USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 13
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Coffee houses were increasing in number, for they had become very popu- lar resorts. In front of the principal one, known as the London, the slave market was stationed, where negroes were constantly exposed for sale.
Stage coach communication was gradually being extended and the time
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schedules shortened. In 1752 the trip to New York occupied three days. A boat left the wharf every Wednesday, and on Thursday a stage coach con- veyed the passengers from Bordentown to Perth Amboy. Here there was an inn recommended as a house of good entertainment, where the travellers re- mained over night. In the morning they proceeded to New York by boat. There was still another route by way of New Brunswick and in 1757 stage coaches started from The Sign of the George, at Second and Arch Streets, and from The Death of the Fox, an inn located in Strawberry Alley. These car- ried the passengers overland to Trenton Ferry. A short time after there was a competing line that ran from Cooper's Ferry, by way of Mount Holly and Sandy Hook. The "Flying Machine," a coach that was drawn by speedy horses, reduced the time between Philadelphia and New York to two days. This conveyance was driven by skillful drivers who gradually reduced the time
FW YORK
STAGE COACH. PHILADELPHIA TO NEW YORK. TIME, TWO DAYS.
to one day and a half. Much of the freight, in fact nearly all of it, conveyed from Philadelphia to the far west was carried on pack-horses, for the roads beyond Lancaster were rough and rocky. Communication with the South, as a rule, was by water.
It was during this period that the Penn Charter School and the German- town Academy were established, institutions which to this day are classed among the best preparatory schools in the country. Christ and St. Peter's churches were united and placed under the direction of one rector: the old Pine Street Church was completed in 1769 while St. George's was opened for wor- slip by the Methodists in 1769. Lotteries became the common means of rais- ing money for all purposes, religious as well as secular. Christ Church, after receiving its steeple, placed therein a chine of bells, or what was called a ring of eight bells. They were cast at a bell foundry in London and brought to this country by Captain Budden, who generously charged no freight for their transportation, and in recognition of this kindly act, they always rang out merrily upon the arrival of his ship in port. They were put in place by a man in consideration that they should be muffled upon the occasion of his funeral.
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The Trustees of the church complied with this request. They were rung not only to call the worhippers to prayer, but also on the evenings preceding the market days. The country folk would gather in numbers before the church and were delighted to hear the melodious sounds that pealed from the steeple in the clouds.
During this period, England became involved in wars with France and Spain which seriously interfered with the trade and commerce of the colonies. Privateersmen were fitted out by private enterprise and preyed upon the ship- ping of both countries, frequently bringing their prizes into the port of Phila- delphia. The city, too, was constantly kept alert by startling rumors that French and Spanish vessels were coming up the Delaware to blockade the . port, and, worse than this, to bombard and destroy the city. The river was well guarded and pickets were stationed along the shores to give an alarm in case of danger.
The Indians had never been so troublesome as they were immediately after the defeat of Braddock. By that signal victory their appetites had been whet- ted and they were eager for blood. They committed outrages in every direc- tion upon the frontiersmen, who called upon the proprietary government for relief from these depredations. The Scotch-Irish had erected forts and block- houses on the frontier and in a great measure had themselves borne the expense.
About this time, Governor Morris's term of office came to an end, and he was succeeded by Colonel William Denny. Morris had been unpopular as a ruler, but Denny became most obnoxious to the people, for he threatened to billet the King's troops upon the citizens. The price fixed for the keep and board of the soldiers was so low that the inn-keepers declared they would close the doors of their taverns rather than support the Red Coats at so low a figure. At last the matter was settled by the erection of barracks in the North- ern Liberties.
The Indians, in the meantime, were carrying on their depredations, and it looked as if they had entered upon a campaign with the intention of extermin- ating the white settlers in the western portion of the province. Although the fall of Quebec practically ended the French and Indian wars, Pontiac, a brave and able chief of a Michigan tribe, and friendly to the French, formed an alli- ance with a number of tribes to drive the English out of the whole western country. The plot was betrayed by an Indian girl, who carried the information to the commander of the fort at Detroit. Pontiac had united in his plot most of the tribes except the Iroquois, who refused absolutely to lend him any assistance. Pontiac, a shrewd and an alert warrior, one of the most intelligent of his race, carried on the war for some time, but at last was compelled to surrender, and personally beg for peace.
In all these contests the Scotch-Irish had been appealing for support and supplies from the proprietary government, but the Quakers were opposed to the waging of war and thought they could accomplish more by dealing fairly with the redmen. At last the frontiersmen were so wrought up by the shock- ing barbarities committed by the Indians that they organized a company of nien of Paxton, or Paxtang, and Donegal Townships, in the upper part of Lancaster County. They were known as the "Paxton Boys," and they set forth on a
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campaign to massacre the Indians wherever found. The Moravians had estab- lished a mission in a village at Conestoga and had endeavored to bring the Indians under a Christianizing influence. At a time when the braves were mostly absent from their settlement, the "Paxton Boys" suddenly fell upon those who remained and wrought great slaughter without discrimination. Men, women and children were shot down in cold blood. A number of the Indians escaped and sought official protection from the town of Lancaster, but when the authorities had placed them in the prison, the "Paxton Boys" broke open its doors and continued their murder of these defenceless creatures. A Morav- ian minister, named Bernard Adam Grube, sympathizing with the Indians, hastily transferred the survivors to Philadelphia. They were not given a very warm reception by the inhabitants of the city, but were lodged in the Barracks and the Pest-house. The "Paxton Boys," still relentless and vindictive, threat- ened to march to Philadelphia and complete the slaughter. The conservative element, however, in the city were aroused to action by such threats, and public sympathy was created for the refugees. For several months the city was kept in a constant state of excitement. Rumors floated in from every di- rection that the "Paxton Boys" were on the march and fully armed, and with as bitter a hatred against the Quakers as the Indians. Every traveller, stage coach and pack team brought in information of the coming of the mob, which, in the excited imagination of the news-bearers, consisted of several thousand persons. The Indians were hastily transferred to New York, and the citizens made every preparation to resist the anticipated attacks of the backwoodsmen. Fortifications were thrown up on all the main roads leading to the city, and every piece of artillery that was available was brought into requisition. Scouts were sent out to report the approach of the enemy, and signals at night were to be given by the ringing of bells and the cries of the watchmen, to arouse the people at a moment's notice. On a Sunday night, after the citizens had retired to their beds, a horseman dashed into the town, his steed white with foam, and announced that the frontiersmen were in close proximity to the city. The people, suddenly aroused, poured out of their homes carrying their firearms, and assembled at the places that had been assigned as rendezvous : but, after all the excitement and confusion, when a true statement of facts was given, it was found that the number of frontiersmen had been greatly exagger- ated. There were not more than two hundred on horseback, and these seemed not to be so belligerent as they had been described. They were dressed in their long hunting skirts, wore caps of raccoon or bearskin and carried tomahawks, pistols and rifles. A committee of citizens went out to meet them and confer with them as to their grievances. It took some days for the excitement to sub- side and for the city to reach once more a normal condition and at last after assurances of assistance were given, the horsemen, without creating any fur- ther disturbance, rode back to their homes.
Lancaster County was organized in 1729 and this was followed by the creation of York County in 1749, "westward of Susquehanna and eastward of South Mountain." Cumberland County came next, in 1750, "westward of Sus- quehanna, northwestward and westward of the County of York." The town of Reading, in Berks County, had been laid out by the Penn family in 1750, and
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it soon assumed the proportions of quite a settlement. In 1752, Bucks County was divided, and the northwestern part became what is known as Northamp- ton. The population of these counties was growing quite rapidly and there was a demand for increased representation. Lancaster County had but four representatives, York two, Cumberland two, Berks one and Northampton one, and the Philadelphia representatives were greater in number than all the other counties combined, which gave to the city a dominating influence in the Legisla- ture. This provoked, as may well be imagined, dissensions throughout the province. So earnest were some of the counties in their demands that they threatened to invade Philadelphia and force a compliance with their ideas, but the matter was finally adjusted by a proper system of apportionment.
CHAPTER X.
THE STATE HOUSE AND ITS BELL.
I N the preceding chapter, we had reached the point of time when the State House was ready to receive its bell, and a brief history of these two sacred relics of the nation may not be out of place.
It was in 1729 when the first movement for the erection of a State House was begun. The court house at Second and High streets was not suffi- cient in capacity and accommodations to answer the purposes of the growing province, and a petition was signed calling for a larger building to be erected in High street, and the Assembly appropriated £2000, to the care of Andrew Hamilton, Thomas Lawrence and Dr. John Kearsley, who were to act as Trus- tees in the matter of the erection of "a house for the representatives of the freemen of this province to meet and sit in general assembly in the city of Philadelphia."
Andrew Hamilton, the leading lawyer of that day, was the moving spirit in the undertaking and to him must be given the honor of drawing the plans, of having designed and built that simple but impressive historic edifice. In 1730, the Trustees purchased some lots facing Chestnut street between Fifth and Sixth streeets, and in 1732, the entire block on Chestnut street from Fifth to Sixth street, was procured and work was begun upon the edifice at once. The Trustees did not act in common, for Doctor Kearsley opposed strenuously the Chestnut street site and disapproved of Hamilton's plans. John Lawrence from the very beginning seems to have withdrawn from active participation in the enterprise. The whole burden having been thrown upon the shoulders of Andrew Hamilton, he went forward with the work, notwithstanding the oppo- sition of the Doctor and the indifference of Lawrence.
Several years intervened between the laying of the foundation stone and the completion of the lower portion of the building, but in 1736, it was suffi- cient to answer the purposes of the Assembly and the first meeting was held in that year. The first occupancy of the building was celebrated in the hall of the second story, where a public banquet was held. In 1741, the tower was constructed, upon which the steeple was to be placed, and that occasion was memorialized by another public celebration. Punch and beer flowed like water, in fact we may form some idea of the quantity of the former beverage when it is stated that eight hundred limes were used in its mixing.
The central building, that is the State House without its wings, as de- signed by Hamilton, is one hundred and seven feet in length and forty-five in width. The first or ground floor is divided into two rooms each forty feet square, with a ceiling twenty feet high. These rooms are divided by a hall- way twenty feet in width, extending from north to south through the building to a broad and imposing staircase, leading to the second floor. As you enter from Chestnut street, the room on the left, which is the east side, is the fa-
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mous Declaration Chamber, or what is generally known as Independence Hall. The room on the right, which is on the west of the building, was occupied by the Supreme Court of the Province. The long room on the second floor was known as the Banqueting Hall, and was used as we have seen for Colonial entertainments. The east room on this floor was occupied by the clerks of Assembly, and the west room by the Governor's council. This whole building is the same in appearance as it was in the Revolution, it having been restored a few years since by the city of Philadelphia, materially aided by the Philadel-
OLD STATE HOUSE, INDEPENDENCE HALL, IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES,
phia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The wings con- nected with the main building by open arcades were added after the Revolu- tion. One was called the County and the other the City Building.
While still engaged in bringing the work on the main structure to comple- tion, Andrew Hamilton died August 4, 1741. His latter years were embit- tered by the criticism that was heaped upon him in relation to the work, and he received nothing but blame and censure. Time, however, has given him the praise he failed to obtain during his lifetime, and the building stands as a monument to his taste, ingenuity and ability and also as a model of Colonial architecture. The dimensions of the County and City buildings are the same, each is the counterpart of the other and it is fortunate that Hamilton lived long enough to complete the plans and make the whole structure harmonious in design.
The Congress of the United States occupied the County Building from
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the sixth of December, 1790, until the seat of Government was removed =to Washington in 1800. Washington was inaugurated in this building for . his second term as President of the United States, March 4, 1793, and John Adams was here inaugurated for the same office March 4, 1797. Congress occupied the lower floor and the Senate the second story. The Supreme Court of the United States held its first session on the second floor of the City Building, beginning the first Monday of February, 1791, and continued to sit here until the fifteenth of August, 1800. During this period John Jay, John Rutledge and Oliver Ellsworth, presided as Chief Justices. From May 10, 1775, the Conti- mental Congress sat in the room known as Independence Hall until the close of the Revolution, except during a few months in the winter of 1776 and dur- ing the winters of 1777 and 1778, when the city was in the occupation of the British Army. It was in this room that Washington accepted his appointment by Congress as General of the Continental Army, and here, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and that immortal paper was afterwards signed in this room by the delegates. The Articles of Confedera- tion and Perpetual Union between the States were adopted and signed in this same chamber July 7, 1778, and here on November 3, 1781, after the surren- der of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the twenty-four standards that had been taken from the British were laid at the feet of Congress, His Excellency, the Am- bassador of France, being present apon that occasion. It was in this room that on September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was adopted.
In the rear of the State House was a large plot of ground which we call to-day Independence Square. It was not much of a pleasure resort for its surface was uneven and not kept in order. It was surrounded by a high wall with a wide and imposing entrance on Walnut street. To the southwest was another large open space which we call Washington Square. It was used as a Potter's field. A number of Hessian soldiers were buried there during the occupancy of Philadelphia by the British and in those seasons when the yel- low fever raged it was used as a common burial ground for the poor and un- identified. The graves were frequently rifled by college students, resurrection- ists and body-snatchers. To save the dead from these ghouls, a staid eccentric spinster named Leah, a Quakeress by profession, would repair at night to the square and wrapping herself in a blanket would lie down among the graves to guard them from defilement.
The State House, without any question, is the most interesting historical building in this country and that man is dead to every patriotic sentiment who can stand within its walls and recall the events of the past, without being over- whelmed by his emotions. May it ever be the Mecca towards which Pilgrims will wend their way to pay their devotions at the altar of freedom and may no stranger from a foreign land ever stand in the shadow of its ruins and have cause to speak in derision of the instability of republics or of the decadence and the departed glory of a free people. In October, 1751, Isaac Morris, Thomas Leach and Edward Warner were the superintendents of the State House and they wrote to Robert Charles, the Colonial agent in London direct- ing him to procure and ship "a good bell cast by the best workmen" having upon it "well shaped in large letters" these strangely appropriate and pro-
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phetic words from the tenth verse of the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The following inscription was also to be lettered on its side, "By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania for the State House in the city of Philadelphia, 1752." It was to be about two thousand pounds in weight and was to cost about Eroo. The bell was cast by Thomas Lester of Whitechapel, London, and placed aboard a vessel that regularly ran between Philadelphia and the British capital, called the "Philadelphia Packet." The ship was under the command of Captain Richard Budden. Shortly after the arrival of the bell, the metal was cracked by a stroke of the clapper while it was being tested, and Captain Budden was requested to return it to England, which he refused to do on the ground that it might not be received by the foundrymen who cast it, and thus would be thrown upon his hands a cumbrons and unmerchantable article. Two mechanics in Philadelphia, Pass and Stow, recognized as "ingen- ious workmen," agreed to recast the bell. They were given the contract and having made a mould of the original, broke it into pieces. The same metal was used, with the addition of an ounce and a half of copper to the pound, which was done to make the bell less brittle. The same form and lettering were pre- served, with the exception of the change in the date and the addition of the names, Pass and Stow.
The recasting was done successfully and the bell was hung in the steeple on April 17, 1753. The occasion was observed by appropriate ceremonies and large quantities of lime punch, beer, bread and roast meat were consumed by those who took part in the celebration. Unfortunately, the ingredients in the metal had not been properly mixed, and a few weeks later the bell was taken down and cast over again and was restored to its place where it remained until during the Revolution when it was taken down from its place to prevent its falling into the hands of the British. It was conveyed with the heavy baggage of the army, in a continuons train of seven hundred wagons, guarded by two hundred North Carolina and Virginia soldiers, to Allentown. According to the diary of a resident of Allentown, the wagon conveying the bell broke down in the street and had to be unloaded. Afterwards it found a lodgment in Zion's Church. This famous bell was modeled after one that was cast by order of Henry Third to the memory of Edward the Confessor in the early part of the Thirteenth Century, which was hung in the clock tower of Westminster and was named for a time, St. Edward, but was afterwards designated as the "Great Tom of Westminster."
The bell is twelve feet in circumference around the lip and seven feet six inches around the crown. It is three feet measured from the lip to the crown and two feet three inches over the crown. The length of the clapper is three feet two inches, and the weight of the whole bell is two thousand and eighty pounds.
The ringers of the bell were Edward Kelly, 1753-5: David Edward. 1755- 8; Andrew McNair, 1759-76. It fell to MeNair's task to ring ont the glad .news of the proclamation of independence. The last ringer of the bell was Thomas Downing. His term of office extended from 1827-35. He lived in the
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steeple and the pipe from his stove protruded through one of the openings. It was while he was the ringer that the bell cracked in 1835.
The life of the bell covers the most interesting periods of our history as a people. It has rejoiced and wept with our fathers, has often rung a paean for our victories and has silently tolled a monody for our defeats. Its tones at times have depressed, and again have inspired. Like an alarm of fire it would shriek into the cars of the people, arousing them to action, and then in tones soft and pathetic it has mourned the deaths of the fathers as they passed one by one away. From its watch tower in the steeple of the old State House, looking down on the world below, it has witnessed the marvelous growth and the wonderful development of the Re- public. It saw the rising discon- tent of the colonists in opposition to the tyranny of the mother country and often called the people to- gether to consider means providing for a redress of grievances. When the Stamp Act went into operation it rang out its muffled notes in a re- quiem, mourning the death .of lib- erty. It protested against the land- ing of the tea in Philadelphia, and shrieked in despair when the port of Boston, by order of the Ministry, was closed to the commerce of the world. It proclaimed the Declara- tion of Independence and rang the glad tidings "throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants there- of," thus fulfilling the prophecy that was moulded upon its surface. THE LIBERTY BELL. NOW IN INDEPENDENCE
From Lexington to York- town through the long and dreary years of the Revolution, it watched the ebb and flow of the conflict, and at last, in October, 1781, it was roused at midnight from its slumbers by the glad but husky voices of the watchmen in the street be- low, crying, "Twelve o'clock and Cornwallis is taken." It rejoiced with the re- turn of peace, saw the establishment of our Constitutional form of government, and watched with solicitude the events of the War of 1812.
In 1826, there was a "minor in its carol" for, while rejoicing in the year of jubilee, it was compelled to mourn for the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, two of the last three remaining signers of the Declaration.
In 1835, while the remains of the great and good John Marshall were car- ried through the city to their place of interment, the bell, in tolling the national loss, cracked its throat never again to speak. Nearly all the great spirits of Revolution had passed away, and its voice broke as if in sorrow. Its work for a season was done.
At this period, the struggle between the sections was growing intense.
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Slavery threatened destruction to the Republic. In 1850 the Missouri Com- promise was repealed. Silently the old bell watched with sorrow the gathering of the storm that menaced the integrity of the Union. Its sacred associations, its glorious proclamation were forgotten in the din and shock of battle when brother met brother in deadly conflict. It was a trying period during the years of reconstruction, but time and wisdom and love healed the wounds of the Nation, better and brighter days dawned upon the Republic, and then the bell, as if it still had a great mission to perform came out from its resting place, hallowed with sacred memories, and once more united the children of those fathers whom it had so often served, and for whom it had so often spoken. On Friday, January 23, 1885, at 10 A. M., the bell left Philadelphia to take a journey to New Orleans where a great international fair was being held. At every town in which it stopped on its way, there were held great patriotic demonstrations. Church bells rang, cannon boomed and people shouted. Its last stopping place before reaching New Orleans was the town of Beauvoir in Mississippi, the home of the ex-President of the Southern Confederacy. Mr. Davis at this time was advanced in years and left a sick bed to welcome the committee. In the course of his speech, which was most patriotic and eloquent, he said, "I believe that the time has come when reason should be substituted for passion, and when men should be able to do justice to each other." Then reverently and with deep emotion, bending bis uncovered head and turning to the bell, he said, "Glorious old Bell, the son of a Revolutionary soldier bows in reverence before you." In all the Southern States through which the bell passed the people turned out in droves, and the air fairly throbbed with patriotic fervor. Upon its return to the city of Philadelphia, it was welcomed home as an old friend and the people breathed easier after it was safely placed within the walls of the State House. On this journey it was accompanied by William B. Smith, then Mayor of Philadelphia, and a Committee of Councils.
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