COUNTY OF LUZERNE.
"That the inhabitants thereof, have Right to enjoy all and Singular Jurisdictions, powers, Rights, Liberties and privileges that the Inhabitants of other Counties of the State, do may or ought to enjoy.
"And whereas, the second Tuesday of October instant [October 10, 1786] is the Day ap- pointed by Law for holding the annual election in the several Counties in the State, that the new and Extraordinary Circumstances of this Settlement render it highly expedient that a meeting be held to adopt measures in Conformity of the above recited Law. These are therefore to notify the settlers and freeholders of the said County of Luzerne, that they meet at the house of Abel Pierce, Esq., in Kingston, on Saturday the 7th instant, at one o'clock, P. M. 1st. To hear the report of the Agents returned from Philadelphia. 2d. To adopt Measures (so far as may be con- sistant with the Constitution and Law) for holding an Election at the time appointed by Law. And 3dly. To transact any other Business proper and necessary to be Done at said meeting.
"Dated at Wilkes-Burg in the County of Luzerne, October the 2d, 1786.
[Signed] "JOHN FRANKLIN."
On the same day Colonel Franklin wrote to Dr. Joseph Hamilton at Hudson, New York, transmitting the letter, and various accompanying documents re- lating to Wyoming affairs, by the hands of -- Gilbert. Colonel Franklin's
*See "Pennsylvania Archives", Old Series, XI : 66.
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letter*, with certain eliminations, and improved in spelling and punctuation, reads as follows:
* * * "I expect you have heard of myself and Major Jenkins being appointed Agents to represent this settlement in Council and Assembly. We accordingly attended. We arrived at Philadelphia September 3; were called before Council the 7th. The Hon. Charles Biddle presided, as the President was not able to attend. We were heard by Council, who gave the greatest at- tention and treated us with the greatest respect. We were heard without hindrance, restraint or molestation. I had the pleasure of stating our whole suffering to Council, from the Decree of Trenton to the present time. I left no stone unturned. The discourse continued about one hour and a-half. Colonel Armstrong and Esquire Boyd were present, and they heard a complete his- tory of their conduct while at Wyoming. I did not forget the proceedings of Assembly and Council towards us.
"We were requested to attend a second time, which was done. Our instructions were requested, which we gave to Council to peruse. A number of questions were asked-particularly respecting the Sheriff [of Northumberland County] being opposed the last time he was at Wyoming. Council finally recommended us to lay our matters before the Assembly.
"His Excellency, B. Franklin, sent a request to us informing us that he had a desire to have us call on him. We accordingly waited on him, gave him a full account of our grievances- nearly the same that we had laid before the Council; also gave him our instructions. His Ex- cellency expressed a great pleasure in having the opportunity of hearing us. He informed us that he had heard something of the disturbances, but was never so fully acquainted before.
"We presented a petition to the House of Assembly September 11. I shall refer you to the petition and proceedings thereon. However, we were not heard by the Committee of Assem- bly so fully as we were by Council. Messrs. Fitzsimons and Clymer appeared as though they would wish to take advantage, and were very inquisitive. Messrs. Findley and Smilie were not present but a little part of the time-said but a few words to us, &c. * * * You will observe by the report of the Committee that nothing is done to confirm our title.
"We continued three weeks at Philadelphia, and returned here last Tuesday [September 26]. The report of the Committee was not adopted when we left them. However, we found it to be the unanimous opinion of the House, and thought it best not to wait any longer. The Assembly have completed the new County according to the Bill, except the line from Nescopeck running north-west instead of west. * * * We have a right to hold an election the second Tuesday of this month [October 10, 1786] to elect a Representative and other officers of Government, but the time is so short we shall be obliged to omit it. * * *
"It may not be amiss to inform you that there were sundry petitions from our enemies against a division of the County, but to no purpose. Sundry papers were sent to Council that were laid before the Assembly, viz .: A letter from William Montgomery, Esq., dated May 17, setting forth that Ethan Allen had come to Wyoming with a number of others, and they were caballing to erect a new State. This was confirmed by a letter from Esquire Shaw, who also sent a copy of an intercepted letter (as he called it) from [you] Joseph Hamilton to [me] John Franklin, dated , March 24, advising for Independence. Also, my letter to Colonel Montgomery of the 26th of June last-and sundry others. We may thank Dr. [Wm. Hooker] Smith for your letter of the 24th of March. He received it in my absence, and took great pains to send it to Esquire Shaw, that Council might receive it. He also wrote a letter to Council informing against the people; setting forth that he was obliged to fly because he would not join for Independence. (God damn the liars!) However, I asked Council respecting the complaints against us. They informed us that the complaints were not worthy of notice. We heard near the same from the Assembly." * *
*See "Pennsylvania Archives," Old Series, XI : 67.
CHAPTER XXIX.
LEGISLATIVE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH THE COUNTY OF LUZERNE WAS ERECTED-ANNE CAESAR, CHEVALIER DE LA LUZERNE-BAPTISM OF THE COUNTY BY THE GREAT "PUMPKIN FLOOD"-COL. TIMOTHY PICKERING ARRIVES, AS PEACE COMMISSIONER - HIS MANY OFFICES-THE SUSQUEHANNA COMPANY'S LAST PRO- JECT - JOHN FRANKLIN AND HIS "IRRECONCIL- ABLES" FOMENT DISCORD -PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST ELECTION UNDER PENNSYLVANIA.
Let palsied be my strong right hand, Its cunning never more return, Whate'er my lot, in any land, Should I forget thee, loved LUZERNE." -George Wallace, 1912.
"In the stormy east-wind straining, The pale yellow woods were waning, The broad stream in his banks complaining, Heavily the low sky raining." -A. Tennyson, in The "Lady of Shalott."
"The heavens are black with cloud, The river is white with hail, And ever more fierce and loud Blows the October gale."
The preamble and enacting clause, and some of the principal sections, of the Act of the Pennsylvania Assembly of September 25, 1786, whereby the Coun- ty of Luzerne was erected, read as follows :*
"Whereas, many of the inhabitants of the northern part of the County of Northumberland have, by their petition to the General Assembly of this State, represented the inconveniences which they are subject to by the large extent of the said County of Northumberland, and the *See Smith's "Pennsylvania Laws," II .: 386.
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great distance at which the said petitioners dwell from the county-town-where the courts of justice and the public offices of the same County are held and kept-For remedy whereof,
"Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same: That all and singular the lands lying within that part of the County of Northumberland which lies within the bounds and limits hereinafter described, shall be erected into a separate County. That is to say, beginning at the mouth of Nescopeck Creek, and running along the south bank thereof, eastward, to the head of said creek; from thence a due east course to the head branch of the Lehigh Creek; then along the east bank of said Lehigh Creek to the head thereof; from thence a due course to the northern boundary of the State; thence westward along the said bound- ary till it crosses the East Branch of the Susquehanna; and then along the said northern boundary fifteen miles west of the said river Susquehantia; thence by a straight line to the head of Towanda Creek; thence, along the ridge which divides the waters of the East Branch of the Susquehanna from those of the West Branch, to a point due west from the mouth of Nescopeck Creek; thetice east to the place of beginning- which shall from henceforth be known and called by the name of LUZERNE* COUNTY.
"Section IV -* That Courts of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to be holden in and for the said County of Luzerne, shall be opened and held on the Tuesday succeeding the Tuesday on which the Court of Northumberland is held, in each and every term hereafter; and that the Court of Quarter Sessions shall sit three days at each sessions, and
*ANNE CAESAR DE LA LUZERNE (more generally known as Le Chevalier de la Luzerne, in wbose honor Penn- sylvania's seventeenth County was named, was born in Paris July 15, 1741, the third son of Caesar Antoine de la Luzerne, Count of Benzeville. He was, on his mother's side, a nephew of Malesherbes, a member of the French Acad- emy, and a noted and able writer on political, legal and financial questions during the latter years of the reign of King
Louis XVI; and wbo because of his loyalty to and chivalrous defense of this monarch, was guillotined at Paris in April, 1794.
The Chevalier Luzerne was educated at the Military School of Light Cavalry, and after his grad- uation served as an aid on the staff of his relative, the Duke de Broglie, in the Seven Years' War. In 1762, at the age of twenty-one years, he became a Major General of Cavalry in the French army. Later he became a Colonel of the Grenadiers of France, and a Knight ( Chevalier) of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1776, he was sent by Louis XVI as Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria. He remain- ed at Munich two years, performing with remark- able success the responsible duties of his office.
In March, 1778, the King appointed Sieur Conrad Alexander Gérard (who for some time then had heen Secretary of the Council of State) Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, but about a year later he expressed a desire to he relieved of his office and permitted to return to France. Therefore, on May 31, 1779, the King appointed as his succes- sor the Chevalier de la Luzerne. Accompanied hy his Secretary (M. Marhois) and John Adams, after- wards President of the United States, Luzerne set sail from France in a 32-gun frigate on June 17, 1779, and arrived at Boston early in the following August. On his way thence to Philadelphia, the seat of Government, he visited General Washington at West Point.
On November 17, 1779, Luzerne was formally received hy the Congress. "According to order", he was conducted into the Hall of Congress by Messrs. Matthews and Morris, the two Representa- tives appointed for that purpose, and, "being seat- ed in his chair, the Secretary of the Embassy deliv- ered to the President of the Congress (Samuel Hunt- ington) a sealed letter" from King Louis, dated at Versailles May 31, 1779, addressed to "Our dear great friends and allies, the President and Member; of the General Congress of the United States of America." The letter, of course, was in French" Translated, it read in part as follows:
ANNE CAESAR, CHEVALIER DE LA LUZERNE. (Reproduced from an old engraving in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.)
"The bad state of health of Monsieur Gérard, our Minister Plenipotentiary to you, having laid him under the necessity of applying for a recall, we have made choice of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, a Colonel in our service, to supply his place. We have no doubt that he will be agreeable to you, and that you will re pose entire confidence in him. We pray you to give full credit to all he shall say to you on our behalf, especially when he shall assure you of the sincerity of our wishes for your prosperity, as well as the constancy of our affection and our friendship for the United States in general and for each of them in particular."
The Minister then arose and addressed the Congress at some length in French, following which the Secretary of the Congress read a translation of the speech, which had been prepared heforehand. One of its paragraphs was word- ed as follows: "I consider as the happiest circumstance of my life a mission, in the course of which I am certain of fulfilling my duty when I lahor for your prosperity; and I felicitate myself upon being sent to a Nation wbose interests are so intimately blended with our own, that I can be useful neither to France nor the American Republic without rendering myself agreeable both to the one and the other." (See Wharton's "Diplomatic Correspondence of the Amer- ican Revolution," III : 408, 409.)
"From this time to the end of the war," says Sparks in his "Diplomatic History of the American Revolution," "he applied himself sedulously to the duties of his station, and hy the suavity of his manners, as well as by the uni- form discretion of his official conduct, he won the esteem and confidence of the American people. His efforts were all directed to the support of the alliance, on the principles of equity, and the broad basis of reciprocal interests estab- lished in the treaties," During bis stay in this country Luzerne lived at Laurel Hill, near the present Laurel Hill
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Cemetery, Philadelphia. The property which he occupied had heen owned by Samuel Shoemaker, a former Mayor of Philadelphia, who, remaining loyal to King George, suffered the loss of his property hy confiscation. Laurel Hill was purchased by James Parr, who leased it to Luzerne for five years.
Morristown, New Jersey, was occupied by Washington as his headquarters in the Spring of 1780, and he was visited there hy Luzerne Dr. James Thacher, of Massachusetts, a Surgeon in the American army, gives in his "Mil- itary Journal", published in 1824 the following account of the Chevalier's visit:
"April 19, 1780-Morristown, New Jersey. The Chevalier de la Luzerne, Minister of France, with another French gentleman and arrived at headquarters, from Philadelphia, in company with General Washington. Major Trescott was ordered out with 200 men to meet and escort them to headquarters, where two hattalions were paraded to receive them with the usual military honors. Several of our general officers rode about five miles to meet the gentlemen, and their arrival was announced hy the discharge of thirteen cannon. The foreign gentlemen and their suites having left their carriages, were mounted on elegant horses, which, with General Washington, and the general officers of our army, with their aids, formed a most splendid cavalcade, which attracted the attention of a vast con- course of spectators.
"April 24, 1780 .- Four battalions were presented for review by the French Minister, attended by General Wash- ington. Thirteen cannon, as usual, announced their arrival on the field. A large stage was erected in the field, which was crowded by officers, ladies and gentlemen of distinction from the country-among whom, was Governor Living- ston of New Jersey. * * * The Minister of France was highly gratified, and expressed to General Washington his admiration at the precision of their [the battalions] movements. In the evening, General Washington and the French Minister attended a hall, provided by our principal officers-there being a large attendance of distinguished ladies and gentlemen. Fireworks were also exhibited by the officers of the artillery. On the 25th the whole army was paraded noder arms to afford M. de la Luzerne another opportunity of reviewing the troops; after which he was escorted part of the way to Philadelphia."
The following interesting, but little-known, item of Philadelphia history, written hy Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Congress in 1782, and earlier years (see page 354, Vol. I), may be appropriately introduced here:
"This day [May 13, 1782] having been assigned for giving the Minister of France a public andience, in order that he might deliver to the United States, in Congress assembled, a letter which he had received from His Most Christian Majesty [King Louis XVI] announcing the birth of a Dauphin, the Minister came in his own coach to the State House, being escorted by the City Troop of Light Horse. At the State House he was received with military honors, and being met at the foot of the steps by two Members, deputed for the purpose, was hy them introduced to his seat.
"The House was arranged in the following order: The President in a chair on a platform, raised two steps from the floor, with a large table before him. The Members of Congress in chairs on the floor, to his right and left, with small tables before them. * * * Next to the Members of Congress on the left of the Chair stood the principal [officials] of the three executive departments, namely, the Superintendent of Finance, the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The President and the Supreme Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania stood within the bar, on the right as they entered, and facing the President. The Secretary of the United States, in Congress assembled, stood on the right of the President, on the first step of the platform. At his right, on the floor, stood the interpreter. The rest of the audience stood without the bar. The doors were opened; sentries were placed at the inner door, and none except the Members were admitted without tickets, which were signed by the Secretary of Congress. * * * The whole number prepared was 200.
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