USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 53
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You have told us a blind story, that you sent a messenger to us, to inform us of the sale; but he never came amongst us, nor did we ever hear any thing about it. This is acting in the dark, and very different from the conduct our Six nations observe in the sales of land. On such occasions, they give public notice, and invite all the Indians of their united nations, and give them all a share of the present they receive for their lands. This is the behaviour of the wise united nations. But we find you are none of our blood; you act a dishonest part, not only in this, but in other matters; your ears are ever open to slanderous reports about your brethren. For all these reasons, we charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you liberty to think about it. You are women. Take the advice of a wise man, and remove instantly. You may return to the other side of Delaware, where you came from; but we do not know whether, considering how you have demeaned yourselves, you will be permitted to live there, or whether you have not swallowed that land down your throats, as well as the land on this side. We, therefore, assign you two places to go to, either to Wyoming or Sha- mokin. You may go to either of these places, and then we shall have you more under our eye, and shall see how you behave. Don't deliberate, but remove away, and take this belt of wampum.' He then forbid them ever to intermeddle in land affairs, or ever thereafter pretend to sell any land; and commanded them, as he had something to transact with the English, immediately to depart the council.
"The Delawares dared not disobey this peremptory command. They immediately left the council, and soon after removed from the forks; some, it is said, went to Wyoming and Shamokin, and some to the Ohio."-2 Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania.
Ata conference holden at Philadelphia, May 19, 1712, by governor Gookin, with the Delawares, they acknowledged that they had been conquered by the Five nations, and that they owed and paid them tribute. They ex- hibited to the governor a pipe, which they had received from their con- querors, which was a badge of vassalage, and symbol of protection against all who, recognising the sign, should dare to molest the dependants of that haughty confederation. The Delawares also exhibited a belt, which, they said, was from one who at the time of their submission was an infant, an orphan son of a considerable man amongst them. The tribute on this occasion consisted of thirty-two wampum belts, sent by women principally, accompanied with some short and pithy sentiment of the donors, friendly to the Five nations, and expressive of gratitude for their protection .- Minutes of council of Pennsylvania.
The following account, given by Cadwallader Colden, in his history of the Five nations, is altogether incompatible with the tradition of the Le- nape. " About the year 1664, the Five nations, being amply supplied with fire-arms and ammunition, gave a full swing to their warlike genius; they carried their arms as far south as Carolina, to the northward of New Eng- land, and as far west as the Mississippi, over a vast country, which extended - twelve hundred miles in length, and six hundred in breadth; where they entirely destroyed whole nations, of whom there are no accounts remaining among the English." Governor Pownal speaks to the same effect, in his work entitled "the administration of the colonies."
Such was the authority exercised by the Six nations over the Lenape, that the missionaries to the latter found it necessary for their safety to obtain the approbation of the former .- Heck. Nar. 32.
It is said, that the Five nations, having captured a part of the Shawanese tribe, on the Wabash, gave them permission, at the instance of William Penn, to settle in the western part of Pennsylvania, but obliged them, as a badge of cowardice and servitude, to wear female attire for a long time, and forbade them, as late as 1769, to appear ornamented with paint, at any
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general meeting where the confederates attended .- De Witt Clinton's address before the New York Historical Society, 1811, cites Rogers' concise account, &c.
I .- 58.
The power of taxation reserved to the British parliament, was specially referred to, in the house of lords, (November 11th, 1775.) Upon the ex- amination of Mr. Richard Penn, in relation to American affairs, Lord Den- bigh inquired of the witness, "Whether he knew there was a clause in the Pennsylvania charter, which specifically subjected the colony to taxation by the British legislature.
Ans. He was well apprized that there was such a clause.
Quest. Were the people of Pennsylvania content with their charter? Ans. Perfectly content.
Quest. Then did they not acquiesce in the right of the British parliament to enforce taxation?
Ans. They acquiesced in a declaration of the right, so long as they ex- perienced no inconvenience from the declaration.
K .- 59.
Among the passengers in the first ships, were John Otter, Nathaniel Al- len, and Edmund Lovett, and several servants of William Penn. Joseph Kirkbride was among the last, who afterwards became a person of great importance in the province-a magistrate, preacher among Friends, and oftentimes member of the assembly. He settled in Bucks county, where he died in January, 1737 .- 1 Proud, 193.
The curious reader may find in Proud's introduction, many notices of early settlers, the progenitors of families now widely extended.
The name of Chester was given to Upland by William Penn, in honour of his friend Pearson, who was from a city of that name in England.
" At this place, the Quakers had meetings for Divine worship regularly, from the year 1675, in which year Robert Wade and divers others came over; at whose house the first meeting of record at this place was held on the tenth of the 11th month, 1681.
" Among the eminent persons of this society, who settled in and near this place in these early times, were Thomas Vernon, John Bewater, Tho- mas Minshall, Bartholomew Coppack, John Edge, &c .; David Jones, at Goshen; William Woodmanson, at Harold; John Simcocke, at Ridley; Ni- cholas Newlin, &c .-- 1 Proud, 218.
L .- 65.
The enjoyment of political rights over the territories, by the Penn family, was certainly singular. The deeds of feoffment from the duke of York conveyed no powers of government; nor does it appear that William Penn relied upon them for maintaining his alleged right. In a letter dated June 10th, 1691, addressed to some friends in the province, he said, " I would also you should know I have a patent of the lower counties, some years since, that, when there is occasion for it, you may allege so, but not other- wise."* It is difficult to conjecture a reason for concealing this patent, since its production would have removed the principal reason urged at va- rious times, both by the province and territories, for the separation into distinct governments; and would have taken away all grounds for the ca- bals which were occasionally formed in the territories against the propric- tary power. Had such a patent existed, it is not probable that the earl of Sutherland would have applied for a grant of the territories in 1717, or that
* 1. Proud, 202, Note.
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the crown would have accompanied the ratification of the proprietary nomination of deputies, with a protest of its right over the territories. The acquiescence of the crown in this assumption of the Pennsylvania proprietaries, may be ascribed to the small value of the territorial govern- ment, the salary which it could pay to the deputy-governor, being inade- quate to his maintainance.
M .- 66.
Penn sailed in the ship Welcome, of three hundred tons burthen, Robert Greenaway, master. He embarked on the sixth of August, but did not get to sea until about the first of September, since he addressed a valedic- tory epistle to England, containing " a salutation to all faithful friends," dated the thirtieth of August. I have accordingly stated, in the text, the time of his departure to be September .- See note in 1 Proud, 218.
N .- 74.
I had prepared an elaborate note on the dispute relative to boundaries between Maryland and Pennsylvania; but the subject having but little in- terest, except for professional men, and that of a local nature, and being well treated in the memoir of James Dunlap, Esq. in the first number of the proceedings of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, I have gladly dis- pensed with the note which was designed for this place.
0 .- 75.
This tree was long revered by the colonists and Indians. During the revolutionary war the British general Simcoe, who was quartered at Ken- sington, so regarded it, that whilst his soldiers were felling the trees of the vicinity for fuel, he placed a sentinel under this, that not a branch of it might be touched. In 1810 it was blown down, and cups, and workstands, and other articles of furniture, were made from it, to be preserved as me- morials. It was then ascertained to be two hundred and eighty-three years old, having been one hundred and fifty-five years old at the time of the conference .- Notice by sir B. West, reported by R. Vaux, esq., member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1825-p. 97-Clarkson.
The Penn Society of Philadelphia, at the suggestion of R. Vaux, esq., have erected a marble monument on the spot where the " Treaty Elm" stood, on the bank of the Delaware, near the intersection of Hanover and Beach streets, Kensington. The monument bears the following inscriptions :
On the North. Treaty Ground 'of William Penn and the Indian natives, 1682. On the South. William Penn Born 1614. Died 1718.
On the West. Placed by the Penn Society, . A. D. 1827, To mark the site of the Great Elm Tree. On the East. Pennsylvania, Founded 1681, By deeds of Peace.
" Our celebrated countryman, the late sir Benjamin West, executed in 1775 an historical picture of the treaty of 1682, which he inscribed to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania. The original painting is in the possession of John Penn, Esq." " One of the five dignified individuals represented as present with the proprietary at that treaty, was the grandfather of West,
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and the painter has given a likeness of his ancestor in the imposing group of patriarchs."-Mem. of R. Vaux, Esq.
It has been doubted whether the conference between William Penn and the Indians, of the fourteenth of December, 1682, was holden under the Great Elm, at Shackamaxon, and whether it was accompanied by a formal treaty. If we suffer ourselves to doubt of these facts, historical tradition is unworthy of acceptance, and little credit can be given to ordinary historical testimony.
William Penn lived in friendly and familiar intercourse with the Indians, and must have associated much with them, since in his letter to the com- mittee of the Free Society of Traders, the sixteenth of August, 1683. (1 Proud, 246, ) he observes, that he " made it his business to understand their language, that he might not want an interpreter on any occasion;" and it is probable that he held many conferences, more or less public, with the several tribes, who naturally sought a personal acquaintance with one who had power to serve them essentially. Some of these conferences were probably holden at Chester, some at Philadelphia, and others at Penns- bury. But the great conference held for the confirmation of the treaty of amity, made by the commissioners of the proprietary before his arrival, was holden at Shackamaxon on the fourteenth of December, 1682. This is confirmed by uncontradicted tradition for near a century and a half. Mr. Clarkson, who had a full opportunity of conferring with the Penn family, whilst regretting the want of written evidence on this subject, as- sures us that what he has advanced may be depended upon; and to him I am indebted for the principal facts I have stated in regard to the treaty. And it is probable that Mr. C. had from the family the fact, that the Indians, in 1722, at a conference held with governor Keith, exhibited the roll of parchment containing the treaty; and it would seem that a copy of the conference at least, held at the making of this treaty, was once in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth; since Mr. R. Conyngham assures me, that he discovered an envelope in a bundle of papers there, relating to the Shawanese Indians, with the following endorsement: "Minutes of the Indian conference in relation to the great treaty made with William Penn, at the Big Tree, Shackamaxon, on the fourteenth of the tenth month, 1682." Unfortunately, the valuable papers which the envelope contained are no longer to be found. The language which the tradition among the whites ascribes to William Penn at this conference, is also that which tradition has preserved among the Indians. The promises made by him of protection, and common enjoyment of the soil, were repeated by the Conestoga Indians at the treaty with sir William Keith, in 1722; and T'awenna, a chief of the same tribe, at a treaty held with governor Gordon, at Philadelphia, May 26th, 1729, recapitulated a speech which he said William Penn had made them, very similar to that delivered under the Elm.
The treaty contained in the roll of parchment delivered by Penn to the Indians under the Elm, was probably made by his commission- ers, William Crispin, John Bezar, and Nathaniel Allen, pursuant to the proprietary's ninth instruction, which was in the following terms: "Be tender of offending the Indians, and hearken, by honest spies, if you can hear that any body inveigles the Indians, not to sell or to stand off, and raise the value upon you. You cannot want those that will inform you, but to soften them to me and the people, let them know that you are come to sit down lovingly among them. Let my letter and conditions, with my purchasers about just dealing with them, be read in their tongue, that they may see we have their good in our eye equal with our own interest; and after reading my letter, and the said conditions, then present their kings, with what I send them, and make a friendship and league with them, ac- cording to those conditions, which carefully observe, and get them to com- ply with you; be grave, they love not to be smiled on." For the ratification
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of this friendship and league, and the further propitiation of the Indians, the conference was holden. The treaty then executed, containing cove- nants of protection and kindness, was delivered to the Indians, and was by them carefully preserved at least forty years before its exhibition to gover- nor Keith, and may possibly now be in the possession of their descendants. The treaties which were held about this time, for the sale of lands, very properly concluded in written deeds, which are duly preserved in the public offices. Several of these deeds, and it is believed all of them, have been given to us by Mr. Smith, in his valuable treatise on the land laws. He does not mention the treaty under the elm, and the reason is, obviously, because it was unattended and unconnected with any deed, and no written memorial, other than the minutes of the conference had been taken.
P .- 77.
In performance of the stipulation made by William Penn, in his condi- tions with the first adventurers and purchasers, (see page 59,) he instruct- ed his commissioners, Crispin, Bezar, and Allen, " that the creeks should be sounded on my side of Delaware river, especially Upland, in order to settle a great towne, and be sure to make your choice where it is most navi- gable, high, dry, and healthy. That is, where most ships may best ride, of deepest draught of water, if possible, to load or unload, at ye Bank or key side, without boating and litering it. It would do well if the river coming into yt creek be navigable, at least for boats up into the country, and yt the scituation be high, at least dry and sound, and not swampy, wch is best knowne by digging up two or three earths, and seeing the bottom."
How extensive were the views of William Penn in relation to his city, will appear from the following extract, also from his instruction to his com- missioners.
"Such a place being found out for navigation, healthy scituation and good soyle for provision, lay out ten thousand acres contiguous to it in the best manner you can, as the bounds and extent of the libertyes of the said towne.
"The proportion in the said towne is to be thus, every share or five thousand acres shall have an hundred acres of land, out of ye ten thou- sand acres. If more than one be concerned in the share, as it may easily fall out, then they to agree of ye dividing ye same as they shall think fit, still keeping to proportion, as if one hundred pounds will have an hundred acres, five pounds will have five acres.
"That no more Land be surveyed or sett out, till this be first fixt, and ye people upon it, wch is best, both for Comfort, Safety, and Traffique. In the next season the Lord willing I shall be with you, and then I shall pro- eeede to larger Lotte: This was ye Resolution of a great part of the Pur- chassers at London the fifteenth day of Septemb 1681 and I find it generally approved.
" If it should happen yt the most Convenient place for this great Towne should be already taken up in greater quantity of Land then is Consistent wth the Town Plott, and yt Land not already improved, you must use yor utmost skill to perswade them to part wth so much as will be necessary, that so necessary and good a designe be not spoiled, that is, where they have Ten Acres by ye Water side, to abate five, and to take five more backward, and so proportionably, because yt by the Settlement of this Towne, the remaining five in two or three years time will be worth twice as much as those Ten before, yea wt they take backward for their water- side Land will in a little more time, be really more vallueable then all their Ten forward was before; urging my regard to them if they will not break this great, and good Contrivance; and in my Name promise them wt gra-
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tuity or priviledge you think fitt, as having a new graunt at their old rent; nay, halfe their quit-rent abated, yea, make them as free Purchasers, rather then disappoint my mind in this Township: though herein, be as sparing as ever you can, and urge the weak bottome of their Graunte, the D. of Yorke having never had a graunt from the King &c Be impartially just and Courteous to all, That is both pleasing to ye Lord, and wise in itselfe.
" If you gain yor point in this respect, (of wch be very carefull) fall to dividing as before according to shares; then subdivide in wch observe yt you must narrower spread by the Water side, and run Backwarde more or lesse, according to the Compasse you have by the Waterside, to bring in the hundred Shares for their Proportion in the said Ten Thousand Acres.
" But if you cannot find land enough by ye Water side to allow an Hun- dred Acres to five Thousand Acres. Get wt you can, and proportionably divide it, though it were but fifty acres for a Share.
" Be sure to Settle the figure of the Towne so as yt the streets hereafter may be uniforme downe to the Water from the Country bounds, lett ye place for the Store house be on the middle of the Key, wch will yet serve for Market and State houses too. This may be ordered when I come, only let the Houses built be in a line, or upon a Line as much as may be.
"Pitch upon the very middle of the Platt where the Towne or line of Houses is to be laid or run facing the Harbour and great River for the scituation of my house, and let it be not the tenth part of the Towne, as the Conditions say (viz) yt out of every hundred Thousand Acres shall be reserved to mee Ten, But I shall be contented wth less than a thirtyeth part, to witt Three Hundred acres, whereas severall will have Two by pur- chaseing Two Shares, yt is Ten Thousand Acres, and it may be fitting for mee to exceede a little.
" The Distance of each House from the Creek or Harbor should be in my Judgt a measured quarter of a Mile, at least two hundred paces, be- cause of building hereafter, streets downewards to ye Harbor.
"Let every House be placed, if the Person pleases in ye middle of its platt as to the breadth way of it, that so there may be ground on each side, for Gardens or Orchards or fields, yt it may be a greene Country Towne, wch will never be burnt, and allwayes be wholsome.
" I Judge yt you must be guided in yor breadth of Land by wt you can get, yt is unplanted, and will not be parted wth, but so far as I can guesse at this Distance methinks in a Citty, each share to have fifty Poles upon ye Front to ye River, and ye rest Backward will be sufficient. But perhaps you may have more, and perhaps you will not have so much space to allow, Herein follow your Land and Scituation, being always just to proportion."
It is not probable that Chester detained the attention of the commission- ers, since it was wanting in almost all the requisites for a large city. At one time it was proposed to locate the city on Pennsbury manor, a situation still more unfit than Chester; and at another, tradition assures us, it was proposed to build it near the lower side of the Poquessing Creek, on the Delaware, on an elevated piece of ground .-- See 2 Smith's Laws.
The location of the city was not fixed by the commissioners, It is pro- bable that no place could be found that would bear a town of ten thousand acres, even if such a thing were practicable. But the commissioners, in their exploration of the country, designated to Penn the spot which he so happily selected for Philadelphia.
Before Penn's purchase of the province (10th Dec. 1678) the advantageous position of the present site of Philadelphia, was noted by the passengers on board the Shield, from Hull, Daniel Towes, commander, bound for Bur- lington. " This was the first ship that came so far up the river Delaware. Opposite to Coaquanock, the Indian name of the place where Philadelphia now stands, which was a bold and high shore, she went so near to it in
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turning, that part of the tackling struck the trees; some of the passengers expressing, " It was a fine situation for a town." (1 Proud, 149.) Mr. Proud adds, " the people next morning went on shore upon the ice, so hard and so suddenly had it frozen in the space of one night.
The first house in the city of Philadelphia was built by George Guest, at or near Powell's dock; Guest, for many years, kept a tavern there, called the Blue Anchor. John Key was the first born child, of English parents, in Philadelphia; in compliment, William Penn gave him a lot of ground. He was born in a cave, long afterwards known by the name of the penny- pot, near Sassafras street. He died at his residence at Kennet's Square, on the fifth of July, 1767, in the eighty-fifth year of his age .- Proud. Wat- son's MSS. Pennsylvania Register, 1828.
By the original plan of the city, neither street nor dwelling were design- ed east of Front street; and Penn long resisted the applications of the inha- bitants for permission to build against and upon the bank of the river. But, betrayed by his poverty, he unhappily yielded his assent, to the sale of lots on the bank, and thus deprived his favourite city of a healthful and beautiful promenade, fixing upon it a filthy, dark, and damp margin, which shocks- every stranger upon entering it.
In 1690, William Penn published in London, proposals for laying out another city on the Susquehannah, and invited purchasers; but this project never took effect. He stated, as an inducement, the practicability of uniting that river with the Delaware by means of the Schuylkill .-- Hazard's Reg. 1 vol. 400.
R .- 79.
Names of the Council-William Markham, Christopher Taylor, Thomas Holme, Lacy Cock, William Haige, John Moll, Ralf Withers, John Sim- cock, Edward Cantwell, William Clayton, William Biles, James Harrison, William Clark, Francis Whitewell, John Richardson, John Hillyard.
The members of assembly for each county were-
For Bucks-William Yardly, Samuel Darke, Robert Lucas, Nicholas Walne, John Wood, John Clowes, Thomas Fitzwater, Robert Hall, James Boyden.
For Philadelphia-John Songhurst, John Hart, Walter King, Andros Binkson, John Moon, Thomas Wynne, speaker, Griffith Jones, William Warner, Swan Swanson.
For Chester-John Hoskins, Robert Wade, George Wood, John Blun- ston, Dennis Rochford, Thomas Bracy, John Bezer, John Harding, Joseph Phipps.
For Newcastle-John Cann, John Darby, Valentine Hollingsworth, Gas- parus Herman, John Dehoaef, James Williams, William Guest, Peter Alrick, Henrick Williams.
For Kent-John Biggs, Simon Irons, Thomas Haffold, John Curtis, Robert Bedwell, William Windsmore, John Brinkloe, Daniel Brown, Benony Bishop.
For Sussex-Luke Watson, Alexander Draper, William Futcher, Henry Bowman, Alexander Moleston, John Hill, Robert Bracy, John Kipshaven, Cornelius Verhoof.
Captain William Markham, from London, was a relation of the proprie- tor. He was afterwards sometimes his secretary, and sometimes his depu- ty-governor. He appears to have been a useful person, of good education, character, and ability. He had the proprietor's confidence and esteem till his death.
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