History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 41

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

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Delaware Countians in the Navy .- It is unneces- sary under this head to refer to the remarkable race of naval captains,-the Porter family,-William Da- vid, David D., and Henry Ogden Porter, except to claim for our county these distingnished officers in our nation's history. Even Farragut himself, when appointed, resided in Chester, and was educated here. We have others, however, who "have done the State some service" in that branch of the national forces. The following list of Delaware County's representa- tives in the navy during the civil war, I know, must be very incomplete, but that much is "at least se- cured."

Rear-Admiral Frederick Engle was born in Ches- ter in 1799, and was fifteen years of age in 1814, when he entered the navy as a midshipman, sailing with Commodore Porter when he swept the seas of pirates, particularly the West Indies, and in many of the en- counters with those enemies to mankind Midshipman Engle highly distinguished himself. During the Mexican war, he had then become a captain, was in command of the steamship " Princeton," at that time the only steam vessel of war afloat in the navies of the world, and in the bomhardment of Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, March 22, 1847, a shot from his vessel made the first breach in the walls of the fortress. During the war of the Crimea he was on duty in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and visited the scene of battle. In May, 1861, he was dispatched to the East India station to relieve Commodore Strihling, whose loyalty was suspected, of command of the flagship " Hartford." Engle jour- neyed overland from England to Hong Kong, where he took command of the vessel, which afterwards be- came famous in our national history under Farragut, and brought it safely home to Philadelphia, in De- cember, 1861. He also brought with him the sloop "John Adams," twenty guns, and steam sloop "Da- cota," six guns. He was subsequently in command

of the "Wabash." The forty-seven years of active service in the navy began to press heavily on him, and on Dec. 11, 1861, he was placed on the retired list as captain. On July 10, 1862, he was made com- modore on the retired list, and in 1867 rear-admiral. He died in Philadelphia, Feb. 12, 1868, aged sixty- nine years.

Commodore Pierce Crosby was born in Chester, Jan. 16, 1824, entering the navy June 5, 1838, as mid- shipman, and in 1844 he became a passed midship- man, and in that rank served with distinction in the Mexican war. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1853, and held that rank in 1861, when he was em- ployed in Chesapeake Bay and in the Sounds of North Carolina, being complimented by Gen. Butler for his conduct at the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark. In April, 1862, he was in command of the gunhoat "Pinola," and during the night of the 23d that vessel and the " Itasca" led the fleet when Farra- gnt determined to run by Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and broke through the chain-barrier stretched across the Mississippi at these forts. He was present at the capture of New Orleans, April 25, 1862, and when Farragut and his fleet ran the batteries at Vicksburg, June 30th, and returned July 15th, in the same year, Crosby, in command of his vessel, shared in the glory of that daring act. On Sept. 13, 1862, lie was pro- moted to captain, and during the year 1863-64 as fleet captain did effective service in command of the " Florida" and " Keystone State," North Atlantic Squadron. Oct. 3, 1864, he was promoted commo- dore, and in April, 1865, in command of the " Meta- comet," he was active in the dangerous services pre- ceding the capture of Mobile.

Rear Admiral Thatcher in his dispatches of April 12th to the Navy Department, said, "I am much in- dehted to Commodore Crosby, who has been untiring in freeing the Blakeley River of torpedoes, having suc- ceeded in removing one hundred and fifty,-a service demanding coolness, judgment, and perseverance." In the year 1872 he was in command of the frigate " Powhattan," and in 1877 was ordered to the navy- yard at League Island, retaining command there until 1881.

Commander De Haven Manley, son of Charles D. Manley, entered the United States navy Sept. 25, 1856, and rose step by step until he reached the rank of commander, April 5, 1874.

Capt. Henry Clay Cochrane was appointed by Pres- ident Lincoln second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and passed the examination Aug. 29, 1861, but his age precluded him from being commissioned as such immediately, hence he served as master's mate until March 10, 1863, when, having attained the required age, his appointment as lieutenant was confirmed hy the United States Senate. On Oct. 20, 1865, he was promoted first lieutenant. During the war he was in active service under Admirals Goldsborough, Dupont, Farragut, Porter, and Lee in the North and South

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Atlantic, Gulf, and Mississippi Squadrons, and at the bombardment of Port Royal, S. C., Nov. 7, 1871, was a division officer on the gunboat "Pembina." In 1880, Lieutenant Cochrane was promoted captain, and is now on the flagship " Lancaster" on a three years' cruise in the Mediterranean and visiting European stations.

THIRD ASSISTANT ENGINEERS U. S. NAVY.

Robert S. Taylor, com. Aug. 27, 1864 ; served on U. S. ateamer "Prim- rose :" die. July 5, 1865.

Martin L. Taylor, com. Sept. 6, 1864 ; served on U. S. steamer " Perri- winkle," monitor " Monadnock," and " Jacob Bell ;" dis. Sept. 22, 1865.

William F. Cutler, com. 1864; served on U. S. steamer " Juniper."

Thomas H. Thompson, com. 1664; served on U. S. steamer " Verbena." Thomas J. Reaney, com. Ang. 22, 1864; served on U. S. ateamer " Iron- aides" and " Seneca ;" dis. July 26, 1865.

William G. Vernon, com. 1864 ; servad ou U. S. steamer " Wyandank" and "Commodore Read."

Thomas Lees, com. Sept. 8, 1864; served on U. S. steamer " Wyan- dank," "Dragon," and " Aoicostia ;" dia. July 8, 1865.

James Brannon, com. 1864.

Samnel Anderson, com. 1864; assistant paymaster U. S. ateamer " Jacob Bell."

William Smead, engineer. William Coverdill, engineer.

Jobn P. Gartside, com. 1864; engineer department, U.S. ateamer " Iron- aidea."

Henry Pedlow, com. 1864; engineer department, U. S. steamer "Iron- sides."

J. O. Wilson, com. 1864; engineer department.

Jobn Wolf, com. 1864 ; engineer department.

James Stevensou, carpenter, frigate " Wabash."

Samuel Oglesby, com. April 27, 1864; served on " New Hampshire," and frigate " Wabaab ;" took part in engagement at Fort Fisher, wbich resulted in ite capture; trans, to gunboat " Eulaw," and disch. May 15, 1865.

William Geleton, enl. 1864.

Thomas Gillespie Cochrane, captain's clerk, U. S. steamer " Alabama." Herman Wolf, enl. 1864; engineer's department. Robert C. Rennie, quartermaster " Ironsidee." James Christie, quartermaster " Ironsidea." Edmund Pennell, messenger.

James Phillips, yeoman.

Drafts were made in several of the townships in Delaware County, and the last time the wheel was put in motion was April 7, 1865. The men who were drafted in Upper and Lower Chichester responded, and the greater part of them held for service. On April 13th, Secretary Stanton ordered all enlistments and drafting to be discontinued in the United States, hence on Monday, April 25th, the drafted men in Delaware County were ordered to return to their homes.

The war had terminated, and the North was in a tumult of exultation over the success that had at last crowned its efforts, the like of which bistory furnished no parallel. Hence it was to be expected that the attention of the nation should be centred at noon of April 14, 1865, on those shattered, fire-marked ruins in Charleston harbor, where Maj .- Gen. Anderson- in the presence of the survivors of his garrison, who on that day four years before had evacuated Fort Snmter-would with imposing ceremonies again un- furl over the broken masses of masonry the old flag,

which had been hauled down without dishonor. In Chester, on the afternoon of that day, the Invalid Corps and the soldiers in the United States hospital (now Crozer Theological Seminary), under command of Lieut. Campion, and headed by the Union Brass Band, marched through the streets of the ancient bor- ough, cheering and being cheered. From the town hall, over factories, workshops, stores, and dwellings, the American flag was displayed, while almost every building was draped with the national colors. Early in the evening the populace assembled in Market Square, where addresses were made by John M. Broomall and Rev. Messrs. George and Meredith, at the conclusion of which Professor Jackson gave a beautiful exhibi- tion of fire-works. At nine o'clock a general illu- mination of the town took place, and the streets were crowded with people, on foot and in carriages, moving from point to point to view the display.

While the inhabitants of many of the surrounding townships in Delaware County had come to Chester to rejoice over the long-hoped-for and glorious con- clusion of the civil war, at half-past nine o'clock that night, at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, during a pause in the play of "Our American Cousin," the report of a pistol was heard, and a deed had been wrought which, in a few short hours, should change the national rejoicing into public mourning and mis- givings. Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated.

The telegraphic operator in the town heard the alarming intelligence as it flashed over the wires to the press of the great cities, but the injunction of silence (of war time) kept him mute, and it was not until six o'clock the following morning (Saturday) that the news of the dreadful deed reached Chester. All business ceased, the industrial establishments suspended operation, and no business place was opened save that of the news agents, which was filled with people, jostling each other in their anxiety to secure the morning papers giving the particulars of the tragedy. By eight o'clock the death of the Presi- dent was confirmed, and the proprietors of dry-goods stores were compelled to open their places of business that the people might replace the tricolored hanging of the preceding day with sombre black. By ten o'clock all the buildings were draped in mourning. The like scene was enacted in every town and village in the county, for the people were stricken with grief for the great dead and with apprehension for the future. On Wednesday, when the funeral of the murdered President was in progress at Washington, all business was suspended and every mill in the county closed on that day, while at the same hour in all the sanctuaries services were held, and the bells of the churches were tolled in every steeple. At Chester the revenue cutter "William H. Seward," lying off the town, fired minute-guns. At Media the court-room was crowded, and religious services were held therein. The deep feeling of uncertainty and grief prevailing at that time will never be forgotten

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by those who were of sufficient age to recall that period in our history.

After the surrender of the Confederate armies the troops were mustered out, and the soldiers of Dela- ware County returned to their homes to resume the peaceful routine of life. This period had been looked forward to with apprehension, but the result showed one of the most remarkable features of that remark- able period,-the quiet absorption of a great army into the ranks of the people with hardly a ripple in the social realm.

List of West Point Graduates .- Since the estab- lishment of West Point the following persons ap- pointed from Delaware County have graduated from that institution :

Francis Lee, Chester, admitted Sept. 2, 1818 ; graduated second lieuten- ant, Twentieth Infantry, July 1, 1822.

William H. Price, Chester, admitted July 1, 1830; brevet second lieu- tenant, First Infantry, July, 1834.

Henry M. Black, graduated 1847 ; attached to Fourth Infantry, with rank of brevet second lieutenant.

David Porter Heap, Chester, admitted July 1, 1860; first lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, June 13, 1864.

Officers of United States Navy .- Delaware County has furnished a number of officers to the United States naval service besides those already mentioned, and the noted Porter family, to whom reference will be made elsewhere. On Oct. 28, 1844, Lieut, Ferdi- nand Piper, United States navy, a native of Chester, was lost in the bay of Pensacola. He had left the ship " Falmouth" that morning in a cutter, designing to bring supplies to the vessel. When about midway to the landing a sudden flaw of wind struck the boat, and before sail could be shortened she was overturned. All the men were encouraged by the good conduct and presence of mind of Lieut. Piper, and were cling- ing to the overturned boat, when a heavy sea washed Piper, Professor William S. Fox, and six of the seamen away and they were lost. The schooner "Otter" rescued the survivors that evening.

Midshipman James Anderson, son of Dr. Samuel Anderson, a promising officer of the navy, died in 1840 while on a visit to his father, then residing at Rockdale.

Lieut. Samuel Edwards, United States Navy, who had charge of the battery which made the first breach in the walls at Vera Cruz in the Mexican war, died March 23, 1861. He was a nephew of Hon. Samuel Edwards, of Chester, and his parents having died while he was a child he was reared by his uncle, who took just pride in the young man's rapid promotion. He died just at the eve of the war of 1861.

Edward Fayssoux Leiper, son of John C. Leiper, appointed to the naval school at Annapolis since the war, is the only person from Delaware County who has graduated there since Commander Manley, twenty years ago. He is now in temporary command of the " Arago" on South Atlantic coast survey service.

CHAPTER XVIII. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS.

WE have little or no information as to the criminal code which maintained among the early Swedish and Dutch settlers on the Delaware.1 The fragmentary

1 The first trial recorded on the Delaware was the following : " In the year 1645, November 25th, between teo and eleven o'clock, one Swea Wass, gunner, aet Fort Gottenburg on fire. Io a short time all was la- meatably burnt down, and not the least thing saved excepting the dairy. The people escaped naked and destitute. The winter immediately set io, bitterly cold; the river and all the creeks froze up, and nobody was able to get near us (because New Gottenburg is surrounded by water). The sharpness of the winter lasted until the middle of March, so that if some rye and cora bad not been unthreshed I, myself, and all the people with me on the island would have starved to death. But God maintained us with small quantities of provisions until the new harvest. By the sad accident the loss of the company, testified by the annexed roll, is four thousand riksdaler. The above-mentioned incendiary, Swen Wass, I have caused to be brought to court, and to be tried and sen- tenced ; so I have sent him home in irons, with the vessel, accompanied by the whole record concerniog him, submissively committing and re- ferring the execution of the verdict to the pleasure of Her Royal Maj- esty aod Right Honorable Company."- Report of Governor Printz for 1647, Penna. Magazine of History, vol. vii. p. 273.

L'uder the Dutch, the first instance of a criminal proceeding occurs in a letter from Alrichs, dated at New Amstel (New Castle), May 14, 1659, to Stuyvesant. He says, "In regard to the four men-servants of Cornelis Herperts de Jager, who established in the county near here a brick-kilo, and employed four persons at it, one of them, Peter - by name, has come from Fort Orange as a brick-maker, and was married to a woman who came from Amsterdam, and with him owed a large suwi to the city. He has committed wicked crimes of theft of small cattle, as sheep, also of the city'a weapona from the former enaigo of the citizens, and has stolen several other things, for which he was pub- licly flogged and banished this town or place, but allowed to do his work outside in the country to esra hie living and get out of his debts. This one has been the leader, and he stirred up the others under thie or that pretext. They have together taken away four good muskets and other goods belonging to their master, and thus run away to the Man- hataos." Alrichs desires Stuyvesant to arrest and return the men by " the first vessel" to New Amstel (Penna. Archives, local series, vol. vii. p. 561). William Beekman, April 28, 1660, writes to Stuyvesant that at " the laat court day" Oele Stille and he had a difficulty in re- gard to a fine imposed on the Swedish priest. On the 19th of August, 1659, and on the 7th of April, 1660, court was held at Christiana, at which Peter Mayer, who was charged with an assault and battery, did not appear ; was fined for his contempt ten guilders (Ib., 635). la 1661 there was a prison at Christiana (Ib., 655).

Certain it is that the first record we have of a capital conviction and execution on the Delaware is related in a letter from William Beekman to Stuyvesant, dated Oct. 24, 1662 (Penna. Archives, second series, vol. vii. p. 691). It appears from thie and other authorities that Alexander D'Hioojaesa (who held that part of the river from New Castle to Cape Henlopen in opposition to the authority of Governor Stuyvesant, claim- ing that he had been appointed Governor over that territory to look after the company's interest, under the will of Jacob Alrichs) ordered the prisoner to be tried. The circumstances are briefly these : A vessel was wrecked ou the coast, aod a Turk on her succeeded in gaining the land, where he wes taken by the Indians, who sold him to Peter Al- ricks, a resident of New Castle, who in turn sold him to an English planter in Maryland. The Turk, with several other servante, made his escape tu the Delaware, where he was pursued. He was subsequently captured, and while being taken up the river in a boat, at Bombay Hook attempted and succeeded in making his escape. Io doing so he wounded two of the men seriously and the third slightly. He was, however, again captured, taken to New Castle, and throwa into prison. D'Hido- jassa refused to deliver the man to his English master, who claimed him, but ordered him to be tried before Van Sweeringham, who sat as judge. The Turk was convicted of resisting and wounding hia captors, and was sentenced to be hung. Ou Suaday, Oct. 19, 1662, the mao was | executed at Lewistown, his head afterwards "cut off and placed on a i post or atake in the Horekill" (Penna. Archives, vol. vii. p. 728; Duke

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

records which have been preserved incidentally in correspondence and official reports do not enlighten us as to the manner of trial or the authority exercised by those holding the courts at that early day. Hence the most important criminal case which presents itself in our annals, if the proceedings can be desig- nated a trial, when the instructions given by Gov- ernor Lovelace and Council are considered, wherein the sentence is actually pronounced on the prisoner nearly two months before he was arraigned, is that of the "Long Finn." The circumstances of the case are briefly these: It was near the middle of the year 1669 that an adventurer, one Marcus Jacobson, alias John Brinckson, etc., but better known to the then inhabitants of the Delaware as the " Long Finn," be- cause of his lofty stature, had succeeded in imposing himself on the Swedes as the son of Konnigsmark, a

of York's Book of Laws, p. 459). The following account of the sedi- tions false Königsmark in New Sweden was translated by Professor G. B. Keeu (the original manuscript, date 1683, is preserved in the Royal Library at Stockholm), and published in Penn. Mag. of History, vol. vii. p. 219: " In Provust Acrelius's ' Beskrifning om de Swensku Tor- samlingars Tilstand uti Nya Swerige,' p. 123, is introduced what Pastor Radmau noted in the Wicaco Church-book about the rioter among the . Swedes, who called himself Kooigsmark. These are the particulars which I received from the oldest Swedes. This impostor was by birth & Swede, but, for some crime committed by him in England, he was sent to Maryland, to serve there as a slave for a number of years. He ran away from there, however, and came to the Swedes in New Sweden, who were then subject to the English government. Here he made the Swedes believe he was descended from a great and highly-honorable family in Sweden ; that his name was Königsmark ; that a Swedish fleet of war-ships lay outside of the hay, and were, as soon as they eu- tered, to take the land again from the English ; and that he was sent to eucourage the Swedes who lived here to shake off the foreign yoke, and to fall upon and slay the English as soon as they had heard that the Swedish fleet had arrived. A great mauy of the Swedes permitted themselves to be persuaded by this. They concealed the pretended Königsmark for a long time, so that no one else knew anything of him, supplying him with the best meat and drink they had, hy which means he fared very well. Moreover, they went to Philadelphia* and bought powder, balls, shot, lead, etc., to be ready at the first signal. Hereupon he caused the Swedes to be summoned to a supper, and after they had been drinking somewhat exhorted them to free themselves from the yoke, reminding them what they suffered from the English, and how the latter, partly by fraud and partly by force, had taken from them one large piece of land after another, and finally asked them whether they held allegiance to the king of Sweden or to the king of England. A part immediately declared themselves for the king of Sweden; but one of the most honorable of the Swedes, Peter Kock by name, said that as the country was English, and had heen surrendered by the king of Sweden to the crown of England, he deemed it just to hold with the king of England. Thereupon Kock ran out aud closed the door agaio, laying himself against it, that the so-called Königsmark might not slip out, and called for help to make him prisoner. The impostor labored with all his might to open the door. Kock endeavored to prevent him by hurting him in the hand with a knife. Notwithstanding, he effected his escape, wherefore Kock immediately hastened to give information to the English, who then made search for him, and in a short time touk him prisoner. The above-named Peter Kock then said to him, 'You rascal, tell me what is your name, for we can see well enough that you are oo booorable persun ?' The impostor then answered thut his true Dame WAS Marcus Jacobson. He proved, besides, to be so ignotant that he could neither read nor write. Thereupon he was branded and sent to Barbudoes, where he was sold as a slave. The Swedes who permitted themselves to he imposed upon by him were punished by the confisca- tion of half their property, land, cuttle, guods, clothes, etc."

* Thie, of course, ie a mistake. In 1669 Philadelphia had not heen located.

noted general of Sweden. Jacobson, it was alleged, was inciting the settlers of that nationality to rebel- lion against the English authority, with the design of re-establishing the Swedish power in the province. With him was associated a wealthy Finn, Henry Coleman, while Rev. Lawrence Lock, the former Swedish chaplain, was said to have "played the Trumpeter to the disorder," and Mrs. Pappegoya, the daughter of Governor Printz, was charged with intermeddling "in so unworthy a desigu." Governor Lovelace, Aug. 2, 1669, issued an order for the arrest of the Long Finn and his fellow-conspirators, accom- panying the order with instructions as to the manner in which the trial should be conducted. In accord- ance therewith Capt. Carry caused the arrest of the Long Finn, who was thrown into the fort at New Castle, in irons (in those days the irons were riveted on the limbs of a prisoner, and at West Chester, among the records in the commissioners' office, in the next century, are bills paid to blacksmiths for removing the fetters from culprits), while Henry Coleman, learning of his intended apprehension, abandoned his property, fled to the Indians, with whom he seemed to have had great influence, and is never more heard of. Dominie Lock and Mrs. Pap- pegoya gave security for their appearance to answer the charges against them when required. The com- missioners appointed by the Governor to try the case sat at New Castle, Dec. 6, 1669, and, as was to be expected, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against Jacobson, who was thereupon sentenced in accordance with the punishment prescribed by Council, the 18th of October previous, which was, "that the Long Finn deserves to die for the same, yet in regard that many others concerned with him in that insurrection might be involved in the same Premunire, if the rigor of the law should be extended, and amongst them divers simple and ignorant people, it is thought fit and or- dered that the said Long Finn shall be publicly and severely whipped and stigmatized or branded in the face with the letter R, with an inscription written in great letter and put upon his breast, that he receive that punishment for attempted rebellion, after which he be secured until he can be sent and sold to the Bar- badoes, or some other of those remote plantations." On Jan. 25, 1670, the Long Finn was placed on board the ship " Fort Albany," to be transported and sold to the Barbadoes, after which date nothing further respecting him is now known. His accomplices were sentenced to forfeit to the king one-half of their goods and chattels, while a small fine was imposed upon those of lesser note who had taken part in the rebel- lion. The case will always be an interesting one to the annalist, for therein is the first recorded trial under English procedure on the Delaware, in which a prisoner was formally indicted, arraigned, and a jury of twelve men impaneled, subject to challenge on the part of the prisoner, who are charged to render a verdict in accordance with the evidence.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 41

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