USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 15
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The Records of Upland Court also furnish some evidence that education of children was not wholly neglected. In the case of Edmund Draufton, plaintiff vs. Dunck Williams, deft.
" The Plt demands of this Deft 200 Gilders for teaching this Defts children to Read one Yeare."
"The Cort haueing heard the debates of both parties as alsoe ye attestation of ye witnesses, Doe grant judgmt agst ye Deft for 200 gilders wth ye Costs."
"Richard Duckett sworne in Court declares that hee was
1 Rec. Upland Court, 121.
2 Haz. Ann. 451.
3 New Castle Rec. Book A. 283.
4 Fly is the Swedish word sometimes used for marsh.
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prsent at ye makeing of ye bargaine, and did heare that ye agreemt was that Edmund draufton should Teach Dunkes chil- dren to Read in ye bybell, & if hee could doe itt in a yeare or a halfe yeare or a quart", then hee was to haue 200 gilders."1
Edmund Draufton is the earliest schoolmaster within the ju- risdiction of Upland Court of which any account has been pre- served. The location of his school is not certainly known.2
The "House of Defence," appears to have been built on the private property of Neels Laersen. At the first Court held this year he was ordered "to make or leaue a lane or street from Upland creeke to ye : house of defence or Country house," or in default to be fined at the discretion of the Court. The appellation "Country house," sufficiently indicates the uses to which the "House of Defence" was now appropriated. We have seen that its completion was urged in order that the Courts might be held there, and it is probable that it was used as a place for the transaction of public business generally. For what- ever other purpose the House of Defence may have been used, it was certainly the first Court house within our limits.
The attention of the New Castle Court was frequently occu- pied with church disputes and differences. The following is the most remarkable instance of the interference of the Upland Court in ecclesiastical affairs :
"It being Represented to ye Court by the Church Wardens of Tinnagcong and Wicaco Churches that the fences about ye Church yards, and other Church buildings are mutch out of re- pair, and that some of the People, members of ye sª Churches are neglective to make the same Up etc: The Cort haueing taken ye. premises into Consideracon, doe find itt necessary to order, au- thorize & Impower, and doe by these p'sents order, authorize & Impower the Respective members of ye sª Churches, from tyme to tyme, and att all tymes when itt shall bee found necessary, to build, make good and keepe in Repair the sd Church yard fences, as also the Church and other the appurtenances thereof, and if any of the sd members upon warning doe proove neglective In the doeing of their proportion to the same, They and each of them to forfeit fifty gilders for each such neglect, to bee Levyed out of their goods and Chattels Lands and Tenements."3
It has been alleged that Richard Buffington, the first male child born of English parents in Pennsylvania, was born at
1 Rec. Upland Court, 131.
2 As early as 1667 a patent was granted by Gov. Richard Nichols to Dunkin Wil- liams and nine others for a traet of land " known by the name of Passayunk," contain- ing 100 aeres, and located within the bounds of the old township of Passayunk, now in the eity of Philadelphia, and as Dunk Williams is a tyduble within the district that ineluded this grant, it is most reasonable to conclude that this primitive school was lo- cated at Passayunk. See Patent Book A. i. 329, Sur .- Gen. office, Harrisburg.
3 Rec. Upland Court, 152.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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Chester this year. This event was celebrated by his father, Richard Buffington, in the year 1739, on the anniversary of his 85th birth-day, by assembling all his descendants, who numbered 115, at his house in Chester; the first born, Richard, in the 60th year of his age, being among the number.1
On the 15th of December, Richard Noble was commissioned Surveyor of Upland in the place of Walter Wharton, deceased, who had held the office for both New Castle and Upland counties.
On the 28th of May, 1680, Governor Andros issued a new commission to "M" Otto Ernest Coch, Mr Israel Helm, Mr Henry Jones, Mr Lawsa Cock, and M' George Brown to bee Justices of ye Peace in ye Jurisdiction of Upland Court or County, in Delo- war River & dependencies." It will be perceived that the num- ber of Justices is reduced from six to five-that two Englishmen have been substituted in the place of two Swedes, and that of the old bench only two Justices have been retained. Though it is not known that any jealousy existed between the Swedes and English, the number of Englishmen who had settled on the West side of the river, made it necessary that they should be repre- sented on the bench. As nearly as can be ascertained, the places of residence of the Justices were as follows :- Israel Helm, at Up- land; Otto Ernest Coch, at Tinicum; Henry Jones, at or near Wicaco; Lawrence Cock, at Moyamensing, and George Brown, nearly opposite to Trenton. As the Duke of York, about this time, upon the judgment of Sir William Jones, yielded his rights to the government of West Jersey, the jurisdiction of the new Justices did not extend to the East side of the river. They held their first Court at Upland on the 8th of June, and among other things ordered a poll tax of one scipple of wheat, or 5 gilders to be levied, "for defraying ye charges of this Court's sitting," to be brought unto Justice Otto Ernest, att Tinnagcong Island **. "2
The Justices also assumed the authority of removing the seat of justice from Upland. They say "that in regard that Upland creeke where ye Court hitherto has sate, is att ye lower end of ye County, The Court therefore for ye most Ease of ye people, have thought fitt for ye future to sitt and meet att ye towne of Kingsesse in ye Schuylkills."3 It does not appear that this first removal of our seat of justice met with any serious opposition from the inhabitants of Upland or its vicinity.
The first Court was held at the new seat of justice, on the 13th
1 Watson's Ann. i. 512.
2 Rec. Upland Court, 170.
3 The " Towne of Kingsesse" was located below the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, and East of the Island road, in the late township of Kingsessing. The immediate vicinity of the Swedes mill has been assigned as the location of this towne, but this was not situated " in ye Schuylkills." A comparison of Holme's map with p. 174 of the Upland Court Record, and also with Jonas Neelson's Will, (Reg. Office, Phila., Book A. No. 94) will be satisfactory as respects the location of this "towne."
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of October. If the increased amount of law business, and the character of a considerable portion of it resulted from the re- moval of the Court, the Justices gained but little by the change. Among the cases tried, were three for "Slaunder and defamation."
For the due preserving "of ye peace of or Souerayne Lord ye King," &c., the Court found it necessary to appoint a con- stable "to officiate between the Schuylkill and Nieshambenies kill." The Court also found it necessary to appoint two " viewers of ye Highwayes & roads & fences," who resided in the same district. There was one jury trial at this Court, but the names of the jurors are not given. The Court did allow " of ye jury's verdict," and passed judgment accordingly.
No other Court was held till March, 1681, when nothing of importance was transacted. At the Court held in the following June, "Justice Otto Ernest Coch acquaints the Court, that hee has bought and paid of ye Indian proprietors a certaine swampy or marshy Island called by ye Indians quistconk Lying att the upper End of Tinnachkonk Island in ye river opposit andrews Boones creek ; and desires ye Corts approbation. The Cort hauing well informed themselves about ye p"mises, doe allow thereof."1
There was also a jury of seven men empanneled at this Court, viz .: James Sauderlins, Will: Boyles, John Boeyar, harmen Ennis, Will: orian, andries petress and oele raesen.
The Dutch clergyman at Wicaco, " Magist" Jacobus fabritius," " not finding his dues regularly paid," upon application to the Court, obtained an order, "that ye church wardens of the pe- ticonrts church doe take care that Every one of those as haue signed and promised towards his maintaynance, doe pay him ye sumes promised, upon payne of Execution agst ye defective."2 This Magister did well to make sure of his pay in time. The advent of a new Government was at hand, in which such claims could not be viewed with much favor.
Roads and highways are frequently mentioned in the pro- ceedings of the Upland and New Castle Courts, but it is not to be supposed that these ways, at this early day, were used for wheeled vehicles of any kind. The usual mode of travelling was either by water or on horseback; but the roads, such as they were, required some repairs, and hence the appointment of overseers. No taxes were laid, but those who refused to work on the highways were subjected to a fine. This practice con- tinned for many years under Penn's Government. The imposi- tion of a fine of 25 gilders, for neglecting to work on the roads, was among the last acts of the Upland Court under the Duke's Government.
1 Rec. Upland Court, 190. This island is Hog Island of the present day.
2 Rec. Upland Court, 191.
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During the year 1680, William Penn had been perseveringly, but successfully negotiating with King Charles the Second and his ministers, for a grant of the territory that now constitutes our great Commonwealth. The only European settlements comprised within its limits, were included in Upland county, and were subject to the jurisdiction of Upland Court. Though Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, was aware of every step taken by Penn to secure his grant, and, through his agents, in- terposed objections, it is not probable that the people in- cluded within the limits of the embryo Province, had the faintest idea that they were about to be transferred from the iron rule of the unscrupulous Duke of York, to the mild and peaceful Govern- ment of the Quaker proprietor. The patent to Penn was exe- cuted on the 4th of March, 1681, while the last Upland Court, under the Duke of York, adjourned on the 14th of June, " till ye 2ª Teusday of ye month of September,"-the very last act of the Judges being the appointment of a Surveyor and Overseer of the Highways from Poetquessing creek to the Falls of the Delaware, (Trenton,) the furthest point to which settlements had then been extended.
Information of the grant to William Penn must have been communicated officially to the Government at New York very shortly after the adjournment of the last session of the Upland Court. Governor Andros being absent, the King's letter on the subject, addressed to the inhabitants within the limits of the grant, was laid before Anthony Broekholl, the Commander, and his Council, no doubt, by William Markham, who, at the same time, submitted his commission from William Penn to be his Deputy Governor of the Province. On the 21st of June, the Commander and Council addressed a letter "To ye severall Justices of ye Peace, magistraets and other officers inhabitting wthin ye bounds and limits" of the grant to Penn, notifying them of the change in their Government, which letter was sent by Col. Markham, who, no doubt, within a few days after the date of the letter, reached his Government, and entered upon the duties of his office. This letter is the last entry made in the book containing the Record of the Upland Court.
Before parting with this record, which throws so much light on the history of the time during which it was made, and from which I have drawn so liberally, it will be necessary to make some general observations.
The territorial jurisdiction of the Court, it will have been ob- served, was very extensive. Except the provisional line that separated it from New Castle County, its jurisdiction at first extended to the last approaches that civilization had made on the home of the savage. Subsequently its jurisdiction was
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limited to the west side of the Delaware. The earliest notice of a Court at Upland, is on the 18th of August, 1672. Evidence of the existence of Records of an earlier date than those which have come down to us, is found in these Records themselves. These commence on the 14th of November, 1676, and end at the time just mentioned. When a Court was first established at Upland cannot now be ascertained. It was, in all probability, as early as the establishment of English authority on the river, and may have been earlier. If but one Court was at first established by the English, its probable location was at New Castle. Upon the establishment of two, the natural location of one of them would be Upland. At the time our Record commences, it was one of three Courts on the river-" one at New Castle, one above at Uplands, another below at the Whorekill ;" the latter evidently being of recent establishment. The Court established at New Castle was the most important, being held monthly ; the others were to be held quarterly, "or oftener if ocasion ;" but that of Upland was really held less frequently.
These Courts possessed both criminal and civil jurisdiction. In criminal matters their powers were about equal to those of our Courts of Quarter Sessions, while in civil cases not involving more than £20, the judgment of each Court was final. In cases involving a larger amount, an appeal could be taken to the Court of Assizes of New York, and so of crimes of the higher grades. Parties could demand a trial by jury, but in the Upland Court this privilege was only claimed in three or four instances during the nearly five years that its Records have been preserved, and in one of these instances the verdict of the jury was wholly dis- regarded by the Court. By the "Duke's Lawes," no jury could " exceed the number seaven nor be under six, unless in special causes upon life and death, the Justices shall think fitt to appoint twelve." This will account for only seven men being empan- neled in one of the cases where the jurors' names are given in the Record. Except in cases of life and death, the major part of the jury, when agreed, could give in a verdict, "the minor being concluded by the major without any allowance of any pro- test by any of them to the contrary."1
In Equity matters the Court of Upland exercised jurisdiction. It also made local regulations, which in these days would have required an Act of the Legislature. The Justices, either as a Court or a Board, performed all the duties that are now per- formed by County Commissioners, Directors of the Poor, and Auditors. The Court granted applications for taking up land, received returns of surveys, and had acknowledgments of trans- fers of real estate between parties made before it. It regulated
1 Duke's laws, N. Y. Hist. Col. i. 358.
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1681.]
the affairs of the Church, and exercised a general supervision over the various concerns of the body politic-such as the repairs of highways, the maintenance of fences, the sale of the time of servants, and even to the recording of the ear marks of cattle. Besides the Court, the Sheriff and Surveyor, the govern- ment possessed no agent charged with the performance of civil duties within the County of Upland.1
A legal gentleman who has carefully examined the Record of the Upland Court, remarks " that the forms of proceeding were of a character no less primitive and incongruous than the juris- diction of the Court, partaking rather of the nature of suits before an ordinary Justice of the Peace than those of a Court of Record. The 'Instructions' directed 'all writts, warrants, and proceedings at Lawe to be in his majesty's name.' A declara- tion, or informal statement of the cause of action seems to have been required, and a rule was adopted directing it to be entered at least one day before the Court met. Although the technical names of actions were used in many cases, such as action on the case, slander, &e., no actual division of actions was known, these names having probably been taken from 'ye Lawe Booke' re- ferred to occasionally. There does not, in fact, seem to have been any clearly drawn distinction between civil and criminal cases ; a proceeding exclusively civil in its character frequently resulting in a judgment, partially at least, appropriate to a criminal case. In short, the whole method of practice was rather a dispensation of justice, as the ideas of it existed in the heads, and was tempered by the hearts of the Judges, than the admin- istration of any positive law, written or unwritten."
Offences, criminal in their nature, were usually punished by the imposition of a fine ; the want of a jail precluded imprison- ment. Corporal punishment by whipping, was, in a few in- stances, resorted to by the Court at New Castle, but it forms no part of any sentence of the Court of Upland contained in the Record. But this Record has been mutilated by cutting out two leaves ; and as the minutes of the Court next following that of which the Record is thus defective, contains a bill of costs against parties of bad repute, in which there is a charge of 101 gilders " for payment of the Indians that whipt, etc.," it may be inferred that corporal punishment was resorted to in one single instance, and that Indians were employed in its infliction. In this view of the matter, it is not difficult to account for the mutilation of the Record.
The fines imposed were sometimes remitted by the Court. This was especially the case when one of the Justices had an
1 The Commander sometimes sat with the Justices: Supervisors and Constables were appointed by the Court.
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interest in the matter. In one instance, a fine of 1000 gilders was thus remitted. An open acknowledgment in Court of the offence committed, or the asking of forgiveness from the offended party, sometimes constituted a part or the whole of a sentence.
The Justices were uneducated, but well-meaning men. A com- mendable desire to maintain the dignity of the positions they occupied had some little influence upon their acts. Otherwise, the most careful scrutiny of the Records will show that they acted with the strictest regard to justice and the preservation of the public morals.
This Record, and that of New Castle Court, give us a good idea of the condition of our people in these early times, socially and otherwise.
Common labor, per day, was worth from 50 styvers to 4 gil- ders, according to the season. Wheat was worth 5 gilders, rye and barley 4, and Indian corn 3 per seipple. Tobacco or pork was worth 8 styvers per lb., and bacon double as much. In 1677, Newcastle Court ordered " that the gilder pay should be recond agst Tobbe in Maryland at 6 styvrs pr lb." A cow was appraised at 150 gilders, and other cattle at rather less prices.
It was the practice of the Swedes to erect their dwellings immediately on the margin of the river or tide water creeks. Up to this time, very few if any houses had been erected in any other situations,-the few English settlers following the example of the Swedes.
With the recent accession of English Friends from New Jersey, the entire population of Upland County could not have exceeded five hundred, at the arrival of Governor Markham; of these, less than one-third resided within the territorial limits of Delaware County.
It has generally been supposed that Col. Markham was accom- panied to Pennsylvania by emigrants; and Proud, in his History of Pennsylvania,1 leaves it to be inferred that this was the case, and that he did not arrive till near the close of the year. His commission as Deputy Governor, first published in Hazard's Annals,2 is dated on the 10th of April 1681, and we find it was laid before the government at New York, previously to the 21st of June following. Col. Markham doubtless proceeded directly to his government, and entered upon the responsible duties with which he had been entrusted. He could have made but little delay ; for we find that on the 13th of September,-the very day to which the old Upland Court had adjourned,-a newly orga- nized Court for Upland County was sitting, and transacting
1 I. p. 194.
2 See p. 503. Mr. Hazard unexpectedly found this commission among the Records of the Secretary of State's office at Boston.
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business, composed of Justices, Sheriff, and Clerk, holding their appointments under him; and on the 30th of November the Deputy Governor himself presiding over the same court.1
Governor Markham was the bearer of a letter, dated two days earlier than his commission, from William Penn, " for the inhab- itants of Pennsylvania," which he was directed to read. In this letter the proprietor promises his people that they shall be governed by laws of their own making; that he will not usurp the rights of any, nor oppress his person; and in short, that he would heartily comply with whatever sober and free men could reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own happiness. This letter is in the well-known hand of William Penn.2
The commission to Col. Markham empowers him " to call a council, and that to consist of nine, he presiding." In pursuance of this authority, he selected for that important trust Robert Wade, Morgan Drewet, Wm. Woodmanson, William Marriner, Thomas Ffairman, James Sandelandes, Will. Clayton, Otto Ernest Koch and Lacy Cock. Unfortunately, no part of the record of the doings of this council has come down to us, except their attestation, in which they say, " wee do hereby bind ourselves by our hands and seales, that wee neither act nor advise, nor con- sent, unto anything that shall not be according to our own con- sciences the best for ye true and well Government of the sd Pro- vince, and Likewise to keep secret all ye votes and acts of us ye sd Councell unless such as by the General Consent of us are to be Published."3 This attestation is " Dated at Vpland ye third day of August 1681," the day on which a government was first established for the province of Pennsylvania. Upland was un- doubtedly the seat of that government.
These gentlemen councillors omitted to append their "seales" to their signatures, and two of them did not write their own names.
Colonel Markham also bore a letter from the King to Lord Baltimore, apprising him of the grant of Pennsylvania to Penn. Being authorized by his commission " to settle bounds" between the Proprietary and his neighbors; and as it is said the King's letter required both parties to adjust boundaries,4an interview was brought about between Lord Baltimore and Markham at Upland. By an astronomical observation made during this interview, it was ascertained that even Upland itself was twelve miles south of the parallel of 40 degrees, which indicated the southern
1 The early records of this Court, which had become much worn, and were difficult to decipher, have been carefully copied, and are now preserved in the office of the Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, at West Chester.
2 Haz. Reg. i. 377.
3 Penna. Archives, i. 37.
4 Haz. Ann. 505, who quotes Chalmers 657, and McMahon's Maryland.
9
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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boundary of Pennsylvania. This discovery terminated the con- ference, and was the prelude to the protracted controversy between Penn and Lord Baltimore and their descendants, which at length resulted in the line of Mason and Dixon-a line, that for its notoriety has been compared by a late writer to the Equator.1
This discovery, it is supposed, was communicated to William Penn, and he having been an applicant to the Duke of York for a grant of Newcastle and the settlements below on the Delaware, was thereby induced to press his application more strenuously, under the apprehension that he might loose the whole peninsula, in case of failure. On the 20th of August of the following year, Penn obtained from the Duke a release of all claim to the terri- tory embraced within the limits of his patent, and, subsequently, a release of the territory now constituting the State of Dela- ware.2
With the royal charter, Penn published in England some account of his newly acquired Province, with valuable sugges- tions and information necessary for persons disposed to become colonists under him. This paper is drawn up with much care and truthfulness. Much of it is taken up in demonstrating the importance of plantations or colonies to the mother country. The description of the Province is brief, and by no means ex- aggerated; valuable directions are given to those who determine to emigrate, and he concludes with a desire to all who may de- termine to go to those parts, "to consider seriously the premises, as well as the present inconveniences, as future ease and plenty, that none may move rashly, or from fickle, but solid mind, having above all things an eye to the providence of God in the disposal of themselves."3
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