USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV > Part 30
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 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
" Thomas Edwards,
"Emanuel Carpenter,
" Humphrey Lloyd, his
" Hans Graff,
",Evan E Davies, mk.
" Simeon King,
" John Mendenhall,
" Thomas Green,
"Wm. Moore, " Wm. Pim."
The Board on due Consideration had of the said Return & of the Draught therewith exhibited, do approve, establish, & confirm
273
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
the Road laid out as aforesaid, which is hereby declared to be the King's Highway or Public Road ; and It is Ordered that the same be forthwith cleared & rendered commodious for the Publick Service.
At a Council held at Philadia., January 13th 1737-8. PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President.
Samuel Preston, Samuel Hasell,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
Thomas Laurence,
The' Minutes of the three preceeding Councils being read and approved,
The President acquainted the Board that this morning he re- ceived a letter from Mr. Hamilton, one of the Trustees of the General Loan Office of this Province, giving an Account that a Discovery had been made of some Bills counterfeited in imitation of the Bills of Credit of this Government, a parcel of which coun- terfeits unsigned the President laid before the Board, & informed them that one Robert Savory had voluntarily made this Discovery, who becoming acquainted at London with one William Bodie, a Person of an dishonest Character, who had lived in Bucks County, in this Province, was by his means made privy to the Design, that Savory was now attending, in order to declare his knowledge of the whole before the Board, & he being called in & examined, gave a Narrative of the Matter, which the Board judging proper to be taken on Oath, & that he should be more particularly examined touching several Circumstances, Messrs. Plumsted & Laurence are appointed a Committee for that purpose, & to report the said Ex- amination to the Board at their next meeting; And the Board being also of Opinion that a diligent Enquiry should be forthwith made for Bodie, who, if returned from Britain, may probably be found near the Place of his former Residence, It is Ordered that a proper Person be dispatched by the President into the County of Bucks for this End.
VOL. IV .- 18. 1
274
MINUTES OF THE
At a Council held at Philadia., February 3d, 1737-8.
PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr. President,
Samuel Preston,
Ralph Assheton,
Anthony Palmer,
Samuel Hasell,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Griffitts,
Esqrs.
Thomas Laurence,
The Minute of the preceeding Council being read and approved,
The Members to whom it was referred to take the Examination of Robert Savory, reported the same this day to the Board, and it was read in these Words :
" The Examination of Robert Savory, of Bednall Green Gard- ner, married, aged about forty years, taken before Clement Plum- sted and Thomas Laurence, Esqrs., two of the Members of the Council for the Province of Pennsylvania, & Justices of the Peace for the City & County of Philadelphia.
" The Examinant saith, that for some years he served William Franklyn, of Bednall Green, Brewer, whose Son William, return- ing from America, brought the Examinant acquainted, about Sep- tember, one thousand seven hundred & thirty-six, with one William Bodie, who had come Passenger from Boston in the same Ship with the said William Franklyn, the younger; that the Examinant & the said Bodie becoming intimate, & often meeting together at one John Parker's, who keeps a publick House in Spittlefields, Bodie told the Examinant that he, said Bodie, had lived in Pennsylvania, in America, where there were Paper Bills current, equal almost to Sterling money ; that he had received Orders from the Proprietors of Pennsylvania to gett some Paper Money Bills printed in London, & shewed the Examinant two he had brought for Patterns, the one being a half Crown Bill of Pennsylvania Currency, & the other a Crown Bill of the Counties on Delaware, on which last there was an Escutcheon, bearing the British Arms, with the Word Delaware. That the said John Parker desired the Examinant to assist the said Bodie in showing him the Town, to witt, London, & where he might find proper Persons to cutt the Plates, and to print the Bills alike to those which he had brought over ; that accordingly this Examinant went to several Places with the said Bodie, particularly to one William Pennock, a Wood Cutter, in Jewin Street, near AI- dersgate Street, who undertook to cutt wooden Dyes for the half Crown Bills ; and then they went to one Half hide, an En- graver, in the Minories, who undertook to cutt a Plate for the Crown Bills; That the Examinant & Bodie becoming more closely in- timate, & discoursing freely together, Bodie told the Examinant about Christmas, One thousand seven hundred & thirty-six, that the Bills which were to be printed off were not for the Proprietors
275
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
of Pennsylvania, as he, the said Bodie, had given out, but were truly for himself and his own private benefit; that if they could be printed off exactly alike with those he had brought over, which were Current in Pennsylvania, he could easily gett the Names signed by some in New England who could do them extraordinary well, and thus the Bills would be equal to so much Money, & offered to the Examinant to lett him in for a share of the advantage, as he had been at some Trouble in assisting him, the said Bodie ; The Examinant acknowledges that this Prospect of Gain, without con- sidering the Hazard that attended it, induced him to become ser- viceable and assisting to the said Bodie, who having afterwards got the wooden Dyes from Pennock, a Number of half Crown Bills were printed off by a Printer in Aldersgate street, whose name the Exam- inant does not remember, to the value of Seven hundred pounds, as Bodie told the Examinant, but Half hide, the engraver, refusing to lett Bodie have the Plate for the Crown Bills, unless he would give Security to keep the said Halfhide harmless, in case any undue Use should be made of it, no Crown Bills were printed off, as far as this Examinant knows ; That the Examinant & Bodie sett out from London for Bristol with the Bills aforesaid, in order to take Shipping from thence for Pennsylvania, when the Deponent begin- ning to consider the Affair he was going about, grew uneasy in his Mind, and revealed the whole matter to one Joseph Allen, a person employed in the Service of the East India Company, who was then at Bristol, & with whom the Examinant was acquainted, whereupon, the said Allen diswaded the Examinant from prosecuting the design, representing it as highly dangerous, & what might possibly bring the Examinant to a Rope. The Examinant, upon this Advice from his Friend, determined to have nothing further to do with Bodie; but the Examinant having thrown himself out of Business, & sold off great Part of what he had in the World, was ashamed to return to the place of his former Habitation, & therefore determined to come into America & seek his Living there ; that upon imparting this Resolu- tion of his to Bodie, he appeared much surprized & alarmed, & used Endeavours with the Examt to confirm him in the Prosecution of their first Design ; but the Examinant being sensible of the Danger, persist'd in the Resolution of leaving Bodie, who then pressed the Ex- aminant to take a Share of the Bills, which the Exam refused, say- ing they could be of no Service to him; but Bodie's telling the Ex- aminant they would pay his Passage, gave him a Bundle of them in a Handkerchief, which the Examinant took, not intending to make any other Use of them than to discover Bodie's Design, who had by means of it brought the Examinant into great Trouble and Sorrow ; That Bodie told the Examinant if he came to America he might hear of him, the said Bodie, near to Dobbs' ferry, about thirty Miles from New York, at one Houston's, whose Daughter the said Bodie had Married. And the Examinant further saith, that leaving the said Bodie at Bristol, the Examinant took a Passage on board
276
MINUTES OF THE
the Billinder Hawkins, John Cole, Master, for South Carolina, & arriving in Charlestown the Examinant was soon after taken ill, & being attended in his Sickness by one Doctor Killpatrick of Charles town aforesaid, the Examinant acquainted him with the whole Affair as above narrated, & showed some of the Bills to him, giving him one of them & desiring he would send it to Pennsylvania, which the said Doctor Killpatrick promised he would; That the Examinant recovering from his Indisposition, resolved to travel to Pennsylvania in order to make a Discovery of the whole Affair as far as he knew of it; and having left his Chest, wherein several of the said unsigned Bills are, in the Custody of one Thomas Lam- son, a Tavern keeper in Charlestown, the Examinant brought a parcell of them hither, which he hath delivered up to Andrew Hamilton, Esqr-, one of the Trustees of the General Loan Office of Pennsylvania, and declares that he hath faithfully kept all the Bills which he received from the said Bodie, without giving away or pass- ing any one of them, except that to Doctor Killpatrick aforesaid ; And that the Narrative above given of the Examinant's Knowledge and of his Proceedings, is just and true in every particular.
"RO. SAVOREY.
"Taken at Philadelphia the 16th day of January, 1737-8, on the Oath of the said Robert Savory, Before us,
" CLEM. PLUMSTED, "THO. LAURENCE."
The Board were likewise informed, that the Express dispatched into Bucks County to enquire about William Bodie, being returned, brought an Account that he was not to be found, but that Mr. Langhorne had undertaken to use all possible Endeavours for dis- covering & apprehending him. Upon considering the whole of this matter, the Board are of Opinion that a Copy of the foregoing Ex- amination should be sent by the first Opportunity to the Governor or Commander-in-Chief, for the time being, of the Province of South Carolina, & that he should be requested to order Savory's Chest to be carefully searched, & the counterfeited Bills to be se- cured & transmitted hither, and to cause Lamson, in whose Custody the said Chest was left, to be examined touching his Knowledge of the said Savory and of the counterfeited Bills; & further, that an Enquiry should be made of Doctor Killpatrick touching the truth of the Circumstance wherein that Gentleman's Name is mentioned by Savory, that it may be known how far the Discovery made by him is true & genuine in its several Parts. And It is recommended to the President to write to the said Governor or Commander-in- Chief accordingly.
A Petition of John Remington, Attorney at Law, delivered to the President, was by him laid before the Board and read, setting forth that the Petitioner was unfortunately deluded & drawn into the idle Diversion of performing the Ceremony of making a free
277
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Mason, in Order to which a Sport called Snap Dragon was pre- pared, at which the Petitioner was perswaded to be present; that unhappily some of the burning Spirit used in this Sport was thrown or spilt on the Breast of one Daniel Rees, which so burnt or scalded him that in a few days after the said Daniel dyed; That Doctor Evan Jones had been indicted as Principle for the Murder of the said Daniel Rees, & by a Jury of the County was found guilty of Manslaughter; That the Petitioner was also indicted as aiding & abetting the said Evan Jones, and altho' no Evidence did or could appear to prove that the Petitioner had any hand in the throwing or spilling the said Liquor on the Body of the said Daniel, or was privy to any Design or Intention of doing harm to the said Daniel, or to any other Person, yet the same Jury had brought in a Verdict of Manslaughter likewise against the Petitioner, which if put in Execution would tend to the utter Ruin of the Petitioner, his Wife, and two small children, & therefore humbly praying that the President & Council would be pleased to grant him a Pardon ; Whereupon the Board are of Opinion that the Petitioner should be pardoned the Manslaughter aforesaid, and the burning in the hand, which by reason thereof he ought to suffer; But it being observed that in the Course of the Tryal a certain wicked & irreligious Paper had been produced & read, which appeared to have been composed by the said Remington, who had made the aforesaid Daniel Rees. repeat the same, as part of the form to be gone thro' on initiating him as a free Mason; the Board therefore agreed that the Pardon should be so restricted as that it might not be pleaded in Bar of any Prosecution that should hereafter be commenced against the said Remington on account of the said scandalous Paper.
At a Council held at Philadia., February 27th, 1737-8. PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Samuel Hasell,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
Thomas Laurence,
The Minute of the preceeding Council being read and approved,
The President acquainted the Board that the Supreme Justices having lately held a Court of Oyer and Terminer & Goal Delivery, at Philadelphia, for the City & County of Philadelphia, had made Report to him of their Proceedings, that one John Wood being found guilty of Burglary, had received Sentence of Death, but that he had been recommended by the said Justices as an Object of Mercy ; And a Petition of the Criminal, supported by another of sundry Inhabitants of the County of Burlington, in West Jersey, amongst whom he had formerly resided, & behaved himself honestly,
278
MINUTES OF THE
being now presented & read, humbly praying the Clemency of this Board towards him, It is Ordered that he be pardoned, condition- ally that he depart this Province, never to return into it, or other- wise to be again taken up & remanded to Prison, in order to suffer the Sentence of the Law.
A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the Counties of Chester & Lancaster was laid before the Board & read, setting forth that upon a Petition of a considerable number of the Inhabitants of those Counties to the late Governor & Council, an Order had issued, di- rected to certain Persons, for laying out a high Road from the Plan- tation of John Harris, on Sasquehanna, to lead towards Philadia-, in pursuance whereof they had, after many Searches, with great care, Time, & Toil, laid out the said Road from Sasquehanna till it falls in with the Lancaster Road in Whiteland township, in the County of Chester, being in length about sixty-eight Miles, & a Return thereof being made to this Board the said Road was confirmed on the twenty-fourth day of March last, & the same notified to the Justices of the said Counties, whereupon, the Overseers of the Highways within the County of Lancaster had caused the said Road to be well cleared thro' their County about fifty Miles, but the Overseers in Chester County had been prevailed upon to delay open- ing & clearing it within that County, upon a pretended Discovery that the Courses & Distances, as the Trees are marked and as the Road was laid out, are not strictly agreeable to the Courses & Dis- tances mentioned in the Return aforesaid. That the Petitioners conceived it very difficult, if not altogether impossible, for any Sur- veyor or Chain men to take the Courses & Distances of any long Road thro' the bushy & rough Woods so that the same shall exactly agree with the Account of an other Surveyor, with another' Instru- ment and other Chain men; and the Road aforesaid being laid out by Persons appointed, the trees plainly marked, & a Return made & confirmed, the Petitioners apprehend the same ought not to be now altered; Wherefore they pray that they may not be deprived of the said Road, according to the true Intent of the said Return & Confirmation, but that, in Order to defeat the Designs of those who would perplex or protract the Petitioners' Journeys by forcing them out of the way by the Lands or Houses of Persons desirous to keep or set up Taverns, and to frustrate such sinister Views, the Road aforesaid may be secured to the Petitioners after such manner as this Board shall judge necessary.
A Petition of some Inhabitants of the Townships of Calne, Whiteland, & Uchland, in the County of Chester, was likewise pre- sented to the Board & read, setting forth that when the Return of the Road aforesaid was made to this Board, in Order to a Confirma- tion, the Petitioners had not timely Notice to appear in support of their Petition against confirming the same; that the few who then did appear being altogether unprovided with Draughts & other Cre-
279
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
dentials, & thinking themselves unable to bear the Charge of a Re- view, the said Road was confirmed ; That not only great Irregulari- ties have hapned in laying out the same, being marked for about twelve Miles through the said townships on a multitude of very dif- ferent Courses, crossing several Mountains and rocky and low Grounds, where it is impossible, or at least very difficult to make a Road fitt for Carts & Carriages to pass, & where it is very injurious to the Lands of many of the Petitioners, but likewise the Courses & Distances thereof, as the same are returned, being since truly run & measured, are found in many Places to vary above a quarter of a Mile from the Line of Trees marked for the said Road, & to cross several good Plantations & peices of Meadow Ground where a Road was never intended to be laid. And forasmuch as a Road much more usefull to the Publick than that so erroniously surveyed & re- turned as aforesaid, & not in the least prejudicial to any Body, can be had to the high Road aforesaid leading to Philadelphia, The Pe- titioners therefore Pray that this Board will be pleased to Order a sufficient Number of substantial Freeholders to lay out the same from the Division Line between the Counties of Lancaster & Ches- ter to the said High Road leading from Lancaster to Philadelphia.
With the last recited Petition was exhibited a Copy of an Entry made in the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the County of Chester, in these Words :
" Chester, ss.
"At a Court of Quarter Sessions held and kept at Chester for the said County, the twenty-ninth day of November, Annog. Dom., 1737, Before Richard Hayes, John Crosby, Joseph Brinton, Caleb Cowpland, Esqrs., Justices Present. It is thus Contained, viz. :
"Upon the Application of severall of the Inhabitants of the Townships of Whiteland and Caln, & for the Clearing of the Road laid out by Order of the Governor & Council from Harris' Ferry, in or near Paxton, to Edward Kinnisson's in the Valley. Where- upon the Court taking the same into Consideration, and by the Information of several Persons, that to clear the said Road would be altogether Impracticable, by Reason the Courses & Distances therein is in many places exceeding Irregular ; Therefore prays that the Honourable President & Council would be pleased to take the same into their Consideration, & make such Order for the Regulation thereof as to their Honours may seem most Convenient.
"To the Honble President & Council for the Province of Penn- sylvania, &ca."'
A true Copy P. to Parker Cler.
-
In Support of which Petition against the said confirmed Road, a
280
MINUTES OF THE
Gentleman of the Law attending & praying to be heard, Mr. Hamilton was admitted & heard; And the Board being informed that Mr. Eastburn the Surveyor General had lately run & measured several of the disputed Courses & Distances, he was sent for, who attending was called in, & gave an Account that he had taken the Courses & Distances of that part of the said Road lying within the County of Chester, that tho' there was some small Variation be- tween the Line of marked Trees & the Courses laid down in the Return, yet that he did not look upon the same to be any wise material, or to be greater than would happen between one Artist & another, allowing for the Difference of Instruments and Chain Carriers.
Mr. Hamilton & Mr. Eastburn being withdrawn, The Board are of Opinion, that the Petitions aforesaid be continued under Con- sideration, and as none of the Petitioners for the confirmed Road do now appear, It is Ordered that both Parties have Notice to attend . this Board the twentieth day of March next, to be then fully heard on the Subject of their respective Petitions.
-
At a Council held at Philadia., March 14th, 1737-8. PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President,
Samuel Preston, Thomas Laurence,
Clement Plumstead, Thomas Griffitts,
Esqrs.
The President laid before the Board a Representation transmitted
. to him from the County of Lancaster, signed by Mr. Blunston, which being read gives an Account, that about eleven a clock on Sunday night, the fifth current, two Indian Young Men coming into the House of Samuel Bethel in Lancaster town, one of them having a drawn knife in his hand, and asking for drink, they were with some Difficulty perswaded to leave the House, & the Door being fastned, one of them with Violence darted a Board thro' a Glass Window; that two Men, to witt, Daniel Southerland & John Iverson, going out to prevent those Indians from doing further Mischief, one of them wounded Southerland in the Belly with a Knife, & turning to Iverson stabbed him also in the Breast; that tho' neither of the Wounds are apprehended to be mortal, yet both of them, especially Southerland's, are yet very ill; That next morning some Persons from Lancaster town went after those Indians & brought one of them back, whom they secured in Prison, but the other Indian could not be found, tho' sought for by his own People; That Mr. Blunston had hereupon conferred with some of the Indian old Men, who had desired that an Account of the Matter might be sent hither, & that upon their receiving a Letter from hence they
281
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
would call their chief People together and take Counsel on the Affair.
The President added that the Messenger from Lancaster had informed him that the Indians, being under a great Surprize and about to leave their town, on hearing one of their People was com- mitted to Prison, it was thought prudent, especially as the wounds were not believed to be mortal, to release the Prisoner on the In- dians becoming bound to produce him when required.
The Board entering into the Consideration hereof, delivered their Sentiments of what they conceived necessary to be done on the present Occasion, & agreeably thereto the following Letter having been prepared was signed by the President, in order to be trans- mitted to Mr. Blunston, to be by him laid before the Indian Chiefs in and about Conestogoe :
" Philadia., March 14th, 1737-8.
"Our Friends and Brethren :
" On receiving an Account of the late barbarous action commit- ted by two of your young Men in Lancaster town, upon the Persons of two of our People, we were wery much concerned for the folly and wickedness of it, and say thus to you upon that Subject :
"You are fully sensible that by the many past Treaties between you and us, it is in the firmest manner established & agreed that we should be all as one People; that Wrongs done by any of either side should be redressed & the Offenders punished without any Distinction, and you well know that when any of our People have taken the Life of an Indian, the guilty Persons have been putt to death for it as if the Injury had been done to one of ourselves without any Difference ; therefore, when any of yours are guilty of any such Crime, we do expect they shall in like manner be pun- ished for it ; and in all Cases of this Nature we consider the guilty Person only, if he be a Christian ; no other Christian or white Man is putt to any trouble ; & in the same manner if he be an Indian, we do not account any other Indian answerable for it but the guilty only, and he alone is to be punished ; Only this is to be remembred, that if any of our People committ a Crime and fly for it, our Officers and People search after them and must find them, and so we expect that when any of yours committ a Crime, your People shall undertake to find them, and cause them to be kept in Prison till they can be prosecuted & punished ; but if the Offence is not Murther or some such grievous Crime, we sometimes let them have their Liberty out of Prison, when one or more good Men will become bound for their Appearance, and will produce or bring them forth when called on by the Government, to be punished either in their Bodies or to be fined in a Sum of money to make Satisfaction for their offence; And this Method we perceive our Officers & good friends, Samuel Blunston and the other Magistrates, have
1
282
MINUTES OF THE
taken with the young Man whom they seized for committing that cruel Act on Persons who had done him & his Companion, who has fled, no manner of Harm, but were endeavoring only to restrain their Violence and make them quiet after they had broke the Window of a House to pieces, without any Provocation.
" This Proceeding of Samuel Blunston and the other Majistrates you must, without doubt believe, was an Act of great Mildness towards you, and such as would scarce have been Shewn to any white Men in the like Case. You cannot, however, but well know in yourselves, that if either of the wounded Men should die of their Wounds, those that gave the Wound should 'suffer for it in the same manner as if a white Man had done the Act; and if this should happen, we shall expect that not only the young Man whom our Officers seized and have since trusted to your keeping, but the other also who hath fled, shall be apprehended, and be both delivered up to be punished; but if the wounded Persons recover, as we hope they will, those two Offenders besides making Satisfaction to the Sufferers, should pay all the Charge of their Cure and of nur- sing and keeping ; and if the two Indian young Men are not able of themselves to do this, their friends should help them & do it for them, till by their own Diligence in Hunting they can make Satis- faction ; they must likewise faithfully promise to behave themselves well & peaceably towards all our People for the future, that no just Cause of further Complaint may be given against them. And on this Occasion we would desire you to caution all your young Men not to come amongst our People with any dangerous Weapons, that all further Mischief may be avoided, for we must all live friendly & peaceably together ; we are to take Care that none of our People shall hurt yours, and you must take the like Care that. none of yours be disorderly or hurt any, either white Men or Indians. And as we cannot doubt but in this and all other Cases you will shew yourselves true & good Men, by faithfully perform- ing what you have repeatedly engaged by your Treaties with us, we desire that you who are innocent may not be under any fear or Apprehension, for we should not think you accountable more than our own People, the white Men that inhabit there ; And in this we desire you to rest satisfied, and are
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.