USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the olden time; being a collection of the memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 59
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time. But after much mutual recrimination, a line was agreed upon by commissioners, fixing it as it now stands.
The Maryland line was produced to five degrees of longitude, inea- sured upon that parallel, being 39° 43' 42' north, and for the west line of Pennsylvania a meridian of longitude was drawn to Lake Erie. If William Penn's construction of the grant to him had been adopted, the state of Ohio would have approached within six miles of Pittsburg.
To those who are minutely curious on the subject, there is a lengthened memoir by James Dunlop, Esq., published in the papers of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which they may consult with profit. See, also, the case as stated by W. Murray, of 1737, reprinted in Hazard's Register, vol. ii., page 200, in 4 pages royal Svo
Lord Baltimore alleged that the 40th degree of north latitude had been ascertained, and part of the line run, in 1681, in pursu- ance of a letter of the king; but Penn denied that any such line had been ascertained. The claims of Maryland were asserted with continued acrimony, violence and occasional bloodshed, until they were finally abandoned in 1760, by the mutual agreement of the parties. .
The original parties had two personal interviews in America, but with no satisfaction to either of them. At length, in 1685, one im- portant step was taken by a decision of King James' council, which ordered "that for avoiding further differences, the land lying between the bay of Delaware, and the eastern sea on the other side, and the Chesapeake bay on the other, be divided into equal parts, by a line from Cape Henlopen to the 40th degree of north latitude."
Mutual agreements were made between the successors or heirs of the parties, on the 10th May, 1732. By this celebrated agreement it was determined, that a semicircle should be drawn at twelve miles around New Castle ;- that an east and west line should be, drawn, beginning at Cape Henlopen, (Cape Cornelius,) and to run westward to the exact middle of the peninsula; and thence north- ward, so as to form a tangent with the periphery of the semicircle at New Castle, drawn with the radius of twelve English miles ; and that from such semicircle, it should be run further northward, until it reached the same latitude as fifteen English miles due south of the city of Philadelphia ;- and from the northern point of such line, a due west line should be run across the Susquehanna river, and twenty- five miles beyond it, and to the western limits of Pennsylvania, when occasion, and the improvements of the country, should require it. This agreement, however, became the subject of much after litigation and cavil, as may be frequently noticed on the records of the Minutes of Council, if consulted
The Penns were evidently gainers by the agreement, inasmuch as they made no concession of territory; and but for it the Maryland claim would have reached so far as to cover several parts of the pre- sent counties of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, York, Adams
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Franklin, Bedford, Somerset, Fayette and Greene. Finally, the matter in dispute, went into Chancery, and was not decided until 1750, when the lord chancellor decreed a performance of the arti- cles of agreement, as being their best guide and foundation, as a measure before fixed by themselves. Some subsequent cavil how- ever ensued,-when finally, Frederick, Lord Baltimore, tired of the litigation, entered into articles of agreement with Thomas and Richard Penn, in 1760, which at length effectually closed all fur- ther altercation and dispute.
In consequence of such agreement, Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason were appointed to run the unfinished line, in 1761 ; and they extended the western line between the two provinces 230 miles, marking 130 miles of the same by stone pillars. It was called in subsequent history " Mason and Dixon's line," to distinguish it from the " Temporary line," so called,-run in 1739.
In the controversy, it is seen, that William Penn and his success- ors manifested the most tact and patience-by which they eventu- ally made the best of the bargain. Some of the original papers in these matters are not now to be found, but the facts in the case are admitted in our courts, as evidence without proof.
To our forefathers, the controversy, while it lasted, was as stirring and exciting, as a state of actual war, on a small scale.
Doctor Thomas C. James' account of the discovery and use of Anthracite Coal.
It was some time in the autumn of 1804, that the writer and a friend started on an excursion to visit some small tracts of land that were joint property on the river Lehigh, in Northampton county. We went by the way of Allentown, and, after having crossed the Blue mountain, found ourselves in the evening unexpectedly be- wildered in a secluded part of the Mahoning valley, at a distance, as we feared, from any habitation; as the road became more narrow, and showed fewer marks of having been used, winding among scrubby timber and underwood. Being pretty well convinced that we had missed our way, and, as is usual with those who are wrong, unwilling to retrace our steps, we nevertheless checked our horses about sunsetting, to consider what might be the most eligible course. At this precise period, we happily saw emerging from the wood, no airy sprite, but, what was much more to our purpose, a good sub- stantial German-looking woman, leading a cow, laden with a bag of meal, by a rope halter. Considering this as a probable indication of our being in the neighbourhood of a mill, we ventured to address our inquiries to the dame, who, in a language curiously compounded of what might be called High and Low Dutch, with a spice of Eng- lish, made us ultimately comprehend that we were not much above a mile distant from Philip Ginter's mill, and as there was but one road before us, we could not readily miss our way. We accordingly
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proceeded, and soon reached the desired spot, where we met with a hospitable reception, but received the uncomfortable intelligence that we were considerably out of our intended course, and should be obliged to traverse a mountainous district, seldom trodden by the traveller's foot, to reach our destined port on the Lehigh, then known by the name of the Landing, but since dignified with the more classical appellation of Lausanne. We were kindly furnished by our host with lodgings in the mill, which was kept going all night; and as the structure was not of the most firm and compact character, we might almost literally be said to have been rocked to sleep. However, after having been refreshed with a night's rest, such as it was, and taking breakfast with our hospitable landlord, we started on the journey of the day, preceded by Philip, with his axe on his shoulder, an implement necessary to remove the obstructing saplings that might impede the passage of our horses, if not of ourselves ; and these we were under the necessity of dismounting and leading through the bushes and briers of the grown-up pathway, if path- way had ever really existed.
In the course of our pilgrimage we reached the summit of the Mauch Chunk mountain, the present site of the mine or rather quarry of anthracite coal; at that time there were only to be seen three or four small pits, which had much the appearance of the commencement of rude wells, into one of which our guide de- scended with great ease, and threw up some pieces of coal for our examination ; after which, whilst we lingered on the spot, contem- plating the wildness of the scene, honest Philip amused us with the following narrative of the original discovery of this most valuable of minerals, now promising, from its general diffusion, so much of wealth and comfort to a great portion of Pennsylvania.
He said, when he first took up his residence in that district of country, he built for himself a rough cabin in the forest, and supported his family by the proceeds of his rifle, being literally a hunter of the back-woods. The game he shot, including bear and deer, he car. ried to the nearest store, and exchanged for the other necessaries of life. But, at the particular time to which he then alluded, he was without a supply of food for his family, and after being out all day with his gun, in quest of it, he was returning towards evening over the Mauch Chunk mountain, entirely unsuccessful and dispirited, having shot nothing; a drizzling rain beginning to fall, and the dusky night approaching, he bent his course homeward, considering himself as one of the most forsaken of human beings. As he trod slowly over the ground, his foot stumbled against something which, by the stroke, was driven before him ; observing it to be black, to distinguish which chere was just light enough remaining, he took it up, and as he had often listened to the traditions of the country of the existence of coal in the vicinity, it occurred to him that this, perhar , might be a portion of that "stone coal" of which he had heard He accordingly carefully took it with him to his cabin, and
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the next day carried it to Colonel Jacob Weiss, residing at what was then known by the name of Fort Allen. The colonel, who was alive to the subject, brought the specimen immediately with him to Philadelphia, and submitted it to the inspection of John Nicholson and Michael Hillegas, Esqs., and Charles Cist, an intelligent printer, who ascertained its nature and qualities, and authorized the colonel to satisfy Ginter for his discovery, upon his pointing out the precise spot where he found the coal. This was done by acceding to Ginter's proposal of getting through the forms of the patent office the title for a small tract of land which he supposed had never been taken up, comprising a mill-seat, on which he afterwards built the mill which afforded us the lodging of the preceding night, and which he afterwards was unhappily deprived of by the claim of a prior survey.
Hillegas, Cist, Weiss, and some others, immediately after, (about the beginning of the year 1792,) formed themselves into what was called the " Lehigh Coal Mine Company," but without a charter of incorporation, and took up about 8 or 10,000 acres of, till then, un- located land, including the Mauch Chunk mountain, but probably never worked the mine.
It remained in this neglected state, being only used by the black- smiths and people in the immediate vicinity, until somewhere about the year 1806, when William Turnbull, Esq., had an ark constructed at Lausanne, which brought down two or three hundred bushels. This was sold to the manager of the waterworks for the use of the Centre Square steam engine. It was there tried as an experiment, but ultimately rejected as unmanageable, and its character for the time being blasted, the further attempts at introducing it to public notice, in this way, seemed suspended.
During the last war, J. Cist, (the son of the printer,) Charles Miner, and J. A. Chapman, tempted by the high price of bituminous coal, made an attempt to work the mine, and probably would have succeeded, had not the peace reduced the price of the article too low for competition.
The operations and success of the present Lehigh Coal and Navi- gation Company must be well known to the country ; the writer will therefore close this communication by stating, that he commenced burning the anthracite coal in the winter of 1804, and has continued its use ever since, believing, from his own experience of its utility, that it would ultimately become the general fuel of this, as well as other cities.
Doctor John Watson's account of the First Settlers of Bucks county.
This account having been written as a contribution to the Histori- cal Society, and having sundry notices of the state and progress of society, in Bucks county, from its earliest settlement, may present a picture of the past, which may prove interesting to many, viz. :
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The township of Buckingham, situated near the centre of the county of Bucks, is the largest township in the county, containing 18,488 acres.
Solebury lies between Buckingham and the river Delaware, and contains 14,073 acres.
The whole of the two townships in early time was called Buck ingham, being a favourite name with our first worthy proprietor, William Penn. The name was first given to the township and borough now called Bristol, but transferred here perhaps about the year -, before Cutler's resurvey ; by which it appears, that the two townships were divided by a north-west line from the lower corner of Thomas and John Bye's tract, extending to the upper corner of Randal Blackshire's tract.
It appears, by an enumeration of the inhabitants taken in 1787, that Buckingham contained 173 dwelling houses, 188 out-houses, 1173 white inhabitants, and 13 blacks. Solebury, 166 dwelling houses, 150 out-houses, 928 white inhabitants and no blacks.
The first settlers generally came from England, and were of the middle rank, and chiefly Friends : many of them had first settled at the Falls, but soon after removed back, as it was then called, into the woods. As they came away in the reigns of Charles, James, William and Anne, they brought with them not only the industry, frugality, and strict domestic discipline of their education, but also a portion of those high-toned political impressions that then prevailed in England.
Friends had suffered much under the Stuarts ; and though pro- mised much by the Oliverians and a republican equality, they ex- perienced but little relief from either. They therefore equally dis- liked the Presbyterians and the Pretender ; and were loyally attached to the protestant succession in the house of Hanover.
Many of the early settlers of Buckingham and Solebury had been educated in what may, with some propriety, be termed good style ; and though not great scholars, yet were great men. The exercise of their personal and mental abilities was excited into a high flow of energy, by the bold enterprise of settling a new country, under so many novel circumstances, of much importance to themselves and their posterity. The women were generally good housekeepers ; or, at least, their industry and frugality made proper amends for what- ever might be deficient, in respect to such improvements and refine- ments as were not so well suited to their circumstances of mediocrity and equality.
At that early period, when our forefathers were building log- houses, barns, and sheds for stables, and clearing new land, and fencing it chiefly with poles or brush, it has been said that a hearty, sincere good will for each other generally prevailed among them. They all stood occasionally in need of the help of their neighbours, who were often situated at some distance through the woods.
Chronic ailments were not so frequent as at present; which was.
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perhaps, in part owing to the wholesome diet, brisk exercise, lively manners, and cheerful and unrefined state of the mind. But acute disorders, such as fevers, in various degrees-those called "long fevers, dumb agues, fever-and-agues," sore throats, and pleurisies, were then much more common than now. The natural small-pox was peculiarly distressing-was mostly severe, and often mortal- and nothing strange that it should be so. The nature of the dis- order being but little known, it was very improperly treated by the nurses, to whose care the management was chiefly committed. A hot room-plenty of bed-clothes-hot teas-and milk punch, or hot tiff, were pronounced most proper to bring the eruption out, and to make it fill well ; and the chief danger was apprehended from the patient taking cold by fresh air or cold drink.
As money was scarce, and labourers few, and business often to be done that required many hands, friends and neighbours were com- monly invited to raisings of houses and barns, grubbing, chopping, and rolling logs, that required to be done in haste to get in the crop in season. Rum and a dinner or supper were provided on those occasions ; and much competition excited in the exercise of bodily strength and dexterity, both at work and athletic diversions.
Reciprocal assistance, being much wanted, was freely afforded and gratefully received-and notwithstanding the rude and unpolished state of mind and manners that may be expected to have prevailed in the first settlers in a wilderness country, and in a much more marked degree in those who succeeded after them, yet from their mutual wants and dependencies, the social and active vivacity of simple nature, and perhaps more than all these, from their hearty and honest zeal in a religious bias of the mind, a kind and unaffected friendship formed a principal feature of their general character. Their equality of circumstances, similarity of views and pursuits, and union in religious and civil principles, and the acquisition of new acquaintances far from their former connexions, all tended to unite them in habits of sociability, and to form impressions of sincere regard.
When false impressions, (or indeed ignorance,) have once so far gained ground as to influence general habits and customs on an erroneous principle, it requires much labour, and a long time to wear them out. This appears evident in the use that is made of spi- ritous liquors and tobacco. It is probable the first settlers used these articles to ward off infection; and spirits principally to prevent the bad effects of drinking water to which they had not been accus- tomed in Europe. They imagined the air and water of this hot climate to be unwholesome. The immediate bad effect of cold water, when heated with exercise in summer, and the fevers and agues which seized many in the autumn, confirmed them in this opinion; and not having conveniences to make beer that would keep in hot weather, they at once adopted the practice of the labour ing people in the West Indies, and drank rum. This being coun VOL. II .- 3 Q 44*
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tenanced by general opinion, and brought into general practice as far as their limited ability would admit, bottles of rum were handed about at vendues, and mixed and stewed spirits were repeatedly given to those who attended funerals-
"So fast the growth of what is surely wrong."
A concern arose among Friends on the subject, and a stop was put to this evil practice in a short time. I call it evil, because it pro- duced effects that were hurtful in a high degree to individuals, and also to society in general.
An act of assembly was passed, prohibiting the giving of spirits at vendues; and though the law was not much regarded for many years and the practice continued, yet this mischievous and dishonest practice is almost wholly disused.
In early times, weddings were held as festivals ; probably in imi- tation of such a practice in England.
Relations, friends and neighbours were generally invited, some- times to the amount of one or two hundred ; a good dinner was pro- vided, and a lively spirit of plain friendship, but rather rude manners, prevailed in the company.
They frequently met again the next day, and being mostly young people, and from under restraint, practised social plays and sports, in which they often went to an extreme folly ; but in those times such opportunities of promoting social acquaintance might be in some degree proper, though otherwise wrong.
At births, many good women were collected; wine, or cordial waters, were esteemed suitable to the occasion for the guests ; but besides these, rum, either buttered or made into hot tiff, was believed to be essentially necessary for the lying-in woman. The tender infant must be straitly rolled round the waist with a linen swathe, and loaded with clothes until he could scarcely breathe ; and, when unwell or fretful, was dosed with spirit and water stewed with spicery.
When wheat and rye grew thick and tall on new land, and all was to be cut with sickles, many men and some women became dexterous in the use of them, and victory was contended for in many a violent trial; sometimes by two or three only, and some- times by the whole company for forty or fifty perches. About the year 1741, twenty acres of wheat were cut and shocked in half a day in Solebury. Rum was drunk in proportion to the hurry of business, and long intervals of rest employed in merry and some- times angry conversation.
The imposing authority of necessity, obliged the first settlers and their successors to wear a strong and coarse kind of dress : enduring buckskin was used for breeches and sometimes for jackets; ozna- brigs, made of hemp tow, 1s. 6d. per yard, was much used for boy's shirts; sometimes flax, and flax and tow were used for that purpose .
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and coarse tow for trowsers; a wool hat, strong shoes, and brass buckles, two linsey jackets, and a leathern apron, made out the winter apparel. This kind of dress continued to be common for the labour- ing people until 1750.
Yet a few, even in early times, somewhat to imitate the trim of their ancestors, laid out as much to buy one suit of fine clothes, as would have purchased two hundred acres of pretty good land. The cut of a fine coat, (now antiquated,) may be worthy of description. Three or four large plaits in the skirts-wadding almost like a cover- let to keep them smooth-cuffs vastly large up to the elbows, open below, and of a round form. The hat of a beau was a good broad- brimmed beaver, with double loops, drawn nearly close behind, and half raised on each side. The women, in full mode, wore stiff whalebone stays, worth eight or ten dollars. The silk gown much plaited in the back ; the sleeves nearly twice as large as the arm, and reaching rather more than half way from the shoulder to the elbow-the interval covered with a fine Holland sleeve, nicely plaited, locket buttons, and long-armed gloves. Invention had then reached no further than a bath bonnet with a cape.
Something like this was the fashion of gay people; of whom there were a few, though not many, in early times, in Buckingham and Solebury. But the whole, or something like it, was often put on for wedding suits, with the addition of the bride being dressed in a long black hood without a bonnet. There was one of these solemn symbols of matrimony made of near two yards of rich black Padua- soy, that was lent to be worn on those occasions, and continued sometimes in use, down to my remembrance. Several of these odd fashions were retained, because old, and gradually gave way to those that were new. The straw plait, called the bee-hive bonnet, and the blue or green apron, were long worn by old women.
The careful housewifery, and strict domestic discipline of many honourable mothers, has had an influential effect down to the present time; so that whatever there may have been, or that now remains as valuable traits of character in the inhabitants of these parts of the country, is chiefly owing to the virtues of the first settlers ; especially in those families, (which are many,) who remain to the present time.
The first adventurers were chiefly members of the Falls meeting; and are said to have frequently attended it, and often on foot. In the year 1700, leave was granted by the quarterly meeting to hold a meeting for worship at Buckingham ; which was first at the house of William Cooper, (now John Gillingham's.) They soon after removed to the house of James Steiper, (now Benjamin Williams',) and in that time, and for some time after, some of those who died in the new settlement were buried on his land, I believe near the line in the old orchard : others were taken to the Falls, or Middletown. In a short time they removed again, and held a meeting at Nathaniel Bye's, where his grandson, Thomas Bye, now lives.
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In the space of time from the first improvement until 1730, pe haps a period of more than forty years, many circumstances and occurrences may be worthy of remark, and especially the difficulty of beginning in the woods. Building a house or cabin, and clearing or fencing a field to raise some grain, were the first concerns ; pro- curing fodder for their small stocks was next to be attended to: for this purpose they cut grass in plains or swamps, often at several miles from home, stacked it upon the spot, and hauled it home in the winter.
One of the first dwelling houses yet remains in Abraham Paxson's yard, on the tract called William Croasdale's, now Henry Paxson's. It is made of stone, and is dug into the earth where there is a mode- rate descent, about twenty feet by ten or twelve. At the end front- ing the south-east was a door leading into the dwelling-room for the whole family, where there was a sort of chimney ; and a door at the other end, also level with the ground, led into the loft which must have been the lodging room.
Until a sufficient quantity of grain was raised for themselves and the new-comers, all further supply had to be brought from the Falls or Middletown ; and until 1707, all the grain had to be taken there, or to Morris Gwin's, on Pennepac below the Billet, to be ground. In that year Robert Heath built a grist-mill on the great spring stream in Solebury. This must have been a great hardship-to go so far to mill for more than seventeen years, and chiefly on horseback. It was some time that they had to go the same distance with their plough-irons and other smithwork. Horses were seldom shod ; and blocks to pound hominy were a useful invention borrowed from the natives. After all their care and industry to provide for the winter, they must have struggled with many difficulties, and suffered much hardship in passing over that tedious and rigorous season, when the snow was generally deep, and the winds piercing cold.
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