USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County : from its first settlement to the present time, first under Virginia as Yohogania, Ohio, or Augusta County until 1781, and subsequently under Pennsylvania > Part 44
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The effect which this communication had, was that Devereaux Smith, Aeneas Mackay, and Andrew McFarland, magistrates, as they were returning from court, on the 9th of April, 1774, were ar- rested by the king's warrant by order of Captain Connolly, and re- fusing to give bail, under the Virginia laws, arrangements were made to send them off to Staunton, Virginia, for trial. On their way to Staunton, Justice Mackay called at Williamsburg to visit Lord Dunmore in person and make a statement of the facts of the case, but he replied that Captain Connolly was authorized by him to prosecute the claim of the colony of Virginia to Pittsburg and its dependencies. These justices, however, after their arrival at Staun- ton, gave security and returned to their homes.
Col. William Crawford, however, President of the Court, immedi- ately sent an express to Governor Penn at Philadelphia, giving the facts in detail and at the same time stating that Captain Connolly a few weeks before went to Staunton and was sworn in as a justice of the peace for Augusta County, in which it is pretended that the country about Pittsburg is included, that under that authority he is constantly surrounded by an armed body of about one hundred and eighty militia, and that he obstructs the execution of every legal process, whether emanating from the court or a single magistrate.
The Provincial Council, then holding its deliberations in Phila- delphia, and to whom the communication had been sent, after delibe-
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rating on the subject, sent two letters under date of April 22, 1774, one to the justices arrested by Captain Connolly, and the other to Colonel Crawford, the president of the court. In the former Gov- ernor Penn assures the justices under confinement that he will send commissioners with all possible expedition to Lord Dunmore, apply- ing for their discharge and give instructions to procure for them any security or credit they may stand in need of, so as to make their disagreeable situation as comfortable as may be. But to Col. Craw- ford, Governor Penn wrote deprecating the present alarming situa- tion of affairs, promising that the commissioners should expostulate with Lord Dunmore upon the behavior of the officers acting under his authority, yet at the same time assuring Col. Crawford that as Virginia had the power to raise a much larger military force than Pennsylvania, prudence would dictate the propriety of not attempt- ing to contend with them by way of force, neither would he advise the magistracy of Westmoreland County to proceed by way of criminal prosecution against them for exercising the laws of the dominion of Virginia.
The commissioners who were sent to Lord Dunmore were James Tilghman and Andrew Allen, Esquires, who were instructed to ne- gotiate with the Governor of Virginia on the disturbances of West- moreland County-then embracing all the territory of Pennsylvania west of the mountains-the question of jurisdiction and such other matters as would quiet the minds of the inhabitants near the borders of the two colonies. These commissioners proceeded on their mis- sion May 12, 1774, and arrived at Williamsburg, and immediately called upon Lord Dunmore in his official capacity as Governor. They informed him that they, as the representatives of Pennsylvania, wished to settle upon some line of jurisdiction to remedy the incon- veniences of the present clashing jurisdiction between the colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and also to apply to the crown to fix the boundaries of Pennsylvania. Lord Dunmore partially and ver- bally consented to the propositions, but insisted upon retaining the jurisdiction of Fort Pitt or the lands to the eastward of the Monon- gahela River. In his letter to the commissioners after reconsidering the subject, he uses the following emphatic language : Your pro- posals, amounting in reality to nothing, could not possibly be com- plied with, and your resolution with regard to Fort Pitt, the juris- diction over which I must tell you at all events will not be relin- quished by this government without his majesty's order, puts an entire stop to further treaty. The commissioners replied by re- gretting his determination to hold Fort Pitt, and thereby continuing the inconveniences arising from a clashing and disputed jurisdiction. Their mission being accomplished, however unsatisfactory to them, they left for Philadelphia.
The commissioners having departed, Lord Dunmore, as Governor of Virginia, immediately issued the following proclamation, on the 25th of May, 1774 :-
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WHEREAS, I have reason to apprehend that the government of Penn- sylvania, in prosecution of their claim to Pittsburg and its dependencies, will endeavor to obstruct his majesty's government thereof under my ad- ministration by illegal and unwarrantable commitment of the officers I have appointed for that purpose, and that that settlement is in some danger of annoyance from the Indians also, and it being necessary to support the dignity of his majesty's government and protect his subjects in the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of their rights, I have therefore thought proper, by and with the consent of his majesty's council, by this proclamation in his majesty's name, to order and require the officers of the militia in that district to embody a sufficient number of men to repel any insult whatever, and all his majesty's liege subjects within this colony are hereby strictly required to be aiding and assisting therein, as they shall answer the con- trary at their peril. And I do further enjoin and require the several inha- bitants of the territory aforesaid to pay his majesty's quitrents and all public dues to such officers as are or shall be appointed to collect the same within this dominion, until his majesty's pleasure shall be known.
The Indians, now discovering the hostility which prevailed between the Virginians and Pennsylvanians, and considering that their own rights had been trampled upon by both colonies taking from them their hunting grounds, and these lands held more sacred to them by containing the bones of their ancestors, resolved to avenge them- selves on the whites. The result was, that as soon as this fact be- came known, a great part of the settlers fled from their habitations, and the fear was that there would be a total desertion of the whole country and a general Indian war.
To meet this emergency, Governor Penn convened an Assembly in May, 1774, at Philadelphia, and informed them that in the month of April previous, eleven Delaware and Shawnee Indians had been barbarously. murdered on the Olio River, below Pittsburg, by two parties of white men, said to be Virginians ; that the Indians in revenge had murdered a number of Virginians, settled to the west- ward of the Monongahela River; that although the Indian nations are at peace with the Colony of Pennsylvania, yet that Captain Connolly, appointed by the Virginia government at Pittsburg, and who has lately taken possession of that place under pretence of its being out of the Province of Pennsylvania within the Colony of Vir- ginia, with his party has actually attacked the Indians, and that the inference may be justly arrived at that this Assembly must provide for the security of the frontier settlements in case of a war with the Indians.
Governor Penn sent a message to the chiefs and warriors of the Shawnese Indians, in which he says to them that if any of the wicked people of Virginia have murdered any of your people, you should make complaint to the Governor, and he will have them punished. You should not in such case take revenge upon innocent people who have never injured you. A similar message was sent to the Dela- wares, and in these messages Governor Penn assures them that he will write to the Governor of Virginia on the subject. In pursuance
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of these messages, and the friendship exhibited by Governor Penn, the Indians held a council at Pittsburg, June 29, 1774, and all the unhappy differences were satisfactorily settled, the Indians having determined, in their own language, "to hold fast the chain of friend- ship, and make their young men sit quiet."
Captain Connolly, it appears, was not satisfied with this peaceful termination of affairs, for in the month of July following, in writing to Arthur St. Clair, he says : "The people of the frontiers want nothing but the countenance of government to execute every desirable pur- pose, and your province (Pennsylvania) appearing backward at this critical juncture, it will most indubitably be highly displeasing to all the western settlers. I am determined no longer to be a dupe to their amiable professions, but, on the contrary, shall pursue every measure to offend them (the Indians), whether I may have the friendly assistance or not of the neighboring country."
While Captain Connolly was acting in this domineering manner, a letter arrived from the Earl of Dartmouth, dated at Whitehall, Sep- tember 8, 1774, and addressed to Lord Dunmore, in which he says :-
" My intelligence through a variety of other channels adds further, that this Captain Connolly, using your Lordship's name, and pleading your authority, has presumed to re-establish the fort at Pittsburg, which was demolished by the king's express orders. The duty I owe the king, and the regard I entertain for your lordship, induce me to take the earliest opportunity of acquainting your lordship with this information, to the end that the facts asserted, if not true, may be contradicted by your lordship's authority ; but if otherwise, which I cannot suppose to be the case, such steps may be taken as the king's dignity and justice shall dictate."
Governor Penn justly considering that neither Virginia nor the Indians would give his province any further trouble, either with regard to the boundary question, or an incursion by the Indians, was surprised to find that the question of jurisdiction was again to be thrust upon him by a new proclamation issued by Lord Dunmore. Upon its appearance, Governor Penn issued the following procla- mation on October 12, 1774.
WHEREAS, I have received information that his excellency, the Earl of Dunmore, governor-general in and over his majesty's colony of Virginia, hath lately issued a very extraordinary proclamation, setting forth " that the rapid settlement made on the west of the Allegheny Mountains by his majesty's subjects, within the course of these few years, had become an object of real concern to his majesty's interest in that quarter, that the Province of Pennsylvania had unduly laid claim to a very valuable and ex- tensive quantity of his majesty's territory, and the executive part of that government, in consequence thereof, had most arbitrarily and unwarrantably proceeded to abuse the laudable adventurers in that part of his majesty's dominions, by many oppressive and illegal measures, in discharge of their imaginary authority, and that the ancient claim laid to that country by the Colony of Virginia, founded in, reason by pre-occupancy, and the general acquiescence of all persons, together with the instructions he had lately re- ceived from his majesty's servants, ordering him to take that country under
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his administration ; and as the evident injustice manifestly offered to his majesty by the immoderate strides taken by the proprietaries of Pennsyl- vania, in prosecution of their wild claim to country, demand an immediate remedy, he (Lord Dunmore) did thereby, in his majesty's name, require and command all his majesty's subjects west of the Laurel Hill to pay a due respect to his said proclamation, thereby strictly prohibiting the execu- tion of any act of authority on behalf of the Province of Pennsylvania, at their peril, in that country ; but, on the contrary, that a due regard and obedience to the laws of his majesty's Colony of Virginia, under his ad- ministration, should be observed, to the end that regularity might ensue, and a just regard to the interest of his majesty in that quarter, as well as to his majesty's subjects, might be the consequence."
AND WHEREAS, although the western limits of the Province of Pennsyl- vania have not been settled by any authority from the crown, yet it has been sufficiently demonstrated by lines accurately run by the most skilful artists, that not only a great tract of country west of the Laurel Hill, but Fort Pitt also, are comprehended within the charter bounds of this pro- vince, a great part of which country has been actually settled, and is now held under grants from the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and the jurisdic- tion of this government has been peaceably exercised in that quarter of the country till the late strange claim set up by the Earl of Dunmore, in be- half of his majesty's Colony of Virginia, founded, as his lordship is above pleased to say, " in reason, pre-occupancy, and the general acquiescence of all persons," which claims to lands within the said. charter limits must ap- pear still the more extraordinary, as his most gracious majesty, in an act passed the very last session of Parliament, " for making more effectual pro- vision for the government of the Province of Quebec," has been pleased in the fullest manner to recognize the charter of the Province of Pennsyl- vania, by expressly referring to the same, and binding the said Province of Quebec by the northern and western bounds thereof. Wherefore there is the greatest reason to conclude that any instructions the Governor of Vir- ginia may have received from his majesty's servants, to take that country under his administration, must be founded on some misrepresentation to them respecting the western extent of this province. In justice, therefore, to the proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, who are only desirous to secure their own undoubted property from the encroachment of others, I have thought fit, with the advice of the Council, to issue this, my procla- mation, hereby requiring all persons west of the Laurel Hill to retain their settlements, as aforesaid, made under this province, and to pay due obedi- ence to the laws of this government; and all magistrates and other officers who hold commissions or office under this government, to proceed as usual in the administration of justice, without paying the least regard to the said recited proclamation (of Lord Dunmore) until his majesty's pleasure (King George) shall be known in the premises, at the same time strictly charging and enjoining the said inhabitants and magistrates to use their utmost en- deavors to preserve peace and good order.
This proclamation had the desired effect of calming the public mind for some months ; but in February, 1775, the conflicting juris- diction of the provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania broke out afresh, and the magistrates acting under Pennsylvania laws were threatened with imprisonment if they continued to officiate as magis- trates. Even Virginians, who were incarcerated in jails under the Pennsylvania laws, were turned loose by an armed mob pretending
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to act under the authority of Virginia laws. Confusion reigned in the territory west of the Laurel Hill, lands already occupied were given to friends and favorites by Virginia officers, the eourts of jus- tice under Pennsylvania laws were obstructed, and land offices were even opened by direction of the government of Virginia.
These outrages being certified to by the justices, Governor Penn, on the 1st of March, 1775, dispatched an express to Lord Dunmore, in which he stated that the justice due to himself, and the protection he owes to the people, " who have taken up lands in this province, and settled them long before your lordship thought fit to disturb its peace by extending the government of Virginia within our chartered limits, obliges me to apply to your lordship to know if these violent proceedings are the effect of your orders, or have your countenance, that, in case they have, I may take the proper measures, or, if they have not, that they may receive your discouragement. Your lord- ship well knows that a petition is depending before the crown for settling the bounds and running the lines of this province, which, when done, will put an end to the unhappy disputes between the two governments. You will consider that the country which is the seat of the present disturbances was first settled under this province, and that our jurisdiction was extended there in the term of your predecessor, Lord Botetourt, and recognized by his lordship in his sending hither for trial a person who had committed a murder at Stewart's Crossings, which is westward of the Laurel Hill."
This murder happened in 1770. John Ingman, a slave of Col. Crawford's, killed an Indian named Stephen, and was sent by Lieut. Inglis to Governor Penn, with the necessary depositions, proving his guilt, and also his confession.
While such was the state of feeling in the western part of the province of Pennsylvania, the court of the district of West Augusta was also engaged in promoting the interests of Virginia, as the fol- lowing facts will abundantly show :--
At a justiees' court held at Fort Dunmore (Pittsburg), February 21, 1776, the case of William Elliott was called up, for disturbing the minds of his Majesty's good people by demanding in an arbitrary and illegal manner of sundry persons what personal estate they are possessed of, that the same may be taxed according to the laws of Pennsylvania. He appeared, and, on hearing the argument of the attorneys, the court are of opinion that he be committed to the gaol of the county, there to remain until he enter into recognizanee for his good behavior, whereupon John Hervie and Charles Sims became his securities.
February 22, 1775. James Caveat was also arraigned before the court for malevolently upbraiding the authority of his Majesty's offi- cers of the government of Virginia at sundry times, and for riotously opposing the legal establishment of his Majesty's laws. He offered as a plea the want of jurisdiction of the court, which was overruled, and he was required to give security for one year and a day, and
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desist from acknowledging as a magistrate within the colony of Vir- ginia any authority derived from the province of Pennsylvania.
May 1, 1775. Thomas Scott was also bound over for acting and doing business as a justice of the peace under Pennsylvania laws, in contempt of the Earl of Dunmore's proclamation, and also other misdemeanors, and was required to desist from acting as a magistrate within the colony of Virginia.
September 20, 1775. George Wilson, gentleman, was bound over for aiding, advising, and abetting certain disorderly persons, who, on the morning of the 22d of June last, violently seized and carried away Captain John Connolly from Fort Dunmore, and also advising others not to aid the officers of justice when called upon to appre- hend the aforesaid disturbers of the peace. He not appearing, his recognizance was forfeited.
In addition to these illegal arrests, Robert Hanna, Æneas Mackay, James Smith, and others were tried by the court held at Fort Dunmore, Pittsburg, and sent to the gaol of the county, through the instrumen- tality of Captain John Connolly. The patience of the people at length became exhausted by the best of their citizens being wantonly cast into prison, and they determined to redress their own insupportable grievances. The Pennsylvanians seized Capt. Connolly, the cause of all their troubles, and took him to Philadelphia, while the Vir- ginia court directed that Col. George Wilson, Devereaux Smith, and Joseph Spear should be kept as hostages for the safe return of Captain Connolly ; and to provide against any contingency of these hostages being rescued from their power, they were sent off imme- diately in a flat boat to Wheeling, to be detained there until future events would secure their liberty, which was afterwards accom- plished.
The people of the colonies at this date (1775), on account of the encroachments which the king and parliament were making upon all the colonies, felt the necessity of casting aside all minor differences, and of organizing themselves for the defence of their lives, their liberties, and their property. Every thought, every feeling, every aspiration was brought to bear upon the all-absorbing question of the freedom of America. Conventions were called in every colony, provincial councils were dissolved, committees of safety were substi- tuted, courts of justice were reorganized, new oaths taken, political offenders were pardoned, and all united in the heaven-born design of liberty and union.
From this time forward Captain Connolly became the enemy of his country, although a native-born citizen of Lancaster County, Penn- sylvania. In November, 1775 (after his reprieve), he was arrested in Fredericktown, Maryland, being engaged in treasonable projects, and was ordered to be kept in close and safe custody until the orders of Congress should be known. He was afterwards removed to the gaol of Philadelphia, and remained there until April 2, 1777, when the Supreme Executive Council directed his conditional release by
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permitting him to retire to the plantation of James Ewing, Esq., giving security himself in £2000, and two freeholders in £1000 each, for his good behavior, and that he will not write to, speak, or cor- respond with any person employed under the authority of the king or parliament, nor any person unfriendly to the United States of America, or employ or procure any person to take up arms, or aid and assist the enemies of the said States in any sort whatever, and shall appear before the Council whenever called for. He complied with these requirements ; but what was his after fate-how he lived and how he died-we cannot ascertain. However, such was the character of the man who created all the disturbances in the western portion of the province of Pennsylvania, to gratify the jealousy of Lord Dunmore and his own selfish passions.
One year after the States had become "free and independent" (or on July 5, 1777), the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania conceived it to be their duty to have the boundary line between themselves and the State of Virginia peacefully and quietly settled, as questions of vital importance would necessarily arise, in which both States would be interested, especially in waging a war for a common cause. The Supreme Council therefore directed Thomas Wharton, Jr., their President, to forward a letter to the delegates of the State of Virginia, then in Congress. The following is a copy of the letter dated,
IN COUNCIL.
Philadelphia, July 5, 1777.
GENTLEMEN : Being authorized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to propose to the Commonwealth of Virginia, a final settlement of the disputed boundary line between the two States, I think myself happy to have the opportunity of doing it through you. The proposals on our side, taken together, will, I conceive, appear so reasonable, that I flatter myself they lay a foundation for a happy adjustment of all differences. You have them in the enelosed extract from the minutes of Assembly, to which I beg leave to refer you. Being, sir, your very humble servant,
THOMAS WHARTON, Jr., President.
On December 10, 1777, Francis Lightfoot Lee informed the Exec- utive Council of Pennsylvania, that the delegates from Virginia desired another copy of the proposals, as they feared the copy to their Assembly had miscarried. Affairs remained in this situation until February 6, 1779, when Thomas Adams, Merriweather Smith, and Cyrus Griffin, delegates in Congress from Virginia, wrote a letter to Joseph Reed, President of the Executive Council, communicating the resolutions of the Assembly of Virginia, which were directed to be sent to the Assembly of Pennsylvania.
Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, on May 22, 1779, commu- nicated to President Reed that the resolutions of the General Assembly fully expresses their sense on the subject of negotiating the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, which was afterwards adopted in council, on the following 5th of June.
The correspondence of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania and
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Virginia, through their respective officers, Patrick Henry, Governor of the latter, and Joseph Reed of the former State, resulted in the appointment of George Bryan, Rev. Dr. John Ewing, and David Rittenhouse, commissioners on behalf of Pennsylvania, and James Madison (Bishop), and Robert Andrew, on behalf of Virginia, who met at Baltimore on the 31st day of August, 1779, and entered into the following agreement after four days' negotiation. That the line commonly called Mason and Dixon's line, be extended due west five degrees of longitude, to be computed from the river Delaware for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and that a meridian drawn from the western extremity thereof, to the Northern limits of the said States respectively, be the western boundary forever, on condi- tion that the private property and rights of all persons acquired under, founded on, or recognized by the laws of either country, pre- vions to the date hereof, be saved and confirmed to them, although they should be found to fall within the other, and that in decision of disputes thereon, preference shall be given to the elder or prior right, whichever of the said States the same shall have been acquired under, such persons paying, within whose boundary their land shall be inclu- ded, the same purchase or consideration money which would have been due from them to the State under which they claimed the rights, and where any such purchase or consideration money hath since the Declaration of American Independence been received by either State, for lands, which according to the before recited agreement, shall fall within the territory of the other, the same shall be reciprocally refunded and repaid, and that the inhabitants of the disputed terri- tory now ceded to the State of Pennsylvania, shall not, before the 1st day of December in the present year, be subject to the payment of any tax, nor at any time to the payment of arrears of taxes or impositions heretofore laid by either State.
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