USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume I > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
headed by Sassunan, accompanied by Ealochelan and Scholichy, the latter being speaker. The duties of interpreter were performed by Edward Farmer, who was quite familiar with the Indian language. Scholichy, in his address to the governor, mentioned that as the Dela- wares had been made tributary to the Mingoes, or Five Nations, many years ago, they had thought proper to call on him previous to their seeing those tribes, and that they had brought their tribute along, which was duly presented to the governor and consisted of thirty-two belts of wampum, and a long Indian pipe called a calumet, made of stone, the shaft of which was made of stone, adorned with feathers resembling wings. Their business was amicably settled to the satisfaction of all parties. On this occasion the journey of the governor and his associates was made on horseback from Philadelphia to Whitemarsh.
It may be of interest in this connection to state that wampum passed as current money between the early whites and the Indians. There were two kinds of it-white and purple. They were both worked into the form of beads, generally each about a half an inch long and one- eighth broad, with a hole drilled through so as to be strung on leather or hempen strings. The white was made out of the great conch or sea- shell, and the purple out of the inside of the mussel-shell. These beads, after being strung, were next woven by the Indian women into belts, sometimes broader than a person's hand, and about two feet long. It was these that were given and received at their various treaties as seals of friendship; in matters of less importance, only a single string was given. Two pieces of white wampum were considered to equal in value one of purple.
The calumet was a large smoking pipe, made out of some soft stone, commonly of a dark red color, well polished, and shaped somewhat in the form of a hatchet, and ornamented with large feathers of several colors. It was used in all their treaties with the whites, and it was considered by them as a flag of truce between contending parties which it would be a high crime to violate. In fact, the calumet by them was considered as sacred and as serious an obligation as an oath among the Christians.
It is also interesting to note that not a single title in Montgomery county, or anywhere else, for that matter, in Pennsylvania, is traced back to these original grants to Penn by the Indians, despite the fact that there is not a foot of ground in the county that could not be reduced by conveyancers to these titles. But even if they were, they would not be in law a good title. Lawrence Lewis, in his "Essay on Original Land Titles in Philadelphia," endorses this contention after holding to the contrary to the first part of the proposition, namely, that "it is impos- sible to trace with any accuracy" the titles to land in Philadelphia ceded by the Indians. Nor is it necessary, it is further held, to trace a title which is of no value. The Indians could not sell land to individuals and
27
THE ORIGINAL RESIDENTS AND OWNERS
give valid title to it in any of the colonies; they could sell if they chose, but only to the government. Upon this subject the lawyers are explicit. All good titles in the thirteen original colonies are derived from land grants, made or accepted not by the Indians, but by the British Crown. Thus Chalmers ("Political Annals," 677) says: "The Law of Nations sternly disregarded the possessions of the aborigines, because they had not been admitted into the society of nations." At the Declaration of Independence, every acre of ground in this country was held immedi- ately by grants from the Crown. All our institutions recognize the absolute title of the Crown, subject only to the Indian's right of occu- pancy, and recognize the absolute title of the Crown to extinguish that right. An Indian conveyance alone could give no valid title to an individual.
CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
Among the first settlers in Montgomery county were natives of Sweden, from whom so many prominent residents of the locality are lineal descendants. The events connected with and resulting from the discovery of the Delaware and Hudson rivers by the Dutch from 1609 to 1638 are closely interwoven with the settlements of the Swedes on the shore of the Schuylkill.
A lineal descendant of one of the earliest settlers, Matts Holstein, the late Dr. George W. Holstein, of Bridgeport, in his response to a toast, "The Swedes," at the first annual banquet of the Montgomery County Historical Society, held at Norristown on the evening of February 22, 1882, paid an interesting tribute to an ancestry which pioneered civili- zation and Christianity in the Schuylkill Valley. Dr. Holstein said in part :
As a lineal descendant of those Swedes who crossed the ocean as early as 1636, I am deeply conscious of the compliment thus paid to their memory, and yet I feel that it is justly due, in view of the results accom- plished by them and their influence in moulding the destinies of this great country.
Trained at home in a love for the practical teachings of the "Sermon on the Mount," and the general truths of revealed religion, they early planted the Cross of Calvary upon these shores, and in all their inter- course with the natives and others illustrated the principles heralded thereby. By fair and honorable dealings they gained the confidence of the Indians, and lived among them upon the most amicable terms. Their influence over them was remarkable, as was evinced by many of the natives attaching themselves to the religious and educational institu- tions established by them, thus rendering much more easy the great work accomplished by William Penn, who came over here later as the representative of the British Crown, supported by all the vast influence of that powerful nation, commissioned by King Charles II to act as Proprietory Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, having received a grant of land lying north of that occupied by Lord Baltimore, and west of the river Delaware. This was in lieu of a claim of sixteen thousand pounds due him for services rendered by his father, Rear Admiral Penn, a distinguished officer of the British Navy. The charter for this grant still hangs in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth at Harris- burg, dated March 4, 1681. William Penn reached here in October, 1682, and now in this bi-centennial year of that event, when it is pro- posed to celebrate it with distinguished honors, while I would not for one moment detract from the glory to which I believe he is eminently en- titled, yet I do not wish the fact to be lost sight of that the Swedes were among the first to establish friendly relations with the natives, that the first translation into the Indian dialect was the Swedish (Lutheran) Catechism by Rev. John Campanius, a Swedish (Lutheran) missionary.
30
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
In 1642, six years after their arrival, Colonel John Printz, of the Swedish army, was sent over as the governor of the colony. His instructions dated Stockholm, August 15, 1642, contain twenty-eight articles embracing his duties-first, in relation to the Swedes; secondly, to the Europeans living in the vicinity; and thirdly, to the Indians. With respect to these latter, the Governor was directed to confirm, im- mediately upon his arrival, the treaty with them by which they had con- veyed to the Swedes the western shore of the Delaware from Cape Hen- lopen to the Falls of Sanhickan, since called Trenton, and as much inland as should gradually be wanted. Also to ratify the bargain for land on the east side, and in these and future purchases to regard them as rightful owners of the country. He was to treat all the neighboring tribes in the most equitable and humane manner, so that no injury by violence or otherwise should be done to them by any of his people. He had also in charge to accomplish as far as practicable the embracing of Christianity by them, and their adoption of the manners and customs of civilized life.
He was accompanied by Rev. John Campanius as chaplain of the colony. In 1653 Governor Printz was succeeded by Governor John Claudius Rising, who soon after invited ten of the leading Indian chiefs to a friendly conference. It was held at Tinicum on the 17th of June, 1654. He saluted them in the name of the Swedish queen, with assur- ance of her favor, put them in mind of the purchase of lands already made, and requested a continuation of their friendship. He distributed various presents among them, and gave a good entertainment to them and their company. They were much pleased, and assured him of a faithful affection. One of the chiefs, Naaman, made a speech during which he remarked that "the Swedes and the Indians had been as one body and one heart, and that thenceforward they should be as one head ;" at the same time making a motion as if he were tying a strong knot, and then made this comparison, "that as the calabash was round with- out any crack, so should they be a compact body without any fissure."
Campanius represents the Indians as having been frequent visitors at his grandfather's house in Delaware county, which gave him an oppor- tunity of studying their language, in which he became quite proficient. In the conversation he had there with them, he succeeded in impressing upon their minds the great truths of Christianity and awakening a deep interest among them, hence his translation of the Lutheran catechism. They attached great value to this act, as evincing a deeper interest in their welfare than that indicated by mere lip service, and it thencefor- ward proved a bond of union, binding them in acts of devotion and fealty to the Swedes. The Swedes gave the great and good Penn a most cordial welcome, and the benefit of their influence and experience, for which he was truly grateful, and which he kindly acknowledged in a letter to his friends at home, in 1683.
This society does itself credit in thus honoring the memory of a people who were among the earliest to locate in this vicinity, and who established regulations and usages that have exercised a refining and elevating influence in shaping the morals and habits of the community around us.
The Swedish government has never lost sight of the Swedes in Montgomery county, for as recently as 1876, during the Centennial
3I
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
Celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the blood royal of the Swedish government, accompanied by a large number of distinguished guests and citizens, paid a visit to the Lutheran Church of Christ (Swede) in Upper Merion, now an Episcopalian edifice. This unusual event occurred on Sunday, July 2, of the Centennial year. The appearance of the royal delegation, nearly all of whom were garbed in the full uniforms of their respective ranks, seated in the ancient church, was an unusual sight in democratic America. The Prince occupied a front pew, and was of course the center of attraction. His Highness was a boyish-looking lad, according to the testimony of those who saw him, possessing a free and unassuming manner. His name was Prince Oscar, his title, Duke of Gottland, and he was the second son of the King of Sweden.
In his sermon, which threw much light upon the civil and religious history of the Swedish colony, the pastor of the church, Rev. O. Perin- chief, spoke in part as follows :
* * In 1631, or from that to 1638, a colony of Swedes landed and settled upon this side of the Delaware, below the place where now stands the city of Wilmington. There is some uncertainty about the date. The probability is that attempts had been made, or partial settlements, hav- ing for their object the necessary investigation preparatory to a perma- nent occupation, which at least did take effect in 1637 or '38. At any rate, we know the great Gustavus had contemplated the enterprise for many years. The great struggle between Romanism and Protestantism was then at its bitterest, and the hope and purpose of founding here a Protestant colony entered largely into the enterprise. But with this was combined the evangelization of the Indians, and, more than all, the establishment of the people-good, honest Swedes-in comfortable homes, upon lands they could look at and call their own. The persons who came over in this way were of two classes-a small class of govern- ment officials to administer order and, as occasion occurred, watch their own individual chances, but a large class of sober and industrious people truly seeking a home. It sometimes happened that persons were sent over partly as banishment and partly in hope of reform; but the people not only of this but of sister colonies sent them back, for they were always worse than useless. Though bound to hard labor, it was a sort of slave labor, and the freemen would rather do their own work, because they could do it better and because they abhorred slavery.
These settlers bought their lands from the Indians, and in later times erected substantial homes. Nearly all the men were husbandmen. They saw their wealth in the soil. Up to 1700 the colony had grown to over a thousand, though they had been subjected to bitter discouragement and sad vicissitudes. But their prosperity had not been accomplished without great care and generosity on the part of their brethren at home. At the very outset the settlers were provided with ministers of the gos- pel-pious and learned men-to teach and admonish the people and to preserve the spiritual privileges they had enjoyed in their native land. These ministers were supported by the funds of the mother country. The colony was supplied with Bibles, catechisms, and other books. On one single occasion ministers were sent forth bearing books in plentiful
32
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
supply, and encouraged by a donation of three thousand dollars fron Charles XII.
The Swedes were reminded of the Indians around them, and Luther's Catechism was translated into the Indian dialect, at least as soon and perhaps sooner than the corresponding work of Eliot in regions farther north. The fault of these Swedes, if it may be permitted to speak of such a thing to-day, was a lack of unity of purpose and harmony in action. Their plans lacked breadth and unselfishness. They looked a little ahead or not at all. Before their children they set no greatness, and made little provision for its creation. In narrowed endeavors to save, they very frequently lost, and left us, instead of property and rich advantages, a legacy of sad reflection and bitter regrets. In the nature of things the settlement spread on the other side of the river in New Jersey, and on this side of the Delaware and along the Schuylkill.
The first settlement in this immediate vicinity was in 1702. At that time the nearest church was at Wiaco, now Gloria Dei, in Philadelphia. Gradually their numbers thickened, and in a few years we begin to hear requests for occasional services up here. In 1773 a lot was given and a house built for the double purpose of school and church. Upon the very ground within the very stone walls which enclose our yard, a wooden building was constructed, though we know that prior to 1733 the grounds had been used as a place of burial. No stated minister living nearer than Philadelphia, both religious and educational matters languished until 1759, when there arrived from Sweden a very remarkable man, whose memory is still green and deserves to be richly cherished, Dr. Charles M. Van Mangel. Under him our church here, this very struc- ture, was built in 1760, making this present its one hundred and sixteenth anniversary. The date "1760" was engraved on its walls and stands there to-day.
In 1765 a charter was obtained from the Proprietary government of John Penn, then at the head of affairs. The churches lying within the territorial limits of Pennsylvania were incorporated under the name of the United Swedish Lutheran Churches of Wiaco, Kingsessing, and Upper Merion. This charter continued until 1787, when the new state of things consequent upon the American Revolution rendered it needful to obtain a charter from the State Government of Pennsylvania. The new charter was substantially the same as that of 1765, except that it gave the people the right to elect their own minister, and provided for the formal ending of the Swedish mission. Thus closed the long inter- val of nursing care which established us here as a church, which through many years must have exerted a vast influence in shaping the destiny of this commonwealth and nation ; a period marked by noble generosity, by many sacrifices, enshrined by many holy and exemplary lives; a period which left us stewards invested with no slight responsibility.
The two churches (Kingsessing and Upper Merion) continued with Wiaco until 1842, when each church obtained for itself a separate and independent charter. The other two churches passed into communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church. We remained as we still remain, a separate organization, heir to all the traditions, invested, too, perhaps, in that very fact, with the great responsibility, a witness still of a faith and kindness which never slumbered, a monument of labor which blessed our fathers, still blesses us, and which we believe will go on to bless our children. For it all we lift up our hearts and praise God who made man
33
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
of one blood. We greet our brethren to-day from the Fatherland, and thank them, and through them the people to whom they belong, and assure them that whatever things among us their ears may hear or their eyes behold, which at the same time their hearts approve, they have had their part in producing, and that this day as a people we would not be a selfish people taking credit to ourselves, but gratefuly acknowledge our debt, and praying God to return the blessing a thousandfold upon their own people, asking in turn their prayers that we and the whole nation may be faithful in every trust, that we have freely received, we may freely give, until all nations, kindreds, tribes and tongues be gath- ered into one grand kingdom, under one king, the common Redeemer and Saviour of all.
Mont-3
CHAPTER V. WILLIAM PENN AND THE FOUNDING OF HIS COLONY.
Montgomery county being such an important unit in the State of Pennsylvania, the history of William Penn and of his colonization efforts in America are themselves an important part of the history of the county. Of the earlier days of the founder of Pennsylvania it is unnec- essary to comment here-that is a history in itself, together with his religious beliefs and his ambition to try a "holy experiment" in the New World.
Penn's connection with America and therefore with the State and the county, begins after the death of his father, Admiral Penn, when the son fell heir to estates in England and Ireland, with an income of £ 1500 a year. The English government was debtor to the estate of Admiral Penn for money loaned amounting to £ 15,000. The treasury of Charles the Second was not particularly well filled at that time, nor did Penn press for the claim in money. This indebtedness was used by him as a lever with the government for the colonial enterprise he had been for some time projecting, and he therefore proposed to the King to grant him a tract of land in America, situated between the country held under grants to the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore, or between Maryland and the Delaware river. Penn's negotiations were successful, but not without great effort on his part, as his enterprise was considered utopian by influential members of the government, and looked upon with dis- trust by the agents and proprietaries of the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore.
The draft of the charter of what was to become one of America's greatest commonwealths was drawn by Penn and his confidential advis- ers, and was submitted to the scrutiny of the authorities of both Church and State. Sir William Jones, attorney general of the realm, the Lords of Trade, and the Bishop of London, all passed upon the form and sub- stance of the grant, which was finally signed by the King on March 4, 1681. This great document is well preserved to this day, and may be seen at the State Department at Harrisburg.
The new colony's name was left blank in the original draft of the charter, historians holding that such a condition was consistent with the innate modesty of the Quaker and his deferential disposition towards his Royal Master, whose favor he evidently sought with extra- ordinary zeal and judgment. The King, however, filled the blank with his royal penmanship, and named the projected colony in honor of Sir William and Admiral Penn. It is stated by some historians that Penn objected to the name, and offered a tempting "fee" to the Under Secre- tary of Colonial Affairs to change it to New Wales and, upon refusal,
36
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
protesting that he had no vanity or family pride to gratify in the mat- ter, "but it is a just and clear thing, and my God that has given it me through many difficulties will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation."
Penn, once he had obtained his charter, commissioned William Markham his deputy, and sent him promptly to his field of labor. Mark- ham arrived in New York in June, 1681. He secured the advice of Gov- ernor Anthony Brockholls, and then hastened to Upland to meet Lord Baltimore, whose friendship he desired to secure in order to arrange the boundary lines on the south and west of the new colony. Markham found that he would be unable to adjust the southern boundary lines of the grant without making concessions which he deemed unjust to William Penn. He therefore deferred further action, and immediately organized the Council of Nine, being the first exercise of duly consti- tuted authority" under the charter. This council was in fact a provi- sional government with power to make public surveys, establish boun- dary lines, constitute courts, appoint justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs to suppress violence, and generally to institute and enforce such measures as inured to peace and good order of the Province. The war- rant, self-instituted, by this council, was as follows:
Whereas, wee whose hands and Seals are hereunto Sett are Chosen by Wm. Markham (agent to Wm. Penn, Esq., Proprietor of ye Province of Pennsylvania) to be of the Councill for ye sd province, doe hereby bind ourselves by our hands & seals, that we will neither act nor advise, nor Consent unto anything that shall not be according to our own Con- sciences the best for ye true and well Government of the sd Province and Likewise to Keep Secret all ye votes and acts of us ye sd Councell, unless such as by the General Consent of us are to be published. Dated at Upland, ye third day of August, 1681. (Signed) Robert Wade, Morgan Drewet, Wm. Woodmansee (W. W., the Mark of), Willim Warner, Thomas Fairman, James Sandlenes, Will Clayton, Otto Ernest Koch, and ye mark (L) of Lacy or (Lasse) Cock.
The new arrangement of things was placed in running order by Deputy Markham by September, 1681, and the first court for jury trials was held at Upland. The justices present at the meeting of this newly organized court were William Clayton, William Warner, Robert Wade, William Byles, Otto Ernest Koch, Robert Lucas, Lasse Cock, Swen Swenson and Andreas Bankson, five of them being members of Mark- ham's Council. Thomas Revell was clerk of the court, and John Test was sheriff. The first case to be tried was one in which the charge was assault and battery, that of Peter Ericksen vs. Harman Johnson and wife. The first jury consisted of Morgan Drewet, William Woodmanson, Wil- liam Hewes, James Browne, Henry Reynolds, Robert Schooley, Richard Pittman, Lasse Dalboe, John Akraman, Peter Rambo, Jr., Henry Has- tings, and William Oxley. At the next session of the Upland court,
WILLIAM PENN AND THE FOUNDING OF HIS COLONY 37
held in November, Markham was present, and he attended all the sub- sequent sessions up to the time of Penn's arrival.
With all the plans and purposes of Penn, Markham had been made thoroughly familiar before leaving England. He carried with him instructions comprehensive enough to cover all possible contingencies. Meantime Penn in England was devoting all his time and energies to his scheme of colonization. He gave the utmost publicity to his char- tered privileges, and invited the cooperation of all classes in founding a free and industrial state. In the course of his colonization propaganda he published a pamphlet entitled, "Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania in America." It contained a truthful account of the resources of the country. The author was candid in pointing out to all the possible hardships and perils likely to be experienced in the unsettled land, and impressed upon the minds of all who had the idea in view of seeking the fortunes in the colony, the necessity of careful preparations for the long voyage and the life of toil and self-denial essential to their success. In referring to his colony he said: "I shall say little in its praise to excite desires in any. Whatever I could truly write as to the soil, air and water, this shall satisfy me, that by the blessing of God and the honesty and industry of man, it may be a good and fruitful land."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.