USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 27
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The literature of the Province, so far as the people generally were concerned, was very much restricted to religious publica- tions. These productions were standard works or controversial writings of the Society of Friends, published in England, and sometimes republished in Philadelphia. Such books were dis- tributed with a profuse liberality by the several monthly meetings among their members. Besides Epistles and Testi- monies concerning deceased members, few original works had been published in the Province.
Haverford Monthly Meeting had maintained a direct corres- pondence with the Yearly Meeting of Wales, and there is not wanting other proofs in the minutes of that meeting, that the attachment of the Welsh settlers for their native land was stronger than that which obtained among the English.
Ellis Pugh, a Welsh preacher of some eminence, at first settled in Radnor, but subsequently removed to Gwynedd, where he died in 1718. He paid a religious visit to his native land in 1707, and, upon his return the following year, "a concern came upon him" to write a book, "to direct the unlearned Britains of low degree, to know God and Christ, the Life eternal;" which he wrote for the most part during his last sickness.
Though Haverford and Gwynedd now constituted separate monthly meetings, they united in the serious concern of publish- ing this Welsh book, each meeting having appointed a committee
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1721.]
of twelve on the subject. Having been carefully examined and approved, it was formally recommended to " the overseers of the Press at Philadelphia." The approbation of this tribunal, after some delay, was secured, shortly after which the Welsh edition of the book was published under the authority of the quarterly meeting. This is probably the first work ever pub- lished in America for the especial benefit of the mother country, and perhaps the only one printed in the Welsh language. This book was published in the English language in 1727, having been translated by Rowland Ellis, and corrected by David Lloyd.1
Disputes in respect to the line between Philadelphia and Chester Counties, north of Radnor, commenced in 1720, and were continued for several years.
The road leading from Philadelphia to Conestogo, through Merion and Radnor, was confirmed as far as Thomas Moore's mill, on the Brandywine, by the Governor and Council ; but two roads having been laid out beyond the Brandywine, by order of the Chester Court, all orders for opening them were for the present superseded.
Two brothers, John and Edmund Cartlidge, who were born and brought up in what is now Upper Darby township, after the death of their father, removed to the neighbourhood of the Cones- togo, and became Indian traders. Unfortunately, these men became embroiled with a drunken Seneca Indian at some point west of the Susquehanna, and in some way the Indian lost his life. The brothers, and especially John Cartlidge, were accused of the homicide. News of this unpleasant event having reached the ears of the Governor and Council, they regarded it a matter of sufficient moment to require prompt investigation, and accordingly James Logan and Colonel French proceeded imme- diately to Conestogo, with the Sheriff of Chester County, arrested the parties, and, upon Indian testimony, brought the brothers to Philadelphia. John Cartlidge held a commission as Justice of the Peace for Chester County at the time, from which office he was immediately removed; and the Government felt it necessary to enter into long and expensive negotiations with the Five Nations, as an atonement for this serious injury and insult offered to their nation.2
This year, the Particular Meetings of Newtown, Goshen, and
1 A copy of each edition of this book is in the possession of the author.
2 The apprehension that the death of this Seneca Indian might ineite the Five Nations to make war upon the Province, induced the Governor and Council to prose- cute this affair mueh beyond its real merits. If the Indian lost his life by the hands of the Cartlidges, it was in self-defence. They never had a trial-in fact, no reliable evidence was brought against them. What beeame of John is not known to the author, but Edmund returned to the Conestogo, and maintained a respectable standing in society. He was a member of the first Grand Jury of Lancaster County.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1722.
Uwchlan were constituted a separate monthly meeting, to be called Goshen Monthly Meeting. In these meetings the Welsh Friends were largely in the ascendancy, and on that account there was a peculiar propriety in thus uniting them in one eecle- siastical community.
The first instance of a disownment of a member by the Society of Friends, within the limits of this County, for a failure to pay his honest debts, occurs in the early part of 1722. It must be observed, however, that it was the constant practice of the Society to extend relief to members who were brought into pecuniary difficulty through misfortune.
The unsettled line between Pennsylvania and Maryland was the source of considerable difficulty. The officers of Cecil County insisted upon collecting taxes in Nottingham and other border townships, and they even went so far as to make prisoners of Isaac Taylor and Elisha Gatchel, for surveying lands in that vicinity. These gentlemen were both magistrates of Chester County, the former being also a Representative in the Assembly.1
The public pound at Chester had been located west of the creek, but from the following minute extracted from the proceed- ings of the Court, it will appear that the most public situation in the borough was now secured for it:
"Upon application of some of the inhabitants of Chester for a pound in the said town of Chester, whereupon the court or- ders, that there be a Pound erected in the Market place in the borough of Chester, forty foot square, well fenced with posts and railings, and a good rack in the middle of sd pound, and that Richd Marsden be Keeper of the pound, To act, do, and perform according as the act makes mention &c."
A pound was also ordered for Aston at the same Court -- John Carter to be the keeper.
There were no less than three persons under sentence of death at this time in Chester gaol. Petitions were presented to the Governor and Council, asking that the execution of the sentence might be respited, until such time as the pleasure of the king could be known therein. This application was successful in re- spect to two of the prisoners, one of whom was a woman; but the third, William Battin, who had been convicted "of divers horrid complicated crimes," was ordered to be executed "and hung in Irons in the most public place, at such time as the Go- vernor shall appoint."
The earliest list of taxables of the County of Chester, that has come to the notice of the author, is contained in the regular assessment of the county, made in 1722, which is still on file in
1 Col. Rec iii. 212-214.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1722.]
the Commissioners' Office at West Chester. As the best means of showing the extent of the settlements that had been made at this carly period, this assessment has been copied entire, (omit- ting each person's tax), so far as relates to the townships em- braced within the limits of Delaware County ; including, how- ever, the whole of the townships of Birmingham and Thornbury. The rate was 3d. in the pound, and 9s. poll tax on each single freeman. (See Appendix, Note G.)
By making a proper allowance for the parts of Birming- ham and Thornbury not included in Delaware County, the tax- ables within its present limits at this early date, numbered about 500. As servants were not taxed, it will be safe to esti- mate six inhabitants to each taxable, making the population of the district now included in Delaware County, at this time, about 3000. As a general rule the assessment, or valuation, was at the rate of £20 per 100 acres of land, but there appears to have been a little variation in some of the townships. The whole amount of tax imposed within our county's limits was about £278 10s. ; equal to a little more than $700.
Beyond the limits of what is now Delaware County, this an- cient assessment embraced West Conestogoe township, contain- ing 64 taxables; East Conestogoe, 147; Peque "& part of & former District," 13; Tren y Dyfrin, 31; White-Land, 13; East- Town, 12; Willis-Town, 20; Ywchlan, 20; Charles-Town, 19; Nantmel, 18; Skoolkil, 27; West-Town, 9; Sadsbury, 20; East Nottingham, 42; Marlborough, 39; West Nottingham, 29; Kennet, 67; Goshen, 19; Bradford, 38; Caln, 33; New Gar- den, 94, and "the inhabitants adjacent, belonging to New Gar- den, 18,-making in the whole of Chester County, which then extended to the Susquehanna, the number of taxables 1345, and the population about 8,070.
The very small population of some of the least remote town- ships, as Westown and Eastown, was owing to the large tracts of land held in those townships by non-residents. The large extent of territory embraced in some of the most distant townships, bordering on the Susquehanna, will account for the relatively large number of taxables returned from that region.
The wide-spread reputation of Penn's government, for free- dom and religious toleration, had attracted settlers from different countries, and of different religious beliefs. A large proportion of these settled in the district now embraced in Lancaster County, while very many of the earliest settlers in Chester County, as it is now constituted, emigrated from that part of the original county of that name, out of which Delaware County was formed.
But little of local interest transpired in 1723. The act passed
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1724.
by the legislature authorizing the issue of bills of credit, and making the same current, would, of course, have the effect of giving, in some degree, a fictitious value to property that would be felt in every part of the Province. This was the first paper currency issued in Pennsylvania.1
An act was also passed in 1723, to reduce the rate of interest of money from eight to six per cent., which has continued to be the legal rate to the present time.
Among objects for which the Society of Friends of the county contributed money in 1723, was for the finishing of Shrews- bury (N. J.) Meeting-house, "for the accommodation of the Quarterly Meeting."
As a punishment for crimes, standing in the pillory has become more frequent than formerly. At the November term of the Chester Court, this year, a man was sentenced to be sold for three years, "to serve after the manner of a servant" for the payment of his gaol fees. Prisoners frequently petitioned to the Court for the privilege of being thus sold; from which it may be inferred that the jails of that day did not afford such com- fortable quarters for malefactors as the prisons of modern date.
The ancient, but substantial building, now occupied as a Town Hall in the borough of Chester, and which was used as a Court- house up to the time of the removal of the seat of justice to Media, was erected in 1724. The small addition to the rear of the building was erected at a much later date. An act was passed this year, "to enable trustees to sell the old court house and prison, belonging to the borough and county of Ches- ter." This sale was effected the following year, and the record shows, conclusively, that the "old court house" referred to was the one built about the year 1694, upon a lot purchased from John Hoskins, and for which a deed was executed by him to the county in 1697. The purchase money paid by the county was £8. The trustees sold the property to William Preston, of Phi- ladelphia, Mariner, for £27.2 The following extract, from the proceedings of the Court, shows that the new Court-house was, for a time, made the depository of the public records :
" At a Court of Private Sessions held at the House of John Hannum in Concord 15th of December 1724, Joseph Parker having petitioned this Court setting forth ye great danger ye Records of ye County lay in, as well by Casualities of fire, as other accidents which might happen, and refers ye same to our consideration to provide a place for keeping ye said Records in wt may be of greater security, whereupon ye Court upon mature
1 Two acts were passed this year-one authorizing the issue of £15,000, and the other £30,000. Proud ii. 173.
2 See Recorder's Office, Westchester, Book A, 190.
T
Drawn by C P Tholey
TOWN HALL AT CHESTER, BUILT 1724
Bowen & Co hth Philada
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1724.]
consideration of the same, allows ye peticon to be reasonable, & orders ye Clerk to present ye same before ye Commissioners & Assessors of ye same County in order that they may fit a room in ye new Court house for keeping ye sd Records in, & when pre- pared order ye sd Clerk to transmit all of ye said Records to ye place so appropriated accordingly, and not to be removed with- out ye Court's direction."!
It would be difficult now to see how any additional security against casualties by fire was given to the Records, by removing them to the Court-house.
It will not be uninteresting to the reader to know in what repute our new paper currency was held in the other provinces, and also to have some light on the kind of coin then in general circulation. The following extract from a letter from Elizabeth Webb, a very intelligent public Friend of Birmingham, while on a religious visit to Long Island, Rhode Island, &c., furnishes this information. The letter is dated at "Newport on Road Island ye 24th of ye 6th mo. 1724," and is addressed to Joseph Brinton of Thornbury. After treating of religious and social affairs, she speaks of having made arrangements for the purchase of a horse, and advises her friend how to proceed in case "he hath a mind for one." "Our paper money," she says, "will not do, and if thou get some changed, it should be for whole pieces of gold for that which is cut will not pass but at £6. an ounce, but the Pistole goes for £1. 88. 0d. and a Moidore at £2. 4s. and a half Pistole for 14s."
A bill was passed this year prescribing the forms of declara- tion of fidelity, affirmation, &c., entirely adapted to the con- scientious scruples of Quakers on the subject of taking oaths. Laws of a similar character had been passed, but they failed to meet with the royal sanction, and the people were consequently thrown back on the English act, which many could not sanction. Acts passed by the Council and Assembly usually had the force of laws until they were repealed by the home government, but this one was not to become a law until it had received the appro- bation of his majesty. This approbation, it will be seen hereafter, was not secured without the employment of money.
A complaint was made to the Assembly by the Indians re- siding about the Brandywine. They represent that after the sale of their lands to Wm. Penn, "he had re-conveyed to them a tract a mile in extent on each side of the creek, the deed for which, had been burned with the cabin in which it had been deposited ; and that the English had made settlements within this tract, had injured their corn, and by dams on the creek, had impeded the passage of fish." Though distrusting the
1 Quarter Sessions Ree. West Chester.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1725.
Indian title, their deputies were received with respect by the Assembly, and a promise made to them that their complaints should be inquired into and redressed.1
The difficulties and disputes about the circular line between New Castle and Chester Counties were again renewed this year, but no definite result was arrived at.
The Affirmation act, before referred to, at length received the royal confirmation. The following extracts from the Records of Haverford Monthly Meeting, at once show the great anxiety of Friends on the subject, and the appliances that were used in those days to secure the royal sanction to a most just and reasonable measure.2
3rd mo. 13. " This meeting refers to the consideration of ffrds -getting of money to pay for negotiating ye late affirmation act in Great Britain.'
6th mo. 12. "Lewis David, Thomas Thomas and Edward William are desired to take frd's contributions in Cash to defray the Charge of having the Royal assent to ye affirmation act & make report thereof to next meeting."
7th mo. 9. "The friends appointed to receive frds contribu- tions towards having ye Royall assent to ye Affirmation act is continued and advised to press friends to bring it in as soon as may be, in order to be paid to Richa Hill before ye yearly meeting."
10th mo. 9th. "Edwd Williams produced a receipt signed by Richª Hill for eight pounds eighteen shillings, received of him and Thomas Thomas towards negotiating the affirmation act, for account of this meeting."
Besides the above subscription, this monthly meeting sub- scribed this year £5 10s. 1d. towards building Horsham meeting- house, and £10 10s. 4d. towards the redemption of the wife and children of John Hanson of New England, who had been carried off by the Indians. Chester Monthly Meeting also contributed £10 4s. for this latter purpose.
The minutes of Haverford Monthly Meeting go to show that Sewell's History of the Quakers was now in press, and that the yearly meeting had subscribed for 500 copies. Fourteen of these copies were taken by Merion and Radnor meetings. The subscription for this work had been commenced in 1723.
An application was made to the Court, by an insolvent debtor
1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 194.
2 The confirmation of this act was received in the Province with so much satis- faction, that it gave rise to two addresses to the throne-one from the Assembly and the other from the Yearly Mecting. For the form of the Declaration of fidelity and abjuration, see Proud's Hist. Penna. ii. 191. The Affirmation was the same as that now in use, and that which has been adopted by nearly nine-tenths of the citizens of our county
237
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1727.]
in prison, "for relief from his imprisonment; and yt his creditors may accept his servitude as ye law directs, having no other way to satisfy the same." The Court directs that he shall serve his creditors four years; the persons accepting his servitude to pay the costs. But if the creditors do not accept of his servitude in the space of thirty days, then the prisoner is to be sold for four years. There was also a convict ordered to be sold for four years, for the payment of his fine, fees and expenses.
The government of the Province, in 1726, passed out of the hands of Governor Keith. His successor was Patrick Gordon, among whose carliest acts was the recommendation of the culture of silk, which he also urged in a letter to the Lords Commis- sioners of Trade.
The Commission of the Peace for Chester County, under the new administration, was filled up with the following names: John Wright, Richard Hayes, Henry Pearce, Nathaniel Newlin, John Wood, Henry Hayes, Isaac Taylor, Elisha Gatchell, Samuel Nutt, John Crosby, Abraham Emmett, Jun., Tho. Ried, George Assheton, Tobias Hendricks, Andrew Cornish, Mercer Brown, and Evan Lewis.
The Indians living on, or near a branch of the Brandywine, complained to the Governor and Council that their fishing was hindered by the erection of a mill and dam on that Creek, in New Castle County. It appears there was a law in the Lower Counties requiring this dam to be left open in the fishing season, which had not been complied with.
While the poor Indian was thus seeking redress from the provin- cial authorities for injuries inflicted upon his fishing interest, these authorities were imploring the home government for relief from impositions imposed upon theirs. The shad fisheries of the Dela- ware were largely productive beyond the home consumption, but an injudicious duty imposed by Parliament on salt, almost ex- cluded salted shad from commerce. New England had obtained an exemption from this duty, and the application of Pennsyl- vania for the same was entrusted to a Mr. Perry of London. This gentleman was at length successful; and so highly did the provincial authorities esteem his services, that they rewarded them with a donation of 150 guineas.1
News of the death of the King having been received, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was, on the 31st of August, pro- claimed King, by order of the Governor and Council. As a matter of course all Commissions were renewed. James James was added to the list of Justices for Chester County.
An addition to Providence meeting-house having been erected last year, a proposition was now made for furnishing the build- ing with a gallery " to accommodate large gatherings."
1 Gordon's Hist. Penna. 205.
238
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1728.
It is probable the first meeting-house in Caln was erected in 1727, as that meeting had selected ground for said purpose, "upon the farther side of the valley upon the mountain," and had secured the consent of Concord Monthly Meeting "to proceed."
In 1728, considerable difficulties occurred with the Indians in the more remote settlements, which were attended with the most serious and melancholy consequences. A small band of foreign Indians called Twetchtweys appeared in the neighborhood of " the Iron works at Mahanatawny," armed with guns, pistols, and swords, committing depredations and alarming the inhabit- ants. As the alarm spread, the danger became magnified, and the stories of Indian murders gained credence. Under appre- hensions of danger thus created, two brothers, John and Walter Winter, shot three Indians at a place called Cassea, one man and two women, and wounded two Indian girls. The news of this unfortunate event coming to the cars of the Governor, he caused the brothers, who were respectable farmers, to be arrested by the method of Hue and Cry, together with their neighbor, Morgan Herbert, as accessory to the murder. The prisoners were incarcerated in the noisome dungeon of the old prison at Chester, and there securely chained ; but had their trial without much delay before the Justices of the Supreme Court, who then held the Courts of Oyer and Terminer for the whole Province. They were all convicted; but Herbert, upon the petition of the people of the county, and more particularly upon that of "David Lloyd, Richd Hill and Jer. Langhorne, the Justices of the Court," was pardoned. The Justices assert in their petition, that "though in strictness of Law, Herbert's offence may be adjudged murder, yet it appeared to them, that he was not active in perpetrating thereof, but unhappily fell into ye company of those that com- mitted it." It seems strange that the law could be so strictly construed as to convert a misfortune into a crime. The two Winters were executed ; but the facts that have come down to us would warrant the belief, that in committing the homicide they acted upon the belief that the Indians were actually engaged in war against the whites.1
1 Col. Rec. iii. 327, &c. Penn. Arch. i. 218, &c. For the trial, see Docket of the Supreme Court, in the office of the Prothonatory, at Media, from which the following record of the trial of the Winters is extracted :-
" Chester ss.
At a Court of Oyer & Terminer & Gaol Delivery held at Chester for ye County of Chester the 19th day of June 1728.
Before DAVID LLOYD, RICHD. HILL, Esqrs 3d
JEREMIAH LANGHORNE,
Dom. Rex. Who were Indicted for murdering an Indian Woman for which Jno. Winter & ( they were arraigned, and pleaded not guilty, and for their tryal put themselves upon God & ye country, and the Petty Jury being Walter Winter called, and appeared, to wit, Henry Hays, George Ashbridge, Wil- liam Horne, Peter Worrall, George Wood, Richd Jones, Abraham Lewis, Benjamin Clift, John Davis, Tho. Vernon, John Tomkins & Evan Howell, [who] upon their re-
239
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1729.]
On account of " several indecencies having been used towards the members of Assembly attending the service of the country in Philadelphia, by rude and disorderly persons," a proposition was made to change the place of meeting, and Chester was desig- nated as the most suitable place. The Governor suggested a continuance of the sittings of the Assembly for some time at Philadelphia, but that if upon further experience the members continued of the same sentiment, he and the Council agreed that they should adjourn to Chester. This threat to remove the seat of Government no doubt had the effect of securing the members from any further indignities, and prevented Chester from being a second time the capital of Pennsylvania.
Early in 1729, Lancaster was organized as a County, without any specified boundary, except the line that separated it from Chester County. This line was run by John Taylor, aided by eleven Commissioners. The name of Lancaster for the new County was suggested by John Wright, one of the Commis- sioners, who had emigrated from Lancashire, England, in 1714, and settled in Chester, but had removed to Columbia in 1726.2
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