History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 32

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

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A paper written by him during his imprisonment in Philadelphia is here given :

"Upon the 10th Day of October, 1777, I came to this City for my personal security-having been frequently threatened without any just cause by some malicious Persona in my Neighbourhood, both as to my Person, Family and Properly,-without any Design whatever to aid or ariae the Enemy or to injure my Country, the person or property of any Individual in it: When on the 15th a party of militia under the command of Gen. Potter oame to my Plantation, enquired for me, threatened my Family, shot at one of my aons and took the other Prisoner, driving off With them at same time, 5 Horses, 21 head Horned Cattle and 38 sheep; which, joined with the most pressing solicitations of my Family, who thought my Life in Danger, deterred me from returning home as I intended.

" December 1Ith, at 3 o'clock in the morning Jacob James came to my Lodging & as I had before expressed often to him my anxiety to see my Family, & told me there waa now an opportunity to go as the army were going over Schuylkill into that neighborhood. I told him it was time enough for me at daylight & then went to Bed again ; when in about an Hour said James returned and urged me to go along, & said that he would be company for me, but upon my still refusing said James told me that General Cornwallis was then at the Bridge, and if I would not go a Guard would be sent and compel me to go; upon which, fearing the consequence and not suspecting what the Gen. wanted me for I got ready & went to the Bridge, when said James, going to the Gen. snid something to him, when soon after I was put in charge of an orderly sergt, whom I asked the Reason of my being put under Guard, who said it was his Lordship'a orders to

take particular care of me. I then began to think that I was intended for a Guide and went & begged the Gen : that he would not take me along for his Guide, as it would he attended with the most disagree- able and fatal consequences to me, ohserving to him that there might be others present & along the Rond who knew the Rond as well if not better. He replied that I was recommended to him & would not part with me. I then requested him to use his authority to prevent his army from plundering the Inhabitants upon the march : this he ns- sured me of and order'd Guards accordingly to be planted at every house ns the army marched along. Notwithstanding, aome of the inhabitants were taken prisoners, their Horses, Cattle, Goods, &c., plundered, who were released and had their property restored nt my intercession na many of the sufferers can testify.

" At night, when the army began to encamp, finding that an Ex- press was to return to the City, I again renewed my application, as I had often done during the Dny, for lenvo to return, which at length was granted, having not been able to see my Family, and as soon as I came to the City I related matters to Owen Jonca and family as above stated.

"On the 12th December, when the army returned, they brought with them a Number of inhabitants prisoners, and the property and effects of many others. I made it my Business by every means in my power to have them set at Liberty, their property restored or satisfied for, which in many Instancea I affected, in all I attempted it, and the threats and abusive treatment I frequently received from the British officers inust have convinced both them and others present in what Light I was viewed by the B. army.

" Names of Prisoners who were discharged or assisted at my Re- quest, viz. : Frederick Bittle, Richard Sheldon, Andrew Barr, James Brown, John George and son, IIenry Smith and wife, Abram Streeper, James Sheward, James Quinn, James Brown, of Haverford, William Warner, son of Col. Warner, - Rhoads, William Young, hia son-in- law and two grandsons, Hugh Jones, Robert Elliot, and many others whose names I cannot at present recollect, together with John Valen- tine Egolf, for whom I waa bound in a Bond of £100 Sterling that he would not depart the Lines. He deserted, and being repeatedly called to deliver him up, was at last obliged to get Thes. Franklin to write out to have him allowed in exchange or delivered up. In the menn time, heing considered a prisoner in his stend, was detained until the army evacuated this City. When I went imediately beforea Magis- trate and subscribed the affirmation of alegiance according to Law ; and also at the same time rendered myself up agreable to a Proclima- tion published by order of the Supreme Executive Council for the Benefit of Proscribed Persona, and gave Bail to abide my Trial ac- cordingly. But have aince been committed to prison by order of Jamea Young, Esquire, of thia City."

Petitions for his pardon or for a reprieve were signed by hundreds of persons in Chester and Philadelphia Counties, and presented to the Supreme Executive Council, but without avail, and he was executed Nov. 4, 1778. His property, one hundred acres, was confiscated, and sold to Daniel Clymer by deed dated April 19, 1780, but an allowance of seventy-five pounds per annum was decreed to his widow by the Supreme Court. It is also said that the British government, in recognition of the loss his family had sustained, granted an allowance of a consider- able sum in compensation.

TRAVELING PASSES.

For some time after the close of the Revolutionary war, strangers traveling through our country were looked upon with suspicion and were liable to arrest, it being a time when many persons were at large for whose apprehension rewards had been offered. To avoid annoying detentions when away from home, our citizens were in the habit of obtaining passes from a magistrate, certifying to their good character. Some of these have been preserved, and the following is given as a sample :

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

TO ALL CIVILL AND MILATERY OFFICERS.

"CHESTER COUNTY STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. GENTLEMEN, The Benrer Hereof John Jones Having applied to me ye sub- scriber &c one of ye Justices of the Courts of Common Pleas in and for ye County nfforesaid for a Pass to Travell from henco to Bedford County with no Intention of Returning back when his Business is Done &c Therefore Pleas to Permit bilo to Pass and Repass ye aforesaid Journey Unmo- lested He behaving himselfe ns a Good Citizen which hath as yet Been ye Charracter he Bears in yo Neighbour- hood he Now Resides In &o Given Under my Hand ye 25th Day of March, A.D. : 1786. " ISAAC TAYLOR, EsQ."

REMOVAL OF COUNTY-SEAT, AND FOUNDING OF WEST CHESTER.

The situation of the county-seat at Chester, on the ex- treme edge of the county, does not seem to have given rise to any serious dissatisfaction for a long period. At length, on the 28th of January, 1766, a petition was presented to the Assembly, signed by a great number of persons, to the following effeet : That the petitioners have long labored un- der a grievance by reason of the county-seat and courts of justice being fixed at the extreme corner of the county, which is attended with many difficulties to those who are obliged to attend courts, by increasing the officers' fees for mileage, etc. ; that many poor widows are obliged to travel thirty or forty miles for letters of administration, and are put to much trouble in attending Orphans' Court at so great a distance. For these reasons the petitioners asked for an act for erecting a court-house and holding courts as near the centre of the county as might be. Nine petitions to the same saine effect were presented May 7th, followed the next day by twelve counter-petitions, that from the borough of Chester being in substance as follows :

"That in the first regulation of the said connty, in the year one Thousand six Hundred and Eighty-two, the Honourable William Penn, Esq., Proprietary and Governor of the Province of Perinsyl- vania, by virtue of the Royal Charter, did order that the Townsted or Village, then bearing the name of Uplaud, should be called Chester, and thereupon constituted it the Shire-Town of the County of Chester, and ordained and appointed all the Courts of Judicature for the Affaire of the County to be there held and kept, and the County Goal or Prison to be and remain there forever ;- that the said William Penn, Esq., afterwards, to wit, on the Thirty-first day of October, One Thou- sand Seven Hundred and One, did grant, hy Charter, noto the Free- holders and Inhabitants of the said Borough, that the Sheriff and Clerk of the Courts of the said County for the time being, if not Resi- dents in the said Borough, should appoint and constitute sufficient Deputies, who should from Time to Time reside, or constantly attend, in the snid Town of Chester, to perform the Duties of their respective Offices; which said Privileges (with respect to the holding of the Courts of Judicature at Chester), were afterwards established by John Evans, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of the said Province, by an Ordi- nance issued hy him, under the Great Seal, bearing Date the Twenty- second Day of February, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seven, and afterwards confirmed by an Act of General Assembly, made per- petual, and passed in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty-onc."

The petitioners furthermore reply to the complaints of the removalists by saying that the loss of time falls heavier upon those who live near,-for it is notorious that such at- tend courts more than three times to the others' once,-and that the deputy register, in the execution of his office, has no connection with the courts of justice at all.

Nothing was accomplished at this time, and during the exciting political disturbances of succeeding years the sub- ject was probably allowed to rest until cur county was re- lieved from the invasions of the British armies, when it was again brought forward with additional reasons for a change.

Those favorable to a removal succeeded in procuring the passage of an act of Assembly on the 20th of March, 1780, which authorized William Clingan, Thomas Bull, John Kinkead, Roger Kirk, John Sellers, John Wilson, and Jo- seph Davis, or any four or more of them, to purchase a piece of land situate in some convenient place in the county, aud to build a new court-house and prison thereon, and to sell the old court-house and prison in the town of Chester. These gentlemen purchased a lot of land in the township of East Caln from Rosanna Sheward, on which to erect the building, but for some cause not now certainly known- probably because a majority of them may have been op- posed to the removal of the county-seat-they proceeded no farther in the matter.

On the 22d of March, 1784, a supplement to the origi- nal act of Assembly was passed, substituting John Hannum, Isaac Taylor, and John Jacobs in place of the first-named commissioners, and authorizing them to carry the act of 1780 into effect. This supplement, however, contained a clause not in the original act, restricting the commissioners from erecting the buildings " at a greater distance than one mile and a half from the Turk's Head tavern, in the town- ship of Goshen, and to the west or southwest of said Turk's Head tavern, and on or near the straight line from the ferry called the 'Corporation Ferry,' on the Schuylkill, to the village of Strasburg." Tradition says that this restrictive clause was inserted at the instance of Col. John Hannum, a member of the Assembly, and one of the commissioners named in the act, who was the owner of lands near the junction of the Valley Creek with the Brandywine, and who believed that it would allow the buildings to be located on his lands; and he trusted to his personal influence, and to his position as one of the commissioners, to cause the build- ings to be thus located. He was, however, mistaken in the distance, as his lands on measurement proved to be more than two miles from the Turk's Head, and were therefore, by the terms of the act, excluded from competition.

This tradition must be received with some allowance, as Col. Hannum must have known that none of his land was within less than two miles of the Turk's Head. An- other theory that has been suggested gives the people of Downingtown the credit of obtaining the clause restricting the location, in order to keep the county-seat away from their village

May 1, 1784, Benjamin Trego, of Goshen, and Bathsheba, his wife, " As well for and in Consideration of Promoting the Public Good and divers other considerations them thereunto especially moving, as for and in Consideration of the sum of Five shillings," convey to John Hannum, Esq., Isaac Taylor, Esq., and John Jacobs a lot in Goslien for the use of the county, to build a court-house and prison thereon. Although Bathsheba did not sign the deed, the title will not be called in question. The lot is described as beginning at a stake on the southwest side of High Street,

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GENERAL HISTORY.

so called, it being a corner of a lot laid off to John Han- num ; thence by the said lot south fifty-six degrees west ten perches ; thence south thirty-four degrees east by the lot of John Hannum, and lot of John Underwood, seven perches to a stake; thence by other land of Benjamin Trego, north fifty-six degrees east ton perches to a stone on the south- west side of High Street ; thence north thirty degrees west seven perches to the beginning.

It will be noticed that Col. Hannum was careful to se- cure an adjoining lot before the purchase was consummated for the county. The first-mentioned piece of ground corre- sponds with the northern part of the present court-house lot. Building was commenced soon after the purchase was made, but the walls of the court-house were not quite com- pleted when winter set in, and the operations of the work- men were suspended. Before the opening of spring per- mitted them to resume their labors the act of Assembly authorizing the erection of the buildings was suspended. This suspension act was passed March 30, 1785. It does not seem, however, to have prevented the removalists from proceeding with the work, who resumed active operations on the buildings as soon as the season permitted.

The people of Chester, when they found the removal pro- ject checked by the passage of the suspending act, took fresh courage, and indulged the hope that the whole scheme might yet be defeated. To make assurance doubly sure, they deemed it best to demolish the work already done, and thereby remove all pretext for going on with it at a future day. Accordingly, they mustered their forces, appointed Maj. John Harper commander, and, being provided with a field-piece, a barrel of whisky, and other warlike muni- tions, they took up the line of march towards the Turk's Head, in order to batter down the unfinished walls of the -new court-house and prison. Mr. Lewis, in his " History of Chester County," thus describes the expedition and its re- sults :

" A few days before this expedition left Chester, notice of its object was communicated by some of the leaders to the neighborhood of the Turk's Head, and preparations were immediately made for its recep- tion. In this business Col. Hannum was particularly active. He requested Cel. Isaac Taylor end Mr. Marshall to bring in what men they could collect, and hegan himself to procure arms and prepare cartridges. Greg and rations were freely distributed, and a pretty respectable force was sonn upon the ground. The windows of the court-house were bearded upen each side, and the space between filled with stones, loop-holes being left for the musketry. Each man had his station assigned him ; Marshall aod Taylor commanded in the upper story, Underweed and Patton below, while Col. Hanonm had the direction of the whole. All things were arranged for a stout resistance,

"The non-removalists, having passed the night at the 'Geo. Greene,' made their appearance near the Turk's Head early in the morning, and took their ground about two hundred yards sontheast of the present Quaker meeting-house. Here they planted their can- nen, and made preparations for the attack. They seemed, however, when everything was ready, still reluctant to proceed to extremities ; and having remained several hours in a hostile position, an accom- modation was effected between the parties by the intervention of some pacific people, whe used their endeavors to prevent the effusion of bleed. To the non-removalists was conceded the liberty of in- specting the defenses that had been prepared by their opponents, en condition that they should do them no injury ; and they oo their part agreed te abandon their design, and to return peaceably to their homes. The caonon, which had been pointed against the walls, was turned in another direction, and fired in celebration of the treaty.

Col. ITanoum then directed his men to leave the court-house, and having formed in a line a short distance to the right, to ground their arms, and wait till the other party should have finished their visit to the building. Here ao act of indiscretion had nearly brought eo a renewal ef hostilities, for one of Maj. Harper's men having entered the fort, struck down the flag which their opponents had raised upen the walls. Highly incensed at this treatment of their standard, the removalists snatched up their arms, and were with difficulty pre- vented frem firing upon the major and his companions. Some exer- tien, however, en the part of the leaders allayed the irritation of the men, and the parties at length separated amicably withent less of life or limb."

Dr. Smith, in his " History of Delaware County," says,-

" It has come to the author traditionally that the attack of the Chester people was instigated by the removalists proceeding with the buildings after the passage of the suspension act, and that a promise to desist from the work was a prominent article in the treaty of peace,-a promise that was only kept while the attacking party remained in sight and hearing. The attempt by the non-remov 1 party to batter down the unfinished buildings was a high-handed outrage, which rendered these engaged in it amenable te the laws. The fact that they were allowed to escape with impunity is rather corroborative of the idea that the attack was not altogether unprovoked, and renders it probable that the cause for it assigned by tradition is the true one."

At the next session of the Legislature the popular breeze was in favor of the removalists, and the suspending act of the previous session was repealed by an act bearing the fol- lowing curiously iterative title, viz. :

" Ao act to repeal an act entitled an act to suspend an act of the General Assembly of this commonwealth, entitled a supplement to an act, entitled an oct to enable Wm. Clingnan, Thomas Bull, etc."

This act, which was passed on the 18th of March, 1786, settled the controversy, the buildings were completed, and on the 25th of September, 1786, a law was enacted empowering the sheriff of Chester County to remove the prisoners from the old jail in the town of Chester to the new jail in Goshen township. All the records, decd-books, wills, court papers, etc., were removed, and West Chester became the seat of justice, instead of Chester.

The county buildings first erected were the court-house and jail. The court-house stood at the northeast corner of the lot, and the jail in the rear of the court-house. They were miserable specimens of architecture, those who planned them seeming to have no conception of such a thing as architectural symmetry or beauty. The jail was torn down on the completion of the present county prison, which was erected in 1838, and the court-house and offices OD the erection of the present court-house, in 1847-48.

The first court held at West Chester commenced on the 28th of November, 1786. In those days the courts were held by the justices of the peace of the county. Those present at this first court were William Clingan, William Haslett, John Bartholomew, Philip Scott, Isaac Taylor, John Ralston, Joseph Luckey, Thomas Cheyney, Thomas Levis, and Richard Hill Morris.

While the subject of the removal was pending before the Legislature, the opposition was very bitter and spirited. Dr. Smith says that in one of the missives addressed to the Legislature by those opposed to the removal, West Chester is described as "that elegant and notorious place, vulgarly called the Turk's Head (by. some called West Chester), a place as unfit for the general convenience, and much more so, than any one spot that might be pointed out within ten

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

miles square of the above-described place (except towards the New Castle line)."

The contest also had its humorous side, and satirical songs were written and rude jests indulged in at the ex- pense of the busy-bodies of both parties. One Joseph Hickman, a ready rhymster, composed a burlesque ditty in ridicule of the inhabitants of Chester, whose interests were likely to be affected by the change of the seat of justice. It was entitled " Chester's Mother," or the lamentations of the dependents of the old scat of justice over the prospect of losing a nursing mother. Inasmuch as the production indicates the tone and style of rustic satire at that tem- pestuous period of our local history, and as the busy- bodies thus hitched into rhyme have long since passed away, it may be allowable, and even acceptable to the curions in antique poesy, to insert it here as a specimen of our early indigenous literature.

An old English wool-comber, a retainer of the Turk's Head party, Marmaduke Wyvil by name, who, half a century since, used to ramble about the country like an an- cient troubadour, was very fond of chanting the ditty for a small consideration. A drink of cider or a small glass of whisky would at any time procure its recital, with em- phatic intonation and peculiar unction :

LAMENT OVER CHESTER'S MOTHER.

Poor Chester's mother's very sick, Her breath is almost gone ; Her children throng around her thick, And bitterly do mnoan.

Cries little 'Lisha," the first-born, " What will become of I,

A little orphan, held in scorn, If mamina she should die ?

"Not only I will be opprest, I younger brothers have,

Who cannot do without the breast When mamma's in her grave."

And then poor helpless Billy t cries, "Oh ! how shall I be fed, What shall I do, if mamma dies ? I cannot work for breud,-

"These little hands have never wrought. Oh, how I am opprest !

For I have never yet done aught But hang on mamina's breast."

Little Davis,į he comes next, A puling, silly boy ; His countenance appears perplexed And destitute of joy.

" How is our dear mamma ?" he eried, " Think you we can her save ? How is the wound that's in her side, Which cursed Hannum ¿ gave ?"

* Elisha Price, a prominent and active opponent of the removal. He was a lawyer, and perhaps the oldest resident practitioner.

William Kerlin, one of the principal inn-keepers in Chester, and consequently a vehement opponent of removal.

# Davis Bevao, a retail merchant in Chester, and an active partisan in this controversy.

¿ John Hannum, chairman of the commission for effecting the re- moval, and the master-spirit in the whole affair; of course, exceed- ingly obnoxious to the people of Old Chester. The colonel was a sort of county autocrat, and for a long time managed matters pretty much in his own way. He built the old Washington Hotel, on High Street, with only a narrow alley between it and the court-house ; and, with a view to secure the patronage of the judges to the hotel, he pro- jected a kind of gallery or passageway from the second story across the alley into the hall of justice, for the accommodation of their honors, and even went so far towards effecting an opening as to re- move some siones from the court-house wall, when the county com-

Says little Ned, | " Upon my word, Poor mamma will be slain ; Though cursed Hannum lost his sword, T He's got it back again.

"What shall I do if mamma dies ? What will become of Ned ?"

The tears camne trickling from his eyes, And straight he took his hed.

Then Caley,*# he came next in view, His mouth was all awry :

Says he, "Oh, what will . Caley do If dear mamma should die ?

"She might have lived for many a year, And all her children fed,

If Hannum hadn't poisoned her, Curse on his frizzled head !"

Cries little John, tt the youngest son, Who just began to crawl,

" If mainms lives I soon shall run; If not, I soon shall fall.

"Oh, may Jack Hannum quickly die, And die in grievous pain, Be sent into eternity, That mamma may remain !

" May all his projects fail likewise, That we may live again !"

Then every one rolled up his eyes, And cried aloud, " Amen !"

The commissioners who erected the public buildings were authorized by act of Assembly to dispose of the old court-house and prison in the town of Chester. In pursu- ance of this authority, they made sale of them to William Kerlin, and conveyed them to him by deed dated March 18, 1788, for the consideration of four hundred and fifteen pounds. Mr. Kerlin at that time owned and kept a public- house on the opposite side of the main street of the town from the public buildings.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 32

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162