USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 57
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" You will please to Observe that One of the Acts, vizt, the 'Act for Granting to His Majesty the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds, and for Striking the same in Bills of Credit in the manner herein After directed, and for providing a fund for sinking the said Bills of Credit by a Tax on All Estates, real and personal, and Taxables within this Province' (passed in April, 1759), was order'd by his said late Majesty to stand unrepealed, on a proposal and express stipulation made and entered into by the Agents of this
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Province, that the Assembly of Pennsylvania would prepare and pass, and offer to the Governor of the said Province An Act to to amend the aforementioned Act, and make it conformable to the Sentiments of the Lords of the Committee aforesaid, as specified in the said Report.
" I shall only add, at present, Gentlemen, that whenever you shall think proper to prepare and offer to me such a Bill, I shall think it my duty to concur with you by enacting it into a Law.
"JAMES HAMILTON.
"January 28th, 1761."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Friday, the 30th January, 1761.
PRESENT:
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor.
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Richard Peters,
Esquires.
Lynford Lardner,
Tho8. Cadwalader,
Yesterday the Assembly sent to the Governor an Answer to his Message of Condolence and Congratulation on the death of his late, and the Accession of his present Majesty, in these Words :
A Message from the Assembly to the Governor.
" May it Please your Honour :
" Fully sensible of the Great Loss which the English Dominions in general, and these Colonies in particular, have sustained in the death of his late most excellent Majesty, we hold it our indispen- sible Duty to present to His Majesty an Address of Condolance on this affecting Occasion, and at the Same time to congratulate His accession to the Imperial Throne of his Ancestors, which he has as- cended with the universal Assent and Applause of an affectionate, Loyal, and united people; but as we apprehend that distinct Ad- dresses from the different Branches of the Legislature are not only supported by precedents, but appear to us more dutiful in the man- ner we incline to address his Majesty seperately in Behalf of the people we represent. Nevertheless, we beg leave to return you our hearty thanks for your kind offer on this Occasion.
" Signed by order of the House,
"ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker. " January 29, 1761."
And as they did not incline to join with his Honour and the Council in an Address to the King, the Governor having prepared the draught of an Address, the same was read and approved, and
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ordered to be transcribed, in Order to be sent by the first Vessel that should sail for England or Ireland, to the Proprietaries, to be presented by them to His Majesty.
" WHITEHALL, April 24th, 1761.
"The Following Address of the Lieutenant Governor and Council of the Province of Pennsylvania and Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware, in America, has been presented to his Majesty by Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esquires, Proprieta- ries of the said Province, being introduced by the Lord of His Ma- jesty's Bed Chamber in waiting; Which Address his Majesty was pleased to receive very graciously.
' ' To the King's Most Excellent Majesty,
'' The Humble Address of the Lieutenant Governor and Council of the Province of Pennsylvania, and Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware, in America:
" ' Most Gracious Sovereign :
"'Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Lieutenant Governor and Council of your Province of Pennsylvania, and Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware, in America, humbly beg leave to take this first opportunity which our distant situation allows of joining the universal Voice of your faith- ful people, in most cordial Condolonce with your Majesty on the · loss of our late most Excellent Sovereign, a Prince whose Name will be sacred to posterity, and his Virtues a model to all succeed- ing good Princes.
""' Much is due, Sir, to the memory of your Illustrious Grand- father from Britons of every Clime and degree. But we, who in- habit these Colonies, are, in a more peculiar manner, bound to. remember him with the warmest Gratitude as our kind nursing Father, and most zealous protector against the Machinations and attempts of our powerful and enterprizing Enemies.
""' Nor Could any thing alleviate the sorrow which we feel on the sudden loss of so gracious a King, in the full Career of Glory, Honour, and Success, but the Consideration that his Sceptre hath devolved to a Prince whose early Virtues and known Affection to his people and Native Country, afford the most agreeable presages that he will magnanimously pursue the Vigour and Wisdom of those Measures, by which His illustrious progenitor became feared abroad and beloved at home.
"'May your Majesty be graciously pleased to accept of our sincere Congratulations on your happy Accession to the Government of so VOL. VIII .- 36.
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great a people, with our fervent Prayers that your Reign may be long and happy over them, and may we be permitted, in all Hu- mility, to add the most earnest Assurances of our continual Endeav- ours to demonstrate our Loyalty, Duty, and Obedience by every Act in our power.
"'By Order of the Governor and Council, in Council, the Thirtieth day of January, in the first year of His Majesty's Reign, and in the Year of our Lord, One thousand Seven hundred and Sixty- One.
""RICHARD PETERS, Secretary.'"
The Governor being reminded that the Courts of Quarter Ses- sion and Common Pleas in all the Counties were coming on, and that next week the Court would be held at Lancaster for that County, he issued supersedents under the great Seal to the persons who had exercised the Offices of Judges of the Common Pleas in that County, under the Law lately passed and repealed, Entituled "An Act for establishing Courts of Judicature in this Province," vizt: to Emanuel Carpenter, Isaac Saunders, Calvin Cooper, John Hobson, and John Douglass.
He likewise issued a General Commission of the peace for Lan- caster County, wherein the following persons were appointed Jus- tices of the Peace and of the Common Pleas, viz": Emanuel Car- penter, Isaac Saunders, William Jevon, Adam Simon Kuhn, Robert Thompson, Edward Shippen, Andrew Work, John Allison, Calvin Cooper, Adam Reed, Thomas Foster, Isaac Richardson, John Hay, Zacheus Davis, William Hamilton.
The Governor ordered the Clerk of the Peace to record the Su- persedents, and read them in open Court before the Qualification of the new Justices.
February 7th, 1761.
A new Commission of the peace, issued under the great Seal for . the County of Berks, wherein the following Persons were appointed Justices of the Peace and of the Common Pleas, vizt .: Francis Parvin, Jonas Seely, William Bird, William Maugridge, Jacob Le- van, James Read, Peter Spycker, Joseph Millard, Benjamin Light- foot, George Webb.
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February 14th, 1761.
The Governor, not having received an Answer from the Assem- bly, to his Message of the 28th January, thought proper to press the House for an Answer by the following Message :
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A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
" With my Message of the twenty-eighth of January last, I laid before you his late Majesty's Order in Council, containing a Repeal of Six Acts of Assembly passed in this Province, in the Year One thousand Seven Hundred and fifty-Nine.
" At the same time I laid before you the Report of a Commit- tee of his Majesty's most Honourable privy Council, with respect to one other Act Intituled ' An Act for granting to his Majesty the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds, and for striking the same in Bills of Credit in the manner hereinafter directed, and for providing a fund for sinking the said Bills of Credit, by a tax on all Estates, real and personal, and Taxables within this Province,' By which said Report it appears that your Agents in England, in order to prevent the Repeal of the said Act at that time, did pro- pose and undertake, by an agreement signed by them in the Books of the Council Office, that in Case the said Act should not be re- pealed, the Assembly of Pennsylvania would prepare, pass, and of- fer to the Governor of this Province, an Act to amend the afore- mentioned Act according to the Amendments proposed in the Re- port of the Lords of the Committee of Council, now lying before you ; In consequence of which Engagement, and a Representation made to him by the Lords of the said Committee, that he might Safely rely on this Undertaking for the Assembly by their Agents, His said late Majesty was graciously pleased to permit the said Act to stand unrepealed.
"And I acquainted you in my said Message, that whenever you should think proper to prepare and offer to me such a Bill, I should be ready to concur with you in It, by enacting it into a Law.
" But as I have received no Answer from you on this head, and am under the necessity of transmitting an Account to England as early as possible, whether you will, or will not comply with the Engagement your Agents have entered into on your behalf, I must press you to take this Matter into your immediate Consideration, - and acquaint me with your Determination thereon.
" JAMES HAMILTON.
" February 14th, 1761."
At a Council held at Philadelphia on Tuesday the 17th February, 1761.
PRESENT :
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Richard Peters, Thos Cadwalader, S
Esquires. Lynford Lardner,
The Governor by Letter acquainted the Council that he was two much indisposed to venture out into the cold Air, and desired
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they would proceed to consider the Matters that they were called for, which would be laid before them by the Secretary, and accord- ingly, he by order of the Governor, informed the Council that some people from the Colony of Connecticut had made a Settlement in the upper parts of Northampton County towards the Close of the last Summer, and that the Governor as soon as he had received an Account of it, sent the Sheriff and Magistrates of that County to the place were they were settled in order to apprise them of the Consequences of such Settlement, and to warn them off, and that he had scarce given these Orders, but Teedyuscung came to com- plain of it in a formal manner, that the Magistrates had made a report of their proceedings in writing, Copy of which he had sent to Sir William Johnston, and likewise, a Letter to the Governor of Connecticut, to desire him to recall such as had settled in this Province, and to prevent others from setling; but as it was not likely that Mr. Fitch could prevail with these disorderly people to forbear carrying into execution so favourable a Scheme, he proposed to make this matter known to the publick by proclamation, and had therefore prepared a draught of one for their Consideration, and after reading the Conferences with Teedyuscung, the Report of the Sheriff & Justices of Northampton County and the Governor's Letter to the Governor of Connecticut, the draught of the Procla- mation was considered and approved, and they advised the Governor to publish it forthwith, and insert it at the head of the Pennsylva- nia Gazettee.
" The Report of the Sheriff and Justices of Northampton County.
" To the Honourable James Hamilton, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the province of Pennsylva- nia, &ca.
" We, Aron Dupui, Lewis Klotz, John Moor, and Lewis Gordon, beg leave to Report to your Honour.
"That in obedience to your Honour's Command, We having joined Company at the House of Mr. Dupui, set out from thence on Wednesday the 8th Instant, on our Journey to Cushietunk, where we arrived on Saturday following, and collected the follow- ing Intelligence, viz: That the Government of Connecticut, by virtue of their original Charter from the Crown, about six or seven years ago, granted unto a great number of Persons not less than eight or nine Hundred, who are called Proprietaries of a large Tract of Land in the Province of Pennsylvania, extending on the River Delaware thirty Miles, Horrizontal Measure, beginning nearly op- posite to one Peter Kuykendahl's, in New Jersey, and so running Northwards the said extent, and Westwards to a Mountain lying something more than half way between Cushietunck and Susque- hannah, in which Tract the Lands at Cushietunck are included, With full power to the said Proprietaries to purchase the said Tract from the Indians. That in Consequence of the said Grant, the said
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Proprietaries did empower and appoint two of their own Number, Namely, Eldrickens and Whitney, to purchase the same or part thereof, from the Delaware Indians, the names of some of them fol- low, viz": Mayhios, Mastohop, Attamesick, Westcrank, Christias, Mictauk, Wiselawah, Nolotock Pooth, the King Cattacool, Lawich- comet, Maudlin, Coloelateb, Makeshacomas, Quanaloch, Tangol, Me- tuxing, Monkychiss, Mechukings ; which said purchase was made about Six years ago ; That afterwards a second purchase was made for the said Proprietaries, by John Curtius & Peebody, Surveyor (who are also of the number of Proprietaries) from the said In- dians, either as a farther purchase in extent, or in confirmation. of the former; That the said Proprietaries have selected a certain number of themselves, whom they have appointed to be a commit- tee to manage and transact all Business relating to the said Lands ; who have accordingly laid out and surveyed the Same, and at Cush- ietunck have erected three Townships, each of which is to extend in length on Delaware ten Miles, and in breadth eight Miles. In the middle Township a large Town is laid out, consisting of eighty and odd Lots, two Hundred acres in each Lott, to each of which a Water Lott of ten Acres appertains; On the Lowlands are built three Logg Houses, One Saw Mill, one Grist Mill almost finished, and about thirty Cabbins for working people, their Number at pre- sent is about twenty men, besides Women and Children ; about twenty more are gone home for want of Provisions; But they are in full expectation to be joined by One Hundred Families at least, in the Spring; That it is strongly affirmed that every individual Member of the upper House, and Chief part of the lower House of Assembly of Connecticut, are interested and concerned in the said purchase; the Governor has not yet thought proper to suffer his name to be made use of, but his Son, whose name is Fitch, is one of the Proprietaries; That the Lands are sold for 8 or 10 Dollars in hand for 200 Acres, twelve whereof to be cleared and improved, and a House built in three years, otherwise to be forfeited; That a large Sum of Money hath been raised and Sent home, in order to sollicit a Confirmation of this Grant to the said Proprietaries, or to get the ancient Charter renewed, which is said to be forfeited; and the better to affect the same, Affidavits (particularly the Affidavit of one Thomas Nottingham, who speaks the Delaware Tongue well, and negociated this Bargain with the Indians, and hath been of sin- gular Service to us in collecting these Accounts, having since quar- relled with the Connecticut people), have been transmitted to Eng- land, of the said proprietaries purchasing the said Tract of Land, bona fide from the Indians, and of this Nottingham's being present when the purchase Money was paid; That the soil of the said Lands is said to be good in general, of the three Townships, the upper and lower is said to be very good, the Middle township, where they are settled, being but indifferent. But the deficiency of the Land is abundantly compensated by the goodness of timber, especially the White Pine, hard Maple, or Sugar Tree, Beech, wild Cherry, and
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Black Birch, the finest and plentifulest in the world ; That a right hath sold here for £40; a Right is supposed to contain 5,000 Acres.
" Here follow the names of some of the committee, who are also proprietaries, Viz:
- Fitch, Son to the present Governor of Connecticut.
" Isaac Tracey,
Benijah Geers,
" Gebish Fitch,
Hezekiah Huntingdon, Esqr., late:
" John Curtius,
Governor,
" Elisha Tracey, Clerk,
Stephen Kinney,
" Benejah Parks, Robert Kinnsman,
- Peebody, Surveyor, John Burchard.
" Moses Thomas,
"Here follow the names of some of the settlers : - - Stanton,
Trim, Daniel Skinner, Timothy Skinner, Simon Corking, who hath been a Justice and Lieutenant in Connecticut, (a busy fellow and a ringleader), - - Holly, John Smith, John Corkins,
Jedediah Willis, Jedediah Willis, jun"., James Adams, Benjamin Ashley, Nathan Chapman, Doctor Payne, - - Kellick ; That having given these people previous Notice that we had something of importance to deliver to them, about a dozen of them assembled in one of their Houses, where Mr. Gordon addressed them to this- purpose : That the Governor of Pennsylvania being informed that some people from Connecticut had presumed to settle themselves on Lands at Cushiotunk, within his Province, but without his know- ledge or permission, and as yet not purchased from the Indians,, had sent us (declaring who we are) to enquire if the said Informa- tion was true, and if we found any person there to warn them off immediately ; Which Mr. Gordon (after claiming as well those Lands at Cushietunk as the large Tract by the said Government of Connecticut, laid out and surveyed on Sasquehannah, as the un- doubted Right and property of the Honourable the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania), accordingly did. To this it was answered that they claimed under the Connecticut Government & the Indian pur- chase, and that they would hold their Lands until it was decided by the highest Authority in whom the true title was vested.
"Dated the fifteenth day of October, Annoque Domini, 1760.
" AARON DUPUI.
"LEWIS KLOTZ. " JOHN MOOR.
"LEWIS GORDON."
The Governor's Proclamation.
"WHEREAS, Divers persons, the natural born Subjects of his Majesty, belonging to some of our neighboring Colonies, have lately come into this Province, and without any Licence or Grant from the Honourable Proprietaries, or Authority from the Government, have presumed in a body to possess themselves of and settle upon
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a large Tract of Land in this Province, not yet purchased from the Indians near Cushietunck, on the River Delaware, and in the upper parts of Northampton County, and are endeavouring to persuade and inveigle many of the Inhabitants of this and the neighbor- ing Provinces, to confederate and join with in their illegal and dangerous Designs, And to assist in settling and holding the said Lands by strong Hand: And whereas, the Delaware Chief, Teedy- uscung hath made a very earnest and formal Complaint and Remon- strance to me against the said Practices, insisting that the intruders should be immediately removed by the Government to which they belonged, or by me, and declared if this was not done the Indians would come and remove them by force, and do themselves justice, with which he desired they might be made acquainted beforehand, that they might not pretend Ignorance, which has been since ac- cordingly done by my order.
"Wherefore, as well to assert the just Rights of the Proprie- taries of this Province to the said Lands, and to preserve the peace and friendship which is now so happily restored and subsisting be- tween us and the Indians, and prevent the terrible consequences that must necessarily arise, by their carrying into Execution their Threats of removing by force the Intruders on the said Lands, as also to warn and prevent any of the Inhabitants of this province from being unwarily drawn in to join the said intruders in their intended design of making settlements in the said Indian Country, I have judged it proper, by and with the Advice of the Council, to issue this proclamation, hereby Strictly requiring and enjoining in his Majesty's Name all and every person and Persons already set- tled or residing on the said Lands, immediately to depart and move away from the same; And do hereby forbid all His Majesty's Sub- jects of this or any other Province or Colony, on any pretence what- soever, to intrude upon, settle, or possess any of the said Lands, or any other of the Lands within the Limits of this province not yet purchased of the Indians, as they will answer the contrary at their peril, and on pain of being prosecuted with the utmost Rigour of the Law; And I do hereby also strictly charge, enjoin, and require all Sheriffs, Magistrates, Peace Officers, and all other His Majesty's Liege people within this Province, to exert themselves, and use their utmost Endeavours to prosecute and bring to Justice and condign Punishment all offenders in the premises.
'' Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the said Province, at Philadelphia, the twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord, One thousand Seven Hundred & Sixty-One, And in the first year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, &ca.
"JAMES HAMILTON.
" By his Honour's Command.
"' RICHARD PETERS, Secretary. "GOD SAVE THE KING."
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A Letter from Governor Hamilton to the Governor of Connecticut.
"PHILADELPHIA, 10th Feb"-, 1761.
" Sir :
"You may please to remember that in the beginning of the year 1754, I did myself the Honour to inform Governor Wolcot and you ' that some of the Inhabitants of the Colony of Connecticut were met going to Wyomink, an Indian Town on the Sasquehannah, near the Center of this province, and in their way gave out that they had made a purchase of those Lands from the Mohock Indians, and had the Authority of their Government to come and settle them, as being included within the Boundaries of the Connecticut Charter.'
" Sensiable of the mischiefs that would arise to the publick from this rash proceeding, I earnestly requested that an immediate Stop might be put to it ; And both Mr. Wilcot and you in your Answer were pleased to assure me that your Government knew nothing of it, and that you would use your endeavours to prevent any farther progress of what you justly termed so wild a Scheme.
" Mr. Morris, who succeeded me that year in the Government of this Province on of your people, continuing to raise great disturb- ances in the minds of our Inhabitants and of the Indians by the prosecution of that design, wrote to you a second Letter, wherein he fully sat forth the repeated covenants made by the Six Nations with the proprietaries of this Province, that they would not sell any of the Lands comprized within the Charter of Pennsylvania to any other person or persons, as well as the several Grants made by the Sasquehannah Indians of the Lands lying on that River and its Branches, and many other particulars that passed at Albany in the year 1753 respecting this design, and remonstrated strongly against the execution of it, as he judged it would infallibly bring on an In- dian War.
" I was in great hopes the matters contained in those Letters when communicated to the persons concerned in that most illegal and chimerical Scheme, would have opened their Eyes and made them desist intirely from any further prosecution of it ; But to my great surprise, I have been lately informed that some of your people have begun to revive that project, and are actually making Settlements in the Indian Country near Cushietunck, on the river Delaware, and in the upper parts of Northampton County.
"On receipt of this intelligence, I immediately dispatched the Sheriff and some of the Magistrates of that County to go thither, with orders to warn the Intruders off, to claim those Lands for our proprietaries, and fully apprize them of the mischievous Conse- quences that must attend their attempting to make Settlements there.
" They were scarce set out on their Journey, before Teedyuscung, the Chief of the Delawares, came to me, and in a very earnest and
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formal manner acquainted me that the Indians had heard of a Set- tlement being begun by some people from the Eastward on their Lands, and insisted that they should be immediately removed by the Government to which they belonged, or by me, and sayed that if this was not done the Indians would come and remove them by force, and do themselves Justice, with which he desired they might be made acquainted before hand, that they might not pretend ig- norance ; I pacified him for the present by assuring him that every Measure in the power of this Government should be taken to prevent such a settlement, acquainting him that on my being informed of this unexpected invasion of the Indian and proprietary rights, I had sent the Sheriff and Magistrates of Northampton County to inquire into it, and would let him know on their return all that had been done.
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