USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. X > Part 13
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" Gentlemen :
"I yesterday received your favor in answer to my Requisition that you would lay before me the precise Extent of the Claim of the Colony of Connecticut, But must own I am much disappointed to find that, instead of Complying with my Request, you have only in General refered me to the Expressions of your Charter of 1662, which are by no means determinate, and you yourselves admit to be of doubtful Interpretation.
" The uncertainty in the Bounds and Extent of that Charter, as well as of other of the New England Grants, occasioned a Royal Commission to issue so early as within two years after the Date of your Charter, for the declared Purpose of settling the Bounds and Limits of their Several Charters and Jurisdiction. In Consequence of which a North North-West line drawn from Mamoroneck River to the line of the Massechusets, was declared and expressly fixed and Established to be the Western Bounds of the Colony of Connecti- cut, which Boundary was then Solemnly assented to, ratified, and Confirmed by the Governor and Commissioners of the Colony.
" After this Settlement of your Western Boundary, the Grant of Pennsylvania was made to William Penn. The Duke of York also relinquishing his Claim to the Lands comprized therein, and it was never understood by the Crown, at that time, nor by the Grantee, William Penn, nor by any other persons, for near eighty years, so far as I have heard, that the Grant of Pennsylvania any way in- trenched upon or approached near any of the New England Grants, till the late Claim was set up on the Part of your Collony.
" Being Clearly of Opinion, for these and many other Reasons, that the present Claim made by your Government of any Lands Westward of the Province of New York, is without the least Foun-
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dation, you cannot reasonably expect that I should accept of the Proposal of " Settling and ascertaining the Boundaries between the Collony of Connecticut and this Province," or enter with you into a Negotiation on that Subject, nor can I with any propriety agree to the alternative proposed in the act of Assembly of your Colony which you have laid before me, viz": "that if we cannot agree amicably to ascertain those Boundaries, then to join in an applica- tion to his Majesty to appoint Commissioners for that Purpose, because in either of these cases I should admit a Claim on the part of your Colony, which the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania are well advised, cannot be Supported without giving your Charter a Con- struction different from what has been determined to be the sense of other Charters of the like kind, nor without allowing your Limits to extend far beyond those heretofore fixed by the Royal Authority.
"But if your Colony, Gentlemen, should still apprehend they have a just Claim to Lands within the Grant of this Province, and should adhere to their late resolve to assert and support it, you may be assured that the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania most ar- dently wish to have the matter brought to the most speedy Issue possible, and that upon a Petition to be preferred by your Govern- ment to his Majesty in Council, which it is apprehended is the Proper Constitutional Tribunal to apply to on this Occasion, they will appear on the first notice and answer such petition, and give all the Dispatch in their power to bring the Matter to a Final Decission.
"It gives me the greatest Concern when I call to mind the Re- peated Outrages which have been committed by a number of lawless people from your Colony, who without any Warrant or authority from the Government of Connecticut, have for some years past forcibly, and in an Hostile Manner, dispossessed the Tenants who were settled on Lands under Warrants and by the Licence of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania.
"I shall however, be ready to hear any reasonable proposals you may have to offer for putting an end to such Violences, and restore the Public Tranquility in future, and shall chearfully Join with you in any proper and Equitable Measures to effect so valuable a Purpose.
" I am, Gentlemen, your most Obedient " Humble Servant, " JOHN PENN.
" To Eliphalet Dyer, William Samuel Johnson, and Jededia Strong, Esquires, a Committee from the Collony of Connecticut."-
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At a Council held on Saturday the 18th December, 1773.
PRESENT :
The Honorable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Governor. Benjamin Chew, Edward Shippen, Esqr., Esquires.
James Tilghman,
The Connecticut Commissioners having requested a Conferrence with the Governor and Council on the several matters contained in the Governor's Letter, they attended at the Board for that pur- purpose, on notice being sent them by the Governor.
A Conferrence was accordingly held, during which several ex- pedients were proposed on both sides for preserving Peace and good Order among the Inhabitants of that part of the Susquehanna Lands which is included in the Claim now set up by the Colony of Con- necticut, till the matter in dispute between the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and the said Collony shall receive a final determina- tion before the King in Council.
But as the Board could not think themselves Justifiable in adopt- ing the Measures proposed by the Commissioners in the Course of the Conference, it was agreed that the Commissioners should give an answer to the Governor's Letter, in which they might make any further Proposals they thought proper respecting the Preservation of good Order among the settlers on the Lands in Contest ; and that the Governor would take the same into Consideration, and in case he could not agree to such Proposals, send them an answer thereto, pointing out any other Method which he might judge more expedient ; Whereupon the Commissioners withdrew.
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At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Tuesday 21st December, 1773.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Governor.
James Hamilton, Andrew Allen, .
Richard Peters, Edward Shippen, jun"-, Esq's.
James Tilghman,
The several Letters which have passed between the Governor and the Commissioners from Connecticut, as also Governor Trum- bull's Letter, and Resolves and act of Assembly of that Colony, were again severally read in their Order ; and then the Governor laid before the Board a Letter he received yesterday from those Commissioners, which was also read, and follows in these words, Viz+;
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" PHILADELPHIA, 18th December, 1773.
"Sir :
" We are extreamly sorry to find, by your favor of yesterday, That all Hopes of an amicable settlement of the Controversy be- tween the Colony, of Connecticut and the Proprietaries of Pennsyl- vania are at an end; that you are of opinion that you cannot, with any propriety, enter into any Negotiation with us for that Purpose, nor even accept the Alternative proposed in the act of Assembly of our Colony of a joint application to his Majesty to appoint Com- missioners to decide it.
" That his Majesty in Council is the Constitutional Tribunal by which we must be finally decided, in all disputes of this Nature, we agree, and are persuaded that all its decisions will ever be founded in the strictest Impartiallity and Justice, yet it must be admitted that it is a Tribunal which, from its distance, Constitution, and other Circumstances, is attended always with great expence, frequently with much delay, to the Suitors; We cannot, therefore, but be of opinion, that it would have been more eligible for the Collony and the Proprietaries to have settled this dispute by agreement between themselves, or by referrence to Gentlemen of Judgement and Impar- tiallity in the Neighbouring Colonies, who might have immediately decided it upon the Spot with little Expence, or, even if it was judged more expedient to apply to his Majesty in Council, we ap- prehend much Delay and expence might have been saved, and a more conclusive Decision obtained by a joint Application. The reasons which you have been pleased to mention as the Ground of your Opinion upon this Subject do not appear to us to be conclu- sive ; There is a clear distinction between a Claim and a Right, and however ill founded the claim of the Collony may by you be imagined to be, yet that it is an existing claim cannot be denied, And how the Admission of such Claim, so far as to negociate upon it, to attempt to settle it, or to join in an application to his Ma- jesty for an adjudication upon it, can in any respect prejudice the Right, we cannot comprehend; The Colony and the Proprietaries both claim the same Country; the right to that Country can be in but one of them. The Claim on both sides must be admitted, the Right alone will be disputed. It can, therefore, prejudice neither party, or must effect both equally, to submit in any proper man- ner that Right to be discussed and adjudicated.
" We apprehend that your Honor is much mistaken in imagining that the settlement of the line between the Colony of Connecticut and the Grant to the Duke of York, in 1664, was in any degree occasioned by the Uncertainty of the Bounds and extent of the Charter to Connecticut, and the other New England Grants. That Determination had another and a very Different Foundation, viz. : The Possession on the part of the Dutch of that Territory, which was afterwards Granted to the Duke of York, a Possession which occasioned. its being excepted out of the Original Grant to the Coun-
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cil of Plymouth, and in fact prevented its being ever vested in the Crown untill the Conquest thereof by Col. Nichols, in August, 1664; as that Territory therefore was not in 1662, in the Crown to Grant, no part of it could pass by the Patent to Connecticut, and it became absolutely necessary after the Conquest and the Grant to the Duke of York, to ascertain what extent of Territory had been so possessed by the Dutch and excepted out of the antecedent Grants from the Crown, and accordingly, the Commission under which that Settlement was made, was not merely a Commission to settle Boun- daries, but an Authority to hear and receive, and to examine and determine, all complaints and appeals, in all causes and matters, as well Millitary as criminal and civil, and proceed in all things for the Providing for and settling the Peace and Security of the said Country ; and was applyed upon that Occasion Only to the Deter- mination of what part of the Country the Duke of York was enti- tuled to in virtue of the Dutch Possession ; it is Obvious, therefore, both from the occasion and the Spirit of that agreement and Settle- ment, that it could not extend to or affect any other Country than that Claimed by the Duke of York, which was expressly Limited in Point of Western Extension by the River Delaware, and Conse- quently, can be of no use to the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, who claim not under the Duke of York, but immediately from the Crown , by their Grant in 1681. The Country now Claimed by the Pro- prietaries under that Grant, within the Boundaries of the Colony of Connecticut, was in 1662, undoubtedly in the Crown, and Conse- quently, passed by the Royal Grant to the Governor and Company of that Colony, and clearly could not be re-vested in the Crown by a Settlement in 1664 (to which the Crown was not Party) with the D. of York, who was but a Private Subject; and not having been re-vested in the Crown, it is impossible it could pass by the Grant to William Penn, in 1681.
"That Settlement, therefore, we conceive, Ought to have no Weight in Your Deliberations upon this Subject, much less to form an Objection against your entering into a Settlement of the Con- troversy with Connecticut, in the most expeditious and least expen- sive Mode that can be devised.
"Of the same nature is the doubt which you imagine we admit with respect to the Course in which the Southern Line of the Grant to Connecticut shall pass the Grant to William Penn. Though we chose to leave that Question open to Discussion untill a Negotiation was actually entered upon, yet when all parts of the Grant and other Circumstances of the case are Considered, we apprehend very little doubt can remain with respect to it. Indeed, we imagine your Honor could not reasonably expect from us a different Answer than that which was given to the Requisition made us; as we had received no Intimation from you of any Dipositions towards an ami- cable Settlement of the Controversy, we apprehend You could not expect but that we should save to the Colony, whom we have the
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Honor to represent, all the advantage of the most favourable Con- struction of their Grant, in case they must be put to an adversary Suit, and a legal decision of the Controversy. But to the purpose of the Negotiation we proposed, the most narrow Construction of the Grant to Connecticut was, we apprehend, abundantly sufficient, since a line parrallell to the Massechusetts Line, drawn from the South- western Boundary of Connecticut with the Province of New York, will include at least one degree in Width of the Lands claimed by the Proprietaries as part of this Province, an Object of Sufficient Importance to Merit your attention, and to be the Ground of such a Negotiation as we had the Honor to propose to you.
" However, as your Sentiments are decisive upon this subject, We beg pardon for giving you further Trouble upon it, which we should not have done, but to evince to you with how much Reluc- tance we resign the Hopes we had entertained of an amicable Set- tlement of the Controversy.
" It is, however, with very great Satisfaction, that we receive the Intimations you are pleased to give us of your wishes to preserve peace among the Inhabitants settled under the different Claims, and your readiness to receive Proposals tending to that beneficial Purpose.
"It is with equal concern that we also recollect the mutual Vio- lences which have been committed upon the Contested Lands. We will not take upon us absolutely to Justify, or to condemn either party. Give us leave only to remark, that as the Settlers from Connecticut and other Colonies, (for but a part of them were from that Colony), ent'red under the Susquehanna Company, who imagined themselves to have also the Connecticut Title, with a declared purpose of gain- ing an actual Possession, without which they were advised they could not advantageously try their Title; they entered under the Indea of Right, and in Point of Intention, may be excused. But as the Colony has now taken up the matter, and expressly asserted their Claim, That the like Mischiefs may in future be prevented, and Peace and good Order preserved in that part of the Country, We propose that, without prejudice to the Rights of the Colony, or the Proprietors, a Temporary line of Jurisdiction be agreed upon, which neither Party shall exceed, and within which Each re- spectively may exercise such power and authorities as they judge proper, without Interruption or Control; And as the Settlement, under the Proprietaries are Chiefly upon the western, and those under Connecticut principally upon the Eastern Branch of the Susquehanna River, We apprehend such Temporary line may be so drawn, as that Jurisdiction may be exercised by each, over their respective Settlers, without much Inconvenience. If this Idea shall
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meet with your Honor's approbation, we will immediately proceed to delineate and fix such line with Precision.
" And are, with much Respect and Esteem, " Your Honor's most Obedient, " Humble Servants, "ELIPHT DYER,
"WM. SAMEL. JOHNSON,
"JEDEDIAH STRONG,
"Commissioners."
"Hon'ble JOHN PENN, Esquire."
The Board taking the said Letter into Consideration, and having Conferred some time thereon, appointed Mr. Tilghman and Mr. Shippen a Committee to prepare an answer to it, agreeable to the Sentiments of the Board, and to lay the same before the Board to- morrow for their Consideration.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Wednesday 22d December, 1773.
PRESENT :
1
The Honorable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Governor.
James Hamilton, Andrew Allen, 1
Richard Peters, Edward Shippen, Jun", Esquires. James Tilghman, 7
The Members of Council appointed to prepare an answer to the Last Letter from the Connecticut Commissioners, laid a Draught of a Letter before the Board, which was read and Considered, and some alterations being thought necessary to be made in that part of the Letter which respects the Proposal for establishing Peace and order amongst the Settlers on the Land in Dispute, it was agreed that the same should be made, and laid before the Board to-morrow morning for Consideration.
The Records of the Conviction of Alexander Buchanan for Burglary, and Thomas Wilson, alias John Hurrin, alias John Green, for Murder, at the last Court of Oyer and Terminer, and General Goal Delivery held at Easton, for the County of North- ampton, on the 17th day of December last, before John Lawrence and Thomas Willing, Esquires, were laid before the Board, and Considered, and there being no Circumstances the least favorable in the Case of either of the said Criminals reported to the Governor by the Judge of the said Court, it was the opinion of the Board that the Sentences of the said Court against them should be exe- cuted on Saturday the first day of January next, and Warrants for that purpose were ordered to be issued accordingly.
VOL. X .- 9,
A
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At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Thursday 23d December, 1773.
PRESENT :
The Honorable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Governor.
James Hamilton, Andrew Allen,
Richard Peters, Edward Shippen, jun™-, Esquires.
James Tilghman,
The Draught of the Letter preposed to be sent by the Governor, in answer to the last Letter from the Connecticut Commissioners, with the alterations agreed to be made thereto, was laid before the Board ; and being approved, was immediately transcribed and sent to the said Commissioners, which Letter follows in these words, Viz *:
" PHILADELPHIA, 23d Decem'r, 1773.
" Gentlemen :
" I do assure you I did not decline your Proposal of an amicable Settlement of the Controversy between your Colony and the Pro- prietarys of Pennsylvania, or of a joint application to the Crown to appoint Commissioners to settle Boundaries between them, with a view either of protracting the time or enhanceing the Expence of a Decision; nor can I be of Opinion that an adversary Suit in which both sides are desirous of a Speedy Conclusion, can be attended with any extraordinary Delay or Expence.
" In the Case of Commissioners to settle Boundaries, they must probably be chosen in different Colonies, and their Meeting and at- tendance would be both difficult to obtain and in itself very expen- sive ; and perhaps after much time spent in bringing the matter to a Period, the Determination might not be satisfactory to all par- ties, and only prove the foundation of an appeal to His Majesty in Council.
" Had I been inclined to an amicable Settlement of the Matter, I was not at Liberty, being concerned, as I told you in our Confer- ence of Saturday last, only one-fourth of the Province, and being without Powers from the other Proprietor, who could not foresee, when I left England, that the Colony of Connecticut would have taken up this dispute, or adopted a Claim which they had hitherto declined to meddle with.
"I am Sorry to find myself misapprehended when I speak of the admission of a Claim, which I meant to guard against ; I well know there is a clear distinction between a bare Claim and a Right, but a just Claim and a Right I take to be the same Idea; and upon the whole of my Expression, I think I must be understood to mean the admission of a just Claim ; and as in my Opinion, the Colony of Connecticut, in its Western extent, can never be advanced beyond the Eastern Limits of New York, I conceived there would have been
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an impropriety in my agreeing to a joint application for Commis- sioners to Settle Boundaries, that carrying with it an implied Ac- knowledgement that your Claim ought to extend so far as to join upon, or interfere with the Province of Pennsylvania.
"You apprehend I was mistaken in imagining that the Settle. ment of the line between the Colony of Connecticut and the Grant to the Duke of York, was in any degree occasioned by the uncer- tainty of the Bounds and extent of the Charter of Connecticut, and the other New England Grants, and attempt to Explain the Mo- tives of the Settlement, and then you proceed in a Course of Rea- soning upon the Merits of your Claim.
"I am still of opinion that a supposed uncertainty in the Bounds of the New England Grants, is clearly to be inferred from the Terms of the Commission under which the Settlement of 1664 was made ; but I do not conceive it at all material at this time to enter into any Debate upon the Inducements to the making the Settlements of 1664, or the extent of your Charter, or that of the Plymouth Com- pany, or what Construction may at this time of Day be put upon the Terms of them. The mode of Decision I consider as our Prin- ciple object, not the Merits of the Dispute.
"Were it expedient or proper on this occasion to have entered into a Discussion of the Right, I should not content myself with point- ing out the Settlement of 1664, conclusive as I esteem it to be ; the several Purchases made from the Indians by the Proprietaries, without any Objections on the Part of your Colony ; The sales made by them, and the Settlement and long Occupation of the Pur- chases under those Sales without opposition ; the Impracticability of exerciseing a Jurisdiction over the vast Territory which lies be- tween the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea ; The Interjacency of two Provinces between your Seat of Goverment and the places to which you would now extend your Jurisdiction, together with the acquiescence of Your Colony under the Grant of Pennsylvania, ever since the year 1681 to the Present time, and many other Transac- tions and Circumstances attending the Case, afford abundant Matter for insuperable Objections to your Claim, and no doubt will be urged before the Tribunal which is to decide the Controversy be- tween us.
" I am now to consider your proposed Method of establishing Peace and good order, by drawing a Temporary Line of Jurisdic- tion ; and to this too there appear to me objections which cannot · be got over.
" The Legislature of this Province have erected that Part of the Country where the Connecticut People are Settled into a County. There exists a Legal Jurisdiction, which it is not in my power to restrain, much less can I transfer it to another Government. Great quantities of Land have been Granted under this Province before your Government took up this matter, which will fall within any Line that can be devised, and it is not in my Power to Prohibit the
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Purchasers from Settling them, nor can I, with Justice, take any steps to Restrain them.
" These are difficulties which unavoidably obstruct Your Pro- posal.
" Moreover, Gentlemen, you are in the Prosecution of a Claim which has long lain Dormant, and Surely that Claim ought to be established by proper Authority, before you can, with any Degree of Propriety, think of extending your Jurisdiction over a Country which hath been Legally Possessed, and where the regular Juris- diction of another Goverment hath taken place long before your Colony had concluded to prosecute their claim to it.
"As I cannot, for the Reasons assigned, accede to your proposal of a Temporary line of Jurisdiction, so neither can I forsee any means that appear to me likely to effectuate Peace and order, and to prevent for the future such Violent Outrages as have been lately perpetrated in that part of the Country where the People of Con- necticut are now settled, but their entirely vacuating the Lands in their Possession, untill a legal Decision of our Controversy may be obtained.
" And when it is considered that this Possession was effected by armed Bodies of People in an hostile Manner, expelling from their lawful Possessions those who had purchased their Lands, and Set- tled them under the Sanction of this Government, and that this was done without any Warrant or authority from the Collony of Connecti- cut, nay, long before that Colony had ever avowed a Claim to those Lands, I cannot but think it highly reasonable that such a tortious and unjustifiable Possession should be relinquished by the Colony at a time when they are pursuing a Claim on the Principals of Right, and in a legal way.
"Indeed, I cannot conceive, from the Measures that have been adopted by the Colony of Connecticut since they have made their Claim, that they can wish to avail themselves of a Possession ex- sorted by such lawless and Violent Proceedings; or that they can imagine themselves under the least Obligation to support or abet a Set of People who have been capable of acting in so outrageous and unjustifiable a manner. I am, therefore, induced to Hope, Gentle- men, that when this Matter comes to be coolly considered by your Government, if their Views are like mine, directed to a steady and Peacable Dicision of this Dispute, they will use all possible means to withdraw the People thus settled in the most expeditious and effectual Manner.
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