Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV, Part 21

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 814

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seventy-five degrees twenty-two pches, North eighty-five Degrees Easterly twenty-four pches, East by North forty pches, North sev- enty Degrees Easterly forty pches, East by North twenty-four pches, South eighty Degrees Easterly one hundred and thirty pches, South seventy-seven Degrees Easterly twenty-two pches, South seventy-three Degrees Easterly eighty pches, South fifty-five Degrees Easterly fifty-three pches, South eighty-two Degrees East- erly thirty pches, South forty-eight Degrees Easterly thirty pchs to a small run, South seventy-seven Degrees Easterly twelve pches, South sixty Degrees Easterly one hundred & fifty-four pches, South eighty-four Degrees Easterly thirty pches, South eighty-nine De- grees Easterly eighteen pches, South eighty-seven Degrees Easterly one hundred & forty-six pches, North eighty-six Degrees Easterly twenty-eight pches, South eighty-three Degrees Easterly eighty- eight pches into a road near Uchland meeting House, East one hundred & sixty pches, South eighty Degrees Easterly one hundred & thirty-eight pches, South fifty-two Degrees Easterly thirty-six pches, South thirty-seven Degrees Easterly ninety four pches, South sixty-three Degrees Easterly one hundred & two pches, South twenty-six Degrees Easterly sixty pches, South thirty-seven Degrees Easterly twenty-six pches, South seventy-seven Degrees four hun- dred & seventy-six pches to Conestogoe old Road, then down the same, North eighty-seven Degrees Easterly one hundred & fifty-two pches, South eighty-eight Degrees Easterly one hundred & fifteen pches, North eighty Degrees Easterly one hundred pches, South seventy-four Degrees Easterly one hundred & twenty-six pches, North eighty-three Degrees Easterly thirty-two pches, to Kenni- son's run, and contains about sixty-eight Miles and an half.

" Taken # me, " ZACH BUTCHER.

" And a Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the Townships of Caln, Whiteland, & Uchland, in the county of Chester, setting forth that the said Road, for about twelve Miles through the said Townships, crosseth, on a Multitude of very different Courses, several Mountains scarcely passable for Carts & Carriages, & divers Swamps and low Grounds, thro' which to make and maintain a suf- ficient Way, will occasion an insupportable Charge to the said Town- ships ; that sundry Farms are cutt into very incommodious, if not useless strips & Peices, and that several of the Persons who had signed the foregoing Return, had never so much as viewed many parts of the said Road, and therefore praying a Review thereof within the said Townships by proper Persons to be appointed by this Board.

"And a Representation of the Persons signing the Return afore- said setting forth the great Care they had taken in laying out the said Road in general, and particularly in those Townships of Caln, Whiteland, & Uchland, where they had spent several days in re- viewing the most commodious Places, & after consulting with some

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Inhabitants of the said Townships who had mett on the Occasion, it was generally agreed to that the Road could no where be laid out more conveniently for the Publick, & therefore praying that they may be heard in Vindication of themselves from the Asper- sion thrown upon them of having signed the said Return without viewing many parts of the Road, & being present at laying out the same, as their Duty required.

And a Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the Townships of Uch- land & Nantmill setting forth the general Conveniency of the Road as now laid out, & the great Care that had been taken in choosing within the said Townships the most proper places for it, & there- fore .praying that the same may be confirmed.

And the Parties, pursuant to a fortnight's Notice given them, now attending and being fully heard, the Petitioners for a review pray'd Leave to withdraw their Petitions, which being granted,

The Board, on due Consideration had of the said Return, and of the Draught accompanying it, do approve and confirm the Road laid out as in the said Return mentioned, or which is hereby de- clared to be the King's Highway or Publick Road, and It is Or- dered that the same be forthwith cleared and rendered commodious for the Publick Service.

At a Council held at Philadia., April 4th, 1737.

PRESENT :

The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esquire, President.

Samuel Preston, Samuel Hasell,

Thomas Laurence, - Thomas Griffitts, S Esqrs.

The Minutes of the four preceeding Councils being read and ap- proved,

The President laid before the Board a Letter from Governor Ogle, brought late last Saturday night by Return of the Express, which was read in these Words : " Sir-

"I have received your Letter of the 22ª Instant, and as I am truly and sincerely disposed to agree to Every thing that can be thought reasonable, for promoting that Peace which has so long been wanted on our Borders, I shall avoid entering into unnecessary Disputes (tho' your Repetition of the same unjust Accusations so often made use of against this Government, might well excuse my returning a suitable answer to them), and come directly to the Proposal now offered in your Letter.

"You say you will now in full Terms express your meaning, which is, that those Inhabitants who at first entered on their Pos-

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sessions under the Government of Maryland should, till such time as the Boundaries should be settled, or till We shall receive Orders & Directions from a Superior Authority for establishing Peace, be allowed to acknowledge this Government; and all such others as entered on their Possessions under your Government should in the same manner be allowed to acknowledge it.

"In Answer to which I can truly say, that I always thought this just & reasonable, that all my Endeavours and Proposals tended to nothing else but to get your Government to come into this very Agreement; which if you had done, I am convinced it would effec- tually have prevented all the Mischief that has happened since that ineffectual Conference we had with Messrs. Hamilton and Georges; and I am confident you will find nothing in our Proposal to those Gentlemen but what is perfectly agreeable with this. How far their Answer is so I shall not pretend to determine my self, but shall leave it to the Consideration of Others who will be more pro- per judges in the Affair.

" But then, tho' I declare my Approbation of this Proposal, which I think would have sufficiently prevented our past Disturb- ances, and will effectually prevent Others for the time to come, I must add this one material thing, which is, that be a bona fide put in Execution, without any Encumbrance of such Provisoes and Con- ditions as can only serve for Evasions and the beginning of fresh Disturbances.

" Whatever Persons entered on their Possessions under your Government I shall very willingly leave to yourselves, to be taxed or otherwise dealt with according to the Laws of the Government they live under, without excepting even such as We judge will most certainly be found to be within this Province, upon the final Determination of our Disputes. If you will sincerely do the same with us, there will be at once an End of all Violences for the time to come, whoever may be found in the Wrong upon Account of those unhappy Ones already passed.

" But besides, that such an Agreement as this for the publick Good can never be too plainly and clearly expressed, or Disputes about it too carefully avoided, let us consider the Persons you pro- pose to be excepted, and the Reasons for so doing.

"The Persons are those who have been the Subject of the late Contentions & Disputes begun some time in August last, and the only Reason that I can conceive for it must be that these same Persons, not liking our forty # Poll and other Taxes, took it into their heads to renounce all Obedience to this Government in a for- mal Manner, by a Paper under their hands. If they had not made this revolt, as they themselves call it, I presume their being ex- cepted more than others would not have been mentioned ; so that this being the only Reason, the best way for you to judge of the

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Goodness of it will be to turn the Tables and suppose the same Case should happen to yourselves.

"Suppose a Number of your Inhabitants, touched with a tender Regard for the Church of England and the support of its Ministers (and such a Case certainly is not impossible, however improbable it may be judged to be), should all of a sudden renounce your Gov- ernment in the same formal manner that these People did ours for. contrary Reasons, pray what would your Government do in such a Case ? Would you think such a Renunciation of any Validity, or would you proceed against them according to the Laws of your Province ? Whatever you would think reasonable for yourselves to do in that Case, We only desire you to grant us the same Indul- gence. To do as One would be done by, is a Maxim so very just and reasonable, that it is to be presumed that No body can dispute it; And this is all we desire of you in the Case before us.

In short, it was always my Opinion that Peace might have been preserved upon our Borders without any Prejudice to the Rights of either of our Proprietaries, though I cannot agree with you in what you say in your Letter now before me, relating to such Violences as have been committed (viz+), that it always lay in my Breast to put a Stop to them when I pleased, unless you mean it in this Sense, that I always had it in my power to give up every Point in Dispute, and to put in Execution every thing that you yourselves contend for, without waiting for the Decision of our Superiors at home. This way you always proposed to me, and after this manner indeed I believe it did lie in my Breast to put an End to all our Differ- ences ; but as for any reasonable Proposal to keep Peace till such time as they should be decided in England, I must confess I cannot re- member it. I must own you have now offered something which I hope will do, if you do not spoil it by insisting upon such Provisoes and Exceptions as must leave Room, as I said before, for fresh Wrangles & Disputes, which I assure you I shall sincerely avoid on my Part, and hope you will do the same. I shall long much for your Answer to this. In mean time I beg Leave to remain,

" Sir, " Your most Obedient and most humble Servant,

"SAM. OGLE.

" Annapolis, 29th March, 1737.

"To the Honourable the President and the Council of the Province of Pensilvania."

The President likewise acquainted the Board that several of those Germans from the west of Sasquehannah who had of late suffered so deeply by the Outrages of the Maryland Gang in those parts, were come hither to represent their great Distress, and had brought with them a Letter from Mr. Blunston, which being read, gives an Account that Higginbotham and those under his Command continue

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to carry on their Violences to such a Degree that they will neither suffer the People themselves, their Children, or those whom they can find means to hire, to plow their Grounds to raise Corn for the Sustenance of their Families ; that they take away the Horses em- ployed in this necessary work, & say the Governor of Maryland or- dered it ; that they have carried off several young Lads from plow- ing, & detain them in their Garrison till they shall give Security to work no more in those places, or otherwise threaten to send them to Goal; that they have told some of the poor People who were car- ried to Annapolis, & being since let out on high Bail are returned home, that if they work for the others it is a Forfeiture of their Recognizances ; and have given Notice to the Women that three days will be allowed them to carry their Goods out of their Houses & depart, or otherwise they will be turned out ; That the Number of these Rioters are encreased, & infesting the Neighbourhood in small Detachments, their Insolence & Cruelties are so great that the Inhabitants are reduced to deplorable Circumstances, it being evi- dent that notwithstanding the Negociation of Peace now on foot between the two Provinces, Higginbotham & those with him are re- solved to distress the poor People to such a Degree as to oblige them to quitt their Places that the Others may enter upon them, according to the Promise & Expectations given them by the Gover- nor of Maryland; That the Number of those whom the Sherif of Lancaster had kept on the west side of Sasquehannah for a Restraint on Higginbotham's Gang were lessened, & had not been of the Ser- vice that was expected. Upon all which the further Advice of the Board is requested; & that the Germans who are come hither may. themselves receive such Directions for their Guidance as the Board shall think proper in the present Circumstances.

The Board observed that as both Governments are now treating on Measures for establishing Peace, and the Governor of Maryland continuing, in his several late Letters, to make ample Professions of his sincere Inclinations for that End, it can scarcely be supposed, without highly reflecting on that Gentleman's Honour & Candour, that these late Violences are carried on by his Authority or with his Knowledge, and that therefore it will be necessary to be very explicite & plain with him on this Head. His Letter being again read, and the essential parts of it, particularly That where he seems to insist that the Germans, without any Proviso or Stipulation for them, should be left to his Government to be taxed or dealt with as they should think proper, being largely spoke to, the President is desired to prepare a Draught of an Answer to Mr. Ogle, to be laid before the Board at their next meeting, to which Time the further Consideration of these Matters is adjourned.

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At a Council held at Philadia., April 8th, 1737.

PRESENT :

The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President.

Samuel Preston, Samuel Hasell,

Thomas Laurence,

Thomas Griffitts, Esquires.

Ralph Assheton,

}

A Letter from Mr. Blunston of the 2d instant, to the President, brought since the Receipt of the former of that Date, was commu- nicated to the Board, giving an Account that the Maryland Rioters had given out that they intended in a few days to dispossess, by Force, some of the Inhabitants who have the best Plantations, & to enter upon them and maintain the Possession of them; that the Plantation late of John Hendricks on the River side was named as One they resolved to be Masters of ; That should these Threats be put in Execution, & the Negociation of Peace with Maryland prove ineffectual, Bloodshed would very probably ensue, & therefore the Advice of the Board is craved herein.

The Board resuming the Consideration of Governor Ogle's Let- ter, the President laid before them a Draught of an Answer, which being read and & duly considered was unanimusly approved, & it is Ordered that the same be transcribed, & that the President sign & forward it with as little Loss of Time as possible. Which Answer is in these Words :

" Sir-

"We have received yours of the 29th of March, wherein you ex- press your Satisfaction with the Concession made in the first of our Proposals, and we shall willingly hope that, as you have made no Mention of the rest, you joyn with us in our Opinion, not only of their Expediency, but Necessity, in order to give Peace to those unhappy People on the west side of Sasquehannah River, who have · been so unreasonably distressed by these late Contentions, & to lay as firm a Foundation as the present Circumstances of both Pro- vinces, in Relation to each other, may admitt, till such time as our Boundaries shall be settled, or till we shall receive Orders from a Superior Authority for that purpose. We shall also hope that it was far from your Thoughts to mean any of these Proposals, by the Terms your are pleased to use of 'such Provisoes & Conditionsi; can only serve for Evasions and the beginning of fresh Disturb- ances,' for their Tendancy to the contrary is so very manifest, that we conceive it would only be lost Time to enter into the Proof of it.

" But as you very justly observe that such an Agreement as this for the publick good can never be too plainly & clearly express'd, or Disputes about it too carefully avoided, in order to remove all possible Misapprehensions of either our Expressions or Intentions, we shall here briefly state the Whole of this Negociation between us.

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"In our Letter of the 16th of December, we most earnestly press'd you to joyn with this Government in some effectual Measures for giving Peace to His Majesty's Subjects on or near our disputed Borders, & for putting an End to all these unnatural Contentions, declaring our Readiness to come into any reasonable Concessions that could be proposed for obtaining so good an End. To this on the 1st of. March we received by Post your Answer of the 24th of December, wherein you desired to know of us what those Conces- sions were. In return to this, in our Letter of the 5th of March, mentioning the Necessity of some certain known Limits for Civil Jurisdiction, we in the plainest Terms show'd you what were the Limits we conceived we have an indubitable Right to, & conse- quently that all those parts over Sasquehannah, the Possession of which you are yourself the first that disputed with us, must cer- tainly belong to & be part of this Province ; yet notwithstanding this, so ardent was our Desire to procure Peace to His Majesty's Subjects, that in order to obtain It, our sole view in this Treaty, we proceeded to say, that 'if on your Part you could propose any rational Measures to render the thing practicable, we should not oppose but all those who first took up their Lands under Maryland should be allowed to acknowledge that Government, and those who took them first under This should so continue ; but we added, as it cannot be expected these Points can be settled between Us by the Intercourse of Letters only, and other Particulars necessary to be considered may properly be thought of, we proposed that some Per- sons should, on each side, be authorized to meet as Commissioners to adjust the whole, and to this we joyned, as a necessary Prelimi- nary, that in the mean time ' all Force should be removed, and that no Person whatsoever, in or near those Parts, should on either side be molested on any Cause or Pretence arising from these Disputes or the Proprietary Claims,' with a further Proviso, 'that nothing then proposed by us should ever be interpreted to give the Proprie- taries or Governments on either side aly Right, Claim, or advan- tage one over the other,' &ca. In Return to this you appeared highly pleased with that Concession, yet tho' we plainly made it the Condition of our entring into it, that you should propose rational Measures to render the Thing practicable, you did not offer the least; you also further declined the appointing Commissioners, as we proposed, for settling the Particulars necessary to be considered in that Concession, but you acceded to our Preliminary, 'when you should receive our declared Intention not to screen by any Terms the Disavowers of that Government under which they first seated themselves, from complying with its Dues & Taxes, and that your Setlers on your Borders should not be disturbed or molested by any under our Government.' You joyned also with Us in our last Declaration or Proviso, on our explaining an Expression in it.

"Now, tho' by this Answer of yours we were disappointed in what we thought most reasonable to expect from you, yet with the

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same sincerity that we had ever profess'd for preventing all Loss of Time in treating about a Conference, which we judged to be by much the best Method for adjusting the whole, we, in our Letter of the 22d past, renewed the same Concession, with those Particulars that we mentioned in our former, adding, That of a Forbearance of levying Taxes as necessary to be settled & agreed on to render that Concession practicable; for without a full Agreement on such articles as these, it is obvious that such a mutual Concession between us as That First, would be so far from producing Peace that it must only encrease the past Confusions, & prove a perpetual Fund for fresh Disturbances. These Articles are all plain & clear; they directly tend to Peace, & not one of them can give the least Advantage to the one side above the other; for in the Case of those Germans, there is not the least exception made ; we propose no Indulgence for them more than the rest; we expect they shall hold their Possessions in Peace, & nothing is desired in Favour of any of them but what will be allowed to such as by their having first entred on their Posses- . sessions under this Government will of Course belong to Us. Nor will you, we hope, think it in the least unreasonable, that tho' you may be offended with those People, yet that in this Case as well as in all others where there have been Differences and Resentments, when Peace and an Agreement are proposed there should be an Amnesty and all past Resentments dropt.

"Thus to remove all manner of Objections, & to put all that has passed on our part in the clearest Light, we judged it necessary to lay the Sum of the whole together, & if you are equally with us resolved on Peace, & have acceded to these Proposals, as you have made no Objection to them (for on what you seemed to imagine we intended in Relation to the Germans, tho' we had spoke very clearly to that Point before, we have now removed every Ground of Sus- picion). Our Preliminary ought immediately to be put in Execution, & litle of Importance we hope will remain, but that Commissioners should meet on the Spot to determine by the justest & strictest Enquiry they can make, who of those Inhabitants entred on their Possessions under the One, & who under the Other Government, & also to adjust such other Matters as may be found further necessary for preventing any Scruples or Doubts that may possibly arise.

" As you have been particular in putting a Case for us to con- sider, we hope you will give us Leave to offer you One also on our Part. Suppose then the Governor of Pennsylvania, from a Desire of extending the Bounds of this Province as far South as you have done Northward, being informed of large Quantities of Land in Baltimore county, but thinly inhabited to the Westward of Chessa- peake Bay, should for the Purpose ride about in Pomp amongst the People of that part of the Country, perswade those already settled to take Grants for their Lands under Pennsylvania, & encourage others to come & settle on the vacant Lands, by Assurances that nothing should be demanded of them either by Way of Purchase

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or Rent, until the Dispute with Maryland be determined, and that those very People afterwards upon Discovers the Imposition, & that their Dwellings were really within the Province of Maryland, from a Sense of the Injustice done the Lord Proprietor of that Province, & likewise that in the End they must certainly lose their Lands and Improvements, should agree to renounce their Obedience to the Government of Pennsylvania. Would you in that Case call it Jus- tice or good Neighbourhood in us forthwith to send an armed Force into the Heart of Baltimore County to distress those People, & actually to imprison their Persons & dispossess their Families? Now we in our turn only desire that what you would think proper to do in that Case, you will please to allow it lawfull for us to do in the Case before us.

"But we must not conclude this without observing that tho' in our two former Letters we have taken Notice of the continued Out- rages & Violences of Higginbotham & the Gang commanded by him, & how inconsistent such Proceedings, if carried on with your Approbation or Knowledge, were with the Professions made in your Letters to us from December last, of your sincere Inclinations for Peace, yet you have not been pleased to say one Syllable in Answer to those just Complaints; & we are now astonished to find by the Accounts we have had ever since the Receipt of your last, that such shocking Barbarities are committed upon the poor unhappy People on that western side of Sasquehannah by that Gang, as cannot but fill every Breast that has any Sense of Humanity with Compassion, and raise the highest Indignation against such a wicked sett of Men, who will neither suffer the poor People, their Children, or those whom they can find means to hire, to plow their Ground for raising Corn for the Sustenance of their Families, & to prevent their perishing for want of it the ensuing Year, have threatned to hamstring or take away their Horses, if they attempt to plow or labour, & actually have made Prisoners of some of their Children employed in that necessary Work. If these Cruelties are judged proper Methods for securing to Maryland the Possession of their late unjustifiable Claims, & it should be found they are carried on by your Approbation or with your Knowledge, you must forgive us the Freedom of saying we should be at some Loss to find Terms to express the Nature of such a Conduct in Relation to us as well as to those miserable People. We have on all Occasions shown our Zeal, our hearty Inclinations, & sincere Desires for Peace. We have now offered more than we conceive could be reasonably expected of us to procure It; and if you in pursuit of those Views which require no great Penetration to see thro', should reject the Terms we have here, and in our former Letters, proposed for that End, & for establishing a mutual good Understanding amongst the Inhabi- tants, who are all equally His Majesty's Subjects, we shall comfort ourselves with the just Reflexion of having Discharged our Duty towards His Majesty, to our Proprietors, & our own Consciences, & VOL. IV .- 13.

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Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV, Part 21

Author: Publication date: 1838 Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State Number of Pages: 814

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 814