USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 60
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
" It is unnecessary to add any thing to animate your zeal in the Execution of his Majesty's orders in this important Conjuncture, which is finally to fix the future safety and Welfare of America, and of your own Province in particular; and the King doubts not, from your known Fidelity and attachment, that you will employ yourself with the utmost application and dispatch in this promising and de- cisive Crisis.
"I am, Sir, With great Truth and Regard, " Sir, Your most Obedient humble Servant, "WM. PITT."
A
t
590
MINUTES OF THE
A Letter from His Excellency General Amherst to the Governor.
"NEW YORK, March 15th, 1761.
" Sir :
"On the first of January last, I signified to you that by the dis- patches I had received the preceding day from his Majesty's principal Secretary of State, it was the King's firm resolution steadily to sup- port his Allies, and to prosecute the War with the utmost Vigour, and that in Consequence of this resolution, I made no doubt but you should soon receive his Majesty's requisition for such a number of men from your province as should be thought requisite to answer the proposed end of procuring a good and lasting peace.
"This requisition was in fact dispatched from the Secretary of State's Office on the Seventeenth of December last, and, I conclude, sent on board the Leicester Packet, which sailed from Falmouth on the 29th of said Month, but being unfortunately taken in her pas- sage, the Triplicates of those Dispatches are but this moment arrived in his Majesty's Sloop Tamar, and Mr. President Colden, to whom they have been delivered, is to forward them without Delay.
" It remains, therefore, with me, after this unexpected and un- lucky Detainder, most earnestly to entreat you to make up for this loss of time, in immediately, upon receipt hereof, convening your Assembly, and laying before them the aforesaid Letter of the Se- cretary of State, and that you will forthwith use your utmost En- deavours and Influence with the Council and Assembly to induce them to raise, with all possible dispatch, within your Government, Two-thirds of the number of men they raised for the last Cam- paign.
"The King's reasons for his Majesty's Requisition of this fur- ther aid from his faithful American Subjects, are too obvious, and too clearly pointed out by the aforesaid Circular Letter of his Secretary of State, to need any additional Enforcement, and yet I cannot refrain from repeating a Recommendation which ought, & I doubt not will have with it all the Weight and Impression which, from its prudence and Sagacity, it has a just right to expect, since it proceeds from the spirited view of reducing the Enemy to the necessity of accepting a peace on Terms of Glory, and advantage to his Majesty's Crown, and beneficial in particular to his Subjects in America, to which great and essential object nothing can cer- tainly so effectually contribute, as the King's being enabled to employ as immediately as may be, such part of the Regular Forces in North America, as may be adequate to some great and important Enter- prize against the Enemy.
"And as such are the King's Resolutions, and that his Majesty, the better to provide for the full and entire Security of his Do- minions in North America, & particularly of the possession of his Conquests there, during the absence of such part of the Regular
I t
1 i J (
0 a a
F th
591
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Forces to be employed in the aforesaid Enterprize, has desired that the several Provinces and Colonies of this Continent should forth- with raise Two-Thirds of the number of men they raised the last Campaign. I cannot, from the past Zeal I have experienced upon all former occasions on the part of your Province, but firmly rely and trust that it will upon this exert itself to the utmost, and that I shall have the satisfaction to report to his Majesty how chearfully it has acquiesced with his Recommendation.
"Nothing, therefore, now remains with me to add, than that you will observe by the aforesaid circular Letter of the Secretary of State, that as a further encouragement to such Exertion on the part of the provinces, his Majesty has ordered, as heretofore, that the provincial Forces should be victualled in the same manner and in the same proportions as the Regulars, and that they should be supplied with Arms and Tents at the expence of the Crown ; more- over, that strong recommendations will be made to Parliament, in their Session next Year, to grant a Compensation to the Provinces for the expences they may be at on this occasion, according as their respective vigour and strenuous efforts shall justly appear to merit ; I must, therefore, as this aid of Troops will be immediately wanted, most seriously recommend it to You, to obtain them from the As- sembly without loss of Time, and to hold them in readiness to march where so ever I may have occasion for them, upon the first notice you shall receive from me for that purpose.
"I have it also, in command from his Majesty, to enjoin you to collect, and cause to be put in proper Condition, all the serviceable Arms that can be found within your province, for every one of which that shall be brought to the field, and shall not return by reason of being spoiled or lost in actual Service, I shall pay the usual allowance of twenty-five Shillings P. Firelock.
"As it is very essential to the Services I have in command from the King, that I should be as early as possible informed of the Re- solves of your Assembly on this head, and of the time that the Troops will be ready, I beg that, as soon as you are acquainted therewith, you will signify the same to me by Express, that I may regulate myself accordingly.
"I am, with great Regard, Sir, "Your most Obedient humble serv'
"JEFF. AMHERST.
"P. S. In the Contingent of men, which you are, by the King's aforesaid Requisition, recommended to raise, I shall allow the three hundred which, by my Letter of the twenty-seventh ult., I re- quested for the Communication between Philadelphia & Fort Pitt to be part of.
"J. A."
On the 21st of March, the Governor issued Commissions ap- pointing William Allen, Esq'., first Judge; Lawrence Growden, Esq".,
1 1
1 1.
r.
592
MINUTES OF THE
Second Judge ; and William Coleman, Esq". Third Judge, of the Supreme Court; and at the same time, a general Commission issued for their being Judges of Oyer and Terminer.
At a Council held at Philada., on Thursday the 2nd April, 1761.
PRESENT:
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esq"., Lieutenant Gov- ernor, &cª.
Richard Peters, & r Esquires.
Benjamin Chew,
A second Letter from Gen1. Amherst was read, together with the following Message to the Assembly, which was approved and sent to the House, with the Letters referred to therein :
A second Letter from His Excellency Gen'l Amherst to the Governor.
"NEW YORK, 22nd March, 1761. "Sir : .
"As the Season is so far advanced, I am sorry it so happened that your Assembly had rose prior to the reception of his Majesty's requisition for a further aid of Troops from the several provinces; and I am much obliged to you for the Dispatch with which you have conven'd them to renew their sitting; I am hopefull that the time which will be lost by this adjournment will be made up by their expediting matters so soon as they come together again ; and, from their most commendable Zeal and Steadiness in granting the Three hundred men I requested for the Communication, I firmly trust they will upon this occasion, be no less eager to merit his Ma- jesty's Approbation, which, were they to slacken in their Zeal, they must not only forfeit, but expose themselves to the King's Displea- sure.
" Brigadier General Monckton, as I mentioned to you in my last, sets out to-morrow, on his way to Philadelphia, in order to station the Three hundred Men voted by your Assembly, & to put Vaughan's Regiment in motion.
"I am, with great Regard, Sir,
" Your most Obedient & Humble Servt., "JEFF. AMHERST.
:
( I
th
t
C C 0
er tł 1 & e a
y ir
y p th ti
=
lo
a
593
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
" Altho' your being so soon called together again after your late long Session and Adjournment, must needs prove very fatiguing to your Persons, as well as inconvenient to your private affairs, yet, I persuade myself, that upon being made acquainted with the reasons that induced it, you will readily agree that your meeting at this time was absolutely necessary, & could not be dispensed with.
"You will be pleased, then, to know that within a few days after your Recess, I had the Honour to receive from one of his Majisty's principal Secretaries of State, the King's commands to the follow- ing purpose, viz* :
"That I should forthwith use my utmost Endeavours and Influ- ence with the Council and Assembly of this Province, to induce them to raise, with all possible dispatch, within my Government, Two-thirds of the number of men they raised for the last Campaign, & that forming the same into Regiments as far as shall be found convenient, I should direct them to hold themselves in readiness, and particularly as much earlier than former Years as may be, to march to such place or places in North America as his Majesty's Commander-in-Chief there, or. the Officer who shall be appointed to Command the King's Forces in those parts, shall appoint, in order to be employed there, under the supreme of his Majesty's said Commander-in-Chief, or of the Officer to be appointed as above, in such manner as, from the Circumstances and situation of the Ene- my's Posts, and the State and Disposition of the Indian Nations on that side, he may judge most conducive for the King's Service.
"That the King is pleased to furnish all the men so raised as above, with Arms, Ammunition, & Tents, as well as to order Pro- visions to be issued to the same, by his Majestie's Commissaries, in the same proportion and manner as is done to the rest of the King's Forces ; That the whole, therefore, that the King expects and re- quires from the several Provinces, is the Levying, Cloathing, and paying of the men, and on these heads also, that no encouragement may be wanting to this great and Salutary service, His Majesty is further most graciously pleased to permit me to be acquainted that strong Recommendations will be made to parliament, in their Ses- sion next Year, to grant a proper Compensation for such Expences as above, according as the active vigour and strenuous efforts of the respective Provinces shall justly appear to merit.
" But, that nothing may be wanting, Gentlemen, to the fullest Explication of his Majesty's orders and Intentions in this respect, I have directed the Secretary of State's Letter, with others from General Amherst upon the same Subject, to be herewith laid be- fore you, in which the Motives and Reasons of the present Requi -- sition are so particularly set forth, that any thing by way of addi -- tion from me, might be justly deemed superfluous.
VOL. VIII .- 38.
594
MINUTES OF THE
" It, therefore, only remains from me to recommend to You, as I hereby do, in the warmest manner, a speedy and effectual com- pliance with the King's Demand, by which, alone, the delay occa- sioned by the loss of the first Dispatches can be repaired ; for I can- not entertain the least doubt of your readiness to testify the same duty and affection to his present Majesty on his accession, which to his late Royal Grandfather, of glorious Memory, were so repeatedly manifested by former Assemblies.
"" April 3rd, 1761."
" JAMES HAMILTON.
On Monday, 6th April, 1761.
At a Conference with Teedyuscung, and some of y& Wyomink In- dians.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esq"., Lieutenant Gor- ernor, &cª.
Richard Peters, Esquire.
Teedyuscung,
Quyasycamon, or Audowroff,
Chickingquikamon, Delawares.
Chagyhyckinham,
Nicholas Tittamy,
Guttamaack, Mohickon.
Wyoweenhunt,
Makawelloang, S Opies.
Isaac Stille, Monday Indian, Interpreter.
Teedyuscung spoke as follows, with a string :
" Brother :
" I have for four or five Years, been constantly employed in pro- moting the good work of Peace, & now somethings look darkish, and unless what makes it look so be removed, it may be hurtful to our old Men, Women, & Children, notwithstanding all that has been done.
" Brother :
"I never did hide any thing in my heart, and I desire if the Governor has any thing in his heart, that he would not hide it. This is the way to keep all things right between us, which cannot be done if we hide from one another anything that is upon our minds.
" Brother :
" You may remember that when I was here in the Fall of the Year, I informed you that some New England People were settling the Indians Lands, near a place called Cushietunck, and expressed
a t
0
f
1
1
1
595
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
a great deal of uneasiness at it. You told me that you had like- wise heard something of it, and had sent the Sheriff and Magis- trates of the County, bordering on these Lands, to the place with orders to see what was doing, and to warn. any persons off whom they should [find] settling there. You likewise said that as soon as you should be informed by these people of what they should find doing there, you would send a Message to the Government of Con- necticut to know if they were abetted by it, and what were their future designs.
" Brother :
" I have not heard any thing from you since that time, and our People are become so uneasy at this new Settlement that several of them are moved away to other places, and these now present are come on purpose with me to hear what you have to say about this affair. " Brother :
"Some of the Opies were coming to settle at Wyomink, but being disturbed at what they hear, they have sent their King that they may hear what you have to say, & know the matter from you before they proceed further.
" So many stories were brought to Wyomink, that I myself was almost ready to leave my house, but I thought I would come and see you first, and consult with you about it.
" Brother :
"The reason why we were so uneasy is this : About three weeks ago, Robert White came to our Town along with Thomas King, one of the Six Nation Indians, and told us that they had been at Cushietunck among these People, and that Sir William Johnson had sent to warn them off if they intended to settle there ; If only to trade then he desired they would use the Indians well, and give them no offence, but they made very light of it, and said they would not regard either what Sir William Johnson should say nor the Governor of Pennsylvania, nor the Magistrates, but only what should come from their own Governor. They said they had bought that Land from some Indians who were at the last Treaty at Easton, and would settle there. They said likewise that in the Spring when there should be plenty of Grass they would come & settle the Lands at Wyomink, and that Thomas King had given them leave to settle the Wyomink Land, and if the Indians who lived there should hinder their Settlement they would fight it out with them, and the strongest should hold the Land. Robert White added that they told him that they should be four thousand Strong in the Spring, and would all come to Wyomink.
"Robert White told us further that they kept continual Watch for fear the Indians should shoot them."
Teedyuscung being asked how many Robert White found there, he answered that Robert White told them there were thirty Fami- lies.
I
1. e
596
MINUTES OF THE
April the 8th, 1761.
A Bill Entituled " An Act for laying a duty on Negroes and Mullatta Slaves imported into this Province," was presented to the Governor for his Concurrence.
[Large blank in Council Book. ]
10th April, 1761.
The following Message from the Assembly was delivered to the Governor by two Members :
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
" May it Please your Honour :
"Your Message of the third Instant, with the Secretary of State's and General Amherst's Letters attending it, we took into immediate Consideration, & actuated by the same Zeal and Loyalty to his present most Excellent Majesty, with the same Regard to the welfare of the Nation in general and his American Colonies in par- ticular, which we have so often heretofore demonstrated, we were most sincerly disposed, as far as in us lay, to comply with the Re- quisition signified to your Honour in those letters; but, upon taking a view of the present Circumstances of the province; the load of Debt already imposed on the people, the mode pointed out to us for granting Supplies, contrary to those rights which we hold ourselves indispensably bound to preserve; the injury which must attend the property of our Constituents, should we pursue that mode, and the great insecurity of our Bills of Credit, should we deviate from it; we are of opinion it is not in our power to grant the aids required, consistent with that justice and duty we owe to the people we re- present.
" Since the commencement of the present War, the Assemblies of Pennsylvania have granted to the Crown upwards of half a mil- lion of money, a part of which was given out of a particular Fund, of which they had then the sole Disposition, contrary to the Will and express Declarations of the then Governor; other great part thereof at a time when proprietary Instructions restrained that Dis- cretion and free exercise of judgment in the Governor, which was absolutely necessary for the safety of the Colony-Instructions that occasioned such Impediments to the Supplies then repeatedly offered, that, had not the Assemblies waved their just rights, and formed their bills agreeable to them, no Aids could have been granted, or the Country defended against the Enemy then ravaging its Frontiers.
" In the Years 1757 and 1758, two Laws were passed, granting to the Crown the sum of one hundred thousand Pounds each, in which the Proprietary Estates were exempted from bearing any
Z si
fe
WF th
pa
a
f t
1 I
t 0
c
597
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
part of the Burthen, which Laws received the Approbation of the Crown. In the Year 1759, the Assembly, moved by their usual Zeal for his Majesty's Service, again complied with the full requi- sition of the Crown, and granted another Hundred thousand Pounds fer the service of that Year. And in the Year 1760 the same sum was granted for like purposes; and, in order to give his Majesty the immediate Benefit of the sums granted, the respective Assem- blies prepared two several Bills for striking the same in Bills of Credit, & for establishing a Fund for sinking the same in such just and reasonable manner as had before received the. Royal Approba- tion, with this only difference, that the Proprietary Estate was in- cluded, & directed to bear a proportionable Part of the sums which had been and were to be expended for its protection.
" The Bills, your Honour well knows, received the Assent of the respective Governors. The people of the Province, reposing a Con- fidence in the Approbation of the Representatives of the Crown, thus given to the said Laws, and trusting that Aids so chearfully granted would receive the Royal Approbation, as our former. Acts had done, did, with the utmost readiness, receive the Bills of Credit thereby made Current, and pay in lieu thereof, to the servants of the Crown, a full and valuable Consideration.
" The Law passed in the Year 1759, your Honour is well informed, has been presented to his Majesty for his royal Approbation, and notwithstanding the assent of the Governor so given, and the ap- probation of the Crown to our former Laws, and the Confidence thereby created in the People, notwithstanding the Bills of Credit made Current by the said Law were actually issued for their full value, the Lords of his late Majesty's Council were pleased to re- port the said Law to his Majesty, as 'fundamentally wrong and un- just, and that it ought to be repealed,' unless certain Amendments and Alterations proposed by them, should be made therein by the Assembly of the province, in regard to Taxing the Proprieiary Es- tates. To these proposals our Agents thought themselves under a necessity of acceding, in order to avert from the Province that Con- fusion in Trade and Commerce, & loss to the Brittish Merchants, as well as to the People to whom those Bills of Credit were issued, which a sudden Annihilation of them by a Repeal of the Law, must of necessity occasion.
" As soon as we received the Report of the Council, and the en- gagements of our Agents, we appointed a Committee to enquire into the reasonableness of them, and the State of the Proprietary Taxes under that Law, from whose Report, already presented to your Honour, we find that no kind of injustice has been done in the mode of taxing their Estates; but, on the contrary, that they have been rather rated and assessed, in many instances, lower than others under like Circumstances.
" It is, may it please your Honour, with the utmost concern we reflect that the other Act, granting One hundred Thousand Pounds
d e
598
MINUTES OF THE
to the Crown, in the Year 1760, of the same nature remains, so far as we know, still unpresented, and in Suspence; and that, should we refuse to comply with the proposed Alterations and Amend- ments, we have reason to Apprehend the same measures may be essayed by the Proprietaries to procure a Repeal thereof, without regard to the mischief & confusion it must inevitably produce in its consequences to the Province; and should we comply therewith, that very compliance must be esteemed a high Breach of Trust by the People whose Rights and Priviledges we are bound in duty to preserve; it would be waving, at least, if not giving up one of their most reasonable and essential Privileges, besides doing them great injury, with respect to their proportion of Taxes. These things appear, from the Report of the Lords of the Council, & of the Committe appointed to enquire into the State of the Proprietary Taxes, so evidently, that we apprehend it cannot be necessary to add on the Subject.
" Under these difficulties it is, with great regret, we inform your Honour that we cannot further comply with his Majesty's requisi- tion, than we did at the last sitting, by granting upwards of three hundred men, for garrisoning the Fortifications on the Frontiers. "Signed by order of the House, "ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
" April 10th, 1761."
At a Conference held at Philada-, on the 11th April, 1761.
PRESENT :
The Governor, Mr. Peters, and the same Indians as on the 6th Instant.
The Governor acquainted Teedyuscung that he would now give him an Answer to his Speech, and then began as follows : "Brother :
"I readily acknowledge the Zeal with which you have for some Years past concurred with this Government in promoting the good work of Peace, and it is owing in a great measure to your endea- vours that the same has been brought to an happy conclusion.
" Brother :
"You will please to observe that the People who are attempting to settle your Lands, and in so doing justly give you so much un- easiness, are none of them of this Province; they come from a dis- tant Government, and set up pretentions for this Land, partly under the Charter of Connecticut, the Colony from whence they came, and partly under what they call Indian Purchases; for besides what they told Robert White, that they had purchased that Land from some Indians that were at the last Treaty at Easton, they did
t
-
599
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
assure the Gentlemen whom I sent to warn them off that they had bought it from Delaware Indians, and gave them the very names of the Indians who had signed them Deeds for it, which I shall read to you, that you may enquire into the truth of this matter. Their names are as follows, viz: Maykeos, Mastohope Allamesick, West- crank, Christias, Michtauk, Wiselawah, Nolotoch, Poot (the King), Cattacool, Lawichcomen, Maudlin, Colcutalab, Makeshacomas, Qua- taloch, Tongol, Mituxing, Monkychess, Mechuckings. " Brother :
" You may depend upon it that this Government will strictly ob- serve their Treaties with the Indians, and will spare no pains to hinder these people from settling these Lands. In proof of this, I shall faithfully relate to you what I have done in consequence of the last Conference we had together on this Subject. I never did, mor never will hide any thing from you, being fully persuaded that openness on all occasions is the only way to confirm one another in a lasting Friendship,
" Brother :
" Agreeable to what I lately told you, as soon as it came to my knowledge that people were settling in the Upper parts of North- ampton County, beyond the bounds of the Lands purchased by the proprietaries of the Indians, I sent the Sheriff and Magistrates of that County to lay before them the dangerous consequences that might follow from such a proceeding, and to desire they would de- sist and go away, and I was in hopes my Message would have had a good effect, but when it was reported to me by those Gentlemen that they said they would persist in their Settlement, & that they were supported by the Government of Connecticut in what they did, I immediately sent a Letter to their Governor, informing him of my Message to these Settlers, and of their answer, and did not fail in the strongest Terms I was able to represent to him, that such a Settlement was not only against Law and the rights of the Pro- prietaries of Pennsylvania, to whom the King has granted these Lands, but that you and your Indians at Wyomink had formerly complained of this Settlement as a Violation of your Right, the Lands not being purchased from the Indians, and that being done without consent of the Indians, it would endanger the Peace so happily concluded between them and his Majesty's Subjects at Eas- ton; and I did insist that the Governor of Connecticut should send for these people, put a stop to their Settlement, and discountenance all such dangerous proceedings, & if nevertheless they should con- tinue in their unjust attempts, they might depend upon it that in support of the Proprietary and Indian rights, I would oppose them with all my might. To this Letter, I have, as yet, received no an- swer, which keeps me in the dark, so that I know not what the In- tentions of the Government of Connecticut are, nor what measures these people will take.
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.