History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

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

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The apathy which was manifested by the Assembly in 1763, and the insecure condition of the settlers toward the frontier, led to the formation of an independent or- ganization known as the Paxtang Boys or Paxtang Ran- gers; so named because they were mostly inhabitants of Paxtang, or Paxton, and Donnegal, in Lancaster county. Such was the feeling of insecurity in advanced settlements that men were compelled to keep their rifles at their sides while at work in their fields, and even while attending divine worship. These rangers, by their vigilance and activity, and by the severe punishments which they in- flicted on the savages, became in turn a terror to them. They were mostly composed of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, between whom and the Quakers no very friendly feeling existed. The latter strongly censured what they termed the barbarities of the rangers; and fierce dissensions arose between them. The Paxtang men finally fell upon a small tribe of Indians at Conestoga, in Lancaster county, and put many of them to death, because, as they alleged, they had discovered that these Indians, while professing friendliness, were secretly harboring their hostile breth- ren, and furnishing them with information and supplies of ammunition, etc. They also insisted that the Christian or Moravian Indians were guilty of the same treachery, and the latter were compelled to flee to Philadelphia to avoid their vengeance. These acts of the rangers called forth the still more vehement protests of the Quakers, and even at the present day historians are not agreed as to whether or not their action was justifiable. None of them were ever convicted in the courts of the province.

In 1764 General Gage instituted measures to drive the Indians from the frontiers by carrying the war into their country. He sent a corps under Colonel Bradstreet to act against the Wyandots, Chippewas and Ottawas, in the vicinity of the upper lakes; and another, under Colonel Boquet,to go to the Muskingum and attack the Delawares,

MASON AND DIXON'S LINE-CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.

Shawnees, and other nations between the Ohio and the lakes. This vigorous action had the desired effect. Peace was established, and many of the captives who had been taken were restored.

CHAPTER IV.

" MASON AND DIXON'S LINE "-CAUSES OF THE REVOLU- TION-PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

URING the ten years between 1765 and 1775 two questions of boundary were settled. One, that of the line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, had long been in dispute, and several fruitless negotiations had been entered into for its settlement. In 1763 Thomas and Richard Penn and Frederick Lord Baltimore en- tered into an arrangement for the establishment of this line, and commissioned Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to survey and mark it. This work they completed in 1767, having surveyed and marked with milestones of oolite brought from England) the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, except about twenty-two miles at its western end, where they were prevented by the Indian propri- etors. Thus originated the celebrated "Mason and Dixon's line." The other boundary question was raised by Lord Dunmore, of Virginia, who claimed the territory that now includes the counties of Fayette, Greene and Washington, and even a portion of Allegheny. He en- couraged settlers to take from Virginia the titles to their lands there, and even sent an agent to take possession of Fort Pitt, when it was evacuated by General Gage. The settlers were a bad class of men; and by reason of the lawless acts of some of them, especially two named Cresap and Greathouse, a frontier Indian war occurred. The Virginia claim was promptly repelled.

At the conclusion of the Indian war of 1763 and 1764 the old controversy concerning the taxation of the pro- prietary estates was revived, and Dr. Franklin at once be- came the champion of the popular cause in the Assembly. That body became so indignant at the conduct of the governor that they resolved to petition the King to pur- chase the proprietary jurisdiction, and place the province in direct relation with the crown. " Here," says Day, " was a most important step toward the Revolution. To break down the feudal power, and bring the people and the crown in direct communication, is, in all countries, the cept that on tea, which was continued at three pence per first great step toward popular freedom, and prepares the way for the next step-the direct conflict between the crown and the people. It so happened, however, that in this case the avarice of the British ministry outran the anti-feudal propensities of the people; and brought the one chest was imported and the duty paid; but generally colonies at once to the last great struggle between the the non-importation policy prevailed. Under these cir- people and the crown." Dr. Franklin was sent by the stances the ideal right of taxation was asserted and no collision was provoked. In order to make a practical province to London to urge before the ministry the meas-

ure of relief from the proprietary dominion; but on his arrival he found that the conflict was with the very power the protection of which he had come to invoke

The wars which had raged in the colonies, and in which the home government had assisted, had called the attention of the ministry to the rapidly increasing wealth of those colonies. The plan was conceived of making that wealth available to the mother country, for the double pur- pose of replenishing her exhausted treasury and securing the exclusive control of the colonial trade. The accom- plishment of this double object involved the question of taxation without consent and without representation in the legislative body imposing the tax. This was the point on which the American Revolution turned. Parliament in- sisted on its right to tax any part of the British domin- ions, and the colonies held that they were not safe if they might thus be despoiled of their property without their consent, and by a parliament in which they were not represented. In view of this momentous question the contentions with the proprietaries were forgotten. In 1764 an act was passed imposing duties on certain articles not produced in his majesty's dominions. This was followed the next year by the odious stamp act, which declared instruments of writing void if not written on stamped paper on which a duty was paid. This was resisted and the paper refused in the colonies, and the determination was formed by the colonies to establish manufactories, to the end that they might not be depend- ent on the mother country. By reason of the consequent clamors of English manufacturers, and the impossibility of executing the law without a resort to force, the stamp act was repealed; but the repeal was coupled with a declaration of the absolute power of parliament over the colonies.

The next offensive act was the imposition of duties on goods imported from Great Britain; but this was resisted by the colonists, who would accede to nothing which in- volved taxation without consent. A circular was ad- dressed by Massachusetts to her sister colonies recapitu- lating their grievances, and the arguments against the op- pressive acts. Governor Penn was ordered by the colonial secretary in London to urge upon the Assembly a disre- gard of this, and, in case this advice was not heeded, to prorogue it. The Assembly asserted, by resolution, its right to sit at its own pleasure, and to consult with the other colonies concerning matters pertaining to the wel- fare of all; and it gave a cordial assent to the recom- mendation by Virginia for a concert of action in order to peacefully obtain a redress of their grievances. The impost was reduced in 1769, and in 1770 abolished, ex- pound. The colonists, however, were opposed to the principle on which the tax was based, and not to its amount, and their resistance to the importation of taxed goods was concentrated on the tea tax. In Pennsylvania

OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

application of this right, however, the East India Com- pany was encouraged by parliament to send a consign- ment of tea to each of the principal ports in the colonies, to be disposed of by the agents appointed by the com- pany, and thus to force it on the people. The colonists in all the provinces were indignant at this insidious at- tempt.

" The course of Pennsylvania was from the first firm, but temperate. A meeting at Philadelphia passed resolutions denouncing the duty on tea as a tax without their con- sent, laid for the express purpose of establishing the right to tax; and asserting that this method of provid- ing a revenue for the support of government, the admin- istration of justice and defense of the colonies, had a direct tendency to render assemblies useless and to in- troduce arbitrary government and slavery; and that steady opposition to this plan was necessary to preserve even the shadow of liberty. They denounced all who should aid in landing or selling the tea as enemies to their country, and enjoined the consignees to resign their ap- pointment." Under such a pressure the consignees de- clined to receive it. In Charleston it was landed in a damp warehouse and permitted to rot. At New York a vigilance committee forbade the pilots to bring the vessel having the tea on board into the harbor, and escorted a captain who attempted to bring in some as a private ven- ture out of the harbor, after airing and watering his tea. At Boston the vessel having the tea on board was boarded [ lution."

by a party of men disguised as Indians, and the tea thrown overboard. In consequence of these proceedings meas- ures were adopted by the British government to coerce submission on the part of the colonists. Upon Massa- chusetts, which had manifested the most violent opposi- tion, the vials of British wrath were most freely poured out. In 1774 the act known as the Boston port bill, by which the port of Boston was closed and the custom- house removed to Salem, was passed. This was soon followed by an act vesting the appointment of colonial officers in the crown; by another, authorizing the extra- dition for trial of persons charged with capital offences; and by still another, for quartering soldiers on the inhab- itants. All the colonies sympathized and made common cause with Boston and Massachusetts, though in each colony there were some people who sympathized with the crown. These were termed tories, while the advocates of colonial rights were called whigs-names by which the two parties were known through the Revolution.

The province of Pennsylvania did not waver at this juncture in its adhesion to the colonial cause. On being requested to convene the Assembly Governor Penn of course declined, and a meeting consisting of about eight thousand people was held, at which a general colonial congress was recommended and a committee of corres- pondence appointed. Subsequently a convention of del- egates from all the counties in the province assembled, at which a series of temperate but tirm and patriotic resolu- tions were adopted, asserting both their loyalty and their rights, and reiterating the recommendation for a general congress. The convention also adopted instructions to

the Assembly that was about to convene. These were written by John Dickinson, one of the foremost patriots in the province. The following extracts are quoted to show the animus of these patriots:

" Honor, justice and humanity call upon us to hold and transmit to our posterity that liberty which we re- ceived from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children, but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No infamy, iniquity or cruelty can exceed our own if we, born and educated in a country of freedom, entitled to its blessings and knowing their value, pusillan- imously deserting the post assigned us by Divine Provi- dence, surrender succeeding generations to a condition of wretchedness from which no human efforts, in all probability, will be sufficient to extricate them; the expe- rience of all States mournfully demonstrating to us that when arbitrary power has been established over them even the wisest and bravest nations that have ever flour- ished have in a few years degenerated into abject and wretched vassals. * * * To us, therefore, it appears at this alarming period our duty to our God, our country, to ourselves and to our posterity, to exert our utmost ability in promoting and establishing harmony between Great Britain and these colonies, on a constitutional foundation." "Thus," says Sherman Day, "with loyalty on their lips, but with the spirit of resistance in their hearts, did these patriots push forward the Revo-

The Assembly appointed delegates to the Congress, which met in September at Philadelphia. This Congress adopted resolutions approving of the resistance of the people of Massachusetts, and took measures to prohibit imports from or exports to Great Britain, unless griev- ances were redressed. It also adopted a declaration of rights and enumeration of grievances, an address to the people of Great Britain, another to the people of British America and a loyal address to the crown. It also adopted articles of confederation, which act may rightly be con- sidered the beginning of the American Union.

A bill was adopted by parliament prohibiting the people of the provinces from fishing on the banks of Newfound- land, and at about the same time an ingeniously framed act, which made apparent concessions, but retained the doctrine against which the colonies contended, and which was intended to divide them. Pennsylvania was the first colony to which this proposition was presented, and the Assembly, to whom it was presented by Governor Penn, promptly rejected it; declaring that they desired no ben- efits for themselves the acceptance of which might injure the common cause, " and which by a generous rejection for the present might be finally secured for all."

Another provincial convention was held in Philadelphia in January, 1775, at which resolutions were adopted rec- ommending the strict enforcement of the non-importation pledge, and the production and manufacture of every thing required for the use of the inhabitants; enumerating many of the articles to be produced or manufactured, in- cluding gunpowder, which was said to be necessary for the Indian trade.

I 7

END OF THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT-EARLY REVOLUTIONARY EVENTS.

CHAPTER V.

REVOLUTION IN THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT-PENN- SYLVANIA A STATE-BATTLES OF 1776 AND 1777- INDIAN WARFARE.

N 1775 hostilities commenced. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill were fought, and a British army invaded the country. Con- gress met and organized an army, at the head of which General Washington was placed. At the same time that it thus provided for the pub- lic defense, it adopted a " humble and dutiful peti- tion to the King," which was presented but to which they were informed no answer would be given. A military association, having branches in each county, was formed, with a full code of rules for its government. The As- sembly met and made provision for raising four thousand three hundred troops-the quota of the province. In view of the troublesome position which the Quakers oc- cupied, the Assembly enacted that all able-bodied men who refused to bear arms (ministers and purchased ser- vants excepted should contribute an equivalent for the time and expense of others in acquiring the necessary discipline.

A committee of safety was appointed which assumed executive functions. A provincial navy was equipped, and measures were taken to protect Philadelphia against any naval force ascending the Delaware river. Later a continental navy was established.

The Continental Congress during its session of May, 1775, recommended to those colonies where no govern- ment sufficient to meet the exigencies of the times ex- isted, to adopt such governments. It was determined by the whigs, in pursuance of this resolution, to throw off the proprietary government, by which they were ham- pered. The conservatives and tories opposed this, but the times were revolutionary and the whigs prevailed. It was resolved that the new government should emanate from the people, and that the Assembly, the members of which were shackled by their oaths of allegiance to the crown, should have no voice in its formation. A convention consisting of delegates from all the counties, for the formation of a new constitution, was called, through the committee of conference and observation of Philadelphia. In the choice of delegates to this convention no one was permitted to vote who refused to abjure all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, or who was suspected of being an enemy to American liberty.

done so affixed their signatures to the Declaration of In- dependence.

The work of the convention was completed on the 28th of September, and the new-formed constitution committed to the keeping of the council of safety until the first meeting of the General Assembly of the State. The provincial Assembly met on the 23d of the same month, and quietly expired, with a feeble denunciation on its lips of the as- sumed legislative power of the convention. Thus, at about the same time, the proprietary government in Pennsylvania ceased by the action of the people in the province, and the colonies cast off their allegiance to the crown of Great Britain.

The population of Pennsylvania was about 300,000 at the time when it became a State and assumed its position among its sister States in the American Union. The Declaration of Independence had been made, but that independence was to be maintained ; and, as subse- quently proved, by the sacrifice of many lives and the expenditure of much treasure.

The limits of this sketch will not permit a detail of Revolutionary events that occurred beyond the boundaries of the State, though many of those events were im- portant factors in the history of the State at that time, and of the events of which Pennsylvania was the theatre little more than a brief mention can be made.

December, 1776, found General Washington on the west bank of the Delaware near Trenton. He had crossed New Jersey before the advancing army of Gen- eral Howe, who was posted on the opposite side of the river, waiting for the formation of ice on which to cross, that he might move on Philadelphia. General Washing- ton had secured all the boats on the river, and on the night of the 25th of December he recrossed the river with 2,400 men and twenty pieces of artillery, attacked the Hessians in Trenton and defeated them, capturing six cannon and 900 prisoners, with whom he again crossed into Pennsylvania. The loss of the Americans in this action was two soldiers killed and two who perished by cold. General Washington at once returned to Trenton, where he was joined by about 3,600 Pennsylvania militia under Generals Mifflin and Cadwallader. The battle of Princeton was fought soon afterward, and the army went into winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. The next summer, after some manœuvring in New Jersey, eviden ly for the purpose of drawing General Washington from his position, General Howe embarked his forces at New York, intending to attack Philadelphia by way of the Delaware river. After entering Delaware bay he re- turned to the ocean, sailed up the Chesapeake bay and landed near the head of Elk river. On the sailing of the British army from New York General Washington moved his army into Pennsylvania, and encamped near German- town to watch the development of General Howe's plans. General La Fayette joined General Washington at that time, and shared with him the hardships and privations of the camp.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted July 4th, 1776, and this convention assembled on the 15th of the same month. It not only entered on the task of forming a constitution, but assumed legislative powers and appointed delegates to Congress. It may here be re- The army of General Howe advanced toward Phila- marked that such of these delegates as had not already | delphia and was met by that of General Washington at

OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the Brandywine, where a battle was fought the 11th of September, and the American forces suffered a defeat and retired to Germantown. Washington soon afterward crossed the Schuylkill and prepared for battle again, but a heavy rain storm prevented the action. General Howe entered Philadelphia with a portion of his army, and the balance encamped at Germantown. Upon this force Washington made an unsuccessful attack while a portion of it was assisting the British shipping to effect a passage through the Delaware river. This was early in October. On the 22nd of the same month an attack was made on Forts Mifflin and Mercer, which commanded the Dela- ware opposite the mouth of the Schuylkill. After an obstinate resistance the garrison of these forts was com- pelled to evacuate them. In this affair the enemy lost two ships by reason of the effective service of the Penn- sylvania State fleet. After the surrender of General Bur- goyne at Saratoga the army of Washington was reinforced by that of Genera! Gates, and it encamped in a strong position at Whitemarsh. From this position the British commander endeavored to draw General Washington, but without success. The American army finally went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, a place which will ever be noted as the scene of the most intense suffering which the Revolutionary patriots were called on to en- dure during their struggle for independence. While they were shivering barefooted and half naked in their huts at this place, the British soldiers were snugly quartered and well fed and their officers feted and feasted by the tories in Philadelphia.

In the spring of 1778 an attempt was made by the Eng- lish government through commissioners to effect a recon- ciliation. Whether or not an honorable reconciliation was desired may be judged by the fact that they offered Joseph Reed, one of the delegates in Congress from Pennsylvania, {10,000 and the best office in the colonies to aid them in their purposes. His reply should be re- membered :- " I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it.'

It was in the spring of 1778 that France entered into a treaty with the Americans, and sent four frigates and twelve ships to the Delaware. In consequence of this Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Lord Howe in command of the British army, decided to evacuate Phil- adelphia, which he did, marching his forces across New Jersey toward New York. Washington pursued, and engaged the enemy at Monmouth and compelled them to give way. Philadelphia again became the capital in the latter part of June, 1778. Some trials were had for high treason, and several of those convicted were executed, greatly to the alarm of the tories and Quakers. They had been emboldened by the temporary success of the British arms, and these examples seemed necessary to inspire them with terror and prevent future treasonable acts, as well as to appease the vengeance of the whigs who had suffered at their hands.

By the evacuation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ceased to be the theatre of important warlike events. The Eng- lish government had, however, induced the Indians of the Iroquois nations in New York and those of the terri- tory west from Pennsylvania to engage in hostilities against the people of the struggling States. This warfare was waged in accordance with their "known rule." In- cursions were made, defenseless settlements attacked, and people " of every age, sex and condition" were ruth- lessly murdered. The settlements in many regions were left unprotected, because nearly all the men capable of bearing arms had responded to their country's call and joined the Revolutionary army. In 1777 the northern frontier of New York was the scene of many of these sav- age irruptions, and the frontier settlements of these States were scarcely troubled by marauding parties. They doubtless enjoyed this immunity because of the proxim- ity of troops, which could be quickly sent to protect these settlements. In 1778 the storm of Indian warfare burst on them. A descent was made on the Wyoming valley by a force of British, tories and Indians, commanded by Colonel John Butler. Many of the inhabitants were cruelly massacred and the valley was devastated. A de- scent was also made on the west branch of the Susque- hanna by a force of Indians, tories and British, under Col- onel MacDonald. The frontier settlements in Westmore- land county also were ravaged by scalping parties. A force under General McIntosh was sent to protect the western frontier, which was done by the erection of forts and by expeditions into the country of the hostile savages.

The Indian villages at Wyalusing, Shesequin and Tioga were destroyed by a small force under Colonel Hartley. In order to punish the most audacious of these savages, and prevent, if possible, future depreda- tions by them, General Sullivan was sent with a sufficient force in the summer of 1779 up the Susquehanna into the Genesee valley, the heart of the country of the Senecas-the most powerful and warlike nation of the Iroquois-with orders "to cut off their settlements, de- stroy their crops, and inflict on them every other mischief that time and circumstances would permit." This work was thoroughly accomplished. A battle was fought on the Chemung river at Newtown (Elmira), in which the Indians, under the celebrated Mohawk chief Brant, and the tories, under Colonel John Butler, were routed. The valley of the Genesee was devastated, forty towns were burned, orchards were cut down, corn fields were ravaged, and one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn de- stroyed. From this blow the warlike Senecas never re- covered. Though marauding parties continued to go forth, they were not afterward able to send out any large force.

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History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

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