USA > Pennsylvania > The provincial councillors of Pennsylvania : who held office between 1733-1776, and those earlier councillors who were some time chief magistrates of the province and their descendants > Part 13
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Logan.
which he undertook in succeeding years, he seems to have gained their affection and esteem. It has been justly said that he ranked next to William Penn, their "Brother Onas," in their regard. Logan, the Indian chief, was named after him.
As the contest in the government continued, resentment increased against the Secretary. He was pronounced by resolution of the Assembly, an enemy of the Governor and of the government, and finally, February 26th, 1706-7, articles of impeachment were exhi- bited, charging him with illegally inserting in the Governor's com- mission certain clauses contrary to the Royal Charter, with imposition on the locators of land, with concealing the objections specified by the Lord's Commissioners of Trade and Plantations to certain laws, their consent to them being necessary, and with illegally holding two incompatible offices, the Surveyor-Generalship (vacated by Penning- ton's death, in 1702) and the Secretaryship. Logan's answer is filled with personal abuse, and, whatever be its merits as a defence, was calculated to widen the breach. The Governor decided that he had no authority to try impeachments. A new Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel Charles Gookin, at last superseding Evans, the Assembly presented a remonstrance against Logan's continuance in the Council. Logan replied in an exposure of Lloyd. An investigating committee reported to the House that Logan had refused to bring proofs. He was then preparing to embark for England, but on the 25th of November, the House ordered the Sheriff of Philadelphia county to attach his body, and detain him in the county jail until he should make satisfaction for his reflections on sundry members. The Sheriff refused to obey so illegal a mandate. It was feared that some of the delegates themselves would make the arrest ; so the Governor was obliged to interpose his protection, and Logan sailed a few days after- wards. The next election sent an entirely new set of men to the Assembly, but Logan remained abroad more than a year after. His voyage home took ten weeks. He landed in Philadelphia March 22d, 1711-12. The province having been mortgaged to Gouldney and others, with power to sell lands, Logan was appointed one of the attorneys to make sales. He was also appointed by William Penn's will a trustee of all his lands and hereditaments in America, in trust, after payment of his debts, to convey to his children; and Hannah Penn constituted him one of her attorneys. He relinquished the Secretaryship of the land office in 1718, being actively engaged in trade, as well as in public business.
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Logan.
After the accession of George I., Gookin, quarrelling with the Quakers, charged Logan with being disaffected to His Majesty, but declined to state his grounds. Penn certainly felt a warm attach- ment to the Pretender's father, but Logan's sentiments seem to be expressed in a letter to Hannah Penn, urging that Gookin be removed and his place filled by Colonel Keith, who, he says, may labor under the suspicion of being a Jacobite, and so fail to be commissioned : "But as these distinctions cannot affect us, who want nothing but Peace under the Crown of England, and have no power either to advance or retard any Interest, all our views, or rather wishes, are to have a person over us who may truly pursue the Interest of the Country." Keith was appointed in 1717. At this juncture, a really able man, of high character, liberal views, and tact in dealing with men, with large discretionary powers confided to him by the Proprie- taries, and having his support assured him, independent of the fac- tions in control of the Assembly, would have been, as Proprietary deputy, an incalculable blessing to the Colony. Keith, perhaps, was lacking in principle, yet such were his qualifications that we are inclined to think his being in control was Pennsylvania's great chance for efficient government. He was a man of good education and rhe- torical ability, of experience in colonial government-having been Surveyor-General of the Customs in North America, afterwards hav- ing visited Philadelphia, and conversed with the chief citizens on the needs of the Province-and of pleasing address, universally polite, with the right word for everybody ; so that himself and his projects became popular. He obtained what his predecessors had failed to obtain-a proper salary for the Lieutenant-Governor, a militia law, and a Court of Chancery. That he saw the defects in the govern- ment, is clear from the clause in his first message, that he hoped the Assembly would empower liim "to introduce a better economy and more frugal management in the collection of taxes, which were then squandered by the officers appointed to assess and collect them." That he was enterprising, his various journeys on Indian affairs, even to other colonies, attest. That he was not absolutely servile to the majority of the House, there was at least one instance, when he rejected their bill for naturalizing foreigners, because it made requi- site a justice's certificate as to their religious faith and the value of their property. Many laws which seem dictated by the best interests of the Colony, were passed in his time, as, for instance, prohibiting the use of molasses or other substances except grain or hops in the
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Logan.
manufacture of beer, so as to cause a greater consumption of the agri- cultural produce; also providing for the inspection of flour, whereby the quality of that article was raised, and the exports increased ; also imposing a duty of 5l. on every convicted felon imported as a servant, the importer to give security for his good behavior for one year; also reducing the rate of interest from eight to six per cent .; also the Feme Sole Traders act. In his time, the first paper money in Penn- sylvania was issued. As to various measures, Logan differed in opinion with the Governor ; but the latter showed no disposition to give up, on that account, what he deemed beneficial to the colony. The Provincial Council was not a body recognized in the charter of 1701, and he had no intention of allowing it to obstruct legislation. Logan and his friends felt themselves slighted, and in the increasing popularity of the Lieutenant-Governor, saw themselves reduced to ciphers in the government, and thought they saw the Proprietary interests tottering. The history of the administration has been sketched from different points of view, in Gordon's and in Proud's History of Pennsylvania, in Franklin's Historical Review, and in J. Francis Fisher's article in the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. On one occasion, Logan complained that sufficient opportunity was not allowed the Council to give their views on the bills before them, and left the meeting, followed by a majority of those present. Keith, in presence of those remaining, then passed the bills. Charging Logan with an unauthorized entry upon his min- utes, as Secretary of the Council, Keith removed Logan from that office. Logan was Mayor of Philadelphia in 1723, and at the close of his term, went abroad to consult with Hannah Penn, and from her obtained instructions to Keith to re-instate Logan as Secretary, and, Franklin says, "to be ruled by him." The Lieutenant-Gov- ernor was to obey the Council in his messages and speeches to the Assembly, and in his legislative acts. Highly indignant, and feeling safe in his tenure of office-because, at that time, no branch of the family could confer on a new Lieutenant-Governor an undisputed commission-Keith refused to be trammelled. He sent Hannah Penn a reply, showing her how the powers of the Proprietary to control the discretion of his Deputy had, years before, been brought to the attention of the public; and the Council, including Logan, William Penn, and Judge Roger Mompesson, the chief lawyer of that day in Pennsylvania, had unanimously decided that a clause in the Lieutenant-Governor's commission, forbidding him to pass any
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Logan.
law without the consent of the Proprietary, was void, the charter vesting legislation in the acting Governor and Assembly ; if, there- fore, the Proprietary could not exercise control directly, he could not do so by means of a Council not recognized by the fundamental law. Keith also contended that he had a right to appoint for his Council a clerk in whom he had confidence. Logan had been found making improper entries in the minutes, and he declined to re-appoint him. More than this, Keith, to make a party for himself, violated his con- fidential relations with the Penns, by communicating to the Assem- bly both the Instructions and his reasons for disregarding them. He received the thanks of the House, David Lloyd appearing as his strong supporter ; and there followed a pamphlet, or broadside, war concerning the Assembly's powers, in the course of which Logan wrote the Antidote to Lloyd's Vindication of the Legislative Power ; meanwhile, the Penns abroad resolved upon Keith's removal. For a time, Keith seemed able to have wrested the government from them ; but as rumors reached the Colony of the appointment of a successor, the Assembly deserted him. Patrick Gordon arrived in August, 1726, with a commission from Springett Penn, in which the widow concurred, and which the Crown confirmed. A better man than Keith would have opposed, thenceforth, a set of people who had so little appreciated him, but he excited contempt by splenetic efforts to embarrass the administration of his successor. He was chosen a member of the Assembly, and canvassed for the Speakership; but David Lloyd, either from jealousy or from his general intractibility- for his political objects were best served by encouragement to Keith- had quarrelled with him. And Lloyd allowed himself to be the candi- date of Keith's enemies, and was elected, Sir William getting only three votes. After much talk about the abolition of all Proprietary govern- ments, and boldly declaring it his object to force the Penn family to sell the Government to the Crown, whence he expected to be re-appointed, Keith suddenly left the Colony, to avoid his private creditors. He passed the rest of his life abroad, attempting to earn a support by writing a history of the Colonies, being chosen a member of Parlia- ment in 1735, and dying in the Old Bailey in 1749. He has left no descendants in Pennsylvania. (See account of the Palmer family.)
Gordon's administration was a tranquil one. On issuing a new Commission of the Peace for Philadelphia county, he made Logan one of the Justices. He also restored him to the Secretaryship of the Council. In 1731, David Lloyd died, leaving the office of Chief
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Logan.
Justice of the Supreme Court vacant. It was designed to confer it upon Isaac Norris, but, he declining, the Council consented unani- mously to the appointment of James Logan. He was Chief Justice from the opening of court in September of that year, until August 9th, 1739. Some of his charges to the juries were collected in one volume, and printed in England in 1736. Lieutenant-Governor Gordon's death, in August, 1736, vested the executive franchises in the Provincial Council, of which James Logan, as senior member, became President. His chief magistracy, which ended two years later, upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor George Thomas, wit- nessed a border war with Maryland, arising from disputed boundary, but amounting to a very few deadly encounters. It ended on receipt of an order from the King requiring the authorities of the respective colonies to preserve the peace, and not to grant lands until the royal pleasure should be further known. Logan refused the Lieutenant- Governorship, and Thomas's appointment was in response to his urgent letters to be relieved. Down to this time, the industry of Logan made him the factotum of the government, and demands the admira- tion of posterity. An amateur in every act, and having himself, and afterwards a family, to support, and his master's interests to hus- band, he assumed every burden. For many years he was clerk, mer- chant, real-estate agent, law-maker, farmer, judge.
Amid all this, he found relaxation in reading, and most of his business letters in his letter-book at the Historical Society, contain an order for one or more valuable books. He was a close ob- server of the phenomena of nature, and contributed papers to the Philos. Transactions on Lightning, on Davis's Quadrant, on the appar- ent increased magnitude of the sun and moon near the horizon, also " Experimenta et Meletemata circa Plantarum Generationem," &c. In the sixty-fourth year of his age, he retired from public employ- ment, passing the remainder of his days at his seat, some five hundred acres near Germantown, to which he gave the name of "Stenton," and where he raised the mansion-house the day his son James was born. There, although weakened in health, he pursued his studies, shedding lustre on the Colony as a scholar and a scientist. His only participation in politics thereafter, was to write, in 1740, a letter to the Yearly Meeting of Friends, urging them, in view of the war between Great Britain and Spain, not to procure the election of mem- bers of their religious society to the Assembly ; which letter was not allowed to be read. (See sketch of Robert Strettell, the Councillor.)
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Logan.
The following writings of Logan were published in Europe: "Cano- num pro Inveniendis Refractionum, Ludg. Bat. 1739," " Epistola ad Joannem Albertum Fabricium, Amst. 1740," " Demonstrationes de Radiorum Lucis, &c., Ludg. Bat. 1741." Richard Hockley writes, December 5th, 1743: " Mr. Logan has given the Corporation his lot opposite the Governor's garden, & books to the value of 1000l., & intends a building 60 ft. front to put the books in for the use of the city. The old gentleman with Tom Godfrey are very busy in inspecting into a comet that has appeared for 3 weeks past, & say before it disappears we shall see it in great splendour, & the publick expect their opinion of it in print from some hints given." Godfrey had been Logan's servant, and developed talents for the arts and sciences, and was the inventor of the sextant before Hadley, who first constructed one. The library thus placed at the service of the public was the beginning of the Loganian Library. The building was constructed, but the deed for it was afterwards cancelled by Logan, preparatory to putting the trust in different terms. This he did not live to do. While Chief Justice, he translated Cicero's De Senectute. The translation was printed by Benjamin Franklin, in 1744, and has been much admired. Logan also rendered Cato's Dis- tichs into English verse, printed also at Philadelphia; and he left MS. translations from Greek authors. Blackwood's Magazine for January, 1825, says : " We look upon him as altogether an extraor- dinary man." He was the first-named trustee in the deed of 1749, by which Whitfield's meeting-house was given for an Academy, which, in time, became the College of Philadelphia, and afterwards the University of Pennsylvania.
James Logan died at Stenton, Dec. 31, 1751, bu. Friends' ground in Phila. He m. 10, 9, 1714, Sarah, sister of Charles Read, the Councillor.
Issue :
SARAH, b. 10, 9, 1715, d. 10, 13, 1744, m. Isaac Norris (see Norris), JAMES, d. y.,
WILLIAM, also Councillor, see below,
HANNAH, b. 12, 21, 1719-20, m. John Smith, see p. 27,
RACHEL, d. y.,
CHARLES, d. y.,
JAMES, b. 10, -, 1728, as surviving Trustee of the Loganiau
library, agreed with the Library Co. of Philadelphia for a
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Logan.
union of the two collections, and obtained an act of Assem- bly in 1792, by which the Loganian library was vested in the Directors of the Library Co. and in himself and two associates to be appointed by him, to hold the same in trust for the purposes of the Library, after his death the next heir male of James Logan the elder, if resident in the City of Phila., or within seven miles thereof, to be trustee, pre- ferring issue of eldest to issue of any other son, and male line to female line, and on extinction of male line oldest heir male in female line to be one of the trustees, with power to supply vacancies among the associate trustees, and when said heir a minor, non-resident, &c., the survivor of associate trustees to supply vacancy. James Logan resided in Phila. He d. 9, 25, 1803. He m. Sarah Armitt. No issue.
WILLIAM LOGAN, b. 5mo., 14, 1718, son of James Logan, the President of the Council, and himself a Councillor, was sent, when twelve years old, to his uncle, Dr. William Logan, in Bristol, England. His father's letter of advice to him, on his leaving home, is printed in Hazard's Register. Watson's Annals tells us that he finished his education in the mother country. After his return, he engaged in business with his father, and also was made attorney with him, for some of the Penn family. He was a mer- chant until the death of his father, when he became owner of Stenton, and devoted himself more particularly to agriculture. He was a Common Councilman of the City from 1743 until February, 1776, when the meetings of the Corporation were discontinued. On May 29th, 1747, when James Logan sent word that he no longer considered himself a member of the Governor's Council, his son William was called to the Board, and appeared and qualified. He was a stricter Quaker than his father, and had a goodly amount of independence, even voting against the Governor's candidate for mem- ber of Assembly, when the object of the other party was to change the form of government. In the troublesome period which followed Braddock's defeat, he was very active, not in preparing for war, but, consistent with his principles, in trying to prevent it. In the middle of the winter, he went with the Governor to Carlisle, to see what attitude the Indians of that neighborhood would assume. On April
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Logan.
6th, 1756, as outrages were constantly reported, a proposition to declare an offensive war against the Delawares, was made in Council, the Provincial Commissioners agreeing to offer a reward for scalps. Logan voted "no." Four days later, some members of the Society of Friends addressed the Council against declaring war; and there were others besides Quakers in the Colony who suspected that some special grievance had caused the red man to yield to the solicitations of the French. Logan moved that summons be sent for a full meeting of the Council that evening. This was done. Strettell and other Quaker members attended in the evening, but agreed to the declaration of war, and Logan's solitary dissent was entered on the minutes. His cousin, Israel Pemberton, and others, about this time, formed themselves into the Peace Association, and offered to go or send at their own expense to persuade the Delawares to lay down their arms. Some friendly Indians became the ambassadors. It hap- pened that, at the time Pennsylvania was declaring war, Sir William Johnson, in New York, was effecting a negotiation with the Dela- wares, and he wrote to General Shirley that the step taken by Penn- sylvania without asking the concurrence of the other colonies, or even notice to them, was a very unaccountable proceeding. Logan attended the conference at Easton, where peace was proclaimed. He could always be depended upon to accompany the Lieutenant-Governor, or take a journey alone, when Indian affairs required it. He received Indians cordially at his house, giving the aged a settlement on his land, and educating the young with his own means. He was in favor of force to protect the Indians who were threatened by the Paxton boys in 1764. He was quite a traveller, and has left a journal of his visit to Georgia. He was at home during that portion of the Revolutionary war which he lived to see, attending the meetings of the Provincial Council long after the battle of Lexington. He took no active part in the struggle. William Logan, with his brother and Mrs. Smith, deeded the library property, August 28th, 1754, to Israel Pemberton, Jr., William Allen, Richard Peters, and Benjamin Frank- lin, to be with William Logan and his brother, James Logan, the Trustees or managers ; and William Logan acted as librarian until his death. Furthermore, by his will, he added to the collection the books bequeathed to him by his uncle, Dr. Logan, about thirteen hundred volumes, providing, however, that such as were duplicates of those already in the Loganian library, should be given to the
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Logan.
Philadelphia library. His will was dated July 25th, 1772. The witnesses were Samuel Morris, Jr., Israel Morris, Jr., and Edward Middleton. It was probated November 25th, 1776.
He d. (obit. notice Penna. Gazette) Oct. 28, 1776, and was bu. in Friends' Ground. He m. Mch. 24, 1740, Hannah, dau. of George Emlen of Phila. She was b. June 1, 1722, and d. Jany. 30, 1777.
Issue :
SARAH, d. y., JAMES, d. y.,
WILLIAM, grad. M. D. at Edinburgh in 1770, d. Phila., Jany. 17, 1772, in his 25th year (obit. notice Penna. Gazette), m. Sarah, dau. of Dr. Portsmouth, she d. Mch., 1797,
Issue : a dau., d. inf.,
WILLIAM PORTSMOUTH, was of Plalstow, co. Essex, Great Brit., d. unm. before his mother,
SARAH, b. 11, 6, 1751, m. Thomas Fisher, see below, GEORGE, b. 9, 9, 1753, m. Deborah Norris, see p. 20, CHARLES, m. Mary Pleasants (see p. 23.)
SARAH LOGAN, b. 11, 6, 1751, dau. of William Logan, d. 1, 25, 1796, m. 3, 17, 1772, Thomas Fisher, of Phila., merchant, son of Joshua Fisher, of Lewes, Del., afterwards a merchant in Phila., who d. 2, 31, 1783, by his w. Sarah, dau. of Thomas Rowland. Thomas Fisher was born May 6th, 1741, and on coming of age was taken into partnership by his father. During the French war, he was cap- tured at sea, and taken to Spain, from whence, after his release, he visited England. His brothers, also, were allowed a share in their father's business, as they came of age, the firm being known as Joshua Fisher & Sons until the death of their father. Joshua Fisher and his three sons, Thomas, Miers, and Samuel R., were among those arrested during the Revolution, as inimical to the cause of America, and the three brothers were transported to Winchester, Va., where they remained through the winter of 1777-8. Thomas, Samuel, and Miers Fisher succeeded to the business of Joshua Fisher & Sons, and in the same year, Thomas and Miers entered the firm of Hough, Bickham, & Co., in the lumber business, and in 1800, Thomas became Leonard Snowden's partner in a brewery. Thomas Fisher was owner
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Logan-Fisher branch.
of 2/5 of between 25,000 and 30,000 acres in what was then West- moreland county, Pa., and 1/2 of 10,000 acres in Chemung township, N. Y. He resided at 142 So. 2nd Street, in Phila. He d. Sep. 6, 1810.
Issue (surname FISHER) :
SARAH, d. y.,
JOSHUA, b. 8, 27, 1775, m. Elizabeth Powel Francis, see below,
HANNAH LOGAN, b. 11, 6, 1777, published in 1839 a small book of memorials of various members of the family, d. 6, 25, 1846, m. 6, 10, 1810, James Smith of Phila., merchant, who d. May 29, 1826,
Issue (surname SMITH) :
SARAH FISHER,
REBECCA DARBY,
ESTHER FISHER, m. Mifflin Wistar (see MIFFLIN), no issue, WILLIAM LOGAN, d. y.,
WILLIAM LOGAN, b. 10, 1, 1781, m. 1st Mary Rodman, & 2nd Sarah Lindley, see next page,
JAMES LOGAN, b. 10, 5, 1783, m. Ann Eliza George, see p. 20, ESTHER, b. 2, 14, 1788, d. unm. 10, 13, 1849.
JOSHUA FISHER, b. 8, 27, 1775, gr'dson of William Logan, was a Phila. merchant, d. 10, 28, 1806, m. 1, 12, 1806 Elizabeth Powel Francis, dau. of Tench Francis by his w. Anne Willing (see Shippen), Issue (surname FISHER) :
JOSHUA FRANCIS, b. Feb. 17, 1807, grad. A. B. (Harv.) 1825, was an officer of the American Philos. Soc., and a Vice- President of the Hist. Soc. of Penna., to whose publications he was a frequent contributor. He wrote various articles on historical subjects for magazines, &c., but perhaps none shows more research than his MS. account of the Logans noted in our sketch of James Logan. He also wrote pamph- lets on the Representative System of Government, etc. His country seat was "Alverthorpe," Montgomery Co. He d. in Phila., Jany. 21, 1873. He m. Eliza, dau. of Gov. Henry Middleton of So. Car. by his w. Mary Helen, dau. of Capt. Julines Hering of Jamaica. Mrs. Hering was an Inglis, and her mother a McCall of Phila.
B
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Logan-Fisher branch.
Issue (surname Fisher) :
Elizabeth Francis, m. Robert Patterson Kane, son of Judge John K. Kane of Phila., Issue (surname Kane) : Eliza Middleton, Francis, Sophia Georgiana, m. Eckley B. Coxe of Drifton,
Luzerne Co., Pa., in the State Senate of Penna., son of Judge Chas. S. Coxe of Phila., no issue,
Mary Helen, m. John Cadwalader, see CADWALA- DER,
Maria Middleton, m. Brinton Coxe of Phila. bar, brother of E. B. Coxe above mentioned,
Issue (surname Coxe) :
Charlotte,
Eliza,
Maria,
Edmund,
George Harrison, grad. A. B. (Harv.), of the Phila. bar, m. Bessy Riddle, Issue (surname Fisher) :
Anna, Francis, Henry Middleton, grad. A. B. (Harv.) and M. D.
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