History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 37

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" Resolved, unanimously, That saltpetre being an article of great use and consumption, we recommend the making of it, and are further of opinion it may be done to great advantage.

" Resolved, unanimously, That the necessity we may be under for gunpowder, especially in the Indian trade, induces us to recommend the manufacturing of that article as largely as possible by such persons who are or may be owners of powder-mills in this province."

Of course this saltpetre and gunpowder were for use only in trade and innocent consumption ! The necessity for the production of every article required for consumption-nails and wire, steel, paper, glass, wool-combs and cards, copper sheets, bottoms and kettles, fulling-mills, barley, tin plates, and printing types-was strongly impressed upon the people; and. it was finally resolved that the Committees of Corre- spondence for the city and liberties of Philadelphia should be a standing Committee of Correspondence for the several counties here represented, "and that if it should at any time hereafter appear to the Com- mittee of Correspondence of the city and liberties that the situation of public affairs renders a provin- cial convention necessary, that the said Committee of Correspondence do give the earliest notice thereof to the committees of the several counties."

Thus it came about that on June 18, 1776, "a num- ber of gentlemen met at Carpenter's Hall, in Phila- delphia, being deputed by the committees of 1776. several of the counties of this province, to

join in a provincial conference, in consequence of a circular letter from the committee of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, inclosing the resolutions of the Continental Congress of the 15th of May last."1 At this convention of deputies, known as "The Pro- vincial Conference," Westmoreland County was rep-

resented by Edward Cook and James Perry. The resolutions of the Continental Congress referred to recommended the total suppression of all authority under the king of Great Britain, and provided,-

"That it be recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs has been hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in general."

By special order this resolution of such great mo- ment was read a second time, and after mature con- sideration, as the record states,

" Resolved, unanimously, That the said resolution of Congress of 15th of May last is fully approved by this conference.

"On motion, Resolved, unanimously, That the present government of this province is not competent to the exigencies of our affairs.

"On motion, Resolved, N. C. D.,2 That it is necessary that a provincial convention be called by this conference for the express purpose of form- ing a new government in this province on the authority of the people only."

The conference then proceeded to determine the number of which the convention should consist, and what should be the qualifications of the electors and of the persons who might be elected. It was resolved that eight representatives be sent to the convention by the city of Philadelphia, and eight by each county of the province, and that an elector should be a free- man, qualified by the laws of the province to vote for representatives in Assembly, of the age of twenty-one years, who had lived one year in the province imme- diately preceding the election, and had "contributed at any time before the passing of this resolve to the payment of either provincial or county taxes, or had been rated and assessed towards the same ;" and there was framed a test or oath renouncing allegiance to the British sovereign, to be administered if thereunto by any one required. On the next day,-

"On motion, Resolved, unanimously, That whereupon as the county of Westmoreland hath been exempted from the payment of taxes for three years last past, and thereby many persons may be excluded from a vote at the ensuing election in consequence of the foregoing regulations, con- trary to the intention thereof, therefore every person of 21 years of age, being a free man residing in said county, shall be admitted to vote, he being an associator 3 and having lived one year in the province next

" Nemine Contra Dicente.

3 The appellative " Associatots" had quite an early origin in Pennsyl- vania history.

In November, 1747, when through disagreement between the proprie- tary representatives and the Provincial Council the province was left defenseless, the people of the city of Philadelphia entered into a volun- tary military association for the general defense of the city and the province. They armed themselves, elected their own officers, and, pre- senting themselves before Council, were recognized and commissions ordered for their commanders. Chester County followed with a similar association in December, and Bucks County in January. These associa- tions died out with their occasion,-the hostilities with the French.

When the news of Concord and Lexington reached Pennsylvania, in the latter part of April, 1775, a military association was formed in Phila- delphia with branches in every county, and the first act of the Council of Safety, June 30, 1775, was "to approve of the Association entered into by the good people of this Commonwealth for the defense of their lives, liberties, and properties."

A committee of Council formed Articles of Association for them, to be found in X. Col. Records, Sec. S., 308. The " Associators" organized and composed the first battalion that went into service, formed the Flying

1 III. Penn. Archives, Sec. S, 635.

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CIVIL AND LEGAL-THE REVOLUTIONARY JUDICIAL SYSTEM.

preceding the election, and taking the test aforesald, if thereunto re- quired."

It was subsequently determined that any one quali- fied to vote for members of Assembly by the laws of the province might be elected a member of the con- vention ; and it was further provided that a test oath should be taken by the member-elect before taking his seat, renouncing allegiance " to George the Third, King of Great Britain," and not then could the per- son-elect be entitled to his seat until he had sub- scribed the following declaration :

"I, -- , do profess faith in God, the Father, and in Jesus Christ, His eternal Son, the true God, and in the Holy Spirit, one God blessed forever more; and do acknowledge the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."

A committee was also appointed who reported the time, place, and manner of holding the election for the members of the convention, whereby, their report being adopted, the several counties were divided into election districts, the voting-places designated, and the officers to hold the elections appointed. West- moreland County was divided into two districts, the first embracing the people on the south side of the "Youghiogena," to vote at Spark's fort, and the

second embracing the people on the north side of said river, to vote at Hannas Town.1 The judges ap- pointed to hold the election at Hannas Town were James Barr, John Moore, and Clement McGeary. Those appointed to serve at Spark's fort were George Wilson, John Kile, and Robert McConnel.

The time appointed for the election of members of the convention was the 8th day of July, 1776, and the election was on that day held at the places desig- nated. It is possible that the voters as they were assembled at Spark's fort may have heard that four days before the Declaration of Independence had been passed and promulgated, for the minutes of the Council of Safety, which had taken the place and assumed the executive duties of the proprietary and his Council, show that on July 5, 1776,

"The President of the Congress this day sent the following Resolve of Congress, which is directed to be entered on the Minutes of this Board :

"'In Congress, 5th July, 1776 :

"' Resolved, That Copies of the Declaration be sent to the several As- semblies, Conventions, and Councils of Safety, and to the several Com- manding Officers of the Continental Troops, that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the Head of the Army.

" " By order of Congress,

"' JOHN HANCOCK, Presd't.'

Camp at Amboy in August, 1776, and the term is used constantly that year. But in the fall of 1776 the Continental line of Pennsylvania was formed, and in 1777 the Associators are succeeded by the "Militia." In other words, revolution having been inaugurated, the people rose in their own capacity in a military association, held the State until their own rep- resentatives, elected under the authority of their own organic law (the Constitution of 1776), were in their seats and had the reins, when the " Associators," as did the California Committee of Vigilance of 1849, sub- sided and government moved on,

1 Spark's fort was near Burns' ford, in what is now Perry township, Fayette County. Observe how that the residents west of the Monon- gahela were disregarded, either as supposed to be within the power of Virginia at that time, or were treated as living south of the Youghio- gheny.

" In consequence of the above Resolve, Letters were wrote to the Counties of Bucks, Chester, Northampton, Lancaster, and Berks, In- closing Copy of the said Declaration, requesting the same to be pub- lished on Monday next, at the places where the Election for Delegates are to be held." 2

The date of the meeting of the convention was also determined by the conference, to wit, July 15, 1776, and after some action recommendatory of the organi- zation of the militia, an "Address of the Deputies from the Committees of Pennsylvania, assembled in Provincial Conference, to the People of Pennsyl- vania" was prepared and adopted, and a " declaration on the subject of the independence of this colony of the crown of Great Britain" was approved "with the greatest unanimity of all the members," signed at the table, and ordered to be delivered in Congress, when the Provincial Conference, on June 25, 1776, adjourned.

At the election held as provided for on July 8, 1776, for members of the Provincial Convention, James Barr, Edward Cook, John Carmichael, John McClellan, James Smith, John Moore, James Perry, and Christopher Lavingair were returned as elected the representatives of Westmoreland County.

The convention, which was to form a new govern- ment "in this province on the authority of the people only," met at Philadelphia at the time appointed, July 15, 1776, and from the instant of its organization assumed the whole political power of the State. It appointed delegates to Congress, and imposed upon them instructions and restrictions designed to pre- serve the dignity and independence of the new gov- ernment, but not until Saturday, September 28th, was the great labor of forming the Constitution of 1776 terminated.3 One provision of the plan or frame of government provided by this constitution may be here quoted as worthy of preservation from oblivion :

" SEC. 36. As every freeman, to preserve his independence (if without a sufficient estate) ought to have some profession, calling, trade, or farm whereby he may honestly subsist, there can be no necessity for, nor use in establishing offices of profit, the usual effects of which are depend- ence and servility, unbecoming freemen, in the possessors and expect- ants; faction, contention, corruption, and disorder among the people. But if any man is called into public service, to the prejudice of his pri- vate affairs, he has a right to a reasonable compensation. And whenever an office, through increase of fees or otherwise, becomes so profitable as to occasion many to apply for it, the profits ought to be lessened by the Legislature."

The Revolutionary Judicial System. - The changes made in the organization of the courts of justice by the provisions of this our first Constitution will at present be designated only so far as is indi- cated by certain provisions of an act of the new Assembly, passed Jan. 28, 1777. It will 1777. of course be understood that by the Declara- tion of Independence and the adoption of a frame of

2 X. Col. Records, 635.

8 See Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, 540. In this convention Benjamin Franklin was president, James Edgar was a representative of York County, Jonathan Hoge of Cumberland County, and Thomas Smith of Bedford County.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

government of their own construction the people of Pennsylvania had stricken down all courts and offices established and held under the proprietary govern- ment. It was necessary therefore that these courts and offices should be re-established. The act referred to met this requirement, and portions of it, sufficient for our purpose, are as follows :

" WHEREAS, by the unconstitutional power claimed by the British King, and Parliament over the American Colonies, and the cruel and op- pressive measures which the said King and Parliament have pursued to establish that power, it became necessary for the Colonies to declare themselves Free and Independent States, which was accordingly done pursuant to a resolve of the Continental Congress : Whereupon all au- thority being in any person under the said King consequently ceased, and the laws enacted by his Representatives here became of no force or effect, although the same were for the most part suited to the circum- stances of the people: And whereas, it is absolutely necessary for the well governing every State, that Laws properly adapted to the circum- stances of the inhabitants be at all times in force ;

" Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General As- sembly met, and by the authority of the same, That each and every one of the Laws or Acts of General Assembly that were in force and binding on the inhabitants of the said Province on the fourteenth day of May last, shall be in force and binding on the inhabitants of this State from and after the tenth day of February next, as fully and effectually to all intents and purposes as if the said Laws and each of them had been made and enacted by this General Assembly : and all and every person and persons whosoever, are hereby enjoined and required to yield obedience to the said Laws, as the case may require, until the said Laws or Acts of the General Assembly respectively shall be repealed or altered, or until they expire by their own limitation ; aud [to] the Common Law and such of the Statute Laws of England as have heretofore been in force in the said Province, except as is hereafter excepted. * * * *

* * % * *

" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Courts of Quarter Sessions and Goal Delivery, and Courts of Petty Sessions, Courts of Common Pleas, Orphans Courts, and Supreme Courts, Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal Delivery, shall be held and kept in each respective County in this State at the times and places directed and ap- pointed by the said Laws or Acts of General Assembly, and Circuit and Nisi Prius Courts, as directed in and by an Act of General Assembly of the said Province, passed the twentieth day of May One Thousand seven Hundred and Sixty Seven, entitled, ' An Act to amend the Act for estab- lishing Courts of Judicature within this Province, by the Justices and Judges that shall be hereafter elected and appointed ;' the same to com- mence in each County on the same days of the same months respectively appointed by the said Laws for holding such Courts that shall be uext after the Judges or Justices of such Courts are qualified to hold the same, and shall have, use, and exercise all the powers, authority of ju- risdiction that by the aforesaid Laws, Justices and Judges of such Courts respectively heretofore have had, used and exercised, and the powers of Chancery given to the Justices by the Constitution of this State, agree- able nevertheless with this Act and such other Act or Acts of General Assembly as shall be hereafter made ; and every officer of all and every of the Courts in this State that is or shall be appointed shall have, use and exercise the same or like powers that such officer or officers of the same title, character and distinction might, could or ought to have had, used and exercised under the Charter and Laws of Pennsylvania, until displaced. And all Constables, Overseers of the Poor. Supervisors of the High Ways, and the Wardens and Street Commissioners of the City of Philadelphia, that were last appointed or elected in the said Province, are hereby authorized and strictly enjoined and required to exercise their several and respective powers, and execute, do and perform all the business and duties of their several and respective offices, until others are appointed in their stead and places.

* * *

"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the President and Council shall appoint one of the Justices in each respective County to preside in the respective Courts, and in his absence the Justices who shall attend the Court shall choose one of themselves President for the time being.

"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every action that was in any court in the Province of Pennsylvania, at the last term

the said court was held, except discontinued or Satisfied, shall be and is hereby declared to be in the same state, and on the same rule, and may be prosecuted in the same manner in the courts in each respective County, to be hereafter held and kept, as if the Authority of such Court had never ceased; and if any recognisance has been taken and not re- turned, it is hereby declared good and valid in Law, and shall be re- turned and prosecuted as the Laws direct, saving the stile; and where any person had obtained a judgment before any Justice of the Peace, for any debt or sum of money, and such judgment not discharged, the person in whose favor the judgment is may (on producing a transcript of such judgment to any Justice of the Peace in the County where the defendant dwells or can be found) demand and obtain an execution for the money mentioned in such judgment, which shall be of the same force and effect as if the judgment was obtained before the justice that granted the execution."

Westmoreland Courts Reorganized .- Under this act of Assembly were the courts of Westmoreland County reorganized. The last term under the old order of things was held, as has been seen, in April, 1776. The act before referred to was passed the 28th of January, 1777, and on June 11th 1 following, a new commission was issued appointing as justices the fol- lowing persons among those returned as having been elected, to wit : Edward Cook, John Guthrey, Charles Forman, John Moore, James Marshall, Christian Truby, Philip Rogers, Joseph Huston, Robert Adams, James Bair, Hugh Martin, James McGarraugh, John Beard, Andrew Robb, and Robert Richey. The first term held, however, under the new arrange- ment was on Jan. 6, 1778, before "Edward 1778. Cooke, Esq., President," etc .; no business, however, was done. Nor was there any session in April.

At July sessions a grand inquest attended, but no trials were had, though there were recognizances for future appearances, one defendant, William Down- ward, being bound over on a charge of "Misprison of Treason."

At October sessions, 1778, William Mitchell was indicted and tried for misprison of treason; Francis McGinnis and James Finley were witnesses for the Commonwealth. The defendant was convicted, and

"Judgment, that the one-half of his goods and chattels are Forfeited to this Commonwealth and himself be Imprisoned during the present war." 2

1 XI. Col. Records, 220.

2 There were many Tories in this Western country during the Revolu- tion. On March 28th of the same year when Mitchell was tried, Simon Girty, Alexander McKee, and Matthew Elliot deserted to the British- Indians, and Girty became the "notorious renegade."

Withers, in his Chronicles of Border Warfare, 167, writing of the period 1777-78, says, "There was then, unfortunately for the repose and tranquillity of many neighborhoods, a cousiderable number of those mis- guided and deluded wretches, who, disaffected to the cause of the colo- nies, were willing to advance the interest of Britain by the sacrifice of every social relation, and the abandonment of every consideration save that of loyalty to the King. . . . A conspiracy for the murder of the Whigs and for accepting the terms offered by the Governor of Canada to those who would renounce their allegiance to the United States and repair to Detroit by the relenting of one individual was prevented being carried into effect. . . . Scenes of licentiousness and fury followed upon the discovery of the plot. . . . The head only of this fiendish league lost his life, but many depredations were committed on the property of its members. . . . A court for the trial of the conspirators was held at Redetone Fort, and many of them were arraigned at its bar. But as their object had been defeated by its discovery, and as no further danger

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CIVIL AND LEGAL-WESTMORELAND COURTS REORGANIZED).

At this term John McGrew and Joseph Brouster were held by recognizance on a like charge of mis- prision of treason, and Joseph Hill was tried for assault and battery, and fined one hundred dollars and costs.

Nothing of moment occurred at the sessions of January and April, 1779. At July sessions, 1779, the grand inquest contained inter alia the 1779. names of Daniel Carmichael, John Reed, John Carmichael, John Vanmetre, and Thomas Scott, names with which we will meet again. Joseph McGarrah, Esq., presided at this term, Edward Cook, the usual president, being himself a defendant in a criminal prosecution. It appears that one Joseph Jones was a reprobate like Andrew Link in the early courts of Washington County, always a defendant in some charge or other. He is now a prosecutor of the president judge in the latter's own court. An act of Assembly had been passed prohibiting the distilla- tion of whiskey or other spirits from malt wheat, rye, or barley, or other grain, flour, etc., so that the army might not be deficient in subsistence. The following record, which a lawyer will read between the lines, will hence explain itself:

"On motion of Michael Huffnagle, Esq., whether the court will order David Sample, Esq., attorney for the state in this court, to prefer a Bill of Indictment against Edward Cook, Esq., for the distilling of whiskey contrary to the Act of Assembly, and whether Mr. Sample is under the Jurisdiction of this Court in ordering him so to do,-the said Mr. Sample in reply says, he is under the Jurisdiction of this court but refuses to prefer

was apprehended from them, they were released, after having been re- quired to take the oath of allegiance to the United States and to bear with the injuries which had been done their property. Those who were suspected for the murder of the chief conspirator were likewise arrainged for that offense, but were acquitted."

At the October sessions, 1779, of the Virginia Legislature, that State then claiming jurisdiction over this part of Pennsylvania, passed an act which is quoted from 10 Hening, 195: "Whereas divers evil disposed persons on the frontiers of this Commonwealth had broke out into an open insurrection and conspiracy, and actually levied war against the commonwealth, and it is represented to the General Assembly that Wil- liam Campbell, Walter Crockett, and other liege subjects of the com- monwealth, aided by detachments of the militia and volunteers from the county of Washington and other parts of the frontiers, did by timely and effectual exertions suppress and defeat such conspiracy, and whereas the necessary measures taken for that purpose may not be strictly war- ranted by law although justifiable from the immediate urgency and imminence of the danger, be it therefore declared and enacted, that the said William Campbell, Walter Crockett, and all other persons whatso- ever concerned in suppressing the said conspiracy and insurrection, or io advising, issuing, or executing any order or measures taken for that purpose, stand indemnified and clearly exonerated of and from all pains, penalties, prosecutions, actions, suits, and damages on account thereof, and that if any indictment, prosecution, action, or suit shall be laid or brought against them, or any of them, for any act or thing done therein, the defendant or defendants may plead in bar, or the general issue, and give this act in evidence."

These three facts-the trials in the Westmoreland County court for misprision of treason, the conspirators brought to bar at Fort Redstone (Brownsville), with the killing of their leader and the Virginia act for the indemnification of the persons namned in it-evidently bear an inti- mate relation to each other ; but we have hitherto been unable to discover data sufficient to inform us as to the details of the treasonable conspiracy and who was its leader who lost his life. The court referred to as having been held at Redstone must have been a sitting of magistrates on a pre- liminary hearing. No court for jury trials was ever held at that place.

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216