USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 39
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* MSS. Journal of the Commissioners.
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THE OHIO COMPANY, 1748.
nor understood that this cession extended beyond the Allegheny moun- tains.
When the company was first instituted, Mr. Lee, its projector, was its principal organ and most efficient member. He died soon afterwards, and then the chief management fell on Lawrence Washington, who had engaged in the enterprise with an enthusiasm and energy peculiar to his character. His agency was short, however, as his rapidly declining health soon terminated in his death. Several of the company's shares changed hands. Governor Dinwiddie and George Mason became pro- prietors. There were originally but twenty shares, and the Company never consisted of more than that number of members.
Mr. Lawrence Washington had a project for inducing German settlers to take up the lands. He wrote to Mr. Hanbury as follows :
" Whilst the unhappy state of my health called me back to our springs (at Bath in Virginia,) I conversed with all the 'Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans) whom I met, either there or elsewhere, and much recom- mended their settling in Ohio. The chief reason against it was the pay- ing of an English clergyman, when few understood, and none made use of him. It has been my opinion, and I hope ever will be, that restraints on conscience are cruel, in regard to those on whom they are imposed, and injurious to the country imposing them. England, Holland, and Prussia, I may quote as examples, and much more Pennsylvania, which has flourished under that delightful liberty, so as to become the admira- tion of every man, who considers the short time it has been settled. As the Ministry have thus far shown the true spirit of patriotism, by en- couraging the extending of our dominions in America, I doubt not by an application they would still go farther, and complete what they have begun, by procuring some kind of charter to prevent the residents on the Ohio and its branches, from being subject to parish taxes. They all assured me, that they might have from Germany any number of settlers, could they but obtain their favorite exemption. I have promised to endeavor for it, and now do my utmost by this letter. I am well as- sured we shall never obtain it by a law here. This Colony was greatly settled in the latter part of Charles the First's time, and during the usur- pation, by the zealous churchmen ; and that spirit, which was then brought in has ever since continued, so that, except a few Quakers, we have no dissenters. But what has been the consequence ? We have increased by slow degrees, except negroes and convicts, whilst our neighboring colonies, whose natural advantages are greatly inferior to ours, have become populous."
A proposition was made by several Germans in Pennsylvania, that, if they could have the above exemption, they would take fifty thousand acres of the company's land, and settle it with two hundred families. Mr. Washington wrote likewise on the subject, to Governor Dinwiddie, then in England, who replied : "It gave me pleasure, that the Dutch (Germans,) wanted fifty thousand acres of land granted to the Ohio Company, and I observe what you write about their own clergymen, and your endeavor to have them freed from paying the Church of England. I fear this will be a difficult task to get over; and at present, the Par- liament is so busy with public affairs, and the Ministry of course engaged,
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APPENDIX-NO. I.
that we must wait some time before we can reply ; but be assured of my utmost endeavors therein." No proof exists, that any other steps were taken in the affair.
Soon after the treaty at Logstown, Mr. Gist was appointed the com- pany's surveyor, and instructed to lay off a town and fort, at Shurtees Creek, a little below the present site of Pittsburg, and on the east side of the Ohio. The company assessed on themselves four hundred pounds towards constructing the fort. In the meantime, Mr. Gist had fixed his residence on the other side of the Alleghenies, in the valley of the Monongahela, and induced eleven families to settle around him on lands, which it was presumed would be within the company's grant. 'The goods had come over from England, but had never been taken farther into the interior, than Will's creek, where they were sold to traders and Indians, who received them at that post. Some progress had been made in constructing a road to the Monongahela, but the temper of the Indians was such as to discourage an attempt to send the goods at the company's risk, to a more remote point.
Things were in this state, when the troubles on the frontiers broke out between the French and English, involving on one side or the other the various Indian tribes. All further operations were suspended till towards the close of the war, when hostilities had nearly ceased on the Virginia frontier from the capture of Fort Duquesne, and weakened the efforts of the French. In 1760 a statement of the company's case was drawn up by Mr. John Mercer, Secretary to the Board, and forwarded to Mr. Charlton Palmer, a solicitor in London, who was employed by the company to apply to the King for such further orders and instruc- tions to the government in Virginia, as might enable the company to carry their grant into execution. The business was kept in a state of suspense for three years, when the company resolved to send out an agent, with full powers to bring it as speedily as possible to a close. Col. George Mercer was selected for this commission, and instructed to procure leave for the company to take up their lands, according to the . conditions of the original grant, or to obtain a reimbursement of the money, which had been paid on the faith of that grant. He repaired to London accordingly, and entered upon his charge. But at this time the counteracting interests of private individuals in Virginia, the claims of the officers and soldiers under Dinwiddie's proclamation, which extended to lands within the Ohio Company's grant; and moreover, -the schemes and application of the proprietors of WALPOLE's GRANT (noticed below) were obstacles not to be overcome. Col. Mercer remained six years in London, without making any apparent progress in the object of his mission, and at last he agreed to merge the interests of the OHIO COM- PANY in those of WALPOLE's, or the GRAND COMPANY, as it was called on condition of securing to the former two shares in the latter, amounting to one thirty-sixth part of the whole. These terms were not approved by the members of the Ohio Company in Virginia, nor was it clear, that Col. Mercer's instructions authorized him to conclude such an arrange- ment. While the subject was still in agitation, the Revolutionary War came on, and put an end, not only to the controversy, but to the existence of the two companies. Thus the Ohio Company was in action only
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WALPOLE'S GRANT.
about four years, having never in reality revived after its first check, at the commencement of hostilities with the French and Indians on the frontiers. All persons concerned were losers to a considerable amount, though at its outset the scheme promised important advantages both to individuals, and to the country at large. The original records and pa- pers of the Ohio Company are now in possession of Mr. Charles Fenton Mercer, of Virginia, by whose politeness I have been favored with the use of them in drawing up this brief outline.
WALPOLE'S GRANT.
The subjoined letter from George Washington to Lord Botetourt, Gov- ernor of Virginia, bears upon Walpole's Grant:
" MOUNT VERNON, 15 April, 1770.
" My Lord-Being fully persuaded of your Excellency's inclination to render every just and reasonable service to the people you govern, or to any body, or society of them, that shall ask it, and being encouraged in a more particular manner by a letter which I have just received from Mr. Blair, Clerk of Council, to believe that your Lordship is desirous of being fully informed how far the grant of land solicited by Mr. Walpole and others will affect the interest of this country in general or individuals in particular, I shall take the liberty (as I am pretty intimately acquaint- ed with the situation of the frontiers of this dominion,) to inform your Lordship that the bounds of that grant, if obtained upon the extensive plan proposed, will comprehend at least four-fifths of the land for the purchase and survey of which this Government has lately voted two thousand five hundred pounds sterling ; it must, therefore, destroy the well grounded hopes of those, (if no reservation is made in their favor,) who have had the strongest assurances that the Government could give of enjoying a certain portion of the lands which have cost this country so much blood and treasure to secure.
" By the extracts which your Excellency did me the honor to enclose, I perceive that the petitioners propose to begin opposite the mouth of the Scioto river, which is at least seventy or seventy-five miles below the Great Kenhawa, and more than three hundred from Pittsburgh, and to extend from thence in a southwardly direction through the pass of the Onasioto mountain, which, by Evans' map, and the best accounts I have been able to get from persons who have explored that country, will bring them near the latitude of North Carolina. Thence they proceed north- eastwardly to the Kenhawa, at the junction of New River and Green Briar, upon both of which waters we have many settlers upon lands actually patented. From that point they go up the Green Briar to the head of its northeasterly branch, thence easterly to the Allegany moun- tains, thence along these mountains to the line of Lord Fairfax, and thence with his line and the lines of Maryland and Pennsylvania till the west boundary of the latter intersects the Ohio, and finally down that river to the place of beginning.
"These, my Lord, are the bounds of a grant prayed for, and which, if obtained, will give a fatal blow, in my humble opinion, to the interests of this country. But these are my sentiments as a member of the com- munity at large."
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t r e y
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APPENDIX-NO. I.
WALPOLE'S GRANT .- Immediately after the peace of 1763, a plan was suggested for the settlement of the lands on the Ohio river. During that year a pamphlet was published in London, entitled "THE ADVAN- TAGES OF A SETTLEMENT UPON THE OHIO IN NORTH AMERICA," in which the subject was ably argued.
In the year 1766, William Franklin, (the natural son of Benjamin Franklin,) governor of New Jersey, and Sir William Johnson, Indian agent for the northern colonies, proposed a scheme for establishing a new colony on the Ohio. They wrote to Dr. Franklin, who was then in London, requesting his agency in endeavoring to procure a grant for this purpose, including the territory described in Washington's letter. He pressed the application for more than a year; but the change of ministers, and the contending interests of individuals, prevented its suc- cess, and the project seems to have been suspended till 1770, when it was renewed. In April of that year, Mr. Thomas Pownall wrote to Sir William Johnson :-
"A society of us, in which some of the first people in England are engaged, and in which you and Col. Croghan, are made original parta- kers, have concluded a bargain with the Treasury for a large tract of land lying and fronting on the Ohio, (part of the lands lately ceded by the Indians to Great Britain,) large enough for a government. Having it suggested to us by Lord Hillsborough, that it would be right that we should have a charter of government, in consequence of this bargain so concluded, we are next to apply to the Council Board, that the grant may issue. We expect to meet with opposition, and some objections arising from the impressions made by such opposition, yet have no doubt of carrying this point, as we have settled the main point. As soon as the grant has issued, we are to apply to the Lords of Trade on the sub- ject of the charter. It will naturally occur to you, that on this matter I shall be a little referred to, and the plan I propose is, to take the charter of the province of Massachusetts Bay for the model of our government, making some few alterations therein, which practice and experience have shown to be necessary, but such only as every constituent of the pro- posed province would wish ; such as every man, who desires to become a settler in it, would expect, be he of what denomination or description of religionist he may.
" From our peculiar situation, as a frontier province and as immedi- ately connected with the Indian country, some peculiar additional de- partment will be wanting in our form of government, and that is an INDIAN DEPARTMENT, formed for negotiation in matters of policy, for a just and regular intercourse in trade, and so connected with the military branch, as to become a principal part in the time of war.
"On the subject of this department, and its several necessary offices and officers, as a department interwoven into the constitution of the gov- ernment of this province, I most earnestly beg you to give me your plan and explanatory sentiments, such as will establish a proper federate con- nection and intercommunion between our government and the Indians, founded on the one hand in justice and true policy towards those Indians, and on the other creative of the only security, which such a province so situated can or ought to confide in."-[MSS. Letter.
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WALPOLE'S GRANT.
At the head of the company was Mr. Thomas Walpole, an eminent banker in London, and from this circumstance the tract of land solicited was usually denominated " WALPOLE'S GRANT." The stock of the Association was divided into seventy-two shares, and many persons of distinction were concerned in it, both in England and America. The proprietors, who had the management of the business in procuring the grant, were Thomas Walpole, Thomas Pownall, Dr. Franklin, and Samuel Wharton. They had a strenuous opponent in Lord Hillsbor- ough, who wrote a report for the Board of Trade, hostile to their peti- tion ; though it would seem from Mr. Pownall's letter, that his opposition did not show itself in the first stages of the application. This report was answered by Dr. Franklin, in one of the ablest tracts ever penned .* It was so conclusive and satisfactory, that the petition was granted by the King in Council, notwithstanding the opposition of the Board of Trade.
On the 18th of December, 1770, Col. George Mercer, agent for the Ohio Company in England, wrote to Washington from Dublin :
" Before I left England, I mentioned my having agreed with, or I may rather say prevailed with the Land Company there, that the two hundred thousand acres, claimed by the officers of the Virginia troops, should be allowed out of their grant." This arrangement of course, was not known to Washington, when he wrote on the subject to Lord Botetourt, and afterwards to Lord Dunmore.
Mr. Wharton wrote to Col. Mercer, then in London, as follows, Au- gust 20, 1772 :
"I do myself the pleasure to inform you, that on the 14th instant, his Majesty in Council was pleased to approve of, and order to be carried into execution, the report of the Committee of the Privy Council, in favor of the grant of land to Mr. Walpole and his associates, and that a new government should be established thereon." The increasing troubles between the mother country and the colonies, prevented the ultimate completion of the project. But it was not abandoned till the beginning of the year 1776. The Ohio Company had been merged in this Grand Association, by the consent of their agent, though not with the entire approbation of the company. The grant covered a large tract of land, which that company claimed, as well as the two hundred thousand acres pledged to the officers and soldiers of Washington's first campaign by Gov. Dinwiddie's proclamation .- [Washington's writings, Vol. 2, Ap. 483-'85.]
* Franklin's works, Vol. IV, p. 250.
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APPENDIX-NO. II.
[NO. II. ]
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONRAD WEISER.
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONRAD WEISER, ESQ.,* INTERPRETER FOR THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA, FROM ANTHONY PALMER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
Sir-This Government having promised the Indians, who came here from Ohio in November last, (1747,) to send you to them early in the spring, and having provided a present of a considerable value, you are to proceed thither with all convenient despatch. Mr. George Croghan, the Indian trader, who is well acquainted in the Indian country and the best roads to Ohio, has undertaken this convoy of you and the goods with his own men and horses at the public expense; and as it cannot be fore- seen how long the journey will take him, nor what trouble may attend it so as to enter into contracts before hand with him, all affairs relating thereto are entirely left to you, wherein we recommend all the frugality that can consistently with the nature of your business, the treasury be- ing low and a large sum expended in the purchase of the present, be practiced.
As soon as you come to the place of general rendezvous, you are to notify your arrival in a speech to all the tribes, wherein you are to deal in generals, reserving all particular matters to your closing speech.
You are to use the utmost dilligence to acquire a perfect knowledge of the number, situation, disposition and strength of all the Indians in or near those parts, whether they be friends, neutrals or enemies, and be very particular in knowing the temper and influence of the tribes of In- dians who send deputies to receive you ; for by the knowledge of these
* CONRAD WEISER, whose name is intimately associated with the early his- tory of Pennsylvania, and from whom descended some of the most useful men of the country, (the Muhlenbergs,) was a native of Herenberg, Germany. He was born November 2d, 1696. His father, John Conrad Weiser, with ten of his children, immigrated to America, arrived at New York in June, 1710, and shortly afterwards settled in Schoharie, where he was repeatedly visited by Quagnant, a Chief of the Mohawk Nation. At the urgent solicitation of Quag- nant, Conrad, the subject of this notice, went with the Chief to his country to acquire a knowledge of the Mohawk language. During his stay he endured many hardships and suffered great privations. Having mastered the language he returned to his father's house and was occasionally employed as interpreter. In 1729, then married, he came with his wife and five children, to Pennsylva- nia, settled in the Tulpehocken valley-located half-a-mile east of the present site of Womelsdorf, Berks county.
Conrad Weiser, as occasion demanded it, acted in various capacities, both private and public. Determined, on his arrival in Pennsylvania, to spend the remaining days of his eventful life on bis farm ; his talents, however, soon at- tracted attention. Governor Gordon as early as 1731 required his services in the capacity of an interpreter. Soon afterwards Governor Thomas ap- pointed him a justice of the peace; and when the French war commenced Governor Morris commissioned him as a Colonel of a regiment of volunteers of Berks county. He spent more than a quarter of a century in the service of his country. He closed his eventful life July 13, 1760. For a detailed ac- count of this truly great man, see History of Berks County, pp. 195-222.
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INSTRUCTIONS TO CONRAD WEISER.
matters you are to regulate the distribution of the goods which are to be divided amongst them in as equal and just a manner as possible, that all may go away satisfied, and none receive the least cause of disgust at any undue preference given to others.
You cannot be at a loss for matter from whence to form your speeches. The ancient enmity of the French to the Indian Nations, their perfidy upon all occasions, of which, if any reliance can be had on the articles of news in the public papers, you may give some late instances in the death of TAGHANANTY, the Black Prince, who perished in a jail at Mon- treal, and in the cruel treatment of the Indians in general at Canada, who are confined to loathsome prisons without proper or wholesome sustenance.
The inability of the French to protect the Indians, or to supply them with such necessaries as they stand in need of for their subsistence. These observations are what cannot but occur to you. You may fur- ther enlarge on the constant and ancient friendship of the English, and their readiness at all times to assist them against the attempts of the French, who have ever been for destroying or enslaving them.
And an ample field will be furnished to you in doing justice to this Province, which has ever shown the greatest readiness to supply the Indians in the most pressing necessities, mentioning the several valuable presents made them from time to time, particularly since the commence- ment of the present war, instancing the Government's presents at Phila- delphia, over and above the price of their lands in the year 1742; the large presents at Lancaster and at Albany ;- and then the present occa- sion will bear a particular enlargement: this Government having no sooner heard of the distresses of the Indians, and that abundance of fami- lies and young warriors had for the convenience of hunting removed to the waters of Ohio and lake Erie, than they determined to send them a supply of goods and powder, which, in this time of scarcity, they could have from no other place. This tenderness for those, who, out of every Nation had come and fixed their habitation in these parts, must needs make deep impressions on their affections, and especially on the minds of their young people, to the advantage of the kindness of this Province for all the Indians.
By the treaties subsisting between his Majesty's subjects and the Indian Nations, they are laid under the strongest obligations to give each other the earliest intelligence of whatever may affect their persons or their properties. In discharge of our duty, you are to inform the Indians that the management of the war being committed to the Governors of New York and Boston, the operations of this year are concerted by them; that they have received orders from his Majesty, exceedingly favorable to the Indians, and in pursuance thereof, they will prosecute the war against the French and their adherents with the utmost vigor ; that his Majesty, in token of his regard to the Indian Nations, has sent a large present to the Governor of New York, to be distributed at Alba- ny ; but, that as by their distance from this place, the Indians in Ohio and Lake Erie may be supposed not to receive much benefit from the Albany present. This is an additional consideration why this govern- ment chooses to be kind to those Indians and assist them the readier
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APPENDIX-NO. II.
when they are in distress, because they cannot, without extreme diffi- culty, get supplies from other places.
On the other hand, you are to use all means in your power to get from them all kind of intelligence, as to what the French are doing, or design to do, in these parts, and indeed, in every other place. You are not to satisfy yourself with generals ; but to inform yourself, truly and fully of the real disposition of these Indians, and what dependence can be had on them for the security of this province, and for the total. pre- vention of all hostilities within our limits. You are to make particular enquiry into the number and situation of the Indian Nations, between these people's settlements on the Ohio and the river Mississippi, and to the west of lake Erie, since it is said, there are several Indian Nations within these limits, and on the lakes Huron and Illinois, who are dis- obliged with the French, and might easily be brought into the amity of the English.
You will see by the Assembly's answer to the Councils message, a copy whereof will be given you herewith, what sentiments they entertain about war; and, as they have the disposal of the public money, it would be wrong to urge the Indians to war, since no dependence could be had on the Assembly to support them in such an undertaking; and, conse- quently, any encouragement of this kind would be to bring them into a snare, and in the end might prove extremely hurtful. This considered, nothing of the kind must be urged by you; and if the Indians mention it themselves, you need not be explicit. You are to tell them that this point is not in your instructions, that your business was to make them a visit, and to be truly informed of their situation, and to bring them a valuable present, the most substantial mark that can be given of the great affection which this province bears to their friends, the Indians; and if they insist any further, you are to tell them, that at their in- stance you will make a faithful relation of every thing given you, by them, in charge to the government, and transmit to the Indians their resolves. But whatever you do on this head, as a good deal must be left to your discretion and judgment, on such information as shall be given you, you are to take special care not to disoblige the Indians, or in any wise diminish their heartiness for his Majesty's cause against the French.
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