USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Early Philadelphia; its people, life and progress > Part 21
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Upon one occasion the whole company of about one hundred were regaled with chicken salad, oysters, ices, wine, punch and the like at an expense of $24.87, including the whiskey for the punch, spermaceti candles, oil for the lamps and extra fire in one room.
Written invitations were used until 1835 when Mr. Vaughan speaks of the engraved card similar to the one used to-day with the quaint, queued head of Dr. Wistar upon it. The gatherings continued in brilliancy with such citizens present as Roberts Vaux, Mathew Carey and his son, Henry C., political economists, Joseph Hop- kinson, the elder Peale, Dr. Frederick Beasley, Provost of the University, Dr. Robert M. Patterson, Robert Walsh, Horace Binney, William M. Meredith, John Sergeant, Joshua Francis Fisher, Judge Kane, Langdon Cheves, Thomas Wharton, Dr. Robert Hare, Dr. Thomas C.
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THE PHILADELPHIA CLUB, AT THIRTEENTH AND WALNUT STREETS
ST. MARY'S CHURCH. THE CADWALADER HOUSE, NOW THE HOME OF THE MUTUAL ASSURANCE COMPANY, AND THE WISTAR HOUSE AT FOURTH AND LOCUST STREETS
THE WISTAR PARTIES
James, Dr. John K. Mitchell, Dr. Isaac Hays, Dr. Frank- lin Bache, Dr. George B. Wood, Dr. Charles Meigs, Mon- cure Robinson and Dr. Isaac Lea.
It was not until 1886 that the scattered members re- sumed the Wistar Parties, loyally adhering to ancient tra- ditions, except perhaps in the simplicity of the repast. The same kind of men are still pleasantly mingling together in intellectual fellowship at the fireside of some good old Philadelphian of attainment.
THE PHILADELPHIA CLUB
LTHOUGH not a very old institu- tion, as Philadelphia reckons age, the Philadelphia Club is nevertheless an institution of institutions. It was founded in 1833 by Henry Bohlen, James Markoe, Joseph Parker Nor- ris, Henry Beckett, Joseph R. Inger- soll, Commodore James Biddle, George Mifflin Dallas, John M. Scott, and William and Henry Chancellor. These represent some of the oldest and most prominent families of the City and their association is universally known as the oldest and most solid distinctly City club. It first had rooms on Fifth Street below Walnut Street, then on Ninth above Spruce Street and on Walnut above Ninth. In 1850 the club was incorporated as the Philadelphia Association and Reading Room and the present location at Thirteenth and Walnut Streets secured. In May of the same year the name was changed to the Philadelphia Club. The house had been built by Pierce Butler of South Carolina, that he and his famous old Madeira might pass the winter seasons in the north. It is a spacious building, like so many Philadelphia houses of the olden time and this characteristic is one of the links which seems to connect the City with the South. The sumptuous and lavish design of some of the Philadelphia edifices of Colonial days is in striking contrast to the frugal, chastened beauty of Boston's puritanical ex- teriors. One can easily imagine the Charlestonian lure for the wealthy Carolinian whose house has become the home of Philadelphia's most exclusive set. In this atmos- phere New York is merely acknowledged as the place which one has to pass through in going to New England or Europe for the summer. The typical Philadelphian al-
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ways plays the game according to the rules and this can best be illustrated by an occurrence at the Philadelphia Club as narrated by the visitor to whom it occurred:
" A stranger recently in Philadelphia on business bethought himself, in his friendless state, of a one-time casual acquaintance who had given as his address a Philadelphia club. From his hotel the visitor telephoned the club and asked if he might speak with Mr. John Doe. The telephone-clerk asked the inquirer's name, and after a decent interval replied that Mr. Doe was not in the club. The inquiry was then made whether Mr. Doe was in town and likely to be reached by a note sent to the club. The clerk politely regretted that he was not allowed to give any such infor- mation concerning a member of the club. The visitor protested, and was finally allowed to speak to the secretary's office. He gave his name again and, in answer to what seemed an odd query, that of his hotel. He explained that the shortness of his stay in Philadelphia was the reason of his anxiety to know whether he was likely to get hold of Mr. Doe during it or not. The secretary also politely regretted his inability so to violate the privacy of any member's life. The visitor, now vaguely feeling that he was being treated like a dun, or a detective, protested in slight exas- peration that his designs upon Mr. Doe were honourable and purely social-that indeed he felt so sure of Mr. Doe's desire to welcome him to Philadelphia as to be inclined to insist upon some disclosure of even a club-member's whereabouts. The secre- tary now grew the least bit weaker, moved either by an inner kindliness or by some note of social authority in the visitor's voice, and at last grudgingly said that although the rules of the club were perfectly clear upon the point, he would as a courtesy consult one or two members of the board of governors who hap- pened at that moment to be in the smoking-room. There was again a decent if tedious interval, and the secretary's voice was once more heard. He reiterated that it was contrary to the rules of the club to give information as to the whereabouts of any member, but that it had been decided that, in this special case, an exception might be made. He was pleased to inform the visitor that Mr. John Doe had died in December of the preceding year !
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" The first comment to be made upon this authentic anecdote is that, in spite of the secretary's courteous pretense, the rules of the club were not violated by the disclosure of a member's where- abouts, since the inquirer after Mr. John Doe was still left, theo- logically speaking, with a choice between two possible addresses. The second observation, perhaps more profoundly significant, is that death scarcely increases the inaccessibilty of a well-born Philadelphian."
To celebrate the occupancy of the Club's new house three balls were given on successive Thursdays in 1857. The first of these " private assemblies " was given in the clubhouse, the second in the house of Mrs. George Willing, in Girard Row, on the north side of Chestnut Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, and the third by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cadwalader, in their house likewise in Girard Row. When some of the younger governors wish to stir up a row they have it whispered about the club that they have decided to give another ball.
The Philadelphia Club contains some of the most active and worthy citizens of the old town who are continuing in the quiet and gentle way of their ancestors many impor- tant and useful undertakings, more stable and dependable perhaps than similar, though more noisy, institutions else- where. It also contains many typical " family pieces" who spend their days in the easy chairs until the rush hour be- fore dinner when they move quickly about seeking their last refreshment before going home. It seems fair to think, on the whole, that in the turmoil and tumult of talk- ing with which a large part of the nation is beset that Phila- delphia's contribution and example of contentment is no mean one toward the simple happiness of life. In this contribution the Philadelphia Club leads all the rest.
THE SCHUYLKILL FISHING COMPANY
HE oldest social organization in the English speaking world is what is now known as The Schuylkill Fish- ing Company. In 1729 some Welshmen formed themselves into the " Society of Ancient Britons " and met on St. David's Day, March Ist, at the Queen's Head Tavern kept by Robert David in King Street, now Water. From thence they walked in solemn procession, with leeks in their hats, to Christ Church, where a sermon was preached to them in the original Cymric by Dr. Weyman. After the sermon the society returned to the tavern and dined with ceremonious form, the chief notables of the province being present. They celebrated St. David's Day in this way for many years and their members formed a fishing com- pany whose " fort " was on a broad, high rock at the Falls of Schuylkill, on the east bank, from which they made war from the rude timber shanty, on the catfish for which the river was famous. This was the forerunner of the " Colony in Schuylkill," formed in 1732, and was afterwards merged with it.
The " Colony in Schuylkill " was a company of sports- men of jovial and convivial mean. With lordly manner and feudal form they assumed eminent domain and uncon- trolled legislation over field and stream within their juris- diction, choosing governor, assembly, council, sheriff, coroner and citizens who went through all the forms of a real government like an independent North American Colony.
Thomas Stretch was governor; Enoch Flower, Charles Jones, Isaac Snowden, John Howard and Joseph Stiles,
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members of assembly; James Coultas, Sheriff; Joseph Stiles, Secretary and Treasurer; William Hopkins, Coro- ner; and William Warner, Baron. "Baron " Warner owned the estate on which the fish-house was erected, and received, as rental, the first perch caught at the opening of the season. This land is now in Fairmount Park and the first castle, or fish-house, was erected in this sylvan wilderness above the west end of the present Girard Avenue bridge. The members were a frolicsome lot of the best social set and this seems to have been the only organization of the olden time which did not include Benjamin Franklin as a member.
The first castle was destroyed by fire and rebuilt on the same spot in 1812, and in 1822 when the dam at Fairmount obstructed the passage of the fish it was removed to the vicinity of Rambo's Rock on the east or left bank of the river near Gray's Ferry. This was quite an undertaking and was accomplished with the help of two specially con- structed flat boats. When the oil works were built and the stream became so contaminated as to interfere with fishing the castle was again taken down, in November, of 1887, and moved to its present site on the Delaware River at Eddington near Andalusia.
The annual elections are the great times at the castle. The expenses used to be moderate and consisted chiefly in providing a good repast of beef, pig, steaks and the re- sults of their fishing and fowling, accompanied by flowing bowls of good punch, lemonade and madeira, followed by pipes and tobacco. An account of 1748 showed a total expense of £6 18s 8d, for 84 persons. A good turtle and a barbecue were common features at election dinners to which strangers and friends of members were usually invited.
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THE SCHUYLKILL FISHING COMPANY
No one without permission ever intruded on their pos- sessions, or invaded the rights said to have been granted to them by some Indian chief of the Delaware tribe, and when the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania ap- pointed commissioners to survey the river they graciously authorized James Coultas, a fellow-member and one of the Commissioners, to perform his duties.
When independence was declared many of the mem- bers enlisted with the First Troop of which their Gov- ernor Samuel Morris was the Captain. They then changed the name to the State in Schuylkill. The mem- ories of Washington and of Governor Morris are always pledged at every stated meeting. While Philadelphia was the capital President Washington was a frequent visitor at the castle and both he and Lafayette, who vis- ited them later, were honorary members. There are but five of these, and never more than thirty active members. Five " apprentices " have the privilege of the club until the death of a member, when the senior novice is taken into full membership. There are thirteen appointed fishing days in each year, at equal periods between May 1st and October 1st, when the company assembles at the castle and a citizen, designated " Caterer," assisted by the ap- prentices, prepares the golden perch in the ancient pans and old manner. An important and solemn ceremony is this, for the apprentices must stand a test which has been passed by every dead and living member of the club. He must hold three perch in a long-handled frying pan over the blazing wood fire until one side is done to a turn, then, with a quick twist of his wrist, toss the fish up the old chim- ney, catching them as they fall on the uncooked side. This is no easy task with three fish and is only accomplished after diligent practice. The perch are served to the com-
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pany assembled about the ancient table, on one of William Penn's platters presented to the club by his son John who was a member while Governor. " Fish-house Punch " is famous far beyond Philadelphia and is brewed from an old Colonial recipe and served to the members from a bowl brought from China by Captain Ross of the Troop. No servant, save a caretaker, ever enters the " castle " and the building is also barred to women. Matches are also barred, on account of the memory of the destruction of their first home, and punk is used for lighting the pipes.
On May 1, 1832, there was a high celebration of the centenary of the club. The feast was more sumptuous than usual and these convivial gentlemen drank fourteen toasts, it may be assumed, in their famous Fish-house Punch. They drank to the memory of the founders, who, 100 years before, had united to establish the " Colony
in Schuylkill." After which, Johnson's "Centennial March " was sung. They drank to the revered memories of Stretch and of Morris, departed Governors of the State, whose remembrance of their worth would, they declared, be co-extensive with the sovereignty and independence of the State in Schuylkill. They drank to the memory of Washington, when a Centennial dirge was played. They also drank to their angling ancestors, " who had exchanged the troubled waters of this world for the calm Ocean of Eternity." Then came Robert Wharton, their late Gov- ernor, "now in the winter of life, we remember him in the summer and autumn of existence, as an honourable, active and efficient Governor of City and State." And this was followed by the " Governor's March." They did not forget General Lafayette, though parted from him " by the great Herring Pond," they remembered with infinite pleasure his visit to "the waters of their State."
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THE SCHUYLKILL FISHING COMPANY
And in unison they intoned, " Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot."
The Navy of the State in Schuylkill came next-" it never fishes in troubled waters." And the eighth toast was Good Old Laws and Regulations, revered and strictly adhered to, the grand secret of the unparalleled prosperity and duration of the Fishing Company of the State in Schuylkill. Of course, they drank to " The Fair "-"when angling for hearts may their hooks ever be baited with modesty and good nature." And the sentimental gentle- men sang, " Oh, Woman!"
After which they drank to the finny tribe. "We wel- come the scaly fellows in their annual visits to our State," they said, and then sang, " Haste to the Sports of the Water." "Our visiting brethren " followed those joining in the celebration of the day: "In the evening of life may its festivities take an elevated rank in their pleasurable reminiscences," which suggested to them " The Stranger." Being still thirsty, apparently, they drank to " Our Coun- try," " dear to the immigrant as a home, dearer to us as the blessed land of our nativity." The obvious song was " Home, Sweet Home." The First City Troop, “ever foremost in our regard," was not forgotten. "Its ear- liest members and four of its commanders were citizens of our State." It is permitted to assume that by this time their voices were a bit hoarse, when they sang "The Trooper." But they had enough strength to drink to the memory of good old Izaak Walton, the devout man and industrious fisherman. Whereupon those who still had enough strength left to do so, struck out a " solemn dirge." Any one initiated in the mysteries of the old Fish-house Punch will probably agree that was the only thing left for them to do.
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One doesn't hear much about the " State in Schuylkill " nowadays, but why should one? The hearty lot of gentle- men who enjoy its privileges make no more pretense than a healthy mingling after the fashion of their congenial ancestors in a community where blood is distinctly thicker than water, and then, over the entrance to this hall of conviviality hangs a translation of the verse of Horace:
Ne fidos inter amicos sit, Qui dicta foras eliminet.
which means:
Let no one bear beyond this threshold hence Words uttered in friendly confidence.
FRIENDS' ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE
HE ignorance with which insane persons were treated in early days seems incomprehensible in the light of present day methods. They were regarded as incurable and a menace to the community, so that they were imprisoned in close and dungeon- like captivity, accompanied frequently by chains and beat- ings. They were often the subject of curiosity, badinage and superstition. Of all the maladies to which humanity is liable, those which affect the integrity of the mind have now become very properly the strongest in their claim upon our sympathy, and both their medical and moral treatment are receiving the attention due them after long injustice.
To the Society of Friends is due the credit for the first organized recognition of a necessary change in the treat- ment of the insane. Their retreat at York, England, founded in 1792, opened the way for the attempt of the Quakers of Philadelphia in 1813 to establish a similar institution and the associated benefactors called themselves after the lengthy fashion of the day, " The Contributors to the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of their Reason." By 1817 the asylum was in readi- ness to receive patients from the membership of the Soci- ety and it was the first of its kind on the Continent. Of course the Pennsylvania Hospital, which they had founded in 1751, had a section set aside for the treatment of persons " distempered in mind and deprived of their rational Faculties " but their asylum of 1813 was the first entirely for the care and study of the insane.
The inception of the institution was in the Yearly Meeting of 1811 and in 1812 the plan was committed to
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Thomas Scattergood, Jonathan Evans, Ellis Yarnall, Isaac Bonsall, Emmor Kimber, Thomas Wistar and Sam- uel P. Griffits. It seems that the credit for the " opening of the concern " belongs to Thomas Scattergood, a Min- ister in the Society of Friends, who had seen the work of " The Retreat " near York, England. Unfortunately, his death in 1814 deprived him of the satisfaction of seeing his hopes realized. Jonathan Evans received the sub- scriptions and the contributors selected a piece of land in Frankford containing 52 acres which they purchased for $6764. A patient of each sex were the first admitted and the woman was discharged as improved and the man was cured so that the opening was a most encouraging one. The first year's record shows 19 patients, four cured, one improved and discharged, all improved except three and no deaths.
The land and buildings were increased from time to time and in 1834 the hospital opened to those not in mem- bership with Friends. In 1858 a charter was applied for but a protest immediately arose from Friends of the "Hicks- ite " branch, and for a time the old controversy of 1827 was renewed, the objectors claiming rights in the property which they said had been denied them at that time, when most of the City property belonging to the Society was held by the " Orthodox " branch, a majority of its ad- herents being on the committees in charge. By 1887 a charter was granted without opposition, the title assumed being " Friends' Asylum for the Insane." It has always been well managed and its grounds are beautifully laid out and planted. By the acquisition of the " Stanly Farm " at Fox Chase the Asylum controlled 104 acres, making a total of 340 acres in use for its benevolent purpose, which has restored the reason of 45 per cent. of its patients.
THE QUAKER ALMSHOUSE AND THE BETTERING HOUSE
HE industrious men and women who founded Philadelphia made no pro- vision for an almshouse in the healthy, fertile land. The two great conflicting parties, Assembly and Proprietary party, and the conserv- ative Quakers who watched over Penn's precious legacy caused a healthy development that made the City fairer and stronger each year. The charity of the Quakers has always extended to the bodies as well as the souls of men so that " as the way opened " they made a modest beginning of organized help from a pri- vate bequest of 1702. John Martin, an ancient Quaker tailor, dying in this year left a lot of ground between Third and Fourth and Spruce and Walnut Streets to his three friends, Thomas Chalkley, Ralph Jackson and John Michener, who evidently understood his wish in the matter for they built a long quaint house on the Walnut Street front, opening southward on a green field. The Monthly Meeting soon took charge of the undertaking and sent some of the poorer members, who needed help, to live there. Little one-storied cottages, with a garret in each steep roof, were ranged in order on each side of a green lane and each cottage had its garden of bright flowers and heal- ing herbs. The place was a peaceful haven, affording, not only shelter, but " opportunities for study and medi- tation." The philanthropy of these early days was devoid of the whims and sentiment of to-day's bleak desolation of " social " organization which looks after these " cases." Our forefathers provided a decent privacy in home-like surroundings for the happier poor, the old and helpless
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of two hundred years ago, and made a sharper and sterner provision for the sturdy beggar and the shameless wench.
Two or three of the old women in this Quaker Alms- house had little schools, another made molasses candy, some sold herbs and a watchmaker hung some forlorn old pieces in one of the Walnut Street windows. The growth of the City brought paved streets, high brick buildings, noise and turmoil about this sweet, green spot. An alley became the only entrance, but what a surprise for the fortunate passer-by who strayed within! Suddenly all was still and the air was filled with the perfume of roses, bees were hum- ming, quaint placid old men were sitting smoking their pipes under grape arbours, for Quakers smoked in those days, and old Quaker ladies were bending over beds of sweet marjoram and lavender. Although these quiet people knew well of the Bettering House, at one time on Spruce Street a few blocks away, of the fever patients and the nuns who nursed them, and of the graveyard of old St. Joseph's hidden away in Willing's Alley, where Gabriel and Evangeline sleep side by side, they did not disturb with aggressive and importunate detail the gentle pleasure of the pilgrims who came to their oasis murmuring
" Home of the homeless,
Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows and wood- lands,
Now the City surrounds it; but still with its gateway and wicket. Meek in the midst of splendour, its humble walls seem to echo Softly the words of the Lord, 'The poor ye have always with you.' "
for they knew that Longfellow wrote about their home and that the details were imaginary. The thrifty little community was a very human one; they had their tra- ditions, their ghost and strange noises, and their aristocracy.
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RE!
FRIENDS' ALMSHOUSE, WALNUT STREET BETWEEN THIRD AND FOURTHI STREETS
FRIENDS' ALMSHOUSE, WALNUT STREET FRONT, BUILT 1729 TORN DOWN 1840
Birch, 1799
THE BETTERING HOUSE IN SPRUCE STREET BETWEEN TENTII AND ELEVENTH STREETS
QUAKER ALMSHOUSE AND BETTERING HOUSE
The front building on Walnut Street was torn down in 1841 and the last of the smaller buildings in 1876. It is now called " Walnut Place."
The idea of a rural workhouse, not a mere almshouse, was brought before the City Council in 1712. They made a distinction between poor and paupers. The latter were not popular and had to wear a badge with the letter " P " on their right sleeve. The Mayor, Aldermen Hill and Carter, Joshua Carpenter, William Hudson, Pentecost Teague, or some three of them, were appointed to report on the rent of a house and salary of the housekeepers and on September 1, 1713, Aldermen Preston and Carter were ordered to treat with Dr. Owen. The location of this house of employment is not known but it was probably the first house for the poor of Philadelphia. The first Alms- house was erected in 1732 on a lot of ground between Spruce and Pine Streets and Third and Fourth Streets, just below the Quaker Almshouse, on Society Hill. There was a gateway on Spruce Street but whoever came across the meadow from Third went in by a stile. Here were lodged the poor, the sick and the insane, and this hospital department of the Almshouse was the first in the United States. The institution was no sooner well established than removal was necessary on account of the encroach- ment of the rapidly growing City. The ground became valuable and the Almshouse had to go to the country, so it was moved to Spruce and Pine Streets, Tenth and Eleventh, in 1767. In 1834 the hospital department had grown to such proportions that it was separated from the Almshouse when all were moved to "Blockley " across the Schuylkill River and the old building at Tenth and Spruce Streets torn down.
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