USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An historical account of the old State house of Pennsylvania now known as the Hall of Independence > Part 17
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Upon " Consolidation " of the city of Philadelphia with its suburbs, in 1854, into one corporation, the City Hall was found too small for the accommodation of the Select and Common Councils. The second story of the State House was appropriated to their sessions. The Banqueting Hall. with its adjoining chambers, now disappear, and the three rooms are modified into two large chambers with intervening galleries for spectators.
On the first floor, the judicial room, long used for the Mayor's Court, was appropriated to the Court of Common Pleas, while the former took possession of the Common Council Chamber in the old City Hall.
Independence Chamber had for some time been used, upon occasion, for the courtesies of the city, extended either to the living or the dead whom the municipality " delighted to honor." At intervals it was thrown open to the public, and finally a janitor was appointed, and the room kept open, permanently, to gratify the increasing patriotic sentiment. The papers had announced in June, 1846, that "this sacred place is undergoing a thorough repairing, repainting, etc." The court fixtures have all been removed, and the old furniture dis- posed of; a splendid outfit in furniture, including carpets, sofas, chairs, etc., are to be placed in it." Old Liberty Bell, which had long been permitted to remain in dignified retirement in the tower, ever
INDEPENDENCE CHAMBER AS A GENERAL RECEPTACLE. (BEFORE RESTORATION.)
165
PEALE'S PORTRAITS.
since the futile effort to restore its sound by enlarging the cause of its dissonance,1 was taken from its scaffolding and lowered to the first floor.
A massive pedestal of wood, ornamented by Roman fasces, liberty- caps, and festooned flags, was constructed in Independence Chamber, and the old Bell, with its tongue uprooted, and surmounted by Peale's Eagle, was placed upon it.
Most opportunely in October, 1854, Mr. Peale's gallery of paintings was offered for sale at public auction. This same gallery, it will be remembered, formed part of Peale's Museum during its occupancy of the second floor of the State House.
Earnest efforts were made to secure the whole collection for the city of Philadelphia, but failing in this, the agents who attended the sale succeeded in securing quite a number of historical portraits, among them thirteen of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
All the paintings then purchased were indiscriminately placed in Independence Chamber. From time to time, other purchases were made and numerous offerings were accepted by the city authorities. Besides the portraits, thus accumulated, the chamber became a store- house, a lumber-room for every variety of trash. As the writer had occasion to say when urging a reformation : " Occasionally a public- spirited citizen would be moved to present to the city a Portrait, a Photograph, a Bible, a casting, or a relic, - real or imaginary, - and it was at once stored in this room. The latter became a general re- ceptacle for framed resolutions of Councils, the abortive contribution to the Washington National Monument, - in fact it served as a liv- ing, ever ready, response to the often embarrassing question in Coun- cils, ' What shall we do with it ?'
" We had every reason to apprehend that the vehicle yclept Wash- ington's coach - which as such has done noble duty at fairs or pro- cessions - would find its way or be thrust into this chamber, for here already was his leather colored horse, prancing over the door in such form and manner as might have justified the intervention of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. While some of the portraits, though valuable as original paintings and as representing
1 In 1846, it is said, in order to use it upon Washington's birth-day of that year, it was drilled out, but on attempting to ring it, the crack threatened to extend, and further tinkering was then abandoned. All sorts of chimerical projects have since been submitted to the committee in regard to it. Some have projected filling up the crack, that it might again be rung, and they undertook to " guarantee perfect suc- tess," while others have had the actual temerity to ask the privilege to recast it ! ! !
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL ..
men great and good in their various walks of life, their memories were actually contemned by right thinking people, from, being thrust into positions which they could neither grace nor justify, other portraits again absolutely defiled the walls. Brant, the savage, above all others in Pennsylvania history, damned to eternal infamy ; Red-Jacket too, forsooth was here, - a whole batch of inen of whom the catalogue could only say : ' of liberal education and excellent moral character'; the vilest daub and caricature of General Jackson (unfit for a tavern sign) ; the likeness of an obscure political agitator doing duty for Charles Lee, of Revolutionary notoriety ; lithographs of cooper-shop refreshment saloons, forged autographs, and fictitious relics." Thus were the walls defaced and the architectural beauties of the chamber marred or concealed. Not a single piece of furniture of its original equipment had been preserved within this chamber, except the fine old glass chandelier which alone had escaped the hands of the van- dals - the latter had even removed the pillars once supporting the ceiling:1
Such was the state of affairs when the writer conceived the design of effecting the restoration to Independence Chamber of its original furniture, and of ridding it of everything inconsistent with the memo- ries which alone should be recalled on visiting this sanctuary, en- couraging the latter by appropriate illustrations in portraiture.
Upon the death of a near relative, he became the possessor of one of the original chairs used in the Hall in 1776, which had been pre- served in his family for sixty years in its original worn condition ; 2 he determined to replace this, and to seek others. Upon an official visit to Harrisburg, at the close of the late civil war, he discovered in actual use in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol, two more of the original chairs, which he was able to identify, though they had been slightly changed by the elongation of their legs for the convenience of the Sergeants-at-arms: whereupon he applied to the then Governor (Curtiu) to order them returned to Philadelphia, to the original Legislative chamber, from which they had been taken. This was eventually done.
The Governor went further. He sent back to the Hall the identical chair originally made for the Speaker of the Assembly of Pennsylva- nia, the chair already referred to as used by Hancock, while President of Congress, and by Washington, while President of the Convention
1 Possibly this was done during the " improvements" of 1828.
2 It was presented by Mrs. William Meredith, the elder, a niece of Gouverneur Morris who secured it at the time the furniture was scattered.
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3
THE TABLE UPON WHICH THE DECLARATION WAS SIGNED AND CHAIRS OF PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, 1776. (AFTER RESTORATION.)
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THE RESTORATION.
which framed the Constitution of the United States; with it came also the Speaker's table, which had also been in use during the session of Congress in 1776, and upon which the Declaration of Independence must itself have been signed by those who subscribed on August 2, 1776.
On visiting the Hall of the American Philosophical Society, the writer also discovered a chair, the exact counterpart of the Congres- sional chair of 1776, and already referred to as authenticated by tradi- tional statement and family possession. Upon the examination of the minutes of the Society, it was found that this second chair had been also authenticated and presented to the Society some forty years before by Francis Hopkinson, Esquire, the Clerk of United States District Court, in whose possession it had been since the dispersement of the furniture of Independence Chamber. Thus was presented conclusive proof of the identity of both. The very existence of these four chairs afforded the wherewithal for the conviction that such "restoration " as he then contemplated, was, in point of fact, feasible, whenever per- mission could be obtained to undertake the work.
The approach of the one hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth seemed to offer the fitting opportunity.
Plans for proper rejoicings and for the due celebration of the period were already organizing ; the claims of Philadelphia as the appro- priate place were being duly set forth and urged ; for was it not here that the event itself occurred which we were to celebrate ? Did not Philadelphia still possess the very building within whose walls the American Magna Charta was adopted ? Was it not here that the very Constitution itself was signed, and subsequently placed in practical operation during the administration of the first two Presidents ? It certainly seemed now that Philadelphia could best sustain these claims by showing a worthy and discriminating appreciation of this historic edifice, and a readiness to appropriate it to the nation to which be- longed the city of Penn.
Thus, at last, the likelihood that official sanction might be gained, and that possible cooperation might, upon such grounds, be secured to attain the end. Influenced by this belief, a formal application for the needful permission was addressed to Councilman John L. Shoe- maker. This gentleman, as chairman of the Committee of Councils on the Centennial Celebration, was devoting every energy to insure success for an International Exposition of Industries at Philadelphia. He promptly appreciated the importance of the plan as submitted, not only intrinsically, but as an adjunct to the grand project he had
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL. .
himself undertaken. Through his aid, both in Committee and on the floor of Councils, the necessary authority was. granted by ordi- nance, together with the requisite appropriation for repairs and alter- ations.
Under the sanction of his Honor William S. Stokley, Mayor of Phil- adelphia, who has consistently fostered and protected the work of the committee appointed by him, the restoration of Independence Hall to its condition and appearance of 1776, is very nearly perfected, not only in its exterior, but in such equipment of the chamber as was contemporaneous with the events whose detail has herein been at- tempted.
" The Philadelphia Press " of the 8th June, 1875, gives an account of the last and most important acquisition to Independence Chamber.
" The Committee on Restoration of Independence Hall repaired to the chamber yesterday, where, in the presence of the Mayor, Hon. William S. Stok- ley. and a number of distinguished citizens, Col. Frank M. Etting, chairman of the committee, presented to the city, in presence of the Mayor, a Revolutionary relic of great value and significance. Col. Etting addressed his Honor as follows : ---
"Just three years have elapsed since your Honor placed in position the chair in which you are now sitting as the corner-stone of the restoration of Inde- pendence Hall. With your aid we have been sedulously engaged in collecting all articles that were used herein in 1776. but no one surpasses in interest the relic I now hold in my hands. It is the original silver inkstand made by order of the Assembly of Pennsylvania one hundred and twenty-three years ago. It cost £25 16s., and was made by Philip Syng. It was used by Mr. Speaker Norris and all his successors, Speakers of the Assembly, till 1775, when this chamber and all its furniture and appliances were relinquished to the Conti- nental Congress. by whom it continued in use during the period they held their sessions in Philadelphia. It supplied the ink to John Hancock when he affixed his bold signature to the Declaration of Independence, and to each member as he came up to sign that charter.
"' When Washington occupied this chair and presided over the convention which franced the Constitution of the United States, he, too, dipped his pen in this identical ink-pot. Transferred to Harrisburg, it was used by the Penn- sylvania Legislature till 1849,1 and its subsequent history is given in two let-
1 The clew to its continued existence was furnished me by the late Hon. William M. Meredith, who. as Speaker of the House. had known it. Several years' search for it, however, proved fruitless. till, through Col. Russell Errett, it was discov- ered in the possession of Mr. Smull. a former clerk of the House.
The fact that Mr. Meredith should be the medium of its return, forms another strange coincidence, since it was his mother, the niece of Gouverneur Morris, who presented to my relation the original chair - " the corner-stone of the restoration."
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THE RESTORATION.
ters, which I also hand 'you. With patriotic action, and in the most graceful way, his Excellency, Governor Hartranft, now gives this valuable relic to your safe keeping. He has wisely selected a day that is memorable in our annals. On this day ninety-nine years ago Richard Henry Lee rose in his place and offered liis famous resolution : " That these Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," and on the same day was appointed the com- mittee to draft the Declaration of Independence.'"
" The Mayor, on receiving the inkstand, said : -
"'I accept this invaluable relic on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, and through you return to His Excellency Governor Hartranft the thanks of the corporation, and I desire, also, to express to you, sir, the chief mainspring of this work of restoration of this Hall, the thanks of the citizens of Philadelphia. I suggest to you, that in order that this relic may be properly exhibited and preserved, a fire-proof safe may be obtained in which to place it, large enough to hold the original Declaration of Independence, whichi, no doubt, will be eventually deposited with us.'
THE INKSTAND.
" The Mayor received the inkstand, and deposited it upon the table where It was so long used. Whereupon Messrs. Farrell and Herring, who were among the spectators, stepped forward and assured his Honor that the safe should be furnished without any cost to the city.
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
" The following correspondence accompanied the inkstand : -
" EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, " HARRISBURG, PA., June 1, 1875.
" FRANK M. ETTING, Esq., Chairman Committee on Restoration of Independ- ence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, - In reply to your letter inviting my attention to the exist- ence of 'the original silver inkstand used in signing the Declaration of Inde- pendence, which, ordered for the Assembly of Pennsylvania shortly after the occupation of their chamber in Philadelphia, was transferred with other portions of their furniture to Harrisburg,' I have the honor to say that the inkstand alluded to has this day been forwarded to you per express. The inkstand was kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Smull, with a letter containing its his- tory,1 which I enclose herewith, and I take great pleasure in transferring it to your custody to be restored to its old stand upon the table upon which the chart of our Independence was signed.
" In forwarding the inkstand, as a citizen of Pennsylvania I cannot refrain from expressing to you my thanks for the zeal and industry you have displayed in your efforts to restore Independence Hall, and the extended and elaborate research you have made to establish the identity of the articles reclaimed.
" With great respect,
" I am your obedient servant,
" J. F. HARTRANFT."
1 Mr. Smull, in returning this inkstand to the Governor, states : -
" In the year 1849 there was placed in my custody a small silver tray, containing an ink and sand-holder of the same material. At that time tradition held that this was the inkstand used by the President of the Continental Congress at the time the Declaration of American Independence was signed.
" I took great interest to obrain as much information as was possible to establish its identity, and made inquiries on the subject. during several years succeeding 1849, from then aged public men, and the result of my investigations resulted in con- vincing me of the identity of this one with that used by the first Congress.
" The late venerable Thomas H. Burrows, afterwards Superintendent of Common Schools, told me that he had made minute inquiries regarding this stand many years previously, and that he had no doubt that it was the same that held the ink used by the signers of the Declaration.
" The late Hon. Thomas Nicholson, who will be remembered as a man who re- quired the most_positive and conclusive evidence to convince his mind, was an en- thusiastic believer in the fact that this was the ' Independence Inkstand.'
" One incident will show how much he felt on the subject. When Harris- burg was threatened by the rebel army in 1863, he came personally to me and said : ' If the rebels come into Harrisburg, be sure and hide in a safe place " Inde- pendence Inkstand." ' This inkstand has been in my custody uninterruptedly ever since 1849, and I can vouch for it being the one referred to by the gentlemen I have nanied. It was used very many years prior to 1849, by Speakers of the House of Representatives."
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THE RESTORATION.
The official Reports, submitted to the Mayor from time to time, re- capitulate the changes made and proposed, as well as the condition of affairs modified and altered.
" We found the doors, cornices, wainscoting, and the architectural characteristics of the room completely concealed beneath a mass of pic- tures of every kind, while the floor contained the dilapidated furniture rejected by former Councils, and one of the windows was barricaded by the block of marble ordered by the city of Philadelphia as its con- tribution to the Washington National Monument. This last, under the sanction of your Honor and of Councils, we caused to be trans- mitted to its destination.
" The old ' Liberty Bell,' which had been taken from the cupola and placed within the chamber, we removed to the vestibule, suspend- ing it from the original beam and scaffolding. (The latter having been discovered nearly intact in the steeple. ) We deemed it appropriate to inscribe upon its base the whole Scriptural text, a part of which had been moulded upon the bell in 1753, as it, even then, so essentially predicted and ordained : first, ' Liberty throughout all the land,' and secondly, the CENTENNIAL celebration thereof. The whole has been enclosed by a plain iron railing, which circumstances showed to be essential to its preservation.
" We have replaced at the east end of the chamber the President's dais, in exact conformity with the contemporary description given upon the reception of the first French Minister to the Republic then strug- gling for its existence, and the identical chair and table used by Han- cock are restored to their places thereupon. In conformity, also, with the cited authority, we have ranged six of the original chairs used by the Delegates in 1776 - two of which had been reclaimed as already stated, from Harrisburg, and the others have been presented to the city by Mrs. William Biddle, Mrs. E. A. Foggo, Mr. John J. Smith, Mr. C. C. Dunn ; these chairs having been changed as to their cover- ing, it is our design to make them assimilate. Two chairs which con- tain the original leather covering, the one deposited by the Chairman of your Committee, the other obtained from the Philosophical Society, though somewhat dilapidated, are required to be forever kept intact by their depositors, and have been placed upon the steps of the dais. None others in the original condition are found to be extant after the most diligent inquiry on the part of your Committee."
The Committee go on to state that they have ascertained the ex istence of five other chairs, undoubtedly authentic, though re-uphol- stored, and efforts were being made to persuade their owners to present
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IIISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
or deposit the same. If successful in this (and it has been accom . plished since this report was written), " a sufficient number will thus,' says the Committee, " be supplied to enable us to recall the sitting of the Congress of 1776, besides thus representing each of the original thir- teen States. The original number of these chairs could not have ex- ceeded thirty-two, that being the number of Representatives in the State Legislature, for whom these chairs were made. The other members of the Congress of 1776 must have been otherwise accommodated, though how, we cannot now determine."
" We have replaced the pillars which formerly sustained the ceiling of the Chamber by means of the precise description given by our ven- erable fellow citizen, Horace Binney, the only living man who posi- tively remembers them, and whose description is fully confirmed by a fragment of the original still preserved in Germantown as a relic. To protect the Chamber and its furniture, we found it necessary to con- struct a light railing, so arranged, however, as to interfere with or mar as little as possible the general appearance of the Chamber. Addi- tional support has been given to the rafters of the floor, while every precaution that seemed feasible, has been adopted to avoid danger of fire from flues, etc."
One of the most experienced insurance inspectors in Philadelphia has approved all that was done to the lower rooms. He pointed out certain changes in the roof and in the steeple as indispensable. Under the sanction of an ordinance these changes have been made. Iron ven- tilators to the Council Chamber have been substituted for the wooden ones, and a third superfluous shed upon the roof removed altogether. The loft, which was discovered to have been made a store-house for books and refuse household furniture, and which was accessible from adjoining roofs, has been cleared of its combustible contents, and ab- solutely closed to all unnecessary ingress.
The steeple, which had been long (and since the abandonment of bell-ringing, unnecessarily) occupied by a family carrying on all the domestic functions and avocations, has been vacated, - all fire and lights therein have been interdicted, and, indeed, rendered impossible, by the removal of the means, save only to light the city clock.
The unnecessary outlets to the cellar in the rear of the building have been closed, and its windows effectually guarded, and but one ac- cess provided and secured as it was originally.
In regard to the portraits to be placed in Independence Chamber, we have steadily adhered to the plan pointed out by our Chairman, as published in the " Penn Monthly." They could only be admitted
INDEPENDENCE CHAMBER, WESTERN SIDE. (AFTER RESTORATION.)
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THE RESTORATION.
into the room in subordination, as to size, to the wainscoting, architec- tural adornments, etc., and only when absolutely authenticated. This has entailed a vast correspondence, but with results gratifying to your Committee, and evincive of the deep-seated patriotic feeling through- out the length and breadth of the land.
Thirteen portraits, only, of " the Signers" were found in the miscel- laneous collection purchased by the city in 1854 at the auction sale of Peale's Museum ; to these five had been added by Hon. John M. Read, Mrs. Drayton, and by three other parties not ascertained.
" The Committee were at first indetermined in the selection of those portraits entitled to admission to Independence Chamber. If only ' the Signers ' were to be included - while the portraits of some men who took no part in the discussion or even the vote upon the question of Independence would have been admitted - such rule would have excluded Thomas Johnson, John Dickinson, Robert R. Livingston, and others ; while to accept only the Actors in the drama would have militated against the popular verdict in favor of many whose signa- tures are affixed to the American Magna Charta, but who took no part in debate upon it, nor in its adoption. Under these circumstances we determined to place upon the walls, likenesses of all those men who signed, all who voted upon, and all who debated the question in this chamber, so far as they could be, or were. absolutely authenticated.
" We were pleased to find that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the then surviving signers, than whom no men were more prom- inent or better able to determine the value of their contemporaries, agreed in giving identically the same advice to Colonel Trumbull, when preparing to paint his historical picture of ' The Signing of the Dec- laration of Independence ' for the Capitol. As we were not confined to one day or one scene in the illustration of the room, our action can- not be open to the charge of inconsistency or anachronism which must always stand against this famous painting.
"Twenty of the signers remain unrepresented on the walls, but of these ten never sat for their portraits, namely : John Morton, Cæsar Rodney, Carter Braxton, John Hart, George Taylor, James Smith, Matthew Thornton, Button Gwinnett, John Penn, Lyman Hall, and, it is feared, Francis L. Lee. These are here enumerated, because coun- terfeit resemblances of many of them were manufactured a few years since, and have been recently disseminated by an enterprising indi- vidual in New York ; one of these pictures at least has been copied in oil, presented to a State, enshrined in its capitol, and its use actually tendered to the Centennial Commission. These pictures, according to
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