USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 25
USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of Lancaster and York Counties > Part 25
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" Mrs. Thompson, of the borough of Lancaster, per- sonally appeared before the Chief Justice Burgess, and upon his solemn oath, on the Holy Evangelists, said that in the summer of 1761, Bill Soc come to her apartment;
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recently erected workliouse, a strong building, as the place of greatest safety."
When the news of this unkind treatment of the Indians by the Paxtonians reached Philadelphia, the Governor issued the following proclamation :
WHEREAS, I have received information, that on Wed- nesday the 14th of this month, a number of people well armed and mounted on horseback, unlawfully assembled together, and went to the Indiantown in the Concstoga manor, in Lancaster county, and without the least reason of provocation, in cold blood, barbarously killed six of the Indians settled there, and burnt and destroyed all their houses and effects ; and whereas so cruel and inhuman an act, committed in the heart of this province on the said Indians, who have lived peaccably and inoffensively among us during all our late troubles, and for many years before, and were justly considered as under the protection of this government and its laws, calls loudly for the vigor- ous exertion of the civil authority, to detect the offenders and bring them to condign punishment ; I have, therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the council, thought fit to issue this proclamation, and do hereby strictly charge and enjoin all judges, justices, sheriffs, constables, officers, civil and military, and all other his Majesty's liege subjects within this province, to make diligent search and inquiry after the authors and perpetrators of the said crime, their abettors and accomplices, and use all possible means to apprehend and to secure them in some of the public jails of this province, that they may be brought to their trials, and be proceeded against according to law.
And whereas a number of other Indians, who lately lived on or near the frontiers of this province, being willing and desirous to preserve and continue the ancient friendship which heretofore subsisted between them and 3
D
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the good people of this province, have, at their own earnest request, been removed from their habitations and brought into the county of Philadelphia, where provision is made for them at the public expense ; I do, therefore, hereby strictly forbid all persons whatsoever, to molest or injure any of the said Indians, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the said province, at Philadelphia, A. D. 1763, Dec. 22d, and in the 4th year of his Majesty's reign.
By his honor's command. JOHN PENN.
JOSEPH SHIPPEN, Jr., Sec'y.
" God save the. King."
Notwithstanding the governor's interposition, the people were too much exasperated to have their fury allayed by a proclamation from a supine governor. " They assembled," says Gordon, in great numbers, forced the prison, and butchered all the miserable wretches they found within the walls. Unarmed and unprotected, the Indians prostrated themselves with their children before their murderers, protesting their innocence and their love to the English, and in this posture they all received the hatchet."
The following letter by William Henry, Esq. of Lan- caster, to a gentleman of Philadelphia, may enable the reader to forni some idea of the treatment the Indians received at the hands of the " Paxton Boys."
"There are few, if any murders to be compared with the cruel murder committed on the Conestogo Indians in the jail of Lancaster, in 1763, by the Paxton boys, as they were then called. From fifteen to twenty Indians, as report stated, were placed there for protection. A
*Tuesday, the 27th Dec. 1763.
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their habitation; notwithstanding which, I have received information, that on the 27th of the same month, a large party of armed men again assembled and met together in a riotous and tumultuous manner, in the county of Lan- caster, where they violently broke open the workhouse, and butchered and put to death 14 of the said Conestoga Indians, men, women and children, who had been taken under the immediate care of the magistrates of said ยท county, and lodged for their better security in the said workhouse, till they should be more effectually provided for by order of the government; and whom common justice loudly demands, and the laws of the land (upon the prosecution of which not only the liberty and security of every individual, but the being of government itself depends,) require, that the above offenders should be brought to condign punishment; I have, therefore, by and with the advice of the council, published this procla- mation, and do hereby strictly charge and command all judges, justices, sheriffs, constables, officers civil and mili- tary, and all others his Majesty's faithful liege subjects within this province, to make diligent search and inquiry after the authors and perpetrators of the said last men- tioned offenders, their abettors and accomplices, and that they use all possible means to apprehend and secure them in some of the public jails of this province, to be dealt with according to law.
And I do hereby further promise and engage, that any person or persons, who shall apprehend and secure, or or cause to be apprehended or secured, any three of the ringleaders of the said party, and prosecute them to con- viction, shall have and receive for each the public reward of $200; and any accomplice, not concerned in the imme- diate shedding the blood of said Indians, who shall make discovery of any or either of the said ringleaders, and
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apprehend and prosecute them to conviction, shall over and above the said reward, have all the weight and influ- ence of the government, for obtaining his Majesty's pardon for his offence.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the pro- vince, at Philadelphia, January 2, in the 4th year of his Majesty's reign, A. D. 1764.
By his command. JOHN PENN.
JOSEPH SHIPPEN, Jr., Sec'y.
" God save the King."
The Paxton Boys had become desperate, and in turn " showed up some Indian,"* as is manifest from their conduct in destroying the Indians at Lancaster.
*David Rittenhouse, in a letter to a friend, speaking of the Paxton Boys in Philadelphia, on this occason, says : " About fifty of the scoundrels marched by my work-shop. I have seen hundreds of Indians travelling the country, and can with truth affirm, that the behavior of these fellows was ten times more savage and brutal than theirs. Frightening women, by running the muzzles of their guns through windows, swearing and hallooing ; attacking men without the least provocation ; dragging them by the hair to the ground, and pretending to scalp them ; shooting a number of dogs and fowls ; these are some of their exploits."-Rittenhouse's Mem. p. 148.
In another letter, Mr. Barton says: " I received a letter from sister E. soon after the alarm at Philadelphia was over, and will give, &c. &c.
"On Monday morning. between one and two o'clock, an express came to the Governor, informing that the rebels were on their way, and that a great number of them were on this side the White Horse. There was one express after another, till there was certain intelligence that some of them were at Germantown. When the first express came, the bells were rung, the drums beat, and the constables were ordered to go from house to house, to knock up the inhabitants, and bid them put candles at their doors : it had the appearance of all the houses being illuminated. Before day, there was about
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The Moravian Indians were placed for safety in the barracks at Philadelphia, and no sooner had this intelli- gence been received in Lancaster, than a large number assembled and marched to Philadelphia. They produced considerable alarm in the city. "The Governor fled to the house of Dr. Franklin for safety ; and nothing but
twenty men met at T. T's, and chose their officers. Before night they were increased to nearly an hundred ; as were like- wise most of the other companies. E- and all our men were in captain Wood's company. They all appeared to be in high spirits, and desirous to meet the rebels. On Tuesday, when the Mayor and other gentlemen set off for Germantown, the heads of companies begged of them not to comply with any dishonorable terms, and told them : " Gentlemen, we are ready to go wherever you may command us ; and we had much rather you would let us treat with them, with our guns." On their return, there was a general murmur among the compa- nies against the proceedings of our great men ; they knew it, and there was a long harangue made by Mr. Chew ; but it did not answer the end. On Wednesday morning I went to -, , as usual, and on my return home, I stopped at our friend H. T's, when, on a sudden an alarm gun was fired, the bells began to ring, and the men called " to arms," as loud as possible. I cannot describe, my dear brother, how I felt : we ran to the door, when, to add to my fright I saw E-, amidst hundreds of others, run by with his gun. They met at the court house, formed themselves into regular companies, and marched up Second street as far as the barracks ; where they found it was a false alarm.
" It was a pleasing, though melancholy sight, to view the activity of our men. In less than a quarter of an hour, they were all on their march-it is supposed above a thousand of them; and by all accounts, there were not ten - among them. It was the very common cry, while our men were parading-" What! not one - among us ?! Instead of joining with others, they would sneak into corners and applaud the " Paxton Boys." Their behavior on this occasion has made them blacker than ever."
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the spirited measures of the inhabitants of the city, saved it from the fury of an exasperated multitude, who would not have hesitated to extend vengeance from the Indians to their protectors."
After some consultation among themselves, on salu- tary advice given, they concluded to peaceably return to their homes, leaving Matthew Smith and James Gibson, two of their number, to represent their views to govern- ment." They laid their grievances, before the Governor and the Assembly, by a memorial in behalf of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, complain- ing that these counties were irregularly represented in the Assembly, sending collectively ten members only, whilst the three counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, sent twenty-six ; that a bill had passed the Assembly, directing the trial of persons charged with the murder of an Indian in Lancaster county, to be had in some of the latter counties ; that whilst more than a thousand families, reduced to extreme distress, during the past and present war, by the attacks of skulking parties of Indians upon the frontiers, were destitute, and were suf- fered by the public to depend on private charity, one hundred and twenty of the perpetrators of the most horrid barbarities were supported by the province, and protected from the fury of the brave relatives of the murdered ; that the cruelties of the Indians were exten- uated, and efforts improperly made to excite commis- eration for them, on the plea that they were not parties to the war ; " But, in what nation," said the memorial- ists, "was it ever the custom that, when a neighboring nation took up arms, not an individual of that nation should be touched, but only the persons that offered hostilities ? Whoever proclaimed war with part of a nation, and not with the whole? Had these Indians
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disapproved the perfidy of their tribe, and been willing to cultivate and preserve friendship with us, why did they not give notice of the war before it happened, as it is known to be the result of long deliberation and precon- certed combination? Why did they not leave their tribe immediately, and come amongst us, before there was cause to suspect them, or war was actually waged ?-. No, they staid amongst them, were privy to their murders and ravages, until we had destroyed their provisions, and when they could no longer subsist at home, they came- not as deserters, but-as friends, to be maintained through the winter, that they might scalp and butcher us in the spring."*
" The memorialists further remonstrated against the policy of suffering any Indians whatever, to live within the inhabited parts of the province, whilst it was engaged in an Indian war; experience having taught that they were all perfidious, and that their claim to freedom and independence enabled them to act as spies, to entertain and give intelligence to our enemies, and to furnish them with provisions and warlike stores. To this fatal inter- course, between pretended friends and open enemies, they ascribed the greater part of the ravages and murders that had been committed during the last and present wars .- This grievance they prayed might be considered and re- medied. They remonstrated against the neglect, by the province, of the frontier inhabitants, who had been wounded in its defence, and required that they should be relieved at the public cost. They expostulated against the policy of the government, in refraining to grant rewards for Indian scalps, " which damped the spirits of brave men, who were willing to venture their lives against the enemy ;" and they proposed that public *Votes of Assembly, and Gordon's Pa.
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rewards might be granted for their trophies, adequate to the danger of procuring them. They lamented that numbers of their nearest and dearest relatives were retained in captivity among the savage heathen, to be trained up in ignorance and barbarity, or be cruelly tor- mented to death for attempting their escape: and they prayed that no trade might be permitted with the Indians until their prisoners were returned."
The year 1765 is remarkable for the birth of ROBERT FULTON, who was born in Little Britain. He early showed peculiar talents, and cultivated them abroad, as well as in his own country. He is distinguished as an inventor of steamboats. In 1803, at the joint expense of himself and Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of New York, and minister of the United States to the French court, he con- structed a boat on the River Seine, by which he fully evinced the practicability of propelling boats by steam .- On returning to America in 1806, he commenced, in con- junction with Mr. Livingston, the construction of the first Fulton boat, which was launched in the spring of 1807 from a ship yard at New York. There was great incredulity among the people on the subject; but this boat demonstrated, on the first experiment, to a numerous assemblage of astonished spectators, the correctness of his expectations, and the value of his invention. The same year, he suggested the first idea of joining the western lakes and the Atlantic ocean by canal.
-In 1810, the legislature of New York appointed com- missioners, with whom Mr. Fulton was joined the next session, to explore the route of inland navigation from the Hudson river to the lake Ontario and Erie. The commissioners reported in 1811, 12, 14. Mr. Fulton was very estimable in his domestic and social relations ; "but what was most conspicuous in his character, was his calm
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constancy, his industry, and that indefatigable patience and perseverance, which always enabled him to over- come difficulties." A distinguished foreigner, the chevalier de Gessicourt observes, " Steamboats offer such advan- tages to commerce, that England, France and America, with one accord, proclaim the glory of Fulton."-De- laplaine's Repository, I. p, 201, 223.
In 1766, BENJAMIN S. BARTON, professor in the University of Pennsylvania, was born at Lancaster, Pa. His mother was the sister of the celebrated David Ritten- house. In 1786, he went to Great Britain and pursued his medical studies at Edinburg and London. He after- wards visited Gottingen, and there obtained the degree of Doctor in Medicine. On his return from Europe in 1789, he established himself as a physician in Philadelphia, and soon obtained an extensive practice. In the same year he. was appointed professor of natural history and botany in the college of Philadelphia.
On the resignation of Doctor Griffiths, he was appoint- ed professor of Materia Medica ; and succeeded. Doctor Rush in the department of the theory and practice of medicine. He died in 1815. His chief publication is " Elements of Zoology and Botany."
1769. This year the Rev. John Woodhull came to Lancaster Borough, as pastor of the Presbyterian church. He was their first pastor. They preached occasionally in the court house, before Woodhull came. In 1770 or '71, a meeting house was finished. The leading men among the Presbyterians at that time were E. Shippen, Esq., Dr. R. Boyd, W. White, H. Halen, C. Hall, S. Boyd, W. Montgomery, W. Ross, Judge Yeates, M. San- derson, in the town ; W. Davis, T. Davis and John Jacks, in the country.
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From 1769 to 1775, a score and two of lawyers were admitted at the Lancaster Bar.
In 1769 Thomas Hood, Jacob Moore, Casper Weitzel, Jacob Rush, Christian Hook and Thomas Hartly. 1770, John Hubley, Abel Evans and Andrew Ross. 1771, James Lukens, David Grear, Ashton Humphries, George Noarth and Nathaniel Ramsey. 1772, Edward Burd, Francis Johnson, Peter Zachary Lloyd, Charles Stedman and Mr. Collinson. 1773, John Stedman and George Ross, Jr. 1775, William Barton.
Members of Assembly from Lancaster county for 1765, Emanuel Carpenter, James Wright, James Webb, Jacob Carpenter ; those of 1765 were re-elected for 1766 and 1767. 1768, Emanuel Carpenter, James Wright, James Webb, George Ross. 1769, Emanuel Carpenter, Jacob Carpenter, James Webb, George Ross. 1770, Emanuel Carpenter, James Wright, Joseph Ferree, George Ross. 1771, Emanuel Carpenter, George Ross, Joseph Ferree, William Downing. 1772, Joseph Ferree, Jacob Carpen- ter, Isaac Whitelock, James Webb. 1773 and 1774, Jo- seph Ferree, James Webb, George Ross, Matthias Slough.
NOTES .- In the year 1765, the following named gentlemen were admitted, at Lancaster, to practice law : Alexander Wil -. cocks, Jasper Yeates, Richard Peters, Jr., Andrew Allen, James Allen, James Sayre and Henry Ewes. In 1766, Elisha, Price, George Campbell, practising attorneys from Ireland, and William Swainey.
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CHAPTER VIII.
Hail storm-Proceedings, &c. by the citizens of Lancaster county touching the usurpation of Parliament, in Great Britain-Letter from the commit- tee of correspondence at Philadelphia-Meeting at the court house in Lancaster-Copy of a circular letter from Philadelphia-Meeting called at Lancaster-Subscriptions opened for the relief of the suffering Bosto- nians-Letters from Philadelphia-Meeting called to be held at Lancas- ter-Committees appointed-Meeting held-Letter from Reading- Meeting of the committee of inspection, &c .- Committee men from differ- ent townships meet at Lancaster-Their proceedings, &c. &c.
NOTHING of thrilling interest appears in the annals of this county from the close of Indian incursions, to the time when the indignation of the colonists was generally excited by the attempted oppressions on the part of the mother country. There are, nevertheless, a few things we deem worthy of notice.
In 1768, in the month of June, Lancaster county was visited by a dreadful hail-storm. A writer in the Penn- sylvania Chronicle, of June, 1768, says, "I now sit down," in writing to the Editor, "under the shade of a . friendly oak in the country, in order to give you some account of the late dreadful storm here, the effects of which, I have taken pains to examine, having rid several miles for that purpose.
" On Friday, the 17th inst. about 2 o'clock P. M. the sky was overspread with flying clouds, apparently charged with heavy rain. The wind blew pretty fresh from the south-east, and thickened the clouds in the op- posite quarter ; so that about 4 o'clock there was dark- ness visible in the north-west attended with distant rum- bling thunder, and now and then with a small gleam of lightning, without any explosions. The clouds deepened
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more and more in the north-west, and thus seemed to make a stand, being opposed by the wind from the opposite points. At half-after four, they assumed a frightful appearance, and at last a large crescent, with its concave sides to the wind, and its inner edges tinged with a dusky violet color. About five the wind veered about to the north-west, which immediately gave motion to the clouds, and discharged a most dreadful and destruc- tive volley of hail. The storm then proceeded in a south- east direction, at the rate of twelve miles an hour, attended with a most dreadful noise, something like the sounds of cannon, drums and bells mingled together .- The hail stones were of various dimensions, shapes and forms. Some measured nine inches in circumfer- ence, some seven, whilst others were not larger than peas. As to their forms, some were of globular, some spheroidical, surrounded with small excresences or knobs, some eliptical, and some irregular and smooth, like pieces of ice. Such as were globular, were endued with so much elasticity, that they rebounded from the ground like a tennis ball. This storm divided into several: branches, or veins, if I may use such terms, all which kept the same course, but bent their fury mostly towards the mountains hills and highlands.
" At Susquehannah the hail was as large as pigeon's eggs ; at Lancaster about the size of peas; at Dunker- town, and in the valley, between the Welsh and Reading hills, they were as large as turkey's eggs ; in some other places, still larger; and at Reading no hail appeared .- The damage done by this storm is very great; the county of Lancaster alone, it is thought, has suffered several thousand pounds. In many places there is not a single ear of wheat, rye, barley, &c. but what is cut off; and nothing left but the green straw, bruised and beat to
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pieces It is melancholy to see fine plantations, and extensive fields, which a few days ago waved with luxu- riant crops, now lying waste. Many able farmers who expected to carry several hundred bushels of grain to market, will be obliged to buy bread for their families ; and many of the poorer kind will be ruined, and reduced to beggary. All these people are mowing their late promising and rich crops, as fodder for their cattle .- Their distress is moving and alarming. At Dunkertown ,
it is said, with what truth I cannot say, that cattle were killed by the hail ; but certain it is, that about Muddy creek, in this county, calves, pigs, fowls, &c. were killed in that settlement ; the ground in the woods is as thick covered with green foliage, beaten from the trees, as it is with the fallen leaves in the month of October; and in many places the birds are found dead in woods and orchards. The north-west side of the fruit trees are barked, and all the glass windows on that side, that were not secured by shutters, are demolished ; and even the rails of the fences, visibly show the impression of hail upon them. In short, this storm threw every person who saw it, into the most dreadful consternation; for the oldest man here never saw or heard any thing like it."
As early as 1765, the British Parliament passed an act that all instruments of writing, such as promissory notes, bonds, indentures, &c. were to be null and void, unless written on paper or parchment stamped with specific duty. This measure was opposed in England and in this country ; and being found unpopular, the act was repeal- ed in 1766 ; but another act was passed by Parliament, declaring that the British Parliament had a right to make laws binding the colonies in all cases whatever,; this act was soon followed by another, imposing, in the colonies, duties on glass, paper, painters colors, and tea. These
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several acts kindled in every patriotic bosom, a strong opposition to the measures of the mother country, and one circumstance after another led to an open rupture between the colonies and the parent country, which hap- pened about the year 1773, when the Bostonians threw the tea overboard. From that time on, a flame was kindled in every breast. Gen. Gage, from Britain, arrived at Boston in 1774, with more troops, some having arrived before, "to dragoon the Bostonians into compliance."- The Bostonians had to suffer much; but their sufferings excited the sympathy of others. Associations for their relief were formed in nearly all the colonies; even this county was not the last nor least to aid in relieving their suffering brethren, as will fully appear from the following precious relic, which is deposited in the Prothonotary's office of Lancaster county :*
Copy of a letter from the committee of correspondence for the city of Philadelphia, directed to the freeholders and other inhabitants of this place, dated about the 19th of June, 1774. Runs in the words following to wit:
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