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 2
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must be borne in mind that the sailors of those days were suspicious and were in hourly dread of being devoured by monsters.
Once more Hudson sailed toward the north but again was hindered by the ice and at once directed his course for North America. He reached the coast of Maine in July and instead of making a landing sailed as far south as Vir- ginia, evidently in the neighborhood of Chincoteague, then pointing his prow to the north, he cruised along the coast until he reached the Delaware bay, then following the course of the bay he came to the mouth of the Delaware River. At this point he passed close to the Breakwater, and this is as near to Philadel- phia, if we are to judge from his log book, as he ever got. Finding the water too shallow for his vessel's draught, he put out to sea, sailed along the Jersey coast and at last, on September third, dropped anchor in what is now known as Sandy Hook. It was upon these discoveries and explorations of Henry Hudson that the Dutch laid claim to the land lying on both sides of the Delaware River. lle seems not to have given any name to the great bay he discovered, nor had it any until Lord Thomas Delawar gave it the designation which it has ever since retained. This was about a year after the explorations of Hudson. The Dutch, under the direction of Captain Ilendricksen, about this time constructed a vessel at Manhattan Island and christened it "Onrust" or "Restless." It was built at New York, after a large vessel which had brought Captain Hendricksen and his crew from Europe had been wrecked. It was about 45 feet in length and was of light draft, which enabled hin easily to pass over the shoals which had so greatly interfered with Hudson's course. After he had reached the entrance of the Delaware River, the Captain sailed as far north as the mouth of the Schuylkill. This was in 1616, and for the first time a white man saw the site which was to be covered in time by the city of Philadelphia.
Another Dutch navigator, named Cornelius Jacobsen Mey or May, fol- lowed in the wake of Captain Hendricksen, and effected the first Dutch settle- ment on the Delaware River in the year of 1623. At the entrance of the Dela- ware Bay he discovered a cape which he called after himself and which still retains its name. Sailing up the Delaware, he named the stream the South river, to distinguish it from the North river which is known to-day as the Hudson. The earliest Dutch settlement on the Delaware was Fort Nassau, located at Gloucester point on the Jersey side of the river opposite the present site of Philadelphia. In 1650, the Dutch abandoned this settlement and retired to Fort Casimir, located in the neighborhood of what is now known in the state of Delaware as New Castle. The Dutch set up their fort in the very midst of the Swedes' tract, with the intention, no doubt, of cutting their set- tlement in half. The Swedes resented this intrusion, and four years afterwards made a sally and captured the fortress on Trinity Sunday. The Dutch, how -; ever, afterwards re-took it and called it New Amstel which name it retained until the advent of the English gave it its present designation of New Castle. Hendricksen subsequently returned to Europe and came out with a party of Dutch settlers who located themselves temporarily on the shores of the North river, and at last permanently on the Jersey side of the Delaware river near what today is the city of Trenton. Here he built a fort to command the ap- proaches to the upper river. In order to increase the settlements and to effect
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their permanent establishment, the West India Company offered inducements to its members to promote its enterprise. Any member of the company who would take out fifty settlers within a period of five years and establish a colony would be given a strip of land sixteen miles in length if he settled on one side of the river, or eight miles if he settled on both sides. These concessions of land extended far into the interior almost without limitation. The man who accepted this offer was endowed with the title of "Patroon" or "Patron," and was allowed to retain certain privileges from the tenants after he had made concessions of land. He was entitled to a certain percentage of the farm pro- dnets, as well as a fair quantity of beaver skins, which animals at that time were found in great quantities in the streams of that locality. He was a sort of baron and the land was his manor. The said "Patroon" had to pay the expenses of the emigrants' passage from Holland, he had to stock the farm with horses, cattle and all necessary implements of agriculture, which were to be rented to the occupant of the soil at a fair valuation. He was also compelled, under the gift, to provide a school-master and a minister of the gospel. On the other hand, in consideration of the conveyance of land, the settler was bound by agreement to cultivate the Patron's soil for a period of ten years and not to abandon his estate without permission of the proprietor. He was further to give to the Patron the first opportunity to buy any grain or other produce which he had for sale. He was also to bring all his disputes into the Patron's court, where the Patron himself presided as a judge. He could not fish nor hunt, nor disturb the game on the Patron's estate. His grain had to be ground at the Patron's mill, and he was not allowed to weave any cloth, and was com- pelled to buy that which was imported from Holland. He had some little con- trol over his property in the way of providing for his heir or successor, but if he died without making a will, all his estate reverted to the Patron. It may be said in this connection, however, that the patroons were not given any land under this system in Pennsylvania; it was confined to New Netherlands and to New Jersey.
About this time, David Peterson de Vries, a Hoorn skipper, sent out a party of emigrants to settle in the neighborhood of what is today known as Lewes, Delaware. It was called Zwanendael, or "The Valley of the Swans," and the settlement was established for the purpose of capturing whales, which at this time were found in great numbers in the Delaware bay. When the settlement was established, a rude coat of arms was set up, claiming the land in the name of the Dutch sovereign. An Indian, however, having been bold enough to tear it down and use the material for his own purposes without any intention of ignoring or insulting the sovereignty it represented, was captured and executed, which cruel act so exasperated the savages in that locality that they stealthily attacked the settlement and utterly destroyed it, leaving not a man to tell the tale. When de Vries arrived with additional emigrants he was surprised to find hardly a vestige left of the original settlement.
After the Dutch came the Swedes, and they took possession of the western shores of the Delaware and founded the town of Upland, afterwards called Chester. They touched the present limits of the city of Philadelphia with their northern settlements. About this time Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, who
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had promised assistance and had given his countenance to these exploring expe- ditions, became engaged in the Thirty Years' War, and in 1632 was killed at the battle of Lutzen. The carrying out of his American projects was left to the care of his little daughter, Christina, who received the assistance and advice of the great Swedish minister, Oxenstiern. Peter Minuit, who had been for several years employed by the Dutch West India Company, having been dis- missed from their service, was at once engaged by the Swedes. Two vessels, the "Kalmarnyckel" and "Vogelgrip" under his command, set sail for America and in the Spring of 1638 they reached the South or Delaware river capes, and proceeding up the river landed at a place called the "Rocks," which today is in the neighborhood of Wilmington. Here a fort was built, called Christina, for the purpose of guarding the river and by force expelling all intruders. The advent of the Swedes aroused the activities of the Dutch and they protested against the building of the fort by their fellow countryman, Minuit, but he dili- gently proceeded with his work, contemptuously disregarding their every in- junction. After completing the fort and making preparations for the rule of the colony during his absence, he sailed for Europe but was subsequently drowned in a tropical storm while on a voyage in the East. He was suc- ceeded as Governor by Peter Hollander, a native born Dutchman. More col- onists arrived with cattle and farming implements and the Swedes set about tilling the soil. The Dutch, in fact, were traders and the Swedes were farmers. The latter did not undertake to clear the earth of its forests, but located in the lowlands where they turned their cattle loose to pasture on the swamps and meadows, where they grew fat and sleek on the succulent and nutritious grasses that grew upon a virgin soil. The land they cultivated was rich and with their. farming implements it was not difficult to raise crops of all kinds. They, too, made great quantities of wine, beer and brandy out of the wild berries thai grew in abundance. Corn and sassafras were also utilized, in fact, everything that would ferment, was turned into liquor. Besides these home products used for the purpose of distillation they imported numerous casks of Madeira. In- dians brought in pelts of bear, as well as wild turkeys for meat and quail and small game were had for the asking.
John Printz, one of the most distinguished of the Swedish Governors, arrived in this country in 1642. He is described as having been a jolly good fellow, a generous entertainer, an agreeable companion and a doughty drinker. This valiant trencherman weighed in the neighborhood of four hundred pounds, and took three drinks at every meal, and it must be borne in mind in this con- nection that the Swedes had four meals a day. One can only imagine what must have been the size of the tankard for so robust a drinker. Ilis cellar was well stored with wines of the richest vintages, of foreign importation. He did not confine himself alone to wines of home manufacture. Ilis larder was filled with game of all kinds, which was found in great abundance in that locality, while the rivers teemed with fish. His table furnished the best the country could afford, which was, in truth, of no mean quality. He entertained lavishly and lived like a nabob. He is said at one time to have been a lieuten- ant-colonel in the German army, but for some reason or other had been deprived of his rank and was subsequently restored to higher honors. He had the repu-
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tation of being a man of considerable education and ability. He built a fort of hemlock logs at Tinicum, but a few miles below the city of Philadelphia, which he called Fort Gottenberg. Ile also constructed on Tinicum Island, a mansion of considerable size and of imposing appearance, put out a garden and planted an orchard. His mansion was given the proud title of "Printz's Hall." He ruled the Swedes with sternness, but protected their interests, ad- vanced their prosperity and kept the Dutch at bay.
Tinicum is an island in the Delaware river below Darby on the western shore. There were two islands of this name, designated respectively Big and Little Tinicum. The latter, which within a few years past has been removed for the purpose of deepening and widening the channel of the river, lay out in the middle of the stream. Big Tinicum is on the western shore and is sep- arated from the mainland by Darby creek. The Corinthian and Philadelphia yacht clubs, no doubt, stand to-day on the very ground once covered by Printz's mansion, and it was a great resort until within a few years past for sportsmen, who found at certain seasons of the year not only fair duck shooting, but in the early antunin, rail and reed birds in great abundance. There are many men not far past middle life today who can recall with pleasure the amusements that were enjoyed at Tinicum. The little inn of "Bill" Miller furnished in the spring planked shad fresh from the river, while the early vegetables from his garden such as onions, leeks, peas and new potatoes made a meal that would tickle the palate of a gourmet. Tinicum, until comparatively recent times, was a great sporting locality. Many a time the author has brought to bag teal, mallards, black ducks and sprig tails in sufficient quantities to satisfy any reasonable sportsman, while on a full tide in the autumn he has shot rail and reed birds in great numbers, but today there is hardly a feather to be found on these shores where game, even in the time of the memory of men living, was in abundance. In Printz's day one can imagine what a great resort for game the island must have been, and the Governor himself being a soldier and accustomed to arms, no doubt indulged in the sports of the field and stream to his heart's content.
The Swedes in their settlement, occupied the whole of Delaware, which was called the territories, and they came as far north as Wicaco, subsequently one of the outlying districts of Philadelphia. The great employment of the Swedes, like that of the Dutch, had been the trapping of beavers, and some idea may be had of the immense trade they carried on in furs when it is stated that the first year of their arrival they exported thirty thousand skins and it is said this exportation had been far exceeded in the years when the land was occupied by the Dutch. The New Englanders looked upon this trade with a covetous eye, even attempted to engage in it and sent a vessel up the river to examine into conditions, but the Swedes opened fire upon the intruder and she was compelled to return to Boston. The Swedes asserting their dominion over the Delaware river, aroused the resentment of the Dutch who sent messengers to remonstrate with Printz and to demand from him an explanation for his conduct, but Printz seized these ambassadors without hesitation and threw them into irons. Sub- sequently he brought his guns to bear on a Dutch trading vessel and threatened the captain with the destruction of his ship and the confiscation of his cargo
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if he did not at once withdraw. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General at New Amsterdam, was a bold and resolute Dutch soldier whose spirit would not brook such conduct, and he at once made a visit to the Swedish locality and against the remonstrance and the protests of Printz, constructed a fort near Christian Ham on the west bank of the river. This was called Fort Casimir, and although there was much threatening on the part of both the Swedes and the Dutch they fortunately did not at that time come to blows. In 1653, things having worn on without any decided change, Printz made arrangements to sail for home, and left in charge of the little colony John Papegoja, his son-in-law, who was in control until the arrival in the following year of the new Governor,
THE OLD SWEDES' CHURCH, 1828.
John Claudia Risingh. When the latter reached Fort Casimir he demanded the surrender of the Dutch. Two guns were fired, a body of men effected a land- ing, and the Dutch garrison being few in number were taken prisoners, where- upon Risingh changed the name of the fort to Fort Trinity and strengthened it in every possible way. This was too much for Stuyvesant and the Dutch West India Company, and an order was forthwith given to invade the territory and bring the Swedes to terms. The Dutch, with a goodly body of men numbering six hundred, fully armed, came up the river and demanded the surrender of the fort. The Swedes without delay, in the presence of so superior a force, laid down their arms. The Dutch then advanced upon Fort Christina, where Governor Risingh resided and without delay he hauled down his flag and made a complete surrender. The Dutch then proceeded on their voyage of conquest
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up the river to Tinicum, destroyed Fort Gottenberg and then visited the home of Printz, enjoyed to the full the wines in the cellar, the game in the larder, the fruits in the orchard and to make the victory complete raided Papegoja's chicken yard. Some of the Swedes hurried out of the settlement and found refuge in Maryland, and others who would not take the oath of allegiance to the Dutchi were put in irons and transported to New Amsterdam. After this the Swedes and Dutch commingled and there was but little trouble between them. Many of them settled in Upland, now Chester, and still many went further in the direction of Philadelphia, the great city that was to be. Wherever they settled they still tilled the soil, cultivated their crops and devoted themselves to agri- culture, and that portion of our city that is known as the "Neck" became a rich vegetable tract, which reputation it has maintained even to the present day. Old Swedes' Church, known as Gloria Dei, was erected by the Swedes and still stands at Second and Christian streets. It subsequently passed out of the hands of the Swedes into the possession of the Episcopalians who have since retained it.
During all the period we have described, the Dutch and the Swedes were acting as if no other nation had a title'or an interest in the land, but a stronger power than either of them was diligently at work. When the Stuarts were restored to the throne, Charles II., conveyed to his brother James, Duke of York, all New England, New York and New Jersey. The Duke at once, under royal commission, fitted out a fleet and sailed across the seas, appeared sud- denly in the North river, forced the surrender of the fort at New Amsterdam on September 9, 1664, and without further ado changed the name of New Amsterdam to that of New York. A portion of the expedition then sailed into the Delaware river after their conquest of New Netherlands, opened fire on Fort Casimir, and after a short skirmish in which three Dutchmen were killed and ten or a dozen wounded, all resistance ceased. The soldiers who were taken prisoners, together with a number of the common people, were sold into slavery in Virginia.
The settlements in the North and South rivers, that is, the Hudson and the Delaware, were now under English control. The Dutch sent one more expedition to America before relinquishing all their rights, and Wew Nether- lands was recaptured, but shortly afterwards peace was signed between the two countries and the English resumed their control. The first vessel sailing under a national flag to pass the river site at Philadelphia was the "Shield," an English ship sailing from Hull, which reached Burlington in 1678. It is said that one of the passengers made the remark, while passing the site where Phila- delphia was soon to be located, that "this is a fine place for a town."
The Duke of York sold New Jersey, which was commonly known as the Jerseys, east and west, to Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret. English and Scotch immigrants poured in at once. Among these were a number of Friends or Quakers who saw that the land was rich and healthful and a safe resort for their brethren in Europe who were being persecuted.
The following extract from a letter written by Mahlon Stacy in 1680, de- scribing the land in New Jersey which lay in close proximity to Pennsylvania is virtually also a description of the latter province and was written to induce
1
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emigration. It is a glowing account of a land all but flowing with milk and honey :
* *: "But now a word or two of those strange reports you have of us, and our country : 1 affirm they are not true, and fear they were spoke from a spirit of envy. It is a country that produceth all things for the sup- port and sustenance of man, in a plentiful manner; if it were not so, 1 should be ashamed of what I have before written; but I can stand, having truth on my side, against and before the face of all gainsayers and evil spies. I have traveled through most of the places that are settled, and some that are not; and in every place I find the country very apt to answer the expectation of the diligent. I have seen orchards laden with fruit to admiration; their very limbs torn to pieces with the weight, and most delicious to the taste, and lovely to behold. I have seen an apple-tree, from a pippin kernel, yield a barrel of curious cyder ; and peaches in such plenty, that some people took their carts a peach-gathering; I could not but smile at the conceit of it; they are very delicate fruit, and hang almost like our onions, that are tied on ropes. I have seen and known, this summer, forty bushels of bold wheat of one bushel sown; and many more such instances I could bring, which would be too tedious here to mention. We have, from the time called May until Michaelmas, great store of very good wild fruits ; as strawberries, cranberries and hurtleberries; which are like our bil- berries in England, but far sweeter; they are very wholesome fruits. The cran- berries, much like cherries, for color and bigness ; which may be kept till fruit come again ; an excellent sauce is made of them for venison, turkeys, and other great fowl; and they are better to make tarts than either gooseberries or cherries; we have them brought to our houses by the Indians, in great plenty. My brother Robert had as many cherries, this year, as would have loaded several carts. It is my judgment, by what I have observed, that fruit trees, in this country, destroy themselves by the very weight of their fruit.
"As for venison and fowls, we have great plenty; we have brought home to our houses, by the Indians, seven or eight fat bucks in a day ; and sometimes put by as many, having no occasion for them; and fish, in their season very plenteous. My cousin Revell and I, with some of my men, went last third month into the river to catch herrings; for, at that time, they came in great shoales into the shallows; we had neither rod nor net; but, after the Indian fashion, made a round pinfold, about two yards over, and a foot high, but left a gap for the fish to go in at, and made a bush to lay in the gap, to keep the fish in; and when that was done, we took two long birches, and tied their tops together, and went about a stones-cast about our said pinfold; then hawling these birch-boughs down the stream, where we drove thousands before us; but so many got into our trap as it would hold ; and then we began to hawl them on shore, as fast as three or four of us could, by two or three at a time; and, after this manner, in half an hour, we could have filled a three bushel sack of as good large herrings as ever I saw. And as to beef and pork, here is great plenty of it, and cheap; and also good sheep. The common grass of this country feeds beef very fat. I have killed two this year; and therefore I have reason to know it: besides, I have seen, this Fall in Burlington, killed eight or nine fat oxen and cows on a market day, and all very fat. And though I speak of her-
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rings only, lest any should think we have little other sorts, we have great plenty of most sorts of fish, that ever I saw in England: besides several other sorts that are not known there; as, rocks, cat-fish, shads, sheeps-heads, sturgeons ; and fowls plenty ; as, ducks, geese, turkeys, pheasants, partridges; and many other sorts, that I cannot remember, and would be too tedious to mention.
"Indeed the country, take it as a wilderness, is a brave country, though no place will please all. But some will be ready to say,-He writes of conveni- ences, but not of inconveniences .- In answer to these, I honestly declare there is some barren land, as, I suppose, there is in most places of the world; and more woods than some would have upon their lands; neither will the country produce corn without labor, nor cattle be got without something to buy them, nor bread with idleness; else it would be a brave country indeed; and I question not, but all then would give it a good word. For my part, I like it so well, I never had the least thought of returning to England, except on account of trade.
"MAHLON STACY."
£
CHAPTER III.
WILLIAM PENN. THE QUAKERS. GEORGE FON, FOUNDER OF THE SECT. QUAKERS PERSECUTED BY THE AUTHORITIES. CONVERSION OF PENN, PENN ARRESTED. PUBLISHED A DEFENSE OF ILIS POSITION. PERSECUTED BY HIS FATHER, ADMIRAL PENN. DEATH OF ADMIRAL PENN. PENN UNDERTAKES A MISSION. MARRIES GULIELMA SPRINGETT. PERSECUTION OF QUAKERS IN MASSACHU- SETTS. PENN SECURES TRACT OF LAND KNOWN AS PENNSYLVANIA IN PAY- MENT OF DEBT DUE TO HIS FATHER BY THE CROWN. CHARTER FOR PENNSYL- VANIA GRANTED BY THE KING. PENN ARRIVES IN PENNSYLVANIA. TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. THROWN IN JAIL, NEW GOVERNMENT FOR PENNSYL- VANIA. LIVED THE LIFE OF THE GENTLEMAN. ESTABLISHED A COUNTRY MANSION IN BUCKS COUNTY, CALLED PENNSBURY. OFFERED INDUCEMENTS TO SETTLERS. LETTER WRITTEN BY PENN TO THE COMMITTEE OF FREE SOCIETY OF TRADERS OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA, RESIDING IN LONDON.
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