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. III > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
288
Annals of Philadelphia.
At the western extremity of the front stood for many years a quaint low house, with a door and two large windows oc- cupying nearly the whole front, and surmounted with a very sloping roof, with a curiously-built garret-window. There were high steps and two cellar-doors, possibly put there when the grade of the street was lowered. Here lived Joseph A. Wig- more, a bottler, and after him his widow, a celebrated molasses- candy maker. On the eastern extremity of the almshouse were two large fine residences, the one next the almshouse occupied by Edward Stiles, and the one below it by Benjamin Chew.
The venerable front building was pulled down in 1841, and a range of fine brick offices was built upon the site. For many years the buildings in the garden in the rear, with their inmates, were maintained, but the spirit of improvement, helped by the great value of the lots, caused them to be torn down and the high ground reduced to the level of Walnut street. Upon the site the trustees erected in 1876 a number of handsome brick offices in two rows fronting on a new court opening from Walnut street to Willing's alley, and denominated Walnut place. The first story of one of the houses on Walnut street was taken out to make the necessary opening.
The following is a description of the buildings as they existed in February, 1876, just before their demolition :
While Commerce has been so hard at work in the lower part of Walnut street that she has completely hidden from sight the old St. Joseph's Church, darkening its windows with the high brick walls of great railroad establishments, she has left almost untouched a singularly quiet spot within a stone's throw of the busy thoroughfare-a little square so hidden by overshadowing walls that the front might be passed hundreds of times without a suspicion of its whereabouts. Entered through a little green gate and a little dark alley is a square piece of ground, a couple of hundred feet, perhaps, each way, between Third and Fourth streets and Walnut and Willing's alley, containing three anti- quated buildings and one of comparatively modern shape. Brick, stone, and gravel walks divide the grounds in all directions, and the remains of little flower-beds may be seen here and there, and occasionally a low marble post set deep in the earth, that might have been either a gravestone or a gatepost. Two of the oldest of the buildings, quaint, two-story bricks, front on Willing's alley, the ten or fifteen feet between them having been filled up with a two-story wooden shed. North of these, in the centre of the grounds, is the most modern of the buildings-brick, like the first, but square at the corners and plumb in appearance, with a shingle roof that might have been put on within the last fifty years or so, and this, compared with the rest of the place, is modern indeed. North of this, again, and within a very short stone's throw of Walnut street, is the oddest little house of them
289
Friends' Almshouse.
all, if, indeed, it is not the oddest that ever was built. A thick bed of green moss covers the southern side of the roof, green even with the thermometer reaching for zero, and to the eastern wall clings a rare growth of "the ivy green." The roof reaches far down in front, making a covering for the front door, and beside the solitary front window is an old-fashioned, heavy bench, so comfortable-looking that it is hard to keep from sitting down on it. A widespreading elm tree hovers over this cozy nook, with a pleasant suggestion of summer shades and autumn leaves, and the whole little place is as comfortable to the eye as it must be to the two old ladies who brew their tea and stroke their cat within its walls.
The buildings that front on Willing's alley do not differ ma- terially from hundreds of others that were built in the good old days of Benjamin Franklin. They may be a little older per- haps, and a little more ready to tumble down, but this is all. They are just as small as the rest of the buildings of that historic period. In each building there might be room for two small families, with another, possibly, in the shed. The house in the centre of the yard is divided into three small dwellings, making room for seven families in all, and these were built and supported by the charitable Quakers for the housing of such people of the faith as were unable to provide for themselves. When the charity was started, in 1720, the attendants of St. Joseph's Church, one of whose lofty walls overshadows the little buildings, gave it the name of "the Quaker Nunnery," and this in time was changed to "the Quaker Almshouse," accommodations having been pro- vided at one time for thirteen families. But when property on Walnut street grew too valuable to hold, the front of the lot was sold, and now only the four buildings remain.
For the last hundred and fifty-six years these buildings have been occupied by tenants who paid no rent-not even by Friends always, but always by families who deserved to be helped. But though they lived in John Martin's charity-houses, they were not beggars. A watchmaker named Brewer did a flourishing busi- ness in one of the little tenements long ago, and there a school- master once taught his little school. Many will remember old Nancy Brewer, who raised her herbs on the Martin " farm " and sold them, but who, unable to keep pace with the old place in the race against time, gave it up one day many a year ago, and now rests with "94" chiselled on her tombstone. Another old resi- dent was "Crazy Norah," who, after making sport for half a dozen generations of school-boys, found her reason and her Maker to- gether from the quiet Quaker settlement. Popular belief will have it that it was in this friendly retreat that Longfellow's Evan- geline found her long-lost Gabriel after the two had been torn from their Acadian home. The poet thus describes the place of the meeting and death of Evangeline and Gabriel :
VOL. III .- T
25
290
Annals of Philadelphia.
EVANGELINE.
In that beautiful land which is washed by the Delaware's waters, Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn, the apostle, Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he founded. There all the air is balmy, and the peach is the emblem of beauty, And the streets still re-echo the names of the trees of the forest, As if they fain would appease the Dryads whose haunts they molested. There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed an exile, Finding among the children of Penn a home and a country.
Then it came to pass that a pestilence fell upon the city. * * * * *
*
* * * *
* * But all perished alike beneath the scourge of His anger ;- Only, alas ! the poor who had neither friends nor attendants Crept away to die in the almshouse, home of the homeless. Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows and woodlands, Now the city surrounds it; but still, with its gateway and wicket, Meek, in the midst of splendor, its humble walls seem to echo Softly, the words of the Lord : "The poor ye have always with you." * * *
* * *
*
* Thus, on a Sabbath morn, through the streets, deserted and silent, Wending her quiet way, she entered the door of the almshouse. Sweet on the summer air was the odor of flowers in the garden, And she paused on her way to gather the fairest among them, That the dying once more might rejoice in their fragrance and beauty. * * * * *
On the pallet before her was stretched the form of an old man, Long, and thin, and gray were the locks that shaded his temples. * * * * * *
Heard he that cry of pain, and, through the hush that succeeded, Whispered a gentle voice, in accents tender and saint-like, "Gabriel ! O my beloved !" and died away into silence.
* * *
* * *
Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its shadow, Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping ; Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard, In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed.
The two old ladies who live in the quaint little house are direct descendants of a man who many a year ago was the mayor of Philadelphia. But their quiet home will soon be broken up, for within a few weeks John Martin's charity-houses will have to make way for more pretentious buildings, wherein will reign the master whose slaves vie with each other in getting rich quickly at somebody else's expense.
The Baptisterion, p. 430 .- There was a building erected at the wharf on the Schuylkill at Spruce street for the Baptisterion, which is still standing ; but it has been altered into two small dwelling-houses, numbered 306 and 308 South Twenty-Fourth street. The original door faced Spruce street, but it has been bricked up for years.
291
The Schuylkill Fishing Company.
THE SCHUYLKILL FISHING COMPANY.
One of the peculiar institutions of Philadelphia, particularly one for the purposes of conviviality and exercise, is the "Schuyl- kill Fishing Company of the State in Schuylkill," founded in 1732 by the name of "The Colony in Schuylkill " by a few of the original settlers, many of them emigrants with Penn to the New World. It has flourished in full vigor in the romantic solitudes of the river, the most ancient and highly respectable social society existing in the United States.
The Colonial Hall in which the meetings of the young colonists were held was on the estate of " Eaglesfield," judiciously selected in a wood on the western bank of the stream, and now in Fair- mount Park, between "Solitude," Penn's estate, and "Sweet- brier," the seat of Samuel Breck. The fine old mansion is now demolished ; it was generally called Egglesfield. Here they re- mained for ninety years, until 1822, when the damming of the river at Fairmount destroyed the perch- and rock-fishing, and obliged them to emigrate to tide-water near Rambo's Rock, opposite Bartram's celebrated Botanical Gardens.
In 1732 and many years after a dense forest of majestic timber lay between their hall and the built portions of the city, and afforded rare sport to the members, who were mostly sportsmen as well as anglers, and thus they contributed game to their larder.
They held two stated meetings each year, in March and Oc- tober, for business purposes. The stated and first gala-day of the sporting season was held on the first of May, and meetings for fowling and fishing were held on Thursdays, once every two weeks, until the election in October, when the season terminated. They adopted a common seal, and a set of rules which were strictly adhered to. The officers chosen were a governor, five members of Assembly, a sheriff, coroner, and a secretary, acting as treasurer also. In these officers were combined the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of this self-created government. The repast served at the annual elections consisted of rounds of beef, barbecued pig, sirloin steaks, fish and fowl, accompanied with flowing bowls of good punch, lemonade, and madeira, and pipes of tobacco. Tickets were issued to the voters, which entitled the holder to a vote and a seat at the banquet on pay- ment of the tax of five to seven shillings and sixpence. A good turtle, costing sometimes as much as £4 10s., and a barbecue, were also appendages at the election dinners, to which friends were invited, eighty-four frequently sitting down.
In 1747 they built a court-house on the slope of Warner's Hill, paying an annual rent to William Warner of three fresh sunfish. He was baron, as owner of the occupied soil, an honor- ary member by usage to this day.
292
Annals of Philadelphia.
It is said, traditionally, that some Indian chiefs of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware tribe, with whom Penn made his treaty on the Delaware, attended a council of the colonists held in the forest, and in the name of the tribe granted the right and privi- lege to hunt in the woods and fish in the waters of the Schuylkill for ever. When the governor of the Province sent out, in 1732, a commission to survey the river from the mouth upward, they granted permission to the high sheriff of the county of Phila- delphia to execute his commission over their lands and waters.
In 1765, by reason of the advanced age and infirmities of His Excellency Governor Stretch, Luke Morris was unanimously pro- claimed lieutenant-governor, and the following year was chosen governor on the death of Governor Stretch, but declined. . With Luke Morris the office of lieutenant-governor became extinct. In October, 1766, Samuel Morris was elected governor unani- mously.
The October meeting in 1769 was the last convention until near the close of the protracted war in 1781, a period of between eleven and twelve years. Forty were members at this time. The war of Independence dispersed the members of the little peace- ful colony, some to their country's councils and some to the tent- ed field. Governor Morris, who commanded the First Troop, distinguished for eminent service in the campaigns of 1776-77, was again at the head of his gallant corps at Trenton. Many of the members were in active service in the army or in civil situ- ations of usefulness and high responsibility. One of the mem- bers, Thomas Wharton, was elected president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in 1776. But a single member of the colony proved recreant to the cause of Inde- pendence.
At an early period in the eighteenth century-certainly as early as 1747-an association for similar purposes, called the "Society of Fort St. David's," enrolling a large list of the "nobility of those days," was established above the Falls of the Schuylkill. They were, many of them, Welshmen, members of the Society of Ancient Britons, some of them of the Society of Friends, companions of William Penn and co-emigrants to the New World. The names of the officers have not come down to us; the only one known is William Vanderspiegle, "a Dutch New Yorker, famous for his low drollery." Henry Vander- spiegle was a member. On an elevated and extensive rock con- tiguous to the eastern bank of the river, and projecting into the rapids, rose the primitive, rude, but convenient and strong struc- ture of hewn timber cut from the opposite forest. It was an oblong wooden building, painted brown, resting on a stone foundation, built on a long high rock in the river, fronting the Falls, having a large door in the centre and approached by a flight of spacious steps. A square cupola, containing a bell,
293
The Schuylkill Fishing Company.
surmounted with a spire, ball, and a vane resembling a rockfish, rose from the roof; a towering flagstaff stood on the adjoining hill, on which His Majesty's flag was displayed on company days. They possessed a tolerable museum. The building was capacious enough for the numerous garrison, who were then more celebrated for deeds of gastronomy than deeds of arms. No place on the river equalled the Falls for rock- and perch- fishing, and small blue catfish were taken in abundance by hand- nets. When the tide was out the roaring of the turbulent waters, precipitated over the continuous and rugged chain of rocks extending from shore to shore, was heard on still evenings many miles over the surrounding country, even to the city, a distance of five miles. But the dam at Fairmount has backed the water so that all this is changed. Also, about the period of the late war many of the great rocks, and amongst them the site of the old Fort, were blown up for navigation purposes and used in the erection of piers and buildings. Yet up to within a few years the taverns on the shore were noted for their fine catfish and coffee, and many a party would drive out there of an evening for these luxuries.
The war of Independence dispersed the garrison of Fort St. David, and peace found their blockhouse in a heap of ruins, having been consumed by the Hessians. On the approach of the foe the members had transferred their movables and a good museum to a place of safety.
The spirit of Independence was rife amongst them. John Dickinson, the author of the celebrated series of epistles known as The Farmer's Letters, was presented on May 12th, 1768, with a large circular silver snuff-box, an address from the society in a box of heart of oak highly ornamented, and elect- ed to the dignity of gratuitous member of the Society of Fort St. David, for his patriotic ardor, on 16th of April, 1768.
On the return of peace the reduced Society of Fort St. David agreed to unite their forces and their valuables, in prosecution of their favorite amusements and festivities, with the citizens of the State in Schuylkill. In pursuit of a common object they had long since been well acquainted with each other, and the "State" hailed with lively welcome the timely acquisition to their own reduced numbers and property. Five or six immense pewter dishes, of divers forms, which were brought to this country by the Proprietary, stamped with the family coat-of-arms, and pre- sented to the Society of Fort St. David, were amongst the treasures added to the common stock. The union prospered.
It was not till 1781 that a regular meeting of the governor and council of the State in Schuylkill was held at St. Ogden's, or Joseph the Ferryman's Inn, at the Middle or Market street Ferry-fifteen present. Measures were at once taken to repair
25 *
294
Annals of Philadelphia.
the long-abandoned Castle, Navy, and Dockyard and supply all deficiencies of furniture. The spring and fall meetings for business continued to be regularly held until 1787, twenty-five being the number allowed to be members.
June 8th, 1787, a special meeting was held at Robert Irwin's White Horse Inn, Market street near Seventh, for the purpose of making "arrangements for the entertainment of his Excel- lency General Washington and such other gentlemen as the company might choose to invite, on Thursday, the 14th inst., at the Castle." Twenty cards were issued to distinguished guests of the army, the navy, and the councils of the country. Such a banquet deserved a full record, but none seems to have been preserved.
At the March meeting in 1789, held at Samuel Nicholas's inn, sign of the Conestoga Wagon, north side of Market street above Fourth, it was recorded that "Mr. Benj. Scull, the Prince of Fishermen, produced a Trout, which he this day took in Schuyl- kill off his lay-out line, that measured fifteen inches." It was an extraordinary occurrence for this wary fish to be taken in this or in any other manner in the tide-waters of the Schuylkill. Mr. Scull also once caught a shad by a baited hook in one of his piscatory excursions before one was produced in the Philadelphia market. We are perfectly aware that herring will sometimes take the hook, but it is a novel circumstance for a shad to bite. Octo- ber 5th, 1791, a sturgeon four feet in length leaped on board one of the vessels at her moorings opposite to the Castle, of which the company made a delicious repast.
The worthy Baron, William Warner, died September 12th, 1794, much lamented. His property was bought by Robert E. Griffith, who erected an elegant mansion, pavilion, stables, dairy, and other outbuildings. In 1810 it became the property of Richard Rundle, who lived and died here, constantly improving the estate. He often attended at the Castle, where he occasion- ally met his neighbor, the venerable Judge Peters of Belmont Farm, and the distinguished Judge Washington.
March 25th, 1812, the raising of the frame of a new building was celebrated and a good time had; and at the 1st of May meeting a nine-gallon elegant china punch-bowl was presented by Captain Charles Ross, who brought it over, and it was christened the "Ross bowl" with all the honors. He also presented two superb mandarin hats, and Baron Rundle pre- sented two splendidly gilt china plates of antiquity, stamped 1692.
On the 7th of July, 1812, the good old governor, Samuel Morris, usually designated Christian Samuel, died in the seventy- eighth year of his age, having been a member for fifty-eight years, and for forty-six years chief magistrate of the Colony and State, to which honorable post he was annually re-elected
295
The Schuylkill Fishing Company.
with perfect unanimity-respected and beloved by his associates for the cheerfulness of his disposition, the benevolence of his heart, and the blandness and dignity of his manners; he was ever remarkable for studied courtesy and kindness to his guests. A bust of him in wood by William Rush ornaments the Castle.
As commander of the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse Washington wrote to him as follows: "I take this opportunity of returning my most sincere thanks to the captain, and to the gentlemen who compose the Troop, for the many essential ser- vices which they have rendered their country, and to me person- ally, during the course of this severe campaign. Though com- posed of gentlemen of fortune, they have shown a noble example of discipline and subordination, and in several actions have shown a spirit and bravery which will ever do honor to them, and will ever be gratefully remembered by me.
" GEORGE WASHINGTON.
"HEAD-QUARTERS, MORRIS-TOWN, January 23d, 1777."
Besides Samuel Morris, William Hall, second sergeant, Samuel Howell, Jr., first corporal, John Donaldson, Levi Hollingsworth, and Thomas Peters, of the State in Schuylkill, served with the City Troop. In the summer of 1780 the Troop, thirty-eight in number, marched to Trenton; in September, 1794, fifty-two marched under Captain John Dunlap to aid in quelling the " Whiskey Insurrection ;" and again, in 1799, they marched to assist in quelling the rebellion in Northampton county, Penn- sylvania.
The members were remarkable for longevity. The first was for thirty-four years, and his successor fifty-eight years, member of the association-the one living to eighty, and the other to seventy-eight years, and the two presiding for eighty years.
Robert Wharton, the mayor of the city, was next elected gov- ernor, and re-elected for sixteen years. Thomas Morris, nephew of the former governor, succeeded him for years.
In March, 1819, the Castle was broken into and sundry valu- ables stolen therefrom, amongst which were the ancient pewter dishes, clothing, fishing-tackle, etc; three of the five dishes were afterward recovered.
By reason of the completion of the dam at Fairmount water- works in the spring of 1822 the fishing was broken up, and the Colony removed from Eaglesfield to the vicinity of Gray's Ferry, and agreed to pay an annual rent of fifty dollars.
The Castle was taken down and rebuilt, and the valuables loaded into a scow and transported to Rambo's Rock, the new destination, and the new house was opened with the customary feast and all the honors. The Castle is eighteen feet by fifty-two feet, and will dine eighty persons. The kitchen is sixteen by
296
Annals of Philadelphia.
twenty-six, with a spacious fireplace for broiling, roasting, and toasting, and an elevated stone platform for a large barbecue. There is also a wood-house and stalls and sheds for horses and carriages.
July 21st, 1825, La Fayette paid the company a visit, and was received in full state, the members dressed in fishermen's style, with white linen aprons and ample straw hats. Gen. La Fayette was elected an honorary member, and he insisted upon performing his share of the duties, and was invested with the apron and hat, and paid attention to the turning of steaks on the gridiron. A sumptuous banquet followed, with choice songs and witticisms.
Admission to the honor of membership is by no means easy. Candidates for vacancies are soon proposed from many persons waiting for the honor. No gentleman is placed on the roll of probation until eight members signify approval. The candidate serves an apprenticeship for six months or longer, and then a majority of votes must be in his favor. He is then qualified and admitted according to ancient form; the secret mystical ceremo- nies are alarmingly interesting.
The stated days during the fishing season are on each Thursday fortnight between the first day of May and the first Wednesday in October, though sometimes changed on account of adverse tides. Every one who purposes making one of the company repairs to the governor's quarters before eight in the previous evening and records his name, so that the caterer may provide properly. The only meat provided is sirloin beefsteak, and an occasional barbe- cue for a large company. Rock and shad are always acceptable, and are either boiled or toasted on thick oak planks. All cook- ing is done by the members. An exquisite refreshing luncheon is provided by the hour of twelve, when the weary fishermen re- turn in their boats from their excursions. This luncheon-not the dinner-consists of a plain hot beefsteak seasoned with cayenne and salt at the table. No one can partake who arrives after one o'clock.
Every member is provided with his own bateau, tackle and bait, apron, hat, etc. An expert fisherman used to take from five to twenty dozen fish, chiefly the delicious white perch; and some- times the aggregate number brought in amounted, before removal of the Castle, to fifty, eighty, or one hundred dozen. The plumb- line is the favorite, with a snood of horsehair, having from three to six small hooks, mounted on a tapering angling-rod of from twenty to twenty-five feet in length. The deep-sea is used in deep water as an extra line, and at ebb tide generally secures a quantity of fine blue catfish.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.