USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 2
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The unfortunate conditions then existing involved not only the so- called Quakers, but other sects as well. and as each of them continued to increase in numbers so, correspondingly, did each naturally and instinctively oppose the existing form of government. Thus alienated, they were very frequently regarded as treasonable subjects, and were persecuted and oppressed according as they were deemed offenders against the established church, and therefore against the government. On this point Shimmell truthfully says: "As these sects had everything to gain and nothing to lose, they grew rapidly, and became very much liated by the government. When it was found that they could not be suppressed, to get rid of them they were allowed to settle in America.
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Of these seets, the one founded by George Fox -- the Quakers, or Friends E-was a very active one. and, on coming here. they opened wide the gates of Pennsylvania for the sects of Europe. As a universal father. Pem opened his arms to all mankind. without distinction of sect or party."
Having determined upon a course of action, in 1680 Penn pe- titioned his sovereign. Charles II of England, to grant him, in satisfac- tion of the debt due from the government. "letters-patent for a tract of land in America, lying north of Maryland, on the east bounded with Delaware river, on the west limited as Maryland, and northward to ex- tend as far as plantable." After having consulted with the proprietors and governors of other provinces, the king. on March 4. 1681. ordered the charter, and the territory embraced within its boundaries was called Pennsylvania.
It is frequently said and generally supposed that Pennsylvania was so named by the proprietor in allusion to himself, but such is not the case, as the following extract from a letter written by Penn to Robert Turner will clearly show: "1 chose New Wales, being, as this is, a pretty hilly country : but Penn, being Welsh for a head, as Penman- moire. in Wales, and Penrith, in Cumberland, and Penn, in Bucking- hamshire, the highest land in England, called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or head woodlands; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it. and though I much opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out and altered, he said it was passed, and would not take it upon him: nor couldl twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name. for I feared lest it should be looked upon as a vanity m me, and not as a respect in the king. as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentioned with praise."
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The charter by its provisions vested full and complete ownership and possession in the proprietor, and authorized him to govern the ter- ritory, make such laws and regulations for the conduct of its affairs as should be just, and not inconsistent with the laws of Great Britain. In extent the province was three degrees of latitude by five degrees of longitude. Its eastern boundary was, as now, the Delaware river, the northern, the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude, and on the south a circle drawn at twelve miles distant from New Castle northward and westward into the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and thence by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned. The counties of Kent and Sussex, with the district of New Castle, comprising the "Three Lower Counties on the Delaware," were not included in the charter, but were acquired in 1682 by Penn from the Duke of York
After coming into possession of this vast estate, Penn sold large tracts of land to persons in London, Liverpool and Bristol. He appointed William Markham deputy governor, and sent him to the province as his personal representative, and with commissioners to treat with the Indi- ans, arrange a peace with them, and to purchase their title to the lands, on such generous terms as would satisfy their demands without attempt at undue advantage on the part of the commissioners.
Governor Markham arrived in the province about the first of July, 1681, and was soon afterwards followed by three other vessels carrying emigrants, one from Bristol, and two from London. The first purchase of land from the Indians was made July 15, 1682, and from that time until 1736 there were numerous sales of smaller tracts ; but at the council and treaty made October II, of the year last mentioned. the Six Na- tion Indians seem to have been called upon to settle certain questions disputed by the chiefs residing within the province.
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It will be remembered that the Five Nations (the Five Nations became the Six Nations in 1712) conquered, subjugated and made "women" of the Delawares and other Indian tribes who claimed Lenni Lenape descent. and by virtue of that conquest claimed ownership of the entire territory of Penn's purchase. The sale of lands made in 1736 was made by the chiefs of the Six Nations, who, after upbraiding the Delawares for having presumed to sell lands without consent, con- firmed the sales previously made. Still later treaties at which consider- able tracts of land were purchased from the Indians were those of 1749, 1753. 1754. 1758. 1764 and 1784. Title to the small triangular tract in the extreme northwest corner of the state was acquired September 4. 1788, by an act of Congress by which the United States relinquished to Pennsylvania "all right, title and claim to the government and juris- diction of said land forever." Without this valuable acquisition Penn- sylvania wonkl not have had any water front on Lake Erie.
Having come into possession of his vast estate in America, Penn made preparations for its settlement and the sale of portions of the land. He first issued an address descriptive of the quality of the proprietary. then prepared a form of government for its inhabitants, and, as soon as circumstances would permit, he made preparations to visit the coun- try. He sailed on the Welcome. September 1, 1682. the ship carrying about one hundred passengers, chiefly Quakers, former neighbors of William Penn in Sussex, about thirty of whom died on the voyage. Hle landed at New Castle on October 27, and on the following day called the inhabitants together and personally gave them assurance of religious and civil freedom. Later on he went to Upland, a former seat of power during the Dutch dominion. Here he was entertained at the house of Robert Wade, and, on subsequent visits, at that of Caleb Pusey. The last named historie edifice, the most ancient in all Penn-
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sylvania, situated about one and one half miles distant from the City Hall in Chester. is yet standing, kept in constant preservation by the owners, the Crozer family, as a priceless relic. It is about thirty feet in iength, fifteen in breadth and one story in height. crowned with a hipped roof, giving it the appearance of a story and a half building. The walls are unusually thick, and are of stone and brick. The floor is of broad solid oak. and the heavy beams supporting the roof above bear
PUSEY HOUSE.
the marks of the broad-axe with which they were hewn. The house has two doors and two windows in the front, and a dormer window in the roof. The building is enclosed with a stone wall. which bears a tablet containing the following inscription: "House built by Caleb Pusey in the year 1682, and occupied by William Penn during occasional visits."
During his stay at Chester, Penn changed the name of the infant town of Upland to that of Chester. Clarkson, in his "Life of Penn." says that when Penn arrived at Upland he remarked to his friend Pear- son. "Providence has brought us here safe. Thou hast been the com-
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panion of my perils. What wilt thou that I should call this place?" and that Pearson replied. "Chester." in honor of the English city whence he came. Pearson's part in this incident is questioned by Ash- mead. on the ground that no Pearson came with Penn in the "Wel- come," and that no writer before Clarkson makes such a statement as he did, and that, furthermore. Clarkson's work was not published until nearly one hundred years after the death of Penn. It is presumed that Penn gave the place the name of "Chester" in deference to the desire of the English settlers who had "overrun" the town, the major part of whom had come from that locality ( Chester) in England, a city of most ancient and honorable fame. It has been a matter of some little controversy whether or not Penn intended this or the Philadelphia site to be the capital of his province. It would appear, however, in the light of his instructions to his commissioners, Crispin, Bezer and Allen, that he had determined upon Upland, or Chester, and only departed from his intention when he learned that Lord Baltimore was determined upon laying claim to the territory in which that settlement was sit- vated.
While at Upland ( or Chester, as it will henceforth be called ), Penn issned a call for the first General Assembly, and then made a visit to the Indians at Shackamaxon, for the purpose, first, of ratifying the treaty already made by Deputy Governor Markham, and, second, that he himself might meet and treat with the natives, and arrange a perma- nent friendship with them; and so impressed were the Indians with the evident fairness and honesty of the proprietor that, while he lived, not one single Quaker came to his death at their hands. This was one of many treaties made by the whites with the Indians, and it was the only one which was scrupulously observed on both sides. As a rule, the faith and restraints of treaties were subordinate to the lusts, avarice
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and power, but the promises made by Penn were faithfully kept by his own people, while. on their own part. the Indians stood firmly by all the pledges made by their chiefs and sachems.
The first General Assembly of Pennsylvania met at Chester on December 6, 1682, clothed with power to administer the civil and polit- ical affairs of the Province. When the treaty had been confirmed previ- ously made by Penn with the Indians, the lands thus acquired were laid off into the three counties of Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester, the two last named having definite boundaries, and the first embracing all the lands lying between them. On the third day of the session, the Assembly received from Penn the "Printed Laws" prepared by learned counsel and printed in England and the "Written Laws or Constitu- tions," embracing some ninety bills, out of which were passed the sixty- one chapters of "the great body of the laws."
The earlier historians of the state and county disagreed as to the place of meeting of this first and important assembly. Smith and Martin asserted that it was the court house, "or house of defense." at Upland, while Watson and Day asserted the place to be the first meet- ing house of the Friends. Neither of these authorities was correct, as has been shown at a comparatively recent date by Mr. Henry Graham Asbmead, of Chester, a most industrious and careful historian and antiquarian. Doubting both stories, Mr. Ashmead undertook an in- vestigation, and secured evidence from "The Travelers' Directory." published in 1802, and from other authentic sources, that the place of meeting was the residence of James Sandeland, and he made its identi- fication the subject of an interesting and convincing paper which he read before the Delaware County Historical Society, at its meeting held in Media, September 26, 1901, and published in the proceedings of that body.
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From this it appears that in the early part of the eighteenth cen- tury on the west side of Edgmont avenue below Third street, in the city of Chester, could be seen the foundations of an old building, which. in the period associated with Penn, was known as James Sandeland's double house. It was the most imposing building in Upland and therein Penn convened the first general assembly that ever sat in the province of Pennsylvania. The house had been built with mortar made of oyster shell lime, which proved so utterly worthless, probably because of defective burning. that in the course of twenty odd years the struc- ture showed such signs of decay that it became untenantable, fell into ruins, and gradually the materials used in its construction were re- moved. Shortly after 1800. even the foundations were buried in the accumulation of soil that has taken place during a century. In time its very existence was forgotten, hence tradition for many years gave credit to the Friends' old meeting house which stood on the adjoining lot as the place where the first assembly met.
On July 14, 1893, while excavations were being made for the cellars of a row of commission stores, the foundations of Sandeland's double house were unearthed. An accurate survey of them was made by Walter Wood. assistant city engineer, giving the precise size of the old structure and the distance from the intersection of Third and Edg- mont streets. William B. Broomall, Esq., had Mr. Nymetz take a photo- graph, which shows the appearance of the unearthed walls. The foundations were in a good state of preservation, and indicated that the building had a frontage of fifty feet on Edgmont avenue, with two entrances, the steps for which were found, and extended back toward Chester creek, a distance of forty-two and a half feet. In addition. fourteen by thirty-four feet, was also shown. An old corner stone was found. and under it were a number of paper documents which crumbled
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to dust at the moment they were exposed to the air, and from which nothing was to be learned. An old coin was also found, but so corroded that nothing could be seen of the mintage. The bricks of the old edi- fice, so say local annalists, were brought from a Swede's brickyard on the site of New Castle. Delaware. The building was erected prior to 1675, by the Sandeland family, who were among the earliest settlers on the site of Chester. In 1675 it was used by James Sandeland as a tavern, for the pretentious word "hotel" had not yet found its way into the English language. Here occurred the first tragedy in the com- monwealth of which there is authentic record. In 1675 Sandeland ejected from his premises a drunken Indian who subsequently died. Sandeland was brought to trial before a special court. under charge of murder, and was acquitted.
Ilaving organized the government of his province, established courts of justice, and made a peace with the Indians which promised to be permanent, Penn made preparations to return to England. He viewed with evident satisfaction the work already accomplished, and. with feelings of gratification at the result, he said: "I must. without vanity, say that I have led the greatest colony into America that ever any man did upon private credit, and the most prosperous beginnings that ever were made anywhere are to be found among us." With this great interest and pardonable pride in his province, he expressed his regard for its inhabitants, a mixed people-Friends, Dutch and English -all determined upon establishing permanent homes in the new coun- try and building up a prosperous condition of domestic life for the welfare of their families and descendants.
If any one place more than another was especially favored by Penn, it was Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love," founded in 1683, and at the beginning of the twentieth century ranking with the
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foremost cities of the world. It was even then the principal city of the province. a flourishing town, regularly laid out with streets of ample width, with provision for public squares, or parks, in each quar- ter. Charging his deputy governor with the faithful and equitable discharge of his duties, in August. 1684. the proprietor sailed for Eng- land. On his departure he is said to have given voice to his feelings of love and regard in these words: "AAnd thou. Philadelphia. the virgin settlement of this province, my soul prays to God for thee, that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, and that thy children may be blessed." Penn did not live to see the "day of trial" in the history of the city, but that day came and passed away, came again and again passed away. but its sure foundations withstood the storms and disasters of war dur- ing the American Revolution, during the second war with Great Britain, and during the visitation of pestilence and fever which threatened its people with destruction in the early years of the nineteenth century.
Penn left in Pennsylvania a healthful, growing colony: and, on his return to the province in 1699. he was surprised at the changes which had been made in his absence, at the remarkable increase in popu- lation in Philadelphia, which then contained more than two thousand dwelling houses and was a city of much commercial importance. Soon after his departure in 1684. political troubles arose in the province ; the assembly and the executive branches became involved in a controversy, and even the judiciary was not wholly free from its disturbing effects. In themselves and in their relation to the public welfare, these troubles in official circles worked injuriously, but notwithstanding them the province steadily increased in population, and new settlements began to extend themselves into hitherto remote parts. The Friends came in the greatest numbers previous to 1700, but in the meantime other sects had begun to rival them in numerical strength. But there was no con-
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test between sects or nationalities : the doors of the province were freely opened to whosoever would come and purchase, settle and develop the resources of the region, and the only requirement was that the settlers obey the laws. As early as 1681 a number of Englishmen had estab- lished themselves in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and in 1695 Christ church was founded. Previous to 1700 the German settlers in the province were drawn largely through Penn's travels and teachings in Germany, but after that time their immigration was influenced by the English government, to the end that the French in Canada should not outnumber other nationalities or gain a powerful foothold in America.
During Queen Anne's reign every encouragement was offered to German settlers in the province, and by the year 1725 fifty thousand of that people had crossed the Atlantic and made homes in the new country. With many of them Pennsylvania was the colony most fav- ored, and by 1750 one-third of the entire population was composed of persons of that nationality. Like the Friends, or Quakers, the German settlers were at first opposed to bearing arms or going to war. no matter how great the provocation. Consequently, when it became necessary to provide for a military establishment in the province, the suggestion met with serious opposition from Friends and Germans alike. This subject. however, will be more fully discussed in a later chapter of this work.
In 1699 Penn made a second visit to his proprietary. this time being accompanied with his second wife and children. He found a healthful condition in the province, but, having been informed concerning the political troubles previously existing and not then fully quieted, he brought a new form of government, "free from the defects of the former ones, and calculated to impart strength and unity to the ad- ministration." He called the assembly in extraordinary session, and offered the new charter for adoption, but instead of accepting it at once
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the members reserved action for a future occasion. The opposition came chiefly from the lower counties on the Delaware, whose repre- sentatives asked for a separate and independent government, claiming that their interests were not identical with those of the province west of the river.
In their endeavors the lower counties were finally successful, and in the latter part of 1701 a conditional separation was agreed upon. On October 28, of the same year, after having been under consideration for more than eighteen months, the new charter was adopted. It was as broad and comprehensive on the subject of civil and religious liberty as was its predecessor, and while it secured by general provisions the more important of human rights, it left minor subjects to be provided for and enforced by laws to be enacted by the assembly.
There was also established, by letters-patent. under the great seal, a council, composed of ten members, chiefly Friends and intimate asso- ciates of the proprietor, whose especial office was "to consult and assist. with the best of their advice, the proprietor himself or his deputies, in all public affairs and matters relating to the government." And it was provided that in the absence of the proprietor, the governor, or in the event of the death or incapacity to act of his deputy, the councillors, or any five of them, were authorized to exercise proprietary powers in the administration of the government. The councillors were to be appointed by the governor, and were removable by him at his pleasure.
Having appointed Andrew Hamilton deputy governor, and James Logan provincial secretary and clerk of the council, Governor Pem sailed for England, and arrived at Portsmouth about the middle of December. His departure from the province was hastened by intelli- gence from England that caused him much anxiety for a crisis had arrived which for a time threatened the safety of his possessions in
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America. There was manifested a disposition on the part of the crown to revoke the proprietary charters and resolve the American dependencies into royal provinces. Penn was not one of the especial favorites of King William, and, above all other things, he just then would have disliked to part with his possessions, even for ample compensation. He was urged to return to England and defend his estate, but the pressing matters of the new charter and the demands of the lower counties kept him in the province; and had it not been that his return to England was imperative, the Delaware counties would not have fared so well. nor would the proprietor have yielded so much to the demands of the assembly in settling the provisions of the new charter. However, on his arrival in England Penn found the bill for reducing the proprietary into royal charters had been dropped. Soon afterward, on the 18th of the first month, 1701-02, King William died, and Queen Anne succeeded him on the British throne.
Following Anne's accession, England and France and Spain were involved in a war which was waged chiefly in Europe, although its effects were felt in the American colonies. At this time John Evans was deputy governor, having succeeded Andrew Hamilton, who died April 20. 1703. Previous to his appointment, Evans was an officer of the queen's household, hence was a creature of royalty. At the order of his sovereign he attempted to raise an armed force in the province for service during the war, but his endeavors were unsuccessful.
The Friends then were a dominant power in the affairs of the province and they, on principle, were scrupulous about bearing arms; and they were supported by the German element of population, who were op- posed to bearing arms in part because they had left a country where army service was exacted by the government, and to escape its hardships they had come to America. Failing in his attempt, Evans treated the Friends
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with contempt, and succeeded in drawing upon himself the disrespect of the people of Philadelphia. IIe allied himself to the lower counties and, so far as he could, showed them marked favor. He authorized the separate assembly at New Castle to build a fort near the town, and for its maintenance he permitted the levy of a half pound of powder for each ton of measurement upon incoming vessels not owned by resi- dents of the district.
In 1709 Evans was succeeded by Charles Gookin, a native of Ire- land, and a captain in Earle's Royal Regiment. He was a capable officer, and came to the province with the determination to accomplish much good; but no sooner was he arrived than the assembly, then in session, began to besiege him with propositions to undo many things done by Evans, and demanded immediate satisfaction at the hands of the new deputy. As a result the assembly and the lieutenant-governor were almost constantly at variance, the fault being with the legislative branch. Under such circumstances public interests were neglected, and suffered in consequence. About this time, too, Penn was in seriously embar- rassed circumstances, and to relieve himself was obliged to encumber his proprietary to the extent of £6,600. In a measure he was now put on the defensive with his provincial assembly, who laid exactions upon him and showed a disposition to still further embarrass the governor by attempts to curtail his revenues at a time when he was most in need of them.
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