USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. XIV > Part 43
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Of Abraham Dehuff, late do. of do., from the time of last set- tlement to the first of April, 1783.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, August 20th, 1785.
PRESENT :
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Stephen Balliet, Richard McAlister, and )
Jonathan Hoge, Bernard Dougherty, Esquires.
John McDowell,
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of Captain Jo- seph Stiles, for the sum of fifty pounds specie, in part of his ac- count as Commissary of Military Stores, for which sum he is to account.
. Upon the petitions of Edward Smith and Mary Floyd, convicted of larceny in the county of Lancaster, the former in August, 1784, and the latter in Feb'ry, 1785, and a recommendation from the Justices of the said county ; it was
Ordered, That the several fines due from the said Edward Smith and Mary Floyd to the State, be remitted.
Upon the petition of John Hatchcock, convicted of the like offence in the city of Philadelphia in January, 1785, it was
ยท Ordered, That his fine be remitted.
The Comptroller General's report upon the account of Jacob Miller, for a saw shed taken for public use in the year 1778, was read and approved.
521
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Monday, August 22nd, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President. John McDowell, Stephen Balliet and
Jonathan Hoge,
Bernard Dougherty, Esquires.
Richard McAlister,
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of the Honor- able Richard McAlister, Esquire, for twenty-four, pounds ten shil- lings specie, in full for his attendance in Council until this day inclusively.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Tuesday, August 23rd, 1785,
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
"The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President, Stephen Balliet, John McDowell.
Jonathan Hoge,
A letter and petition from Turnbull Marmie and company, and petitions from Craig Bayard and company, and David Duncan and. John Finley, for licences to trade with Indians, was read, and re- ferred to the General Assembly.
The Comptroller General's reports upon the accounts of Alexan- der Boyd, Auctioneer for the Northern Liberties to March, 1784, and from the first of June to the eighteenth of May, 1785, was read, approved.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of William Rees, for the sum of fifty pounds specie, for the improvement of the State House lott, according to acts of Assembly of the twen- tieth of February, 1735-6, and fourteenth of May, 1762, and reso- lution of Assembly dated the twenty-fifth of September, 1783.
A letter from the Delegates of this State, inelosing a report from John Jay, Esquire, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, on the sub- ject of the complaint of Mr. Thomas Shields, containing assurances- that without delay, every proper measure will be taken by the En- cargado de Negocios of his Catholic Majesty, for obtaining justice; and redress.
522
MINUTES OF THE
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, August 24th, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, John McDowell,
John Boyd, Bernard Dougherty, and Esquires.
Stephen Balliet, Jonathan Hoge,
General William Irvine's report of his proceedings under the ap- pointment of Council, was this day received and read.
The petition of Thomas Wall was again read and rejected.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, August 25th, 1785. PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
John Boyd, Bernard Dougherty,
John McDowell, Stephen Balliet,
Jonathan Hoge, Charles Biddle, and
Esquires.
John Whitehill, John Neville,
Mr. Moore and Mr. McPherson, a committee of Assembly, at- tending at the door, were introduced to Council, and informed them that the House being formed, it was ready to receive all such busi- ness as the Executive might be pleased to lay before it.
An appeal from the Comptroller General's settlement of the ac- counts of Thomas Levis, as late Lieutenant of the county of Ches- ter, was read and admitted.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of Thomas Buchanan, Esquire, late Sub-Lieutenant of Cumberland county, for the sum of twenty-three pounds fifteen shillings and two pence, State money, of the April emission, 1781.
The following draft of a message to the General Assembly was read and adopted, vizt :
A message from the President and the Supreme Executive Coun- cil to the General Assembly.
GENTLEMEN :- With this message will be delivered acts of Con- gress of the twenty-third of February, seventeenth and thirty-first
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SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
of March, twelfth and thirteenth of April, fourth, twentieth and the twenty-seventh of May, first and seventh of June, and the twentieth and the twenty-seventh of July; a letter of the fourteenth of April from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs; two letters from the War Office of the twenty-fifth of April and the twenty-third of June; one of the twenty-fourth of May from the Governor of Vir- ginia; another of the twenty-eighth of July from the Governor of Massachusetts, with inclosures; and two from General Irvine of the first of June and the eighteenth of July; and several papers relating to outrages in the county of Northumberland.
We should be glad to be informed, as soon as possible, of your determination concerning the raising of the troops required from this State.
The interest of the Commonwealth will be greatly affected un- less Congress speedily determines the controversy with those per- sons who hold land within our limits not claimed under Pennsyl- vania rights.
We should not think ourselves excusable if we should forbear to repeat, that great alterations are necessary in the militia laws, They should be reduced into one act, and such order given to the system that upon every occasion an adequate force, properly armed, equip- ped, and disciplined, may be promptly drawn forth, embodied, and employed.
As many circumstances render it probable that the attention of your Honorable House will be much engaged in considering the affairs of trade, we trust that your decisions will be combined with the most prudent and effectual measures for securing and extending our commercial intercourse throughout all its various and complicated branches, with the rest of the United States, which we regard as an object of very high consequence.
The articles of the Union being, in our judgment, very defective, we were induced two years ago " most earnestly to recommend that the Confederation might be strengthened and improved."
There was reason to hope that peace would afford so much leisure that this important work might soon be accomplished. The event indeed, has not corresponded with our wishes, but we are pleased to find an opinion generally prevailing at this time, that some amend- ment of the Confederation is necessary.
As we continue fully perswaded that the happiness of our pos- terity must, under Providence, depend upon the respect, tranquility, and safety that are naturally attached to an "extensive and well es- tablished empire," we anxiously desire that the present dispositions may be so directed that, instead of stopping at partial provisions, it may lead to as perfect an establishment as can be devised.
We, therefore, esteem ourselves indispensably bound, not only again to declare our sense that further authorities ought to be vested in the Federal Council, but to mention such as appear to us most material. These are the powers of regulating and protecting com-
524
MINUTES OF THE
merce ; of imposing equal duties on importations for the purpose of raising a revenue, and collecting them by officers of the appoint- ment of Congress ; of imposing and collecting postage in the same , manner, and for the same purposes; of punishing officers of the Confederated Republic in some prescribed manner of proceeding ; of adjusting the quotaes of all charges and expences by a fixed, equitable, and easily practicable method ; and of maintaining the law of Nations.
Many persons are now very earnest to have the first of these powers lodged in Congress, without limitation. If such an absolute resignation should be judged improper, there can be no doubt but the grant may be so modified as to produce the desired effects, with- out being liable to the inconveniencies apprehended from an un- qualified cession.
We have received several applications, herewith transmitted, for licences to trade with the Indians, but have declined granting any until we could know whether they would be approved by the Le- gislature.
A number of invalids belonging to this Commonwealth, lately dis- charged from the service of the United States, have applied to us for their subsistence, according to the resolution of Congress in June last. The managers of the Alms House and House of Employment have, at our request, been so kind as to give them temporary re- lief:
These men, whose distresses proceed from their sufferings in the cause of their country, are recommended to her protection by such strong considerations, that we are confident the General Assembly will, with particular pleasure, adopt means for affording them imme- diate, regular, and liberal support.
JOHN DICKINSON.
-
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Friday, August 26th, 1785. PRESENT : His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
John McDowell, Stephen Balliet,
Jonathan Hoge, John Boyd,
Charles Biddle, Daniel Hiester, and 1 Esquires. John Neville,
John Whitehill, Bernard Dougherty,
An order was drawn in favor of the Honorable John McDowell, Esquire, for the sum of sixteen pounds five shillings, due to him
525
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
for his attendance at this Board until this day, inclusively, and his mileage.
A letter from Charles Thomson, Esquire, inclosing copies of a correspond. between his Excellency James Bowdoin, Esquire, and H. Stanhope, Captain of His Britannic Majesty's, frigate, the Mer- cury, and the report of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs upon the said correspondence, &ca., &ca., were read and approved.
A letter from Ephraim Douglass, Esquire, Prothonotary of the county of Fayette, inclosing a return of an election of Justices of the Peace for the district of township within the said county, was read.
In pursuance of an act intituled " An Act to vest the personal estate of the late corporation of the Mayor and Commonalty of the city of Philadelphia, in the Wardens of the said city.
Resolved, That an order be drawn on the Treasurer in favor of the said Wardens, for the sum of one hundred and forty-five pounds, paid by William Whitebread, in discharge of a bond and mortgage given by him to the aforesaid Mayor and Commonalty of Philadelphia, and lodged in the State Treasury by the Secretary of this Board, agreeably to their order of the twenty-fifth of last February.
Resolved, That the Secretary of this Board be authorized, in pursuance of the law aforesaid, to deliver the bills, bonds, obliga- tions, and mortgages, the property of the late Mayor and Common- alty aforesaid, now in the custody of the President and Council, to the said Wardens, taking a specific receipt for each on the back of the original list.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of the Secre- tary, for the sum of thirty pounds specie, for purchasing firewood for the use of the Council, for which sum he is to account.
Upon the petition of James Manly, convicted of assaulting Chris- tian Stultz, with intent of robbing him, at the last January Court held for the city, and a recommendation from the Justices of the Peace, it .was
Ordered, That his fine be remitted, on condition that he depart the State in forty-eight hours, and the United States in twelve months, not to return.
526
MINUTES OF THE
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, August 27th, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
John McDowell, Stephen Balliet,
Jonathan Hoge, John Boyd,
Charles Biddle, Daniel Hiester, and
John Whitehill,
Bernard Dougherty,
Esquires.
John Neville,
Upon a return of an election of a Justice of the Peace, held for the township of Wharton, and county of Fayette,
Ordered, That William McClelland, Esquire, be appointed.
The petition of John Beatty and Ellis Burgess, severally con- victed of larceny, and recommended to the indulgence of Council, was read, and an order taken that their respective fines be remitted, upon condition that he immediately depart the State.
The following draft of a message to the General Assembly was laid before the Board, and the same being read, was adopted :
A message from the President and the Supreme Executive Council to the General Assembly.
GENTLEMEN :- You will herewith receive a letter from General Irvine, appointed by us Agent under the act directing the mode of distributing the donation lands, his report, and our instructions to the Surveyor General.
Upon consideration of that act, and other circumstances, we are of opinion that the proceedings of the Deputy Surveyors should be at present suspended, and several amendments made in the law, in order most effectually to secure to the objects of it the benefits in- tended by the Legislature.
Inclosed are several papers relating to applications of Anne Fat- nal, Deborah Irvine, William Pollard, and Nathaniel Galt. We have carefully examined the merits of these cases, and finding that we cannot legally afford relief, we hope you will approve our earnestly recommending them to the attention of your Honorable House.
JOHN DICKINSON.
Council Chamber, Philad'a, August 27th, 1785.
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SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Monday, August 29th, 1785. PRESENT : His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, John McDowell, 5 Stephen Balliet, Bernard Dougherty, and ( Esquires.
John Boyd, Jonathan Hoge,
A letter from the Secretary at War, and two from the Secretary of Congress, inclosing several ordinances of that body upon the subjects of revenue and representation.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Tuesday, August 30th, 1785.
PRESENT : His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, John McDowell,
Stephen Balliet, Bernard Dougherty, and & Esquires. - John Boyd, Jonathan Hoge,
A petition from the magistracy of the county of Northumberland, stating that under the outrages of the people known by the name of the Connecticut claimants, a number of the good citizens have been put into great fear and suffering, and praying that govern- ment may take such speedy, judicious, and effectual measures as may at once convince the deluded and lawless, of the power of the State, and give effectual and permanent security and protection to those who have always acknowledged its jurisdiction, and sub- mitted to its laws, was read, and an order taken that it be referred to the House.
A petition from the Commissioners for the county of Northum- berland, inclosing an address to them from the inhabitants of the said county, relating to the taxes of the said county, were read and referred, with the former, to the General Assembly.
A letter from the Surveyor General, advising Council that he had received upwards of one hundred and forty returns of survey of the land appropriated by act of Assembly dated the twelfth day of March, 1783, and that he daily expects more, was read ; upon which it was
528
MINUTES OF THE
Ordered, That the Surveyor General be directed to furnish Coun- cil with a map descriptive of the lots mentioned in his report afore- said.
The Comptroller General's report upon the accounts of William Shearer, of the county of Washington, for a horse lost on the San- dusky expedition, was read & approved.
A letter from Francis Johnston, Esquire, advising that he had purchased the Indian goods to be delivered at Tioga, agreeably to treaty, and requesting an order for the amount, (being one thou- sand dollars,)
Resolved, That an order issue accordingly, he to be accountable.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, August 31st, 1785. PRESENT : His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, John McDowell, and )
Stephen Balliet, Jonathan Hoge, Esquires. John Boyd,
S
The Comptroller General's report upon the accounts of Frede- rick Everhard, and others, for supplies and attendance given a num- ber of men wounded on the Wioming expedition, was read and, ap- proved, and an order drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of their attorney, James Logan, for the amount, being twenty-one pounds nineteen shillings and one penny. .
The Comptroller General's report upon the accounts of Colonel Mitchell, and the Field and Staff of Cumberland county, for their services in the year 1780, was read and approved.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, September 1st, 1785.
PRESENT :
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, John McDowell, and ) Stephen Balliet, Jonathan Hoge, John Boyd, Esquires. Also Bernard Dougherty, Esq.
A letter from Charles Thomson, Esquire, inclosing an act of. Congress of the thirtieth of April, 1784, and requesting Council
529
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
to inform him what steps, if any, have been taken upon the said act.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer for the sum of twenty- seven pounds two shillings and six pence specie, in full for his at- tendance in Council until the thirty-first day of August, 1785, in- cluded.
An order was also drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of William Henry, Esquire, Lieutenant of the city and liberties of Philadel- phia, for the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds specie, to be paid out of the militia fines of the said city and liberties, he to be accountable.
Upon the petition of John Lesher, convicted of an assault and battery upon Peter Casper Frylinghausan, and sentenced to pay a fine to the use of the State, of twenty pounds specie, &ca.,
Ordered, That the execution of this sentence be suspended for six months from the date hereof.
A petition from a number of citizens requesting the effectual collection of the public taxes, was handed by Mr. Ingersoll and Colonel Gurney, and read, upon which an order was taken that a conference
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Friday, September 2nd, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
John McDowell, John Boyd,
Charles Biddle,
Jonathan Hoge, and
Stephen Balliet, Bernard Dougherty, 7 Esquires.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of Frederick Sneider, for the sum of fifteen pounds ten shillings specie, in full for his wages as Doorkeeper from the first until the thirty-first day of August, 1785, inclusively.
A letter from Brigadier General William Irvine, upon the sub- ject of his agency, inclosing one to him from such part of the Pennsylvania line as now are at Fort McIntosh and its neighbour- hood, was read, and referred to the House.
A petition from Elizabeth Dodson was read, and referred to the General Assembly.
Mr. Ingersoll and Colonel Gurney attending at the door, were introduced to Council, when a conference took place, agreeably to the order of yesterday.
VOL. XIV .- 34.
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MINUTES OF THE
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, September 3rd, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Bernard Dougherty, Stephen Balliet,
Jonathan Hoge, John McDowell, and Esquires. John Boyd, Charles Biddle,
Upon the petition of William Hay, Esquire, late Collector of Excise for the county of Lancaster,
Ordered, That the sale of the petitioner's estate be suspended un- till the twenty-fifth day of March next.
A draft of a letter to the Speaker of the General Assembly was laid before Council, and the same being read, was adopted as fol- lows, vizt :
IN COUNCIL, Philadelphia, September 3rd, 1785.
SIR :- The inclosed letters from the Secretary of Congress of the twenty-fourth of August, with their inclosures, have been lately received, and it is judged proper by Council that they should be immediately laid before the General Assembly.
I have the honor to be, with high esteem, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
JOHN DICKINSON.
Council Chamber, September 3rd, 1785.
To the Honorable the Speaker of the General Assembly.
The Comptroller General's report upon the accounts of Samuel Hodgson, Esquire, for powder furnished the Commissioners for the defence of the bay and river Delaware at different times, in the year 1782, was read and approved, and an order drawn for the bal- lance of sixteen pounds ten shillings specie, in favor of Mr. Samuel Hodgson.
531
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Monday, September 5th, 1785. PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Stephen Balliet, Jonathan Hoge,
John Whitehill, John McDowell, and . Daniel Hiester, Charles Biddle, } Esquires.
Upon the petition of Charles Ashton, convicted of selling goods as a pedlar without license, in the county of Chester, and a recom- mendation in his favor from the Justices of the Peace in the said county,
Ordered, That such part of the fine as was adjudged to be paid to the use of the State by the said Charles Ashton, be remitted.
A letter was written to William Maclay, Esquire, appointing him to take charge of the Indian goods to be delivered at Tioga on the first day of next month, according to treaty, and to hold a con- ference with Indian Chiefs.
Mr. Hoge attended with the President at the Board of Pro- perty.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Tuesday, September 6th, 1785.
PRESENT : His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
4 Charles Biddle, Daniel Hiester,
Stephen Balliet, John McDowell, and
Jonathan Hoge, Bernard Dougherty,
Esquires.
John Whitehill,
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of the Honor- able Jonathan Hoge, for twenty-eight pounds specie, in full for his attendance in Council until this day, inclusively.
532
MINUTES OF THE
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, September the 7th, 1785.
PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President. The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, Daniel Hiester,
Stephen Balliet,
John McDowell, and
Jonathan Hoge,
Bernard Dougherty,
Esquires.
John Whitehill,
A consideration of the reports of Robert Galbraith and John Henderson, Esquires, respecting the interruption given to the exe- cution of the orders of Council for determining the lines of a tract of land lying in the county of Westmoreland, and township of late the property of Alexander Ross, an attainted traytor, and sold by the Commonwealth to Stephen Bayard and Isaac Craig, Es- quires, was this morning resumed, and order taken that the said reports, with the papers which they respectively inclose, be trans- mitted to the Attorney General, who is hereby directed to com. mence a prosecution against John Hughes, Esquire, and all others concerned in the riotous proceedings stated in the reports and pa-" pers aforesaid.
'Two orders were drawn upon the Treasurer, the one for the sum of two hundred pounds, in favor of James Pearson, for the purpose of repairing the State House, for which he is to be accountable ; the other in favor of Adam Esler, for the sum of forty-five pounds fifteen shillings, in full of his account for superintending the man- ufacture of the paper lately emitted by this State in bills of credit.
The Comptroller's reports upon the accounts of the estate of Charles Lawrence, Captain Thomas Ferguson and company, Captain Casper Wetzle, late of Colonel Miles' Rifle regiment, William Mc- Henry, late Sub-Lieutenant of Bucks county, and George Graff, Esquire, late Collector of Excise for the county of Lancaster, were read & approved.
An order was drawn upon the Treasurer in favor of the Honora- ble John Boyd, Esquire, for the sum of twenty-seven pounds two shillings and six pence specie, being the amount of his account against the State for attendance in Council until the last day of August, 1785, inclusively.
The Comptroller General's report upon the account of Charles Lyons, Esq'r, as Assistant Commissary General of Issues for this State in the year 1781, was read and approved, and an order drawn for the ballance, being twenty-three pounds ten shillings, to be paid out of the fund arising from the militia fines generally.
533
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
The Council met.
PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, September 8th, 1785. PRESENT :
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, Esquire, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, Esquire, Vice President.
Charles Biddle, Daniel Hiester, and
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