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 8
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
Evans undoubtedly was unfit for his place; his youth and his immoralities, and lack of dignity and experience, brought him
73
Charles Gookin, Governor, 1709-17.
constantly in contest against the judgment of good men. Penn, having already reproved him in 1707 for his "false alarm " and his gross immoralities, wrote him that he was superseded by Colonel Charles Gookin, who arrived at Philadelphia January 31, 1709.
Evans had his residence at Fairman's Mansion at Shacka- maxon, a place for which Penn always had a strong liking.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHARLES GOOKIN, GOVERNOR, 1709-17.
ON the morning of February 1st, 1709, Governor Evans and the Council turned over their authority to Lieutenant-Governor Gookin in the market-place, where the commission was read, with acclamations of the populace. The Council gave him a public "treat."
The Assembly met on the 7th of March, and the new governor was asked that Evans should be prosecuted for his misconduct, his false alarm, and for instituting courts without the authority of the Assembly. The Assembly adjourned to meet on the 20th of April, but was called together on the 12th by writs from the governor, when Governor Gookin endeavored to conciliate the feelings of the members, who had not met the new governor with the most friendly feelings. An act was passed regulating the cur- rency according to the new schedule in England, but it met with no favor, and was repealed in 1713. Charges were renewed against Logan, followed by complaints and quarrels lasting through the year about the taxes, granting of pardons, titles to lands, etc.
The queen having fitted out an expedition to retake Newfound- land and Canada, Pennsylvania was called on for 150 men and officers and £4000. The Assembly evaded this by offering to present the queen £500 as a part of her revenue. Gookin be- came angry, and said the turbulence was kept up by half a dozen men, and he would only treat with the Assembly hereafter in writing. With wrangling and recriminations the House ad- journed, and sent a message to the queen explaining their conduct.
Early in May a French privateer plundered the town of Lewes, and in July another one made a second attempt, was driven off, and started up the bay. The governor issued a proclamation forming a militia composed of all men between sixteen and sixty years of age, and that all men should provide themselves with arms.
The spirit of antagonism to the Proprietary's interests still
7
74
Annals of Philadelphia.
showed itself in further attacks upon James Logan, whom the As- sembly ordered to be confined in jail ; but the governor and Coun- cil decided that the Assembly had no right to attach a Council- man ; besides, as this Assembly had not been called by the gov- ernor, it was not a legal body; the governor therefore ordered the sheriff not to arrest Logan.
It was in this year that Sprogell laid claim to the Germantown lands of the Frankfort Company, on account of an alleged pur- chase in Germany from the owners, and the remarkable state- ment was made that he had retained all the lawyers (four), and none could be found to defend against his claim. Pastorius and Jawert, successors to Kelpius and agents of the company, laid a statement of the facts before the governor and Council, who ordered the judgments reversed.
During 1710 the Assembly met twice, but the governor would not recognize it, and nothing was done. But in October a new election was held, when members more in keeping with the Pro- prietary's interest were elected, not a member of the old Assembly having been returned. The new Assembly met in November, and the governor congratulated them and promised hearty co- operation. A long letter was received from Penn on the 20th, expressing his grief at the dissensions, stating what he had done for them, and regretting their ill-treatment of him. The Assem- bly twice adjourned until January 1, 1711.
In 1710-11 a new market was built for the butchers' use; the new court-house at Second and High streets was perhaps first used ; a petition was presented from the best citizens asking for extended powers to the city corporation ; a tax-bill was passed : single men and servants were taxed extra ; a duty of 40s. was put upon imported negroes ; duty was imposed on imported rum and wine, and on cider.
The Assembly was called July 10 to raise £2000 for a quota of men and money for an expedition against Canada under Col- onel Nicholson. Contrary to previous demands, it was raised, and, unfortunately for their patriotism, the expedition proved unsuccessful and was the last attempted.
In 1712 an attempt was made to discourage the importation of negroes by placing a tax of £20 on each head. But England, desirous of forcing slavery on the colonies, would not approve the law. During this year several conferences were held with the Indians ; the mayor advised providing buckets, hooks, and engines for fires ; overseers of the highways were directed to receive 1s. 6d. per day from such inhabitants as did not want to labor on the streets ; steps were taken to establish a house of employment; and the next year the Friends established an almshouse for their poor. Also, an act was passed for the limitation of actions ; another for establishing orphans' courts ; one for the tearing down of the jail on High below Second, and building a new one at Third and High
75
Charles Gookin, Governor, 1709-17.
streets ; the water-courses of the streets were arranged; and the grand jury declared the drawbridge over Dock Creek needed repairs.
The Assembly met in 1714 in January, and adjourned several times without accomplishing any business until August, when but little business was done. On the 23d of October news of Queen Anne's death was received, and King George I. was proclaimed in the market-place. In 1715 but little business was done by the Assembly. Among the acts passed was one allowing appeals from the supreme court to Great Britain within eighteen months; an- other for acknowledging and recording deeds; several acts were again passed against slavery, but disallowed in England. A ferry to Gloucester and one to Cooper's were established ; pumps were allowed to be put down by any one paying 1s. yearly rent for twenty-one years.
A challenge to fight a duel sent by Sheriff Peter Evans to Rev. Francis Phillips created a stir, as well as Phillips's boast of intimacy with some reputable ladies. The sheriff arrested him, but his friends created a riot, and Phillips was released. Gover- nor Gookin supported Phillips, but he was dismissed from his curacy. The governor also protected Hugh Lowden, who had endeavored to murder two of the justices of the court of common pleas. These acts, with various others, were having the tendency to lower Governor Gookin in public estimation, and many com- plaints were sent to the home government.
This year many visits were paid by the Indians, and councils were held.
In 1716 the governor desired something should be raised to- ward his support, saying for eight years' service he had received but little, and that unless he was allowed more he would solicit his recall ; the Assembly voted him £100. A misunderstanding arose between the governor and Richard Hill, Speaker of the House and mayor of the city, Gookin having said Hill was disaffected to His Majesty King George. Logan also com- plained that Gookin had represented him to be a Jacobite and friend to the Pretender. The House considered the cases, and declared there was no ground for the governor's charges, and specified many causes of complaint against him.
The Council this year fined a number of respectable people for having their chimneys fired ; some paid in buckets, others in lad- ders. Wharf-dues were established.
In 1717, Governor Gookin having again asked for support, £200 was voted to him ; the House then adjourned on the 16th of May, and Governor Gookin was recalled by the home govern- ment.
1
76
Annals of Philadelphia.
CHAPTER XIX.
SIR WILLIAM KEITH, GOVERNOR, 1717-26.
SIR WILLIAM landed at Philadelphia May 31st, 1717, and was well received by the authorities, and proclaimed governor. He was a man of complaisant manners, and won the good opin- ions and feelings of the people, so that by the time of the calling together of the Assembly, on the 19th of August, they were will- ing to promptly vote him £500 for his support and £50 for house- rent. At the meeting of the Assembly in October the large immigration of foreigners, especially of German Mennonists and Palatines, began to excite attention and alarm. These most worthy additions to the population were required to take an oath or an equivalent of being well affected toward His Majesty's government. Many proved to be the most valuable citizens.
James Logan wrote that there were upward of 1500 pirates afloat, and that they were so numerous as to create fears of an attack on the city ; and a proclamation offering rewards for their capture was issued.
Among the minor matters of the year was the claim for two patents from the king for fourteen years to Thomas Masters for " cleansing, curing, and refining of Indian corn," and for " work- ing and weaving in a new method palmetto, chip, and straw for covering hats and bonnets." In a competition for the office of vendue-master between Joseph Antrobas and George Claypoole, the former was reconfirmed. A "ducking-stool and house of correction for the just punishment of scolding, drunken women, as well as divers other profligate and unruly persons," was recommended.
In 1718 the pirates continued their depredations, while some gave themselves up to the authorities and received their pardons, and a vessel was brought in by some pirates who escaped from their fellows, well armed with great guns, swivel-guns, pistols, etc. Two sloops were sent down the bay, but made no captures. It was suspected some of those who gave themselves up remained as confederates.
William Penn died July 30, 1718, and his son, William, Jr., sent over to Governor Keith to have himself proclaimed as Pro- prietary. The governor communicated the intelligence to Council Nov. 30th, and commemorated the Founder's death by a military funeral and other ceremonies. He declined, with the advice of the Assembly, to proclaim William, Jr., until the result of cer- tain lawsuits that were commenced was settled, and acted as gov- ernor, under the legitimate authority of Hannah Penn as executrix, until June 22, 1726, when he was supplanted by Major Patrick Gordon.
(For history of the colonial governors see Vol. II. 273-278.)
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS TO VOLUME I.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS TO VOL. I.
In 1631, also, p. 4 .- In 1638.
P. 4, Note .- Campanius the historian probably was never in this country, having himself derived his information from his grandfather, who resided here, and from his father; and is in many other particulars incorrect.
Swedes in 1631, p. 6 .- They did not arrive till 1637 or '8.
Captain Kornelis, etc., p. 6 .- Captain Mey was not "the first explorer of our bay and river." Hudson first discovered it, 1609; Lord de la War touched at it in 1610; Mey first explored the bay in 1615, and Captain Hendrickson first explored the river. The Schuylkill was discovered in 1616 by Captain Hendrickson in the schooner " Restless," he leaving Delaware Bay and ascend- ing the river August 18th. (See Annals Penna., p. 6.)
Name of Hinlopen, p. 7 .- It is so called in 1612 in a letter of Captain Asgill (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Transactions). The eastern cape was called Cape May, the western Cape Cornelis, while the prin- cipal cape was named Hindlopen. The Cape Henlopen of to- day is the one then called Cornelis.
Because of his death, etc., p. 7 .- It could not have been the latter, because the Delaware is so called in a letter of Asgill in 1612.
The Swedes claim, etc., p. 8 .- The Swedes did not arrive till 1638, and Fort Casimir was built by the Dutch in 1651. Printz did not arrive till 1643, and these buildings could not have been made.
Fort on Tenecum Island, etc., p. 9 .- Shortly after Gov. Printz's arrival he sought a place for a permanent residence and for forti- fying the river. He chose the island of Teneko (now Tinicum), and built the fort of New Gottenberg, of very heavy hemlock logs. He also built a mansion for himself and family which was very handsome, with a fine orchard, a pleasure-house, and other conveniences, which he called Printz Hall. On this island the principal inhabitants had their dwellings and plantations. Fort New Gottenberg was accidentally destroyed by fire in De- cember, 1645, with all the buildings in it, and all the powder and goods blown up. It happened in the night, by the negligence of a servant, who fell asleep, leaving a candle burning. It must have been rebuilt, for the Dutch destroyed one in 1655.
79
80
Annals of Philadelphia.
ANNIVERSARY OF BURLINGTON'S SETTLEMENT.
Burlington, p. 10 .- On December 6th, 1877, the city of Bur- lington, New Jersey, celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of its settlement. In the morning one hundred guns were fired, hundreds of flags waved, the military turned out about one thou- sand members, the steam fire-companies joined in the parade, and many organizations.
A second salute of one hundred guns was fired at noon, and at three o'clock the commemorative exercises were held in Birch's Opera-House. The Rt. Rev. William H. Odenheimer, bishop of Northern New Jersey, opened the exercises with prayer. Hon. J. Howard Pugh, M. D., of Washington, then congratulated the people of Burlington on the rare privilege of celebrating their second centennial, and, after music by the Orpheus Club of Phil- adelphia, the orator of the day, Henry Armitt Brown, Esq., of this city, delivered an oration replete with historical interest, sparkling with brilliant gems of thought and flights of rare eloquence :
" There are few events in American history more interesting than that which we commemorate to-day. There are few stories more honorable than that which I shall have to tell. There can be no anniversaries more worthy to be observed than this, which marks the peaceful planting of a people, the founding of a free and happy commonwealth. The life of old Burlington has been a modest one. She sings no epic song of hard-fought fields and gallant deeds of arms ; she has no tales of conquest, of well-won triumphs, of bloody victories, Seated in smiling meadows and guarded by the encircling pines, her days have been full of quiet- ness and all her paths of peace. The hand of time has touched her forehead lightly. The centuries have flown by so softly that she has hardly heard the rustle of their wings. The stream of years has flowed before her feet as smoothly as the broad bosom of her own great river by whose banks she dwells. But her his tory is none the less worthy to be remembered, for it is full of those things which good men rejoice to find in the character of their ancestors-of a courage meek but dauntless, a self-sacrifice lowly but heroic, a wisdom humble and yet lofty, a love of hu- manity that nothing could quench, a devotion to liberty that was never shaken, an unfaltering and childlike faith in God. And it is right that it be remembered by those who enjoy the blessings which such qualities have won. 'I wish,' wrote one who had witnessed the beginning, describing in her old age the dangers and trials of her youth-' I wish that they who may come after may consider these things.' Sevenscore years have gone since that was written. The heart that held that hope has long been still. The hand that wrote those words has been motionless for more than a century, and the kindred to whom they were addressed have vanish- ed from the earth. But here to-day, in that ancient town, strange-
81
Burlington Anniversary.
ly unaltered by the changes of two centuries-here amid scenes with which those venerable eyes were so familiar-we who have ' come after' have assembled to fulfil that pious wish, to 'consider those things' with reverence and gratitude, and take care that they be held hereafter in eternal remembrance and everlasting honor."
The orator described the sailing of the "Kent" in the year 1677 from England, freighted with "Quakers bound for Ameri- ca ;" their entering New York harbor on the 6th of August, 1677 ; their interview with "Sir Edmund Andros, the duke of York's lately-appointed governor of his territory," who gives them per- mission, under certain conditions, to set sail for the Delaware; their landing at New Castle, from which place they prospected for a permanent settlement, and their final choice of Burlington.
"" A broad and imposing main street was opened through the forest, running at right angles to the river, southward with the country. It is probable that it did not at first extend very far past the place at which we are gathered now. Another, crossing it, ran lengthwise through the middle of the island, and a third was opened on the bank. The town thus laid out was divided into twenty properties-ten in the eastern part for the Yorkshire men, and ten in the western for the London proprietors. All hands went at once to work to prepare for the winter. Marshall, a carpenter, directed the building, and the forest began to resound with the blows of his axe. A clearing was made on the south side of the main street, near Broad, and a tent pitched there as a temporary meeting-house. In a short time the settlement began to have the appearance of a town, and when worthy of a name, in mem- ory of a village in old Yorkshire, was christened ' Burlington.' . . .
" The soil fertile, the climate healthy, the situation good, and the Indians friendly, the little settlement soon became a prosperous colony. Ships began to come with emigrants from different parts of England-the ' Willing Wind,' from London, with sixty pas- sengers ; the 'Flieboat' Martha, from the older Burlington, with one hundred and fourteen ; the 'Shield,' from Hull, and several more besides. It is this last one of which the story is told that tacking too near the high shore called 'Conquannock,' her masts caught in an overhanging tree, and her passengers, unconscious of the Philadelphia that was soon to be, were struck with the beauty of the site and spoke of its fitness for a town.
" Here on the threshold of your history I must stop. My talk is finished, and my duty done. How could I hope to tell the story of two centuries ?- how in Colonial days great men as gov- ernors lived in Burlington ; how Council and Assembly met in the now-vanished court-house, before whose door one day George Whitefield preached ; how, in a darker time, the Hessians camped in a meadow beyond Yorkshire bridge; how the Whigs knocked one night at Margaret Norris's door, and the Tory parson hid trembling in the 'auger-hole;' how patriotic gondolas bom-
VOL. III .- F
82
Annals of Philadelphia.
barded Burlington, and managed to hit a house at Broad and York streets ; how, in the following year, the British, in their turn, opened the cannonade, and after an hour's firing knocked a hole in Adam Shepherd's stable near the wharf; how things were quiet for a little while till Light-Horse Harry Lee came thundering in ?
" And what can I hope to say, in the last moments of so long a speech, of the inhabitants of a city whose life has not been more peaceful than her sons illustrious? From the beginning to the end in times of the Colony, the Province, and State, it has always been the same. Here were the famous printers, Bradford, the pioneer, and Isaac Collins, who published the first Jersey news- paper. Here dwelt Judge Daniel Coxe, who planned a union for the Colonies full thirty years ere Franklin thought of it and half a century before the Revolution. Here came Elias Boudinot, the president of Congress, to pass the evening of his well-spent life; and in the spacious garden of his house some of you may have seen his daughter and her friend, those venerable women who had borne the names of William Bradford and Alexander Hamilton. Here on a Saturday morning, weary with walking 'more than fifty miles,' clad 'in a working dress,' his 'pockets stuffed out with shirts and stockings,' a boy of seventeen came trudging into town. Nobody noticed him, except to smile per- haps, save an old woman who talked to him kindly and sold him gingerbread. Years afterward he came again to print the money of the Province, and became the friend of all the great men who dwelt in Burlington, for by that time the world had begun to hear of Benjamin Franklin. Two other boys belong to Burling- ton. Born side by side, beneath adjoining roofs, close to this spot where you are gathered now, both became sailors, but of different destinies. The elder, after a brief but brilliant life, fell in disas- trous battle on the deck with that immortal cry upon his lips, ' Don't give up the ship!' The younger lived to a green and vigorous old age, to make those Jersey names of Fenimore and Cooper famous for ever in American literature. Count this array of native or adopted citizens : Ellis and Stockton and Dutton and Sterling and Woolman and the mysterious Tyler ; Franklin, the Tory governor, and Temple, his accomplished son; Samuel Smith, the historian, and Samuel J. Smith, the poet; William Coxe, the pomologist, and John Griscom, the friend of learning ; Shippen and Cole in medicine, and Dean and the Gummeres in education ; Bloomfield and MeIlvaine and Wall in politics ; and at the bar Griffith, Wallace, Reed, two generations of the McIl- vaines and four of the name of Kinsey, and those great masters of the law, Charles Chauncey and Horace Binney. Read the long list of teachers of religion-I name the dead alone-Grellet and Cox and Hoskins and Mott and Dillwyn among Friends, and in the Church, Talbot the missionary, the witty Odell, the vener- able Wharton, the saintlike McIlvain, and that princely prelate-
1
83
Burlington Anniversary.
the most imposing figure of my boyish memories-whose tongue alone could have done justice to this anniversary.
"Now as I speak of them under the inspiration of those memo- ries I seem to feel the touch of vanished hands and hear the sound of voices that are still. Before me rise the scenes of other days. I see the brilliant Wall, the venerable Grellet, Allen, your mayor for a quarter of a century, the little form, too small for such a heart, of William Atkinson, the white head of Thomas Milnor, the well-beloved face of Courtland Van Rensselaer, and the splen- did countenance and manly form of him-the friend of many here -whose name I dare not trust myself to speak. And you, too- friends of my boyhood's days, whom death has crowned with an immortal youth-you, young defenders of my country's honor -Grubb, Chew, Barclay, Raquet, and Van Rensselaer-on such a day as this you too shall be remembered.
" My countrymen, the age that saw the birth of your old town has passed away. The passions that raged about her cradle have long been dead. The furies of contending creeds have been for- gotten, and Quaker and Presbyterian, Churchman and Catholic, rest in her bosom side by side. The twin sycamores by yonder meeting-house stand guard above a soil enriched with the bones of six generations of your kindred, and the spire of old St. Mary's springs from a doubly-consecrated mould. The tree, the ancient church, the pleasant field, the flowing river,-these shall endure, but you shall pass away. The lifeless thing shall live and the deathless die. It is God's mystery. We cannot solve it. That change that has come to all must come to you, and long before this story shall be told again you will have followed the footsteps of your fathers. But still on the banks of the Delaware shall stand your ancient town. Time shall not harm her, nor age de- stroy the beauty of her face. Wealth may not come to her, nor power nor fame among the cities of the earth; but civil freedom and liberty of conscience are now her children's birthright, and she rests content. Happy, indeed, if they can exclaim, with each recurring anniversary, as their fathers did two hundred years ago, ' We are a family at peace within ourselves !'"
The above oration acquires a new but sad interest. The bril- liant orator is silent. Though young, with a splendid record already made, and with every promise of a prominent career of usefulness before him, his tongue was silenced by the hand of death, through typhoid fever, in the summer of 1878.
A dispute which was not settled with Pennsylvania till 1732, etc., p. 10 .- Nor till about 1750.
For one, the Amity, etc., p. 13 .- This is a mistake; the " Amity" did not sail till April, 1682. On board of her came Thomas Holme, surveyor-general, and John Claypoole, his assistant, son of James Claypoole, afterward treasurer of the Free Society of Traders. (See J. Claypoole's letter in Hazard's Annals, p. 558.)
84
Annals of Philadelphia.
THE CAPITAL CITY IN 1682.
Such a place was not known, etc., p. 13 .- Does not the follow- ing extract from a letter from James Claypoole's letter-book (ir. Dec., 1849, in the possession of the late J. Parker Foulke, Esq., and from which the late Samuel Hazard, the historian, copied it) rather disprove these assertions ?- " I have 100 acres where our Capital City is to be upon the river near Schuylkill, and Peter Cock ; there I intend to build my first house." July 24, 1682, in London. (Annals Penna., 579.) This was written while Penn was there, and about a month before Penn's departure for Pennsylvania.
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.