History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 40

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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ings at the corners of Fifth and Sixth Streets and Chestunt were put in use.

A few days afterward saltpetre and round shot were stored at the State-House. There were already provided for the great guns of the armed boats one thirty-two-pounder, four twenty-four-ponnders, and three eighteen-pounders. Carriages for the field- pieces were prepared ; also pikes for the use of the armed boats. Two tons of gunpowder were sent to Gen. Washington in September, and in the same month considerable quantities of round shot were stored at the State-House. Muskets, bayonets, scab- bards were soon added to the collection. In Sep- tember a supposed spy, who had been "frequently observed to take an account of the cannon and car- riages in the State-House yard, and had made inquiries respecting the different construction of machines, boats, etc., for the defense of the province," was brought before the Committee of Safety. But he succeeded in proving by papers and otherwise that he was actuated by no bad intention and was governed by curiosity. Racks for keeping the arms in good order were directed to be set up in the State-House in December. A guard over the artillery and mili- tary stores at the State-House was ordered to be placed early in the succeeding month, January, 1776. Three months afterward another application was made from the officers of the city battalions asking that there should be "a guard at the powder-house and cannon at the State-House, and another on the fire-rafts and magazines at the lower end of the town." Two field-pieces from the State-Honse yard were ordered to be sent to Gen. Washington, under charge of Capt. Newman, in November, 1776, when the British were in New Jersey. Joseph Blewer and Joseph Dean were appointed a committee in Janu- ary, 1777, to collect all the cannon in the city and suburbs that were suitable for service and to mount them on trucks and carriages as soon as possible. In March of the same year it was ordered that a smith- shop should be erected at or near the public works now in the possession of this board, at the corner of Chestnut and Fifth Streets, that a sufficient quantity of iron and coal be purchased for that purpose, and that a master workman be employed to superintend the same. This was probably on the portion of the State-House yard on which the city hall was afterward erected. In October, 1778, Capt. Stiles was ordered to take possession of the old workhouse (at Third and Market Streets) "for the purpose of casting ball, &ca., as soon as the guard now there shall be | removed, and that he take possession of and fit up the long room in the State-House for a magazine of small-arms."

On the 8th of April, 1785, the first action was taken toward building an arsenal for the storage of arms free from connection of the powder-magazine. The following entries appear upon the minutes of the Supreme Executive Council :

" Council taking into consideration the propriety of erecting a building for the purpose of covering the cannon and other parts of State ordnance from the injuries of the weather, &ca., &ca., an order was taken that Mr. Commissary Stiles be instructed to erect a frame building not exceeding eighty feet in length and eighteen feet in breadth, upon the lot of public ground bounded by the from

Delaware." It appears from a subsequent entry that the lot intended to be appropriated for that use was on Eighth Street between Spruce and Locust Streets. In the succeeding month this intention was recon- sidered, and the following conclusion was made: " Ordered, That the said arsenal be constructed upon the corner of the public square between Thirteenth Street and Juniper Alley." The site chosen was below Market Street, about half way to Chestnnt, and the lot extended through from Thirteenth to Juniper Street, immediately opposite Centre Square. The building was probably completed by end of December, 1785. Up to that time Commissary Stiles had been paid £250 npon account of the construction, and Edward Pole, for ironmongery for the arsenal and the State-House, £34 58. 7d. specie. In May, 1788, three appropriations, amounting to over £114, were made by the Supreme Executive Council " for repairs done to the cannon-carriages belonging to the artil- lery battalion of this city." These payments were made to Valentine Hoffman, Christian Beackley, Jervis & Morrell, and George Flake, painter. John Nicholson, gunsmith, and Abraham Morrow were paid for the repair of arms. John & George Rowan, and others, were paid for similar services in 1788. In April of the same year, Capt. Joseph Stiles, super- intendent of the powder-magazine, reported that a vessel had arrived with gunpowder, and that the magazine was full. He was given authority to store the same in the guard-honse adjoining the magazine. The militia musters were expensive. Col. William Henry, lieutenant of city and liberties, drew from the treasury in the autumn of 1788 over three hun- dred and twenty-two pounds for the expense of the fall training. Three barrels of gunpowder were set apart to be used in the drill. Fifty pounds of gun- powder, ten yards of flannel, to be made up into cartridges, were directed to be served out to the artillery battalion about the same time, for the pur- poses of a feu de joie on the occasion of the inaugura- tion and proclamation of the President and Vice- President of the State.

The arsenal remained as originally constructed in 1785, and was found to be insufficient for public use after twenty-eight years. The necessities of the war between the United States and Great Britain, which commenced in 1812, led to the adoption of measures for increased accommodations. By act of Assembly, passed 29th of March, 1813, it was ordered "that there shall be a brick arsenal erected on the lot on which there is now a frame arsenal, which shall be

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large enough to hold twenty-eight pieces of artillery and apparatus, one thousand muskets, one thousand tents, six thousand knapsacks, and one thousand camp-kettles." The first story was directed to be arched, and the roof covered with slate or tiles. The cost of the building was not to exceed fifteen thou- sand dollars, and it was ordered that it should be completed in December of the same year.

The arsenal buildings stood in an inclosure on the north side of the lot. They were of brick, three stories high. At the first story there were arched piers, fitted with wooden doors. The cannon were housed there. The upper portion of the building was fitted up with racks and other fixtures necessary for the securing and accommodation of the muskets, pistols, swords, and accoutrements. The arsenal yard was south and east of the building, and extended to the line of Juniper Street. A brick wall, with gate on Thirteenth Street, a similar gate being on Juniper Street, were the means of entrance for troops if neces- sary, and for the convenient taking out or in of the artillery and munitions of war.

In 1839 an act of Assembly was passed author- izing the Governor to negotiate with the President of the United States for the purchase of the United States Arsenal on the Schuylkill, situate ou Gray's Ferry road. If the purchase could be effected, the Governor was authorized to sell at public auction the State Arsenal on Thirteenth Street. This negotiation was not concluded. Some years afterward the State purchased ground on the south side of Filbert Street, extending from Schuylkill Seventh [Sixteenth] to Schuylkill Eighth [Fifteenth]. A very large build- ing was erected, occupying the whole length of the square. It was not in use very long. After the break- ing out of the Rebellion, the Legislature passed a law transferring the State Arsenal to Harrisburg. The building on Filbert Street was eventually sold, and when the Pennsylvania elevated road was built the walls were utilized for purposes of a depot.

In 1853 the officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company determined that the piece of ground at Thirteenth and Market Streets would be convenient for the purpose of a freight depot. The State was willing to sell that portion of the lot which was in use by the arsenal. An act of Assembly was passed April 19th, authorizing the Governor to sell the arsenal property, on Juniper Street and Thirteenth, for a price not less than thirty thousand dollars, and with the proceeds erect an arsenal elsewhere.1 At this juncture the City Councils, in order to retain the establishment in the city, undertook to grant to the commonwealth the use of a lot of ground, on the south side of Filbert Street extending from Sixteenth

Street eastward toward Fifteenth Street, a distance of one hundred and eighty-seven feet, and in depth one hundred and six feet to Jones Street. The premises were taken up on ground-rent, and the city guaranteed to pay the rent as often as it should fall due. These arrangements were perfected by authority of the act of May 6, 1857. A large building was erected of which it may be substantially said that, after it was finished, it was never occupied for the pur- poses of the construction. While it was being built the military stores had been removed to Harrisburg, and they were not brought back. A few military com- panies had their armories in it after it was finished, but there were no conveniences for exercise and drill- ing. As a "soldiers' home" the building was put to some practical use for a time; eventually it was sold and made a portion of the Suubury and Erie Railroad Depot, on Market Street, and when the Pennsylvania Elevated Railroad was built, the upper portion was readily altered in the upper stories for the purpose of a roofed starting-place for trains.

Schuylkill Arsenal, Gray's Ferry Road .- About the time the Secretary of the Navy of the United States purchased the grounds in Southwark for the site of the new navy-yard, the Secretary of State in the same manner, without any authority from Con- gress, purchased a piece of ground on the west side of the road to Gray's Ferry, about opposite to the place where Carpenter, Washington, and Ellsworth Streets now come through. It was alleged by opponents of his action that this proceeding was without authority. But there were some acts of Congress under which his course was justified. By act of April 2, 1794, it was directed that " for the safe-keeping of the military stores there shall be established, under the direction of the President of the United States, three or four arsenals with magazines, as he shall judge most ex- pedient, in such places as will best accommodate the different parts of the United States. Either or both of the arsenals heretofore used at Springfield and Carlisle to be continued as part of the said number at his discretion." Four hundred and twenty-one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five dollars were appropriated to carry out the design of this act. The greater portion was to go for the purchase of arms, ammunition, and military stores; only fifty-nine thou- sand dollars were appropriated for erecting and re- pairing the arsenals and magazines. Possibly the act was only temporary, as it was directed that the sums appropriated should "be paid out of the duties on imports and tonnage to the end of the present year." This act was passed at the time when the Algerine piracies were agitating the people, when it had been determined to establish a national navy, and to fortify harbors and works exposed to danger of attack from sea ; it was also immediately before the breaking out of the Whiskey Insurrection, which was a menacing trouble for some time before it was neces- sary to proceed against the insurgents. By an act

1 The property, with that of the Central High School, and other premises adjoining, was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany for a freight depot. That company was given authority to make track connections with the railroads on Broad and Market Streets, by act of Feb. 16, 1854.

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passed May 4, 1798,-war with France then seeming to be a possibility,-Congress appropriated eight hun- dred thousand dollars to the President of the United States "to purchase as soon as may be a sufficient number of cannon, also a supply of small-arms and of ammunition, and of military stores, to be deposited and used as will be most conducive to the public safety and defense, at the discretion of the President of the United States." Under this act one hundred thousand dollars additional were appropriated for the hire, purchase, and employ of premises to be used as foun- dries and armories, and to that end the President was also authorized to purchase or to lease one or more suitable place or places where cannon and small-arms might be advantageously cast and manufactured. He was also given authority to " establish foundries and armories." By an act passed in 1800, regulating public arsenals and magazines, it was made an offense punishable with fine or imprisonment to entice any artificer or workman to leave his employment in an arsenal or armory of the United States.

Work upon the buildings on Gray's Ferry road was commenced about the same time that work on the navy-yard began. In 1802 it was reported to Con- gress that the cost of the buildings at "the labora- tory," or barracks, as the buildings were called, was up to that time (they being unfinished) $152,608.02; they were finished in 1806. There were four large store-houses of brick set at some distance apart, three stories high, and forming a hollow square. There were also on the premises several other buildings, in- cluding a brick house for the residence of the com- manding officer, a powder-magazine, and other con- structions. If arms were stored in these buildings they were placed there shortly after its construction, and there was a cessation of such employment in the establishment as soon as the United States Arsenal was established at Frankford. The Gray's Ferry road buildings were in use as a depot for storage as early as 1806. For more than seventy years the establish- ment has been used as a place of manufacture for supplies for the army, in which everything connected with the comfort of the soldier, his uniform, clothing, bedding, blankets, tentage were prepared and stored. Coats, shirts, pantaloons, stockings, overcoats, shoes, gloves, mittens, caps, helmets, plumes, and orna- ments have been prepared there in immense quanti- ties. For many years the Schuylkill Arsenal was a great workshop, at which the cloth and other mate- rial for clothing, etc., were cut and made up on the premises or delivered to tailors and tailoresses out- side, who made them up and delivered them. Fre- quently from seven hundred to twelve hundred women were employed at this work, and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty men. During the Rebellion the disbursements at this depot were from twenty to thirty-five millions of dollars a year. The amount of property on storage is frequently very large and valuable. The area of the ground is eight acres.

Frankford or Bridesburg Arsenal. - In 1816, during the term of James Madison, President of the United States, a purchase was made from Frederick Fraley and wife of twenty acres and thirty-four rods of land on Frankford Creek for $7680.75. In 1837, Martin Van Buren being President, three acres and six perches additional were bought from Robert Ken- nedy for three thousand dollars. During the Presi- dency of Zachary Taylor, Dec. 4, 1849, thirty-two acres and over were purchased from Dr. William S. Haines and wife for a consideration of twenty thou- sand dollars, thus increasing the size of the entire property to sixty-two acres and eighty-two square rods. The situation of the ground is at the conflu- ence of Frankford Creek and the Delaware River, in the Twenty-third Ward, extending along the northern boundary of the creek to Bridge Street, the main thoroughfare from Frankford to Bridesburg. The northern boundary is the Tacony road and the eastern the Delaware River.

The buildings are computed to be thirty-six feet above the level of the Atlantic Ocean, latitude 40° north and 77.08° longitude west from Greenwich, five miles distant from the State-House in the city, nine- teen miles from Fort Mifflin, and eighty-seven miles from Fort Delaware.

The buildings are two brick houses three stories in height, with capacity for four offices; a two-story brick barracks with capacity for one hundred men, two buildings with quarters for twelve enlisted men and their families, eight large store-houses of stone and brick, a magazine with capacity to hold one thou- sand barrels of powder ; a hospital, dispensary, twelve frame laboratories for manufacture, office, guard- house, and other buildings. The grounds are kept in beautiful order, cultivated with grass, trees, and shrub- bery, so that the buildings and surroundings are very attractive. Originally the arsenal, beside being a place of storage, was principally used as a depot for the repair of artillery, cavalry, and infantry equip- ments, the repair and cleaning of small-arms and harness, the manufacture of percussion powder, fric- tion primers and brusbes, musket-balls, and for the proving and inspecting of gunpowder. In 1851 was in- troduced the manufacture of small-arms and fixed am- munition, with the cleansing, repairing, and packing small-arms, and the manufacture of cavalry, infantry, and artillery equipments. Instruments of precision, inspection, and verification, standard gauges, scales, weights, calipers, measures of proportion, etc., for use in government shops throughout the country are also made here. Cartridges are prepared from the plain copper to the priming, loading, and making ready for discharge, and packing away until called for. The conveniences for the purpose of testing the explosive force of powders and the velocity of balls, the strength and character of small-arms, are very complete. The principal buildings are rough-cast, and present a striking appearance from the road. The officers

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in charge are, of necessity, thorough in scientific knowledge and experience. The cost of the grounds and improvements of a permanent character up to the 30th of June, 1834, was $1,197,037.42, and for repairs, $208,471.27. The value of the property manu- factured since the works were in operation is im- mense. The commandants of this arsenal have been as follows :

-1816, to Feb. 6, 1821, Capt. James HI. Rees.

Feb. 6, 1821, to Sept. 30, 1824, Lieut. Martin Thomas. Sept. 30, 1824, to Feb. 28, 1827, Lieut. Thomas J. Baird,

Feb. 28, 1827, to April 8, 1828, Lieut. Constant M. Eakiu. April 8, 1828, to Dec. 21, 1830, Lieut. C. Mellou.

Dec. 31, 1830, to Sept. 30, 1832, Brevet Lieut .- Col. J. B. Walbach. Sept. 30, 1832, to Jan. 19, 1835, Brevet Lieut .- Col. William J. Worth. Jan. 19, 1835, to Sept. 30, 1838, Capt. Alfred Mordecai.

Oct. 5, 1838, to Aug. 25, 1845, Capt. George D. Ramsey. Aug. 25, 1845, to Oct. 6, 1845, Maj. H. K. Craig.

Oct. 6, 1845, to March 18, 1848, Lieut. A. N. Dearborn.

March 18, 1848, to Oct. 10, 1848, Lieut. L. A. B. Wabach. Oct. 10, 1848, to Sept. 10, 1831, Brevet Maj. G. B. Ramsey. Sept. 10, 1851, to July, ISGO, Brevet Maj. Peter V. Hagner. July, 1860, to April, 1861, Capt. J Gorgas.

April, 1861, to April, 1862, Lieut. T. J. Treadwell. April, 1862, to August, 1864, Maj. T. T. S. Laidley.

August, 1864, to Oct. 11, 1869, Brevet Lieut .- Col. S. V. Benet. October, 1869, 1o 1879. Brevet Lieut .- Col. T. J. Treadwell. -1879, to - 1880, Maj. James M. Whittemore. - 1880, to -, Maj. S. C. Lyford.

State Armories .- Armories for volunteer organiza- tions after the Revolution were necessary for meetings and for drill. But where they were established has not been generally recorded. In the history of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry it is said, " be- fore the spring of the year 1779 the records of the Troop fail to show where its meetings either for busi- ness or pleasure were held." For civil business or social purposes meetings were held at the City Tavern, Second Street, north of Walnut, kept by Edward Moyston between 1779 and 1787. Occasionally, at intervals, they were held at Ogden's Middle Ferry, a good distance for a clever two-mile trot from town. In 1794 at Louth Hall, Richardet's, in Tenth Street above Arch, was a place of meeting. Once the Troop met at the Castle of the State in Schuylkill, on the west side of the river, somewhat north of the present Girard Avenue. For drilling the Troop met at the manège of Thomas Swann in 1798. It was on the north side of George [Sansom] Strect, between Eighth and Ninth. Swann taught horsemanship and the use of the broadsword. The company engaged his ser- vices in that instruction, and their drills took place three times a week at the early hours of from five to seven in the morning at the "parade," in Chestnut Street, and on the days when the weather would not permit of exercise at that place, they were gone through with at Swann's manege. The site of the parade is not known. It was not, probably, far west of Ninth Street. Between the years 1808 and 1810 foot drills were held in the long room at Barnum's Hotel, Shakespeare Buildings, northwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, and the mounted drills at Swann's manège, which had moved in the meanwhile from

George |Sansom] Street. In 1828 the Troop rented a room for an armory or hall in the north end of the Shakespeare Building, at the southwest corner of Sixth and Carpenter [now called Jayne] Streets. The room was given up in a year and the furniture sold. In 1852 the Troop held its mounted drills at the riding-school of John Ellis, in Westmoreland [now Lardner] Street, west of Broad Street. In the succeeding year the armory was again established in the front room, third story, of the Union building, northeast corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets. After remaining there for six years the company rented a room in the third story of the building on the west side of Twelfth Street, south of Chestnut. While occupying that armory under rent a movement was made toward securing a special building for the use of the company not only for meetings, but for mounted exercise. A committee to which the matter was referred reported a plan in 1863 for the purchase of ground and the erection of a building. Certificates of loan bearing an interest of four per cent. were authorized to be issned, and a deed of trust was executed in the names of Thomas Smith, Harrison T. De Silver, and Dr. Paul B. Goddard. The loan was taken up almost entirely by members of the Troop. The lot cost five thousand dollars and the building about fourteen thousand dollars. The Troop bought a lot of ground on the west side of Twenty-first Street, south of Mar- ket, at the corner of Ash Street. The corner-stone was laid on the 12th of August, 1863. The armory was occupied in January, and formally opened Feb. 22, 1864. The lot ran westward toward Twenty-sec- ond Street. The new armory took up about three- fourths of the inclosure. There was an iron fence on Twenty-first Street inclosing an open space of ground with a flag-pole in the centre. The front of the build- ing stood back from the street. It was of brick, two stories high, and quite plain. In this part of the structure was the meeting-room of the company. In the rear, extending for a considerable distance, was the riding-hall, one story in height, roofed in, and having a turf floor and every convenience for exer- cising horses.

In the fall of the same year, under the influence of Mr. De Silver, the largest holder of the armory loan, holders were induced to present their certifi- cates of loan to the Troop as a free gift. A few cer- tificates, which had been transferred to other parties, were purchased by the Troop, so that before the end of the year the company was ont of debt, with the exception of the mortgage on the ground. John W. Grigg, who died in 1869, bequeathed to the Troop ten thousand dollars, and from that arose a proposi- tion to increase the size of the armory, which was found too small for the use of the company. The ex- pense was estimated to be eighteen thousand dollars. Before it was raised, Mr. H. T. De Silver died, Sept. 10, 1870, leaving a bequest of ten thousand dollars to I the company, not immediately available, being sub-

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ect to a life interest. The subscriptions were not suffi- ient, and the project lingered for four years, at which ime a new committee was appointed, which was more successful in raising the money. Designs were nade for the new building by Furness & Hewitt, trchitects. The Troop rented the Skating Rink nilding, at Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets, in May, 1874. The corner-stone was laid for the new ilding on the 4th of July. The armory was finished on the 15th of November, formally opened by a recep- ion to guests on the succeeding evening, and dedi- ated, in " commemoration of the one hundredth an- iversary of the Troop," on the 17th of November, .874. The building in front presents the appearance of a fortress in the style of the Middle Ages, having a quare tower, battlements, with loop-hole windows, und a broad gateway, with portcullis and other peculi- trities. It is built of Leiperville stone and brick. The building covers the entire area of the lot of ground, sixty-six feet in width and one hundred and ighty-eight feet in depth. The riding-hall is on the ground, measures one hundred and sixty-six feet in ength, and is eighteen feet high to the spring of the oof-beams. It is lighted by a skylight along the beak of the roof and by windows on three sides. At ight it is lighted by gas. There is a large target at he western wall, a rifle-range near the sonthern wall. The front building is used for the accommodation of he company at meetings, storage of ammunition, ac- outrements, uniforms, and other purposes. The nain meeting-hall, on Twenty-first Street, in the econd story, is fifty feet in width by thirty-two in depth, a portion of the latter being gained by an iverhang above the riding-floor, supported by a Howe russ.1

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 40

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992