History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604

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The three principal tribes of Indians which then in- habited Pennsylvania were the Lenni Lenapes, the Min- goes and the Shawnees. Their relations with the Swedes had been of a friendly character, and the pacific and kind policy of Penn and his Quaker colonists toward them bore fruit in strong contrast with that which the dishonest and reckless policy of other colonies, and of the United States government in later times, has brought forth.

The plan of the city of Philadelphia, which had been laid out by the commissioners that had preceded the pro- prietor, was revised by him, and the present beautiful and regular plan adopted, and even the present names given to the principal streets.

In the latter part of the year 1682 the first legislative body in the province was convened by the proprietor, who, though he was vested with all the powers of a pro- prietary governor, saw fit, in the furtherance of his original plan, to adopt a purely democratic form of government. This body was a general assembly of the people, and was held at the town of Chester, which was first called by the Swedes Upland. This assembly continued in ses- sion from the fourth till the seventh of December; during which time they enacted three laws, one of which was called the great law of Pennsylvania. It was a code of laws consisting of between sixty and seventy subjects or chapters, that had been prepared by the proprietor in England, and it was intended to cover all the exigencies which were deemed likely to arise in the colony. It se- cured the most ample religious toleration-to all whose faith agreed with that of the Friends-and only punished others by fine and imprisonment; thus exhibiting a marked contrast with the bigoted and intolerant Puritans in some of the New England colonies. It guaranteed the rights and privileges of citizenship to all tax-payers, guarded. personal liberty, secured, as far as possible, by punishing bribery, the purity of elections, abolished the English law of primogeniture, discarded the administration of re- ligious oaths and affixed the penalty of perjury to false affirmation, and established marriage as a civil contract. Drinking healths, drunkenness, or the encouragement of it, spreading false news, clamorousness, scolding, railing, masks,revels,stage plays,cards and other games of chance, as well as evil and enticing sports, were forbidden and made punishable by fine and imprisonment. It is a cu- rious fact that all these laws have either been super. seded by others or become obsolete.

The wise, just and generous policy which the propri- etor adopted in the government of his province rendered him exceedingly popular, and the tide of immigration set so strongly toward this province that during the year 1682 as many as twenty-three ships laden with settlers arrived. During this year the proprietor divided the province into the three counties of Bucks, Philadelphia and Chester; and the territory, as it was termed, which he had acquired from the Duke of York, into Kent, New Castle and Sussex. In these counties he appointed officers, and made preparations for the election of a representatative Legislature, consisting of a council of eighteen members, and an assembly of fifty-four. This Legislature assembled

GERMAN IMMIGRATION-GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES.

at Philadelphia in January, 1682. One law enacted pro- vided for the appointment in each county court of three " peace makers," to hear and determine differences. It may be noted as a matter of curiosity that bills were in- troduced in this Legislature providing that "only two sorts of clothes should be worn-one kind for summer and one for winter;" and another that young men should be obliged to marry at a certain age.

CHAPTER II.

GERMAN IMMIGRATION-THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF WIL- LIAM PENN AND SIR WILLIAM KEITH.

S has been before stated, the first settlements in the province were made by Swedes, who oc- cupied the country during about half a cen- tury previous to its purchase of William Penn. In all that time they made little prog- ress toward developing the resources of the country. In the language of Watson: "They seem to have sat down contented in their log and clay huts, their leather breeches and jerkins and match coats for their men, and their skin jackets and linsey petticoats for their women; but no sooner has the genius of Penn enlisted in the enterprise than we see it speak a city and commerce into existence. His spirit animated every part of his colony; and the consequence was that the tame and unaspiring Swedes soon lost their distinctive character and existence as a separate nation.

Immigration was largely increased during 1683 and 1684. Settlers came from England, Ireland, Wales, Hol- land and Germany. Of those from the latter country many came from Cresheim and founded the village of Germantown. They were nearly all Quakers, and the settlement which they made was the nucleus around which collected so large a German population in after years that Pennsylvania became a German province, notwithstanding the large immigration from the British islands at first.

change destroyed the influence of Penn at the English court, and the friendship which had existed between him and James caused him to be regarded with suspicion. Slanders were circulated and believed concerning him, and he was even accused of treason and compelled for a time to go into retirement. In his absence discord and dis- sensions arose in the province, and these were made the pretext for depriving him of his proprietary government in 1693. He was, however, honorably acquitted and ex- onerated from suspicion, and reinstated in his proprietary rights in 1694. Dissensions in the province continued, however, till after the return of the proprietary with his family in 1699 ; and even his presence failed to wholly restore harmony.

Because of the increasing power of the proprietary governments in America, the plan had, since the accession of William and Mary to the crown, been entertained of purchasing these governments and converting them into regal ones. In 1701 a bill for that purpose was intro- duced in the House of Lords, and Penn revisited Eng- land for the purpose of endeavoring to prevent its pas- sage. Before his departure a new constitution, which had been some time under consideration, was adopted, and a deputy governor and council of State provided for and appointed. On his arrival the project of purchasing the proprietary government was dropped. In 1702 King William died, and was succeeded by Queen Anne, who entertained for Penn a warm friendship Though the danger of being dispossessed of his proprietary government was averted, affairs in that government were not more harmonious. The disaffection on the part of the people in the lower counties, which he had endeavored to allay, led to a separation in 1703, and the choice of a distinct assembly for the territories. Some of the deputy govern- ors were indiscreet men, and differences between them and the provincial Legislature were constantly arising. Harrassed by these, and probably disgusted at the in- gratitude of his subjects, in whose behalf he had in- curred large pecuniary liabilities, for the collection of which proceedings were frequently instituted against him, he finally agreed with the crown for the cession of his province and the territory granted him by the Duke of York. He was prevented from legally consummating this cession by a stroke of apoplexy, which rendered him imbecile.

In 1683 and 1684 the controversy with regard to boundaries was renewed by Lord Baltimore, and the The Queen died in 1714, and was succeeded by George the First. Among the early acts of Parliament in the reign of this King was one extending to the English colonies a previous act disqualifying Quakers from hold- ing office, serving on juries, or giving evidence in crimi- nal cases. Charles Gookin, who had been provincial governor since 1709, construed this act to be applicable to the proprietary government, and a disqualification of the Quakers in the province. This construction of the law of course called forth the indignation and opposition of the council, the Assembly, and the people, and led to the recall of Gookin in 1717, and the appointment of Sir William Keith in his stead. The latter was affable Marylanders were guilty of some acts of aggression. The province had come to number some 7,000 inhabitants, and it was a matter of importance that the boundary dis- pute should be settled. To accomplish this settlement, and for other reasons, Penn during 1684 sailed for Eng- land, after giving to the provincial council the executive power. Not long after his arrival in England Charles the Second died, and was succeeded on the throne by his brother James, Duke of York, between whom and Penn a strong friendship existed. The proprietary, therefore, easily obtained a favorable decree. In 1688 a revolution in England dethroned James and placed the regal power in the hands of William and Mary. This and courteous, cunning and crafty, and in all matters of

OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

difference between the crown or proprietary, on one side, and the people on the other, he espoused the popu- lar cause.

William Penn died at the age of seventy-four, in the summer of 1718. History will ever point to him as one who accomplished more for the cause of civil and relig- ious liberty than any other man of his time, and to the provincial government which he founded and adminis- tered as the first successful experiment in the broadest liberty of conscience which had then been conceived, and the nearest approach to a government of themselves by the people that had ever been attempted. He was the representative of a despised and proscribed sect; but by his wise and liberal administration of the government of his province, in accordance with the principles of that sect, he did more to bring it to the favorable notice of the world than could otherwise have been done.

The American colonies at that time presented a curious spectacle. Maryland, a colony of Catholics, who were stigmatized as the most bigoted and intolerant sect in Christendom, had been established under a constitution the most liberal and tolerant of all that had been grant- ed by the government of Great Britain; and Pennsylva- nia, a province of Quakers, whose tenets were almost the reverse of the Catholics, had added to this almost uni- versal tolerance the largest civil liberty that had ever been enjoyed by a people; while the Puritans of the New England colonies, who professed to have fled from relig- ious persecution in England, and to have sought an asylum where each could worship God, the common Father of all, according to the dictates of his own con- science, in the language of Egle, "excluded from the benefits of their government all who were not members of their church, and piously flagellated or hanged those who were not convinced of its infallibility." Almost two centuries have passed since Penn established his colony in America, and-except in those governments that are purely secular, or nearly so, in their character-political science has developed little that is essential to the wel- fare and happiness of humanity that was not embodied in his system.

The estate of William Penn passed at his death to his family, who inherited both his property and his proprie- tary government. He had made a will, previous to his agreement with Queen Anne, for the sale of his province; and his agreement was decided to be void because of his mental incapacity to consummate it. The proprietary gov- ernment, therefore, devolved on his widow, as executrix of his will and trustee of his property during the minority of his children, and it has been said of her that she man- ifested much shrewdness in the appointment of governors and general management of colonial affairs. It is said by Day: "The affectionate patriarchal relation which had subsisted between Penn and his colony ceased with his death; the interest which his family took in the affairs of the province was more mercenary in its character, and looked less to the establishment of great and pure princi- ples of life and government."

The administration of Sir William Keith was quite suc- cessful. The favor with which he was regarded by the people enabled him to promote among them that harmony which is so essential to prosperity; and the colony was prosperous. There was a large influx of population, the character of which was more cosmopolitan than in former times. The persecutions of the Quakers in England had relaxed somewhat, and fewer, relatively, of them sought homes here; while people from other regions, and nota- bly from Germany, came in great numbers. The popu- larity of Keith was such that he was able to accomplish two measures that had been looked on with great disfavor by the assembly-the establishment of a Court of Chan- cery, of which he was the chancellor; and the organiza- tion of a militia, of which he was the chief. On the other hand, by his good offices, "the Quakers, to their great joy, procured a renewal of the privilege of affirmation in place of an oath, and of the cherished privilege of wear- ing the hat whenever and wherever it suited them." He was deposed in 1726, through the influence of James Logan, the leader of the proprietary party. Franklin wrote of him: " If he sought popularity he promoted the public happiness, and his courage in resisting the de- mands of the family may be ascribed to a higher motive than private interest. The conduct of the Assembly to- ward him was neither honorable nor politic; for his sins against his principles were virtues to the people, with whom he was deservedly a favorite; and the House should have given him such substantial marks of their gratitude as would have tempted his successors to walk in his steps."

Keith's successor was Patrick Gordon. His adminis- tration continued during ten years, or until his death in 1736. Tranquillity prevailed in the province during this time; the population, which in 1727 was more than fifty thousand, received large accessions, especially from Ger- many; internal improvements were prosecuted, and for- eign commerce increased largely. Two of the proprie- taries, John and Thomas Penn, came to the province; the latter in 1732, the former in 1734. John returned to England in 1735 on account of the aggressions of the Marylanders under Lord Baltimore, but Thomas re- mained in the country eight years longer. The demeanor of the latter was not such as to endear him to the people.

The first public library ever established in the province was projected in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, and was in- corporated in 1742. During the two years following the death of Mr. Gordon the president of the council, James Logan, was the executive officer of the province. The cele- brated fraud known as the "Indian walk " took place in

1737. That an unscrupulous Indian trader should be guilty of thus swindling ignorant savages would be no matter of surprise; but that the province of Pennsylva- nia should be a party to such a transaction is almost in- credible. It is certain that it never would have received the sanction of William Penn, and it is equally certain that it was the foundation of an enmity that broke out in open hostility afterwards.

OPENING OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

CHAPTER III.

THE QUESTION OF TAXING THE PROPRIETARY ESTATES- WARS WITH THE FRENCH AND INDIANS.

HE proprietaries in 1738 appointed George Thomas governor, and the position was held by him till 1747. In the war between Great Britain and Spain which was declared in 1739 the Assembly did not take measures to fur- nish the men required, and the governor was com- pelled to raise the quota of the province by his own exertions. In 1744 war broke out between France and England, and the aspect of Indian affairs in Penn- sylvania and on its borders became threatening; but the storm was averted by the good offices of the Iroquois, who held the Delawares in subjection.

An unhappy condition of affairs existed at that time, and during some years afterwards, in the province. The proprietaries had little sympathy with the people, but as they grew rich by the enhanced value which the activity and enterprise of these people gave to their estates, they preferred the pomp and luxury of aristocratic life, and regarded the people with a measure of contempt. Un- der such circumstances it was not a matter of wonder that the people, through their representatives, should not re- spond with alacrity to the demands of the governors ap- pointed by these proprietaries. Governor Thomas re- signed in 1747, and after an administration of two years by Anthony Palmer, president of the council, James Hamilton became lieutenant governor in 1749. The condition of things at that time cannot be better de- scribed than in the language of Sherman Day:

" An alarming crisis was at hand. The French, now hovering around the great lakes, sedulously applied themselves to seduce the Indians from their allegiance to the English. The Shawnees had already joined them; the Delawares waited only for an opportunity to revenge their wrongs, and of the Six Nations the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas were wavering. The French were fortifying the strong points on the Ohio. To keep the Indians in favor of the colony required much cunning diplomacy, and expensive presents. In this alarming juncture the old flame of civil dissension burst out with increased force. The presents to the Indians, with the erection of a line of forts along the frontier, and the maintenance of a military force, drew heavily on the provincial purse. The Assembly, the popular branch, urged that the proprietary estates should be taxed as well as those of humble individuals. The proprietors, through their deputies, refused, and pleaded prerogative, charter, and law. The Assembly in turn pleaded equity, common danger, and common benefit, requiring a com- mon expense. The proprietaries offered bounties in lands yet to be conquered from the Indians, and the privilege of issuing more paper money ; the Assembly wanted

something more tangible. The Assembly passed laws laying taxes and granting supplies, but annexing con- ditions. The governors opposed the conditions, but were willing to aid the Assembly in taxing the people, but not the proprietaries. Here were the germs of revo- lution, not fully matured until twenty years later. Dr. Franklin was now a member and a leader in the Assem- bly. In the meantime the frontier were left exposed while these frivolous disputes continued. The pacific principles, too, of the Quakers and Dunkards and Men- nonists and Schwenckfelders came in to complicate the strife ; but as the danger increased they prudently kept aloof from public office, leaving the management of the war to sects less scrupulous."

Robert H. Morris, the successor of James Hamilton, became governor in 1754, and his successor, William Denny, in 1756. The same want of harmony between the proprietaries and the people continued during their administrations, but finally, through the efforts of Frank- lin, the royal assent was given to a law taxing the estates of the proprietaries.

Settlements were made on lands to which the Indian title had not been extinguished, especially by the not over scrupulous Scotch Irish, and the result was a de- sultory Indian war, which kept up a very insecure feeling among the people of the province.

Such was the condition of the province at the breaking out of the French and Indian war a few years after the treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle, which really was scarcely more than a temporary suspension of hostilities. It is well known to every one connected with American his- tory, that at this time the French attempted to connect their possessions in Canada and Louisiana by a chain of military posts extending from Presque Isle, now Erie, to the navigable waters of the Ohio, and along that river to the Mississippi. In furtherance of this design they sent, in 1754, 1,000 men to the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where they built Fort Du Quesne, afterward called, in honor of the great English statesman, Fort Pitt ; now Pittsburg. Against this was sent the disastrous expedition of General Braddock, a minute account of which cannot, for want of space, be given here. It may briefly be said, that by reason of his self conceit and obstinacy General Braddock sustained the most overwhelming defeat that an European army had ever met in America, and that he was mor- tally wounded in this action. General-then Colonel- George Washington greatly distinguished himself in this battle.

The dispute between the proprietaries and the people continued, notwithstanding the country was suffering from the horrors of an Indian war. The proprietaries insisted on the exemption of their estates from taxation, and the Assembly yielded when the public safety was in jeopardy. Several councils were held with the Indians, and efforts were made through the interposition of the Six Nations, whose aid the authorities of the province invoked, to secure peace, with only partial success. In 1756 three hundred men under Colonel Armstrong crossed

OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the Alleghenies and destroyed the Indian town of Kittan- ing ; thus inflicting a severe blow on the savages, and driving them beyond the Allegheny river.

In 1758 a change in the ministry in England was made, and under William Pitt the war was prosecuted with great energy. An expedition consisting of about 9,000 men was organized and sent against Fort Du Quesne. On the approach of this army the French burnt the buildings, evacuated the fort, and blew up the magazine. It was rebuilt and named Fort Pitt. This terminated hostilities in the valley of the Ohio. A series of successes followed in 1759 and 1760 at the north and west, which terminated the war, though a feeble effort was made by the French to retrieve their losses in Canada. The result was the final extinction of the French dominion in the Canadian provinces, which was confirmed by the treaty of Fontain- bleau in 1762. The peace which followed was of short duration. The Kyasuta and Pontiac war, so called from the chiefs who planned it, broke out in 1763. Kyasuta was a Seneca, and Pontiac an Ottawa chief; and the scheme which they devised, for a war of quick extermin- ation against the colonists, would have been no discredit to the ability of educated military chieftains. The sava- ges had looked with approval on the construction by the French of a chain of forts from Presque Isle to the Ohio; for they saw in them a check upon the progress westward of the tide of settlement which threatened to dispossess them of their broad domains. When they saw these forts fall into the hands of the colonists, and thus cease to be a barrier against their aggressions, they became more alarmed for their own safety; and these wily chiefs con- ceived the project of attacking and overpowering the different defenses on the frontier simultaneously, and then rushing upon and exterminating the defenseless in- habitants in the settlements, and thus, by the terror which they inspired, preventing future encroachments. The time of harvest was chosen for this attack, and the plan was laid with such secrecy that the first intimation of it was the appalling war whoop with which it was com- menced. So nearly successful were the savages that eight of the eleven forts attacked on the western frontier were taken. Scalping parties overran the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and the terror stricken inhabitants fled before them. Fort Pitt was in- vested, after the Indian fashion, during about three months, but was relieved by a force under Colonel Bo- quet. About thirty of the settlers in the Wyoming valley were killed by the Delawares, in revenge for the murder of Teedyuscung by a party of Iroquois, the latter having persuaded the Delawares that the murder was committed by the whites. Although there were, after the first erup- tion of hostilities, no large organized bands of hostile Indians, the frontier settlements were continually harassed by small parties, who came upon them stealthily and mur- dered the inhabitants without pity. The protection af- forded by the authorities in the province against these marauding parties was insufficient. The pacific disposi- tion of the Quakers, who controlled the government, was such as to call forth the remark that they were "more

solicitous for the welfare of the bloodthirsty Indian than for the lives of the frontiersmen." Parkman says of them: " They seemed resolved that they would neither defend the people of the frontier nor allow them to defend them- selves; and vehemently inveighed against all expeditions to cut off the Indian marauders. Their security was owing to their local situation, being confined to the east- ern part of the province."

John Penn, a grandson of the founder of the province, came to Pennsylvania in 1763 in the capacity of lieuten- ant-governor. His father and his uncle were then the proprietors and resided in England. The Penn family had all ceased to be Quakers, and had no conscientious scruples against defensive or aggressive war. General Gage had become commander of the military forces of the province, and Governor Penn vigorously seconded his efforts. He even, in 1764, offered by proclamation the following bounties for scalps, Indians, etc .: "For every male above the age of ten years captured, $150; scalped, being killed, $134; for every female Indian enemy, and every male under the age of ten years, cap- tured, $130; for every female above the age of ten years scalped, being killed, $50."

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History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell Number of Pages: 604

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604