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 16
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Cecilia, b. Sep. 4, 1849, m. Oct. 24, 1872, Clar- ence V. Arrach,
Issue (surname Arrach) : Charlie W., b. July 24, 1873,
William, b. Oct. 16, 1852, of Newark, O., unm.,
Eugene, b. Feb. 17, 1855, d. inf.,
Ella May, b. April 25, 1857, d. Sep. 25, 1879, m. Oct. 23, 1878, Seneca Brownell, Issue : one dau., who d. inf.,
Clara, b. Dec. 30, 1860, unm.,
4. MARY, d. unm.,
5. SUSAN, dec'd, m. James Hoffman, Issue (surname Hoffman) : Clara,
6. CLARA AGNES, now of Norristown, unm.,
(IV) ROBERT HARRISON, b. 1795, Ph. D., Prof. of Philoso- phy, &c., d. Phila. 1848, m. Anna Cloud, who d. 1837, aged 36, Issue (surname McCLENACHAN) :
AMELIA HARRISON, d. 1856, m. Claudius Harper, Treas. of Schuylkill Nav. Co., who d. April, 1848, Issue (surname Harper) :
Annie McClenachan, b. 1838, d. July, 1854, Emily, b. May, 1840, m. Gustav von Zschüschen, Claudius, b. 1842, d. Feb., 1844, Lillie, b. 1844, d. Aug., 1846,
Lydia Farnham, b. 1847, m. Stephen H. Petrie of Denver, Col.,
OLIVIA, d. 1859, m. James R. Harper of Phila., teller of the Bank of Commerce, since dec'd,
Issue (surname Harper) : Condy Raguet, Harriet,
James A., m. Emma Louise Hegeman, Issue (surname Harper) : Claude, Katharine, m. Otto H. Fersenheim, Issue (surname Fersenheim) : Henry H., Herman J.,
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Norris-McClenachan branch.
Claudius P., m. Ella Wright, Issue (surname Harper) : Olivia, Claudia,
Olivia, Margaret, m. George H. Carlisle, Issue (surname Carlisle) : James, George,
Emily, ROBERT, accountant, d. 1877, m. Fanny Dodge, Issue (surname McClenachan) : Grace,
HARRISON, d. unm. near Chicago 1862,
CHARLES THOMSON, of N. Y. bar, Q. M. of N. Y. 7th regt. in 1861, now of Dept. of Public Works of New York City, author of Book of the Ancient Accepted Rite of Freemasonry (1859), editor of Opinions of the Counsels to the Corporation from 1849 to 1860, &c., m., 1st, Louisa Parsons, and, 2nd, Eliza A. Edgerton, Issue, all by 1st wife (surname McClenachan) :
Charles Howard, Harrison Small, Lillian Pennell, m. George Van A. Conger, Issue (surname Conger) : George, Amelia, dec'd, Emily Maryland, m. Henry Klingle,
JOHN HOWARD, teacher, d. unm. aged 17 yrs. 6 mos.
ISAAC NORRIS, son of the Councillor, b. in Phila. Oct. 3, 1701, see Penna. Mag. of Hist. &ct., Vol. I, p. 449, was in mercantile business until 1743. Prior to his father's death, he resided in the "Slate-roof House," afterwards at Fair Hill. In 1727, he was chosen a Common Councilman of the City, and three years later, an Alderman. He first entered the Assembly in October, 1734, as a member for Philadelphia Co., and at once his standing as a merchant made him authority on matters of trade. An inquiry had been made by the Lords Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations as to what encouragement was neces- sary to make the Colonies furnish naval stores and other commodities not produced in England. The subject was exciting much attention in the Mother Country, it being feared that other industries would grow up in the Colonies, and the fabrics of which England would always produce more than she used, would lose an important market. Norris was appointed chairman of the committee to draft the reply. That
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valuable statement of Pennsylvania's resources is to be found in " Votes of Assembly." It declared that hemp, pig-iron, and bar-iron, being staples generally purchased with money by the subjects of Great Britain from the Northern kingdoms, might, on a bounty being given by the home government, be had from some parts of this and other colonies in exchange for the manufactures and products of the Mother Country.
In 1739, four years after his father's death, the younger Norris comes to the front as the leader of the Quaker party. Rather more of a Quaker than his father, much more of a Quaker than James Logan, he is interesting as a statesman who endeavored to keep the policy of a state consistent with Quaker principles. In his day the crucial circumstances arose for carrying out theories as to the unlaw- fulness of war, which it was a different thing to profess when the sect was only a few individuals in the great nation of England. It was to be seen what Friends in control of a state would do in case of invasion. In England they occasionally suffered legal penalties ; in America they would have to anticipate a conquering army depriving them of the fruits of their toil, their nationality, and their chartered liberties. The case did not really present itself to the earlier settlers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Those colonies were too small either to tempt in- vasion, or to be looked to for recruits ; and a little presence of mind on such occasions as Gov. Evans's scare was all that was called for. But in 1739 war was breaking out with the yet mighty kingdom of Spain, from whose American possessions an armament could be fitted out against the territory with which Raleigh and Gilbert had enriched the British Crown. Indeed it was expected that France, then possessor of Canada, would ally herself with Spain, and, thus flanked, the British colonies must bear a bitter struggle, while their population and natural wealth were now so considerable that their conquest by either of their neighbors would be sufficient fruit of the war. Under these circum- stances, the Assembly of Pennsylvania, with Norris a member, met in October, 1739. The Governor suggested that they take measures for the defence of the province. He also laid before them a communica- tion from the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations asking for information as to the rates of gold and silver coin and value of gold and silver per oz. in 1700, 1710, 1720, and 1730, and the pro- visions of the acts for issuing bills of credit from 1700 down, the amounts named in them, and the amount outstanding. The statement sent in answer was prepared by a committee of which Thomas Leech
D
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was the first named, and Isaac Norris, the second. This work over, the House sent a message on the subject of defence, contending for the rights of the Quakers to obey their conscientious scruples against war. At the same time, it was said, persons of other sects who held no such views were equally entitled to liberty of conscience. Of such there were many, and they could arm, the Governor by the charter to Penn being authorized, and no act of Assembly having restrained him, to levy, muster, and train all sorts of men, and to make war, and act as a captain-general. But Gov. Thomas wished them to vote money, and to enact a law relating to military service. This they would not do; they would not even pass a bill on the subject when the Quakers were exempted from its provisions. The Governor replied that sharing in the expense had been agreed to in Pennsylvania when, in 1710, a sum was granted to Queen Anne for the reduction of Canada, and was always done by persons of their religious persuasion in Britain. Norris was on the committee to draft the rejoinder. It ably states the Quaker argument against the lawfulness of war to Christian men, and recalls the fact that the money voted to Queen Anne was accompanied by an explanation that their principles forbade war, but commanded them to pay tribute and yield obedience to the power God had set over them in all things so far as their religious persuasions would permit. The paper further declares an unwillingness to place such instruments of power as a militia and the money for fortifications in the hands of the Governor and his friends. This of course had nothing to do with the religious principle ; at the same time it was cunningly added, and gained for those who wrote it support from the democracy. In the course of time, the non-Quaker population organized seven companies of soldiers, but in these a large number of indentured servants undertook to enlist. Many Quaker masters were thus injured. The Assembly took up the matter, and addressed the Governor; but the runaways had taken the oath, and a large portion had received the King's sub- sistence for several weeks, and the Governor declined to dismiss them. Finally, on the 9th of August, the Assembly yielded to the importu- nities for money, and voted 3000l. to Thomas Griffitts, Edward Brad- ley, John Stamper, Isaac Norris, and Thomas Leech, " for the use of King George II.," provided, however, that no warrant for said sum should issue from the Speaker until all the servants enlisted should be returned to their masters free of all charges. A remonstrance to the King was ordered to be drawn up, Norris being upon the committee to draft it. At the next Assembly, Norris again member, a commit-
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tee reported the number of servants thus eloigned as 262, and com- pensation was made to the masters.
The various disputes between the Governor and the Quakers, or "Norris party," as the stricter Friends came to be called, brought about contests for office as bitter as in modern times. The re-election of Norris to the Assembly in 1741 could not be pre- vented ; and the Quakers had some vantage ground with Norris and his brother-in-law Griffitts and uncle Preston, as three of the Alder- men of the city. But the Corporation was too important a political factor to be allowed to feel his influence. The adverse party mustered a majority to elect four new Aldermen and five new Councilmen who would further the Governor's plans ; and the prominence of the Lloyd connection, and even the equal footing of the Quakers in the Board, was destroyed forever. It was not so easy to defeat Norris at a popu- lar election. In 1742, after a session in which he had been head of nearly every committee, and in which he had performed lasting ser- vices in superintending the completion of portions of the State House, and in purchasing a site and devising plans for a Lazaretto, the wealthy Recorder of the city, Mr. Allen (see Hamilton), contended for his seat in the House. The German settlers had invariably voted with the Quakers, and it was charged that the "Norris party " had been in possession of the polls, crowded out their opponents, and elected their candidate with the aid of unnaturalized voters. But if the Governor's friends cried "fraud," they were now guilty of " bulldozing." On election day of that year, a party of sailors, strong enough in numbers to make havoc in the little city, marched up from the wharves, applied their clubs, and, wounding several, drove the disciples of peace from the State House. In the hubbub that followed, Allen is reported to have said "They had as good a right to be there as the unnaturalized Dutchmen ; " he took no steps to preserve the peace, and his supposed complicity lost him many votes. Such violence brought a reaction in public feeling ; and Norris was returned. A fresh controversy arose from this "Riot of 1742," the new Assembly desiring the Governor to bring the officers of the City Corporation to trial before the Supreme Court, and the Corporation refusing, after which a resolution was passed censuring the officers in question for neglect of duty. The withholding of the Governor's salary was the effective weapon of the Assembly ; and in time induced that officer to attempt a conciliatory course. Certain bills which had been insisted on, he finally assented to, and the money-voting power granted him his means of subsistence. Gordon in his History says
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that the triumph of the Assembly was complete: they had taken no step of a military character, nor made any gift of money inconsistent with their principles.
In 1745, the Governor appointed Norris, Kinsey, and Lawrence commissioners to represent Pennsylvania at the conference with the Indians at Albany. Norris has left a diary of his journey, privately printed by one of his brother's descendants in 1867. The conference was of little importance to the English ; but in 1755 Norris was again sent to Albany as one of the commissioners from Pennsylvania to treat with the Indians. He and his colleagues at this time effected the pur- chase of several million acres, comprising the Southwestern portion of Pennsylvania.
On the death of John Kinsey, in 1751, Isaac Norris was elected Speaker of the Assembly. It was in that year that the old State House bell was ordered from England, Norris directing the inscription, which turned out to be prophetic, to be placed around it. The bell was cracked by a stroke from the clapper in 1752, was recast with the same inscription, and less than a quarter of a century afterwards actually did "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, unto all the in- habitants thereof." During the fifteen years of Norris's speakership, was waged the great contest between the populace and the Proprie- taries on the subject of taxation and legislative control of the Penn family estates. The Quakers, with Norris at their head, joined the opposers of privilege. In the course of one of the debates in the Assembly, Norris declared "No man shall ever stand upon my grave and say ' Curse him ' or ' Here lies he who betrayed the liberties of his Country.'" In 1757, the Assembly resolved to send him and Benjamin Franklin to England to solicit for the removal of grievances occasioned by the Proprietary instructions, &c., but Norris declined the appointment on account of ill health, so that Franklin undertook it alone. Oppo- sition to the encroachments of the Penns, however, did not lead Norris into the scheme for converting Pennsylvania into a Royal province, whereby instead of having to deal with a family who felt some attach- ment to the people and the soil, whose property lay in the colony, and whose financial interests were generally identical with their own, and for whom in most contests they had proved themselves a match, the people were to be ruled by a Governor responsible only to the British Ministry, and supported by the whole power of the Crown. When, in 1764, a petition to the King to effect this change passed the Assembly despite the remonstrances of Dickinson, Norris's son-in-law, Norris requested that, his sentiments being very different from those of the
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majority, as his seat in the chair prevented him from entering into the debate, therefore if in consequence of their order his duty should oblige him to sign the petition as Speaker, he might be permitted to offer his sentiments on the subject before he signed, and that they might be entered on the minutes. This request was granted, after which the House adjourned to the following morning. On reassem- bling, it received a letter from Norris resigning the Speakership. The long sitting and the excitement of the debate had proved too much for his weakened health, and being too unwell to attend, he availed him- self of the excuse to be relieved of the unpleasant duty. Benjamin Franklin was chosen his successor, and signed the petition. At the ensuing popular election, Franklin was not returned to the Assembly. Norris's name, contrary to his wishes, had been placed upon the ticket for Philadelphia County : he was again chosen to the Assembly, and again became its Speaker. He a second time resigned, Oct. 24, 1764, Joseph Fox being his successor.
Norris had the literary tastes of the Quaker connection to which he belonged, and in the course of his busy life collected a fine library for those days. The principal portion of it, "consisting of about 1500 volumes upon the most important subjects," was presented to Dickin- son College by the Hon. John Dickinson upon the founding of that institution. Norris wrote with ease in French and Latin, and had some knowledge of Hebrew. Among his various public services, he acted for several years as a trustee of the College. He died at Fair Hill July 13, 1766. He made no will.
He m. in 1739 Sarah, dau. of James Logan the Councillor.
Issue :
MARY, b. July 17, 1740, m. John Dickinson, see below, ISAAC, d. in infancy, JAMES, d. in infancy, SARAH, b. 1744, d. s. p. 1769.
MARY NORRIS, grddau. of the Councillor, inherited Fair Hill, d. Wilmington, July 23, 1803, m. July 19, 1770, John Dickinson, of whom we feel inclined to say, as was inscribed on Machiavelli's tomb, Tanto Nomini Nullum Par Elogium. He was by far the man of most extended celebrity who is embraced within this book. Not only a con- spicuous figure in local politics while Pennsylvania was the trouble- some lordship of the Penns, he also stands forth as one of the patriots of the American Revolution. The pamphleteer of the Whigs, the
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colonel of a regiment, the President of first one state and then another, a framer of the National Constitution, he should be in fame, as he was in politics, the rival of Benjamin Franklin and the companion of Robert Morris. His father, Samuel Dickinson, a wealthy Quaker, was some time head of the judiciary of Kent County on the Delaware, and his mother was a sister of Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, the Councillor. John Dickinson was born at his father's seat, "Crosia," on the Chop- tank River, Talbot Co., Md., Nov. 2, 1732, O. S. As a boy he was provided with a tutor, Mr. Killen, afterwards Chancellor of Delaware, and that he received more than ordinary education is evinced in his writings, where we find him quoting Virgil and Tacitus and the history of all nations ancient and modern. Choosing law as a profession, he entered the office of Moland at Philadelphia, where an extended library afforded him rare opportunities. This, however, did not satisfy him, and he finished his course of study in London, spend- ing three years at the Temple. On his return, he began practice. He was soon active in politics in the Lower Counties, where Chew became his opponent. His uncle Cadwalader took up the matter, and went so far as to absent himself from the Governor's Council to avoid meeting Mr. Chew. Dickinson was elected a member of the Assembly of Pennsylvania from Philadelphia County in 1762, and re-elected the following year, being then placed upon the Committee of Correspond- ence. During this session, the contest between the Proprietaries and the majority in the Assembly reached its highest pitch. Dickinson con- tinuously opposed what he deemed the exactions of the Penns, but when, at last, the leaders of the Assembly proposed a petition to the King praying His Majesty to take away the governorship from the Proprietary family, and make the colony a royal province, Dickinson pleaded with the House not to let its resentment produce effects more fatal than the injuries of which they complained. If the change of government could take place with all the colonial privileges preserved, let it do so instantly, but "if they must be consumed in the blaze of royal authority, we shall pay too great a price for our approach to the throne." He thought-as he did when the declaration of American independence was proposed-that the proper time had not arrived. He pointed out that the Assembly was voting to put itself under the King, when they were laboring under royal displeasure for their con- duct in the late war; and would not the indignation of the Court rise beyond all bounds, when they found this application for a change pro-
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ceeded from the Governor's adherence to stipulations approved by the late and present King? The time might come when the weight of government would be too heavy for the shoulders of a subject ; at least too heavy for those of a woman or an infant; and when the point should be agitated either on a proposal from the Crown or the Pro- prietaries themselves, the Province could plead the cause of her privi- leges with greater freedom and more probability of success than at present. Now they were to request His Majesty to change the gov- ernment, and yet insist on the preservation of their privileges. His Majesty would not accept the government clogged in that way ; and then would they ask it back ? or let it go on such conditions as he would be pleased to impose? It was the desire of the Ministry to vest the government advantageously in the Crown : let the Assembly pe- tition for a change, and Parliament would pass an act delivering the colony at once from the Proprietors and the privileges claimed under them. "Power is like the ocean : not easily admitting limits to be fixed to it. Let not us then, in expectation of smooth seas and an undisturbed course, too rashly venture our little vessel that hath safely sailed round our own well-known shores upon the midst of the untried deep, without being first fully convinced that her make is strong enough to bear the weather she may meet with, and that she is well provided for so long and so dangerous a voyage." In spite of Dickinson's arguments, the Assembly voted the petition, Galloway and Franklin being its greatest advocates. Galloway afterwards pub- lished what he claimed to have been his speech in reply to Dickinson, and the latter with his own speech made his first appearance as a po- litical writer. At the next election, Dickinson was returned to the Assembly. Galloway and Franklin were defeated, but sufficient of their friends continued to be members not only to prevent the recall of the petition,-Dickinson and nine others voting to recall, against 22 nays,-but also to send Dr. Franklin-by a vote of 19 to 11, Dickinson again in the minority-as additional agent to London. The Assembly, in September, 1765, chose Dickinson a Delegate to meet , committees from the other colonies in the Congress at New York in October, on the subject of the Stamp Act. He published about this time "The late Regulations respecting the British Colores on the Continent of America ; " also, in 1766, "An Address to the Committee of Correspondence in Barbadoes occasioned by a late letter from them to their agent in London. By a North American." Parliament re- pealed the Stamp Act, but, in 1767, acting on its claim of right to tax
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the colonies, levied duties on tea, paper, glass, etc., payable in America on the importation of those articles there. In November of that year, appeared the first of the " Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British colonies," the authorship of which gave Dickinson so much of his celebrity. They were republished in every colony, also in London, and afterwards, translated into French, in Paris. Dr. Franklin, Dickinson's former enemy, wrote the preface to. the London edition : the people of Boston in a town meeting voted their thanks. The Farmer's Letter No. I began : "My Dear Country men. I am a farmer, settled, after a variety of fortunes, near the banks of the river Delaware, in the province of Pennsylvania. I received a liberal education, and have been engaged in the busy scenes of life; but am now convinced that a man may be as happy without bustle as with it. My farm is small; my servants are few and good; I have a little money at interest ; I wish for no more; my employment in my own affairs is easy ; and with a contented, grateful mind, undisturbed by worldly hopes or fears, relating to myself, I am completing the num- ber of days allotted to me by Divine goodness." As every man ought to espouse the sacred cause of liberty to the extent of his powers, he- offers some thoughts on late transactions, praying that his lines may be read with the same zeal for the happiness of British America with which they were written. He had observed that little notice had been taken of the Act of Parliament for suspending the legislation of New York. This was punishment for non-compliance by the Assembly of that Province with a former act requiring certain provisions to be made for the troops. To compel the colonies to furnish articles for the troops was, he proceeded to show, but taxation in another form, and New York was being punished for resisting such taxation. In Letter II, the Farmer took up the Act granting duties on paper, glass, &c., which he deemed a most dangerous innovation upon the old practice imposing duties merely for the regulation of trade. Parliament had a right to regulate the trade of the colonies : but here it was avowing the design of raising revenues from America; a right, which, America felt, was inherent in her own representatives. This taxation was attempted by the device of levying duties on certain articles exported to the Colonies. The effect of this was clearly pointed out. Great Britain had prohibited certain manufactures in the colonies, and had pro- hibited the purchase of such manufactured goods except from the Mother Country. "If you once admit that Great Britain may lay duties upon her exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money
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on us only, she then will have nothing to do but to lay those duties on the articles which she prohibits us to manufacture-and the tragedy of American liberty is finished." It would be taxing the article wherever used. And it made no difference whether the duties were to be paid in England or America. In Letter III, the Farmer explained that there were other modes of resistance to oppression than any breach of the peace, and deprecated, as Dickinson did ever afterwards, any attempt to make the colonies independent. " If once we are separated from our mother country, what new form of government shall we adopt, or where shall we find another Britain, to supply our loss. Torn from the body to which we are united by religion, liberty, laws, affections, relation, language, and commerce, we must bleed at every vein." In the subsequent letters, the dangers to American liberty were expatiated upon, the objections answered, and the people urged to make a stand for themselves and their posterity peaceably, prudently, firmly, jointly. " You are assigned by Divine Providence, in the appointed order of things the protectors of unborn ages, whose fate depends upon your virtue. Whether they shall arise the generous and indisputable heirs of the noblest patrimonies or the dastardly and hereditary drudges of imperious taskmasters, you must determine."
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