History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 118

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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I. Henry Walker (borough of Marcus Hook). April Robert A. Longhead.

.April 19, 1872.

Ilenry Larkio . April 15, 1873.

Daniel Fergersoo March 25, 1876.

Robert A. Loughead .. July

2, 1877.

John A. Green. March 25, 1878.

Robert A. Lougheed.

April 10, 1882.

John A. Greeo ... April 6, 1883.

The Marcus Hook Piers .- The wooden piers at Marcus Hook were erected by the State of Pennsyl- vania subsequent to the Revolutionary war. Previous to that date there were wharves at that place,-one in front of lands belonging to William Burns and the other that of Robert Moulder (the latter generally known as Moulder's wharf). They, of course, were indifferent structures, mere landing-places, affording no protection to vessels during the heavy spring freshets and ice-drifts. In January, 1785, it appears a committee of merchants in Philadelphia memorial- ized the State government,1 setting forth the necessity for the construction of new piers along the Delaware River at designated localities, and the advantage to be gained by such an outlay in maintaining the com- mercial supremacy of the city by affording protection to vessels in the winter season and during the ice-runs in the spring, for at that period it was no rare inci- dent for crafts at anchor to be cut through by the heavy ice and sunk. The ship "John" was lost in that way, and the shoal still known by the name of that vessel was formed by the deposits settling around

1 Penna. Archives, lat series, vol. x. p. 406.

9, 1844.

11, 1854.

13, 1869.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the sunken hulk. The State government regarded the project with approval and submitted the memo- rial to the port wardens, and on May 13th the latter body made a favorable report, on which the Supreme Executive Council ordered the wardens to enter into contracts with the owners of lands at Marcus Hook, abutting on the river, so that any "improper extension" of wharves into the Delaware at that place would be prevented thereafter.1 Drawings of the proposed improvements had also been prepared, for on May 19th Council delivered the plans for the piers at Marcus Hook to the port wardens, with the understanding that they were to be returned " when called for."2 Previous to that date (on May 7, 1785) Thomas Davis submitted a bid for the con- struction of the piers, four in number, in which, for the sum of four thousand one hundred pounds in specie, he agreed to have the piers " so far carried on & made this spring as to be sufficient for receiving & protecting the shipping next winter and the whole work to be completed on or before the first Day of September, 1786." 3

Thomas Davis, however, appears not to have re- ceived the contract, but on the 1st of June, 1785, the owners of land on the river at Marcus Hook exe- cuted the following contract, which, as it is an important document, the full text is given : +

" Articles of agreement, made the first day of June, in the year of our Lord ane thousand seven hundred and eighty-five between the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in behalf of the said Commonwealth, of the one part and sundry persons whose names are bereunto subscribed and seals affixed of the other part:

" WHEREAS, The said Supreme Executive Council have contracted and agreed with R certain - for sinking and building of sundry piers at Marcus Hook, in the county of Chester, in the State of Pennsylvania, for the accommodation of vessels entering into and going out of the Port of Philadelphia. And

"WHEREAS, The said said several persons whose names are hereunto subscribed and seals affixed, are seized of sundry lote or pieces of ground situate on the river Delaware, at Marcus Hook aforesaid, and lying near or between the piers su intended to be sunk as aforesaid: Now, it is hereby agreed by the said Supreme Executive Council in behalf of the said Commonwealth, with the said several persons whose names are here- unto subscribed and seals affixed, their heirs, executors, administrators and assigna, that they, their beirs, executors, administrators and assigne, may have and enjoy the liberty and privilege of sinking, building and carrying out from the ends of their respective lots, any piers, wharves or other erections whatever, provided the same be not carried out furtber than the extent of the wharf or pier now called Moulder's Pier, lying to the southward of the said lots of ground and of the wharf or pier in- tended to be sunk by William Burns, opposite the wharf or pier called Bunn's Pier, lying to the northward of the said lots of ground. And the said several persons whose names are hereunto subscribed and seals affixed, do hereby, for themselves, their beirs, executors, administrators and assigns, several covenaut promise, and grant, and agree to and with the said Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not to build, sink, or carry out any piers, wharfs or other erections whatsoever, from the enda of their respective lots, further than the extent aforesaid, and permit or suffer all persons whatsoever to pass and repass scrose and along their respective wharves, and to permit and anffer all vessele lying at the pub- lic piers to load and discharge their cargoes without any let, hindrance ur molestation hy or from them, or any or either of them, or their, or any of or either of their heirs, executors, administrators or assigne.

" In witness whereof, the President of the sald Supreme Executive

Council hath set hie hand hereunto, and caused the seal of the said Com- monwealth to be hereunto affixed, and the said several persons have hereunto subscribed their names and affixed their seale, the day and year first above written.

" JOSEPH FEW. [L. S.] JOHN DICKINSON. [L. S.]

" JOHN CRAWFORD. [L. S.] JOHN FLOWER. [L. B.] WILLIAM BURNS. [L. S.]

" RICH'D RILEY. [L. S.]

" ROBT. MOULDER. [L. S.]

JOHN PRICE. [L. S.] THOMAS MOORE. [L. S.]

"Sealed and delivered by John Crawford, Richard Riley, Robert Moulder, Jobn Flower, William Burns, John Price, and Thomas Moore, in presence of

" NATH'L FALCONER, " JOS. BULLOCK.

" Sealed and delivered by Joseph Few, in presence of us. "GEORGE ORD,

" JOHN HAZELWOOD."

On Wednesday, June 8th, two of the port wardens appeared at the session of the Supreme Council, and delivered the foregoing agreement, and submitted several proposals made by Joshua Humphreys and Thomas Conarroe for building the piers at Marcus Hook. On the 15th the contract was awarded to Thomas Conarroe, of the Northern Liberties of Phil- adelphia, wharf-builder, and Council ordered that the wardens of the port should be furnished with a copy of the agreement " for the building and sinking four piers, etc., etc., at Marcus Hook, on the river Delaware," with authority to the wardens to make payments as they severally became due.5 The man- ner of the work or the price agreed upon, so far as Conarroe was concerned, does not appear, but we learn something from the proposals presented by Joshua Humphreys. The four piers were not four separate and distinct piers, each leading directly to the land, but an inner and an outer pier, forming one landing-place, the sluice-way between Moulder's wharf and the first pier being forty feet, while be- tween the inner and the outer pier there was a sluice- way of thirty feet, both of these sluices being spanned by heavy sleepers and floored with two-and-a-half- inch oak planks, the pier over all two hundred feet, the outer pier thirty feet wide. The other pier at William Bunn's wharf was to be in all respects simi- lar to the lower pier (Moulder's) already described.6

Conarroe seems to have prolonged the work at the piers, if the bid of Thomas Davis, already mentioned, is any indication of the time deemed necessary by other contractors for building them.

The piers were in an unfinished condition in De- cember, 1786, for on the 15th of that month Thomas Moore, of Marcus Hook, wrote to the port wardens that the Spanish frigate "Loretto" was then lying about ten or fifteen feet without the pier, and "her mooring made fast to the Ties of the same (still in an unfinished state)," and, as the ice on the river was unusually heavy, and "forcing itself against the stern of the frigate," the contractor Conarroe and residents of the place were apprehensive that great injury might be done to the pier." The same day the war-

1 Colonial Recorde, vol. xiv. p. 460. 2 Ib., p. 464.

3 Penna. Archives, Ist Series, vol. x. p. 713.

+ Colonial Records, vol. xiv. p. 474.

5 1b.

8 Penna. Archives, Ist Series, vol. x. p. 471.

7 Ib., vol. xi. p. 99.

475

LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.

dens called the immediate attention of the Supreme Council to the danger, and the following day John Hazelwood and Nathaniel Falconer, members of the Board of Port Wardens, were dispatched to Marcus Hook, bearing a letter from President Benjamin Franklin to Capt. De Ugarte y Lianes, of the " Lo- retto." The gentlemen were instructed by Franklin in writing as to their course of action, which was to deliver the letter, view the situation of the ship and pier. This being done they were directed to offer the Spanish officer their opinion as to the best means to secure her from damage by driving ice, which advice was to be put in writing. If the commander refused to follow their advice, and they deemed his action would be injurious to the pier, that they should apprise him that the matter would he made the subject of a demand on his government for all damages sustained. They were also especially instructed to inquire into the rumors " of Injuries done by his People to the Inhab- itants," and if it appeared that the reports were well founded, to request the captain to prevent such in- juries for the future. On Dec. 17, 1786, Hazelwood and Falconer were at Marcus Hook, and by letter in- formed the commander that they had come there to aid and assist him in placing the vessel in a place of safety, "as the Winter setting in sooner than com- mon, with a very severe Frost, which filled the Rivers suddenly with Ice, and fearing, as you are Strangers, & unacquainted with the dangerous situation that ships are thrown into by the violence of the Ice in this River, therefore it is our Opinion & Necessary there should be an Anchor & Cable got out from the Bows of the Ship to the Shore, in Order to Support the Post & Fasts that are now out to keep the Ship from going off the Bank, and that we also recom- mend that some of the Guns may be run over, in Order to list the Ship in towards the wharf, and that there be some Spars got ready pointed & drove down, on the Starboard Quarter, Then, we are of Opinion the ship will remain perfectly safe." That this advice was followed we learn from the Spanish commander's letter of thanks to President Franklin, which he dates from the "Frigate N. S. De Loretto, at Anchor in the Delaware, now secured in one of the Moles at Marcus Hook."1 The ship wintered at that place. Two large cannons, said to have been put ashore from this Span- ish vessel of war, remained on the pier at Marcus Hook for at least a third of a century.

Conarroe seems to have lost money on the contract, and he petitioned Council to make him whole. On June 21, 1787, the port wardens attended the session of Council, and were instructed to inquire into the loss, if any, sustained by the contractor, growing out of " difficulties he has met with in the said business," to report to Council, together with their opinion.2 On the 26th the port wardens reported, stating that

two hundred and fifty pounds would be " but a very moderate compensation for the services rendered by him in erecting and completing the piers at Marcus Hook," on which report Council ordered the treasurer of the commonwealth to pay Thomas Conarroe that sum.3

In the description of Marcus Hook which appears in an exceedingly rare book, the " Travellers' Direc- tory," published in Philadelphia, 1802, it is stated that the creek of that name is eighteen miles and three-quarters from Philadelphia by the post road, and adds, "at the confluence of this creek with the Delaware is a small town called Marcus Hook, where vessels are defended from the ice in winter by long wharves or piers made for that purpose."

Marcus Hook has ever been a dangerous place for uuprotected shipping. As late as Dec. 24, 1842, the brig "Henrietta," owned by John De Costa, of Phila- delphia, was caught in a severe storm and blown ashore a short distance below Marcus Hook. The drifting ice was so heavy that the ship was cut through and sunk in nine feet of water. The wreck was afterwards moved to Naaman's Creek, but proved a total loss. On Feb. 4, 1871, the ship " Research," bound for Antwerp, with the largest cargo of coal oil ever to that time shipped from Philadelphia, struck on the Hook rocks, a short distance above Marcus Hook, where she sank in twelve feet of water. The cargo was lightered and the vessel raised.

The Hunter-Miller Duel .- On Sunday, March 21, 1830, William Miller, Jr., of Philadelphia, a young lawyer of much prominence, was killed in a duel with Midshipman Charles G. Hunter, of the United States navy. The meeting took place a short distance be- low the Delaware State line, near Claymont, and cre- ated much excitement in Delaware County, where for many years afterwards it was a favorite theme for nar- ration in stores and public places where people as- sembled in the evening. Strange as it may seem, the two men who stood facing each other on that Sabbath morning, at the inception of the misunderstanding were not parties to the quarrel which resulted so tragically, but were drawn into it in the endeavor to bring about a settlement of the difficulty. The cir- cumstances connected with the fatal encounter are . briefly these :

In Philadelphia, on Friday afternoon, Feb. 17, 1830, Henry Wharton Griffith meeting R. Dillon Drake at the house of a friend, accompanied by several gentle- men, the parties being well acquainted went to a bil- liard-room at Third and Chestnut Streets, where Grif- fith, while playing, was asked by Drake whether he would try a game with him. Griffithi was a noted billiard-player, and, as he stated, knowing his superi- ority to Drake in that respect, he merely smiled and made no reply. The latter, apparently enraged at this trifling circumstance, struck Griffith in the face,

1 Penna. Archives, 1st Series, vol. xi. pp. 100-102.

" Colonial Records, vol. xv. p. 228.

3 Ib., p. 233.

476

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

following the assault with several other blows. That evening Griffith sent a message to New York to Mid- shipman Charles H. Duryee, of the United States navy, requesting him to come to Philadelphia, and at the same time addressed a note to Drake apprising him that a friend would wait on him to demand satis- faction for the insult. This letter Drake returned by the bearer. On Tuesday night, the 21st, Midshipman Duryee reached Philadelphia, and the next morning waited on Drake as the friend of Griffith. Drake re- fused to entertain any message, alleging that Griffith's reputation was not above reproach, and for that rea- son he could not accord to him the satisfaction of a gentleman. Capt. Vorhees, of the navy, when the re- sult of the interview was repeated, wrote a certificate stating that under similar circumstances in his own case, he would not hesitate to meet Griffith. Armed with this certificate Duryee returned to Drake, when the latter referred him to William H. Carmac. Then it was asserted that Griffith in having addressed a letter to a lady to whom Dr. Drake, a brother of R. Dillon Drake, was to be married on the very day the assault took place,-which letter was derogatory of Dr. Drake,-had by that act put himself beyond gen- tlemanly recognition. At the meeting William Mil- ler was introduced by Drake to Duryee. Pending these proceedings eight days had elapsed.

On February 26th, Duryee, who declared that he would post Drake as a coward, was challenged by the latter, William Miller being the bearer of this note. The next day Lieut. Hampton Westcott, United States navy, on behalf of Duryee, replied that the latter could not accept the challenge until Drake had given Griffith satisfaction. To this Drake stated that he must decline "the degradation of placing him- self on a level with that degraded individual." The matter did not rest here, for on March 7th several gentlemen of New Brunswick, N. J., friends of Duryee, whom it appears in now accepting the chal- lenge was placed in questionable position among his brother-officers, wrote to William Miller, asking that the whole matter be referred to a committee appointed by both sides; to which proposition Mil- ler (on the 9th) replied that both Drake and he looked upon the difficulty as finally and satisfactorily settled.

On March 10th, Midshipman Charles G. Hunter, then barely twenty-one years of age, came to Phila- delphia as Duryee's friend, and wrote to Miller de- manding the immediate delivery of the letter written from New Brunswick, giving the latter one honr to reply. The result was an interview between Hunter and Miller, at which Hunter stated Miller had de- stroyed a letter which, he said, was the one in con- troversy. A few days after this interview the New Brunswick letter was printed.

Hunter thereupon announced that Miller's base and ungentlemanly conduct in suffering a letter to be published after he declared it had been destroyed

was such that he demanded immediate satisfaction, and on March 17th dispatched Lieut. Westcott with a cartel to Miller. The latter in writing denied being in any wise connected with the publication, and being entirely ignorant of it, declined to receive the chal- lenge from Hunter. During the interview, R. Dillon Drake entered the office and handed to Miller a man- uscript copy of the New Brunswick letter, stating that it had been in the possession of his brother, Dr. Drake. Miller, turning to Westcott, said, " You see, sir, that I fulfill my promise to Mr. Hunter, and will destroy the copy in your presence." "I do not care about seeing it destroyed," replied Westcott, "as there are printed copies of it in circulation."

On Saturday, March 20, Hunter posted Miller, and concluding the document by stating that he held Miller in the utmost contempt as a coward, and knew him to be guilty of base falsehood, “yet I am, and always will be, ready to meet him whenever he may think proper to accept." Previous to this pub- lication, on March 17th, Midshipman Duryee sent Hunter to Drake, accepting his challenge of February 26th, but Drake declined the meeting at that late day.

After Hunter's statement was posted, Lieut. Edward Byrne, as the friend of Miller, waited on Hunter with a written acceptance of his challenge, and was re- ferred to Westcott, who would arrange with him for the meeting. It was agreed that the duel should take place the next morning at the nearest boundary of the State of Delaware, and that besides the seconds on both sides one gentleman should be present. For some reason it was not until noon of the next day- Sunday-that the combatants left Philadelphia in separate carriages for Chester. One party, consist- ing of Miller, Byrne, Craig, and a surgeon, left the dwelling on Chestnut Street which formerly occupied the site of the present German Democrat building, while the other, consisting of Hunter, Westcott, Dur- yee, and another gentleman, left the United States Hotel, which stood on the north side of Chestnut Street, opposite the custom-house. At Chester the suspicions of the residents of that quiet village were aroused, for it was rightly conjectured that a duel was the object of this Sabbath journey, and the people in the ancient borough were greatly excited over the mysterious silence preserved by the party as to their destination. When Naaman's Creek was crossed arrangements were immediately made for the inter- change of shots. It was subsequently alleged by Hunter's friends that, after the first fire, if Miller should act as a brave man, Hunter had determined to withdraw the charge of cowardice, and upon Mr. Miller's friend declaring on his honor that he be- lieved Miller innocent of the publication of the letter, the parties should be reconciled. The paces being measured off, and each end of that distance marked with a stone, the preliminaries were gone through with and the men stationed. Not a word passed on

477

LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.

the grounds between the principals in the duel, and so far as remembered all that either said was the as- senting answer to the question, " Gentlemen, are you ready ?" At the word both fired in accordance with the agreement, so nearly together that the separate reports of the pistols could hardly be distingnished. Instantly Miller wheeled, and, uttering an exclama- tion, fell to the earth. Hunter, advancing towards the fallen man, said in a loud voice, " Gentlemen, I assure you that I had no enmity against that man ; his blood must rest upon the heads of others who have dragged him into their quarrels." Miller died almost immediately, the bullet having perforated his lungs. As soon as the fatal result of the encounter was ascertained, the gentlemen who had accompanied the dead man to the field urged Hunter, Westcott, and Duryee to leave the State before the determina- tion of the duel could be known, and acting on that advice they hired conveyances, were driven to New Castle, where they boarded an out-bound vessel and finally reached New York.

The dead man was placed in a sitting posture on the back seat of one of the carriages, a cap, fashion- able at that time, drawn down over his forehead so as to shade his eyes to prevent them being seen by any one glancing into the vehicle. To hold the body up- right one of the men sat by its side and two on the front seat, and they managed to preserve the semblance of life (in what was really a corpse) to a casual ob- server passing by. This carriage started on the jour- ney to Philadelphia, the second being occupied by the surgeon and the gentleman who accompanied Hunter, and had not fled to New Castle. In the mean while several young men of the neighborhood of Chester who had been riding in the vicinity of Clay- mont learned that a dnel had taken place, and as they preceded the carriages, the fact became known abroad, and it was determined, if possible, to arrest the principals at the bridge over Chester Creek. A number of the citizens of Chester assembled there for that purpose. By this time night's shadows had set- tled down, and as the first carriage came in sight of the bridge, the driver, noticing that a body of men seemed gathering there, and knowing his coach bore an nnusual passenger, whipped his horses almost to a run, crossed the bridge in a gallop, and passed on un- molested. The second carriage, however, came along at an easy trot, and was without difficulty brought to a full stop, when it was found that only the surgeon and a looker-on had been detained. Shortly after they were permitted to resume their journey to Phila- delphia.

The first carriage, after it had dashed through the village, continued on the way to its destination, and it was about nine o'clock that night when it halted with its ghastly passenger at the house on Chestnut Street from which that noonday it had taken away the dead-then a living man. Rumor relates how all that night the men kept the corpse in a room, while

those present drank deeply, due largely to the extreme excitement under which they labored. The next day the father of the dead man was informed of his son's fate, and shortly after six o'clock the following morn- ing the remains were interred without waiting for the form of a coroner's inquest.

The duel caused the utmost excitement throughout the country, and on Saturday following, March 27th, Mr. Moore, of Beaver County, in the House of Repre- sentatives, at Harrisburg, offered a resolution that the President of the United States be respectfully re- quested to strike the said Lieut. Charles G. Hunter from the roll of the navy, and also requesting the Governor of Pennsylvania to forward a copy of the resolution to the President. On Monday, the 29th, the resolution was adopted and forwarded immedi- ately.

On the following day the Secretary of the Navy wrote to the President :

" NAVY DEPARTMENT, " March 30, 1830. "SIE: It has been proved to my satisfaction that Lieuts. Edward Byrne and Hampton Westcott, Passed Midshipman Charles H. Duryee, and Midshipman Charles G. Hunter, of the navy of the United States, were recently concerued in a duel which took place between the last- named officer and William Miller, Jr., of Philadelphia, which resulted fatally to the latter. I respectfully recommend to you that the names of the said officers, Edward Byrde, Hamptou Westcott, Charles H. Duryee, and Charles G. Hunter, be erased from the list of officers of the navy of the United States.

"I am very respectfully, "JOHN BRANCH."

On the back of the letter the Executive indorsed :

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 118

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150