History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 13

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended > Part 13

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letter signed by the Inhabitants afs'd to be Commu- nicated to the Governor of Maryland, was wrote at their own Request & according to the instructions Given.

Subscribed the Ilenry Hendrichs," 13th day of Sept. 1736. Michael Tanner.

In the letter from President Logan, writ- ten by direction of the Council, September 18, 1736, to Gov. Ogle, it is said: "And first we must observe you are pleased to say, these people importuned you for the grant of lands, under the authority and govern- ment of the Lord Proprietor of Maryland, but the success you mention they were fa- vored with consisted, not, it seems, from your words, in any grant of lands, but in your directions only that they should settle and improve the lands under the government of that province, so that all they obtained by this was that they should acknowledge the jurisdiction of Maryland over lands on which we find divers of them had entered by authority of the Land Office of Pennsyl- vania, and as subject to its government, paid their levies to the county of Lancaster, wherein they had been seated, and to which it is impossible Lord Baltimore either can or ever could justly pretend any manner of right. The real merit, therefore, of this it seems, consists in putting them on transfer- ring their obedience from their rightful landlord to another, to whom they stood in no relation. That we might be the better able to answer your letter we have waited not only till we could hear of the event of the military expedition of your forces of about 300 men in arms, sent up, 'tis said, against those people, and for some other unjustifiable purposes, but also that we might with more certainty be informed from whence these settlers were, aud how and when their settlements had been made. On the last of which we find that they are generally of those Palatines, who a very few years since transported themselves from Hol- land to Philadelphia, and made themselves subjects to his Majesty, King George II, under this government; and 'tis affirmed, they were so far from importuning you for any grant of lands that they were, by very indirect practices of some emissaries or agents, pretending authority from Maryland, seduced from their duty, and imposed on to believe they were situated within the limits of the Lord Baltimore's jurisdiction, but what applications such persons might make in their names we know not. . . Your proceed- ing, in sending up such an armed force on this occasion and their invading the posses- sion of others, where you never had the least

*IArchives, 492.

+Ibid, 71.

*I Archives, 75.

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

pretense of claim, either in law or equity, must indeed prove astonishing to every man who hears of it, and has any just notion of the English laws, and the privileges of an English subject; but as we shall not here enter into any expostulation on that head (tho' we might properly ask where five or six men going without any manner of arms, or so much as a stick, in their hands, into Mary- land, to try their challengers' prowess at boxing; was twice in a certain letter called levying war, what terms you would think fit to bestow on this march of such numbers so accontered?) We think it incumbent on us to acquaint you, that as we are assured the government of Pennsylvania is vested with equal or like powers with that of Mary- land, though it has hitherto with great pa- tience waited for the decision of the grand dispute in Britain, which it is manifest your Lord Proprietor endeavors to delay, yet now, on so flagrant an insult as this last step of yours, we cannot but think ourselves obliged to put his Majesty's subjects under our care, on measures to prevent the like invasions for the future. For this province, especially those parts, are filled with people of more spirit than to brook such treatment, and if any mischief ensue on their opposition to your attacks, you cannot but well know who must be accountable for it. But further, while all these contentions are owing solely to your own projections to carry your Lord Proprietor's pretentions into lands that not only never had been in possession, but can- not possibly fall within Maryland, and for which, for ending all disputes, he had in the most solemn manner renounced all claim to, and to set these pretensions first on foot at a time when the execution of the agreement was in agitation, and to continue them while the whole affair is under the cognizance of that high court, the Chancery of Great Britain, these we say, carry with them such accumulated aggravations and are so far from admitting the possibility of a justification by colour or varnish of words whatever, that none but your enemies can be pleased with such conduct."*

THE CHESTER COUNTY PLOT.

At a meeting of the Provincial Council, held at Philadelphia, on the 23d of Novem- ber, 1736, "the President acquainted the Board, that a discovery had lately been made of an association or engagement entered into. by several persons living in or about New Garden, in the county of Chester, who, having

received some encouragement from the Gov- ernor of Maryland, and others in authority there, had undertaken to oust by force of arms those Dutch families settled on the west side of the Susquehanna within this province, against whom the late hostile prep- arations of Maryland were intended, and to possess themselves of their plantations, which they proposed to draw lots for, and, acknowledging to hold them in right of the proprietary of Maryland, they were to defend those possessions against this government. For this end arms and ammunition were pro- vided and lodged at the house of one Rigby, in Baltimore County, and everything was in readiness for carrying their design in- to execution. On making this discovery, a warrant was issued, by one of the provin- cial Judges, for apprehending several persons concerned in this unlawful association, par- ticularly Henry Munday, who from the information given, appeared to be one of the principal persons in conducting it, and such care and diligence had been used in execut- ing the said warrant, that Munday was taken at his house that very day, when he expected a rendezvous of the party, and had sundry papers relating to conspiracy lying before him, and several letters to persons in Mary- land on this subject, just finished and ready to be forwarded, all of which were, with him- self, secured." Edward Leet, another of the persons embarked with him in this design, was likewise apprehended, but Charles Higginbotham, a principal person in it, had escaped. Among the papers found with Munday, was an application signed by thirty-one persons, stating that "being informed that there is some vacant land and plantations near Susquehanna River, that were settled by some Dutch families, and that the said land were by them located by warrants issuing from the Land Office in the Province of Maryland, as of the right and property of the Lord Baltimore; and that since the said Dutch families hath disclaimed the right and property of the said Lord Baltimore, and hath taken umbrage under the proprietarys Penns; that we are

informed that the absolute fee and right to the said land is within the limits and bounds of the Lord Baltimore's patent or charter; that the lord's chief agent hath and doth give encouragement for the resettling the said vacant plantations and land. We there- fore pray and request, that you will in our behalf and stead intercede with the Governor and agent to settle us in such vacant land or plantations, and we shall all be willing to pay such fee or rent charge as His Lordship

* IV Col. Rec., 78.

BORDER TROUBLES.

usually demands, and we shall with our lives and fortunes defend the same, and be sub- ject to the laws of his province, and defend his right, for which service, Sir, we shall be all your very much obliged."

There was a list of names of several per- sons ranged in three columns, with the fol- lowing certificate signed by Gov. Ogle: "Whereas application hath been made me by Henry Munday, Edward Leet and Charles Higgenbotham, and forty-nine persons by them mentioned, I have given instructions to Thomas White, Deputy Surveyor, to lay out, and in the names of the said persons, 200 acres for each person."

There was a paper signed by Munday addressed to Messrs Betties in these words : "November ye 14th, 1736. If instructions can be sent to Capt. Crissop to return so many of the names of the vacant plantations, reserving eleven of the best, which is the number of the third column, then every per- son that appears to draw hath his equal chance."

"Capt. Crissop send to the parties to come to draw their lotts by next Saturday."*

Henry Munday voluntarily offered to a member of the Council, to make a full decla- ration under his hand of all that he knew of the affair. His statement was, that in Sep- tember, 1736, Rev. Jacob Henderson and Squire Tasker, of Maryland, lodged at the house of William Miller, where he met with Thomas Thompson, brother-in-law of Hen- derson. Thompson applied to Henderson for advice in settling a plantation. Parson Hen- derson referred to Tasker, who wrote to some one in Maryland to show some plantations near the Susquehanna, and John Starr and William Downard joined with Thompson and received the land. John Starr went back to Annapolis and procured from the Governor of Maryland an order to settle for himself, and the others concerned. That he was informed the plantations of the Dutch on the Susquehanna had become vacant by their disowning the government of Maryland. John Starr had made a visit there and to the Governor of Maryland, and was shown by Cressap a very large tract of good land, which was enough to supply several families, and that the Governor would order 200 acres to be surveyed for each person at four shil- lings quit rent, and costs of survey and pat- ent. That he would maintain them in pos- session and give them a lawful right, and assured them the land was within the limits of Lord Baltimore's charter. Munday went to Annapolis to see the Governor, where he

met Edward Leet, and Charles Higgin botham, and joined in procuring an order to the surveyor of Baltimore County to survey 200 acres for them and forty-nine other per- sons named. Munday said he never proposed to settle upon any tract of land settled by the Dutch, but to seat some uncultivated land. The Council were not satisfied with the statement of Henry Munday, and examined Edward Leet, who related that Munday came to him with a petition signed by several per- sons for land which Leet declined to sign; that a few days after Charles Higginbotham came to him and acquainting him that there were to be some lands laid out in Maryland, asked him to go with him to Annapolis, to which he agreed, wanting to take up some land for himself and others. They with others set out for Maryland. They went up the east side of the Susquehanna to the ferry, late John Emmerson's, over against Thomas Cres- sap's house on the west, and, crossing the river, went to his house. In the morning they took a view of the lands in the neigh- borhood of Cressap's, and five of them, with one Lowe, went to view the lands where the Dutch people were settled who were said to have revolted from Maryland. They came to Annapolis on Saturday, the 30th of Octo- ber, and went to Gov. Ogle with Cressap. The Governor said he intended to dispossess the Dutch who were settled there, and for that end he was sending up arms, and would very soon give the necessary orders to the Sheriff. He would give 200 acres to each and defend them therein. He gave the names of Blunston and Wright, for the apprehen- sion of whom the Governor offered a reward of £100 for one and £50 for the other. Hig- ginbotham said he knew one of them, and made no doubt he could apprehend him. Cressap received on board a sloop a consid- erable quantity of fire-arms, powder, and ball, which were to be carried to Baltimore County to be used in dispossessing the Dutch, who had revolted from Maryland. Three drums and two trumpets were sent by land by certain Dutch men who were with them. When Munday came he appeared to be dis- satisfied with Higginbotham for being there beforehand. The Governor said. in a month's time, he would cause possession to be given. Leet, apprehending difficulty, laid aside, he said, all thoughts about the matter. *

In this matter, John Coats deposed that Henry Munday invited him to go over the Susquehanna about seven miles to settle on 800 acres of land taken up by Maryland, on which eight Dutch families were settled,

* IV Col. Rec., pp. 100-103.

* IV Col. Rec., 104.

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

whom the Marylanders would dispossess if they did not sell their interest and be gone. And that Maryland would give arms to all such members of the Church of England as would settle the said land to defend them- selves against the inhabitants of Pennsylva- nia. That the land would cost the survey only, and Munday was to have a gratuity. Jeremiah Starr deposed that Thomas Thomp- son told him that Jacob Henderson, Commis sary of Maryland, had by letter recommend- ed him to Thomas Cressap, to be shown land on the west side of the Susquehanna, and Thomas Thompson, John Starr and William Downer went and were shown the land which was settled by Dutch people, and Thompson chose for himself a certain piece whereon was a settlement and a corn mill, and that John Starr told him that he went with Cressap to the Governor of Maryland, who grauted him and his friends the laud, and if they would be true subjects to Lord Baltimore, he would defend them, and patent the land at four shillings an acre, they paying only survey fees. Henry Munday proposed a way of gaining the lands, and it was resolved that the militia of the government should be ready about the end of the month to take and give the possession to Munday and his friends. William Miller deposed that Jacob Hender. son and Benjamin Tasker were at his house and advised him where persons should settle on land west of the Susquehanna which was settled by the Dutch, and invited persons in Chester County to come and live in Mary- land. *

On the 29th of November, 1736, a letter was addressed to the magistrates of Chester County, in behalf of the Council:

"The seasonable discovery of the late wicked design, which from the encourage- ment of our unkind neighbors of Maryland was set on foot and upon the point of being carried into execution, for ousting by force of arms those Dutch families settled on the west side of Susquehanna within the un- questionable bounds of this province, and the apprehending of some of the persons who were principally concerned in promoting within your county the association for this purpose, having for the present, we hope, de- feated the evil intentions of those who by such practices would have introduced the ut- most confusion and disorder among his Maj- esty's subjects of this government, we have had it under consideration in what manner those disturbers of the public peace ought to be proceeded against." Thereupon the mag- istrates of Chester County were directed by

the Council to call before them as many of the associators as they could, and to take their examinations apart, and such as were disposed to live for the future in due obedi- ence to this government, might, on submis- sion, and on being bound by recognizance, be discharged without prosecution .*

THE ARREST OF CRESSAP.

On the 25th of September, 1736, the Jus- tices of the Supreme Court issued their warrant to the Sheriff of the county of Lan- caster for the apprehension of Thomas Cres- sap, for the murder of Knowles Daunt, and divers other high crimes and misdemeanors, and under safe conduct convey the said Thomas before them, to be dealt with accord. ing to law. t

At a meeting of the Council, held on the 27th of November, 1736, the President laid before the Board a letter from Lancaster County, brought by messengers, who gave an account, that in pursuance of the warrant issued by the provincial Judges for appre- hending Thomas Cressap, he had been taken with four others who abetted him in resisting the Sheriff. One of them was committed to the gaol of Lancaster County for a crime charged against him there, and Cressap and the three others were brought to Philadel- phia. The letter stated that the magistrates, upon considering the danger wherewith those parts of that county lying on the west of Susquehanna near to Thomas Cressap's set- tlement were threatened, if he should be joined by those who had lately entered into a combination for dispossessing the Dutch settled there, and having likewise understood that he had applied to Col. Rigby, a Justice of Maryland, for more arms and ammunition, they judged it absolutely necessary to appre. hend Cressap. The Sheriff of Lancaster had called to his assistance twenty-four persons, and had gone over the river on Tuesday night, the 23d of November, in order to have Cressap taken by surprise early the next morning. But Cressap, with six men, secured himself in his house, and stood on his de- fense. He fired on the Sheriff and his com- pany. The Sheriff set fire to his house, and Cressap, still refusing to surrender, at length rushed out, and after some firing, in which one of his own men was killed, he was appre- hended. The magistrates reported " that noth- ing but absolute necessity and the preserva- tion of so many innocent families, whose ruin seemed to be determined on, could have obliged the people to proceed to such extrem-

*I Archives, 500-1.

*IV Col. Rec., 112.

+I Archives, 489.

BORDER TROUBLES.

ities in taking this wicked man; that his be- havior has since showed that he will stick at nothing to gratify his resentments, and there- fore, unless strict care is taken, it may justly be apprehended that he will attempt either firing the prison or any other desperate action, that he can find means to compass." *

[NOTE. George Aston, of the county of Ches- ter, in the province of Pennsylvania, saddler, aged about fifty years, being one of the people called Quakers, upon his solemn affirmation, according to law. did declare and affirm that, upon some conver- sation happening between Thomas Cressap, Robert Buchanan, and this affirmant on the road, in sight of the city of Philadelphia, upon bringing the said Cressap down from the county of Lancaster, the said Cressap said, "Damn it, Aston, this is one of the prettiest towns in Maryland. I have been a troublesome fellow, but by this last job I have made a present of the two provinces to the King, and that if they found themselves in a better condition by the change, they might thank Cressap for it," or words to that effect. +

PHILADELPHIA, December 3, 1736, taken before mc, Clem Plumsted, Mayor.

On the representations of the magistrates the Council ordered that Cressap should be put in irons and closely confined in the most secure place, but supplied with what was necessary .¿ It was left to the Judges to pro- ceed against him and the others taken with him agreeably to law. On the 8th of Decem- ber, 1736, a message was brought from the Assembly, that finding that the government of Maryland had not shown any real dispo- sition on their part to enter into amicable measures for preventing further differences between the two governments, the House had come to a resolution, that an humble address should be prepared and transmitted to the King, praying his royal interposition for put- ting a stop to these disorders. The petition of the President and Council, and of the General Assembly of the province of Penn- sylvania, together with sundry affidavits about the apprebending of Cressap and the Asso- ciation for dispossessing the Dutch on Sus- quehanna, were transmitted to the King, after the meeting of the Council on the 11th of December, 1736.§

MISSION OF MESSRS. JENNINGS AND DULANEY.

At a meeting of the Council held at Phil- adelphia on the 6th of December, 1736, Mr. Bordley, a gentleman of Maryland, attending without with a message for the President and Council, was called on and acquainted the President that he was sent by Mr. Jen - nings and Mr. Dulaney, who were just come to town from Annapolis with their compli-

ments to the President and Council, and to acquaint them, that, having received some commands from the Governor of Maryland, they desired to know when they might have an opportunity of waiting on the President and Council .* Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney, on the next day, attending, deliv. ered an open letter from the Governor of Maryland. This missiou was occasioned by the burning of Cressap's house, and his arrest with other parties, on the 24th of November, as the letter of Gov. Ogle alleged, in Balti- more County. Mr. Jennings was the Secre- tary and Mr. Dulaney was the Commissary and Attorney-General of Maryland. The letter represented the transaction as cruel and barbarous, and requested the assistance of the government of Pennsylvania to bring the actors to punishment. A paper was drawn up by them and delivered to the Council to the same effect, and demanding that Cressap should be released. The answer to Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney stated that the government of Pennsylvania never acknowledged the place of Cressap's settle- ment to be in Maryland, and recited the attempts to oust the Germans; that Cressap was arrested on a charge of murder, and that unless the government of Maryland thought fit to enter into some effectual specific measures with them, it be represented to his Majesty to interpose his royal authority. To this Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney replied that the right and title of Mr. Cressap was founded on a grant from Lord Baltimore many years before the agreement; that the agreement was never carried into execution and the validity of it was under the consideration of tne High Court of Chancery. They discuss the act of the Germans in disowning the jurisdiction of the Lord Baltimore, and alleged that Cressap acted in self-defense, and that to two gentlemen sent from hence offers were made which were rejected.

In consideration of the paper of Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney, which referred to former pacific overtures on the part of Mary. land, the Council recurred to the transactions at Annapolis with Messrs. Hamilton and Georges in May, 1734, by which it appeared that, though the Governor of Mary- land often used the expression of pacific measures, what was proposed was dilatory and impracticable, and the proposal of this gov- ernment of agreeing on some limits, to which. for the preservation of peace, jurisdiction should extend with a salvo to the right of either proprietor, till the dispute between them should be fully ended, was evaded and

*IV Col. Rec., 109.

+I Archives, 510. #Ibid, 111.

¿Ibid, 125.

*1V Col. Rec., 115.

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY.

declined. The answer to the depnties was based on this view, December 14, 1736: "If your Governor will agree upon some certain boundaries to limit the jurisdiction to the respective provinces, without prejudice to the right of either proprietor, until the whole dispute shall be ended, or upon any other reasonable measures by which his Majesty's subjects may enjoy peace and no longer be harassed in their persons and possessions, we shall cheerfully come into any methods that can be proposed, consistent with the laws and common justice." It was also said " that the Germans, who yearly arrive here in great numbers, wholly ignorant of the English language and constitution, were obliged, on account of our too near northern neighbors, the French, whose language many of them understand, not only to swear allegi- ance to our Sovereign but as a further tie upon them promised fidelity to our proprie- tors and this government, a practice only used with them and no others." There resulted a very voluminous correspondence, but there is in it merely a recapitulation of mutual claims and complaints. Messrs. Jen- nings and Dulaney informed the President, on the 16th of December, that they were just setting out on their return and delivered a paper to him, in which, in reference to the preceding claims, they say: " You are pleased to mention that this government obliged the Germans only to enter into an engagement of fidelity to your proprietors; we apprehend the allegiance they swear to our Sovereign cannot need the force of an engagement to your proprietors to prevent their desertion to the French, and therefore we are at a loss to comprehend why the Germans are distin- guished from all other nations by the remark- able distrust your government has of their fidelity." The Maryland Commissioners had also charged. President Logan with having promised that Cressap's accomplices should be bailed, and then not performing it. The Council, in considering the last paper deliv- ered to the President by Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney, were some of them of the opinion that the unmannerly and malicious reflections in it should receive a proper answer, but the next day, December 21, they concluded that what ought to be said should be represented to the Governor of Maryland. In regard to the question of bail, it appeared that it had been referred to the Judges, who held them not bailable .* The reply of the Council to the letter of Gov. Ogle, crediting the mission of Messrs. Jennings and Dulaney, after referring to the papers, proposed a

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History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 13

Author: Gibson, John, Editor Publication date: 1886 Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104