USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 6
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1684.
great presumption and contempt. But why poor Anthony was whipped, or what was the tenor of his "Proposals," appeareth not of record. We suspect that there was more fun than treason in them; and less fun in the consequence than in the deed.
CHAPTER V.
Penn's return to England-Appointment of provincial judges and other officers-Number and character of the inhabitants of the colony-Review of the Dutch and Swedish occupa- tion-Henry Hudson-Captain Cornelius Jacob May-Cap- tain De Vrees-The Swedish settlers-Wiccaco-Captain Sven-The old Swedes church-The Dutch rule-Swedish intercourse with the natives-Minisink-The British acqui- sition in 1664-Grant to the Duke of York of the former Dutch possessions-Extract of a letter from William Penn -Boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore-Indian treaties -Selection of Coaquannock as the site for a town-Phila- delphia founded-Dwellings on the river bank-Annals of emigrants-Birth of John Key-Anecdotes of the early set- tlers -- Experiences of Elizabeth Hard.
THE domestic affairs and duties of William Penn, the desire to relieve the sufferings of the Society of Friends in England, the dispute with Lord Baltimore about the boundaries of Maryland, and the natural activity of his own mind, induced the proprietary, in the month of August, 1684, to embark for England. He had arranged his government for a two years' absence, commis-
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INHABITANTS.
1684.]
sioning a bench of five provincial judges for that term. The bench consisted of Nicholas Moore, William Welch, William Wood, Robert Turner, and John Eckley. Thomas Lloyd, James Claypoole, and Robert Turner were em- powered to sign land patents and grant war- rants. The Provincial Council, Thomas Lloyd being president, were empowered to act in his stead in the government of the province. Co- lonel Markham was appointed secretary of the province, and Thomas Holmes, surveyor-general.
The city of Philadelphia at this time contained about three hundred houses, and a population of nearly twenty-five hundred. The whole popula- tion of the province and territories was about seven thousand, three thousand of whom were of Swedish or Dutch extraction, and the rest were Penn's colonists. The number of townships surveyed and taken up was twenty-two. Every- thing was in a prosperous and promising condi- tion; the state of the Maryland boundary only excepted. In one respect even this has proved an advantage, particularly to antiquarians. The examination into the history of the early Swedish and Dutch claims which William Penn instituted to strengthen his claim, and to establish an occupation prior to the assumption of Lord Baltimore, has handed down to us a full account of the Swedish and Dutch occupation of the banks of the Delaware.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1623.
In the year 1609 Captain Henry Hudson, being in the employment of a Dutch company, touched at the mouth of what is called Delaware Bay. Finding shoals, and suspecting danger, he returned, and a few days after entered the Bay of New York, and discovered its noble river, which he called the North River, in contradis- tinction to the Delaware, which he named the South River. The name of Delaware was given to the river and bay afterward, in honour of Lord Delaware, one of the early governors of Virginia. A trading-post was erected on Man- hattan Island, now the site of New York city, and in 1623 the West India Company of the United Netherlands took formal possession of the country discovered by Hudson, including the Delaware or South River, and named the whole indefinitely understood tract New Netherlands. Captain Cornelius Jacob May was despatched to the South, or Delaware, River to colonize and make further discoveries; and he gave the name to Cape May which it now bears. The opposite cape received Captain May's baptismal name, Cornelius. It was afterward called Cape Henlo- pen, a name given originally to a cape further south, on Fenwick's Island, now called False Cape. Penn endeavoured to affix to it the name of his royal patron, James, but the name of Henlopen is that which custom has fastened upon it.
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SWEDISH SETTLERS.
1637.]
In 1631 Captain David Peterson de Vries, as the agent of a wealthy Dutch association, at- tempted a settlement near the present site of Lewistown. It was unsuccessful. The Indians dispersed or murdered his colonists, and the enterprise was abandoned. But the English in Virginia recognised the Dutch occupancy in official documents; and the land forming once the "Territories of Pennsylvania," and now the State of Delaware, was considered a Dutch pos- session, forming, with Pennsylvania, a part or appendage of the New Netherlands, as New York was called by its first inhabitants.
In 1637 the Swedes commenced a settlement on the Delaware. Their purchase from the In- dians extended from Cape Henlopen, up the Delaware, to the Falls, opposite Trenton, about thirty miles above the present site of Philadel- phia. This tract was called New Sweden. The settlements of the Swedes extended up to the present site of Philadelphia, and even beyond it. The land on which Philadelphia is built was pur- chased in part of Sven Schute, or Captain Sven, (anglicised, Swan,) by William Penn, who gave him other tracts for it; and also extinguished other Swedish titles. This Swedish family re- sided with others at Wiccaco, now within the limits of Southwark. There the Swedish settlers built a log church on the site of the present
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1683.
Swedes church, which was erected in 1700. The name of the Sven's Sæner, or sons of Sven, afterward softened into Swanson, is preserved in the name of a street in Southwark.
In 1655, there having been various skirmishes and clashings of jurisdiction, most of which be- long to the history of the Territories, now the state of Delaware, Governor Peter Stuyvesant, of New Netherlands, came up the Delaware with seven ships, and six or seven hundred men, took fort after fort, and established the sovereignty of the New Netherlands over New Sweden. The principal officials were compelled to leave the colony, but private citizens were encouraged to remain, and had their land titles confirmed to them. Thus, though under Dutch government, the colony still remained Swedish, and was in- creased by further immigration of the same peo- ple. They built churches and maintained the Lutheran worship, were friendly with the Indians, and had a great and happy influence over them. Altogether their presence was a most propitious introduction to Penn's enterprise. Many Friends from Jersey settled among them, finding them congenial and hospitable. There were at the time of Penn's arrival seven places of worship. The Dutch had one at New Castle; the Swedes, three, one at Christiana, one at Tinicum, and one at Wiccaco; and the Friends three places of meeting, one at Chester, one at Shackamaxon
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1683.]
DUTCH AND SWEDES.
(now Kensington,) and one near the Falls of the Delaware.
We may remark, that there was a settlement at Minisink, on the Delaware, above the Blue Mountains, long before Penn obtained his char- ter. These settlers were Hollanders, and their settlement was probably the oldest of any extent made in Pennsylvania ; and the road connecting their tract with Esopus, New York, was the first good road of any length made in the United States. During the Dutch occupancy, there were extensive mines worked, of which the traces still remain. The settlements of the Dutch at Esopus were commenced as early as 1623, per- haps 1616.
The Dutch and Swedes, the former as rulers, the latter as people, continued in occupation of the Delaware till 1664, when the province of New Netherlands was seized by the British government, and by Charles II. presented to the Duke of York. The duke granted a patent for New Jersey, which had formed a part of New Netherlands, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. In 1672 the Dutch recover- ed possession of the New Netherlands, but re- stored the province to England by the treaty of 1674. The Duke of York, to make his title unquestionable, obtained a new patent, and under this his jurisdiction in the Territories, as well as the tract afterward called Pennsylvania,
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1683.
was reasserted and defended. Penn, having ob- tained the grant of Pennsylvania from the crown, with the Duke of York's concurrence, obtained the Territories directly from the duke.
This short resume of the colonial history, prior to Penn's arrival in this country, may serve to put his claim in a true light before the reader, and to explain the force and meaning of the following expressions in a letter to bis steward, at Pennsbury, written immediately upon his reaching England. " Phil. Lemain
F has most carelessly left behind the York papers that Thomas Lloyd brought, and should have come as the ground and every strength of my coming, so I am now here with my fingers in my mouth. He would not have done me a worse injury, nor balked a greater service, if he had had the bribe of £1000 to do it. Wherefore let him be quickened to send them by the first ship that comes of Maryland or Virginia. Let Tho- . mas Lloyd step to York, and get fresh affidavits of the three men, that can swear the Dutch pos- session of river and bay before Baltimore's patent, in the governor's presence, and under the seal of the province."
Penn had, however, a friend in the Duke of York upon whom he could rely; the more especially, as to admit Baltimore's claims was to invalidate his own patent, and to make illegal the resistance to the claims of Baltimore which
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INDIAN TREATIES.
1683.]
had been made by the New York authorities be- fore Penn had any interest in the subject. So, though Penn was advised of Lord Baltimore's departure for England in March, he delayed to follow him until he had completed the organiza- tion of his colony, but contented himself with writing to the Duke of York, and begging a stay of proceedings till he should arrive. During his short residence in the colony, he accomplished so much that it was much to be regretted that any cause induced or compelled him to leave. He had made treaties with nineteen nations or tribes and subtribes of Indians, and so amicably and fairly dealt with them, that the first difficulty which occurred with the Indians, many years after, resulted from a departure from his policy. And the administration of his government, which proceeded so quietly during his stay, was soon in confusion after his departure.
. Perhaps some key to the difficulties which fol- lowed Penn's departure may be found in the fact, that he reserved too much, or assumed too much to himself, as general director and autho- rity of last appeal-just as some too. careful parents leave their families no discretion. We
find, for instance, that just before he left he was called upon to settle 'a: dispute relative to the river bank. The owners of' the lots adjoining claimed the right to build vaults or stores on the bank opposite to their property. , Penn decided 9*
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
- [1683.
that they had no more right to do this than those who held lots farther back. The original intention was to reserve the river bank as an elevated public promenade, for the common use · of all, and to promote the health of the city. Growing business defeated this purpose, which was indeed incompatible with the wants of a commercial community; and the river bank, reserved for the public, became, at last, and when Penn most needed it, a source of revenue to him by the sale of the lots.
Some facts and anecdotes relative to the pri- mitive appearance and early settlement of the capital city will not be uninteresting here. Phila- delphia is fortunate in possessing one of the most indefatigable of annalists and antiquarians in John F. Watson, Esq., of whose labours we avail ourselves. Anecdotes and personal traits and adventures give a life and interest to history which mere public detail cannot supply. Chester, tradition says, was first looked upon as the site of the chief city, but its location did not answer the views of William Penn. The first settlers
chiefly rested there until Penn came over. The commissioners whom Penn despatched to look out for the site of a town were directed to sound the creoks, especially at Chester. The great fea- tures which Penn desired to preserve, were high dry . banks, suitable for the purposes of com- merce, and' house's so. disposed that the place
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CITY SITE CHOSEN.
1683.]
should be a great country town, which would never be burned, and always wholesome. As early as 1677, attention was called to the con- venience of the site of Philadelphia for a town. The first vessel that visited Burlington, in veer- ing round when opposite the seat of the future city, struck the trees with her yard-arms. The Indian name of the place was Quequenakee, or Coaquannock, a name signifying a grove of tall pines ; for the high banks were lined with mag- nificent forest trees. Among the vessels which preceded Penn, many proceeded up to Burling- ton, all the passengers finding accommodation impossible at Chester, and many, no doubt, har- ing friends and connections among the Friends already settled in New Jersey. One of the pas- sengers relates, as the tradition is preserved in Watson, that the vessel in which she took pas- sage, made fast, at nightfall, at Coaquannock, mooring to the trees. The captain in the morn- ing took a stroll on shore, and finding his way to the River Schuylkill, was in raptures with the place as a fine location for a town. This was reported, while the commissioners were still in doubt, having investigated the claims of many sites, and it led to their final choice of Phila- delphia. A better could not possibly have been made. It was determined upon, subject, no doubt, to Penn's revisal, before his arrival, and buildings had already commenced, as we have
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1683.
already seen when he landed at his new city. Some progress must therefore have been made in the laying out the streets, and arranging the plan of the town, according to the instructions which Penn had given to his commissioners.
The reserve of the river bank answered a use- ful temporary purpose. The settlers who were obliged to wait for their allotments of land, con- trived such impromptu residences as would serve their present need. They made in the bank an excavation about three feet in depth, and over this excavation constructed a roof of layers of limbs, split trees, brush and twigs, usually sod- ding over the whole. The chimneys were made of stones and clay and river grass. Some of these dwellings were so well constructed that they lasted for many years, serving for the tem- porary accommodation of successive arrivals of emigrants. Others were occupied by "squat- ters," who remained in defiance of decrees of council that they should remove, and many of these places became tippling-shops, and public nuisances. Some of the best families in the country were glad in their necessity to make use of such accommodations ; for nearly thirty ship loads of emigrants arrived at the new country within less than two years from Penn's obtaining his grant and issuing his proposals. The colo- nists, in their native land, had been principally persons of competence, farmers, tradesmen and
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1683.] ANNALS OF SETTLERS.
mechanics. Some few brought with them the materials for houses, ready to erect'; and many of the better buildings were planned in England. The carved and elaborated portions of the wood- work of Penn's mansion at Pennsbury and his house in Philadelphia were brought from Eng- land.
In one of these caves was born John Key, the first born in Pennsylvania of English parentage. William Penn made the child a present of a city lot, to commemorate the event. He was born at the foot of Race or Sassafras street, and his property was nearly opposite the corner of Race and Crown. The first births among the colo- nists were, however, on shipboard during the pas- sage over, and one of these children was appro- priately called " Sea-Mercy."
Incidents related by contemporaries, and pre- served in letters and traditions, will give the reader a better idea of early scenes and diffi- culties than can be done by any attempt at de- scription. We copy such a relation from Watson. Mrs. Deborah Morris, who died at the com- mencement of the present century, distributed by will, among her friends, various relics and heir-looms which she had preserved. She ac- companied these gifts with their history. The following is an extract from her will : " The large silver old-fashioned salver I give to my nephew Thomas Morris, was given to my dear
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1683.
parents by my mother's aunt, Elizabeth Hard, a worthy good woman, (she being the first orphan ever left in charge of George Fox's Society of · Friends in England,) whose sweet innocent de- portment used to give me high esteem and regard for the ancient people. She came from England with William Penn and other Friends. My grandfather and grandmother had arrived two years before, and settled in the Jerseys; but when they heard that Elizabeth Hard designed to come to Philadelphia, they removed thither before her, and had just got settled in a cave on the bank of the river when my dear aunt Hard arrived.
"She esteemed it a divine Providence thus to find her sister, whom she had not seen for some years, thus ready to receive her in the cave. There they dwelt together until they could build. I remember, while writing, one passage among many others which she related, which I have often pleasingly thought of, as it has raised my hopes and increased my faith and dependence on that Arm which never failed our worthy an- cestors. with them, supporting through all their difficulties; and many difficulties at- tended them in settling a new country. In hopes of its being as profitably remembered by my cousins as myself, I'll repeat it, to wit :- All that came wanted a dwelling, and hastened to provide one. As they lovingly helped each other,
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ANNALS OF SETTLERS.
1683.]
the women set themselves to work they had not been used to before-for few of our settlers were of the laborious class, and help of that sort was scarce. My good aunt Hard thought it expe- dient to help her husband at one end of the saw, and to fetch all such water to make mortar of as they then had need to build their chimney. At one time, being over-wearied therewith, her husband desired her to forbear, saying, 'Thou, my dear, had better think of dinner.' On this, poor woman, she walked away, weeping as she went, and reflecting on herself for coming here, to be exposed to such hardships, and then not know where to get a dinner, for their provision was all spent except a small quantity of biscuit and cheese, of which she had not informed her husband; but thought she would try which of her friends had any to spare. Thus she walked in toward her tent, (happy time when each one's treasure lay safe therein,) but was a little too desponding in her mind. For this she felt her- self closely reproved, and as if queried with,- 'didst thou not come for liberty of conscience,- hast thou not got it,-also been provided for beyond thy expectation ?' Which so humbled her, she on her knees begged forgiveness and preservation in future, and never repined afterward.
" When she arose, and was going to seek for other food than what she had, her cat came into
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1683.
the tent, and had caught a fine large rabbit, which she thankfully received and dressed as an English hare. When her husband came in to dinner, being informed of the facts, they both wept with reverential joy, and ate their meal, which was thus seasonably provided for them, with singleness of heart. Many such providen- tial cases did they partake of :- and thus did our worthy ancestors witness the arm of divine love extended for their support."
As a memorial of the hunting feat of puss, a device representing a cat seizing and bearing off a rabbit was engraved on a silver tureen, still in possession of some of the descendants of the family. Another case is related in which the furnishing of food to settlers, was the act of a wolf. A young girl, a few miles from the Dela- ware, found a deer driven into a creek by a wolf, and secured the frightened animal by fastening his horns to a tree with a halter, until aid ar- rived to secure him, the wolf decamping, alarmed in turn at the human captors. Pigeons, "with shocking tameness," were knocked down for food. The Indians furnished game, and were kind to the early settlers; and in several in- stances, preserved by tradition, took care of the children in isolated cottages, while the parents were called away by business. The supply of food from sources less precarious than such as , we have related soon became abundant. Many
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ANNALS OF SETTLERS.
1683.]
articles, even to salted meats, were brought to the colony by the settlers, and afterward im- ported by them from Europe, as appears from Penn's memoranda of expenses. The greater part of the early settlers were persons who did not lack for means; and when a poorer class came as servants, their time being sold to pay their passage hither, the labour of such provided abundant food.
We have now noted with as much minuteness as our space permits the primitive settlements of Pennsylvania. We have space only to ob- serve that the emigrants, for the two first years, included settlers from England, Ireland and Wales, Holland and Germany. The first Ger- mans who came over were Friends, some of them probably the founder's proselytes; for they came from the Palatinate, and the very vicinity which Penn visited with Robert Barclay. They founded Germantown. The Welch, who came over in large numbers, have perpetuated the names of their former residences in many names of towns and counties, in the first settled por- tions of Pennsylvania. So also did the English and Irish. For many interesting traditions, the reader must refer to local histories and memo- rials, with which Pennsylvania is richly supplied.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1684.
CHAPTER VI.
Aspect of things in England-Penn's difficult position-Death * of Charles II., and accession of James-Penn's account of events-Proclamation of James in Philadelphia-Impeach- ment of Nicholas Moore-His refusal to plead-Other colo- nial difficulties-Rumours with England-Extracts from Penn's correspondence-His influence at court-Monmouth's insurrection-Venality and cruelty-Vindication of Penn- Threatened colonial difficulties-Dangers to the proprietary governments-Penn appoints a board of commissioners- Their instructions-Appointment of a lieutenant-governor -Stormy administration-Penn's embarrassments-Neglect by the colony of the proprietary's wishes-Revolution of 1688-Political suspicions against Penn-Persecuted by his enemies-He is compelled to abandon a visit to his colony- His forced retirement, and pecuniary losses.
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WILLIAM PENN arrived in England in October, , 1684, but his proceedings in the business of the boundary were delayed, as already stated, by the discovery that certain necessary papers were left behind. According to his own statement, he found matters at court less propitious than at any previous time. The court was "sour and stern, and resolved to hold the reins of power ' with a stiffer hand than heretofore, especially over those that were observed to be church or state dissenters; conceiving that the opposition which made the government uneasy, came from that sort of people, and therefore they should
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PENN'S DIFFICULT POSITION.
1684.]
either bow or break. This made it hard for me, a professed dissenter, to turn myself-for that party having been my acquaintance, my inclina- tion, and my interest too, to shift them I would not, to serve them I saw I could not, and to keep fair with a displeased and resolved government, that had weathered its point upon them, humbled and mortified them, and was daily improving all advantages against them, was a difficult task to perform."
In this delicate position William Penn's sa- gacity was put to proof; "being one day well received at court as proprietor and governor of a province of the crown," and the next arrested by the underlings of the police as a dissenting preacher, and the third day "smoked [watched we presume by spies] and informed of, for meet- ing with men of the Whig stamp." He had, in- deed, a difficult part to play. 'The members of . his religious sect looked to him, as a leader, for the exertion of his influence with the king and the duke. The whigs and republicans with whom he fraternized were not without their expecta- tions of service. His own conscience and in- clination looked the same way; and we must suppose him more than mortal if his self-love was not also urged to show that the influence which he was reputed to hold was a fact, and not mere rumour. Indeed, through all his connection with the court in the reigns of Charles and James, we
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