History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 16

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc > Part 16

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At a meeting held in Philadelphia on the 18th of June, 1774, at which nearly 8,000 people were convened, it was decided that a Continental Congress ought to be held, and appointed a committee of correspondence to communi- cate with similar committees in the several counties of Pennsylvania and in the several colonies. On the 15th of July, 1774, delegates from all the counties, summoned by this committee, assembled in Philadelphia, and declared that there existed an absolute necessity for a Colonial Congress. They accordingly recommended that the Assembly appoint delegates to euch a Congress to represent Pennsylvania, and Joseph Galloway, Samuel Rhoads, George Ross, Edward Biddle, John Dickinson, Charles Humphries and Thomas Mifflin were appointed.

On the 4th of September, 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was called to preside, and Charles Thomson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed Secretary. It was resolved that no more goods be imported from England, and that unless a pacification was effected previously, no more Colonial produce of the soil be exported thither after September 10, 1775. A declaration of rights was adopted, and addresses to the King, the people of Great Britain, and of British America were agreed to, after which the Congress adjourned to meet again on the 10th of May, 1775.

In January, 1775, another meeting of the county delegates was held in Philadelphia, at which the action of the Colonial Congress was approved, and while a restoration of harmony with the mother country was desired, yet if the arbitiary acts of Parliament were persisted in, they would at every hazard defend the "rights and liberties of America." The delegates appointed to

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represent the colony in the Second Congress were Mifflin, Humphries, Biddle, Dickinson, Morton, Franklin, Wilson and Willing.

The government of Great Britain had determined with a strong hand to compel obedience to its behests. On the 19th of April, 1775, was fought the battle of Lexington, and the crimson fountain was opened. That blow was felt alike through all the colonies. The cause of one was the cause of all. A public meeting was held in Philadelphia, at which it was resolved to organize military companies in all the counties. The Assembly heartily seconded these views, and engaged to provide for the pay of the militia while in service. The Second Congress, which met in May, provided for organizing a continental army, fixing the quota for Pennsylvania at 4,300 men. The Assembly adopted the recommendation of Congress, provided for arming, disciplining and pay- ing the militia, recommended the organizing minutemen for service in an emergency, made appropriations for the defense of the city, and offered a pre- mium on the production of salt peter. Complications hourly thickened. Ticon- deroga was captured on the 10th of May, and the battle of Bunker Hill was fought on the 17th of June. On the 15th of June, George Washington was appointed Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, supported by four Major Generals and eight Brigadiers.

The royal Governors were now an incumbrance greatly in the way of the popular movement, as were also the Assemblies where they refused to represent the popular will. Accordingly, Congress recommended that the several col- onies should adopt such government as should " best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in general." This meant that each colony should set up a government for itself independent of the Crown. Accordingly, a public meeting was held in Philadelphia, at which it was resolved that the present Assembly is " not competent to the pres- ent exigencies of affairs," and that a new form of government ought to be adopted as recommended by Congress. The city committee of correspondence called on the county committees to secure the election of delegates to a colonial meeting for the purpose of considering this subject. On the 18th of June, the meeting was held in Philadelphia, and was organized by electing Thomas Mckean President. It resolved to call a convention to frame a new con- stitution, provided the legal forms to be observed. and issued an address to the people.

Having thus by frequent argumentation grown familiar with the declara- tion of the inherent rights of every citizen, and with flatly declaring to the government of Great Britain that it had no right to pursue this policy or that, and the several States having been recommended to absolve themselves from allegience to the royal governments, and set up independent colonial govern- ments of their own, it was a natural inference, and but a step further, to de- clare the colonies entirely independent of the British Government, and to or- ganize for themselves a general continental government to hold the place of King and Parliament. The idea of independence had been seriously proposed, and several Colonial Assemblies had passed resolutions strongly recommending it. And yet there were those of age and experience who had supported independ- ent principles in the stages of argumentation, before action was demanded, when they approached the brink of the fatal chasm, and had to decide whether to take the leap, hesitated. There were those in the Assembly of Pennsylvania who were reluctant to advise independence; but the majority voted to recommend its delegates to unite with the other colonies for the com- mon good. The convention which had provided for holding a meeting of del- egates to frame a new constitution, voted in favor of independence, and au- thorized the raising of 6,000 militia.

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On the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced in Congress the proposition that, "the United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." It was impossible to mistake or misinterpret the meaning of this language. The issue was fairly made up. It was warmly discussed. John Dickinson, one of the Pennsylvania delegates, and one who had been foremost in speak- ing and writing on the popular side, was not ready to cut off all hope of rec- onciliation, and' depicted the disorganized condition in which the colonies would be left if the power and protection of Britain were thus suddenly re- moved. The vote upon the resolution was taken on the 2d of July, and re- sulted in the affirmative vote of all the States except Pennsylvania and Delaware, the delegates from these States being divided. A committee con- sisting of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston and Sherman had been, some time previous, appointed to draw a formal statement of the Declaration, and the reasons "out of a decent respect to the opinions of mankind," which led to so important an act. The work was intrusted to a sub-committee consisting of Adams and Jefferson, and its composition was the work of Mr. Jefferson, though many of the ideas, and even the forms of expression, had been used again and again in the previous resolutions and pronunciamentoes of the Colonial Assem-

blies and public meetings. It had been reported on the 28th of June, and was sharply considered in all its parts, many verbal alterations having been made in the committee of five; but after the passage of the preliminary resolution, the result was a foregone conclusion, and on the 4th of July it was finally adopted and proclaimed to the world. Of the Pennsylvania delegation, Franklin, Wilson and Morton voted for it, and Willing and Humphrey against, Dickin- son being absent. The colonial convention of Pennsylvania, being in session at the time, on receiving intelligence that a majority of its delegates in Con- gress had voted against the preliminary resolution, named a new delegation, omitting the names of Dickinson, Willing and Humphrey, and adding others which made it thus constituted-Franklin, Wilson, Morton, Morris, Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Rose. An engrossed copy of the Declaration was made, which was signed by all the members on the 2d of August following, on which are found the names from Pennsylvania above recited.

The convention for framing a new constitution for the colony met on the 15th of July, and was organized by electing Franklin President, and on the 28th of September completed its labors, having framed a new organic law and made all necessary provisions for putting it into operation. In the mean- time the old proprietary Assembly adjourned on the 14th of June to the 26th of August. But a quorum failed to appear, and an adjournment was had to the 23d of September, when some routine business was attended to, chiefly providing for the payment of salaries and necessary bills, and on the 28th of September, after a stormy existence of nearly a century, this Assembly, the creature of Penn, adjourned never to meet again. With the ending of the As- sembly ended the power of Gov. Penn. It is a singular circumstance, much noted by the believers in signs, that on the day of his arrival in America, which was Sunday, the earth in that locality was rocked by an earthquake, which was interpreted as an evil omen to his administration. He married the daughter of William Allen, Chief Justice of the colony, and, though at times falling under suspicion of favoring the royal cause, yet, as was believed, not with reason, he remained a quiet spectator of the great struggle, living at his country seat in Bucks County, where he died in February, 1795.

The titles of the proprietors to landed estates were suspended by the action

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of the convention, and on the 27th of November, 1779, the Legislature passed an act vesting these estates in the commonwealth, but paying the proprietors a gratuity of £130,000, " in remembrance of the enterprising spirit of the Founder." This act did not touch the private estates of the proprietors, nor the tenths of manors. The British Government, in 1790, in consideration of the fact that it had been unable to vindicate its authority over the colony, and afford protection to the proprietors in the enjoyment of their chartered rights, voted an annuity of £4,000 to the heirs and descendants of Penn. This annuity has been regularly paid to the present time, 1884.

CHAPTER XII.

THOMAS WHARTON, JR., 1777-78-GEORGE BRYAN, 1778-JOSEPH REED, 1778-81- WILLIAM MOORE, 1781-82-JOHN DICKINSON, 1782-85-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1785-88.

T HE convention which framed the constitution appointed a Committee of Safety, consisting of twenty-five members, to whom was intrusted the government of the colony until the proposed constitution should be framed and put in operation. Thomas Rittenhouse was chosen President of this body, who was consequently in effect Governor. The new constitution, which was unanimously adopted on the 28th of September, was to take effect from its passage. It provided for an Assembly to be elected annually; a Supreme Ex- ecutive Council of twelve members to be elected for a term of three years; As- semblymen to be eligible but four years out of seven, and Councilmen but one term in seven years. Members of Congress were chosen by the Assembly. The constitution could not be changed for seven years. It provided for the election of censors every seven years, who were to decide whether there was a demand for its revision. If so, they were to call a convention for the pur- pose. On the 6th of August, 1776, Thomas Wharton, Jr., was chosen Presi- dent of the Council of Safety.

The struggle with the parent country was now fully inaugurated. The British Parliament had declared the colonists rebels, had voted a force of 55,000 men, and in addition had hired 17,000 Hessian soldiers, to subdue them. The Congress on its part had declared the objects for which arms had been taken up, and had issued bills of credit to the amount of $6,000,000. Par- liament had resolved upon a vigorous campaign, to strike heavy and rapid blows, and quickly end the war. The first campaign had been conducted in Massachusetts, and by the efficient conduct of Washington, Gen. Howe, the leader of the British, was compelled to capitulate and withdraw to Halifax in March, 1776. On the 28th of June, Sir Henry Clinton, with a strong detach- ment, in conjunction with Sir Peter Parker of the navy, made a combined land and naval attack upon the defenses of Charleston Harbor, where he was met by Gen. William Moultrie, with the Carolina Militia, and after a severe battle, in which the British fleet was roughly handled, Clinton withdrew and returned to New York, whither the main body of the British Army, under Gen. Howe, had come, and where Admiral Lord Howe, with a large fleet directly from England, joined them. To this formidable power led by the best talent in the British Army, Washington could muster no adequate force to oppose, and he was obliged to withdraw from Long Island, from New York, from

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Harlem, from White Plains, to crose into New Jersey, and abandon position after position, until he had reached the right bank of the Delaware on Penn- sylvania soil. A heavy detachment under Cornwallis followed, and would have crossed the Delaware in pursuit, but advised to a cautious policy by Howe, he waited for ice to form on the waters of the Delaware before passing over. The fall of Philadelphia now seemed imminent. Washington had not sufficient force to face the whole power of the British Army. On the 2d of December, the Supreme Council ordered all places of business in the city to be closed, the schools to be dismissed, and advised preparation for removing the women and children and valuables. On the 12th, the Congress which was in session here adjourned to meet in Baltimore, taking with them all papers and public records, and leaving a committee, of which Robert Morris was Chairman, to act in conjunction with Washington for the safety of the place. Gen. Putnam was dispatched on the same day with a detachment of soldiers to take command in the city.

In this emergency the Council issued a stirring address: "If you wish to live in freedom, and are determined to maintain that best boon of heaven, you have no time to deliberate. A manly resistance will secure every bless- ing, inactivity and sloth will bring horror and destruction. *

* * May heaven, which has bestowed the blessings of liberty upon you, awaken you to a proper sense of your danger and arouse that manly spirit of virtuous resolu- tion which has ever bidden defiance to the efforts of tyranny. May you ever have the glorious prize of liberty in view, and bear with a becoming fortitude the fatigues and severities of a winter campaign. That, and that only, will entitle you to the superlative distinction of being deemed, under God, the deliverers of your country." Such were the arguments which our fathers made use of in conducting the struggle against the British Empire.

Washington, who had, from the opening of the campaign before New York, been obliged for the most part to act upon the defensive, formed the plan to suddenly turn upon his pursners and offer battle. Accordingly, on the night of the 25th of December, taking a picked body of men, he moved up several miles to Taylorsville, where he crossed the river, though at flood tide and filled with floating ice, and moving down to Trenton, where a detachment of the British Army was posted, made a bold and vigorous attack. Taken by surprise, though now after sunrise, the battle was soon decided in favor of the Americans. Some fifty of the enemy were slain and over a thousand taken prisoners, with quantities of arms, ammunition and stores captured. A triumphal entry was made at Philadelphia, when the prisoners and the spoils of war moved through the streets under guard of the victorious troops, and were marched away to the prison camp at Lancaster. Washington, who was smarting under a forced inactivity, by reason of paucity of numbers and lack of arms and material, and who had been forced constantly to retire before a defiant foe, now took courage. His name was upon every tongue, and foreign Governments were disposed to give the States a fair chance in their struggle for nationality. The lukewarm were encouraged to enlist under the banner of freedom. It had great strategic value. The British had intended to push forward and occupy Philadelphia at once, which, being now virtually the cap- ital of the new nation, had it been captured at this juncture, would have given them the occasion for claiming a triumphal ending of the war. But this ad, vantage, though gained by a detachment small in numbers yet great in cour- age, caused the commander of a powerful and well appointed army to give up all intention of attempting to capture the Pennsylvania metropolis in this campaign, and retiring into winter cantonments upon the Raritan to await

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the settled weather of the spring for an entirely new cast of operations. Washington, emboldened by his success, led all his forces into New Jersey, and pushing past Trenton, where Cornwallis, the royal leader, had brought his main body by a forced march, under cover of darkness, attacked the British reserves at Princeton. But now the enemy had become wary and vig- ilant, and, summoned by the booming of cannon, Cornwallis hastened back to the relief of his hard pressed columns. Washington, finding that the enemy's whole army was within easy call and knowing that he had no hope of success with his weak army, withdrew. Washington now went into winter quarters at Morristown, and by constant vigilance was able to gather marauding parties of the British who ventured far away from their works.

Putnam commenced fortifications at a point below Philadelphia upon the Delaware, and at commanding positions upon the outskirts, and on being summoned to the army was succeeded by Gen. Irvine, and he by Gen. Gates. On the 4th of March, 1777, the two Houses of the Legislature, elected under the new constitution, assembled, and in joint convention chose Thomas Wharton, Jr., President, and George Bryan Vice President. Penn had expressed the idea that power was preserved the better by due formality and ceremony, and, accordingly, this event was celebrated with much pomp, the result being declared in a loud voice from the court house, amid the shouts of the gathered throngs and the booming of the captured cannon brought from the field of Trenton. The title bestowed upon the new chief officer of the State was fitted by its length and high-sounding epithets to inspire the multitude with awe and reverence: "His Excellency, Thomas Wharton, Junior, Esquire, President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Captain General, and Com- mander-in-chief in and over the same."

While the enemy was disposed to be cautious after the New Jersey cam- paign so humiliating to the native pride of the Britain, yet he was determined to bring all available forces into the field for the campaign of 1777, and to strike a decisive blow. Early in April, great activity was observed among the shipping in New York Harbor, and Washington communicated to Congress his opinion that Philadelphia was the object against which the blow would be aimed. This announcement of probable peril induced the Council to issue a proclamation urging enlistments, and Congress ordered the opening of a camp for drilling recruits in Pennsylvania, and Benedict Arnold, who was at this time a trusted General, was ordered to the command of it. So many new ves- sels and transports of all classes had been discovered to have come into New York Harbor, probably forwarded from England, that Washington sent Gen. Mifflin, on the 10th of June, to Congress, bearing a letter in which he ex- pressed the settled conviction that the enemy meditated an immediate descent upon some part of Pennsylvania. Gen. Mifflin proceeded to examine the de- fensive works of the city which had been begun on the previous advance of the British, and recommended such changes and new works as seemed best adapted for its protection. . The preparations for defense were vigorously pros- ecuted. The militia were called out and placed in two camps, one at Chester and the other at Downington. Fire ships were held in readiness to be used against vessels attempting the ascent of the river.

Lord Howe, being determined not to move until ample preparations were completed, allowed the greater part of the summer to wear away before he advanced. Finally, having embarked a force of 19,500 men on a fleet of 300 transports, he sailed southward. Washington promptly made a corresponding march overland, passing through Philadelphia on the 24th of August. Howe, suspecting that preparations would be made for impeding the passage of the

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Delaware, sailed past its mouth, and moving up the Chesapeake instead, de- barked fifty-four miles from Philadelphia and commenced the march north- ward. Great activity was now manifested in the city. The water-spouts were melted to furnish bullets, fair hands were busied in rolling cartidges, power- ful cheraux-de-frise were planted to impede the navigation of the river, and the last division of the militia of the city, which had been divided into three classes, was called out. Washington, who had crossed the Brandywine, soon confronted the advance of Howe, and brisk skirmishing at once opened. See- ing that he was likely to have the right of his position at Red Clay Creek, where he had intended to give battle, turned by the largely superior force of the enemy, under cover of darkness on the night of the 8th of September, he withdrew across the Brandywine at Chad's Ford, and posting Armstrong with the militia upon the left, at Pyle's Ford, where the banks were rugged and pre- cipitous, and Sullivan, who was second in command, upon the right at Brin- ton's Ford under cover of forest, he himself took post with three divisions, Sterling's, Stephens', and his own, in front of the main avenue of approach at Chad's. Howe, discovering that Washington was well posted, determined to flank him. Accordingly, on the 11th, sending Knyphausen with a division of Hessians to make vigorous demonstrations upon Washington's front at Chad's, he, with the corps of Cornwallis, in light marching order, moved up the Brandy- wine, far past the right flank of Washington, crossed the Brandywine at the fords of Trumbull and Jeffrey unopposed, and, moving down came upon Washington's right, held by Sullivan, all unsuspecting and unprepared to re- ceive him. Though Howe was favored by a dense fog which on that morning hung on all the valley, yet it had hardly been commenced before Washington discovered the move and divined its purpose. His resolution was instantly taken. He ordered Sullivan to cross the stream at Brinton's, and resolutely turn the left flank of Knyphausen, when he himself with the main body would move over and crush the British Army in detail. Is was a brilliant conception, was feasible, and promised the most complete success. But what chagrin and mortification, to receive, at the moment when he expected to hear the music of Sullivan's guns doubling up the left of the enemy, and giving notice to him to commence the passage, a message from that officer advising him that he had disobeyed his orders to cross, having received intelligence that the enemy were not moving northward, and that he was still in position at the ford. Thus balked, Washington had no alternative but to remain in position, and it was not long before the guns of Howe were heard moving in upon his all unguarded right flank. The best dispositions were made which time would permit. His main body with the force of Sullivan took position along the brow of the hill on which stands the Birmingham meeting house, and the battle opened and was pushed with vigor the whole day. Overborne by numbers, and weakened by losses, Washington was obliged to retire, leaving the enemy in possession of the field. The young French nobleman, Lafayette, was wounded while gal- lantly serving in this fight. The wounded were carried into the Birmingham meeting house, where the blood stains are visible to this day, enterprising relic hunters for many generations having been busy in loosening small slivers with the points of their knives.

The British now moved cautiously toward Philadelphia. On the 16th of September, at a point some twenty miles west of Philadelphia, Washington again made a stand, and a battle opened with brisk skirmishing, but a heavy rain storm coming on the powder of the patriot soldiers was completely ruined on account of their defective cartridge boxes. On the night of the 20th, Gen. Anthony Wayne, who had been hanging on the rear of the enemy with his

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detachment, was surprised by Gen. Gray with a heavy column, who fell sud- denly upon the Americans in bivouac and put them to the sword, giving no quarter. This disgraceful slaughter which brought a stigma and an indelible stain upon the British arms is known as the Paoli Massacre. Fifty-three of the victims of the black flag were buried in one grave. A neat monument of white marble was erected forty years afterward over their moldering remains by the Republican Artillerists of Chester County, which vandal hands have not spared in their mania for relics.

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 16

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280