Class
Book.
Asa
COPYRIGHT DEPOSm
A SIIOET HISTORY OF
PENNSYLVANIA
BY
L. S. ^HIMMELL, Ph.D.
DISTRICT SUrEKVlSOR OF SCHOOLS, HARRISBURG, PA.
AUTHOR OF "the PENNSYLVANIA CITIZEN," " BORDER WAR-
FARE IN.PENNSYLVANFA DURING THE REVOLUTON,"
AND " THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA
AND OF THE UNITED STATES "
NEW YORK
CHARLES E. MERRILL CO.
^1^^
r*
Copyright, 1910,
BY
CHARLES E. MERRILL CO.
@:CI.AJi68443
PREFACE
This Short History is intended to give a clear, bird's-
eye view of the history of Pennsylvania. A class in the
elementary school may use it as a text-book or for sup-
plementary reading during a few months. It is for
these younger readers that the book is written, though
their elders also may find interest in this record of the
state from the days of Indian ownership down to con-
temporary affairs.
A patriotic duty and a worthy pride should move us
to study the history of the state in which we live. It is
the history of our forefathers, and we can little afford
to neglect their deeds. Pennsylvania ranks second
among the states in wealth and population, and bears
the proud name of the Keystone of the Union. If we
would maintain this preeminence, we must not be in-
different to our history.
The study of state history helps appreciably in arous-
ing interest in American history. The United States has
a composite history, whether viewed on its political,
social, or industrial side. Every state helps to make it,
and the original thirteen more than the others, for they
have a colonial and a revolutionary history. In Penn-
sylvania these periods are especially interesting and
important; yet they have been sadly neglected. The
persons, places, and events in our state's history are
3
4 PREFACE
near in point of pLace, and have a fascination for the
mind. To set foot upon historic ground, to stand by an
historic grave, and to receive history from the hj^s or
the pen of one who hel})ed to make it — all these are
powerful adjuncts to teachers and books.
The Biographical Sketches (pages 201-251) contain
a record of practically every person named in the book.
The chronological order of the governors' biographies and
the alphabeti(;al order of all others make it easy to hnd
them. *AVhen the name of a person is met in the text
for the first time, his biograi)hy should be read.
L. S. Shimmell.
Ilarrisbiir^, Pa.
May 14, 1910
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Indians of Pennsylvania 7
II. The Settlement of Pennsylvania 17
The Dutch 17
The Swedes 19
The English • . 22
The Germans 34
The Welsh 40
The Scotch-Irish 42
The French Huguenots 44
III. The Growth of Population and Adjustment of
Boundaries 46
IV. The Form of Government 66
V. Some Affairs of the Government: in the Colo-
nial Period 72
Under Penn, 1682-1712 72
Under Mrs. Penn, 1712-1733 77
Under the Heirs of Penn, 1733-1776 83
VI. The Revolutionary Period 95
VII. The Period From 1790-1860 , . 133
VIII. The Period of the Civil War 159
IX. The Period Since the Civil War ...... 176
Biographical Sketches .201
Index . 252
A SHORT
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
CHAPTER I
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA
Two great families. The Indians who occupied the
territory of Pennsylvania at the time of its settlement by
Europeans belonged to two great families— the Algon-
quins and the Iroquois. The Iroquois, or Five Nations,
lived chiefly in the lake region of New York, from Albany
to Niagara Falls. Surrounding these dwelt the nu-
merous nations and tribes of Algonquins. It was in the
language of the Algonquins that Raleigh's colonists
were greeted at Roanoke, the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and
the Quakers at Shackamaxon. The most important of
the Algonquin tribes were the Lenni-Lenapes, or the
Delawares as they were called by the English. Their
Indian name signifies "the original people"; and nearly
forty tribes acknowledged them as "great grandfathers."
The Delawares and subtribes. When \\^illiam Penn
arrived on the banks of the Delaware, he met there the
Lenni-Lenapes. They had made the Delaware River the
center of their possessions. They consisted of three
main tribes— the Turtle, the Turkey, and the Wolf.
7
8 A SHORT HISTORY OF PEXXSYLVAXIA
The first two of tlicsc trilx's lived along the coast from
the Hudson to the Potomac, between the sea and the
l^lue Mountains. The third, whom the English called
Monseys, occupied the mountainous country between
the Blue Mountains and the sources of the Delaware and
vSusquehanna rivers. These three tribes were divided
into numerous subtribes, named after the rivers, creeks,
or other ])laces at which they lived.
The Delawares as "women." AMien the Iroquois made
war on the Delawares, a peculiar agreement was made
between them. According to the Delaware story the
Irocjuois, feai'ing total extinction, jn-oposed that the
Delawares should assume the character of the "woman"
among the Indians. "One nation," said they, "shall
be the woman," who was not to go to war, but keej)
peace with all; and the men were to hear and obey the
woman. Th(> Delawares were thenceforth to dress in the
woman's long costume, to carry calabashes filled with
oil and medicines, and to engage in the cultivation of
Indian corn.
Tlu* Iro(]uois denied that the Delawares chose will-
ingly to ])lay the woman. They claimed to have con-
quered the Delawares and forced them to adopt the state
and name of woman. Whichever account is true, the
fact remains that thc^ Delaware nation was evei- after-
ward looked to for the ])reservation of the ])eace. It
was entrusted with the great l)elt of ])eace and the chain
of friendshi]), the middle of which was said to rest on the
shoulders of the Delawares while the other Indian na-
tions held one end and the Europeans the other end.
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA
9
The Irociuois, either by strategy or l)y force, were now
in a position to command the Delaw^ares. These Indians,
though permitted to stay in their old
homes, were httle better than serfs.
The Iroquois frequently came into the
valleys of the Suscjuehanna, roaming
about at will and using the waters and
forests for hshing and hunting. They
put the country in charge of deputy
governors, who were appointed by the
grand council of the Irocjuois. Shikel-
lim3% the noted chief residing at Shamo-
kin (now Sunbury), was one of the
deputy governors of the Iroquois.
The Five Nations. The Iroquois were
always considered by the Delawares as
only one nation. The name Five Nations (and later Six
Nations) was given them by the English. They had
formed a league, which consisted originally of the Mo-
hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. The
Tuscaroras, the sixth and last tribe in the league, joined
it about one hundred years after its formation. The Tus-
caroras were chiven out of North Carolina by the white
settlers in 1713. They moved northward and lived in
the Juniata Valley for some ten years. A chain of
mountains in that section of Pennsylvania bears their
name.
The Eries. Another nation of Iroquois in Pennsyl-
vania were the Eries; but they were not connected with
the Five Nations of New York. The Eries were known
Shikellimy, the
Iroquois Chief
\
10 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
also as the Cat Nation, by reason of their cats, a sort of
small wolf from whose skins they made robes orna-
mented with tails. The entire nation occupied the shore
of Lake Erie, from Buffalo to Toledo.
The Shawanese. The Shawanese tribe was prominent
in the early history of Pennsylvania. They belonged to
the Algonquin nation. As wanderers they were without
rivals among their race. Their original home is not
known to a certainty, but they have been traced to the
valley of the Cumberland River. A group of the Shawan-
ese planted themselves on the Conestoga, and others, at
the request of the Monseys, were allowed to settle about
the forks of the Delaware. They finally became a
numerous and powerful tribe in the })rovince.
Indian character: good traits. In describing the
character of the Indians of Pennsylvania, we should
first go back to a time before they had become greatly
changed by the Europeans. Heckewelder, the Moravian
apostle to the Indians, has suggested how we should
judge the red man; he said, ''Often I have listened to
these descriptions of their hard sufferings, until I felt
ashamed of being a white man."
The Indian known to the missionaries of Pennsyl-
vania had sincere religious feelings. An old Delaware
once said that it had always been the custom of his
fathers to climb upon a high mountain to thank the
Great Manitou (spirit) for all his benefits, and to ask that
they continue. They felt sure that the prayers wTre
heard. They were very hospitable, and expected hos-
pitality in return. Some traveling Delawares once put
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA 11
their horses in a meadow of fine grass without permis-
sion, and when taken to account repHed, "Can you
make the grass grow? The Great Manitou makes it
grow, both for your horses and for ours."
Civihty was a marked trait in their character. A
"good-morning, father," "grandfather," "uncle," and
so on down to a small grandchild, was the common form
of address. Even the children saluted one another
affectionately and respectfully. Quarrels were avoided.
Fighting, they said, is only for dogs and other beasts.
It was a rare thing to hear of murder among them in the
days before the settlement of Pennsylvania. This we
know from reliable and well-informed Indians who
helped to build the first houses in Philadelphia.
The sense of wit was rare among the Indians, yet we
hear of some sharp sayings. The Delawares compared
the European nations in America to a pair of scissors,
which cut what comes between them; they said, "The
Europeans do not want to destroy themselves in their
wars, but us poor Indians that are between them."
In their aboriginal state they were not vain; but they
possessed a high-minded pride that was sometimes
heroic. A white prisoner taken at Fort Mcintosh (now
Beaver) and carried into Ohio, was condemned to die at
the stake. Two English traders, acquainted with the
Indian's personal pride, said to the chief, "Among all
the chiefs there is none to equal you in greatness." "Do
you really believe what you say?" asked the chief, in
childish simpHcity. "Indeed we do." Then the chief
rushed through the crowd, cut the cords around the
■ri
Z
<
5
z
12
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA 13
prisoner, and set him free. Before the astonishment was
over, the prisoner was out of sigiit.
The dark side. The Indian, hke every other savage
race, had a dark side to his character. His name be-
came a synonym for revenge and cruelty. But are we in
a position to "cast the first stone"? Our estimate of his
character has been made by white men. Few men ex-
cept the missionaries told the Indian's side of a long,
cruel story. Columbus, the hrst white man to know the
red men, said that ''they love their neighbors as them-
selves." The original Indians were not beasts of prey;
they were driven to this condition by the Europeans.
An important cause of the change in Indian character
was drunkenness. When Henry Hudson and his sailors
first offered whiskey to the Mohicans on Manhattan
Island (now New York City), it was passed around as if
they had been taught the lesson — " touch not, taste not,
handle not." Ikit they soon grew eager for " fire water."
The thoughtful Indians of a century or two ago well
knew whom to blame for their drunkenness. A mis-
sionary once asked an Indian at Pittsburg who he was.
He answered, ''My name is Black Fish; when I am at
home with my people, I am a clever fellow, but here I
am a hog." William Penn in his letter to the Free So-
ciety of Traders in London says, "Since the Europeans
came into these parts, the Indians are grown great lovers
of strong liquors, rum especially, and for it exchange
the richest of their skins and furs." Surprise was often
expressed by these simple children of the forest that a
people who believed in the Great Spirit, who claimed to
14 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
have his own word in their houses, could make a Hquor
to bewitch and to destroy one another. Alter English
traders, soon after Penn's death, went among the In-
dians of the Juniata and the Susquehanna valleys, con-
stant complaints were made about the sale of rum to
their people.
Laws and treaties. The Indians had no laws, except
a few im written rules of justice and courtesy, which
were enforced by the chiefs and their counsellors. Wam-
pum, which consisted of beads made from shells, served
JM^tttM.tttUetMUntCULtUUUiUllULMtUUC I .ItMIMMllMMIMlMttMfOtlt
lllltUltltuiltUllfUtuttuUCckuuiataltEUtit cr--
Wampum Received by Penn from the Indians
as money to the Indians, and was necessary to carry
into effect an order of the chief. Imi)ortant transactions
were ratihed by strings and belts of wampum. Black
wampum signified war; white wampum meant peace,
friendship, and good-will. The pipe of })eace, which
was made of l)lack or red stone, had to b(^ whitened be-
fore it was smoked as a sign of peace.
To koc]) tr(^ati(>s fresh in the memory, the Indian chiefs
met occasionally at some chosen spot in the forest and
rehearsed them. Between the years 1770 and 1780, the
Delawares could relate very minutely what had passed
THE INDIANS OF PENNSYLVANIA 15
between William Penn and their forefathers years be-
fore. On such occasions the Indians sat around a chest,
from which they took one string or belt of wampum after
another. They handed the wampum to every person
present, and repeated the words spoken when it was
originally delivered.
Education. The Indians had no schools. The parents
taught, the children, and the first lessons were about the
Great Spirit and about duties to parents and elders.
Reading and writing were unknown to them, but the
Iroquois and the Delawares understood a little counting.
The position of the sun served to show the time of day;
and the stages of the corn showed the season of the year.
Indian names. The name of a child, as a rule, was
given by the father, who generally selected that of some
animal. Other names were frequently added. An In-
dian who wore torn or patched shoes was called Bad
Shoes; one who had large eyes was Great Eye. To the
white men the Indians gave descriptive names of their
own. When the Delawares had learned the meaning of
Penn's name, they at once called him Miquon, meaning
feather or quill. The Iroquois called him Onas, for the
same reason. Ingenious compounds were invented; for
example, the name for Philadelphia was Quequenaku,
''the grove of the long pine trees."
Occupations. Hunting was considered the most
honorable occupation. The Delawares early trained
their boys to run so fast as to overtake a deer, and to
shoot small fishes with bows and arrows. Besides meat
and fishj the oyster, the land-tortoise, and the locust
16 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
were used for food. Vegetables of various kinds were
raised. Maize was one of tlieir chief foods. They planted
it after the hazelnut was in bloom, to make sure it would
not be killed by frost. The shoulder blade of a deer or the
shell of a tortoise was used for hoeing — a work that fell to
the women.
Amusements. Dancing and singing were the Indian's
amusement, though he indulged in them for other pur-
poses. He made a grotesque performance of it, and
ended with a disagreeable yell. The war dance was in-
tended to terrify, not to please. It was performed around
a painted post, and the dancers went through all the
motions and actions of battle. After a victory, a dance
of thanksgiving was performed. It was religious in its
nature.
CHAPTER II
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA
The Dutch
The first explorers. The first Europeans to dwell
on the banks of the Delaware came from Holland.
Henry Hudson, the English explorer in the Dutch
service, in 1609 set sail from Holland in the Half Moon,
hoping to reach China by way of the northeast. Fogs
and ice made him cluinge his course. He touched the
mouth of ''a great bay," which was afterward named
Delaware Bay in honor of Lord Delaware, who entered
it the next year. Hudson spent one day on its waters,
and then sailing north, discovered the river which bears
his name. He reijorted his discoveries to the people
in Holland, and five vessels were sent from Amsterdam
to America in 1614. Four of them made explorations
around Manhattan and to the eastward. The other
vessel, under command of Captain Mey, went south
and reached Delaware Bay.
The vessels all returned to Holland except the Unrest,
which had been built on the Hudson River to take the
place of one that had been burned. Its commander.
Captain Hendrickson, in 1616 explored the Delaware
more carefully, ascending it as far north as the mouth
of the Schuylkill River, which he discovered. On his
2 17
18 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
arrival home he gave a glowing account of the land'
of the Delaware, describing it as a vast forest which
abounded in bucks and does, turkeys and partridges;
the climate was temperate, and the trees were mantled
by the. vine.
First settlements on the Delaware. In the spring of
1623 Captain Mey sailed for Delaware Bay with a party
of colonists sent out by the Dutch West India Company.
Passing the cape bearing his name, he ascended the
river fifty miles, and on the eastern shore erected
Fort Nassau, near the present site of Gloucester. This
was the first European settlement on the banks of the
Delaware.
On the west side of the river, an association of pa-
troons in Amsterdam in 1030 bought land from the
Indians. A settlement of some thirty people — the first
in Delaware and older than any in Pennsylvania —
was made the next year on Lewes Creek. It was named
Swaannendael. A petty quarrel about a piece of tin
arose between the commander of the fort here and the
Indians, and the settlers w^ere all murdered by the sav-
ages. Not even the faithful watchdog escaped.
A Dutch settlement in Pennsylvania. There is some
evidence, too, of a very early Dutch settlement on the
soil of Pennsylvania. It is thought that a company of
miners from Holland made their way from Esopus
(now Kingston) on the Hudson to the Delaware below
Milford, and settled within the present hmits of Mon-
roe and Pike counties, principally on the site of Shawnee.
There are accounts of "mine-holes" near the Blue
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 19
Mountains, and of a ''mine- road" a hundred miles long.
On this road, it is said, the Hollanders of the Minisink
Flats took their wheat and cider to Esopus on the Hud-
son as late as 1730, without knowing anything about
Philadelphia. Large orchards of "ai)ple trees far be-
yond the size of any near Philadelphia" were reported
to have been seen by some public surveyors about fifty
years after the settlement of Pennsylvania.
The Swedes
A permanent settlement in New Sweden. Before the
Dutch could recover the soil of Delaware from the In-
dians, a European rival appeared. The king of Sweden
in 1626 granted a charter to a Swedish AVest India Com-
pany. The charter expressed much love for humanity.
All oppressed Christendom was to have a refuge in the
New World. The colony was to be ''the jewel of the
kingdom." There were no immediate results, but
twelve years later the Swedes made the first permanent
settlement on the Delaware.
Peter Minuit, a German, offered his services to the
Swedes, and took out the first colony. In 1638 he landed
his little company of Swedes and Finns near Lewes,
Delaware. A fort was erected near the mouth of the
creek, and both fort and creek were named Christina,
in honor of the little girl who had succeeded her father
on the throne of Sweden. The country itself was named
New Sweden. All the lands from Cape Henlopen to the
Falls of Trenton were purchased from the Indians, and
stakes and marks were put up. The Dutch protested,
20 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
but without effect. The enthusiastic Scandinavians ex-
tended tlieir plantations and their trade with the In-
dians, and exported thousands of skins the first year.
Swedish settlers in Pennsylvania. AMien Printz, the
third governor of New Sweden, anived in 1643, he
selected as a place of residence and defense the island
of Tinicum, now Tinicum township, Delaware County, a
few miles below Philadelphia. This settlement, which
w^as named New Gottenberg, was the first European
settlement in Pennsylvania of which there is positive
knowledge. There had been a few English families,
Londoners, who had found the soil of Connecticut too
stubborn and had settled on the Schuylkill, but they
either left or submitted to Swedish rule.
Dutch control. It now became evident to the Dutch
on the Hudson that the Swedes on the Delaware were
becoming dangerous rivals. Stuyvesant, the governor
of New Netherlands (later New York), was ordered to
''drive the Swedes from the Delaware or compel their
submission." In 1655 he forced the Swedish colonists
to surrender to him. The whole territory from Cape
Henlopen to the Falls of Trenton passed under the rule
of the Dutch.
English control. In 1664 all this territory, together
with New Netherlands, was taken by the Duke of York,
to whom the king of England had granted it. The
Dutch settlers at this time were grouped around New
Castle and Lewiston; the Swedes and Finns dwelt at
Christina Creek, at Upland (Chester), and about the
present site of Philadelphia. These settlements re-
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 21
mained in possession of the Duke of York until he
granted them to Wilham Penn. After that, the settle-
ments included in the state of Delaware became known
as the three Lower Counties or the Territories of Pennsyl-
vania.
Swedish footprints. The Swedes left some interesting
footprints in the history of the state. In the first group
of settlers from Sweden many criminals had been sent,
but during Printz's administration this practice was for-
bidden, "lest Almighty God should let his vengeance
fall on the ships and
goods and the virtu-
ous people that were
on board." However,
there were also many
virtuous and industri-
ous Swedes, who are
proudly remembered in
Bucks, Montgomery,
Delaware, and Phila-
delphia counties as the
first white men to culti-
vate the soil. They were a religious people. Their first
church was built on Tinicum Island, and was dedicated
in 1646. There the first marriage between Europeans in
Pennsylvania is supposed to have been solemnized— that
of Governor Printz's daughter, in 1644. In Philadelphia
the Gloria Dei, or Swedes' Church, stands as a monu-
ment to the historic church at Wicaco, which was built
for the use of the inhabitants of Passyunk and beyond.
Old Swedish Houses in Phila-
delphia
22 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
about the year 1669, not far from the site of the navy
yard. It had loopholes through which guns might be
fired, so that it could be used as a place of safety against
the Indians or other enemies. An old poem says:
As once, for fear of Indian beating,
Our grandsires bore their guns to meeting,
Each man equipped, on Sunday morn,
With psalm-book, shot, and powder horn.
The English
The first Quaker settlement. After the territory on
the Delaware had passed into the hands of the English,
Governor Andros, who represented the Duke of York in
America, made numerous grants of these lands. The
first permanent English settlement in Pennsylvania was
made at this period by some Quakers. They had come
from England with fourteen of their brethren who
colonized West Jersey, and they settled near the Lower
Falls, on land afterward in Bucks County. They had
become so well established by the time William Penn
founded his colony that he thought of locating his capital
at Pennsbury or Bristol. Through correspondence he
learned that "the Indian country on the west side of the
Delaware is most beautiful to look upon, that it only
wanted a wise people to render it, like the ancient
Canaan, 'the glory of the earth.'"
Penn*s motives in founding the colony. Three things
moved Penn to plant a colony in the New World. First,
he would get payment for the debt of about $80,000 due
his father as an officer of the British navy. Secondly, he
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 23
would (incl a i)lace for his brethren, the Quakers, where
they would not be insulted in the streets, dragged from
their meetinghouses to jails, and robbed of their last bed
or their last cow to pay fines for not attending the estab-
lished church. And in the third place, he would satisfy
the desire which the enthusiastic accounts of the breth-
ren in West Jersey had created in him.
Penn's wish to help the Quakers, or Friends, was by
far the strongest motive. Penn himself had been tried
for preaching to ''an unlawful, seditious, and riotous
assembly." The first verdict was "Guilty of speaking
in Grace-church street." This verdict was brought in
repeatedly, in spite of the judge's threats to starve the
jury if they did not say "Guilty" or "Not Guilty."
Finally the verdict of "Not Guilty" was given, where-
upon the judge fined each of the jurors forty marks and
imprisonment till paid, because they had followed their
"own judgment" rather than the "good advice" given
them by him. Penn also was fined for having his hat
on in the presence of the court. William Penn and his
people enjoyed neither religious nor civil liberty in Eng-
land. Other religious sects in England and on the Con-
tinent had similar difficulties. Penn wished to open a
new country where all mankind, without distinction of
sect or party, could find peace. Here are his own words
concerning his purposes:
And, because I have been somewhat exercised, at times,
about the nature and end of government, it is reasonable to ex-
pect, that I should endeavor to establish a just and righteous
one, that others may take example by it ; — truly, this my heart
24 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
desires. ... I do, therefore, desire the Lord's wisdom to guide
me, and those that may be concerned \\ith me, that we do the
thing that is truly wise and just.
With this high object in view Penn, in 1680, peti-
tioned King Charles II for a grant of land in America.
The king agreed at once, because he could thus pay the
debt he owed Penn.
Name and boundaries of the province. The next year
William Penn was made, by charter, proprietor and
governor of the province of Pennsylvania. His choice of
a name was New Wales; but the king insisted on Penn-
sylvania, which means Penn's woods. Penn next pro-
posed Sylvania, on the ground that the prefix Penn would
appear like vanity on his part, and not as a mark of re-
spect for his father; but his suggestion was not accepted.
. The extent of the province was three degrees of lati-
tude by five degrees of longitude, or about 45,000 square
miles. The eastern boundary was the Delaware River,
and- the northern was 'Hhe beginning of the three and
fortieth degree of northern latitude, and on the south
a circle drawn at twelve miles distance from New Castle,
northward and westward into the beginning of the for-
tieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight
line westward to the limits of longitude above men-
tioned." The three Lower Counties on the Delaware —
Kent, Sussex, and the New Castle district — were not in-
cluded in the charter. Penn secured these counties from
the Duke of York the following year.
The purchase from the Indians. Penn drew up a form
of government and a code of laws, and sent his cousin.
26 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
William Markham, to take possession of the country and
to act as deputy governor. Markham arrived at Upland
on the Delaware about July 1, 1()S1. Soon after his
arrival the deputy governor was joined by three com-
missioners who were sent to help him confer with the
Indians about the sale of land and make a treaty of peace
with them. The first purchase was made July 15, 1682.
The tract extended along the Delaware from the mouth
of the Neshaminy to the Blue Mountains. Markham
paid for it as follows:
350 ffathoms of Wampum, 20 white Blankits, 20 ffathoms of
Strawed waters, 60 ffathoms of Duffields, 20 Kettles, 4 whereof
large, 20 gunns, 20 coats, 40 shirts, 40 payre of Stockings, 40
Howes, 40 Axes, 2 Barrels of Powder, 200 Barres of Lead, 200
Knives, 200 small glasses, 12 payre of shoes, 40 Copper Boxes, 40
Tobacco Tonngs, 2 small Barrels of Pipes, 40 j^ayre of Scissors,
40 Combs, 24 pounds of Red Lead, 100 Aules, 2 handfulls of
ffishhooks, 2 handfulls of Needles, 40 pounds of Shott, 10 Bundles
of Beads, 10 small Saws, 12 Drawing Knives, 4 anchers of To-
])acco, 2 anchers of Rumme, 2 anchers of Syder, 2 anchers of
Beere and 300 Gilders.
Markham also held some conferences with the Indians,
simply to ]3romote peace and friendship. He read to
them a letter from Fenn which said:
I have great love and regard for you, and desire to win and
gain your love and friendship by a kind, just and peaceable liffe;
and the people I send are of the same mjnd, and shall in all
things behave themselves accordingly.
Penn's arrival in the colony. Penn took leave of his
wife and children and went on board the good ship
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA . 27
Welcome, September 1, 1682. The passengers numbered
about one hundred, mostly Quakers who had been his
neiglibors in Sussex, England. During the voyage about
thirty died of smallpox. Penn greatly endeared hmi-
self to the company by his kind and untiring efforts to
aid the sick and dying. After six weeks, land was
sighted on the coast of New Jersey, near Egg Harbor.
As he jDassed up the Delaware, the Dutch and the
Swedes, now his subjects, received him with great joy.
Penn landed at New Castle, October 27. Here, the
next day, he called the people together in the Dutch
courthouse and took legal possession of the country,
promising the inhabitants liberty of conscience and civil
freedom. Two daj's later he w^nt to Upland, which he
renamed Chester, and there he called the first General
Assembly.
Penn's treaty with the Indians. From Chester, Penn
with a few others traveled u]) the Delaware in an open
boat, in the early days of November, when the banks of
the river were brilliant with autumn color. His mission
was to meet the Indians and to ratify the Treaty of
Eternal Fi'iendshij), which Markham and his associates
had previously made. \Mien he ai'rived at Shackamaxon,
the Indians had already filled the woods as far as the
eye could see. After the chiefs had arranged themselves
m the foiTn of a half-moon, Penn, with no mark of power
save a blue sash, addressed them in the name of the
Great Spirit, who made and rules all mankind:
We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good will;
no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be open-
28 . A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ness and love. I will not call you children, for parents chide their
children too severely ; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. The
friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain ; for
that the rains might rust or the falling tree might break. We are
the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts;
we are all one flesh and blood.
After receiving presents from Penn, the Indians gave
a belt of wampum and solemnly pledged themselves to
live in love with him and his children as long as the sun
and moon shall endure. "This/' says Voltaire, "was
the only treaty between these people and the Christians
that was made without an oath, and that was never
broken." Penn had many other conferences of this kind
with the Indians, and he was kindly remembered by
them for years. One of them forty years afterward
said: "We shall never forget the counsel that William
Penn gave us; though we cannot write, as the English,
yet we can keep in the memory what was said in our
councils." So faithful were the Indians to him that not
a drop of Quaker blood was shed by them while he lived.
The Treaty Elm. The elm tree under which the treaty
was made became famous. The British General Simcoe,
who was once quartered near it in the Revolutionary
War, so respected it that when his soldiers were cutting
down trees for firewood, he placed a guard under it. A
storm blew it down in 1810, and it was found to be two
hundred and eighty- three years old. Its site, marked
by a monument erected in 1827, is now surrounded by
a beautiful park. The statue of William Penn on the
tower of City Hall, Philadelphia, faces in the direction
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 29
of the Elm in Kensington, and silently reminds Penn-
sylvanians to be true to the principles of the founder.
The Province organized. The first meeting of the
General Assembly was held at Chester. During a three-
days' session, the machinery of government was planned
and put in operation; the Dutch, Swedes, and all other
foreigners were made citizens; and the Province of
Pennsylvania was thus organized. The "holy experi-
ment, " as Penn called his new state, had begun. Hav-
ing purchased some land from the natives, he made a
survey of it, and divided it into three counties — Phila-
delphia, Bucks, and Chester. The first was named after
the city then building; the second after Buckingham-
shire, the land of Penn's ancestors; and the third after
his friend Pearson's native city.
The location of Philadelphia. "The great town" in
Pennsylvania was to be near the junction of the Delaware
and the Schuylkill. The location was desirable because
both rivers, especially the Delaware, were navigable.
Brick-earth and building-stone were abundant and the
surroundings were beautiful. These and other circum-
stances led to the choice of a site near the Indian village
of Quequenaku, ''the grove of the long pine trees."
Its plan and name. With few exceptions, the streets
of Philadelphia cross each other at right angles. Those
originally running east and west — nine in number —
were all named after the various kinds of trees in the
forest around, as Vine, Spruce, Pine, Sassafras, Willow,
Chestnut, Walnut, etc.; those running north and south —
twenty- three altogether — were numbered. According to
30 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
the plan there was to be in the center of the city a square
of ten acres, each corner of which was to be reserved for
public offices. In each quarter of the city there was to
be another square of eight acres, to be used by the
people. The city was named after a town in Lydia,
Asia Minor, the seat of one of the seven early Christian
churches. Philadelphia signifies brotherly love.
The first houses in Philadelphia. Few of the settlers
of Philadelphia had the time or the means to build
William Penn's House
Now in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
houses before the winter of 1682-83 set in. Many of
them lived like conies, in caves dug under the high bluff
on the river-front between Vine and AValnut streets.
The next year nearly one hundred houses were built,
sheltering more than five hundred inhabitants. Two
years afterward six hundred houses had displaced the
trees and thickets of the forest. The Swedes and the
Indians were very kind to the infant colony, the former
sharing their shelter and the latter their game. Some
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 31
well-to-do settlers had brought with them houses in
frame, tools, implements, and furniture, as well as food
and clothes to last them for some time after their arri-
val. The poorer classes had to put up mere huts, made
from timber freshly cut in the forest.
The country settlers. Not all of Penn's brethren set-
tled in Philadelphia. Many, as they landed, distributed
themselves through the country. They were thinly
scattered from the Falls of Trenton to Chester. For-
tunately for those who arrived in the hrst ships, the
winter was mild and open, and they all cleared enough
land to plant a crop of Indian corn in the spring. The
following extract from a letter shows how the rural
settlers fared:
After our arrival we found the country a wilderness. The in-
habitants were Indians and k^wedes, who received us in a friendly
manner and brought us provisions at very reasonable rates.
After some time, I set up a mill on Chester creek, which I brought
ready framed from London, which served for grinding of corn and
sawing of boards. Besides, I made a net and caught great quan-
tities of fish, which supplied ourselves and many others; so that,
not^\ithstanding, it was thought that nearly three thousand
persons came in the first year, we were so providentially pro-
vided for that we could buy a deer for two shillings, and a large
turkey for one shilling, and Indian corn for two shillings and six-
pence a bushel.
Penn's return to England. The province having been
founded, Penn, in August, 1684, sailed for England, with
this parting prayer upon his lips: "And thou, Phila-
delphia, the virgin settlement of this province, my soul
32 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
prays to God fur thee, that thou inayest stand in the day
of trial and that thy children may be blessed." His
family, his estate, and certain matters pertaining to
his colony kept him in England till 1699.
Penn's second visit. When he returned to his province
in tliat year, Philadelphia had more than two thousand
houses; and he walked the streets al-
most a stranger. However, he was
warmly welcomed by the Indians. He
made two journeys at this time to the
interior of the province. In October,
1701, he sailed for England, where a
riotous son and an unfaithful steward
had plunged him so deeply into debt
that he had to mortgage his province
and suffer imprisonment besides. He
never visited his colony again. He
Penn's Clock ^^i^d in 1718, but his name will live as
Now in the Phila- long as the history of Pennsylvania is
delphia Library l^i^Q^yn.
Characteristics of the Friends. The most numerous
settlers of Penn's colony were, as we have seen, the
Quakers or Friends. The Friends opposed all forms of
display, then very common among the upper classes in
England. They chose drab as their color because it
differed least from the uncolored state of cloth. They
respected all honorable occupations alike. William Penn
wanted his children to become husbandmen and house-
wives, and one of his sons learned the trade of a linen
draper. Laborers were not looked upon as drudges.
THE SETTLEMExNT OF PENNSYLVANIA 33
The Friends, as early as 1()93, advised that none should
"l)uy slaves except to free." Not far from Frankford
was an old tombstone, the inscription on which says
that the occupant of the grave, Friend Sandiford, '' bore
testimony against the Negro trade."
Christ Church, Philadelphia
Other English settlers. The chief immigration of the
Friends took place before the year 1700. Other English
settlers, however, had found their way to Pennsylvania.
Chief among these were the Episcopalians, or people of
3
34 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
the Church of England, .some of whom arrived .soon after
Penn. Christ Church in Philadeljihia, with its first bell
hung in the crotch of a tree, wa.s built by them on Second
Street, north of Market Street. The present brick build-
ing, so full of historic interest, was begun in 1727 and
comjjleted in 1755. Benjamin Franklin was one of the
managers of the lottery (a method (juite common in
those days for raising church funds) by which money
was secured for the steeple and the chimes. On July 4,
1776, these chimes, the .second in America, joined the
old bell on Independence Hall in proclaiming "liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
The Germans
The Mennonites. As William Penn offered Religious
liberty to all who WTre under oppres.sion, Pennsylvania
was "an asylum to the good and oppressed of every na-
tion." The Germans, after the Friends, were the first to
become interested in his "holy experiment." Penn,
whose mother was a Dutch woman, had twice been trav-
eling and preaching in Holland and Germany. There he
made many devoted friends in various denominations,
and was received with special kindness by the Mennon-
ites. These people, like the Friends, never used the
sword, never took an oath, and were plain in dress and
speech and simple in manners. A.s they were so much
alike in their way of thinking and living, it was not
strange that the two sects became neighbors in the wilds
of x\merica. The Mennonites had been j)ersecuted and
were glad to find peace in Penn's colony.
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 35
Germantown settled. On August 20, i(JcS;j, a distin-
guished man joined the colony — Francis Daniel Pasto-
rius. Like many of the settlers, he dwelt for a time in a
cave. He was a great scholar. He had mastered seven
or eight languages and was well read in science and
philosoi)hy. On October G, in tlie ship Concord, with
passports written on parchment in golden ink, thirteen
families of Mennonites from the Rhine, just outside of
Holland, landed at Philadelphia. With these Pastorius
founded Germantown. Fourteen divisions of land were
measured off, and the German pioneers repaired to his
cave to draw lots for the choice of location. Cellars were
at once dug and huts were built. William Penn was
present when the first two-story house was erected, and
helped to eat the raising dinner. Other immigrants be-
gan to arrive in the little town soon afterward.
The early dwellers of Germantown had a hard struggle
with poverty. Pastorius tells us that the settlement was
so poor that it became the subject of a pun and was
called Armentown, Armen being the German word for
poor. He said that it would not be believed by coming
generations in what want, and with what Christian con-
tentment and persistent industry, Germantown started.
He himself had to use oiled paper to let the light into his
house. At the end of the first year, the settlers had im-
proved their condition materially: they had harvested a
good crop of Indian corn and buckwheat, and had added
a few comforts to their houses.
Germantown, however, was not a settlement of farmers,
but of weavers. Pastorius selected for the town seal a
36 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
clover with a vine on one of its leaves, a stalk of flax on
another, and a spool of thread on the third. The motto
on it was " Vinum, Linum, et Textrinum " (meaning vine,
flax, and thread). It was a place —
Where lives High German and Low Dutch,
Whose trade in weaving linen cloth is much.
There grows the flax, as also you may know
That from the same they do divide the tow.
The Mennonites of Germantown enjoy one proud dis-
tinction. They were the first people in America to sug-
gest the abolition of slavery. In 1688, under the lead of
Pastorius, they sent a petition to the yearly meeting of
the Friends saying, in effect, that it was not a Christian
act to buy and keep negroes.
The Pietists. Germantown was the hul) of the German
settlement in Pennsylvania for many years. In 1694 the
Pietists, for whom Pastorius
had formed a warm attachment
111 J^^^&i^^ JL^. in Germany, settled on the
Wissahickon. They were noted
for their piety, learning, and
mysticism. They spent much
time in prayer and pious medi-
tation, and for this purpose
they had caves in the rugged
ravine of the Wissahickon.
They put up a building de-
Slavery Protest WAS Signed ^.^.^^^^ ^^^ rehgioUS and educa-
tional purposes, on the highest point of their land. It
was surmounted with an observatory, the first in the
The House in Which the
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 37
province. On top of this was raised the mystic symbol
—a cross within a circle— in such a position that the
rays of the rising sun flooded it with a rosy hght.
Later, in 1734, a massive stone structure was built
farther up the stream; it is still known as the monastery
on the Wissahickon. One of their associates, Christoph
Saur, published a newspaper which circulated among all
the Germans in the colonies, from New York to Georgia.
He printed the German Bible as early as 1743, about
forty years before the English Bible was printed in
America.
The Tunkers. Germantown also became the original
home of the Tunkers, or German Baptists, in America;
but they did not arrive until 1719. Christoph Saur, son
of Christoph, the publisher, became an elder in this
denomination. As the successor to his father's business,
the son was a prominent man in the i)rovince.
The Getman immigration. After 1700 German immi-
gration to Pennsylvania was no longer confined to those
who had been influenced by Penn's visit to the Continent.
The English government now encouraged the Germans to
come to America to add strength to its population. Large
numbers of Germans crossed to England and were tem-
porarily sheltered in tents on the commons of London
while waiting for transportation to America. Pennsyl-
vania was the favorite colony with the Germans, and by
the year 1725 fifty thousand had made their way hither.
Immigrants came from the German side of Switzerland
and Holland, from Swabia, Alsace, and Saxony, but most
from the Palatinate.
38 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENXSYLVAXIA
The Germans on the frontier. These later German
settlers pressed out into the wilderness, and left Phila-
delphia and the country around it to the English and
to the Germans in and about Germantown. They filled
the Lehigh and Schuylkill valleys, settling in Easton,
Northamptontown (now Allentown), Reading, Lebanon,
and Lancaster. Thence they pushed on to the Suscjue-
hanna, down into the Cumberland \\alley, and up into
the Juniata and Susquehanna valleys. The Germans
who thus ])uslied into the wilderness were of various
religious denominations. The Schwenkfelders settled
on adjoining lands in Montgomery, Lehigh, and Berks,
in 1734. Like the Friends, Mennonites, and Tunkers,
they opposed war, oaths, and display. Their de-
scendants live to-day in the same region, number-
ing all told less than a thousand. They still cele-
brate the anniversary of their arrival as a day of
thanksgiving.
The Moravians. The Moravians settled in Northamp-
ton County, at Nazareth in 1739, and at Bethlehem in
1741. Their leader was Count Zinzendorf, a man well
known in Europe and America. The great work of the
Moravians for the province was the conversion of
Indians; but the results of this work were largely de-
stroyed by the French and Inchan War. Much of what
we know of Indian life in Pennsylvania was recorded by
the Moravian missionaries, notal)ly by Heckewelder.
The schools of this pious sect were widely known, and
in them many girls and l)()ys from far and wide received
their ('(hicnlion.
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 39
Ephrata. A unique settlement was made at Ephrata,
Lancaster County, by a branch of the Tunkers of
Germantown or the Seventh Day Baptists. Some of
its strange buildings are still standing. There was a
house for the brothers and a house for the sisters, known
as the Monastery of
Ephrata. Among the
numerous manufactur-
ing industries was a
printing house. Just
before the battle of Ger-
mantown, three wagon-
loads of books in sheets Brothers' and Sisters' Houses at
were seized there for Ephrata
making cartridges. While the Continental Congress
sat at York, this printing house struck off paper
money for the government. The monastery at Ephrata
was used as a hospital for American soldiers after the
battle of the Brandywine. Peter Miller, second prior
of the monastery, was one of the most learned men in
America. He translated the Declaration of Independ-
ence into seven languages by order of Congress.
The Reformed and the Lutherans. Still other groups
of German settlers were the Reformed and the Lutherans.
They did not arrive in large numbers until about 1725.
Some four hundred Reformed settled along the Skippack,
in Montgomery County. Others followed, and before
long the Reverend Michael Schlatter was able to organize
the Reformed Church of Pennsylvania. The Lutherans
were much more numerous. Their leader was Henry
40 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Melclioir Muhlenberg. He was the father of IVter, the
general of the Revolution; of Frederick, the first Speaker
of the House of Representatives; and of Gotthilf, the
botanist. Larger companies of Reformed and Lutherans
had come to America before these leadei-s, but they had
scattered through several counties in search of a place
to work, and live, and their organization into congrega-
tions w^as a difficult task.
The Reformed and Lutherans made an effort to spread
the English language among the Germans. Muhlenberg
himself taught English, and was careful to have his sons
educated in it before sencUng them to Germany. Schlat-
ter, the leader of the Reformed, raised a fund in England,
Holland, and Germany for teaching English to the
Pennsylvania Germans.
The Germans as farmers and fighters. In colonial
days agriculture was the chief occupation. Then gov-
ernors, lawmakers, and judges were farmers. Even in
the early history of the Republic, ])residents, congress-
men, and makers of constitutions were followers of the
plow. In this occupation the Pennsylvania Germans
excelled, and they therefore clung to the soil and to
rural life. Tlu^y were good judges of land; they worked
hard, and j)i'acticed economy. They cleared the land
that had the heaviest timber, for they knew it would
produce the liea\nest crops; and they often grew rich
where others had become ])oor. TluMr farms were not
surpassed anywhere in the world. Through their indus-
try and economy they have i)roduced a large share of
the wealth of the stale.
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 41
In time of war they have hkewise dune tlieir thity.
In 1775 they shared, with their Scotch-Irish neighbors
on the frontiei", the honor of being among the first
troops caUed by the Continental Congress — expert rifle-
men from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The
rifle, which was then unknown in New England, had been
brought to Pennsylvania by the Swiss and Palatines,
about 1700.
The Welsh
The location of the Welsh. The Welsh began to
come in 1682, soon after the colony had been planted,
but after 1700 few of these people joined the colony.
Dr. Thomas AVynne, Penn's friend and physician, and
a few other Welshmen came in the Welcome. These
people settled on a large tract of land along the ridge
extending back from the Schuylkill as far as Paoli.
Their settlement was called the Welsh Barony; it has
since been known as the Welsh Tract. As their number
increased, they spread out into other places. Some went
as far west as Lancaster County, and gave their name to
the Welsh Mountains there; others located north of
Philadelphia. Welsh names of two hundred years ago
are preserved in various stations along the Pennsylvania
Railroad, beginning with Berwyn.
Their purpose. The Welsh, like the settlers of German-
town, came to Pennsylvania to form a settlement in
which they could regulate their own affairs. Most of
them were Friends, and had knowai William Penn in Eng-
land. Though at first they could not understand the
42 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
English language, they soon adopted it. Nearly all the
early physicians of the colony were Welshmen. George
Washington's physician was the great-grandson of
Penn's physician.
Welsh names. Most names of the Welsh settlers
have taken English forms. Thus, ap John {ap meaning
son of) became John's (son) or Jones; ap Edward,
Edwards; ap William, Williams; ap Robert, Roberts;
ap Hugh became Pugh; and ap Howell, Powell.
The Scotch-Irish
Their location. The Scotch-Irish were people from
Scotland who had gone to Ireland to occupy tlie lands
taken from Irish people by Queen Elizabeth and James I.
In religion they were Presbyterians, and by occupation,
farmers. They were drawn to Pennsylvania by its
fame for religious liberty and fertility of soil. They
began to arrive soon after 17()(), and the earliest comers
settled in the lower part of Chester and Lancaster
counties. About 1720 the settlement containing the
famous Log College was made on the Neshaminy River
in Bucks County. Another body located at the Forks
of the Delaware, in Northampton County. Donegal in
Lancaster County and Paxtang, Derry, and Hanover
in Dauphin County, were Scotch-Irish localities at one
time; but the Cumberland Valley received the greatest
luunber of these peo])le.
The officials of the ])rovince encouraged the Germans
to locate in the eastein ])arts and the Scotch-Irish to go
westward. This lu'rangement was a good one, for the
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 43
Scotch-Irish were the very men to face the wilderness
and resist the attacks of wild beasts and savages.
Relations with the Indians. As pioneers, theii con-
duct toward the Indians was as warlike as that of the
Quakers had been peaceful. The experience of their
forefathers in Ireland was a good school for frontier life.
The Indians had now been driven farther and farther
west, and peace was hard to keep. When the French
and Indian War broke out, the Scotch-Irish settlers on
the frontier had to face many a fatal attack.
The Paxtang Boys. At the opening of Pontiac's
War in 1763, the Reverend John Elder of the Paxtang
church in Dauphin County organized several companies
of rangers, known as the Paxtang Boys, to protect the
settlers against the Indians. Along the Susquehanna
south of the Blue Mountains some Indians committed
deed after deed of bloody violence; but where they came
from was a mystery. Suspicion rested on certain Indi-
ans who lived near Columbia. The governor was asked
to remove these Indians. He dechned to do this, on the
ground that they were "innocent, helpless, and depend-
ent on the government for support."
The Paxtang Boys then resolved to take the law into
their own hands, against the wishes of Colonel Elder.
They went to the settlement at night, but their presence
was announced by the dogs. The Indians rushed out of
the wigwams, swinging their tomahawks. The rangers
leveled their guns and quickly killed the Indians. But
not all were at home, and when the absent Indians
learned of the fate of their brethren, they hastened to
44 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster and sought safety in the jail. A few made
their way to Philadelphia. The rangers resolved to
complete their work. Tliey went to Lancaster, broke
into the jail, and shot the fugitive Conestogas. After
that, the settlers south of the Blue Mountains had little
annoyance from the Indians.
However, the end of the excitement had not 3^et come.
The governor and the Assembly condemned the action
of the Paxtang Boys so severely that the frontiersmen
sent a delegation to explain theii' grievances. This
looked like a show of force. The authorities in Phila-
delphia put the Indian refugees under guard in the
garrison, and sent an armed force to Germantown to
meet the delegation. The Paxtang Boys stated their
case, and were then conducted to Philadelphia. They
were put on trial for the killing of the Conestoga Indians,
but were never found guilty.
The Scotch-Irish as soldiers. The hardshi})s and
dangers which the Scotch-Irish endured on the frontier
gave them grit and strength; when the Revolution came,
they were ready and eager for the struggle. The French
and Indian War had been an excellent school for drilling
the Revolutionary soldiers; none were better drilled
than the Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania — a fact well known
to the Continental Congress in 1775.
The French Huguenots
The French settlement. Pennsylvania became a ref-
uge foi" a mmiber of French families of the persecuted
Huguenots. They came here, under the influence of
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 45
William Peiin, to plant vineyards and cultivate grapes
"up the Schuylkill." Not succeeding there, they re-
moved to the Pequea Valley, then in Chester County,
now in Lancaster. To this place all the French people
went for settlement. They were heartily welcomed by
the Delaware Indians there, and when the chief of these
Indians died, the Huguenots attended the burial. At
his grave, on Lafayette Hill near Paradise, was placed
a pile of stones which long remained to mark the spot.
The descendants of these French families are found
chiefly in Berks, Lancaster, and Dauphin counties.
Nationalities disappear. Though the settlers of Penn-
sylvania were of various sects, churches, and nationali-
ties, which at times had cjuarrels, we, their heirs and
descendants, know no such differences in the discliarge
of our duties to the government. We are all Pennsyl-
vanians now; and the question whether a citizen is Eng-
lish, German, Welsh, Scotch-Irish, or French, happily
never enters our mind. With us to-day it is —
The union of hearts, the union of hands,
And the flag of our Union forever.
CHAPTER III
THE GROWTH OF POPULATION AND THE ADJUST-
MENT OF BOUNDARIES
The movement of population. In the settlement of
Pennsylvania a double wave of population swept in:
the Scotch-Irish in advance, and the Germans following
and permanently occupying the soil. This movement
is most plainly recorded in the Kittatinny Valley.
Throughout its length, from Easton to Maryland, are
found places and gravestones bearing Scotch-Irish names.
These people entered the Kittatinny Valley at various
points, about the year 1730. They passed through the
gaps west of the Susquehanna. Thence they rapidly
followed the main streams toward the north and west.
The Germans began to arrive in greatest numbers about
the year 1740, the time when the Scotch-Irish immigra-
tion had reached its height. It was the onward flow of
these two classes of people that caused a demand for
land, and made the purchases from the Indians neces-
sary. Easton, Allentown (called Northamptontown till
about 1800), Reading, Lebanon, Harrisburg, York,
Carlisle, and Shippensburg were all founded within these
years.
Land purchases. Penn's policy in ]3urchasing lands
from the Indians was always an honest one. His sons
46
GROWTH OF POPULATION 47
tried to follow their father's example, but they had to
deal with a more difficult problem. They had to satisfy
the I'ed man when it had become plain that the white
man would at last own all the soil of Pennsylvania.
Hence some of the later land dealings were not free from
injustice. This was the case with the historic ''walk-
ing purchase."
The "walking purchase." It was the custom of the
Indians to measure land by walking or riding on horse-
back. In 1()S0 William Penn bought a tract of land
along the Delaware, extending "back into the woods as
far as man can go in one day and a half." This tract
was not actually measured off at that time. As the
years went by, the white settlers spread out until they
reached the Lehigh hills, below Easton. The Indians
then became uneasy, and wanted the walk performed.
The time fixed for it was September 19, 1737; and the
starting point was a tree near Wrightstown, Bucks
County. The goverimient had employed three men,
Marshall, Yeates, and Jennings — all fleet on foot; and
the Delaware Indians had three men. The walkers were
under the supervision of the sheriff of Bucks County and
the surveyor general of Pennsylvania, and were accom-
panied by a number of spectators, some of whom carried
refreshments.
The walkers kept a northerly course on the Durham
Road to Durham Creek, thence a northwesterly course;
they forded the Lehigh at two o'clock in the afternoon,
and reached the Hockendauqua at sunset. Jennings and
two of the Indians had given out the first day; hence the
48 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
others resumed the walk alone the next morning. Hav-
ing passed through the Lehigh Water Gap, Marshall, the
only one who finished the walk, reached a spur of the
Broad Mountain at twelve o'clock. The distance cov-
ered in the day and a half was about sixty miles.
Instead of running the shortest line from the end of
the walk to the Delaware, the surveyor went northeast
and struck the mouth of the Lackawaxen, thus securing
for the province the Forks of the Delaware on the south
side of the Blue Mountains, and the Minisink Flats on
the north side — both rich and desirable tracts of land.
The entire 'Svalking purchase" included the upper
portion of Bucks, nearly all of Northampton, and parts
of Carbon, Monroe, and Pike counties — an area of not less
than twelve hundred square miles.
The Delawares complained that the walk was not
fair — that instead of by the compass across the country,
it should have been up the Delaware by the nearest path,
as was done by William Penn and their fathers when
they tramped leisurely together for a day and a half
to fix upon the northern limit of Markham's purchase of
1682. The Indians in the party also objected to the pace
of the white walkers, frequently calling to the latter to
walk not to run. One of them said afterwards, ''No sit
down to smoke, no shoot a scfuirrel, but lim, lun, Inn,
all day long." It is stated that it afterward took the
surveyor general four days to walk over the same ground.
Jennings and Yeates both were supposed to have died
from the effects of the walk. Marshall alone was none
the worse, for he died at the ripe old age of ninety.
GROWTH OF POPULATION 49
The Delaware Indians. At the time of the "walkino;
purchase," the Delaware Indians held their council hres
at the Minisink Flats. Here, on the Pocono, was born
the celebrated chief, Tedyuscung, called "Honest John"
by the English. When his lands had l)een taken from
him by the "walk," the Six Nations ordered the Dela-
wares to remove to Wyoming and Shamokin (now Sun-
bury) on the Susquehanna. The Six Nations reminded
the Delawares that they were "women," and coidd not
sell lands. Tedyuscung protested; but the Irocjuois said,
"Don't stop to consider, but remove away." Tlie wrong
rankled in the hearts of the Delawares like a smothered
fire; and when the French and Indian W'ar broke out,
they openly took sides with the French, and helped to
ravage the frontier. By the time of the Revolution,
they had all been driven to the Ohio River.
Connecticut settlers in Wyoming Valley. While Penn-
sylvanians were thus ])rcssing forward from the south-
east through the Delaware and Lehigh valleys. New Eng-
landers advanced from the northeast. The Connecticut
colony claimed the land across the northern border of
Pennsylvania. This tract had, in fact, been given to both
colonies.
Near the close of the French and Indian War, some
Connecticut settlers arrived in the Wyoming Valley;
and before winter set in, extensive fields of wheat had
been sow^n upon lands covered with forest trees in Au-
gust. But on account of a scarcity of provisions, the
settlers returned to Connecticut for the winter. Early
the next year, in 1763, they came back, accompanied by
4
50 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
many others. In spite of objections made by Northamp-
ton County, which then inchided the Wyoming Vahey,
these New Englanders settled at the present site of
Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Plymouth, and Hanover.
The summer passed with nothing to mar their peace
and contentment; but in October the Indians fell upon
them like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, and killed
about twenty of their number. The others fled — some
back to Connecticut, some to New York. This is
known in history as the hrst massacre of Wyoming.
It was the work of the Delawares, in revenge for the
death of their chief, Tedyuscung; for the wily Iroquois
had made them believe that he had been killed by the
whites.
Strife in Wyoming. In 17(38 settlers came from the
Pennsylvania settlements to the south and occupied the
farms given up by the New Englanders. Early the next
year a party of forty Connecticut men came back to
their former settlement. They located at Kingston.
The ''forty" were under the direction of three men, one
of whom was Zebulon Butler; and their fort was known
as the Forty Fort. In October the sheriff of North-
ampton County appeared, arrested them, and marched
them to Easton, where they were lodged in jail. As soon
as they had been bailed out, they returned to Wyoming
and, wdth new arrivals from Connecticut, again started
the settlement. The Pennsylvanians and the New Eng-
landers now met in a fierce conflict, known as the Pen-
namite and Yankee War. Forts and blockhouses were
constructed, and many sieges and skirmishes followed.
GROWTH OF POPULATION 51
Both parties led men to prison, drove women and chil-
dren away, and committed other outrages.
The Connecticut men on the whole were the more
successful. They organized a government, made laws,
and appointed judges and other officers. Their inten-
tion was to form an independent state; but they could
not maintain themselves alone against the Pennamites.
So in 1774 they attached themselves to the Connecticut
colony, as the town of Westmoreland.
Wyoming confirmed to Pennsylvania. W ith the out-
break of the Revolution there came a lull in the strife
in Wyoming. It was resolved at a public meeting
"That we will all join our brethren of America in the
common cause of defending our liberty." However, as
soon as the war was over, the old feud broke out in all its
former fury. Pennsylvania now appealed to Congress to
settle the dispute. That body appointed a committee
for the purpose. It met at Trenton in 1782, and without
giving any reasons decided that Connecticut had no
right to the land and that it all belonged to Pennsylvania.
The Connecticut settlers had to pay a small price per
acre in order to keep their lands. The Pennsylvanians
who claimed these same lands were paid for the farms
they had to give up, or were given land elsewhere in
exchange.
After the settlement of this land trouble, the Wyoming
Valley, which is twenty-one miles long and three miles
wide, enjoyed peace. Its rich acres blossomed as the
rose. Wilkes-Barre was laid out in 1773 and was named
in honor of John Wilkes and Colonel Barre, members of
52 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
the British Parhanient and warm friends of the American
colonies in the Revohition.
The upper Schuylkill. With the exception of the Dutch
on the Minisink Flats, the Moravian mission station
near the Lehigh, and a few scattered farms on the
Schuylkill, there were no settlements, before the Revolu-
tion, between the Wyoming Valley and the Blue Moun-
tains. This tract was not much inhabited until after the
discovery of anthracite coal.
The Susquehanna Valley. The settlement of the Sus-
quehanna Valley was begun by John Harris, father of
John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg and the first
white child known to have been born in Pennsylvania
west of the Conewago hiUs. The elder Harris came from
England in the early days, and in 1705 got permission as
a hcensed trader ''to seat himself on the Susquehanna"
and to trade with the Indians.
Before the white men came as far as Shamokin (now
Sunbury) this part of the province had been occupied
by the Delawares and Shawanese, under the control of
the Six Nations. They had a town of some fifty houses
at the fork of the two branches of the Susquehanna. It
was the residence of Shikellimy, the celebrated Oneida
chief, who was deputy governor of the Six Nations in
Pennsylvania. About 1740 Conrad AVeiser, the Indian
agent of the province, visited the place, and Count Zinzen-
dorf and one or two others made their way thither and re-
ceived a hearty welcome from Shikellimy. The Indians
there were rough, drunken, mischievous fellows. The
Six Nations asked to have a blacksmith sent to Shamo-
GROWTH OF POPULATION 53
kin. One was sent by the Moravians at Bethlehem,
and he opened the way for a Moravian mission. Soon
afterward white settlers located in the valley below, on
both sides of the river.
Fort Augusta was erected at Shamokin to protect
these settlers. This fort was an important place of
defense in the French and Indian War and in the Revolu-
tion. During the former war, few settlers ventured
l)eyond it, for it was then the most northern fort in
the Susquehanna Valley beyond the Blue Mountains.
Northumberland had its beginnings in an inn put u}) to
accommodate those who came to see the land. The
North Branch beyond Bloomsburg was settled by men
from the Wyoming Valley. Fort McClure, near Blooms-
l)urg, was built by the famous Indian fighter, Van
C'ampen.
Along the West Branch, (Quakers from the lower
countries settled Pennsborough, now Muncy, named after
the Mousey Indians, who inhabited that section of the
valley. From Sunbury to Lock Haven there was a line
of forts, and each of them became the scene of many a
legend of Indian warfare. Many Germans and Scotch-
Irish found their way into the pine-clad mountains of
this region.
The fair-play settlement. The government had a
dispute with the Indians aJDout the boundaries of this
country along the West Branch and forbade settlers to
enter the disputed tract, but they paid no attention to
the order. They took possession of the land and organ-
ized a local government, and annually elected as judges
54 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
three of their number, whom they called "fair-play
men." Every newcomer had to apply to the fair-
play men for his land. Any person disobeying the
fair-play men was placed in a canoe, rowed to the mouth
of Lycoming Creek, and there set adrift. A curious
thing happened in the history of these fair-play men on
July 4, 1776. Early in the summer they had heard that
C'Ongress was thinking about independence from Great
Britain. So on the above date, far from the sound of
the Liberty Bell, without knowing what was being done
in Philadelphia, they met on Pine Creek, and after some
patriotic speeches, passed a set of resolutions declaring
themselves free and independent.
Lycoming County. Lycoming County was not formed
until 1795, eleven years after the last purchase from the
Indians. It extended originally over all the northwestern
part of the state. Williamsport was laid out soon after
the formation of the county. It was named probably
after William, a son of Michael Ross, upon whose land
the county seat was located. It is one of the most
beautiful towns in Pennsylvania, and is located in a
valley of rare attraction.
The Juniata Valley. The Juniata Valley was settled
about 1740 largely by Scotch-Irish, who made their way
from the Cumberland Valley through the gaps in the
Blue Mountains. A good many Germans also located
within its borders; but they were not encouraged to do
so. Settlements were made in Sherman's Valley, in
Tuscarora Valley, and in Aughwick Valley. But as the
lands north of the Blue Mountains had not yet been
GROWTH OF POPULATION 55
bought from the Indians, the natives complained; and
the provincial government ordered the trespassers to be
driven out and their cabins burned. To this event
Burnt Cabins, a village in Fulton County, owes its name.
Many of the squatters returned, and aroused bad feeling
among the savages, which raged with fury tluring the
French and Indian War.
The first settlers about Lewistown came from the
Conococheague by way of the Aughwick. They built
P\)rt Gran\ille, which was destroyed by western Indians
who forced its occupants — soldiers and some settlers
with their families — to march to Kittanning, whence
they never returned. The white men, however, had a
strong Indian friend on the Juniata in the i^erson of
Logan, the Mingo chief.
Huntingdon, long known as Standing Stone, was
likewise settled by way of the Aughwick. It is located
on the site of the Standing Stone, whose name may be
regarded as a translation of an Indian word meaning the
Juniata people. Conrad W^eiser mentioned the Standing
Stone as a curiosity, and John Harris described it as
being fourteen feet high and six inches square and
containing Indian writing. The Indians venerated the
Standing Stone, and probably carried it with them after
the sale of the valley.
Jack's Narrows, below Huntingdon, is also a place
that suggests interesting history. It was named after
Captain Jack Armstrong, who was a friend in need to
the people of the Juniata Valley on many occasions, and
a terror to the Indians. Bedford had its origin in the
56 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
"Fort at Raystown/' to which tlie settlers could flee
for protection against Indian incursions.
An interesting spot in what is now Blair County is the
Sinking Spring Valley. It contained lead mines, which
were probably known to the French as early as 1750.
The Indians of this region were always supplied with an
abundance of lead, but where they obtained it was long
a secret. In the Revolution, some of the bullets fired
at the redcoats were made from the Sinking Spring
lead.
Indian ravages in the Juniata Valley. After Brad-
dock's defeat, the Indians feU with merciless fury upon the
infant settlements in the Juniata Valley. Carlisle, Ship-
pensburg, and Chambersburg were frequently crow^ded
with settlers, who had fled with their families, flocks, and
furniture to escape the tomahawk and the hrebrand.
Crops were harvested under the protection of the militia.
On one occasion an entire school in Franklin County —
Master Brown and his ten pupils — were murdered while
at their books. It was not until the Indians had been
driven beyond the Ohio, that the settlers of the Juniata
Valley could plow their fields, gather their harvests, and
eat their bread, without fear of the scalping knife.
The Maryland boundary. In the countries along the
southern border east of the mountains, there were
numerous settlers w^ho had come from Maryland. The
reason for this was that Lord Baltimore, the proprietor
of Maryland, laid claim to a pai't of Pennsylvania north
of the present boundary line, and encouraged his people
to occupy that region. The width of a degree was in
GROWTH OF POPULATION 57
dispute on account of certain doubtful words in the
charters of Lord Baltimore and Ponn.
The dispute dragged its weary course through more
than eighty years. Three English sovereigns had to
deal with the troublesome question. Baltimore and
Penn had a few interviews in America, but parted as
secret enemies. With Lord Baltimore the aim was to
acquire territory; with William Penn it was water front-
age on Chesapeake Bay. Penn once offered to buy
sufficient territory of Baltimore to get a port on Chesa-
peake ]^ay, but met with a refusal. The claims were
made with violence and occasional bloodshed. Settlers
refused to pay taxes, because they did not know to
whom to pay them. These conflicts occurred chiefly
in the three Lower ( 'ounties and in York County, then
called Lancaster.
The border conflict. In 1730 Lord Baltimore sent
Thomas Cresap, as a justice of the peace, to Wright's
Ferry. Here Cresap began to build boats and erect a
house. He came in conflict with the Pennsylvanians
across the river, and even sent one to the Annapolis jail.
He also attacked John ^^^right, the foremost Quaker in
Lancaster County, whik^ the latt(M' was reaping grain
on the west side of the Susquehanna. Not being a match
for Wright, Ci'esap had the governor of Maryland send
the militia to his assistance; but the Quaker farmer and
his Scotch-Irish neighbors were too much for the Mary-
landers. Nevertheless, Cresaji was a disturbing element
for some time. Finally, in 1736, the sheriff of Lancaster
County cai~)tured the disturber of the peace by firing his
58 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
house. Cresap was taken to Philadelphia in triumph and
lodged in jail. Maryland then sent an armed force of
three hundred men into the Susquehanna Valley. After
more bloodshed, these men were driven back; and all
efforts to colonize that part of Pennsylvania with Mary-
landers were abandoned in 1738.
Mason and Dixon's line. Though peace existed now
between the settlers of Maryland and Pennsylvania,
the boundary line was not finally agreed upon until
1761. Two expert English surveyors, Charles Mason
and Jeremiah Dixon, were then appointed to run the
lines. It took them several years to determine ex-
actly the circle between Delaware and Pennsylvania,
and locate the beginning of the southern boundary
of Pennsylvania. (See p. 24.) This boundary, known
as Mason and Dixon's line, was extended westw^ard in
latitude 30° 44', for a distance of 230 miles, in the
year 1767.
At intervals of five miles, the surveyors placed stones
marked on the north with the arms of Thomas and
Richard Penn, and on the south with the arms of Lord
Baltimore. Smaller stones were placed at the end of
every mile. Where transportation w^as impossible —
beyond the foot of Sideling Hill to the summit of the
Alleghenies — heaps of stones marked the line; and thence
to the end there were posts surrounded with stones and
earth. The stones used as far as Sideling Hill were im-
ported from England.
On account of fear of the Indians, the remainder of
the southern boundarv of the state was not run at this
GROWTH OF POPULATION 59
time; other surveyors, in 1782, completed it. Mason
and Dixon returned to England, but their names became
household words in America. Mason and Dixon's line
became famous as the division between the free states
and the slave states.
This southern boundary line was re-surveyed in 1901 to
1903; and where the old stones were missing or weather-
worn, new ones from a marble quarry in Baltimore
County, Maryland, were put up. The little triangular
piece of land in Chester County, extending down from
the eastern terminus of Mason and Dixon's line, known
as the ''flat-iron," has been transferred by Pennsylvania
to Delaware; but the transaction has not yet been com-
pleted by Delaware and Congress.
Virginians in western Pennsylvania. Virginia, by
reason of her charter, held that the region about the
forks of the Ohio belonged to her. In 1749 the Ohio
Land Company, most of whose members were Virginians
(two of them being brothers of General Washington),
secured from George II a grant of half a million acres
on the branches of the Ohio. Christopher Gist, after-
ward the companion of AVashington on his journey to
Fort Le Bceuf, explored the country. With eleven
other families, he settled within the present limits of
Fayette County.
For protection against the French, these Virginians
began to build a fort in 1754, on the site of the present
city of Pittsburg. The French, however, captured them,
finished the fort, and named it Fort Duquesne. The Eng-
lish later took it from the French, rebuilt it, and named
60 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
it Fort Pitt, in honor of Pitt, the distinguished Enghsh
statesman.
First settlements in western Pennsylvania. Before
1758 the western part of Pennsylvania could be ap-
proached from the east only by the route of the Juniata
and the Kiskiminitas. In that year a road running
from Fort Loudon by way of Bedford was finished as
far as the Loyalhanna. This opened the way for nu-
merous settlers from the eastern counties, notably the
Scotch-Irish. They located in the Ligonier Valley, at
Hannastown, and about the forks of the Ohio. With
settlers from Maryland and Virginia, they possessed the
land in comparative quiet till Pontiac's War.
Pittsburg was begun in 1760, and the next year had
104 houses, sheltering 332 persons. When Pontiac's
conspiracy brought Indian attacks against the frontier
settlements, the httle town was cut off from all communi-
cation. In 1764, however, the Indians were forced to
withdraw from western Pennsylvania and retire beyond
the Ohio. Pittsburg remained a very small place until
after the Revolution.
Virginia's claims to western Pennsylvania. A new
difficulty arose just before the Revolution. In 1773 the
county of Westmoreland was formed by Pennsylvanians.
Hannastown, near the present site of Greensburg, was
made the county seat. It was the only collection of
houses — about thirty in numl^er — worthy the name of
town between Bedford and Pittsburg. Seeing that Penn-
sylvania was reaching out to the forks of the Ohio, Vir-
ginia renewed her claims to that country.
GROWTH OF POPULATION 61
Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, asserted that
Pittsburg was outside of the hmits of Pennsylvania.
He placed in command Dr. John Connehy, a Pennsyl-
vanian but a wilhng tool, who took possession of Fort
Pitt and changed its name to Fort Dunmore. Connelly
defied the Pennsylvania officers and commanded the
people of Westmoreland County to recognize the au-
thority of Lord Dunmore. Arthur 8t. Clair, a Pennsyl-
vania magistrate, had Connelly arrested and bound over
to keep the peace. This the doctor did not do. He got
authority from Virginia to act as justice of the peace in
Augusta County, which extended over the disputed ter-
ritory in Pennsylvania. He then appeared at Hannas-
town with 150 men, all armed and with colors flying,
placed sentinels at the door of the courthouse, and kept
the magistrates from entering. Lord Dunmore now es-
tablished a court at Fort Pitt, and demanded obedience
to its decrees.
Settlement cf the western boundary. The dispute
next went before Congress, where such men as Jefferson
and Henry, of Virginia, and Franklin, of Pennsylvania,
ad\^sed that the troops be withdrawn. By 1779 the
\^irginians and Pennsylvanians agreed to extend Mason
and Dixon's line to its western hmit of five degrees.
There a meridian was drawn as far north as the Ohio.
To mark the boundary, wide vistas were cut through
the forests over the high hills, and trees were deadened
or felled in the valleys. Stones were set up at irregular
intervals and marked on the east side with the letter P,
and on the west side with the letter V.
62 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Southwestern Pennsylvania. After the Revohition,
affairs on the Pennsylvania frontier were generally
peaceful. Greensburg was founded on the site of a
blockhouse of the Revolution. Hannastown had been
wiped off the map of Westmoreland County, July 13,
1782, by one of the most cruel Indian attacks on record.
The Indians, under the famous Seneca chief, Kyashuta,
arrived from across the Allegheny River early in the
morning, applied the torch to the historic village, and
carried some of its defenseless inhabitants into captivity.
To the Virginia population of southwestern Pennsyl-
vania were added many Scotch-Irish and Germans from
the older Pennsylvania settlements. Washington and
Fayette counties were formed; the latter now has within
its borders the historic spots of Great Meadows, Fort
Necessity, and Braddock's grave. Allegheny, which
at first included all the territory north and west of the
Ohio and Allegheny rivers, was also formed from West-
moreland, the mother county of southwestern Pennsyl-
vania. In 1790 Pittsburg contained two hundred houses,
two thousand people, one newspaper, and a few manufac-
turing establishments. It became a place of trade with
the new and ever-increasing settlements, and its future
greatness was assured.
Remnants of the Indians in Pennsylvania. The
northwestern part of the state was known as the Indian
Country after the French war. This land, purchased in
1784, was all the Indians then owned in Pennsylvania.
However, they continued to invade this section from
their retreats beyond the Ohio, until Wayne's treaty in
GROWTH OF POPULATION 63
1795. This put an end to their hostihty, and only one
chief (Gyantwochia, "the cornplanter/') had dominion
thereafter within the state. His reservation remains to-
(.hiy. He became the friend of the settlers after the Rev-
olution, and the state gave him permission to select 1,500
acres of land for himself and his descendants. He chose
640 acres on the west branch of the Allegheny, about fif-
teen miles above Warren, together with two large islands
adjoining. There he located permanently with his family,
about 1791; and there his descendants live at the present
day — the last remnant of the n^d man in Pennsylvania.
They farm their land and have a school, which is sup-
ported by the stat{\
Northwestern Pennsylvania. The Indian Country was
entered by the white settlers by way of the Allegheny
River and the border of New York. Erie, the oldest and
most historic ])lace in it, can boast of the footprints of
La Salk^ and of the fort of Prescjue Lsle, the first of a
number of j^osts established by the French. At Fort Le
B(x>uf, Washington, at the age of twenty-one, performed
his hrst public service. These points are in the triangle
along the shore of Lake Erie.
The northern boundary of the state was the subject of
mild dispute between the Penns and New York for nearly
fifty years. Occasionally grants of land within territory
claimed by the Penns w^ere made by the governor of
New York. The line was finally fixed. It stopped in
Lake Erie four miles east of where the western boundary
ended, thus giving Pennsylvania only four miles of
water frontage. The triangle cut off belonged to the
64 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
United States. In 1792 Pennsylvania bought it from the
Federal government for the sum of $151,640.50. Three
years later. Erie was laid out on Presque Isle; and a
short time afterward Prince Louis Philipi)e, heir to the
throne which once held control of the soil where Erie
stands, was entertained in the town.
Kittanning, another place familiar in the annals of
northwestern Pennsylvania, was originally an Indian
The Counties in 1800
village. It marked the western terminus of the Indian
path across the mountains from Standing Stone and
other points in the Juniata Valley. It was destroyed in
1756 by Colonel Armstrong, after whom the county is
named. The country around it afterward became the
scene of many of Captain Samuel Brady's encounters
with the Indians.
A noted point on the Kittanning path was Cherry
GROWTH OF POPULATION 65
Tree, at the present juncture of Cambria, Clearfield,
and Indiana counties. It was the head of canoe naviga-
tion on the Susciuehanna. The Indians would take their
canoes out of the stream at Cherry Tree and strike the
trail through northern Indiana to Kittanning. A monu-
ment has been erected at the place to commemorate its
historic associations.
The Ohio Valley. In the Ohio Valley, west of Pitts-
biu'g, the Moravian missionaries were the first white men
to lay the foundations of settlement. Zeisberger and
Senseman established a mission, called Friedenstadt,
in Lawrence County. These pious men had followed
their Indian wards all the way from Wyalusing on the
Susquehanna, sojourning for a while among the Monseys
in Forest County. Neshannock, Mahoning, and other
names of streams in this locality were brought by the
Indians from the Delaware Valley, where they had
known streams of the same names.
Eight new counties. After the victory of Wayne.
the Indian Country rai)idly became the w^hite man's
country. In 1800 ''the great new county act" was
passed in the legislature, by which Beaver, Butler,
Mercer, Crawford, Erie, W^arren, Venango, and Arm-
strong counties were created.
Pennsylvania was now practically settled and organ-
ized under thirty-five county governments.
5
CHAPTER IV
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Forms of colonial government. The English colonial
governments in America were of three kinds: first, pro-
vincial, under which the Crown established the govern-
ment, appointed the governors, and instructed them how
to rule; second, proprietary, according to which the
Crown granted a tract of land to some individual, called
the proprietary, and empowered him to establish the
government, appoint the governors, and instruct them
how to rule; third, charter, through which the Crown
gave the colonists the power to organize a government,
elect the governor, and hold him responsible for his acts.
All the colonies had a legislature elected by the people.
The laws were to conform as nearly as possible to the
laws of England. The judges were appointed by the
governors. Pennsylvania's government was of the
proprietary form.
The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania. WilHam
Penn, under the powers of his charter, drew up in Eng-
land a Frame of Government. It was the constitution
under which the province of Pennsylvania was organized.
He drew it up before the first company of colonists under
Markham, the deputy governor, sailed for America.
This small party, who were to take possession of Penn's
grant of land and prepare for his own coming the next
66
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
67
year, signed the Frame of Government before departing,
and before Penn himself signed it.
The spirit of Penn's Frame of Government was
thoroughly republican. ''I will put the power with the
people," he said. In the preface are these words:
I know some say, ''Let us have good laws, and no matter
about the men that execute them." But let them consider that,
though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws
want [be in need of] good men; but good men ^^ill never want
good laws nor suffer [allow] ill ones.
(puZj^^Cf^^
Signatures to the Frame of Government
At another place are found these words— they have
been inscribed on the walls of the corridor in Independ-
ence Hall, side by side with the Declaration of Inde-
pendence :
68 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Any government is free to the people under it, whatever be
the form, where the laws rule, and the people are a party to
those laws; and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy and confu-
sion.
In speaking of the end of all government, Penn once
made use of these words:
To support power in reverence vnih the people, and to secure
the people from the abuse of power: that they may be free by
their just obedience, and the magistrates honorable for their
just administration; for liberty without obedience is confusion,
and obedience without liberty is slavery. To carry this eveimess
is partly owing to the constitution, and })artly to the magistracy ;
where either of these fail, go\'ernment will be subject to convul-
sion; but where both are wanting, it must be totally subverted;
then where both meet, the government is like to endure. Which
I humbly pray and hope God will please to make the lot of
Pennsylvania.
The highest purpose of government, according to
Penn's Frame, is to secure to every person the ''free
enjoyment of his religious opinions and worshii), so
long as it does not extend to licentiousness or the
destruction of others; that is, to speak loosely or pro-
fanely of God, Christ, and the scriptures or religion, or
to commit any moral evil or injury against others."
Summing up the principles of government as expressed
by Penn, we find that they are about all included in the
words — "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence" — written
on Pennsylvania's coat of arms.
The Council and the General Assembly. The Frame
of Government consisted of twenty-four articles and
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
69
forty laws. The government was vested in the governor
and freemen of the province. The freemen were to elect
a Provincial Council and a General Assembly. The
Council was to have seventy- two members, to serve for
three years. The Assembly was to consist of all the
freemen the first year, when the Frame was to be
accepted, and of two hundred of them the next year — the
number to be increased as the population grew, but not
The Coat of Arms of Pennsylvania
to exceed five hundred. The governor, or his deputy,
was to be the jxn-petual president of the Provincial
Council, and was to have a treble vote.
The General Assembly had no power to make laws
and no privilege to debate. The bills originated and
passed by the Council were presented to the Assembly
for approval or rejection with a plain "Yes" or ''No."
It could name candidates for sheriffs and justices of the
70 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
peace, from whom the governor would make his selection,
but it had to name twice as many as were to be appointed.
The Great Law. When Penn arrived in Pennsylvania,
he called the first General Assembly to meet at Chester
December 6. He presented the "Laws agreed upon in
England," and ninety others. Sixty-one of the latter
were embodied in the "great law or body of laws of the
province of Pennsylvania." Though more than two
hundred years have passed since the Great Law was
enacted at Chester, it still remains — modified to some
extent, but not greatly — as a part of the government of
our commonwealth. It allowed freedom of worship to
all who acknowledged one God. All members of the
government, as well as the voters, had to be qualified in
the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the
Saviour of the world. Swearing, cursing, drunkenness,
health-drinking, card-playing, scolding, and lying were
all prohibited in the Great Law.
The Charter of Privileges. On his return to Philadel-
phia in 1699 (see p. 32), Penn found his colonists rather
indifferent to him. For a period of fifteen years he had
ruled them from England, and many misunderstandings
resulted. He soon learned that he must give them a new
form of government. So the old Frame was abandoned
and the Charter of Privileges was given in its place.
Penn signed this in 1701. The new document provided
for a General Assembly with much greater powers. It
gave the people the power to elect some of the county
officers; and contained a strong plea for liberty of con-
science. By it, too, Delaware was to have a separate As-
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT 71
sembly. The Charter of Privileges was indeed the env}^
of neighboring colonies, so republican was it in its nature.
Under it Pennsylvania was governed until the province
became a state in 1776.
Constitutional government. The constitution of Penn-
sylvania which was made in 1770, provided for a leg-
islature of one house only — called the General Assembly.
The executive power was vested partly in a president
chosen by the General Assembly and the Supreme Ex-
ecutive Council, both of which were elected by the j^eople.
The other constitutions since 1776 have been that of
1790, that of 1838, and the present one, adopted in 1873.
In 1790 the legislature was made to consist of a Senate
and a House of Representatives. The Supreme Execu-
tive Council with its president was abolished and a gov-
ernor elected by the people was substituted. In 1873
the office of lieutenant governor was created.
CHAPTER V
SOME AFFAIRS OF THE GOVERNMENT: IN THE
COLONIAL PERIOD
Under Penn, 1682-1712
The governors under Penn. The Frame of Govern-
ment having been accepted and the Great Law enacted,
the administration of the government began. From 1682
to 1684 Penn himself was governor. Thereafter, mitil
1712, he ruled his province through governors a])pointed
by him, except during the two years, 1699-1701, when he
again personally filled the office. Most of these gov-
ernors proved unsatisfactory both to Penn and to the
people. They were generally sent here from abroad, and
were English, Scotch, or Irish, and not Pennsylvanians.
Political history begins. The Assembly having no
power to propose bills, the first political struggle of an}'
consequence arose from this defect in the Frame of
Government. Bills proposed by the Council were fre-
quently voted down by the Assembly for no good reason
except to use what power it had. The deadlocks thus
produced caused great annoyance to Penn, who, as has
been seen, now lived in England and ruled his province
through the Council. So in 1688 he sent an entire stran-
ger. Captain Blackwell, to act as governor. But a
soldier governor was not acceptable to the Quakers, and
his administration made matters no better. He had to
72
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
73
be recalled, and the whole Council — with Thomas Lloyd,
the chief man among the Quakers, as president — wa;j
authorized to carry on the government for Penn.
The cave dwellers. Another source of worry to Penn,
soon after his first return to England, arose from the
bad conduct of the cave dwellers along the Delaware (see
p. 30). When the first occupants left their caves and
moved into houses, drunkards, thieves, and other bad
characters, who had forced their way into the colony,
made their home in these caves. Arrests and imprison-
ment checked the evil, but finally the caves had to be
destroyed.
Troubles in Delaware. Delaware, known as the three
Lower Counties, was not settled by Quakers. Being
exposed to attacks from the sea,
its inhabitants, on hearing that
war with France was expected,
wanted to arm themselves. The
Quakers of PiMinsylvania objected
on religious grounds, and they also
laughed at the idea of a French
invasion, saying they could see
''no danger except from bears and
wolves." Besides, Thomas Lloyd
did not hke the men whom Dela-
ware sent to the Council. He said
they were profane and immoral.
Penn did not want to let Dela-
ware go out of his control; l)ut he was obliged for the
sake of peace to give the Lower Counties a separate
Penn's Book-plate,
Showing His Coat
OF Arms
74 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Assembly. From 1703 until the Revolution, Delaware
made its own laws but was under the same governor
as Pennsylvania.
Penn loses and regains the government. These and
other disturbances in Pennsylvania were used in London
to prejudice the king against Penn. His enemies said
that the province was in such a state of dissatisfaction
and disturbance that the French could easily make a
prey of it. So in 1692 the government was taken away
from him and given to the governor of New York; but in
less than two years, it was restored to Penn.
The troubles which Penn's enemies had made for him
with the king long detained him in England. At length,
he set sail with his family in 1699. He arrived at a time
when the people needed his presence, for they were much
depressed in spirit by the ravages of yellow fever. He
at once took personal charge of the governorship and
made James Logan, an Irishman who had come with him,
secretary of the province. Logan was an important man
in the province for half a century.
Penn's second personal rule. The most important act
of Penn's second rule as governor was the granting of a
new form of government, the Charter of Privileges (see
p. 70). It provided that all religions were to exist on
terms of equality, and that all Christians were to be
eligible for office. But the Assembly soon afterward
excluded Catholics, Jews, and unbelievers from all offices.
Penn gave some thought to slavery while he was gov-
ernor, and secured a law putting slaves under the law
instead of under the will of their masters. He tried to
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
75
stop the sale of liquor to the Indians; but the traders
on the frontier would not give up so profitable a busi-
ness. He did succeed, however, in restor-
ing a more orderly condition in the colony,
settling many of the disputes that had
arisen, and breaking up the factions among
the ruling classes for the time being.
Troubles in the colony. Soon after
Penn's return to England in 1701, Queen
Anne's War began between England and
France, and there was fighting in their
colonies. John Evans was then governor.
It was feared that French men-of-war would enter the
Delaware. Evans knew the doctrine of the Quakers
about war, but thought they would fight if they were
attacked. So he planned a sham attack. He had a
messenger arrive in great haste, with the news that the
French were coming up the river. He himself then rode
through the streets, entreating the people to arm them-
selves. Some people were badly scared, — valuables were
thrown into wells, vessels sent up the river, and boats
secreted in creeks; but most of the Quakers went about
their duties as usual.
To the feeling of disgust which this piece of folly called
forth, was added bitter resentment when the governor
refused to let the Assembly establish a judiciary. Com-
plaints were also made by the Quakers because their
magistrates had to administer oaths or resign their offices.
An order to this effect had been issued by Queen Anne,
because it was represented to her that a man might be
76 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
tried in Pennsylvania for his life by a judge, jury, and
witnesses, none of whom had been sworn.
Governor Evans, having lost the confidence and re-
spect of the Quakers, became a source of worry to Penn.
The Assembly passed resolutions in 1704 blaming him
for not doing right by them. They charged that vice
had increased in the colony by the example of Governor
Evans and William Penn, Jr. This son of Penn was
given to drunkenness and other vices. So Penn sent
him to Pennsylvania in the care of Logan and Evans,
who were to make something better of him. They were
to interest him in hunting and fishing. Penn's man-
sion at Pennsbury, Bucks County, was to be the son's
residence, and he was made a member of the Council.
But the hopes of the father were not realized. Evans
and young Penn indulged freely in drink, and late one
night, after a row with the police, the two were arrested,
greatly to the scandal of the government and of Penn.
William, Jr., not long afterward died as a result of his
excesses; and Evans, of course, was asked by Penn to
resign.
Penn bargains to sell Pennsylvania. The financial
and political troubles of Penn were so great that he
offered to sell Pennsylvania to the Crown. The offer
was under consideration for a long time, because Penn
would not sell unless the Quakers were guaranteed a
share in the government. He was afraid that wluni the
Crown got control of his province, the Quakers' scrujoles
about taking an oath or bearing arms would no longer
be respected. In 1712 Penn's terms were accepted and
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
77
he got one thousand pounds cash, the balance (eleven
thousand pounds) to be paid when the sale was com-
pleted. But before it was
completed, he had a stroke of
apoplexy and Pennsylvania
fortunately remained in his
possession. His last words to
his colonists, written in a letter
to Logan dated 4th 8th month,
1712, were, "My dear love to
all my dear Friends. ' ' Though
he lived till 1718, his mind was
weak, and neither the voice
nor the pen of the founder of
Pennsylvania ever again took
part in the affairs of his prov-
ince. His three sons became
proprietors of the province,
but as they were all young, Mrs. Penn directed the gov-
ernment.
Penn's Desk
Now in the Philadelphia
Library
Under Mrs. Penn, 1712-1733
The taking of oaths. The Quakers and the German
sects objected to taking oath; that is, they would not
use the word '^ swear" but would ''affirm" in testifying
or in accepting office. The Crown refused to recognize
the Quaker affirmation, and so for two years after 1714
justice in Pennsylvania was difficult to administer,
because nearly all the judgeships, offices, and juries were
filled by people refusing to take an oath.
78 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
In this period, two men in Chester County committed
a murder. The governor lield that they could not be tried
without oaths; and so tliey were released on bail. They
became very insolent in their neighborhood after they
got out of jail. Fortunately Sir William Keith, suc-
ceeding Governor Gookin, took a different view and
brought the men to trial before a jury on which eight
Quakers sat. A number of the witnesses, too, " affirmed."
The prisoners were found guilty, but their lawyer
appealed to England on the ground that a criminal trial
without oaths was unlawful. The appeal was turned
down and the men were hanged; but the case caused a
great stir in England. The Assembly then passed a new
law which required the name of "Almighty God" to be
in an affirmation. This law was approved by the king.
Immigration. Foreign immigration demanded atten-
tion in the time of Mrs. Penn's control. The Germans
and the Scotch-Irish came in such large numbers that
their naturalization was not looked upon with favor. A
bill was presented in the Assembly, providing that appli-
cants for citizenship must produce a certificate from a
justice of the peace stating the amount of property they
had and the nature of their religious faith. The gov-
ernor objected to these requirements, and the Assembly
granted citizenship without them, but laid a duty on all
imported foreigners coming to reside in the province.
There were many servants among the immigrants; others
were vagrants and felons, sent here as well as to the
other colonies by England. A duty of five pounds was
imposed upon the importer of convicted felons.
THE COLONIAL PERIOD 79
Redemptioners. Many of the immigrants to Penn-
sylvania, especially the Germans, were too poor to pay
for their voyage across the sea. So they agreed with the
captain of the vessel that, upon reaching Philadelphia,
he should hire them out as servants for a number of years
and in that way get his pay for bringing them over.
Married men would hire out themselves and their wives
and children. Such servants were called redemptioners.
They were usually a good class of people. It did not
take them long to free themselves, and then they would
rent or buy land and become independent and prosperous.
Some of the best families in the state have descended
from redemptioners.
Questions of commerce. Commerce and finance also
engaged the attention of the government about this
time. There was not a sufficient sale for the products of
the province, which consisted chiefly of flour, meats,
butter, and eggs. Laws were passed to create a home
market; brewers and distillers were required to use
nothing but home products, and some of these were
made a legal tender (that is, they could be used like
money in the payment of debts). Exports were rigidly
inspected, with a view to increasing their demand
abroad, especially in the West Indies, where Pennsyl-
vania flour and salt meats sold well. But these remedies
did not create a market for all that grew on the fertile
farms so rapidly multiplying. Had England allowed
her colonies to engage in manufacture, Pennsylvania
might have built up a good trade. As it was, her im-
ports of manufactured articles far exceeded her exports;
80 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
gold and silver were drawn off to pay debts abroad,
money became scarce, and financial embarrassment fol-
lowed.
Paper money. Governor Keith now came forward
with a proposition to issue paper money. The Assembly,
having full knowledge of the disastrous effects of this
kind of currency in other colonies, acted with great
caution, and issued just so much as would supply the
place of the gold and silver sent abroad. The issue un-
der Keith amounted to 45,000 pounds. To get this paper
money from the government, people had to pledge silver-
ware or land as security. Paper money now continued
to be used in Pennsylvania from time to time, and it
gave rise to many political battles. •
Temporary homes of the Assembly. The first meeting
of the Assembly of Pennsylvania was held at Chester
(see p. 29) in a house that was not built for that purpose.
The second session was held in temporary quarters in
Philadelphia. Afterward the infant capitol was removed
to the old Bank Meeting House on Front Street, above
Arch. For ten years longer the great Friends' Meeting
House was the home of the Assembly and Council.
Then for another period the lawmakers met in the
dwellings of wealthy Philadelphians. But when the
supply of such residences gave out, the legislature was
taken in by a schoolmaster, who was made clerk of the
body and was paid twenty shillings a session as rent for
the use of his schoolrooms. In 1728 we find the Assembly
meeting again in a private house; but before that time
several sessions had been held in the Slate Roof House,
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
81
once the residence of Penn, and in the county court-
house.
The State House and the Liberty Bell. When it
became evident, after Pennsylvania's government had
been going on wheels for forty-seven years, that such
temporary arrangements were no longer tolerable, the
The Liberty Bell
Assembly, in 1729, resolved to build a State House.
A\^ork was not begun until 1732. The building was
completed in 1741, though the finishing touches were
not put on till 1745. A part of it was occupied by the
Assembly in October, 1735. In 1750 an addition was
ordered "on the south side, to contain the staircase,
6
82 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
with a place therein for hanging a bell." The bell used
before this time was probably brought over by Penn. It
had hung on a small belfry in front of the l^uildings in
which the Assembly met. Members of the Assembly
who were not present within half an hour after the bell
had rung were to pay " a tenpenny bit." The bell which
has come to be known as the Liberty Bell was originally
made in London. It was twice recast here; first in 1753,
on account of a crack it received when ''hung up to try
the sound." It was then that the words "Proclaim
liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants
thereof," were added. It was again cracked in 1835,
while being tolled in memory of Chief Justice Marshall.
It now rests in the hallway of the old State House.
Historic associations of the State House. Little did
the Assembly of 1729 dream of the historic scenes that
were to be enacted in the Pennsylvania State House.
Here, June 28, 1774, resolutions were passed, making
common cause with Boston, denouncing the Port Bill,
and recommending a congress of all the colonies. Here
the Second Continental Congress met in 1775, and re-
mained, except when the city was held by the British,
till 1783. Here the Declaration of Independence was
passed July 4, 1776, and first publicly read, July 8.
Here the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual l^nion
were signed July 9, 1778, and finally ratified March 1,
1781. Here the Constitution was framed, May 25 to
September 17, 1787; here the state convention ratified
the Constitution of the United States, December 12,
1787. And here, in the city building on the corner of
THE COLONIAL PERIOD 83
Sixth and Chestnut streets, Congress sat between 1790
and 1800, and Washington was inaugurated as President
in 1793 and Adams in 1797.
Under the Heirs of Penn, 1733-1776
Penn's sons as proprietors. Mrs. Penn having died in
1733, the government was carried on by her three sur-
vi\dng sons, John, Thomas, and Richard. John and
Thomas both came to Pennsylvania. John had to go
back to England on account of the boundary dispute^
with Maryland; but Thomas remained in the province
nine years. After the death of John in 1746, Thomas
was the chief proprietor of Pennsylvania till his death
in 1775, when his sous Richard and John succeeded him.
Measures of defense. When war was declared between
England and Spain in 1739, Governor Thomas passed
through the same experiences that Evans and Goo kin
had concerning measures of defense. To his request for
aid, the Assembly replied that their conscience forbade
them to extend it, but that he, as governor, might
organize a voluntary militia without consulting them.
With the aid of Benjamin Franklin, he soon had a good
body of troops; but unfortunately so many of them were
redemptioners, anxious to escape from servitude, that
the Assembly refused to vote any money unless these
were returned to their masters. Governor Thomas was
stubborn, and raised funds on the credit of the British
government. Then the Assembly had to pay the masters
for the loss of their servants. It also gave 3,000 pounds
to the Crown in aid of the war, but nothing to Thomas.
84 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Political divisions now sprang up. Those who sided
with Thomas were called the "gentlemen's party "; while
those who supported the Assembly were known as the
"country party." At an election for the Assembly, in
1742, the "gentlemen's party" was completely defeated.
Thomas then made peace with the Assembly. He signed
the laws passed, and in return got all arrears of salary.
Peace at an end; King George's War. In 1744 King
George's War commenced, and Pennsylvania ceased to
be a colony of peace. France threatened the province
from without, in the effort to take
possession of the Ohio Valley; and the
Indians threatened it from within, be-
cause they had been unjustly deprived
of some of their lands. A battery was
erected below Philadelphia by means
of funds raised by lottery. Conrad
Weiser, the provincial interpreter, was
Pennsylvania's ggj^^ among the Indians to propose a
Provincial Flag . , rr«i t • • i .
treaty. I he Iroquois promised to pre-
vent the French and their Indian allies (the Delawares
and the Shawanese) from marching through Iroquois
territory to attack the English settlements. However,
the lavishness of French presents and the memories of
the ''walking purchase" (see p. 47) made the settlers
on the frontier feel very uneasy.
Governor Thomas, assisted by Franklin and Logan,
had no difficulty in raising a volunteer militia. The men
who volunteered were called Associators, a name applied
for many years to the mihtia. They carried for the first
THE COLONIAL PERIOD 85
time the so-called provincial flag of Pennsylvania. It
was designed by Franklin, and consisted of a lion holding
a cimeter and the shield of the province. The true
provincial flag, the banner of the Penns, was never un-
furled in Pennsylvania. But it is represented on the shield
of arms in the great seal and on the official acts and
proclamations issued by authority of the state.
The Assembly, in support of the expedition against
Louisburg, voted 4,000 pounds ''to be expended for
bread, beef, pork, flour, wheat, and other grain." Fortu-
nately Pennsylvania was not molested in King George's
War, except to be badly frightened.
Indian disturbances. Indian troubles continued dur-
ing the governorship of James Hamilton, whose adminis-
tration extended to the year 1754. Incited by French
presents and promises of lost hunting grounds, the
Indians showed 0])en contempt for the white men of
Pennsylvania. The Senecas, on a visit to Philadelphia,
killed cattle and robbed orchards, not even sparing the
property of Conrad Weiser. Such acts were committed
to extort presents from the province. In this the wily
Indians were successful. The Assembly voted large
sums of money on several occasions to quiet them. Nor
was this the only expense, for the settlers had to be
repaid for their losses.
The French in the Ohio Valley. During the years of
peace after 1748, the French explored the valleys of the
Allegheny and Ohio rivers. They buried leaden plates
at the mouths of a number of tributaries, and nailed
pieces of tin to trees standing near by, as evidences of
86 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
French claims to the land drained by these rivers. They
then erected forts at various places along the route of
exploration, and stationed troops there. One, Presque
Isle, was located at the present site of Erie; another,
Le Boeuf, at Waterford; and still another, Machault, at
Franklin.
Fort Duquesne. To resist the progress of the French,
the Assembly was asked to build a fort at the junction
of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers; but the French had so
long confined their hostilities to New York and New
England, that Pennsylvania felt at ease. Virginia then
began to build the fort; but the French seized it and,
after finishing it, gave it the name of Fort Duquesne.
Virginia claimed the territory in which the fort was
located, and promptly dispatched George Washington
on an expedition to drive the French out; but he was
defeated at Fort Necessity.
Braddock arrives with English troops. England, see-
ing the designs of France to take possession of the Missis-
sippi Valley, sent two regiments under General Braddock
to America, in March, 1755. Pennsylvania was asked
for troops, provisions, trans})ortation, and for a part of
a common fund to be raised by all the colonies. Franklin
undertook the task of getting 150 wagons and 1,500
pack horses. He advertised for these in York, Lancaster,
and Cumberland counties, and in two weeks had more
than the quota. He gave his bonds for such horses as
might be lost in the service. Claims to the amount of
20,000 pounds — enough to ruin him financially — were
afterwards presented; and the Assembly, after a long
THE COLONIAL PERIOD 87
delay, paid his obligations. Three hundred men were
put to work cutting a road from Fort Loudon to unite
with Braddock's road coming up from Maryland west of
the mountains. Together with New Jersey, the province
also furnished a body of troops.
Braddock's defeat. It was June before Braddock's
army left Fort Cumberland for Fort Duquesne, "over
the worst roads in the world." He was accompanied by
Washington, two chiefs commanding some Indians,
George Croghan, the Indian agent of Pennsylvania, and
Captain Jack, the "wild hunter.'' Progress was slow,
but without danger till the Monongahela had been
crossed, some seven miles from Fort Duquesne, July 9.
The army had just finished dinner and resumed the
march, when it suddenly came face to face with the
French, Canadians, and Indians.
The English troo])s were at once confused by the
strange manner of battle employed by the enemy, who
kept behind trees and logs, while nothing could be seen
but puffs of smoke. Wien Braddock rode up and down
among his men, urging them to fight, they replied that
they would do so if he could show them the enemy. He
got angry at Washington for suggesting that they fight
the Indians in Indian fashion, and when some of the
soldiers did this, he rudely ordered them away from their
shelter. The battle lasted for three hours, and had not
Washington covered the retreat with his provincial
troops, the entire army would have been annihilated.
Braddock was shot in the back just after he had ordered
a retreat. He died on the summit of Laurel Hill the
88 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
third day afterward. His body was buried in the center
of the road, so that the retreating army in marching over
it might efface aU signs of the grave. In 1804 the re-
mains were reinterred at the foot of a large white oak
tree near by.
The Indians take revenge. Braddock's defeat caused
the greatest consternation in Pennsylvania. The Indians
now had the opportunity of avenging the ^^ walking pur-
chase/' and other acts of injustice, real and imaginary.
They fell upon the frontier of Pennsylvania along its
entire length — a distance of two hundred miles. First
they disposed of the isolated settler beyond the moun-
tains, in the valleys of the Juniata and the Susquehanna.
With no neighbors nearer than four or five miles, he was
an easy victim. A j^low in the fiu'row, a cabin in ashes,
and a family scalped, mutilated, and murdered — such
was the usual tale.
Then the bloodthirsty Indians broke through the gaps
of the Blue Ridge. The French officers who were with
them had no control over them. The main body was
encamped on the Susquehanna, thirty miles above Har-
ris' Ferry. Thence they ravaged the counties of Cum-
berland, Lancaster, Berks, and Northampton. Their
atrocities were carried to within fifty miles of Philadel-
phia; the scalp yells were heard at Nazareth and Bethle-
hem, to which towns the Indians carried their prisoners
and ])lunder.
The defense of the province. Petitions for arms and
ammunition came to the Assembly from every part of
the province. The frontier counties held public meet-
THE COLONIAL PERIOD 89
ings to demand from Philadelphia measures and means
of defense. A body of four hundred Germans marched
to the city, crowded into the hall of the Assembly, and
personally urged their demands. About three hundred
Indians who had remained faithful to the memory of
Penn also joined in the appeals for help. The proprietors
offered a donation of 5,000 pounds for the defense of the
province, and the Assembly passed a bill to raise money.
A militia law passed. The Assembly also passed a
militia law. Although it was against their own scruples
to bear arms, the members of the Assembly would allow
the arming of those who thought it right. It was to be
altogether a volunteer system. Franklin was made
commander. He led about five hundred men to Bethle-
Jiem, in December, to give much-needed hel]) to the
Moravian settlements. He remained in Northampton
County till February, and ate, slept, and roughed it with
the Associators. The philosopher, scientist, journalist,
and statesman became so popular as a soldier that he
was made a colonel, and was actually suggested as
leader for an expedition against Fort Ducjuesne.
Frontier forts. There were so many points along the
frontier that needed protection that the Assembly a])pro-
priated 85,000 pounds for a chaiu of forts from the
Delaware to the Maryland line. At first there were less
than twenty forts; but at the close of the French and
Indian War, no less than two hundred stockades and
blockhouses had been erected, so as to form two distinct
lines of defense on the frontier. They commanded the
principal passes in the mountains, and were garrisoned
90 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
by the militia or by the rangers. To arouse the energies
of the mihtia in the forts and of the frontiersmen,
Governor Morris offered a reward for Indian scalps and
for the recovery of English prisoners.
The settlers frequently Hved in the forts for months
at a time, taking their household goods, farm implements,
and live stock with them into the inclosure. When there
was no danger outside, the men worked in their fields
during the day, and returned at night. They always
took their rifles with them, and were often accompanied
by sentinels.
Armstrong's expedition against the Indians. Gov-
ernor Morris also planned Colonel Armstrong's famous
expedition against the Indian stronghold at Kittanning,
which took place under the next governor. The force
of three hundred men marched from Fort Shirley, now
in Huntingdon County, August 30, 175G, and at daybreak
of September 8, attacked Captain Jacobs, the most active
chief of that time. Many of the Indians were sleeping in
a cornfield, on account of the heat. They were surprised
and driven into the town. After two refusals to sur-
render, their huts were set on fire, and many of the sav-
ages died in the flames, singing and whooping as they
perished. Captain Jacobs was shot while trying to escape
from a window. Great quantities of powder and other
stores which the French had supplied to the Indians were
captured. Colonel Armstrong received a medal from the
city of Philadelphia in recognition of his services. If he
had not destroyed Kittanning, Captain Jacobs and his In-
dians would have marclied for Fort Shirley the next day.
THE COLONIAL PEKIOD 91
The fall of Fort Duquesne. General John Forbes, in
1758, led an exi^edition against Fort Duquesne. His
army gathered at Bedford, and at the suggestion of
Colonel Bouquet, a Swiss officer in tae service of the
British army, cut a new road from Raystown to Loyal-
hanna, a distance of forty-five miles. Loyalhanna was
made the base of operations. A small force was sent
forward to find out the strength of the enemy at Fort
Duquesne. Venturing too far, this detachment was
attacked, and fared no better than Braddock. En-
couraged by this success, the French and Indians re-
solved to make a sudden assault on the camp at Loyal-
hanna, but were repulsed twice by Colonel Bouquet.
Forbes then sent Washington forward with the Virgin-
ians. But the enemy had fled. Flaming timbers and
exploding powder were all that was left at Fort Du-
quesne to tell the tale of French occupation in the Ohio
Valley; and the French and Indian War was over in
Pennsylvania.
After the treaty of 1763 there was every prospect of
a long era of peace. There was no foreign foe beyond the
mountains to invade the colonies, or to incite the Indians
against the frontier. The settlers returned to their
abandoned homes to begin life anew; and the English
government fortified the region conquered from the
French.
Pontiac's conspiracy. The extension of the English
defenses, however, and the rapid advance of the settlers
caused a fresh uprising among the savages. Pontiac, a
veritable Napoleon of the wilderness, organized all the
92 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
tribes from Lake Ontario to Georgia in a grand con-
spiracy to repel the English. The attack was to be made
on all the forts and settlements on the same day; but
the plan miscarried. Fort Pitt was surrounded early
in June, 1763, a few days before the war whoop was heard
in New York, Maryland, and Virginia. A bundle of
sticks had been given to every tribe in the conspiracy,
each bundle containing as many sticks as there were
days till the time for the attack. One stick was to l)e
drawn out every morning; the day on which the last one
was removed was to be the time for the attack. A
Delaware squaw on the Ohio, who was in sympathy
with the whites, had purposely drawn out two or three
sticks, unnoticed by the warriors, and so brought about
the untimely action.
The tomahawk first and the torch next, was the order
which Pontiac had given all along the line. Corpses
and ashes marked the path of destruction. Although
the harvest was ripe, the farmers abandoned their grain
fields and fled through the mountain passes to the settle-
ments beyond. On July 25 Shippensburg harl)ored over
three hundred fugitives; Carlisle, too, was full to over-
flowing, and so were other places.
The battle of Bushy Run. General Amherst, com-
mander of the British army in America, dispatched Colo-
nel Bouquet to western Pennsylvania. His command
was composed of rangers from Lancaster and Cumber-
land counties, and about five hundred regulars, who
wei"e worn-out veterans, unfit for hard service, some
having to be conveyed in wagons. Starting from Car-
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
93
lisle July 21, he marched by way of Fort Bedford and
Fort Ligoiiier. On August 5, within a short distance of
Bushy Run, near Braddock's Field, the Indians made
a savage attack on his advance guard; and when the
main army came up, a fierce battle ensued, lasting the
greater part of two days. Nothing but a strategy saved
Colonel Bouquet's troops from being annihilated. In
the night he arranged them in a circle. He then ordered
a feigned retreat to be made at the place of the enemy's
deadliest fire. The Indians rushed into the circle in
pursuit of the retreating lines, but at once received such
a fire from all directions that they fled beyond the Ohio
in the utmost confusion.
Bouquet now led his tired army to Fort Pitt, and in
])lace of the old fort, began to erect a redoubt— a scjuare
stone building, which is still
standing. It is the last monu-
ment of British dominion in
Pittsburg. On it is the inscrip-
tion, 'Colonel Bouquet, A. D.
17()4."
The Indians withdrew beyond
the Ohio, and for some months
after the battle of Bushy Run,
the frontier of Pennsylvania
was comparatively quiet. The raid made upon the
Conestoga Indians (see p. 43) especially had a whole-
some effect upon the savages. But with the first ap-
]:)earance of spring, in 1764, hostilities were renewed.
The British government now resolved to carry the war
Bouquet's Redoubt at
Fort Pitt
94 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
into the Indian country. Bouquet marched bravely into
the wilderness of Ohio, completely overawed the Inchans,
and made them sue for peace.
The Indians had to give up all the white prisoners —
more than two hundred in number — many of whom had
been in captivity since 1755. Some of the soldiers had
relatives and friends among the captives, and the re-
union was a touching scene. Many of the children had
become so attached to Indian life that they had to be
taken back to their homes by force. A few, who had
married Indians, never returned, Those who could not
be identified at Fort Pitt were brought to Carlisle, in
the hope that people east of the mountains might claim
them. It was here that the old German widow, Mrs.
Hartman, caused her long-lost daughter to recognize
her by singing a cradle song.
CHAPTER VI
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
The Stamp Act. In 1704 Parliament announced a
new doctrine of taxation for the colonies. It was to the
effect that in the future revenue for the king's use would
be raised in the American colonies by Parliament. Before
that time the colonies had raised, through their own
legislatures, taxes for the king's use. A bill embodying
this doctrine of ''taxation without representation" was
passed by Parliament in March, 1765. This was the
famous Stamp Act. No sooner had the news reached
America than the Stamp Act Congress was called to
meet at New York, in order that the colonies might
protest against such taxation.
John Hughes, a member of the Assembly, was made
stamp distributor for Pennsylvania; but when the bells
were muffled, the colors hoisted half-mast, and acts of
violence threatened, he resigned. A Philadelphia news-
paper appeared the day before the act went into effect,
with skull and crossbones, spade and shovel. The editor
of the paper then stopped publication and asked for the
payment of subscriptions due him, that he might live.
The storekeepers resolved to buy no more British goods.
To increase the product of domestic wool, lambs were no
longer killed. Great economy was practiced; even the
" pomp of woe " at funerals was checked. Such were the
95
96 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
results accomplished in Pennsylvania by the Sons of
Liberty, in opposition to the Stamp Act; and when news
of its repeal reached Philadelphia, they were in high glee
over the victory. They dined the captain of the brig
bringing the news, and presented a gold-laced hat to him.
Taxation on imports. In 1767 Parliament passed an
act providing for colonial revenue, to be raised from a
<
1
The TIMES are
Ortatrul.
DiTmsl
IDoIeful
Dolonut, an<t
TtMr«Y,<M7.to-)i. 17SS THE NUMa .195,
PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL;
WI
LE K LY
ADVERTISER.
^
EXPIRING: In
Hopes of » Refurrection to Li»r again.
OM hnj to be obliged 1
A ao^tuinl mf R«aJ- 1
in, (htl u TheSTAM». 1
ftcT. .sfcaf'diobeob.]
ignofy . upon u> »fier 1
lhe7,V/r#/ flevfbtr en-
'uing, (\hefmfntmtr.
ptw) t>w PubUlhtref UtU Paper uiwble 10 ;
I bear lb* Burthen, has thought it expedient
TOiToP « while, lit order lodeltberete, wh<
iheranyMethodiun befoundio dude the
Cheins forged for ue, end efeape Ihc infup<
porteble Sleverjr ) which it u hoped, from
the Ian Bcpretenistioru ncm made <gdinf(
that AA, m«x be effefled Mun while,
I nuA ewneAly RequeA e>V7 Indrviduel
f my Subfcnben men> of alMm hiv*
been \orig behind Hand, thai they weuld
immediately Difcharge their refpufve Ar
rert that I may be able, not onljr to
fupDort mjrfelf dunng the Interval, but
be beUer prepared to preeeed again with
Ihit Paper, whenever en opening ibr that
Purpole eppeart. whith 1 hope Mill be
ibon WILLIAM SRAOFORD. ■
A Newspaper Heading at the Time ov the Stamp Act
duty on wine, oil, glass, paper, lead, colors, and tea, to
be collected at the ports of entry. The proceeds were
to be used to pay the governors' and judges' salaries in
the royal provinces. John Dickinson, in the "Letters
of a Pennsylvania Farmer," stirred the colonists from
New Hampshire to Georgia with his simple, irresistible
logic against these duties. The farmers especially — and
they were by far the most numerous class of people then
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 97
— were thoroughly aroused from their pohtical sleep by
Dickinson. He pointed out that if England could tax
the colonies for the support of governors and judges, the
salaries of th(\s(> officers would no longer depend on their
standing with the Assemblies, but would be fixed by the
king to s(n-ve his own ends; that the governors might not
call the Assemblies together at all, except " to make laws
for the yoking of hogs or the pounding of stray cattle."
The tax on tea. The duties imposed by the act of
1767 were removed in 1770 from everything but tea,
which was taxed threepence per iwund. This act gave
rise to the so-called "tea parties." The East India
Company sent several vessels loaded with tea to the
colonies, but it was not allowed to be landed. At Phila-
delphia, the ships "with the detested tea" got as far as
Gloucester Point, where they were met by a committee
from a mass meeting of eight thousand people, assembled
in the State House yard. The captain was warned not
to bring his ships nearer, but was himself allowed to
come to town and decide whether he thought it prudent
to land. He came, but decided not to land. On the
following page is a facsimile of the notice sent to the
coUvsignees.
An appeal from Massachusetts. When the Boston
Port l^ill ^ was passed by Parliament in 1774, Massa-
chusetts felt that she could no longer resist Great Britain
without the help of the other colonies. Pennsylvania,
being next to Virginia and equal to Massachusetts in
1 Consult a United States history to learn about the Port Bill
and other details of this period.
7
98 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
population, was sure to influence the middle colonies by
her action, as the other two did their neighbors; conse-
quently it was important that she should respond
promptly and vigorously to the cry from Boston. So in
May, 1774, Paul Revere came to Philadelphia to explain
the situation. He was received at a public meeting held
in the City Tavern. Speeches were made and a letter
was drawn up to be carried to Boston by Revere. The
j,^ -^-..-... ...4iq
: A G A R D.
♦ ^T^HE PUBLIC prefent their Compliments to MelTicurs
J X JAMES AND DF-"NKER.— -We are informed that you
I have this Day received your Commiftion to cnflave your native
i Country, and, as your frivolous Plea of having received no
I Advice, rdativc to the fc&ndalous Part you -were to aA, in the
i TeA'Scheme, can rto longer ferve your Purpofe, nor divert our
i* Attention, we «xp«<ft And defire yoo will immediately inform
the Public, by a Line or two to be left at theCoFFXX House,
j ■Whether tov will, or will not, renounce all Prctcnfions to
1 execute that Commiflion? that "WE MAY govern our-
I SELVES ACCORQIKGLY.
j Pbiladelfbid^ Lkcember a, 1773. I
'\ \ ^ _^ Jji|
VCj- ■ ^^"" -" ' '■■ ■' ■ ' ■ ■ >^^
letter, and a set of resolutions accompanying it, defended
the right of the colonies to give and grant their own
money through their own Assemblies; the Boston Port
Bill was denounced, and deep sympathy expressed for
Massachusetts; and a colonial congress was recommended.
Copies were sent to the other colonies, in order that a
united effort might be made throughout America to
let Great Britain know that a principle is far too dear
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 99
to be abandoned by the payment of a petty tax on
tea.
The people organize. Another and a larger meetnig
was held June 28, in the State House. Stirring resolu-
tions were again passed, similar to the others; the
governor was asked to call the Assembly together; a
congress of all the colonies was again recommended;
and a committee was appointed to correspond with
similar committees then organizing in the other counties
of the province. Governor Penn having declined to call
the Assembly, these committees were to be the nucleus
of a new organization in the movement against the
oppressive acts of England. Meetings were held through-
out the province "to take the sentiments of the inhab-
itants." Those who favored the liberty party were called
AMiigs, and those whose sympathies were with Great
Britain were called Tories.
The First Continental Congress. The Assembly was
asked to appoint delegates "to attend a Congress of
Deputies from the several colonies." The men appointed
were Josej)!! Galloway, Samuel Rhoads, Thomas Mifflin,
and John Dickinson, of Philadelphia; John Morton, of
Chester; Charles Humphreys, of Haverford; George Ross,
of Lancaster, and Edward Biddle, of Reading. These
were Pennsylvania's delegates to wliat has since been
known as the First Continental Congress, whose sessions
were held in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, Septem-
ber 5 to October 26. Dickinson was the leading
man among them. Of the six papers drawn up by
the Congress, he was the author of two — the famous
100 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
petition to the king, and the address to the people of
Canada.
On the third day, the Congress was opened with
prayer, after Samuel Adams had silenced the objections
of Jay and Rutledge by declaring: "I am no bigot; I
can hear a prayer from a man of piety and virtue, who is
at the same time a friend to his countr}^" The man
named for this sacred duty was Rev. Jacob Duche,
rector of Christ Church, and first chaplain of the Second
Continental Congress. News had just been received of
a bloody attack on the people by the troops at Boston;
and as the collect for the day was read, the members of
Congress believed that a rude soldiery was then infesting
the dwellings and taking the lives of the people of Boston.
Heaven itself seemed to dictate the words of Scripture,
the thirty-fifth Psalm, that memorable morning:
Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me:
fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield
and buckler, and stand up for mine help. . . .
Carpenters' HaU. Carpenters' Hall was built in 1770
by the Carpenters' Company, an organization formed
for giving instruction in architecture and assisting the
widows and children of poor members. After the meet-
ings of the First Congress, the building was occupied by
various bodies representing the province. The British
occupied it in 1777, the soldiers using the vane on the
cupola for target practice. The First and Second United
States Banks both transacted business within its walls
for several years. Later it served in all sorts of ca-
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 101
pacities — as customhouse, land office, music hall, meet-
inghouse, schoolhouse, horse market, furniture store. In
1857 the Carpenters again took possession of their an-
cient hall, and have since kept it open as an historic
relic. Half a million people visited the time-honored
l)uilding during the Centennial Exhibition, in 1876.
The Assembly ratifies the Acts of Congress. The re-
port of tlie proceedings of the First Continental Congress
was unanimously adopted by the Pennsylvania Assembly
early in December; and the province thus became a mem-
ber of the American Association designed to enforce
non-importation and non-consumption of British goods.
Biddle, Dickinson, Mifflin, Galloway, Humphreys, Mor-
ton, and Ross were elected delegates to the Second
Continental Congress, to meet May 10, 1775. Franklin,
on arriving from his ten years' sojourn in England, in
the spring of 1775, was at once added to the delega-
tion to take the place of Galloway, who would not
serve.
Redress of grievances sought. Pennsylvania's instruc-
tions to her delegates in the Second Congress were that
they should combine, if possible, a redress of griev-
ances with ''union and harmony between Great Britain
and the colonies." In this position Pennsylvania was
not alone; for the Americans generally had not yet given
up the hope of reconciliation. Independence seemed
probable, but not inevitable. Franklin, however, sup-
ported the boldest measures. " Make yourselves sheep,"
he would say, '' and the wolves will devour you." Dick-
inson favored a second petition to the king, and drafted
102 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
it; but the king "determined to listen to nothing from
the illegal Congress.''
A Continental army formed. On June 14, 1775, Con-
gress resolved to raise a Continental army. Its first
levy was for "six companies of expert riflemen to be
raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and tw() in
Virginia." A few days later two more companies were
ordered from Pennsylvania. Many persons declined to
perform militai'y duty on the ground of conscientious
scruples. All such wTre to contribute an equivalent
in money for military service. The eight companies of
volunteer riflemen, called by Congress, were raised with-
out any diflficulty. Lancaster County furnished two
instead of one, and so there were nine altogether. They
marched for Boston as soon as they were organized.
On July 1<S, Nagel's Berks County "Dutchmen"— the
first comjoany to be ready — arrived at Boston, and
within less than sixty days from the date of the call of
Congress, th(^ riflemen of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia were all with Washington — the first troops
called into the Continental army.
The Assembly tested. In April, the Assembly renewed
its instructions to the Pennsylvania delegates in Con-
gress not to give their consent to a separation or a change
of the proprietary government. But Congress, Ma}^ 15,
recommended state governments in the colonies, and
declared that all authority under the Crown should be
totally suppressed; and on June 7, Richard Henry Lee
in Congress proposed the independence of the colonies.
The next da}^ the Peimsylvania Assembly gave to its
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 103
delegates instructions which neither advised nor forbade
a declaration of independence, but left the question to
their "abihty, prudence and integrity." This doubtful
action proved the end of the Proprietary Assembly;
once only did it again have a (juorum of its members.
Instead of allowing the state government to be formed
by members of an Assembly sworn to support the king,
the people called a provincial convention for that pur-
pose.
Lee*s resolution for independence adopted. When, on
the first of July, the vote on Lee's resolution for independ-
ence was to be taken, the Pennsylvania delegation then
in Congress and present that day — Franklin, Dickinson,
Morris, Wilson, Morton, Humphreys, and Willing — were
divided, and cast their vote against it. Dickinson made
a great speech, the burden of which was that the time
was not yet ripe for such an important step. Wilson,
who had held the same view before, could now no longer
agree with Dickinson. Two other states — Delaware and
8out h ( arolina— voted nay; while New York, whose dele-
gates did not receive favorable instructions till after the
ado])tion of the d(H*laration, did not vote at all. The
next day Delaware voted aye; so did South Carolina.
1 )elaware's vote was changed by Ciesar Rodney, who rode
eighty miles on horseback to vote for independence.
Dickinson and Morris remaining away, Pennsylvania (by
the vote of Franklin, Wilson, and Morton, against Hum-
phreys and Willing) was also enabled to say aye on ''the
greatest question ever debated in America or ever decided
amonir men."
104 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The Declaration of Independence. The question of
independence was decided on the second day of July,
1776, but this date was not destined to become "the
most memorable epoch in the history of America.'' It
was the fourth day of July when Congress passed Jef-
ferson's Declaration of Independence, in which he set
forth the reasons for the act of the second of July. On
July 8th, the Declaration of Independence was read in
The Interior of Independence Hall
The Room in Which the Declaration of Independence Was Signed
the State House yard. At the same time the king's arms
were taken from the court room and jjublicly burned,
while merry chimes from the church steeples and peals
from the State House bell "proclaimed liberty through-
out the land."
The Declaration had to be engrossed, and so the docu-
ment was not signed until August 2. As Dickinson,
Humphreys, and Willing had in the meantime been
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 105
succeeded in Congress by other men, their names do not
appear among the signers of Pennsylvania, who were
Benjamin Frankhn, Robert Morris, Dr. Benjamin Rush,
and George Clymer, of Philadelphia; George Ross, of
Lancaster; James Smith, of York; James Wilson, of
Cumberland; George Taylor, of Northampton, and John
Morton, of Chester County.
Washington's retreat to Pennsylvania. Scarcely had
the peals of the Liberty Bell cUed out in the remote parts
of the country, when the drums of Washington's army
sounded the retreat across New Jersey, in the fall of 1776.
Pennsylvania was in consternation. Liberal bounties
were offered to volunteers; blankets and stockings were
begged for the soldiers; the militia of Philadelphia and
the counties around it were urged to join the army; and
aimed boats were sent to Trenton to transport W^ash-
ington's troops across the Delaware. In the midst of this
excitement. Congress fled to Baltimore. But Pennsyl-
vania's Committee of Safety cooperated with Washing-
ton, calling on every patriot ''to step forth at this crisis"
and reinforce the small and disheartened army of less than
three thousand men. The militia of Bucks, Northamp-
ton, and adjoining counties answered the call promptly.
Washington recrosses the Delaware. After crossing the
Delaware on his retreat, Washington made his head-
quarters at Newtown, Bucks County, while his army
was stationed eight miles above Trenton, at McConkey's
Ferry, near Taylorsville. The Pennsylvania militia were
stationed at Bristol, under Cadwalader, and at Morris-
ville, opposite Trenton, under Ewing. Some troops were
106 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
also stationed at Yardleyville and other points up the
river. Washington planned that on the night of Decem-
ber 2oth a combined attack on Trenton should be made
by himself, Ewing, and Cadwalader. Ewing, owing to
the ice in the river, made no attempt to cross it. Cad-
walader, with honest zeal, tried it; some of the men got
over, but the horses and artillery could not reach land
on account of the ice. After suffering in a driving snow-
storm for some hours, Cadwalader and his men returned
to camp and crept into their tents, without fire or light.
The story of Washington's crossing the Delaware is fa-
miliar to every schoolboy. Before night on the 26th he
had landed again in Pennsylvania with his thousand
Hessian prisoners and started them on their way to
Philadelphia, whence they were sent to Lancaster and
confined in barracks erected for the purpose.
Events of 1777. The year 1777 was to be a memora-
ble one for Pennsylvania. Many patriotic and heroic
deeds such as that of Robert Morris in Philadelphia on
New Year's morning, and John Kelley at Stony Greek
on January 3 (see page 230), were done before it closed.
Morris went from house to house in Philadelphia, rous-
ing the people out of bed, to borrow money of them.
Early in the day he sent Washington 150,000, with the
message: "Whatever I can do shall be done for the good
of the service; if further occasional supplies of money
are necessary, you may depend on my exertions, either
in a public or a private capacity." During the summer
the Whigs arrested some forty Tories. About half of
them signed their parole, promising not to say or do
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 107
anything against the United States, and then were dis-
charged. John Penn, the late governor, refused to make
this promise, and he was confined at Fredericksburg,
Virginia.
Howe approaches Philadelphia. The expected attack
on Philadelphia was set on foot by General Howe at
New York, July 5, 1777, when he embarked his troops.
On arriving at the capes of Delaware, he learned of the
obstructions {chevaux-de-frise) placed in the Delaware
by Pennsylvania's Committee of
Safety, and resolved to enter the
state by way of Chesapeake Bay,
anchoring his fleet in Elk River,
fifty-four miles from Philadelphia.
Congress, which had returned ^1
from Baltimore, called on the '^^
state for 4,000 miUtia. Wash-
ington reached Philadelphia Au- ^^^^ ^^^^^ American
oust 24, and led his troops, deco- Flag
^ated with sprays of green and As ^^'^^^^^^^^
carrying the Amencan flag tor
the first time, througli tlie streets of Pliiladelphia, to
encourage the patriots. Here the young Marquis de
Lafayette joined the army, to be wounded m his first
battle. Washington hastened on to meet the enemy.
By a secret movement, he took position on the high
grounds above Chadd's Ford, on the nortli side of the
Brandywine, directly in Howe's path.
The defeat at Brandywine. Early on the morning
of September U, the British, with a small part of their
108 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
army under Knyphausen, tried to make Washington
believe that they intended to cross the Brandywine at
Chadd's Ford. But he received information that their
main body, under Howe and CornwalhS; would cross the
river at a ford higher up. 80 he sent word to General
Sullivan, second in command, to meet Howe and Corn-
wallis and hold them in check, while he himself would
defeat Knyphausen first and then join the attack on
the main body of the enemy. Just as AVashington was
about to attack Knyphausen, a message came from Sul-
livan that the British were not coming from the north,
and that therefore he had disobeyed orders. But Wash-
ington had been correctly informed. Howe had crossed
the Brandywine above the forks at Trimble's and Jef-
feris' fords, and soon fell upon Sullivan above the Bir-
mingham meetinghouse.
Washington, leaving General Wayne to oppose Knyp-
hausen at Chadd's Ford, hastened to the assistance of
Sullivan; but this general had already given way to the
unexpected attack of the British and was in retreat.
When Washington came up, his own troops at first fell
in with the fleeing soldiers of Sullivan; but Greene's
corps, which included a division of Pennsylvanians fight-
ing on their native soil, was finally planted in a position
where it could hold its ground against the British till
nightfall. General Wayne made a gallant stand against
Knyphausen; but the defeat of the American right wing
compelled him at last to retreat and abandon his cannon
to the Hessian commanded'. General Greene was the
last to quit the field, when darkness made further resist-
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 109
ance impossible. Washington's army retreated to Ches-
ter that night, and the next day to Germantown.
Consternation in Philadelphia. Howe's success on the
Brandy wine aroused much fear in Philadelphia and its
vicinity. Church bells were sunk in the river or carried
away. The Liberty Bell was hidden under the floor
of Zion's Reformed church, in Allentown; the state
archives were carried to Easton; and the state govern-
ment was removed to Lancaster. The members of Con-
gress rose in the night and fled to Lancaster, and thence
to York. The wounded in battle were sent to Ephrata
and other places, and Lafayette was cared for by the
Moravians at Bethlehem. Many of the farmers, with
their families and their horses and cattle, sought safety
in the outlying counties. To prevent the British from
entering Philadelphia before another blow could be
struck, the floating bridges on the Schuylkill were re-
moved.
The massacre at Paoli. As soon as Washington had
supplied his army at Germantown with provisions and
ammunition, he recrossed the Schuylkill, followed the
Lancaster turnpike, and met the British at W^arren Tav-
ern, a little west of Paoli; but a heavy rain drenched the
cartridges, and he had to retire. He left General Wayne
with 1,500 men near Paoli, to fall upon and destroy
Howe's baggage. The British learned of Wayne's posi-
tion, and made a sudden attack on the camp in the dead
of night. With the cry of ''no quarter," they bay-
oneted the Americans. Some of the victims passed
from the sleep of night into the sleep of eternity without
no A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
waking. The loss was heavy to bear, and opened the
way to Philadelphia for the British.
Howe takes Philadelphia. The massacre of Paoli oc-
curred on the night of September 20. By several skilful
maneuvers, General Howe, a few nights later, crossed
the Schuylkill below Valley Forge and took possession
of Philadelphia. The American army, too weak to offer
resistance, encamped at Skippack Creek, north of Ger-
man town. The fact that Washington did not prevent
Howe from crossing the Schuylkill was the chief ground
on which, the following winter, his enemies sought to
have him removed from command of the army. Even
John Adams cried out in despair after the massacre at
Paoli: " 0, Heaven grant us one great soul! One leading
mind would extricate the best cause from that ruin
which seems to await it!"
Howe constructed a line of redoubts from the Dela-
ware to the Schuylkill, along the present lines of Poplar,
Green, and Callowhill streets. He also posted a strong
force at Germantown, extending from the mouth of the
Wissahickon to the Old York Road.
The battle of Germantown. Washington broke camp
on the evening of October 3, and arrived at Germantown
at three o'clock on the morning of the 4th. General
Armstrong with the Pennsylvania militia moved along
the banks of the Schuylkill, to fall upon the Hessians
at the mouth of the AVissahickon. Wayne and Sullivan
went down the main street of Germantown to attack the
British at Market Square. Greene followed a round-
about route by way of the Lime Kiln road, to attack the
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
111
right wing of the enemy and drive them in upon the
center at the same time that Wayne and SuUivan should
attack them in the front.
The battle was to begin on all quarters precisely at
five o'clock. Armstrong could not drive the Hessians
from their position and get in the rear of the British
center, as was intended. Wayne and Sullivan, how-
ever, forced Howe's center at Market Square into con-
fusion, so that the British commander had to cry, ''For
shame, light infantry!
I never saw you re-
treat before. Form!
form! It is only a
scouting party." Tlie
British Colonel Mus
grove quickly took
possession of the large
and strong stone man-
sion of Chief Justice
Chew, and used it as a fort to check the advance of
Wayne, whose memories of Paoli found expression in
the cry, "Have it at the bloodhounds! Revenge!
Revenge!" Not willing "to leave an enemy in a fort
in the rear," the Americans tried in vain to set the
mansion on fire and batter it down with cannon balls.
This diverson gave the British time to form for battle
and get reinforcements from Philadelphia.
When Greene arrived, almost an hour late, he was
outflanked, and after fifteen minutes of heavy firing was
driven back. Though Washington had placed a regi-
The Chew Mansion at Germantown
112 A SHORT HLSTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ment around Chew's maii.siun, with orders not to cannon-
ade it again, one of Greene's divisions opened fire on it
once more. As this occurred in the rear of Wayne's
division, he mistook it for the enemy's fire, and retreated
in haste. An early morning fog added greatly to the
confusion. At about half-})ast eight Washington, see-
ing that the day was lost, ordered a retreat, which was
made in perfect order, to Perkiomen Creek.
The loss of the forts on the Delaware. The forts and
vessels commanding the Delaware were next attacked by
General Howe, in order to get the fleet under his brother.
Admiral Howe, to Philadelphia. There were three
forts — Mifflin, Mercer, and Billingsport. Between these
forts were stretched the chevaux-de-frise, and above lay
the American fleet. Billingsport had l^een abandoned
to the enemy before the battle of Germantown, and on
October 22 a body of Hessians, aided by the British
fleet, made an assault on Fort Mercer. They were
repulsed, with the loss of 400 men. Howe's men-of-war
were equally unsuccessful, having been driven down the
river by Commodore Hazlewood's Pennsylvania state
fleet.
The attack on Fort Mifflin was heroically resisted for
six long days and nights, until palisades, parapets, and
blockhouses had been leveled to the ground, and 250
of its 300 defenders had been killed and wounded. The
fort was then burned and the garrison removed to Red
Bank. With the fall of Fort Mifflin, Fort Mercer had
to be abandoned also. The state fleet succeeded in
steahng past the city at night into the upper waters of
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 113
the Delaware; but the Continental fleet was less fortu-
nate, and had to be set on fire and burned.
The Battle of the Kegs. Admiral Howe's fleet now
came up the Delaware and took a position in front of
Philadelphia. On January 5, 1778, the men of the Penn-
sylvania fleet executed a scheme to destroy it. ^A num-
ber of machines resembling kegs were prepared at
Burlington and i:)laced in the river, to l)C carried down
by the current. The kegs had spring locks so contrived
as to explode on coming in contact with a vessel. Unfor-
tunately the British fleet kei)t close to the wharves to
avoid the ice. As the kegs moved past the city, broad-
side after broadside was hurled at them. Every chip,
stick, and drift-log felt the vigor of the British guns.
The affair was most ludicrous. Erancis Hopkinson
ridiculed it in a ballad entitled ^'The Battle of the
Kegs."
The winter at Valley Forge. Washington chose the
defensive in his strong cam}) at White Marsh. Here he
was attacked by Howe, December 4. After a skirmish
with the Pennsylvania militia and a sharp action at Edge
Hill, the British retired to Philadelphia without "driv-
ing General Washington over the Blue Mountain," as
Howe had threatened to do. And then began a chapter
in Pennsylvania history whose events make the spot on
which they occurred most sacred. Valley Forge! The
American army reached this place about December 19.
It is a deep, rugged hollow on the west side of the Schuyl-
kill, about' six miles above Norristown. The soldiers
were too poorly clad to live in tents; so huts, sixteen by
8
114 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
fourteen feet, in the form of a village, were made with
logs, and twelve men were assigned to each cabin.
Washington reported that when the army went into
camp at Valley Forge " no less than 2,898 men were unfit
for duty because they were barefoot and otherwise
naked." They often sat up all night by the fires to keep
warm. There was a scarcity of provisions, the soldiers
being without meat or bread for days at a time. Wash-
ington had to issue a proclamation, commanding that
one half of the grain in
store within seventy
miles of his camp
should be threshed
out before the first
of February and the
other half before the
first of March. The
British gold at Phila-
delphia was more de-
sirable than the Con-
tinental bills, and therefore many farmers sent their
provisions to Howe. Horses and wagons being scarce,
the patriots yoked themselves to little wagons of their
own making, or, like beggars, carried their wood and
provisions on the back. Even straw to lay on the cold,
wet earth in the cabins was wanting. There was no lack
of provisions and clothing in the country; but by mis-
management in Congress the army was not supplied
with them.
Washington felt most keenly for his men, a fact well
Washington's Headquarters at
Valley Forge
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 115
attested by the prayer which went up from his head-
ciuarters in the house of Isaac Potts. Added to these
trials, were the famous plot of General Conway, the
attempt to ahenate Lafayette, and the clamor of Con-
gress and the Pennsylvania Assembly that he should
drive the British out of Philadelphia. But Washington
stood faithfully by his men as they lay helpless and
groaning in Valley Forge.
Howe's winter in Philadelphia. While the Americans
were experiencing all this suffering, Howe's army had
one long round of pleasure in Philadelphia. The days
were spent in pastime and the nights in entertainments.
As Franklin said, "Howe did not take Philadelphia-
Philadelphia took Howe." The officers played cricket
and had cockfights. A theater was established on South
Street. Major Andre painted the curtain, and was the
soul of the enterprise. Quite different was the lot of the
American prisoners of war in Walnut Street jail! The
treatment they received was cruel, the food was not fit
for swine, and the dead were tumbled into pits in
Washington Square.
In the spring Howe was superseded by Chnton; and
the officers gave a grand fete to the departing General.
It was the famous mischianza— ''a combination of the
regatta, the tournament, the banquet, and the ball."
It was held at the country seat of Thomas Wharton in
Southwark, and began in the afternoon of May 18 with
a grand regatta, which started down the Delaware from
the foot of Green Street and landed at the foot of Wash-
ino-ton Avenue. Here the procession of gay officers,
116 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
beautiful ladies, and prominent citizens, headed l)y all
the bands of the army, formed in line and marched
between grenadiers and troopers up the slope to Whar-
ton's mansion. Then followed a tournament. The
festivities of the evening consisted of dancing, faro,
fireworks, and feasting! And it lasted until the sun
came up over the Jerseys.
Once, while this revelry was at its height, the sound
of cannon was heard in the north. The British officers
explained to their frightened partners in the dance that
it was a part of the ceremony. But it was not. A
dashing fellow from Washington's army, hearing of the
mischianza, took a squad of men in the darkness to the
line of redoubts between the Delaware and the Schuyl-
kill, i)ainted everything within reach with tar, and at a
given signal set it on fire. The flames that shot up all
along Poplar Street startled Howe's army, and every can-
non from river to river was fired. The British cavalry
dashed out into the night, but the daring Americans
were nowhere to be found.
Philadelphia evacuated by the British. Six days after
this pageant of folly, Sir Henry Clinton decided to evac-
uate Philadelphia. The British learned that the Ameri-
can ca])ital was not of much importance to them after
all. The Congress had fled on wheels, and Pennsyl-
vania had remained loyal to the colonial cause. Wash-
ington's army, now thoroughly drilled by Baron
Steuben, a Prussian officer who had come to Valley
Forge in February, became a source of danger to
the British. Besides, a French fleet was on the way
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 117
to New York, and that city required the presence of
Chnton.
Just before the evacuation, on the IStli of June, three
peace commissioners from England arrived in Philadel-
phia, and were wilhng to gratify "every wish that
America had expressed." But it was too late. Franklin
and his associates had secured an alliance with France;
and the American Congress refused to entertain such
propositions. It is said that Joseph Reed, one of Penn-
sylvania's delegates in Congress, was offered 10,000
pounds sterhng and the best office in the colonies if he
would promote the plans for peace ; but that he promptly
rephed: "I am not worth purchasing; but such as I am,
the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it."
Clinton's army crossed the Delaware at Camden and
Gloucester, New Jersey, in great haste; while the fleet,
with several thousand Tory refugees and all their
possessions on board, floated slowly down the bay.
''The sky sparkled with stars; the air of the summer
night was soft and tranciuil, as the exiles, broken in
fortune and without a career, went with despair from
the only city they could love."
After the evacuation. Washington moved his army
out of \'alley Forge, followed Chnton, and soon after-
ward fought the battle of Monmouth, where MoUie
Pitcher, of Carlisle, made herself famous. General
Arnold was put in command of Philadel})hia, to prevent
the disorders that were expected when the Whigs would
return. Congress came back from York June 25, and
the state government from Lancaster the next day.
118 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
President Wharton having died, George Bryan, vice-
president of the Supreme Executive Council, performed
the duties of the president.
The Whigs now began to punish the Tories. The
Assembly passed an ''act for the attainder of divers
traitors," among whom were Joseph Galloway, Rev.
Jacob Duche, and the Aliens. The Quakers and the
German sects were special objects of suspicion because
they thought it wrong to take up arms. Active measures
were taken for the trial of all persons accused of high
treason; but only a few were executed. The excitement
during the trial ran high; and Benedict Arnold, who him-
self was afterwards court-martialed for lawless conduct
while in command of Philadelphia, was not able to re-
press the disorder that arose. He speculated in govern-
ment contracts, grew rich, and associated with the aris-
tocracy, marrying one of its daughters, the beautiful
Peggy Shippen, before ''he fled from incjuiry."
The Wyoming massacre. The year 1778 is remembered
in Pennsylvania by one other event — the Wyoming
massacre. After Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, the
British organized the Tories and Indians to make war
upon the frontiers of New York, Pennsylvania, and Vir-
ginia. It was assumed, and correctly, that the Ameri-
cans could give little attention to the frontier, because
all their available forces would be required to oppose
Howe after he had entered Pennsylvania. So the savages
were set loose like hounds to murder and devastate.
In the month of June the people of Wyoming became
aware of the approach of a large force of Tories and
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 119
Indians under Colonel John Butler. An appeal for help
was made to Congress, as nearly all the able-bodied men
of Wyoming were in the Continental army; but no help
came. So when the enemy appeared in the valley,
Colonel Zebulon Butler, of the Revolutionary army, who
was home on a furlough, had only about three hundred
raw recruits to oppose the enemy. Many people, with
their families, had collected at Forty Fort, a little above
the present site of Kingston. Here, on the third of July,
Colonel Zebulon Butler, with Colonel Dennison second
in command, started with his little band to meet a force
three times as large.
The engagement began late in the afternoon. At first
the fight was spirited on both sides, but the men of Wy-
oming could not long resist the superior numbers. An
order to fall back to a better position was misunderstood
as a signal for retreat. The enemy then sprang forward,
sounded the war whoop from one end of the line to the
other, rushed in with tomahawk and spear, and defeated
the band of heroic farmers. Only about fifty escaped,
and those who did not fall in battle were put to death on
the field in the most cruel manner. The refugees in
Forty Fort, consisting of old men, women, and children,
were allowed to depart to their homes.
The Indians soon began to rob, burn, plunder, and
destroy in every direction, in spite of an agreement that
they would not. In a week or ten days these depreda-
tions became so numerous and heartrending that all the
settlers who could get away, fled. Some went to Sun-
bury; others to New York and Connecticut; but most
120 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
of them took refuge in the wilderness of the Pokono
Mountains, and finally reached Stroudsburg. Those who
sought safety in these mountains had nothing to eat
except whortleberries. Some perished in a great swamp,
which has ever since been known as The Shades of
Death.
Other frontier massacres. The Wyoming massacre
w^as not the only one in Pennsylvania in the war of the
Revolution. From 1777 to 1784, the frontiers of the
state w^ere one vast region of bloody massacres. Im-
mediately after that of Wyoming, the wild, precipitate
flight, known as the Great Runaway, occurred in the val-
ley of the West Branch. All summer the tomahaw^k and
scalping knife had been doing their deadly work there,
and when the news of the massacre on the North Branch
arrived, the West Branch above Sunbury and North-
umberland was abandoned l^y the settlers. Boats,
canoes, hog-troughs, rafts, and every sort of floating
thing were crowded with women and children. The
men came down in single file, on each side of the river,
and acted as guards. Sunbury became a frontier town,
and the country below — Harris' Ferry, Paxtang, and
Middletown — was filled with the unfortunate refugees.
Wilham Maclay wrote from Sunbury to I^hiladelphia,
"For God's sake send us re-inforcements." Bedford
and Westmoreland counties and the country about Pitts-
burg were likewise sorely afflicted at tliis time.
A regiment of Gontinental troops w^as dispatched
from Valley Forge some time in the spring for the relief
of the western frontier. Most of these soldiers had
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 121
enlisted from beyond the mountains early in the war, and
they were now glad to go back to defend their wives and
children. The next year Sullivan's expedition started
from Easton/ and marched by way of ^^^yoming into the
country of the Six Nations in New York. He defeated
an army of Tories and Indians, and destroyed many
Indian villages. But the punishment had no lasting ef-
fect. The ravages continued. Other expeditions were
organized, notably at Fort Pitt; and the border warfare
raged until 1784.
Paper money troubles. The state, meanwhile, had
issued much paj^er money, about four times as much
as was needed for the transaction of business; and
prices were high and fluctuating. These conditions were
very favorable for speculators. A law was passed fixing
the price of certain articles, in order to destroy specula-
tion, and prohibiting the exportation of goods needed
by the people. But these measures gave little relief.
The militia at one time marched down Chestnut Street,
posting placards against Morris, Wilson, and others sus-
pected of being speculators. At Wilson's house they
stopped and killed the captain of the guard, and broke
into the hallway, where there was stabbing and clubbing.
The abolition of slavery. The question of slavery,
which had periodically disturbed the ruling class in
Pennsylvania ever since the protest of Pastorius, came
up for final settlement early in 1780. The Friends, in
their quarterly and yearly meetings, had repeatedly
advised against importing and purchasing negroes. As
early as 1705, a duty was imposed on slave importation.
122 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
In 1711 it was forbidden altogether, but England re-
fused to let this order stand. The following year, upon
petition ^'signed by many hands," the Assembly assessed
20 pounds a head on imported negroes, thinking so high
a duty would be prohibitory; but the act was vetoed by
the Crown. A letter written by a merchant in 1715 to
an importer in Jamaica says: "I must entreat you to
send me no more negroes for sale, for our people don't
care to buy them. They are generally against any com-
ing into the country."
Yet, in spite of all opposition, it was common before
the Revolution to sell blacks of both sexes publicly at
the coffeehouses in Philadelphia. Family servants were
sent to jail to get their dozen lashes as pimishment.
But the laws regulating their conduct and punishment
were always humane. They enjoyed as much liberty as
their masters, generally lived under the same roof, and
were well fed and well clad. The final movement for the
abolition of slavery was made in 1779 by the Supreme
Executive Council, in their message to the Assembly:
Honored will that state be in the annals of mankind which
shall first abolish this violation of the rights of mankind; and
the memories of those will be held in grateful and everiasting
remembrance who shall pass the law to restore and establish
the rights of human nature in Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 17(S0, George Bryan, ex- vice-president of
the state, now a member of the Assembly, presented a
bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania,
and urged its passage with great earnestness. It passed
by a vote of 34 to 21. By its operation there were 3,737
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 123
slaves left in the state in 1790; 1,706 in 1800; 795 in
1810; 211 in 1820; and 67 in 1830.
The revolt at Morristown. The opening of the year
1781 brought President Reed of the Pennsylvania Coun-
cil face to face with a very serious problem. The Penn-
sylvania Line, in Washington's army at Morristown, had
for some time been dissatisfied with the treatment they
were receiving at the hands of Congress. Some had been
kept in the army beyond their time of enlistment; back
pay was due to all; and the money they had received was
worthless. On New Year's day the Line broke out into
open revolt and left the camp for Princeton. Here they
were met by two spies, who tried to induce them to join
the British army; but these were handed over to Wash-
ington and executed.
When Wayne, their commander, met the Pennsyl-
vanians at Princeton, he pro])osed that they reduce their
grievances to writing. This being done, President Reed
and a committee of Congress set out to meet the men.
Before entering their camj), Reed sent a note to Wayne,
asking whether it was safe for him to go within the
picket line of the insurgents. Their committee replied
that he need have no fear, that the whole Line was
anxious to have him settle the unhappy affair. After a
hard-fought battle of words, the difficulty was settled
by Reed; and the Pennsylvania Line marched to Virginia
to take a most honorable part in the closing battles of
the Revolution. When offered a reward for delivering
up the two spies, they refused it, saying: " Our necessities
compelled us to demand justice from our government;
124 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
we ask no reward for doing our duty to our country
against its enemies."
Complete exhaustion of the state. The revolt of the
Pennsylvania Line at Morristown showed how com-
pletely the resources of the state were exhausted.
Pennsylvania was not only the residence of Congress,
with all its train of attendants and officers, but the state
was also the headquarters of the military brancli of the
Continental government. From this region the quarter-
master principally drew his wagons, his horses, his camp
equipage of all kinds, besides a great number of wagoners
and mechanics. Prisoners of war and state had been
taken care of by Pennsylvania. All this was done at
great expense to the state, and burdened it with a heavy
load of debt. The substance of the people had been used,
and in its place they had nothing but money made of
rags.
The end of the war. The Executive Council, in April,
1788, proclaimed the news that the preliminary treaty
of peace had been signed, and ordered the state flag to
be hoisted and the bells to be rung. The prisoners of
war confined in barracks at Carlisle, Lancaster, and
Reading were brought to Philadelphia and sent to New
York. The chevmix-de-frise were removed from the
Delaware, that the white wings of commerce might
again flutter over its waters.
Congress leaves Philadelphia. But before the Quaker
City could fully enjoy peace, a number of officers and
soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line, in June, came from
Lancaster and were joined by others, to demand of the
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 125
Council and Congress a settlement of their accounts.
Their demands were so insolent that the Council rejected
them. Congress urged that the militia be called out to
disarm the insurgents, but Dickinson did not favor a
step so serious. Then Congress resolved to leave, and
adjoiu'ned to meet at Princeton. The leaders in tliis
unfortunate affair were arrested and court-martialed.
Two sergeants were sentenced to be shot and others were
to b(* flogged: but all were subsequently pardoned. The
Assembly and the j)eoj)le of Philadelphia urged Congress
to return, promising ample protection if it would do
justice to the army and public creditors. But it resumed
its sessions at Anna])olis.
Problems of peace. The state now turned its atten-
tion to trade and industry. Commissioners were ap-
j)()inted to estimate the cost of opening roads and canals
between the Sus(iuehanna and the Schuylkill. The
islands in the Delaware were cUvided between New
.hu'sey and Pennsylvania, according to proximity, and
distributed among the several counties along the river.
Th(^ two states were to have equal authority between
the banks.
Citizenship. Laws had been passed in 1777 requiring
tlu; oath of allegiance of all persons above eighteen
years of age, in order to enjoy "the blessings of liberty
and citizenship." It was a test of loyalty, and those
who refused to take it were regarded as Tories. Some
of these did sympathize with Great Britain; but others
declined to take the oath on account of religious scruples.
In some places the number of persons qualified to hold
126 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
office was insufficient to administer the local government.
In 1789 all disfranchised persons were restored to citizen-
ship.
Franklin as President of Pennsylvania. Franklin re-
turned in 1785 from his nine years' service in Europe,
He was soon afterward elected to the Executive Coun-
cil and made its president. He thus became the chief
executive of Pennsylvania at the extreme age of eighty
years, and served until 1788.
It was a singular coincidence that during the first
year of the great scientist's administration, numerous
£^^^^"
A Model of Fitch's Steamboat
applications for aid were made to the Assembly by
scientific inventors. One had made a crucible from
blue-stone; another wanted to convert bar-iron into
steel; still another had a machine to clean wheat and
make it into flour. A fourth inventor asked encourage-
ment in the making of tube-bellows for blacksmiths;
and John Fitch asked for the exclusive rights of steam
navigation in Pennsylvania. Three years later one of
Fitch's improved steam-packets carried passengers reg-
ularly for three months, from Philadelphia to Burlington,
New Jersey.
The Constitutional Convention. In 1787 Philadelphia
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 127
again became the scene of a great Federal event — the
formation of the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitutional Convention went into session May 25,
in the State House, and after a stormy session of four
months, ended its labors September 17. The delegates
from Pennsylvania were all from Philadelphia — Benja-
min Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George
Clymer, Thomas Fitz Simons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wil-
son, and Gouverncur Morris. Pennsylvania's delegation
was the largest.
Franklin in the convention. The venerable president
of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin, now eighty-one
years old, was the patriarch of the convention. The
Doctor's speeches, on account of his physical infirmities,
were read by his colleague, Mr. Wilson. It was Frankhn
who proposed daily prayers in the convention, and urged
a spirit of concihation when the contest about represen-
tation in Congress waxed hot, saying, ''We are here to
consult, not to contend." He advocated representation
in Congress based on population; he opposed property
(luahfication for representatives; and he was always a
])ower when he spoke.
While the members were signing their names, Franklin,
looking towards President Washington's chair, on the
back of which was cut a sun, said to those around him:
"I have often and often, in the course of the session,
and in the sohcitude of my hopes and fears as to its issue,
looked at that figure behind the President without being
able to tell whether it was the rising or the setting sun.
Now I know it is the rising sun."
128 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania's members of the convention. Mifflin,
though saying but Httle, was prominent and influen-
tial as a general of the Revolution and a member of
Congress. Robert Morris proposed General Washington
as president of the convention and was well known to
the members as the great financier of the Revolution.
Clymer was one of the members who had the honor of
having signed the Declaration of Independence; he made
several speeches and, with Sherman, of Connecticut,
was instrumental in keeping the term dave out of the
Constitution of the United States. Fitz Simons was
a rich merchant, and objected to the prohibition of a
tax on exports. Ingersoll, a leading lawyer, took little
part, but afterward accjuired a national reputation.
James Wilson was the best-read lawyer on the floor;
whatever of Blackstone went into the Constitution was
tested by him. Gouverneur Morris has credit for more
remarks and speeches than any other member of the
convention except Madison. As chairman of the Com-
mittee on Arrangement and Style, Morris deserves credit
for the clear and simple language of the Constitution.
Pennsylvania acts on the Constitution. While the
thirty-nine members of the convention were signing the
Constitution on the afternoon of September 17th in a
lower room of the State House, the Pennsylvania As-
sembly sat in a room above. On the same day that the
Congress in New York took its final action on the Con-
stitution, and without knowing what that action was,
George Clymer moved in the Assembly that a conven-
tion meet in Philadelphia to consider the adoption of
Benjamin Franklin
130 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
the new Constitution. The motion carried by a vote of
43 to 19; but before fixing the time and manner of
election for this convention, the Assembly took a recess,
to meet in the afternoon. The nineteen men opposed to
the convention remained away after the recess; and as
it took forty-six to make a (juorum, the Assembly had
to adjourn until the next morning.
Independence Hall, the First State House of Pennsylvania
As it was now known that Congress had called on the
states to ratify the Constitution, it was supposed that
the opposition of the nineteen men would give way; but
it did not. A quorum had to be secured by dragging the
members from Franklin and Dauphin counties — McCal-
mont and Miley— from their lodgings to the State House.
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 131
With clothes torn into shreds and faces white with rage,
the two men were made to sit in their phices until the
call for the convention was complete. Thus it happened
that Pennsylvania called a convention to consider the
Federal Constitution twenty hours after the Congress in
New York had agreed to submit it to the states, and
twelve days after it had been finished by the Constitu-
tional Convention.
Pennsylvania adopts the Constitution. The campaign
for the election of delegates was fierce. Wilson was the
chanii)ion on the side of the Federalists, as the supporters
of the Constitution were called. He made a powerful
speech in favor of adoption in the State House yard.
"Centinel," who wrote letters for the newspapers, took
the opposite side, and was often abusive, not even sparing
AA'ashington and Franklin. In his letters Robert Morris
was "13obby, the Cofferer"; Mifflin, "Tommy, the
Quartermaster-General"; Gouverneur Morris, ''Gouvera,
the cunning man." The convention ratified the Consti-
tution December 12, by a vote of 46 to 23.
Celebration of the Constitution. Pennsylvania being
the second state to ratify the Constitution, not much
demonstration was made at the time. But when, on
June 21, 1788, New Hampshire, the ninth state, ratified
it, Philadeli)hia and other towns resolved to celebrate the
new Union on the 4th of July. The enthusiasm was un-
bounded, but generally peaceable. Here and there, the
Anti-Federalists interfered with the celebrations. A
serious riot broke out in the town of Carlisle. Thomas
McKean and James Wilson were burned in effigy, can-
132 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
lion were s{)iked, and a copy of the Constitution was
burned.
President Washington. In April, 1789, Philadelphia
gave a royal welcome to Washington, the first President
of the United States, as he passed through on his way to
New York. The floating bridge at Gray's Ferry was so
elaborately decorated that the company passed over the
Schuylkill as along a green lane. Arches of laurel
spanned each end; and just as the carriage of the Presi-
dent went under the western arch, a laurel wreath was
lowered upon his brow by a child clad in white. After a
banquet and fourteen toasts at Philadelj)hia, Washington
resumed his journey.
CHAPTER VII
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860
Pennsylvania under a new constitution; Governor
Mifflin. A now constitution for the state was adopted
in 1790, and the last president of the state under the old
constitution, General Mifflin, was elected the first gov-
ernor under the new. He served three successive terms,
until 1799. With his administration began the system
of internal improvements for which the state became
noted. The Delaware, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna were
to be made navigable and connected with one another
by canals. This eastern system was then to be linked in
the same way to the waters of the Allegheny, Lake Erie,
and Lake Ontario. The legislature also recommended
a turn])ike from Philadelphia to Lancaster, as wtII as
I'oads in other parts of the state.
The yellow fever. In 1793 the yellow fever appeared
in Philadelphia. It lasted f'rom August to November,
and carried off about five thousand people. The streets
were deserted by all except those who buried the dead.
Some 17,000 persons left the city, or one third of the
population. Germantown was a favorite gathering
place for the fugitives. The government offices of
both the state and the nation were moved to that
town.
133
134 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The whisky insurrection. In March, 1791, Congress
laid a tax of twenty-five cents a gallon on whisky
manufactured in the United States. At that time the
Mississippi River was not yet open to the Americans
for transportation; hence the farmers around Pittsburg
had no outlet for their grain. So they turned it into
whisky, which was not so bulky and found a market
nearer home. The inhabitants of that section had an
inborn hatred for excise taxes. Their Scotch-Irish
ancestors had resisted such taxes in Ireland. Moreover,
the Revolution had been fought without a tax by the
United States government; and the pioneers beyond the
mountains could not understand why one was necessary
now.
So in September, 1791, when a collector appeared in
Washington County, he was fiercely assaulted and had
to flee for his life. Resistance to the tax continued
during the next few years. In July, 1794, the house of
an inspector, General Neville, was surrounded by a
company of militia, and one of their number was killed
by the shots that were exchanged. The next day
Neville's house and barn were burned, but not until the
leader of the militia. Major McFarlane, a veteran of the
Revolution, had been shot by the occupants. The death
of McFarlane greatly incensed the people, and a mass
meeting was held on Braddock's Field. It was resolved
to march to Pittsburg, where the Federal collectors had
their headquarters. Fearing the town would be burned
by the "Whisky Boys," the people sent out a committee
to reason with them. By the tact of Judge Bracken-
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 135
ridge, who preferred ''the loss of four barrels of old
whisky to the loss of a quart of blood," they were led
through the town and out of it again without doing
any harm.
A Federal army restores peace. Pittsburg was saved
by a "free treat," but the Federal government, as well
as that of the state, now concluded that something must
be done to end the disturbance. President Washington
sent a commission to make peace, if possible, and
ordered an army of 12,000 men to be collected from
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
Governor Mifflin sent Chief Justice McKean and General
William Irvine to ascertain the state of the rebellion,
and called a special session of the legislature. Judge
Brackenridge and Albert Gallatin acted as mediators
between the commissioners and the insurrectionists, and
after a month of hard work came to an agreement. All
those willing to do so were to sign papers signifying their
submission to the government; but many failed to sign.
Washington, therefore, ordered an advance of the
army. Soon afterward William Findlay, at the head of
a committee, met him at Carlisle," whither the President
had come, and assured him that peace would be restored.
Washington rei:)lied that the army was already on the
march, but that no violence would be used if the insur-
rectionists had submitted. No further resistance was
offered. Six persons were indicted for treason, of whom
two were convicted. These two were rough and ignorant
men, who had been misled by others, and so Washington
pardoned tliem. It had been demonstrated that the
136 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Federal government was no rope of sand, to be broken
whenever a state or a part of a state was opposed to a law.
Foreign political relations. The difficulties of the
Federal government with France and England, when
those nations commenced war with each other in 1793,
made themselves felt in Pennsylvania. Jay's treaty
with England, made the following year, caused such a
division of the Americans that they were all either
Frenchmen or Englishmen in their politics. Genet, the
French minister, received the most flattering attention
from the day he arrived until he was recalled. When
Adet, his successor, ordered all Frenchmen in America
to wear the tricolored French cockade, everybody in
Philadelphia wore it. Governor Mifflin and his asso-
ciates in the state government openly sympathized with
France. However, when in 1798 it seemed that the
United States might be drawn into war against France,
Governor Mifflin called on the militia to prepare for
defense. Joseph Hopkinson's "Hail Columbia," sung
for the first time in a Philadelphia theater April 25, 1798,
to the tune of ''The President's March," added greatly
to the war feeling. The words were caught up and re-
peated throughout the country.
The state capital at Lancaster. The agitation for the
removal of the ca])ital from Philadelphia began in 1784.
In that year a committee, which had been appointed to
see about opening communication with the Susquehanna,
reported that John Harris of Harris' Ferry, had offered
to give the state some land which it might use for public
purposes. Soon afterward other interior towns made
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860
137
ilfir
efforts to secure the capital; but Harrisburg and Lan-
caster were the principal competitors. Carlisle and
Wright's Ferry were also voted for. At last Lancaster
was selected to be the seat of government after the first
Monday of November, 1799.
Fries' Rebellion. Early in Adams's administration,
the Federal government imposed the so-called house
tax, which required the assessors to measure and register
the panes of glass in windows. To the Germans the
tax seemed tyranni-
cal, and in the coun-
ties of Berks, Lehigh,
Northampton, Mont-
gomery, and Bucks
they resisted the en-
forcement of the law.
From the fact that
the women in certain
places poured hot
water on the asses-
sors, the insurrection
got the name of Hot
Water Rebellion; while through its leader it received also
the name of Fries' Rebellion. John Fries, a soldier of the
Revolution, was a well-known character in the German
section north of Philadelphia. He was an auctioneer,
and was endowed with the power of leadership. With a
plumed hat on his head, a pistol and a sword at his side,
his little dog ''A\liisky" at his heels, and about sixty
armed men around him, he marched from place to place,
The Sun Inn at Bethlehem
138 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
to the .sound of fife and drum, and harangued the Ger-
mans on the mjustice of the house tax.
Fries kept up this agitation for several montlis before
the government took any notice of it. Finally, a United
States marshal arrested twelve of his men and confined
them in the Sun Inn, Bethlehem. Fries went to their
rescue. He appeared before the inn in March, 1799, and
demanded the surrender of the prisoners. The marshal
had to yield, and Fries marched away in triumph. By
order of President Adams, Governor Mifflin now called
out the militia, and Fries, betrayed by his dog " Whisky,"
was captured in a swamp south of Allen town. He was
tried in Philadelphia for high treason, convicted, and
condemned to die; but President Adams pardoned
him.
Governor McKean. The successor to Mifflin was
Thomas McKean, then Chief Justice. He, too, served
three successive terms, 1799-1808. In a speech after his
election he applied to the Federalists the epithets,
''traitors, refugees, Tories, French aristocrats, British
agents, apostate Whigs"; and he removed the old soldiers
of the Revolution from office as fast as he could. For
this conduct he received a vote of censure in the Senate,
and narrowly escaped a like rebuke from the House.
This unhappy beginning resulted in a bitter contest with
the legislature, lasting during his entire administration.
At one time he was in danger of impeachment, one of
the charges being that he allowed his clerk to aflfix the
official signature to public documents by means of a
stamp.
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 139
Governor Snyder. After Thomas McKean had served
as long as the constitution would permit, he was suc-
ceeded by Simon Snyder. He was a Democrat and the
first native executive of Pennsylvania born outside of a
Quaker county. He served three terms, from 1808 to
1817. The cry of the Federalist party at this period was
''Free trade and no embargo." The Democrats gen-
erally supported President Jefferson and his embargo,
and passed a resolution in the legislature early in 1809
recommending that the members of the next legislature
"appear in clothes of domestic manufacture."
Local banks. When the United States bank went out
of existence in 1811, a great demand for state banks was
made.
TWO CENTS TWO CENTS
I promise to pay the Bearer Two Cents
on Demand at the
Schuylkill Bank
When a sum amounting to one dollar shall be
presented.
Philmlelphia, July 4, 1^^'^- Richard Bache.
An Example of a " Shinplaster " Note
The scarcity of coin gave rise to the use of notes for
small sums— ''shinplasters"— issued by individuals.
With the establishment of banks all over the state, public
improvements were extended. Petitions to the legisla-
ture for money to improve the roads were especially
numerous.
140 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania in the War of 1812. When the second
war with Great Britain was declared, June 18, 1812,
Pennsylvania was ready with three times as many troops
as were required of her. In December following Gov-
ernor Snyder, in his message to the legislature, said:
The sword of the nation, which for thirty years has been
resting in the scabbard, has Ijeen drawai to maintain that inde-
pendence which it had gloriouslj'- achieved. In the war of the
Revolution our fathers went forth, as it were, '"with a sling,
and with a stone, and smote the enemy." Since that period our
country has been abundantly blessed and its resources greatly
multiplied; millions of her sons have grown to manhood, and,
inheriting the principles of their fathers, are determined to
preserve the precious heritage which was purchased by their
blood, and won by their valor.
None of the fighting of the War of 1812 was on Penn-
sylvania's soil; but her sons bled and died at Chippewa,
Lundy's Lane, on Lake Erie, and at Baltimore, and
shared in the glorious victory at New Orleans. When
General Tannehiirs brigade of 2,000 volunteer militia
reached Niagara, they promptly crossed the line into
C'anada, and gallantly followed the flag of the United
States government into a foreign country. The historic
dialogue at Lundy's Lane — "Major, can you take that
battery?'^ ''I can try, sir" — was between General
Brown, a native of Bucks County, and Major Miller, of
Gettysburg.
The building of Perry's fleet at Erie. The greatest
help given by Pennsylvania in the War of 1812 was
Erie's part in helping to build and man Perry's fleet.
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 141
Had it not been for Captain Daniel Dobbins, of Erie,
Perry might never have been enabled to send the famous
dis|)atch, September 10, 1813: "We have met the enemy,
and they are ours." Dobbins, as commander of a trad-
ing vessel, had the year before been a prisoner of the
British at Detroit. Believing that his experience would
l)e of value, he went to Washington and told the Presi-
dent and his Cabinet that a fleet ought to be built at
l<]ri(^ for the ])urpose of sweeping the British from the
lakes. He returned with orders to build two gunboats.
Late in October Dobbins gathered a few house carpen-
ters, and by January, 1813, had made such progress
that he w^as instructed to build two sloops of war. Every
stick of timber had to be cut irom the stump, while deep
snows covered the roots and wintry blasts whistled
through the tops. In March, when Perry arrived, the
keels and ribs were ready at the harbor of Erie. He
hastened the work still more by ordering men from
Philadel|)hia and New York to assist. Frequently a
piece of timber that had been part of a tree in the forest
in the morning, became part of a ship that afternoon.
The men of Erie stood guard over the ships while in
])rocess of construction; and they went to Buffalo and
Pittsburg for supplies. When at last Perry was forced
to say to the naval authorities, "For God's sake, and
yours, and mine, send me men and officers, and I will
have the enemy's ships in a day or two," the mihtia
around Erie responded to his call and helped to win the
great victory that made him "the young Nelson of
America."
142 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
One otlier event of the war caused a great stir within
the borders of this state — the burning of Washington.
Governor Snyder, August 20, 1814, in obedience to an
order from President Madison, made a call for the militia
of the counties nearest to the national capital. They
assembled at Carlisle, York, and Marcus Hook. Those
who were ordered to Washington took part in the at-
tempt of General Winder to keep the British invaders
out of the ca})ital.
Among the heroes who won distinction on the sea were
Commodore Ste})hen Decatur, Lieutenant James Biddle,
and Captain Charles Stewart, each of whom was honored
by the legislature of his own state — Pennsylvania— with
a gold-hilted sword.
Harrisburg becomes the state capital. In February,
1810, Governor Snyder approved the act of the legisla-
ture establishing permanently the capital at Harrisburg,
before the close of October, 1812. The records were in
danger of destruction at Lancaster, and a more central
place was desired. The places voted on were Lancaster,
Harrisburg, Northumberland, Bellefonte, Columbia,
Carlisle, Reading, and Sunbury. Harrisburg was selected
because a very great portion of the produce of the state
would find its way to market by means of the Susque-
hanna and its branches. It was argued that business
men would locate at the seat of government if it admitted
of commerce and was within easy and close communica-
tion with Philadelphia.
William McClay sold ten acres of land to the state,
and this was added to the four acres already received
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860
143
from John Harris (see p. 136). The corner stone of the
capitol was laid May 31, 1819; the building was com-
pleted in 1821 and was first occupied by the Assembly
January 3, 1822. Before it was completed, the state
government was quartered in the old Dauphin County
Courthouse.
The Old State Capitol
Built 1819-21; Destroyed by Fire February 2, 1897
Governor Findlay. William Findlay was governor
for one term only, from 1817-20. He was an ardent
advocate of internal improvements. He presented a
plan for the navigation of the principal rivers as near
to their sources as possible-the heads of the streams to
be connected by short portages. In this he was second-
ing a hke movement by other states and the United
States all along the Atlantic seaboard.
144 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Transportation by water. During the second war with
England, a system of inhmd trade sprang up between
New England and the South, which resulted in certain
trunk line routes running north and south. After the
war, when the Indians and the British were no longer a
hindrance to the settlement of the frontier, great (juan-
tities of ware and merchandise had to be sent westward.
There were no roads in that direction; so the natural
thing to do was to open the rivers for navigation. Steam-
boats, which had hitherto been used only for passengers,
were now to take the place of the " ox and horse marine"
in carrying freight.
Commissioners of Maryland and Pennsylvania jointly
examined the Susquehanna, and reported that $20,000
would clear the river from Harrisburg to Tioga Point.
With a canal, twenty-three miles long, from the head of
the West Branch to the Allegheny, the Mississippi Valley
could be reached. From the head of Chautauqua Lake,
a canal nine miles long would open an easy route to Lake
Erie and the other Great Lakes. By means of another
water route to Harrisburg and Pittsburg, by way of the
Schuylkill, the Swatara, and the Juniata, Philadelphia
could be connected with the Pacific Ocean at the mouth
of the Columbia with only seventy-five miles of canal!
Such were the calculations made to outdo New York on
the north, and such were the dreams of Pennsylvania
while the nightmare of the Erie Canal disturbed her
sleep!
Governor Hiester. Governor Hiester served one term,
from 1820 to 1823. The movement for internal improve-
THE PERIOD FROM 17U0-1860 145
ments did not abate during these years. The great high-
ways to the West were not to be a mere fancy. The
legislature in 1821 chartered a number of canal and turn-
pike companies, and appropriated money for them. The
subject of education received considerable attention at
this time. Governor Hiester said in his message : " Above
all, it appears an imperative duty to introduce and
support a liberal system of education, connected with
some general religious instruction."
Governor Shulze. Governor Shulze was in office from
1823 to 1829, ser\ing two terms. Assuming that the
legislature knew the wants of the state better than he,
Shulze, in his first message, recommended but one thing
for its consideration — education. Said he: "Convinced
tliat even liberty w^ithout knowledge is but a precarious
blessing, I can not too strongly recommend this subject
to your consideration." The legislature accordingly
]mssed a law providing for the education of all children
between six and fourteen at public expense; but no child
was to have this privilege for more than three years. As
this law was violently o})posed, it w^as repealed in 1826.
Internal improvements. The subject of internal im-
provements was again a live question at this time. Coal,
iron, and manufactures were becoming great industries
in Pennsylvania, and required ways and means for their
transportation. The Schuylkill and the Union canals,
connecting Philadelphia with the Susquehanna, were
finished. The great Pennsylvania canal was begun near
Harrisburg in 1827. The several parts, having all to-
gether a length of 425 miles, were completed in 1830.
10
146 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The money needed to carry on the woiiv was borrowed
from banks by authority of the legislature. Governor
Shulze opposed this plan, favoring taxation to pay at
least a part of the enormous expense. But the people
did not care how large their debts were in this ''era of
good feeling.''
Governor Wolf. The next governor was George
Wolf, a Democrat. On assuming office in 1829, he re-
ported to the legislature that $8,300,000, had been
borrowed for public improvements since 1821, and that
$3,459,533 was still needed to complete the canals and
railroads in the system. In a few years he and others,
upon whose shoulders the responsibility rested heavily
for a time, had the proud satisfaction of seeing the state
prosper greatly under its system of water communica-
tion. "Clinton's Big Ditch" in New York now had a
worthy rival.
Public education. Governor Wolf, in his first inaugu-
ral address, like all his predecessors under the Constitu-
tion of 1790, proved himself a warm fiiend of public
education. In his message to the legislature he spoke of
the blessings of education to "the whole community,"
to "every individual susceptible of partaking of them,"
"to the poor, as well as to the rich."
I am thoroughly persuaded that there is not a single measure
of all these which \\dll engage your deliberations in the course
of the session of such intrinsic importance to the general pros-
perity and happiness of the people of the Commonwealth, to the
cause of public virtue and pubHc morals, to the hopes and
expectations of the rising generation, to whom the future politi-
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860
147
cal destinies of the Republic are to be committed, or which will
add so much to the sum of individual and social improvement
and comfort, as a general diffusion of the means of moral and
intellectual cultivation among all classes of our citizens.
The common schools established. The people, too,
had become more favorable to the schools. Petitions
for the establishment ^ .^
of a better system of
public education had
come before the legis-
lature from twenty-
four counties. Again
in his next message,
the governor empha-
sized the importance
of further legislation;
but nothing was ac-
complished until 1834.
The people had be-
come wide-awake now.
Meetings were held all over the state, resolutions were
passed, comparisons with other states were made, and
an increased number in both houses of the legislature
favored free schools. The result was that on March 15,
1834, ''An Act to Establish a General System of Educa-
tion by Common Schools" was passed. In the House
but one man voted nay; in the Senate, three.
In the next legislature a majority of the members went
to Harrisburg resolved to repeal this law. The enemies
of free schools had attacked the measure of 1834 in all
Alexander Wilson's Schoolhouse,
1804
At Kingsessing, near Philadelphia
148 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
parts of the state. Families, neighborhoods, churches,
newspapers — all quarreled with one another and among
themselves. In some instances members of the legisla-
ture who had voted for the free-school law made humili-
ating and dishonorable confession of having done wrong;
otherwise they would not have been returned to the
legislature.
The Senate was especially hostile to the act of 1834,
and in March, 1835, voted to repeal it. Thirteen of the
nineteen who voted for the repeal had the previous year
voted for free schools. The House, fortunately, was
more friendly; but what it would have done had it not
been for the speech of one member — Thaddeus Stevens
— cannot be told. It was said by eyewitnesses of the
great fight in that body that Stevens, on April 11, 1835,
saved the common schools in Pennsylvania. This was
his eloquent plea:
Who would not rather do one living deed than have his ashes
enshrined in ever-burnished gold? Sirs, I trust that when we
come to act on this (juestion, we shall take lofty ground — look
beyond the narrow space which now circumscribes our \dsion,
beyond the passing, fleeting point of time on which we stand —
and so cast our votes that the blessing of education shall be
conferred upon every son of Pennsylvania — shall be carried
home to the poorest child of the poorest inhabitant of the mean-
est hut of your mountains, so that even he may be prepared to
act well his part in this land of freemen, and lay on earth a
broad and a solid foundation for that enduring knowledge which
goes on increasing through increasing eternity.
Governor Ritner. Governor Wolf was nominated
for a third term; but was defeated by Joseph Ritner,
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 149
who had been his opponent twice before. ''PubHc
Education/' the banner under which Governor Wolf
fought his campaign, had much to do with his defeat.
But Ritner, although some of his supporters were /' no-
school-tax" and " no-free-school " men, proved to be a
staunch friend of the new law. Governor Ritner under-
took to make the public works "answer the great object
for which they had been originally designed— the public
good." This proved to be a difficult task on account of
the financial panic of 1837. The state was full of paper
money of little value, which had been issued while the
canals and other public works were being constructed.
The adoption of a new constitution was the last impor-
tant event of this administration.
Governor Porter. The next governor was David R.
Porter, who h(4d office from 1839 to 1845. ^Mlen the
election was over, the friends of Governor Ritner resolved
to make an investigation of alleged frauds. The legisla-
ture which met December 4, 1838, was strongly Whig
in the Senate, but in the House both Whigs and Demo-
crats claimed a majority. Two speakers were elected
in the House; both occupied seats on the platform, and
after an attempt at organization, both factions adjourned,
to meet the next day. But the Whigs met again in the
afternoon. Some spectators, friends of the Democratic
Speaker, went up to the platform and carried the Speaker
pro tern, down into the aisle. Overcome by superior
numbers, the Whig House then adjourned to what is
now the Lochiel Hotel. The Senate also had to adjourn,
and .its Speaker jumped ^'out of a window twelve leet
150 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
high, through thorn bushes and over a seven-foot picket
fence."
The Buckshot War. Things now assumed a threaten-
ing aspect. A pubhc meeting was held counsehng mod-
eration; business was suspended at the capitol for several
days; the governor called out the mihtia; and, had not
President Van Buren declined to order them, United
States troops from Carhsle would have been on the scene
too. The presence of the bayonet enabled the peace-
makers to restore quiet. The Senate recognized the
Democratic wing of the House as the rightful organiza-
tion, and what is known as the Buckshot War came to an
end. The ammunition for the infantry at this time was
buckshot cartridges. It is said that the Whig faction
made some of these cartridges at their headquarters and
sent them by a negro to the arsenal, to be used on the
mob ; that the negro was caught and compelled to give up
his cartridges to the captors, who distributed them
among their friends as mementos. Hence the name
''Buckshot War."
The Germans. Governor Porter had occasion to make
a defense of the Germans and the German language in
one of his messages. An act had been passed abolishing
the printing of the laws in the German language. One
third of the population was German, and in most of the
eastern counties, German was the language of daily
intercourse, of the schools, and of the newspapers. Gov-
ernor Porter could see nothing unreasonable in publish-
ing the laws in the only language those people could un-
derstand. He therefore vetoed the act.
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 151
Race riots. In 1833 a convention met at Philadel-
phia and formed the American Antislavery Society.
This agitation brought on riots in Philadelphia between
the whites and the blacks. The most serious occurred
when Pennsylvania Hall was dedicated, in May, 1838.
It had been erected by the Antislavery Society for the
free discussion of that cause. All went well until the
evening of the third day, when a crowd of roughs threw
stones into the windows and hissed and hooted the
speakers. The next night a larger body put out the
lamps in the neighborhood, broke into the hall, set it on
fire, and turned on the gas to assist the flames. The
work of destruction was complete; for nothing but the
walls was left of this monument to free speech.
Political riots. In 1843 a new party appeared in
American politics — the Native American — which held,
among other things, that foreigners should not be
appointed to office. On the fourth of July of the next
year there was a grand Native American procession in
Philadelphia. This started a riot, which lasted for sev-
eral days. The city was put under martial law. Troops
moved upon the mob with deadly effect; while the rioters
procured a cannon and fired chains, bolts, spikes, and
other missiles at the soldiers. The governor, who had
come to Philadelphia in person, now called out additional
troops, and was soon able to withdraw the militia and in-
trust the city again to the mayor.
Governor Shunk. According to the Constitution of
1838, the governor could not hold office "longer than
six in any term of nine years." Governor Porter there-
152 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
fore retired, and was succeeded by his Secretary of the
Commonwealth, P^rancis R. Shunk, w^ho served one
term and about six months of a second term. Having
become ill, Governor Shunk, on July 9, 1848, addressed
a pathetic letter to the people of Pennsylvania, and
resigned his office. He died, deeply lamented, July 30,
at Harrisburg. The letter read:
In taking leave of you under circumstances so solemn, accept
my gratitude for the confidence you have reposed in me. My
prayer is that peace, virtue, intelligence, and religion may
pervade all your borders; that the free institutions you have
inherited from your ancestors may remain unimpaired till the
latest posterity; that the same kind Providence which has al-
ready so signall^y blessed you may conduct you to a still higher
state of individual and social happiness; and when the world
shall close upon you, as I feel it soon about to close upon me,
that you may enjoy the consolation of the Christian's faith, and
be gathered, without a wanderer lost, into the fold of the Great
Shepherd above.
Pennsylvania troops in the Mexican War. Governor
Shunk was chief executive of Pennsylvania during the
Mexican War. President Polk called for six regiments
from this state. In response, ninety companies were
formed, making Uiree regiments more than were asked,
though only two regiments and several detached com-
panies were mustered into service. These distinguished
themselves by their bravery at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo,
Chapultepec, and Mexico City. In memory of their valor
the state erected a towering monument on Capitol Hill,
at Harrisburg.
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860
153
Telegraph and Railroad Development. The victories
of peace during tiiis administration were equally im-
portant. In 1845 the first telegraph poles were erected
within the state, and a hne was opened from Philadelphia
to New York. The first movement toward the con-
struction of the Pennsylvania Railroad between Harris-
burg and Pittsburg took place in the same year.
Governor Johnston. After Governor Bhunk's resigna-
tion, there wa*s an interregnum until July 26, when the
Early Railroad Transportation
The John Bull Engine, 1831, Running on the Camden and Amboy
Railroad
Speaker of the Senate, in accordance with the constitu-
tion, took the office for the unexpired term. The person
who thus became acting-governor was William F.
Johnston, and he was nicknamed '^His Accidency."
He belonged to the Whig party, which in the North was
opposed to the extension of the slave power. The
Pennsylvania Asseml^ly passed Un act prohibiting judges
of the state from executing the Fugitive Slave Law^ of
1793, and forbidding the use of the jails for detaining
fugitive slaves. The privilege of nonresidents to keep
154 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
slaves temporarily in the state was also canceled. These
acts were severely condemned by the Southern states.
The Underground Railroad. In 1850 a new Fugitive
Slave Law was passed by Congress, by which United
States commissioners were authorized to turn over a
negro to anyone who claimed him as an escaped slave.
For years the fugitive slave had felt safe when he reached
Pennsylvania; but now he had to flee to Canada. In
this he was assisted by an organization known as the
Underground Railroad. The origin of this name may be
traced to Columbia, Lancaster County. That town was
laid out by descendants of the Quaker John Wright
(see p. 57), and they reserved some lots in it for free
colored people. It therefore became a refuge for runaway
slaves. Their masters could track them as far as Colum-
bia, where all traces disappeared; and it was declared
that "there must be an underground railroad" leading
out of it.
Through the secret assistance of antislavery people,
the fugitive slaves were sent across Lancaster, Chester,
Montgomery, and Bucks counties to West Chester,
Philadelphia, Quakertown, and Stroudsburg. To these
points the negroes would travel in small parties by
night, and there they would be concealed in cellars,
garrets, hay lofts, and other hiding places, till all danger
from pursuit had passed. Another line of escape came
up from Maryland through Chester County. Some fugi-
tive slaves entered the state by way of Bedford and
followed the mountains to Potter County, whence they
were forwarded to Canada. Erie, too, was a favorite
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1S60 1-55
station. Under the law of 1850, the least assistance
given to a fugitive slave was punished if it was discovered.
A man in Cumberland County was tried in the United
States court for giving a few slaves something to eat
after a night's rest in his barn. He was not convicted,
but he had to sell his farm to pay the expense of the
trial.
A slavery riot. In LS51 a serious riot occurred at
Christiana, Lancaster County, one of the stations of the
Underground Railroad. It grew out of an attempt to
arrest three fugitive slaves harbored in the cabin of a
negro farmhand named Parker. The owner of the
slaves, accompanied by a United States marshal and his
posse, appeared early one morning in September. A
demand to surrender was answered by a shot from the
garret and the blowing of a big dinner horn. The
neighbors understood this as a signal for serious action.
White men and colored men with guns, scythes, and
clubs ran from every direction. The slave owner was
advised to leave; but he wanted his property, ''dead or
alive." In the encounter which followed he himself was
mortally wounded by one of his own slaves. A number
of the free colored men were arrested and indicted for
treason; but only one was tried, and he was acquitted.
The riot at Christiana caused a sensation all over the
country. It happened in the midst of the campaign for
governor, and became an issue at the election.
Governor Bigler. Governor Johnston was defeated
for a second term by William Bigler, a Democrat, who
served from 1852 to 1855. The common school system,
156 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
which could be accepted or rejected by the people of a
district, had been accepted by many districts in the state
by 1849. Improvements in the schools could now be
made more easily and effectually. In this first annual
message, Governor Bigler made a strong plea for pro-
fessional teachers and other needed improvements; and
he had the satisfaction of signing a bill creating the
office of county superintendent of schools.
The state debt. The enormous state debt, amounting
in 1848 to more than $4(),()00,0()(), was reduced by
$700,000 during the previous administration. Governor
Bigler might well congratulate the people on the fact
that the expensive internal improvements wei'e now
nearly completed, so that henceforth money would flow
into the treasury instead of out of it.
Governor Pollock. In the election for governor in
October, 1854, the Whigs and Native Americans elected
their candidate, James Pollock. The question of slavery
was dividing both the old parties, and the immense
foreign immigration about the middle of the century
gave a new but brief lease of life to the Native Americans.
This party had now come to be called the Know-Nothing
party, from the fact that its meml)ers, when c|uestioned
about their purposes and principles, would say, "I
don't know."
The canals sold. In 1857 the legislature passed an
act ordering the sale of the line of canals between Phila-
delphia and Pittsburg. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany |)urchased them for 17,500,000. The canals on the
Susquehanna were sold to the Sunbury and Erie Rail-
THE PERIOD FROM 1790-1860 157
road Company for $3,500,000. These canals, after the
raih'oads had been built, had failed to be a source of
revenue to the state.
The Erie riots. A most troublesome riot occurred
in the town of Erie during Pollock's administration.
The tracks of the railroad into Erie from the east were
of a different width from those out of Erie to the west.
All freight and passengers had to be transferred at Erie
from narrow-gauge to broad-gauge cars, and vice versa.
This transfer gave employment to many workmen, but
the delay and expense of it were too great for the rail-
roads and their patrons. So the two roads were made to
be of the same gauge. The people of Erie were not all
in favor of the change. Such as opposed it were known
as Rippers; the ones favoring it were called Shanghais,
The Rippers repeatedly ripi)ed u\) the tracks, and their
women burned a railroad bridge. The contest lasted
two years. The state had to operate the railroad and
Governor Pollock appointed two men in succession to act
as superintendents for the state, but they both became
disgusted and resigned. Then Alexander K. McClure
was asked to take the matter in hand. He settled the
Erie riots by bnnging the leaders on both sides together
at a bancfuet.
The panic of 1857. In 1857 a great financial panic
occurred in the United States, and ''a wave of bank-
ruptcy swept around the civilized world." It was due
to speculation, resulting probably from the discovery of
gold in California and Australia. The banks of Pennsyl-
vania, in common with others all over the country,
158 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
became more or less embarrassed, and had to stop
paying out specie to their depositors.
Elisha Kent Kane. The year 1857 is also memorable
in the history of the state as closing the career of one of
her greatest sons— Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the Arctic ex-
plorer. His body lay in state in Independence Hall, was
viewed by thousands of people, and followed to the grave
by scientists, statesmen, professors, and students from
all over the land.
The Republican party organized. In the midst of
the financial disaster came the campaign for governor.
William F. Packer was elected by the Democrats. The
year before, the Repubhcan party had made its appear-
ance as a national organization at Pittsburg, and a few
months later nominated its first candidate for President,
at Philadelphia.
CHAPTER VIII
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR
Governor Packer. When Governor Packer assumed
office in January, 1858, the attention of the people of
Pennsylvania was fixed on national affairs. Two days
after the inauguration of James Buchanan, Pennsyl-
vania's only President, the Supreme Court of the United
States decided that a slave could be taken into the
territories the same as a horse or an ox, and that there-
fore Dred Scott, the Missouri slave, was not a free man.
A little later Buchanan urged the admission of Kansas
as a slave state. These acts of the government at Wash-
ington alienated many of the President's supporters in
Pennsylvania, chief of whom was John W. Forney, editor
of the Philadelphia Press.
John Brown's raid. The next affair to add fury to the
political fire was the raid of John Brown, one Sunday
night in October, 1859, and his execution on the gallows,
December 2. Brown had made Chambersburg his base
of operations for some weeks, and was known there as
Dr. Smith, engaged in mining in the state of Maryland.
When his sentence of death had been passed, the Abo-
litionists of the state were filled with indignation. At a
meeting in Philadelphia, on the morning of the hang-
ing, Lucretia Mott, the Quaker Abolitionist, and other
159
160 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
speakers expressed their sympathy, under a storm of
hisses and groans. Two days later the body of Brown
passed through the city, and there was a great clamor
from the Abolitionists and the colored people for a view
of it. For fear of violence, a trick was played on the
crowd outside the depot. A box, in imitation of a coffin,
was solemnly carried out by six men, while the real body
was quietly and safely conveyed to the New York ferry.
Fresh alarm and anxiety were created when, in the same
month. Governor Wise of Virginia requested the Southern
medical students in Philadelphia to finish their course
at Richmond and other cities in the South.
The election of 1860. The year 1800, from January
to December, was given to one continuous agitation of
the slavery question, particularly in its bearings on the
elections for President and governor. The Democrats
of the state were divided in the choice for President,
between Breckinridge and Douglas; on the candidate
for governor, Henry D. Foster, they were united. The
Republicans had a majority for Lincoln, and elected
Andrew G. Curtin governor.
First resistance to the South. The first decided
resistance to President Buchanan's Secretary of War,
who was a Southerner, came from Pittsburg, late in
December, 1800. It was learned that arms and ammu-
nition were to be shipped to New Orleans from an arsenal
in Allegheny County. Public meetings were held and
resolutions were passed that the President should purge
his Cabinet of disloyal members, and, as a Pennsylva-
nian, see to it that the Repubhc suffered no loss as long
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 161
as it was in his hands. While a committee went to
Washington to protest, cannon were conveyed to the
wharf and loaded on the steamer. At this critical
moment Edwin M. Stanton, Buchanan's Attorney-
General, telegraphed that the order would be counter-
manded in a few days.
Governor Curtin. On January 15, 1861 , began the most
memorable administration in the history of Pennsyl-
vania — that of the "war governor," Andrew G. Curtin.
In his inaugural address, he declared that Pennsylvania
would ''render a full and determined support of the
free institutions of the Union," and pledged himself to
defend the Constitution againsi all its enemies. The
legislature likewise took a firm stand in behalf of the
Constitution and the Union.
Lincoln in Harrisburg. AMien Lincoln stopped at
Harrisburg, February 22d, on his way to Washington, he
was enthusiastically received in the chamber of the As-
sembl}^, where the members of both houses had as-
sembled to greet him and to hear his inspiring oratory.
It was after this reception that Lincoln's famous secret
ride to Washington was planned at the Jones House (now
the Commonwealth Hotel) . He had been informed that
a plot existed in Baltimore to assassinate him on his way
through that city. As it had been published far and
wide that he was to leave on the Northern Central Rail-
road early the next morning, Governor Curtin, Secretary
Slifer, Senator McClure, and Colonel Scott, of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad, decided (very much against Mr. Lin-
coln's wishes) that he should leave Harrisburg that even-
11
162 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ing and pass, by way of Philadelphia, through Baltimore
at an unexpected hour. To deceive the throng outside
the hotel, Governor Curtin called for a carriage and had
himself and the President-elect driven in the direction of
the Executive Mansion. When near there, a roundabout
route was taken to the depot. Lincoln, accompanied
by a friend, who was armed with a small arsenal of
weapons, hastily took a special train for Philadelphia.
Colonel Scott then, with his own hands, cut all the
telegraph wires leading out of the city and nervously
awaited a cipher despatch that Lincoln was to send
when he arrived at Washington. It was a long, anxious
night for those who were in the secret. With the dawn
of day came these words — " Plums delivered nuts safely''
— signifying that all was well. Lincoln always regretted
that he had gone to Washington in that way; for it is
not believed that any plot to assassinate him had existed.
The First Defenders. The day after Fort Sumter was
evacuated. President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops^
Pennsylvania's quota being 14,000. Governor Curtin
telegraphed the call all over the state, and so quick was
the response that five Keystone companies now wear
the proud badge of the ''First Defenders." They were
the Ringgold Light Artillery, of Reading; the Logan
Guards, of Lewistown; the Washington Artillery and
the National Light Infantry, of Pottsville; and the Allen
Rifles, of Allentown. The Ringgold company was the
first to reach Harrisburg, arri\dng there the day after the
President's call.
In the streets of Baltimore the First Defenders suffered
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR
163
the taunts, sneers, and insults of the same mob that
attacked the Sixth Massachusetts the next day. But
they never wavered under the constant fire of bricks,
clubs, stones, and earth. After they had boarded the
train for Washington, the mob tried to derail the cars,
detach the locomotive, and break the machinery. Dur-
ing it all, the governor of Pennsylvania, with breathless
anxiety, listened to the click of the telegraph at Harris-
burg, as it reported step after step of the perilous march
through Baltimore. At seven o'clock on the evening
of the 18th the First Defenders reported at Washington.
Congress afterward passed a resolution, thanking ''the
530 soldiers from Pennsylvania who passed through the
mob at Baltimore and reached Washington on the ISth
of April last, for the defence of the National Capital."
Recruits now poured into Harrisburg by the thousands,
overflowing the depots, the streets, and the capitol
grounds. A great camp was es-
tablished, called Camp Curtin, in
the northwest suburbs. Before th(^
end of the month twenty-five regi-
ments were formed there and sent
to the front, while thirty more were
offered but not accepted. Simon
Cameron, Secretary of War, Thad-
deus Stevens, member of Congress,
and Governor Curtin, all favored a much larger army
than Lincoln had called for.
The Pennsylvania Reserves. On the 15th of May the
legislature, in extra session, ordered the formation of
The State Flag
164 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
the famous Pennsylvania Reserves, numbering 16,000
men. The wisdom of this measure was seen in July,
when the Union forces came rushing back from Bull
Run, defeated and disorganized. The President in-
stantly called for the Pennsylvania Reserves. Under
the call of "Father Abraham for five hundred thousand
more," the Reserves now entered upon a career of honor
and glory.
Many soldiers fed. In 1862 the state was called on
to do httle except to furnish her quota of troops; but
the people individually did much. As the troops passed
through our cities and towns on their way to the front,
acts of kindness innumerable were shown to them.
Trainloads of soldiers were refreshed with sandwiches
and coffee. In Philadelphia, throughout the war, the
Union and Cooper-shop volunteer refreshment houses
were kept open with contributions from the people.
Nearly a million soldiers from the North and East, as
they passed to and fro, were given food and drink. At
one time a fair was held in Logan Square and SI, 500, 000
raised for the sick and wounded.
Drafts and substitutes. In August, 1862, a state
draft of soldiers was made, under the direction of the
United States. The men drafted could furnish substi-
tutes; as much as $1,500 was paid for one. A regular
business of buying and selling substitutes sprang up at
Camp Curtin, and great profits were made in the traffic.
Substitutes were employed who were disloyal, shirking
duty in the field and deserting at the first chance. In
1863 a second draft was made, but by the direct author-
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 165
ity of the United States. On the day appointed for the
drafting, the names of all men previously enrolled in
a certain district were written, each on a separate ballot,
and placed in a wheel. From this a person blindfolded
drew a number of names equal to the quota of the dis-
trict. Persons drafted could be excused from service
on the production of a substitute or the payment of
S300.
Stuart's raid. No sooner had the war fairly begun
than it became evident that Pennsylvania would be
invaded. The first opportunity came to the enemy in
the fall of 18G2. On the 10th of October, General
J. E. B. (''Jeb") Stuart made a cavalry raid through
Franklin County. His troops rode into Chambersburg
in the evening, cut off telegraphic communications,
ransacked the stores, and terrified the inhabitants all
night with the tramp of horses and the rattling of sabers.
The next morning they made a raid on a warehouse
containing military stores. What they could not pack
on their horses — of which 1,200 had been taken on the
raid through the country — they destroyed by setting
fire to the building. The flames spread to the depot of
the railroad and consumed it, too. The raiders then
beat a hasty retreat to the Potomac, and thence to
Virginia, after causing a loss of about $150,000. Cham-
bersburg was within a night's ride from the ( 'onfederate
lines all through the war.
Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was
the land of promise to General Lee and the Army of
Northern Virginia. Its rich granaries, great coal fields,
166 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
and extensive factories of war supplies were tempting
objects for capture and destruction. Lee's defeat at
Antietam foiled the first attempt, but did not destroy
the desire. His victory at Chancellorsville gave the
opportunity to try again. In June, 1863, the border
counties of the state, from one end of Mason and Dixon's
line to the other, were threatened with invasion. The
Secretary of War, Stanton, telegraphed to Pittsburg
that the gunshops of that city were to be destroyed.
Immediately all the great iron plants were closed and
the men wTre kept at work for two weeks, throwing
up intrenchments.
Though no attack was made as far west as the Monon-
gahela Valley, Confederate scouts visited McConnells-
burg, Fulton County, and Mt. Union in Huntingdon
County. On Monday morning, June 15, a detachment
of Lee's army, Jenkins's cavalry, entered Greencastle,
and in the evening the streets of Chambersburg again
resounded with the clatter of Southern troopers. After
scouring Franklin and Fulton counties for horses and
provisions, the force proceeded to Shippensburg and
thence to Carlisle, regaling themselves and baiting their
steeds at the expense of the public authorities.
Next came General Ewell with the vanguard of Lee's
entire army. He arrived at Carlisle on June 27, a few
hours after Jenkins. Ewell made a requisition for a
large amount of supplies, including even quinine and
chloroform. His force remained at Carlisle until the
night of the 30th. They destroyed the railroad bridge;
threatened Harrisburg by making raids in that direction
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 167
to within a few miles of the city; and caused vast numbers
of the population of the Cumberland Valley to flee across
the Susquehanna, with horses, cattle, and movable
things of every description.
The defense of the state. At Harrisburg there was
great consternation. Earthworks and other defenses,
known as Fort Washington, were erected on the west
side of the river. Governor Curtin, on June 26, hearing
of the approach of the invaders, called for 60,000 men
to defend the state. Even the veterans of the war of
1812 tendered their services, so great was the necessity
of the hour. General W. F. Smith, who was put in
command of the volunteers, mai'ched into Carlisle as
Ewell marched out. Scarcely had Smith encamped,
when a body of Confederate cavalry reappeared, and,
after firing, demanded the surrender of the town. This
was refused. Then the town was shelled and set on
fire; but the Confederates were needed elsewhere — the
battle of Gettysburg had begun.
The bridge at Wrightsville burned. Early's division
of Swell's corps was sent in advance of Lee's army in
the direction of Gettysburg, by way of Cashtown. At
the latter place, this force was divided, Gordon's brigade
taking temporary possession of Gettysburg on June 26,
while Early himself proceeded to York, and occupied
that town the next day. As soon as York had learned
of the approach of the Confederates, the small body of
troops stationed there fell back to Wrightsville. Here
a slight skirmish occurred; but the bridge having been
set on fire by the citizens of the town, the enemy could
168 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
go no farther. At a public meeting, the people of York,
on demand of General Early, contributed goods and
money to the amount of $35,000. No damage was done
to private property, but the railroad suffered some loss.
The skirmish at Hanover. The most important
side-skirmish connected with the battle of Gettysburg
was the cavalry engagement at Hanover, York County,
between General Kirkpatrick and General Stuart. The
latter had not crossed the Potomac with Lee, and his
whereabouts were unknown. On June 30, while General
Kirkpatrick's troopers, dismounted in the streets, were
eating a luncheon served by the people of Hanover,
Stuart suddenly attacked the rear and threw it into
confusion. Moving out into the open country, the Union
cavalry formed in line of battle and, after fighting until
dark, drove the enemy from their position.
Gettysburg: the first day. The attempts to secure
the bridges at Harrisburg and Wrightsville having failed,
it became evident that a battle would have to be fought
on the west side of the Susquehanna. So when Lee
halted on the diamond at Chambersburg, he turned his
tired horse to the right and rode toward Gettysburg
instead of Harrisburg. Meade's Union army had been
marching northward, to the east of Lee's, in the general
direction of Harrisburg. General Reynolds, second to
Meade in command, was on the extreme left with the
First Corps, closely watching the movements of the
enemy.
At Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, General Reynolds met
the advance forces, under General Hill, as they were
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 169
about to enter the town. And now the great battle
was on. But it had scarcely begun when the Union
army suffered a great loss. While General Reynolds
was riding forward to select ground for a line of battle,
he fell, pierced through the head by a ball from a sharp-
shooter's rifle. Doubleday, who succeeded him, fought
desperately on Seminary Ridge till the hot July sun
stood at high noon. General Howard then came up
with the Eleventh Corps. The enemy charged upon
him with a tremendous force, threatening to overlap
both flanks. He ordered a retreat, and the two bleeding
and exhausted corps retired through the streets of Get-
tysburg to Cemetery Hill.
When Meade, who was still some fifteen miles aw^a}^
and did not arrive till late at night, heard of the death
of Reynolds, he ordered General Hancock to leave the
Second Corps and hasten to Gettysburg to assume com-
mand of the forces already there. The Union army —
100,000 strong — now came up, one corps after another,
and during the night took position (in the form of a
fishhook) on Cemetery Ridge as far back as Round Top
on the left and Gulp's Hill on the right. Lee's line, sim-
ilar in form but much longer, was along Seminary Ridge.
His army numbered about 80,000.
Gettysburg: the second day. The second day, until
three o'clock, was spent by both armies in remov-
ing fences, digging rifle pits, building stone defenses,
strengthening weak points, distributing ammunition,
and providing hospitals. About four o'clock Lee opened
fire on Meade's left. General Sickles was in command
170 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
there, with the Third Corps, and by some mistake had
taken an isolated position. Instantly both lines in that
quarter were a blaze of artillery and musketry. Long-
street's Confederate corps came on like the resistless
tide. The Union troops wavered and fell back. Sickles
was wounded and carried off the field. Humphreys
lost 2,000 of his 5,000 men in getting back to the position
intended to be occupied in the first place. A division
of reinforcements sent over from Hancock's corps lost
two brigadiers — Zook and Cross.
But there was a natural stronghold near by — Little
Round Top. By the foresight of General Warren, this
was saved to the Union forces, but the blood shed at
this point, which included the famous Devil's Den, was
most appalling. Had Longstreet taken Round Top,
the assaults on the lines next to Cemetery Hill could not
have been withstood. As it was, the action there soon
ended; but not before Hancock and the general next in
command of the Second Corps were both wounded.
Just as night was falling upon the scene of carnage on
the left. General Ewell attacked Cemetery Hill, held by
Howard's corps. It was here that the Louisiana Tigers
made their famous assault. Those desperate fighters
came up to the very mouths of the cannon and actually
spiked two of the Union guns. At this critical moment
a brigade of German troops fell upon the victorious
Tigers, and in a hand-to-hand charge drove them down
the hillside. It was the Waterloo of the Tigers.
Lee had now attacked the whole Union line except
the extreme right, held by General Slocum, with the
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 171
Twelfth Corps. Here General Early, of Swell's corps,
under cover of darkness and timber, began a vigorous
attack on Culp's Hill and points beyond, but was bravely
repulsed. However, there was a gap in the Union line,
caused by the withdrawal of General Geary to the sup-
port of Round Top. Taking advantage of this, the
enemy broke through and got within a third of a mile
of Meade's headquarters.
Gettysburg : the third day. The break made in Geary's
division the evening before naturally caused the battle
to be renewed in that quarter early in the morning
of the third day. Geary, having returned, opened a
furious cannonade to dislodge the intruders. Ewell,
who had been reinforced by parts of Longstreet's and
Hill's corps during the night, responded with fatal
effect all along the line of Slocum, even to Cemetery
Hill; but it was solid now and well defended. In front
of Geary's command, the slain were lying in heaps. At
ten o'clock Ewell fell back, and the battle of Gettysburg
on the right ended.
Then there was a pause of three hours — an ominous
silence, such as sometimes goes before a crash of thunder.
Lee was massing his artillery of 115 guns opposite Ceme-
tery Hill. Meade saw what was proposed to be done,
and prepared for it. At one o'clock the signal gun was
fired on Seminary Ridge. For two hours an artillery
duel raged such as had never shaken the atmosphere of
either continent. Trees, rocks, and tombstones were
shattered; horses and men were mangled; guns, swords,
and cannon were dyed in blood.
172 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Pickett's charge. When this cannonading ceased,
Pickett's brave Virginians, who had just reached the
battlefield, made their famous charge upon the Union
center. Nothing in history surpasses it in heroism and
sacrifice. When they neared the coveted hill, seventy
iron throats poured grape, shell, and canister upon them.
Yet on they went, even to the cannon's mouth, and for
one brief moment a Confederate flag waved over the
Union guns. But Hancock's infantry quickly advanced
and recovered the lost ground. The raw troops with
whom Pettigrew was to support the charge gave way
at the same moment, and Pickett was left alone to con-
tend with the Union forces now pressing him on every
side. The usual retreat did not follow; Pickett's charge
ended in almost total destruction.
During the time of this last and supreme effort of Lee,
there was a general movement against Meade's army
all along the line; but it was of little consequence else-
where. On the left, in front of Little Round Top, the
Pennsylvania Reserves drove back Hood and McLaws,
capturing 5,000 stand of arms and taking 300 prisoners.
On the right. General Gregg gained a decisive victory
over Stuart in a cavalry engagement. The following
morning Lee was on the retreat to the Potomac; and
that day and the next were employed by Meade '^in
succoring the wounded and burying the dead."
The national cemetery at Gettysburg. Governor Curtin
soon afterward proposed to the governors of the dif-
ferent states whose regiments took part in the battle,
that a cemetery be purchased for the final burial of the
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 173
Union dead. The grounds embraced in this cemetery
were at first owned by Pennsylvania, and the expenses
of maintaining them were borne by the several states
interested. The cemetery was dedicated November 19,
lS53^_as Abraham Lincoln said on that occasion,—
to be " a final resting place for those who here gave their
lives that the nation might hve." In 1872 the United
States government succeeded to the ownership and
management. The entire battlefield is now the property
of the nation, and the position of every military organiza-
tion which fought upon the field has been marked by
monuments. Gettysburg will be the Mecca of patriots
as long as our fair land endures.
The burning of Chambersburg. In 1804 the Con-
federates once more made a raid into Pennsylvania, and
burned Chambersburg. They appeared outside the town
on the evening of July 29, but were delayed in their en-
trance until daylight of the 8()th. They planted two bat-
teries and fired a few shots before the whole column of
3,000 entered. Soon after the occupation, McCausland,
the commander, demanded $500,000 in greenbacks or
$100,000 in gold, to be paid within half an hour. On
refusal, the town was to be burned. He was told that
'Chambersburg could not and would not pa> any ran-
som." Then he had the courthouse bell rung for a pub-
He meeting; but no one attended. Arrests of prominent
citizens were next ordered, and threats were made to
carry them to Richmond if they did not pay the ransom.
When all this proved to no purpose, he set the town on
fire. In a few hours $3,000,000 worth of property was
174 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
destroyed; 3,000 people were left homeless and many of
them penniless; and for miles around the country was
crowded with terror-stricken refugees. Chambersburg
was the only town largely destroyed, within the limits of
the Union states.
Pennsylvania's battleflags. At the close of the war,
Governor Curtin, in a special message to the legislature,
said that "the resources of Pennsylvania, whether in
men or money, have neither been withheld nor squan-
dered." The state furnished, all told, 270 regiments and
several unattached companies, numbering 387,284 men.
Every regiment was supplied with a battleflag, embla-
zoned with the number of the regiment and the coat of
arms of the commonwealth. The Reserves and other
early regiments were provided with flags bearing addi-
tional inscriptions of battles of the Revolution, the War
of 1812, and the Mexican War, participated in by Penn-
sylvania regiments of the same number. These flags
were presented by Governor Curtin in person. Most of
them have since been returned to the state, some tattered
and torn and stained with blood. They constitute an
interesting relic, and are preserved in the capitol at Har-
risburg.
The soldiers* orphans. When the Pennsylvania regi-
ments were drawn up to receive their battleflags, Gov-
ernor Curtin always pledged the state to sustain, clothe,
and educate the children of those who had families. So
when, in 1863, Colonel Thomas A. Scott, on behalf of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, donated $50,000
for bounties to volunteers, it was decided to use that
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR 175
fund in another way; namely, to establish schools for
soldiers' orphans. A number of schools willing to take
pupils were selected in various parts of the state, and
2(36 soldiers' orphans were enrolled in them by 1865.
Through this measure, Pennsylvania erected a monu-
ment to her soldiers that is more enduring than the
granite columns that have been raised on the battle-
fields.
CHAPTER IX
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR
Governor Geary. The successor to the great " war
governor" was John W. Geary, a Repubhcan. He was
governor for two terms, frdm 1867 to 1873. The whole
country, but more especially the North, prospered greatly
after the war. Pennsylvania, with its vast material
resources, enjoyed unusual business activity. However,
there was one section in the state to which the ravages
of the war were a decided drawback. It embraced the
so-called border counties — York, Adams, C-umberland,
Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, and Perry. These suffered
greatly from the various invasions.
Governor Hartranft. Aside from 'Hhe saw-dust
war," — a disturbance in Wilhamsport, in 1871, requir-
ing the presence of the military, — the commonwealth
enjoyed peace and tranquillity until 1872. That year
the Liberal Republicans nominated as their presidential
candidate Horace Greeley, editor of the New York
Tribune, against President Grant, who was the regular
Republican candidate for a second term. The Demo-
crats had practically no candidate, but indorsed Greeley.
The canvass throughout the country was marked by
intense partisan feeling which affected the campaign
for governor. A number of prominent Republicans in
176
THE PERIOD SIxNCE THE C1\TL WAR 177
Pennsylvania joined the ranks of the Liberals and sup-
ported the Democratic candidate for governor. After a
great political battle, General John F. Hartranft, the Re-
publican nominee, was elected.
The financial crisis of 1873. The great financial
crisis of 1873 marked the end of the prosperous times
that followed the war. It began in Philadelphia, by
the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., who were forced to close
the doors of their banking-house on September 18.
Before night, ''runs" were made on the other banks of
the city, and in a few days a number of them had to
suspend. These failures began the long train of business
and labor difficulties that made the next few years so
dark to trade and industry.
Labor strikes. The first strike of any consequence oc-
curred in the anthracite section in 1868, for an eight-hour
day. The shorter day was not secured, but the strike re-
sulted in a compact organization of the miners. In 1871 a
strike against reduction of wages was settled by arbitra-
tion — the first noteworthy example of this mode of settle-
ment in the United States. Other strikes of minor im-
portance occurred; but on January 1, 1875, the miners
of the Lehigh and Schuylkill regions went out on what
became known as ^Hhe long strike." It lasted until
July and was generally peaceable, but at one time the
governor sent the militia to quell disorder.
The Philadelphia City Hall. On July 4, 1874, ground
was broken in Philadelphia for the Centennial Exhibition
buildings, and the corner stone of the City Hall was laid.
This City Hall is a very massive building, built of white
12
17S A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
marble, in the renaissance style. The main tower, 547
feet high, is surmounted by a statue of William Penn,
36 feet high and facing northeast in the direction of the
famous elm — the two together making one of the highest
building towers in the world. The building contains
some 500 rooms, and has a floor area of 14^ acres.
The Centennial. The Centennial Exhibition, which
commemorated the Declaration of Independence, had
made such progress by July 4, 1875, that the colossal
figure of Columbia, on Memorial Hall, was unveiled
on that day. For Memorial Hall, the state and Phila-
delphia appropriated the money; otherwise the Centen-
nial was an enterprise of the whole country. About
180 buildings were erected on the grounds. The five
great buildings were the Main Exhibition Building,
Machinery Hall, Memorial Hall, Agricultural Hall, and
Horticultural Hall. The states of the Union each had
a building; and so had the United States, foreign govern-
ments, and some enterprising individuals.
The four great days of the Exhibition were the opening
day. May 10; Independence Day, July 4; Pennsylvania
Day, September 28; and closing day, November 10.
The Fourth of July had brought to Philadelphia a large
number of people from all over the United States, but
Pennsylvania Day was the most memorable to this
state, for on that day 275,000 of its people surged through
the grounds. The highest daily attendance before that
day had been 99,000. The closing day occurred under
the gloom of a bitter national presidential contest, and,
excepting the magnificent display of fireworks in the
180 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
evening, was uneventful. President Grant gave the
signal for closing the Exhibition, and instantly the great
Corliss engine in Machinery Hall ceased to move.
The MoUie Maguires. The Mollie Maguires were the
members of a secret order which had its origin in Ireland.
In Pennsylvania they began to show a lawless tendency
in the time of the Civil War, by resisting the draft.
Active Union men in Carbon and Schuylkill counties
were in danger of their hves. After the war, this secret
order became a great power in the anthracite coal
regions. Some of the lawless members engaged in the
assassination of justices of the peace, pohce officers,
and mining bosses. So numerous were the outrages
committed, that in 1873 Franklin B. Gowan, president
of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company,
employed a detective, James McPharlan, who joined
the order and ferreted out the plots. In 1876 sixteen
of the men put on tiial in the courts were found guilty
of murder, and executed, and as many more were sen-
tenced to imprisonment.
The railroad riots. The year 1877 is noted for the
most extensive and destructive riots that ever broke out
in Pennsylvania. They grew out of the great railroad
strike inaugurated throughout the United States on
July 14. At Pittsburg some two thousand freight cars
were destroyed, many railroad buildings laid in ashes,
and miles of track torn up. The sheriff was helpless
against the mob who took advantage of the strike and
engaged in plunder and destruction. Governor Hart-
ranft was on his way to visit the Pacific coast, and had
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL \\\R 181
to return. Before reaching home, he telegraphed an
order calhng out the National Guard. But the armed
mob was not to be dispersed by the state troops, and
United States troops had to be brought upon the scene
before quiet could be restored.
The disturbance at Pittsburg was the signal for dis-
order at other points. At Philadelphia and Harrisburg
it was nipped in the bud. At Reading the railroad bridge
across the Schuylkill was burned, and the National
Guard came into fatal collision with a body of strikers
in the streets. A company of United States troops was
encamped there until late in the fall. At Scranton and
Wilkes-Barre passenger trains were fired at as they passed
through, and the tracks greased to stop them. In this
section the miners, too, went on a strike, but the mihtary
])revented any destruction of property such as charac-
terized the strike at Reading and Pittsbui-g.
Governor Hartranft, in his last message, advocated
arbitration and conciHation as a better policy than force
to restoi'e quiet among the working classes. The state
had paid annually for eight years $1()(),()()() for the suj)-
pression of labor troubles.
Governor Hoyt. At the election in 1878 Henry M.
Hoyt, a Republican, was elected governor. The legis-
lative session of 1879 was the first of the biennial sessions
provided for in the Constitution of 1873. The industries
were still suffering from hard times, but there were signs
of returning prosperity. Governor Hoyt, in his inaugu-
ral, reminded the people that they spent more than they
earned; that the extravagance of the rich is not the gain
182 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
of the poor; and that waste and profusion are not for
the good of trade.
The Bicentennial celebration. In 1881 an effort was
made by the legislature to have the remains of William
Penn removed from the graveyard at Jordan's meeting-
house, in Buckinghamshire, England, and interred in
Philadelphia; but the heirs of Penn objected. This
disappointment, however, did not mar the bicentennial
celebration of Penn's arrival in the good ship Welco7ne.
The affair was begun at Chester, on Monday, October 23,
1882. There some men representing William Penn and
his colonists landed at the foot of Penn Street, where
they were received by Lieutenant Markham and a
group of Quakers, Swedes, and Indians, appropriately
costumed. At midnight two hundred strokes of the
State House bell announced the beginning of ''landing
day" in Philadelphia. Fully 500,000 strangers were in
the city to see the Welcome come up the Delaware,
about nine o'clock in the morning. The landing was
made at the foot of Dock Street, according to tradition.
A procession was formed, and at the grand stand Gov-
ernor Hoyt greeted Penn and his suite. The founder then
made an address, to which Sachem Tamanend, of the
Delawares, made a reply. The procession, which required
four and a half hours in passing, was uniciue. It showed
the gradual progress made during the two centuries of
the state's existence. The festivities continued until
Friday.
Governor Pattison. In 1882 Robert E. Pattison,
a Democrat, was elected governor. As Governor Hoyt
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 183
said in his last message, "the people determined upon
a change." Following the example of President Jeffer-
son, Mr. Pattison would not ride in a carriage from the
depot at Harrisburg, but walked to the hotel, at the
time of his inauguration. In his messages, too, he advo-
cated economy in the pubhc service, recommending
various reforms intended to lessen expenses.
A long extra session of the legislature. On the day
fixed by the legislature for adjournment, June G, 1883,
the governor called an extra session to meet the follow-
ing day. The object was to redistrict the state into
senatorial and representative districts, in obedience to
the constitution; also to make a new division of con-
gressional and judicial districts. The legislature had
failed to do this work at the regular session, because the
two houses, being of different political complexion,
could not agree. The extra session continued until
December G. Several bills were introduced, but only
the one rearranging the judicial districts became a law.
The others failed on account of pohtical disagreements.
The expense incurred was heavy and caused much dis-
satisfaction. The members were paid ten dollars a day.
To avoid a recurrence of so great an expense through
an extra session, the law was changed in 1885. The
compensation for both the regular and the extra sessions
now is a fixed amount — 11,500 for the regular and $500
for the extra session, regardless of the length. The
legislature of 1885 also passed acts requesting the
governor to designate a day as Arbor Day; and requiring
in the common schools the study of physiology and hy-
184 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
giene, with special reference to the effects of alcohoHc
drinks, stimulants, and narcotics.
Temperance and prohibition. The question of temper-
ance received attention in other directions also about
this time. As early as 1872, Pennsylvania adopted a
local option law, but it was repealed soon afterward.
With the sudden growth of the Prohibition party in
the presidential campaign of 1884, there came a demand
for legislation to restrict, and even to prohibit, the
liquor traffic. There were at the time 7,000 licensed
drinking places in Philadelphia alone. In obedience
to a loud call from all over the state, the legislature in
1887 passed the so-called high license bill. This law
fixed the fees for the right to sell liquor at retail as high
as 1500 and $300 in cities, and proportionately high in
boroughs and townships.
At the same time, an amendment to the constitution,
prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating
liquor as a beverage, was })roposed. An election was
held in 1889, for the purpose of ratifying or rejecting
this amendment. It was lost by a vote of 484, ()44 to
296,617, the vote by counties being 89 against it and
28 for it. Later the high-license act was amended so
as to increase the fee in cities of the first and second
class.
Governor Beaver. At the election for governor in
1886, James A. l^eaver, a Republican, was the success-
ful candidate. The legislature in 1887 increased the
appropriation for common schools from $1,000,000 to
$1,500,000. The same legislature jjassed acts by which
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 185
the culture of trees was encouraged; the employment of
women and children in factories was regulated and provi-
sion made for their safety; and the fish in the streams and
the game in the forest were protected against ruthless
destruction.
The Johnstown Flood. Another example of the grow-
ing interest of the state in its people was furnished by
the floods of 1889. On May 81 the regions of the West
Branch of the Susquehanna, the Juniata, and the Cone-
maugh rivers were visited by floods which had no i)arallel
in history. Many villages, towns, and cities on the
eastern slo})e of the Alleghenies were, for a time, rendered
utterly helpless. On the western slope, Johnstown and
its neighboring towns were almost wiped out. Three
thousand lives were lost in the Conemaugh Valley,
more cjuickly than the story of the disaster can be told.
The cause of this terrible loss of life was tho bi-eaking
of a dam covering ()()() acres of land and calculated to
liold r)()(),()()(),()()() cubic ievt of water. It was situated
on the South Fork, two miles south of the junction with
the Conemaugh and ten miles east of Johnstown.
On the afternoon of May 31 the water rose slowly
until it i)oured over the top of the dam. Then some
old leakages became larger, the breast broke, and the
water rushed forth like a demon. John Baker, \hv Paul
Revere of the occasion, rode a race with it for a while
and saved many ])eo}:)le. But the death-dealing wave,
now laden with trees, houses, wreckage, and human
beings, defied steam whistles and telegraphic instru-
ments. It i)l()we(l through South Fork, Mineral Point,
186 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Franklin^ East Conemaugh, Woodvale, Conemaugh,
Johnstown, Kernville, Millville, and Cambria. It was
late in the afternoon, and the night that followed was
one of unutterable agony. Morning daw^ned upon a
scene that is impossible to describe.
When the people learned what had happened at Johns-
town, they extended aid and sympathy as great as
the catastrophe itself. ReHef committees were organ-
ized in Philadelphia and Pittsburg to furnish aid and
to help bury the dead. Governor Beaver appointed a
Flood Relief Commission to distribute a fund that had
swelled to more than $1,000,000. The State Board of
Health was early on the ground to enforce the sanitary
laws, and the military came there to preserve order. To
pay the state's expenses, generous men of means ad-
vanced the money till the legislature could reimburse
them. There never was a more beautiful example of
public and private charity in all history.
Governor Pattison*s second term. In 1890 Robert E.
Pattison was elected for a second term. Under the
Constitution of 1873, a person holding the office of
governor is not eligible for the next succeeding term.
Probably the most important act of the legislature of
1891 was the passage of the Ballot Reform Law. The
voter had not been sufficiently free and independent
in casting his ballot, and the cry for purer elections was
heard all over the commonwealth. The law adopted the
Australian system of voting, which tends to preserve to a
man freedom and secrecy in the discharge of his duty as
a voter.
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 187
The Homestead strike. The strike at Homestead, in
1892, was caused by an attempt of the Carnegie Steel
Company to reduce the wages of some of its employees,
who numbered about 4,000 men. Those who refused to
accept the new scale of wages were locked out. One
act followed another until the men locked out had practi-
cal possession of the works. The company then brought
a force of Pinkerton detectives from Chicago. On their
arrival in barges from Pittsbiu'g, they were worsted in
a riot. About a dozen lives were lost and scores of
persons were wounded, \\lien the National Guard ar-
rived, the town was WTll-nigh under the reign of mob
law; but in two weeks order was restored. The Home-
stead riot and other labor troubles caused much agita-
tion in and out of the legislature for several years in
favor of a board of arbitration to settle all labor difficul-
ties in the state.
Pennsylvania at the World's Fair. At the World's
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, the legisla-
ture spent 1300,000 to show the products of farm and
factory, mine and mill, art and education, and all the
best results of the state's material prosperity. The
Pennsylvania State Building, with its facsimile State
House tower and its old Liberty Bell in the main en-
trance, was a favorite spot in the World's Fair grounds.
Governor Hastings. At the election for governor in
1894, Daniel H. Hastings, a Republican, was elected.
The legislature of 1895 made a marked expansion in
the public service. It created a number of new depart-
ments and offices. The agricultural department, with
188 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
its kindred industries of dairy and food supplies, horti-
culture and forestry, was established in the interest of
farmers. A banking department was created to execute
the laws of banking and financial institutions in general.
A new court of seven judges — the Superior Court — was
established to lessen the work of the Supreme Court.
The capitol destroyed by fire. On Tuesday, Feb-
ruary 2, 1897, the clock in the tower of the state capitol
struck twelve o'clock noon as usual; but when it struck
again, it tolled its own death knell. At one o'clock the
fire that destroyed the historic building on that day
had already encircled the dome, and the old clock and
all that was dear in Pennsylvania's capitol was doomed.
Many books and records that could not be replaced were
destroyed. The old building had an interesting history.
It had witnessed the inauguration of sixteen governors;
Presidents Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Lincoln, Grant,
and Hayes had been within its walls; and Webster
entranced an audience there with his eloquence. Lafay-
ette was tendered a public reception in the old Senate
chamber, and in 1800 a similar honor was accordetl to
the Prince of Wales.
The new capitol. The legislature, after the fire, re-
sumed its sessions in Grace Methodist Episcopal Church,
of Harrisburg. A new capitol building was authorized
to be erected, fireproof and of the renaissance style of
architecture, the cost not to exceed $550,000. Work was
begun in the summer of 1898, the corner stone was laid
on August 10, and the building was occupied by the legis-
lature January 8, 1899.
THE PERIOD HLXCE THE CIVIL WAR 189
The Hazleton affair. Scarcely had a peaceable strike
in the bituminous fields of western Pennsylvania ended,
in the summer of 1897, when another strike broke out
in the anthracite region. The miners wanted higher
wages. On vSeptember 10 the sheriff of Luzerne Count}^
with about a hundred deputies, met a body of strikers —
mostly Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians, and Slavs — who
were marching to a colliery at Lattimer to persuade
others to join them. Some of the strikers tried to force
Obverse Reverse
The Seal of the State of PexXnsylvania
Ww'iv way jxist. The deputies fired into the miners,
kilhng some twenty and wounding about fifty others.
Three thousand troops of the National Guard were
soon tented about Hazleton, and no further violence
occurred. The sheriff and his deputies were arraigned
Tor murder, but they were acquitted on the ground that
they had not overstepped the bounds of reason in try-
ing to preserve order.
Pennsylvania in the war with Spain. On April 21,
1898, the United States, after thirty-three years of
190 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
peace, became involved in a war with Spain. Two days
later, President McKinley called for 125,000 volunteers.
Pennsylvania's quota was 10,762. Governor Hastings
ordered the National Guard — 9,222 men — to mobilize
at Mount Gretna. These, and others needed to fill up
the quota, were sworn into the service of the United
States for two years unless sooner discharged. About
a month later a call for 75,000 more volunteers was
made, and Pennsylvania furnished 6,462 additional men.
The Tenth Regiment was sent to Manila, and took part
in a number of engagements during the year's service
in the Philippines. The Sixteenth, the Fourth, and the
cavalry and artillery were sent to Porto Rico. The other
Pennsylvania regiments, though equally anxious to fight,
had to content themselves with camp duty in the United
States.
Governor Stone. In 1898 WiUiam A. Stone, Repub-
lican, was elected governor. In his administration
very serious troubles again grew out of strikes in the
anthracite coal regions. On September 21, 1900, it was
reported to the governor that 2,000 men were marching
the streets of Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, disturb-
ing the peace and resisting the local authorities. Two
persons were killed and seventeen wounded. The gov-
ernor was asked for aid. He sent 2,000 men of the Na-
tional Guard to the scene of disturbance, early the next
morning. No further serious disturbance took place.
The people were civil to the troops; the strike was settled;
and by October 31, the military was withdrawn.
A long strike in the anthracite regions. The long
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 191
strike in the anthracite coal fields in 1902, began on
May 2 and continued till November 12. Practically all
the anthracite mines were closed. The miners struck
for various reasons, but the chief demands were an
increase of wages and recognition of the miners' union
by the operators. As in 1900, disturbances broke out
in Shenandoah and the sheriff called on the governor for
aid, which was sent at once. Outbreaks occurred also
in the counties of Carbon, Susquehanna, and Columbia,
and the sherifTs called for troops from the National Guard.
By October 17, there were 8,750 men in the field — 92 per
cent of the whole Guard.
Cold weather was approa(;hing and the people feared
a coal famine. Wood and coal oil were used on a large
scale in all parts of the country where hard coal had been
in use. Strong efforts were made to settle the disputes
between the operators and the miners. The negotia-
tions were carried on chiefly by George F. Baer, presi-
dent of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron
Company, and John Mitchell, president of the United
Mine Workers of America. President Roosevelt at last
took a hand in the strike and persuaded the leaders on
both sides to submit their differences to a board of
arbitration. The miners then went to work. The arbi-
trators gave their decision March 21, 1903; the most
important points were that the miners should have an
advance of ten per cent in wages, and that the recogni-
tion of the miners' union was refused.
The Pan-American Exposition. In 1901 Buffalo, the
large and populous city in our sister state to the north,
192 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
held an exposition known as the Pan-American. Situ-
ated as Buffalo is, upon Lake Erie, which fronts on a por-
tion of our state, it was both proper and beneficial that
we should contribute to the success of the exposition.
The legislature appropriated $35,000 for the erection
of a state building and for a display of exhibits.
When President McKinley had been shot at this
exposition, Governor Stone appointed September 8 as
a day of prayer in Pennsylvania for the recovery of the
nation's ruler. After the death of McKinley, Septem-
ber 14, the governor issued another proclamation, making
Thursday, September 19, the day of the funeral, a time
of mourning and prayer throughout the state. All busi-
ness was suspended and the people gathered in churches,
public halls, and schoolhouses, in reverence of the mar-
tyred President.
Governor Pennypacker. In 1902 Samuel W. Penny-
packer, Republican, was elected governor. His Demo-
cratic opponent was Robert E. Pattison, who had been
twice governor before. Both candidates made a thor-
ough canvass of the state, addressing large and interested
audiences in all the principal towns.
Forest reservations. As far back as 1895, the legisla-
ture began to make provision for the protection of forests
from fire. Two years later, the Commissioner of Forestry
was authorized to purchase timber lands that had to be
sold by county treasurers for the non-payment of taxes.
The tracts so bought were to be formed into forestry
reservations. Such was the beginning of forestry reser-
vation in Pennsylvania. The legislature of 1899 author-
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 193
ized th€' purchase of other forest lands cUrectly from the
owners, the price not to exceed five dollars an acre. In
both Stone's and Pennypacker's administrations, lands
u|)on the mountain sides throughout the central part
of the state, from New York to Maryland, were piu'-
The Senate Chamber of the Present Capitol
chased as fast as the revenues would permit. On Janu-
ary 1, 1910, the state had almost 1,000,000 acres in its
forestry reserves.
These forests will increase in value: they will preserve
the springs and streams; they will protect the game and
fish; and they will be a place of resort for invahds, such
13
194 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
as the one already established at Mount Alto, Frankhn
County. A school of forestry for the education of prac-
tical foresters is conducted by the state at Mount Alto.
The graduates are assigned to service on the reserva-
tions.
Road improvement. Next in importance to good
schools in a community are good roads. Pennsylvania
began the improvement of her highways in 1903, by
estabhshing the State Highway Department and giving
state aid in the making of roads in townships. Aside
from the turnpikes constructed early in the nineteenth
century, the roads of Pennsylvania were poor until the
state undertook their improvement. Thereafter, in the
first two years, about 125 miles of good roads in forty-
five counties were constructed. A number of townships
also, following the example set before them, raised money
and improved their highways.
The public health. Contagious diseases used to rob
the state of thousands of people annually, without a
hand being raised officially against these dreaded de-
stroyers of life. Since 1905 the state has had a Depart-
ment of Health, which works to confine disease to as
narrow limits as possible. In the year 1909, among the
seven millions of people in the state, there was not one
death from smallpox reported to the Department of
Health. The Department of Health also does most valu-
able service in preserving the purity of the waters used
for drinking purposes by both man and beast; in sup-
pressing nuisances injurious to public health; and in keep-
ing a record of all births and deaths in the state.
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 195
The state police. The state police, or constabulary,
organized under a law passed in 19U5, is a force of
mounted men whose duty it is to protect life and prop-
erty and to keep peace and order, wherever they may
be stationed or sent. In the course of the hrst year
of service, the state police covered, in patrolling the
state, 03,000 miles and made 694 arrests. In 1909 this
|)olice force covered 407,910 miles and made 3,799 arrests.
The Valley Forge Park. In 1893 steps were taken by
the legislature to acquire the ground at Valley Forge for
the state, and to make a public park of that far-famed
camp of the Revolution. At the close of Governor Penny-
packer's administration, the commission appointed to act
for the state had acquired 470 acres of land and the stone
house used by Washington for his headquarters in the
winter of 1777-78. The inner and outer lines of the in-
trenchments are now well preserved. Five or six miles
of avenues have been laid out. An observatory, seventy-
five feet high and five hundred feet above sea-level, com-
mands a view of the camp and many miles of the sur-
rounding country. On a crest marking the site of the
Pennsylvania troops stands an equestrian statue of their
great commander. General Wayne. Four guardhouses,
two of them being reproductions of the huts used by
the soldiers, stand at different points of the camp. Other
states that had commands at Valley Forge are joining
Pennsylvania in restoring the camp and making it a
shrine for patriotic Americans.
An important extra session of the legislature. In
November, 1905, the governor issued a caU for an extra
196 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
session of the legislature. It began January 15 follow-
ing the call and ended February 15. The session was
fruitful of important and useful legislation. Allegheny
and Pittsburg were brought under one city government.
The state was reapportioned into senatorial and repre-
sentative districts — a constitutional duty that had been
neglected in the case of the senatorial districts since
1880, and in the case of the representative districts since
1890.
At the same time, personal registration of the voters
in cities was made an annual requirement for voting.
Primary elections of all political parties were ordered
to be held on the same day throughout the conniion-
wealtli. Nomination and election expenses were regu-
lated; and accounts of such expenses, if exceeding
fifty dollars, were recjuired to be filed under oath with
certain public officials. The civil service of cities of
the first class (meaning Philadelphia) was regulated and
improved by requiring competitive examinations of ap-
})licants for offices filled by appointment.
The new capitol. A new brick capitol building was
erected in Governor Hastings's administration (see
}). 188); but it was not complete or of pleasing appear-
ance, though well built. In 1901 it was decided to
complete the building in such a manner as to be in keep-
ing with the wealth and dignity of the state. The legis-
lature appropriated $4,000,000 to construct and com-
plete the capitol. By January 1, 1905, it was finished,
having cost about $36,000 less than $4,000,000. The
furnishing amounted to more than $8,000,000. These
H
<1
198 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
sums, added to the amount appropriated in 1897,
brought the total cost to about 113,000,000.
The exterior of the capitol is of Vermont granite.
The building covers two acres of ground and is 520 feet
long. The height from the ground to the top of the
statue on the dome is 272 feet. There are 475 rooms;
and the interior decorations, the fixtures, and the furni-
ture all captivate the eye by their magnificent profu-
sion. Pennsylvania's" capitol ranks with the greatest
of monumental edifices in America.
The dedication took place October 4, 1906. Fifty
thousand people had come to Harrisburg from the four
corners of the state. Governor Pennypacker acted as
master of ceremonies. Ex-Governor Stone, as president
of the Capitol Buildiug Commission, handed a golden
key to Governor Pennypacker to signify the delivery
of the new capitol to the state. The address of the day
was delivered by Theodore Roosevelt, President of the
United States.
Governor Stuart. The election in 1900 resulted in
favor of Edwin S. Stuart, Republican, for governor.
He gave much thought to natural resources, both in his
inaugural and in his first message to the legislature.
He advocated the reservation of more forests, the plant-
ing of forest trees on non-tillable lands, and the replant-
ing of denuded forests. He also called attention to the
streams and rivers in the state, urging that they be kept
pure and never-failing, be turned to use in making mo-
tive power, and not be allowed to wash away soil and
destroy property by overflow. Water-rights should not
THE PERIOD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 199
be granted without regard for the pubhc good. The
exhaustion of the coal mines was given serious consid-
eration.
A cattle plague. Late in the year 1908, several car-
loads of cattle from the stock yards at Buffalo were
shipped to different places in Pennsylvania. Within a
week, nine outbreaks of aphthous fever — a foot-and-
mouth disease — were found in fourteen counties. The
state veterinarian killed the infected herds, buried them,
and disinfected the premises. The state paid one third
of the loss to the farmers, and the United States two
thirds. No cattle, sheep, goats, or swine, nor undisin-
fected hay, straw, hides, or wool, were allowed to be
removed from the state during the continuance of the
(Usease.
Founders' Week in Philadelphia. On Saturday,
October 3, 1908, Philadelphia began to celebrate its
225th anniversary. The celebration continued one
week. Since the early history of Philadelphia is also the
early history of Pennsylvania, people from all over
the state participated in Founders' Week. On Monday
a military parade, heralded at sunrise by the booming of
cannon from warships on the Delaware, passed through
the streets. Tuesday was German Day, to commemo-
rate the settlement of Germantown. On Wednesday
the industries of the city passed in review before a half
million people. One float, drawn by forty horses, carried
a telephone exchange, showing the operators at work.
In the evening the workingmen paraded. On Thursday
a flotilla of all sorts of boats passed in review around a
200 A SHORT HISTORY OF PEXXSYLVAXIA
squadron of men-of-war from the North Atlantic fleet.
'Friday saw the climax of Founders' Week in an histori-
cal pageant that illustrated man}' pages of Pennsylvania's
history. It was one of the most elaborate and artistic
displays of its kind ever made in any American city.
The North Pole reached. Though the discovery of
the North Pole, on April (J, 1909, was in no sense a state
afTair, it nevertheless may be proudly mentioned in the
history of Pennsylvania; for Peary, the discoverer, was
a Pennsylvanian, and his first Arctic ex]3edition was
made under the auspices of the Philadelphia Academy
of Natural Sciences.
Looking backward and forward. Looking backward,
let us see win' AMlliam Penn braved the broad and
stormy sea and landed on the banks of the Delaware.
He wanted to make ''a holy experiment," as he said, bv
planting a colony that was to l^e ''an asylum for the
•good and the oppressed of every nation." He wanted
the colony to grow to be a great and prosperous jjrov-
ince. He wanted the people to make the laws and then
obey them. That he did his part to bring about these
things, is seen in the history of Pennsylvania.
Looking forward, it is for us and coming generations
to make Pennsylvania more and more what its founder
wished it to be. If William Penn could speak to the
people of his state to-day, he would tell them that the}'
can honor him most by making good laws and obeying
them. Let us therefore be loyal to his hopes and wishes.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
THE GOVERXOES OF PEXySTLFAXTA
WILLIAM MARKHAM ( under Penn, 1G81 - 1682 ; under
Fletcher, 1693-1695 ; under Penn, 1695-1699 ; and in Delaware
under Penn, 1691-1693) was a cousin of William Penn, a soldier by
profession, and but twenty-one years of age when he arrived as
Deputy- Governor. He came to Philadelphia by way of New York,
where he informed the Governor of that colony that his rule of the
Delaware liad passed into William Penn's hands. He died in Phila-
delphia, 1704, and was buried with military honors by direction of
Governor Evans. Pennsylvania owes much to William Markham.
He nursed the colony in its infancy, and the child no doubt caused
him many a sleepless night.
WILLIAM PENN (1682-84, 1699-1701) was born in London in
1644. His father was Admiral William Penn, who had distinguished
himself in the British navy, and was anxious that his only son should
be a man of prominence. To this end, he sent William to Oxford.
While there, the youth became deeply impressed by the preaching
of the Quaker, Thomas Loe, and was expelled from college for re-
fusing to comply with certain regulations of dress, which he now
regarded as wrong. To efface the impressions of Loe's preaching.
Admiral Penn sent his son to the Continent, where he traveled for
a time. Upon returning, William studied law, became an attache
to his father in the naval service, and in 1665 assumed the man-
agement of a family estate near Cork. He acquired some military
renown as a soldier, and had a portrait of himself painted in mili-
tary costume. While in Ireland, Penn once more heard Thomas
Loe preach, and this time the arrow of conviction went straight to
his heart. He joined the Friends, adopted their principles, and
shared their persecutions. At a meeting in Cork, he, with others,
was arrested and thrown into prison. When released, he began to
preach and write the Quaker doctrine. The conversion to the
Quakers of so prominent a person as the son of Admiral Penn was
the talk of the kingdom. The father tried hard to undo Loe's
work, and even made his son leave home; but William refused to
depart from the Quaker customs, even so much as to take off his
hat to his father, the King and the Duke of York. During his
banishment from home, a mother's love provided him secretly with
201
202 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
an allowance. His writings being regarded as heretical, he was
arrested and thrown into the Tower of London for eight months,
where he wrote his celebrated work, "No Cross, No Crown." Ad-
miral Penn now became touched by the heroic conduct of his son,
and had him liberated. The two were reconciled, and William
again took charge of the estates in Ireland, but only for a short
time. Resuming his preaching in England in 1670, he was once
more thrown into prison. After being released again, he continued
to write, preach, and travel in the interests of civil and religious
liberty, and upon his return from Germany and Holland his his-
tory merged into that of Pennsylvania.
THOMAS LLOYD (President of Council, 1684-86; one of five
Commissioners, 1686-88; President of Council, 1690-91; Deputy-
Governor, 1691-93) was entrusted with the keeping of the Great
Seal when Penn sailed for England in 1684. He had been educated
at Oxford and had held places of trust in England. Having become
a Quaker, he resolved to come to Pennsylvania, where he arrived in
1683, on the same ship with Pastorius. Lloyd's first office was
that of land commissioner, of whom there were three. When he
asked to be relieved from his executive duties in 1688, Penn gave
his consent very reluctantly, yet he afterwards served twice in the
same capacity. He died in 1694, at the early age of 45.
JOHN BLACKWELL (1688-90) had been a captain in Crom-
well's army, and was at the time of his selection in one of the
New England colonies. "Since no Friend," says Penn, "would
undertake the Governor's place, I took one that was not, and a
stranger, that he might be impartial and more reverenced." But
Penn's hopes were not realized. After a little more than a year of
turbulent rule, the Military Governor was relieved of his authority;
and he expressed his thanks that he had escaped from his troubtes.
ANDREW HAMILTON (1701-1703), the first Deputy-Gover-
nor after Markham's long and repeated rule, was a native of Scot-
land and a merchant in Edinburgh. On his arrival in America, he
was made Governor of New Jersey. He planned a system of post
offices in the colonies, and was made Deputy Postmaster- General
for all the plantations. He died as Governor of Pennsylvania,
while on a visit to his family at Amboy, New Jersey, in 1703.
EDWARD SHIPPEN (President of Council, 1703-04) succeeded
to executive authority on the death of Hamilton. He was Phila-
delphia's first mayor. Tradition has it that he was distinguished
for three things— the biggest man, the biggest house and the biggest
carriage. He came early into the province from Boston, whither
he had gone from England, and whence he had fled on account of
the persecutions meted out to the Quakers. He was the grand-
father of Chief Justice Shippen and an ancestor of Dr. William
Shippen, the first medical lecturer in Philadelphia, and the second
in America.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 203
JOHN EVANS (1704-1709) was of Welsh descent, but born in
London. When appointed Governor, he was a member of the
Queen's household. He was too young and inexperienced to make
a ffood executive, while his private life gave great offense. William
Penn the younger had come with him to Philadelphia, and the
two held high carnival at times in the staid and quiet city of that
day.
CHARLES GOOKIN (1709-17) was an Irishman. He was the
opposite of Evans in age and morals; yet he did not please the
Assembly. He had been a captain in the English army, and the
selection of a military Governor under Penu, " the Apostle of
Peace," was somewhat of an anomaly. He returned to England
after his term of office.
SIR WILLIAM KEITH (1717-26) was the son of a Scotch baron,
and had held office under the British government before he was
appointed Governor, having been for some time the King's surveyor
of customs for the southern provinces. In this capacity he had
visited Philadelphia and become favorably known there. Having
made himself popular with the people, he was elected to the As-
sembly upon retiring from the governorship. He went back to Eng-
land afterwards and died in obscurity.
PATRICK GORDON (1726-36) was another military man, hav-
ing served from his youth in the English army. William Penn had
died in Keith's administration and Gordon was accordingly ap-
pointed by Springett Penn, the heir-at-law of the proprietary
family. He died in office in 1736, after ten years of a happy ad-
ministration.
JAMES LOGAN ( President of Council, 1736-38 ) came to
America with Pennon his second visit in 1699, as secretary. He
was born in Ireland, of Scottish parentage, in 1674, and at the age
of thirteen had acquired Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Later he
became proficient in mathematics and the modern languages. He
made investigations in botauy and other sciences, wrote books and
corresponded with the learned men in Europe. His library was
joined with Franklin's to make the Philadelphia library, the first
circulating library in the colonies. Penn invested him with many
important trusts, which were nobly discharged. Although he never
was Governor in name, in his capacity as secretary of the Province,
menl)er of the Council, commissioner of property, and Chief
Justice, he was everything to Penn and the Penn family from the
day he entered their service until he died, in 1751. He was a
warm friend of the Indians. His classic home at Stenton, near
Germantown, was nearly always surrounded l)y Indian delegations,
who camped there to seek advice and favor from their honored
friend "hid in the bushes."
SIR GEORGE THOMAS (1738-47), the son of a wealthy
planter, was boru at Antigua, in the West Indies. He was a mem-
204 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ber of the government of that island when appointed, and after his
term of office was Governor of the Leeward and Carribee Islands.
He afterwards became a baronet, and died in London.
ANTHONY PALMER (President of Council, 1747-48) was a
gentleman of wealth, who had come to the Province in 1708, from
the West Indies. It is said that he lived in great style, keeping a
coach and a pleasure barge, in which he made his visits from the
"Governor's House" at Shackamaxon to the city. He died in
1749.
JAMES HAMILTON ( 1748-54, 1759-63, and President of
Council in 1771) was a native of Philadelphia, possessed of a large
fortune, and experienced in the affairs of the Province by serving
as Prothonotary. He was twice appointed Governor, serving ten
years altogether. He held other offices, and was a very popular
man until the Revolutionary movement began, when he took sides
with the Crown. He died in New York in 1783.
ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS (1754-56) was bred a lawyer,
and was Chief Justice of New Jersey for twenty years. His ad-
ministration in Pennsylvania occurred at a stormy time in the his-
tory, and neither he nor the Province had many pleasant recollec-
tions of it. Upon his retirement, he returned to New Jersey,
where he died in 1764.
WILLIAM DENNY ( 1756-59 ) was born in England. On
finishing his career as Governor of Pennsylvania, he returned
thither, where he retired on an annuity from the Crown. He was
received at Philadelphia with great honors ; but his disagreements
with the Assembly made his recall necessary. He had to sign bills
contrary to his instructions in order to get his salary.
JOHN PENN (1763-71 and 1773-1776), the son of Richard and
grandson of William Penn, was a native of Philadelphia, born in
1728. He was twice Governor — from 1763 to 1771, and again from
1773 to the end of the proprietary government, in 1776. He re-
mained here during tlie Revolution, and, having refused to sign a
parole, was confined in New Jersey and Virginia. He died at his
home in Bucks county, 1795, and was buried in Christ's graveyard,
from which his remains were afterwards transferred to England.
RICHARD PENN (1771-73), brother of John Penn, and, hence,
also grandson of William Penn, was born in England, 1734. After
coming here, he became a member of the Provincial Council and a
naval officer. As Governor, he secured public confidence to such
an extent that when, in 1775, he sailed for England, the second
petition of Congress to the King was entrusted to him for pre-
sentation to the Privy Council. Parliament availed itself of his
information on American affairs, and he subsequently became a
member of that body. He died in England in 1811.
BENJAMIN P^RANKLIN (ehaiiman of Committee of Safety,
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
205
Franklin's Grave.
1776-77; and President of Supreme Executive Council, 1785-88)
was born at Boston, in 1706, but disagreeing with his brother, to
whom he had been apprenticed as a printer, he came to Philadel-
phia in 1723. He got work from Andrew Bradford, and in a year
had saved enough to seek his fortune in London. He soon re-
turned to Philadelphia, and again worked as a journeyman ; but
not long, for in 1830 he had
a printing establishment,
was editor and proprietor of
the Pennsylvania Ga~ctte, and
had married Deborah Reed,
the girl that laughed at him
when he walked past her
house eating dry rolls. Two
years later, Franklin pub-
lished "Poor Richard's Al-
manac," the first number be-
ing "for the year of Christ
1733." He was now a busy
man, yet he studied French,
Italian, Spanish, and Latin,
wrote pamphlets and essays,
and gave time to society and
the lodge. In 1736 he got
his first salaried oflfice, clerk of the Assembly ; and with that
appointment began his long life of public service, more varied
and extended than that of any other man in America. The fact
that he signed the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of
alliance with France, the treaty of peace with England, and
the Federal Constitution, shows what great services he rendered
to the United States. The last years of his life were spent in
great feebleness and much physical suffering, and death was wel-
come when it came, April 17, 1790. His remains were ])uried in
Christ Church graveyard, at the corner of Fifth and Arch streets,
where thousands stop every year to look at the modest tomb-
stones of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin.
THOMAS WHARTON, JR. (1777-78), was born in Philadel-
phia, 1735, his grandfather having emigrated from England to
Pennsylvania the year after Penn's arrival. Being a warm
supporter of the Revolution, he was made President of the Su-
preme Executive Council, in 1777, and as such, became the first
Executive of Pennsylvania as a State. He died in office while the
seat of government was temporarily at Lancaster, during the oc-
cupation of Philadelphia by the British. At the request of the
vestry, his body was entombed within the walls of Trinity Church,
Lancaster.
GEORGE BRYAN f May -December, 1778) was Vice-President
of the Council when Thomas Wharton, Jr., died. He thereupon
206 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
assumed the office of President and Chief Executive. He was a
native of Ireland, and upon settling in Philadelphia engaged in
the mercantile business, but was not successful. He was long in
the puVjlic service — member of the Stamp Act Congress, of the
Assembly, and of the Executive Council. He was a sincere pa-
triot at all times, and his sympathy for his fellowman made him
a champion for human freedom. (See p. 172.) He died in 1791,
and lies buried in the Presbyterian graveyard, Arch street, near
Fifth, Philadelphia.
JOSEPH REED (1778-81) was born at Trenton, New Jersey,
1741. After graduating at the College of New Jersey (Princeton),
and studying law in London, he practiced law and held office in his
native State. Upon settling in Philadelphia, he became at once
prominent in public affairs, serving on the Committee of Corres-
pondence, in Congress, and in the Continental Army. He declined
the office of Chief Justice of the State, as well as a brigadier-
generalship. As President of the Council, he was popular with the
people on account of his energy, activity and patriotism. He was
a leader in the establishment of the University of Pennsylvania,
the abolition of slavery, and the divestment of the Penns of their
proprietary rights. He died in Philadelphia, 1785, at the early
age of 44, literally worn out in the service of his country.
WILLIAM MOORE (1781-82), born in Philadelphia, was a
merchant when the Revolution drew him into public affairs. He
was active in the measures adopted by the State and Congress to
remove the oppressions of England. After his term of office as
President of the Council, he entered the Assembly and kept up his
interest in public affairs till he died, in 1793.
JOHN DICKINSON (1782-85), though born in Maryland (1732)
and living in Delaware for a time, is claimed by Pennsylvania as
one of her greatest sons. After studying law in Philadelphia and
London, he hung out his sign in Philadelphia. As early as 1764
he was a member of the Assembly, and for the next twelve years
the leading man in Pennsylvania. His star went down for a
time, because he opposed the Declaration of Independence as
premature ; but he was too great to skulk. He shouldered the
musket in defense of his country, and was made brigadier-general
of the State militia. After he had retired to his farm in Delaware,
he was first sent to Congress by that State and then elected as its
executive. When the Eevolution was over, Dickinson returned to
Philadelphia and was soon after honored with the presidency of
the Executive Council. In the Constitutional Convention, in 1787,
and in the campaign for its ratification by the States, he again
demonstrated his great power and influence. When our relations
with France were on the point of breaking, he took up his pen
for the last time. John Dickinson died at Wilmington, Delaware,
in 1808.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 207
THOMAS MIFFLIN (1788-99), by bis conspicuous services as
statesman and soldier in the Revolutionary period and after, holds
a high place in the history of Pennsylvania He was born m
Philadelphia in 1744, trained in the faith of the Quakers, and in-
tended for the mercantile business, which he pursued for a time.
He was chosen to the Assembly at the age of 28, and two years
later he was a member of the first Continental Congress At the
opening of the Revolution he entered the Continental Army as
maior of a Pennsylvania battalion, and after the battle of German-
town resigned as major-general. At the battle of Long Island,
Mifflin covered the retreat and, in spite of a dreadful mistake in
his orders, did it heroically. His resignation was forced upon him
by impaired health, but Congress would not accept it, and he con-
tinued his duties as quartermaster-general till 1778, and later on
received the thanks of Congress for "wise and salutary plans rec-
ommended," to reduce the general expenses After the war, he
was elected to Congress and served as P^'^ff ^^t/^^^;^^ y?,%\-.^^^
was also a member of that great and honorable body which fiamed
the Federal Constitution. His valuable service^ m the Legis-
lature as Speaker of the Assembly and president ot the Council,
and Tn the convention which framed the constitution of 1790, over
which he presided, made him the almost unanimous choice for the
fi St Governor of the State. After holding this high office as long
as the constitution permitted, he again ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^f^^'^^
and died in the harness, at Lancaster in 1800 His lemams are
buried at the German Lutheran church of that city.
THOMAS M'KEAN (1799-1808), whose parents were natives
of Ireland, belonged to Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was born
in Londonderry, Chester county, 1734, but ^tu^iedj^nd practu^^^^^
law in New Castle, Delaware, and was a member of the Lepsla-
t^eoi that State. Having been well educated and endowed with
ffreat abilitv he became one of the pillars ot the Revolut on. In
the stamp Act Convention, held in New York, he assisted in
dewing up the address of the colonies to the House of Commons.
He was^a member of the ^outinental Congress fiw both Pennsy^
vania and Delaware, sitting in that body from 1/74 to 1783. At
one time he was both Chief Justice of Pennsylvania and President
of CoTgress He was at the head of the Supreme Court m Penn-
svlvanlafoi twenty-two years. He died in Philadelphia m 181 / ,
and was buried in the grounds of the Presbyterian church, on
SIMON SNYDER (1808-17) was born at Lancaster, and was
the first of the German Governors of Pennsylvania H^ J^s ^
tanner by trade, but of studious habit^. At the age of 25 he en^
o-a-ed in the mercantile business at Selmsgrove now Snyder
SoSnty He began his public career as justice of the peace. He
iXed'to frame the Constitution of 1790, and after he entered the
Sslature wTs chosen Speaker of the House for six successive
terSs. He was a candidate for Governor four times, being de-
208 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
feated the first time by a small majority and elected the other
times by large majorities. He died in 1819, while a member of
the Senate, and his body rests in Selinsgrove.
WILLIAM FINDLAY (1817-20), of Scotch-Irish descent, was
born at Mercersburg, Franklin county. He began life as a farmer.
After he was twenty-nine he was elected to the Legislature for a
number of terms, and subsequently held the office of State Treas-
urer for ten years. After serving one term as Governor, he was
elected United States Senator and served one term. He finished
his public career as an official of the United States mint. Mr.
Findlay died at Harrisburg in 1816, at the residence of his son-
in-law, Governor Shunk, and was buried in that city.
JOSEPH HIESTER (1820-23) was a native of Bern township,
Berks county, his father having emigrated from Germany. Joseph
served his country most loyally in the Revolution. He raised a
company at the very outbreak, and when the battalion was formed
was appointed major. He was wounded and taken prisoner in the
battle of Long Island, and was confined in a prison ship for a
year. When exchanged, he was again wounded at Germantown.
He received extensive training as a statesman in the Legislature,
the constitutional convention of 1790, and Congress. He died in
1832, and is buried in the grounds of the German Reformed
church of Reading.
JOHN ANDREW SHULZE (1823-29), born at Tulpehoeken,
Berks county, was the son of a German clergyman, and he himself
had served as pastor of several Lutheran congregations in Berks
county before his health demanded that he should engage in some-
thing else. He entered the mercantile business at Myerstown,
then Dauphin county, and, becoming interested in i)olities, was
elected to the Legislature. When the new county of Lebanon was
organized, in 1813, he accepted an office in it, which he held for
eight years. After that, he again entered the Legislature, serving
in both houses. At the end of his second term, he engaged in
agricultural pursuits, but before his death he removed to Lancas-
ter, where he died in 1852.
GEORGE WOLF (1829-35) was a native of Allen township,
Northampton county, but his father had been born in Germany.
George received a classical and a legal education, and was well
prepared for the important duties of his life. He studied law while
he was principal of an academy, and rose rapidly in public favor.
Having been a clerk in a county office before he was of age, it is
not surprising that he had been postmaster of Easton, clerk of the
orphans' court and member of the Legislature before he was forty.
In 1824 he was elected to Congress, and served in that body till
elected Governor, in 1829. After serving in the gubernatorial chair
for six years and writing his name indelibly upon the pages of Penn-
sylvania's history, he entered the service of the United States in
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 209
the capacity first of Controller of the Treasury and afterwards
of Collector of the Port in Philadelphia, in which city he died in
1840. His remains were buried in Harrisburg, the scene of his
great services in behalf of his beloved State. Governor Wolf was a
man of the people and always mindful of their best interests. He
was the first executive to have his ofiice in the Capitol; his prede-
cessors had used a room in their private residence for that purpose,
much to the annoyance of those who were not accustomed to ser-
vants in waiting, stationed at every turn.
JOSEPH RITNER (December 15, 1835 -January 15, 1839) was
the third Governor born in Berks county. His father was a
German farmer and, like most farmer boys of his day, Joseph
received but a meager education. When a young man, he removed
to Washington county, where he engaged in farming. By the
force of his mental vigor, he soon proved himself a useful man
in his new home, and the people lionored him with a seat in
the Legislature. He served six years and rose to the position of
Speaker. As the successor of Wolf, he became the guardian of a
precious legacy — the common school law ; and he handed it down
to posterity without the loss of one jot or tittle. At the end of
his career as Governor, Ritner retired to a farm near Mount
Rock, Cumberland county, where he died at the ripe old age of
eighty- nine. President Taylor, in 1848, appointed him Director
of the Mint at Philadelphia, but a favorite of Fillmore succeeded
to the office soon afterwards. The following are the opening
lines of a poem by Whittier on Ritner's message of 1836:
" Thank God for the token ! one lip is still free, —
One spirit untrammelled,— unbending one knee !"
DAVID RITTENHOUSE PORTER (1839-45), whose paternal
ancestors had come from Ireland, was born in Montgomery county,
near Norristown. Andrew, his father, was an officer in the Revo-
lutionary army and was once offered a position in Madison's Cabi-
net. Horace Porter, son of the Governor, distinguished himself in
the Rebellion and was appointed Minister to France by President
McKinley. David received a classical education and, while assist-
ing his father, who was Surveyor-General, studied law; but
his health demanded a more active occupation. He therefore en-
gaged in the manufacture of iron in Huntingdon county. After
representing his adopted county in the Legislature, both as Repre-
sentative and Senator, he was elected Governor and served two
terms. He died at Harrisburg in 1867, and was buried there.
FRANCIS RAWN SHUNK (1845-48) was of German descent
and a native of Montgomery county, having been born near the
Trappe, in the same year, with Governor Porter, 1788. At the
early age of fifteen he began to teach, and when a young man he
was appointed clerk in the Surveyor-General's office by Governor
Porter's father. In 1814 he shouldered the musket in defense of
Baltimore against the British. At the age of twenty -eight he
began the practice of law and became interested in politics. He
14
210 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
was clerk of the House of Representatives for several years and
secretary to the Canal Commissioners. In 1842 he removed to
Pittsburg and practiced his profession. About six months before
his term as Governor had expired, he was forced to resign on ac-
count of shattered health. He died July 30, 1848, and his dust
reposes with that of his kindred, at the Trappe, his native place.
WILLIAM FREAME JOHNSTON (1848-1852), whose father
was Scotch- Irish, was born at Greeusburg, Westmoreland county,
1808. He received a common school and academic education,
studied law and began the practice of his profession in Armstrong
county. He soon rose to prominence and became district at-
torney. He next represented his county in the House, and later,
his district in the Senate. In the financial crisis of 18o7, he
proposed a measure of relief in the Legislature, whose salutary
effects made him very popular. After his term as Governor, he
was engaged in the manufacture of iron and the production of coal
and petroleum. He was appointed Collector of the Port at Phila-
delphia by President Johnson, but the Senate would not confirm
him on account of its hostility to the administration. He died at
Pittsburg in 1872, and was buried there.
WILLIAM BIGLER (1852-55) was born of German parents, at
Shermansburg, Cumberland county. While William was quite
young, the family removed to Mercer county, where the father died
and left them struggling on on a small backwoods farm. It would
have been a great solace in his dying hour if he could have seen
the future of two of his sons, one of whom, John, became Gover-
nor of California, and the other, William, Governor of Pennsyl-
vania. Burdened with the support of their widowed mother, the
boys had to be content with a meager schooling. William learned
the printing trade, and was employed for several years by his
brother John, in the ofliee of the Centre Democrat, published at
Belief onte. Andrew G. Curtin, afterwards Governor, influenced
William to commence the publication of a political paper at Clear-
field. Under many misgivings, he founded the Clearfield Democrat,
and laid the foundation of his political career. Disposing of his
paper, he went into the lumber business and became the fore-
most lumber merchant on the West Branch. He was elected to the
State Senate in 1841, and in his own county received every vote
cast but one. He was elected Speaker twice, and reelected to the
Senate twice. His great service in the Legislature was rendered
in advocating the bill giving the right of way for the construction of
the Pennsylvania Central railroad. A great effort was made then to
connect Philadelphia and Pittsburg by means of the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad, through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the west-
ern counties of Pennsylvania, instead of by a direct route across
the Alleghenies. After his retirement from the Governor's office,
he became president of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Com-
pany, and represented the State one term in the United States
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 211
Senate. At the close of his public life, he devoted himself to his
business affairs and to the welfare of his town — Clearfield — where
he died and was buried in 1880.
JAMES POLLOCK (1855-58), whose ancestors emigrated from
the north of Ireland and settled in Chester county, was born at
Milton, Northumberland county, 1810. He was educated at the
academy of his native town and at Princeton College. His schol-
arly attainments secured him the degree of LL.D. from his alma
mater and from Jefferson College. Soon after being admitted
to the bar, he was elected district attorney of Northumberland
county. He represented his district in Congress from 1843 to 1849,
and was then appointed president judge of the district including
Northumberland. After the expiration of his official term. Gover-
nor Pollock resumed the practice of law at Milton. He bore a
prominent part in the convention at Washington, between the
North and South, in 1860, to prevent an appeal to arms for the
settlement of the strife between the two sections. He was Director
of the Mint at Philadelphia from 1861 to 1866, and was instru-
mental in getting the motto, ''In God we trust," placed upon the
coins. He re-eeived the same appointment again under Grant's
administration. Mr. Pollock remained an honored and respected
citizen until his death, which occurred in Lock Haven, in 1890 His
remains are interred in the Milton cemetery.
WILLIAM FISHER PACKER (1858-61), of Quaker ancestry,
was born in 1807, in Howard township. Centre county, his father
having removed from Chester county. Like his predecessors,
Pollock and Bigler, William was left fatherless when a child, and
had to encounter the hardships of life early. He learned the art
of printing before he was fifteen, but, after working at the trade
for a few years, studied law at Williamsport. However, he never
applied for admission to the bar. Instead, he bought an interest
in the Williamsport Gazette, and later helped to establish the
Keystone, a Democratic paper at Harrisburg. He served on the
Board of Canal Commissioners, was Auditor -General, and a member
of the House and Senate before he became Governor. While in
the Legislature, he took the leading part in passing the bill to in-
corporate the company that built the Northern Central railroad
above Harrisburg. At the close of his term as Governor, Mr.
Packer, owing to declining health, retired to his home in Williams-
port, where he died and was laid to rest in 1870.
ANDREW GREGG CURTIN (1861-1867) was born, 1817, in
Bellefonte, Centre county. His father was a native of Ireland,
one of the first iron manufacturers in central Pennsylvania, and a
man of liberal education and great prominence. Andrew was edu-
cated in private schools at Bellefonte and Harrisburg, and in the
academy at Milton. He read law at home, and took a course at
Dickinson College. He commenced the practice in 1839, and at
once took high rank in his profession. He entered the political
212 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
arena to win. After helping Harrison and Clay and Taylor in
their Presidential contests, his first prize came in the form of Sec-
retary of the Commonwealth and Superintendent of Common
Schools, under Pollock. As School Superintendent, he labored
hard to enable the law establishing the county superintendency to
take root in public opinion. Governor Curtin was called to rule
the State at the most critical period of its history ; but he was equal
to the occasion, and fulfilled every expectation that his inaugural
address of 1861 had aroused in the minds of the people. So ar-
duous were his duties that, at the end of his first term, his health
demanded a change, and in November, 1864, he sailed for Cuba, to
spend the winter months there. In 1868, he was a prominent
candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Grant, and when
the latter had been elected President, he made Curtin Minister to
Russia, a position he held till 1872. Pennsylvania's "War Gover-
nor" will always be held in the dearest remembrance. He de-
voted every moment of his time, every thought of his mind, and
every fiber of his strength, to the success of the Union army and
the welfare of the boys from Pennsylvania who fought in that
army. Yea, more ! From the time of that cold Thanksgiving
morning when the two waifs, begging at his house in Harrisburg,
told him their father had been killed in battle, his great heart also
had a place for the soldiers' orphans. After retiring from public
life, Mr. Curtin resided in Bellefonte until his death, in 1894. His
remains rest in Union Cemetery.
JOHN WHITE GEARY (1867-73), of Scotch-Irish descent,
was born near Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, 1819. Be-
fore he had graduated at Jefferson College, his father died and he
had to teach school to finish his course. After a brief experience
as a merchant's clerk in Pittsburg, he became a civil engineer.
When the Mexican war broke out, his career as a soldier began
with the appointment of lieutenant -colonel. Having won distinc-
tion at Chapultepec, Geary was made Colonel, and first comman-
der of the city of Mexico after its capture.
Later, when the conquests of the war had been
put under the control of the United States,
Colonel Geary was made postmaster of San
Francisco, then alcalde of the city, and finally its
first mayor. Upon his return to Pennsylvania,
he lived on his farm in Westmoreland county
until 1856, when he was made Governor of the
Territory of Kansas. He found the anti-slavery
and pro- slavery parties arrayed in arms against
each other ; but he disbanded their armies and
sent them home. Under his course, the cause
James Buchanan. ®^ slavery would have been crushed in Kansas
then, but he resigned when Buchanan was
elected, because he felt that he was no longer wanted. Early in
1861, he raised the 28th Pennsylvania regiment and rose to the
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 213
rank of brigadier-general. His command won glory at Fredericks-
burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, and in Sher-
man's march to the sea. After the capture of Savannah, General
Geary was made Military Governor. His ripe experience and
patriotic services made him a great favorite for Governor of Penn-
sylvania in 1866. His second term expired January 21, 1873, and
he died suddenly on the 8th of the following month, at the Capital
city, where he was buried.
JOHN FREDERICK HARTRANFT (1873-79) was born in New
Hanover township, Montgomery county, in 1830. As his name
indicates, he was of German descent. Preparing for college at
Treemount Seminary, Norristown, and taking the freshman year at
Marshall College, Mercersburg, he graduated at Union College,
Schenectady, in 1853. He read law, and was admitted to the bar
at Norristown in 1859. Two years later, the young lawyer raised
the 4th Pennsylvania regiment and helped to fight the battle of
Bull Run, as a member of General Franklin's staff, the three
months' enlistment of his regiment having expired the day before.
He then organized the 51st regiment, led the famous charge that
carried the stone bridge at Antietam, participated in all the
engagements of the 9th corps, including Vicksburg ; was made
brigadier-general in 1864, gallantly recaptured Fort Steadman,
and was breveted major-general. After the war, he served as
Auditor- General of the State two terms. When he retired from the
Governorship, he was made major-general of the National Guard,
and served successively as Postmaster and Collector of the Port, in
Philadelphia. He died at Norristown, in 1889, and his body rests
by the banks of the Schuylkill. An equestrian statue has been
erected to his memory on the Capitol grounds in Harrisburg.
HENRY MARTIN HOYT (1879-83), a descendant of an old
New England family, was born at Kingston, Luzerne county, in
1830. He worked upon his father's farm until he was grown.
Then he prepared for college and entered Lafayette, but finished
his education at Williams College, Mass., in 1849. He was a
teacher in a high school at Towanda and in Wyoming Semi-
nary at Kingston. He was admitted to the bar at Wilkes-Barre,
in i853. At the outbreak of the civil war he helped to raise the
52d regiment, and was made lieutenant-colonel. For meritorious
service he was mustered out at the close of the war as brevet
brigadier-general. He served as Judge in the courts of Luzerne
and as Internal Revenue Collector before he became Governor.
When he left Harrisburg he practiced law in Philadelphia and
Luzerne, and gained no little reputation as a historian and po-
litical economist. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1892, and is buried
there.
ROBERT EMORY PATTISON (1883-87 and 1891-95), whose
ancestors dwelt across Mason and Dixon's Line, is the son of a
prominent Methodist clergyman, and was born at Quantico, Som-
214 A SHORT HLSTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
erset county, Maryland, in 1850. The father removing to Phila-
delphia, Robert was educated in the public schools of that city,
graduating as the valedictorian of his class in the Central High
School. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, and five years later
was elected City Controller, an office which his valuable services
enabled him to hold for two terms, though he did not belong to
the ruling party. On the strength of the popularity thus ac-
quired, he was nominated and elected Grovernor in 1882, the
youngest that the State has ever had, l^eing but thirty -two years
old. Having spent four years as a private citizen, he was again
elected Governor. After his retirement in 1895, he lived i:i
Philadelphia until his death, 1904.
JAMES ADAMS BEAVER (1887-91), whose forefathers
came from the Palatinate, in Germany, was born at Millerstown,
Perry county, in 1837. He was prepared for college at Pine Grove
Mills Academy, Centre county, and graduated at Jefferson Col-
lege, Canonsburg, in 1856. He studied law at Belief onte and
began his professional career there. When the civil war com-
menced, he entered the army as first lieutenant of the Bellefonte
Fencibles. He rose to be lieutenant-colonel of the 45th regiment,
colonel of the 148th, a regiment mostly reci'uited in his own county,
and, for distinguished conduct at Cold Harbor, to that of brevet
brigadier-general. He was several times wounded and spent
weary weeks in the hospital. At Ream's Station, where he lost
his leg, he joined his regiment when he had barely recovered from
a ghastly wound in his side, received in the first assault upon
Petersburg. Mr. Beaver became a prominent lawyer and business
man after the war, earnest in every duty and greatly devoted to
religion and education. In 1895 he was appointed one of the
judges of the Superior Court.
DANIEL HARTMAN HASTINGS (1895-99) was born in Lamar
township, Clinton county, in 1849. His father was a native of
Ireland, and his mother, of Scotland. Daniel passed his boyhood
days on a farm, attended the public schools, and before he was
fifteen years of age taught a school in his own neighborhood. In
1867 he had attained such standing as a teacher that he went to
Bellefonte to take charge of the academy at that place. He next
became principal of the public schools of Bellefonte, filling the
position for seven years and improving himself by private study at
the same time. After editing the Bellefonte Bepuhlican, he read
law and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He subsequently became
interested in coal mining in Cambria county. It was while on
business at Hastings, of that county, that the memorable flood
occurred at Johnstown. Being Adjutant- General of the State, he
made it his duty to assume control of the great work of relief ex-
tended to the sufferers, and won high praises for his services. He
was a candidate for Governor in 1890, but was defeated in the
convention by twelve votes. He died iu Bellefonte. 1903.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 215
WILLIAM ALEXIS STONE (1899-1903), of New England and
Pennsylvania German descent, was born in Delmar township, Tioga
county, 1846. His early life was spent on his father's farm. He
was educated at the State Normal School in Mansfield. He joined
the army before he was eighteen years old, as a private in the 187th
regiment, and participated in the siege of Petersburg, He was
several times promoted and was advanced to the grade of second
lieutenant in 1865. After the war. Governor Hartranft appointed
him assistant adjutant-general of the Thirteenth division. Na-
tional Guard, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He studied
law and was admitted to the bar in 1870, first practicing in Wells-
boro and later in Pittsburg, where he served as United States
District Attorney for the Western district of Pennsylvania. Be-
fore becoming Governor, Mr. Stone served as a member of Con-
gress for eight years.
SAMUEL WHITAKER PENNYPACKER (1903-1907) was
born in Phoenixville, Chester county, LS43. He was one of the
Pennsylvania-CJerman Governors. His ancestors were among the
earliest settlers in Penn's province. After attentling a public school
in Philadelphia, where his father was a professor in a medical col-
lege, Samuel prepared for college. Instead of entering, he taught
school in Montgomery county. In 1863, he enlisted in the army for
a short term. Then he stuflied law and practiced in PhiladeljDhia.
In 1889, he became judge of a Court of Common Pleas in Phila-
delphia, in which position he served most honorably until he was
elected Governor. He has been a member and presiding officer of
various historical organizations. His writings are numerous and
well-known, dealing mostly with Pennsylvania law and history.
EDWIN SYDNEY STUART (1907- ) was born in Phila-
delphia, 1853, of Scotch and Irish descent. His education was ac-
quired in the public schools. At the age of thirteen, he became an
errand-boy in " Leary's Old Bookstore," later a salesman, still later
a buyer, and finally general manager of the business. In 1876, he
purchased a controlling interest in the store. He took a prominent
part in politics early in life, being a member of various Republican
clubs and leagues. In 1891, he was elected Mayor of Philadelphia
and served with great satisfaction to the people. When McKinley
and Roosevelt were* elected, he was the president of the Electoral
College in Pennsylvania. As Governor, his popularity was not ex-
ceeded by any of his predecessors.
OTHER HISTORICAL PERSONS
WILLIAM ALLEN, of Philadelphia, was Chief Justice of
Pennsylvania from 1750 to 1774. He aided Benjamin West, and
cooperated witii Dr. Franklin in founding the College of Philadel-
phia. He bought the land for the State House and paid for it with
his own money. He believed in the cause of the colonies, but not
in revolution or independence. He went to England in 1774, and
there advocated a plan for restoring harmony. His sons agreed
with him in sentiment, and all were on both sides of the contest at
one time or another. Andrew was on the Council of Safety and in
the Continental Congress, but deserted the cause in 1776, and his
estate was confiscated. William was with Montgomery at Quebec,
but in 1778 raised the regiment of Pennsylvania Loyalists. James
took no part, but remained quiet in the country.
JOHN ARMSTRONG, of Carlisle, after his daring achieve-
ment at Kittanning, was of continued service to the frontier set-
tlements during the French and Indian war, and in the Revolution
he rose to be a major-general. He was at Fort Moultrie, and
commanded the militia at Brandy wine and Germantown. He served
twice in the Continental Congress.
JACK ARMSTRONG, known as "Captain Jack," the "black
hunter," the "black rifle," the "wild hunter of the Juniata," the
"black hunter of the forest," was from Cumberland county. He
entered the wilds of the Juniata, built himself a cabin and lived by
hunting and fishing. One evening when he returned from his
sports, he found his wife and children murdered and his cabin
burned. From that time on he forsook civilized life, lived in caves,
and protected the frontier settlers from the Indians, asking no re-
ward but the gratitude of those whom he rescued. "Jack's Nar-
rows," a narrow passage of the Juniata through Jack's mountain,
below Huntingdon, was named after him.
LETITIA AUBREY, only daughter of William Penn, born of his
first wife, and called "Tishe" by him, lived in Pennsylvania during
her father's second sojourn here. She was an interesting woman.
She was lively and beautiful, but very self-willed. Her love affair
with Masters and her marriage to Aubrey, who was a troublesome
son-in-law, would make a good plot for a story. Her father's heart
was often heavy on account of her. She died in 1740, and was buried
with the Penns in Jordan's graveyard. Her name on the tomb-
stone is Letitia Penn. "Tishe" may appropriately be called the
daughter of Pennsylvania.
216
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 217
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON was a worthy successor of Alex-
ander Wilson in bird-lore. Though born in Louisiana, he spent
a number of years in Pennsylvania. His father, in 1798, had
bought him the Millgrove farm on the Perkiomen, near Schuylkill
Falls. Here he married the daughter of an Englishman, who was
his neighbor. Though he had previously formed a passion for
birds, it was on this farm, where he had much leisure, that he
pored over the idea of a great work on ornithology. He sold his
place in 1810 and with the proceeds sailed down the Ohio, with his
wife and child, on a bird sketching expedition. He spent years in
American woods. In 1824 he went to Philadelphia, where he met
Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who encouraged him to publish the re-
sults of his researches. After two years more of exploration, he
went to England to get subscribers for his work on "The Birds of
America." He revisited America three times to make further re-
searches, and died in 1851.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BACHE was born in Philadelphia in
1769. His father had come from England, and married Sarah,
the only daughter of Benjamin Franklin. The lad accompanied
his grandfather. Dr. Franklin, to Paris, pursued his studies there
and acquired a knowledge of printing. On his return to Phila-
delphia he graduated at the College of Philadelphia, and in 1790
published the first number of the General Advertiser, whose name
was afterwards changed to the Aurora and General Advertiser.
This paper became an ardent champion of the French Republic,
and represented the anti- Federal party. Bache died of yellow
fever in 1798.
JOHN BARTRAM, born in what is now Delaware county, in
1699, was the father of American botany. He established a
botanical garden — the first ever attempted on this side of the
Atlantic — on the west bank of the Schuylkill, a little below
Philadelphia, near Grey's Ferry. His mind was probably di-
rected to a serious study of botany by James Logan. By the aid
of friends Bartram was enabled to travel and gather specimens,
many of which were sent to Europe and eagerly studied there.
His son William devoted himself to the same pursuit, and, being a
single person, he traveled extensively, and on his return lived a
life of seclusion at the old homestead.
EDWARD BIDDLE was born in Philadelphia, and served as
an ofl&cer in the French and Indian war. He then became emi-
nent as a lawyer in Reading. He entered the Assembly before
the Revolution, became its Speaker, and was a member of the first
Continental Congress. He was also a member of Congress in
1776, and one of the foremost advocates of independence, but
could not attend the sessions on account of a lingering disease, to
which he succumbed in 1779.
NICHOLAS BIDDLE was born in Philadelphia in 1750. At
the age of fifteen he was left with three other shipwrecked sailors
218 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
on an uninhabited island in the West Indies, and was not rescued
for two months. He next entered the British navy; but soon re-
signed in order to join a Pohir expedition. Horatio Nelson, the
hero of Trafalgar, was onboard the same vessel. At the outbreak
of the Revolution Biddle was placed in charge of a vessel on the
Delaware, but afterwards was sent to the Bahamas, where he
made valuable captures. His next achievement was the capture
of eleven vessels and several hundred men, on a cruise to the
banks of Newfoundland. He had only one vessel with which to
take these prizes and bring them back to Philadelphia. Biddle
was now placed in command of the best ship of the navy and
ordered to the West Indies. There, in 1778, he fell in with a
British ship of superior armament, but would have won had not
the magazine exploded and killed him and all his crew but four.
JAMES BIDDLE was a native of Philadelphia. He served in
the war with Tripoli, and was taken prisoner. In the war of 1812
he was a lieute-nant on the Wasp when she captured the Frolic.
He was put in command of the prize, but both ships were captured
and taken to Bermuda. After his exchange he commanded the
Hornet, and was wounded in the capture of the British Penquin.
Besides a gold medal. Congress gave him the rank of captain.
JEREMIAH SULLIVAN BLACK was born in the Glades,
Somerset county, and was educated in a log school -house near
his father's farm. He studied law and settled at York. At the
early age of thirty-two he was elevated to the bench, reaching the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania nine years later, and serving in it
eighteen years. He became Attorney -General in Buchanan's
administration, and towards its close was transferred to the posi-
tion of Secretary of State. Upon his retirement from office, in
1861, he resumed the practice of law at York.
HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE came to America from
Scotland at the age of five and settled, with the rest of the family,
in York county. He graduated at Princeton by teaching school at
intervals and tutoring at college. He thought nothing of walk-
ing twenty or thirty miles to get the loan of a book or newspaper.
He taught school after graduation, and early evinced his ability as
a writer. In 1776 he went to Philadelphia and edited the United
States Magaclne. He was licensed to preach, and served as chap-
lain in the Revolutionary army; but he studied law and settled in
Pittsburg. Here he distinguished himself as a lawyer, a politician,
a judge, and a writer. Brackenridge was mixed up to some ex-
tent with the Whisky Insurrection, and he published an account
of it. He was Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from
1799 to 1816. His chief work as an author is "Modern Chivalry,"
m which he gives an admirable picture of society in western
Pennsylvania at the close of the eighteenth eentuiy.
WILLIAM BRADFORD was one of the Quakers who, in
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
219
1682, landed in the woods where Phihidelphia now stands. He
was the first printer in the Province, but after a time was charged
with printing seditious writings, though not convicted. How-
ever, he had become obnoxious to the settlers and went to New
York, where, in 1725, he started its first newspaper, The New
York Gazette. For thirty years he was the only printer in the
colony of New York. His son Andrew, born in Philadelphia in
1680, was the only printer in Pennsylvania till about 1725, and he
started, on December 22, 1719, the third newspaper in the colo-
nies and the first in Philadelphia, the American iVeekhj Mercury.
He also had a book store, and was postmaster of the city for a time.
SAMUEL BRADY was born in Shippensburg, and removed
with his father to Union county, where he became a typical fron-
tiersman. He joined the Revolutionary army at Boston when but
seventeen, and at the battle of Monmouth won the rank of cap-
tain. Like Van Campen, he was now selected to fight the Indians,
and was stationed at Fort Pitt. In this capacity he won a reputa-
tion for skill and daring that was not surpassed in all America.
He hunted and killed Indians like game in the forest. He shot
one Indian off a horse while the savage was carrying away a woman
and her child ; he killed three others while they were sitting on a
log planning how to make sure of his scalp; and he escaped from
death at the stake by pushing a squaw with a papoose on her
back into the fire that had been kindled for him.
CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN was born in Philadelphia
in 1771, having descended from those who came to Pennsylvania
in the good ship Welcome. He was the first American of note
who made literature a profession, He established the Literary
Magazine and American Register in 1803 ; but discontinued it at
the end of five years. Two of his novels, "Arthur Mervyn" and
"Edgar Huntley," attained
to the rank of standard
romance ; but most of them
have long since been for-
gotten, though they were
read with avidity in his
day. Brown lived in hum-
ble circumstances, in a
" low,two-story brick house,
standing a little in from the
street, with never a tree or
a shrub near it." He died
in 1810.
Birthplace of James Buchanan.
JAMES BUCHANAN,
fifteenth President of the
United States, was born at
"Stony Batter," near Mercersburg, Franklin county, April 23,
1791. He was the sou of a Scotch -Irish trader, and was educated
220 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
at Dickinson College. He began the practice of law in Lancas-
ter, 1812, and soon entered the Legislature. For ten years from
1821, he was a member of Congress. After serving as Minister
to Russia one year, he entered the United States Senate in 1834,
and continued in that body till he was made Secretary of State
by President Polk. In this position he had to settle the questions
of "54° 40 or fight," of the acquisition of Texas, and of the
Mexican war. Pierce sent him to England as Minister, and he
was present at the Ostend conference, which was to bring about
the sale of Cuba to the United States. In 1856 he was elected
President, receiving besides the vote of several Northern States
that of every slaveholding State except Maryland. Towards the
close of his term, especially after Lincoln's election, the slave
power made his administration most difficult, and his so-called
"temporizing policy" was severely criticised. After his career in
the White House he lived in retirement on his estate near Lan-
caster, known as Wheatland. Here he died June 1, I8680
THOMAS H. BURROWES, a native of Lancaster county, was
educated at Quebec and in Trinity College, Ireland. He became
a lawyer and practiced his profession in Lancaster. After serving
in the Legislature, he was appointed Secretary of the Common-
wealth by Governor Ritner, in 1835, and as such was ex-officio
Superintendent of Common Schools, and entrusted with the execu-
tion of the free school law passed the year before. His hand
fashioned much of the school legislation between 1836 and the end
of his second term as Superintendent of Common Schools, in 1863.
Thus this man, who confessed in 1836 that he "knew no more about
the details of schools than about the local geography of the moon,"
became a pillar in the structure of public education in Pennsylvania.
ZEBULON BUTLER was born in Connecticut, and was a
member of the committee of three under whose direction the first
successful settlement was made in the Wyoming valley by the
New Englanders. He was one of the judges while the valley was
attached to Connecticut as the town (township) of Westmoreland.
He was an officer in the Revolution. Being home at the time of
the Massacre of Wyoming, he was the leader of the settlers on that
dreadful July day, 1778. He died in Luzerne county, 1795.
JOHN CADWALADER, of Welsh descent and born in Phila-
delphia, was commander of " The Silk Stocking Company" when
the Revolutionary movement began, and at once entered the
service of the army. He was made brigadier-general and placed
in command of the Pennsylvania militia. He cooperated in the
capture of the Hessians and was present as a volunteer at
Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. When the "Conway
cabal" was formed, he challenged Thomas Conway to a duel and
shot him in the mouth, but was himself unhurt.
SIMON CAMERON was a native of Lancaster county. He
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 221
worked at the printer's trade in his boyhood and youth, and ed-
ited a newspaper in Doylestown and at Harrisburg after he had
become of age. He next became interested in banking and the
construction of railroads, and soon acquired wealth. He was
elected United States Senator by the Democrats in 1843 ; but
after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise he became a Re-
publican. In 1857 he was again elected Senator, and served till
1861, when Lincoln appointed him Secretary of War. Not agree-
ing with the President on the question of freeing and arming the
slaves, Cameron resigned and accepted the post of Minister at St.
Petersburg. He was once more elected Senator in 1867, and
served continuously for ten years. He died in 1889.
ANDREW CARNEGIE came from Scotland at the age of ten
years, his family settling in Allegheny. He began life there in a
cotton factory, then became a messenger boy for a telegraph com-
pany and worked himself up to the position of superintendent.
He made a fortune in oil, became interested in iron works, and soon
was the largest manufacturer of iron, steel rails, and coke in the
world. His public gifts, in the form of libraries to Pittsburg,
Allegheny, and other places have been princely. His success in
Pennsylvania was so gratifying to his admirers in Great Britain
that the freedom of cities has been extended to him and other
marks of high esteem, have been bestowed upon him.
GEORGE CLYMER, whose name is affixed to the Declaration
of Independence, was born in Philadelphia, and fell heir to the
mercantile business of his uncle. When the opposition to Eng-
lish rule became active, he resolved to live as a freeman or perish
as a patriot. He was chairman of Philadelphia's tea committee.
Continental treasurer, member of the Council of Safety, and a
delegate in Congress at various times after July 20, 1776. In this
body he labored hard and took high rank. His family lived in
Chester county, and when he visited them he did so only for a
night at a time. After the Revolution Mr. Clymer entered the
Assembly, where his greatest service was that performed in behalf
of abolishing the death penalty in all but the most flagrant cases
of crime. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention,
and of the first Congress. After serving as Revenue Collector of
Pennsylvania during the Whisky Rebellion, he retired to private
life and died in 1813, at Morrisville, Bucks county.
JAY COOKE was born in Ohio, and entered a banking house
in Philadelphia at the age of seventeen, becoming a partner when
he arrived at his majority. He established the firm of Jay Cooke
& Co. in 1861, and placed most of the loans of the United States
during the Civil War. His success as the agent of the Govern-
ment gave him the name of the "Financier of the Rebellion."
The house prospered until it became the fiscal agent of the North-
ern Pacific Railroad Company. He failed September 19, 1873,
^^ Black Friday," and precipitated the panic of that year. Though
222 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Cooke lost his fortune, his character was unsullied. His mag-
nificent mansion — Ogontz, named after an Indian chief who was
his friend in childhood — is now "Ogontz Seminary for Young
Ladies," and is situated at Chelton Hills, Montgomery county.
MARGARET CORBIN was another heroine like " Mollie
Pitcher." She was wounded and utterly disabled at Fort Wash-
ington, while she heroically filled the post of her husband, who
was killed by her side, serving a piece of artillery. Her name is
found on the rolls of the Invalid Regiment of Pennsylvania, as it
was discharged in 1783. She was born in Franklin county, and
died in Westmoreland county about 1800.
TENCH COXE, born in Philadelphia and educated there, be-
came a merchant at the age of twenty-one — in the year of the
Declaration of Independence. He turned royalist and left the
city to join the British. He returned with Howe and was arrested
and paroled after the evacuation of the city. Then he turned
Whig and entered upon a long political career. He sat in the
Annapolis convention, in the Continental Congress, and held
other high places ; but veered from one side of party politics to
another. His claims to a place in history lie in his labors for
American manufactures and his writings on political economy. He
may justly be called the father of the American cotton industry.
WILLIAM CRAMP was born in Kensington, now in Phila-
delphia. He began ship building on the Delaware in 1830, when
he was but twenty-three years old. At first he built only barks
and brigs, but he soon received orders for larger vessels. As his
sons grew up and learned the business, he took them into partner-
ship, under the name of William Cramp & Sons. The Civil War
heralded them throughout the world as chiefs in their craft. It
was then that the Delaware became known as the "Clyde of
America." "New Ironsides" was built for the Government in
seven months after the order had been received. Foreign nations
have had war vessels built at Kensington, and our own navy has
received its finest marine warriors from the Cramps. William
Cramp died in 1879.
GEORGE M. DALLAS, a lawyer of Philadelphia, mayor of
that city, and district attorney, was United States Senator from
1831 to 1832, when he became Attorney-General of the State. For
two years he held the post of Minister to Russia. Dallas was
elected Vice-President on the ticket with Polk, in 1844. He was
put on the ticket to hold the protectionist vote in Pennsylvania for
Polk, as against Clay; but in spite of this he gave the casting vote
in the Senate for the Walker Tariff of 1846. His last public office
was that of Minister to England, under Buchanan's administration.
STEPHEN DECATUR was born in Maryland while his father
sojourned there on accouiit of British occupation of Philadelphia.
When the family returned in 1779, Stephen was three months old.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 223
He began service in the navy in 1798. In 1804 he distinguished
himself by destroying the Philadelpliia, whicli liad fallen into the
hands of Tripoli. In the war of 1812 he captured the British ship
Macedonian, and, after a stubborn fight, had to surrender the un-
seaworthy President. In 1815 he performed a most valuable service
for his country by humbling the Barbary powers, with a squadron
of ten vessels. He concluded a treaty by which tribute was
abolished and prisoners and property restored, thus adding another
jewel to the crown of the American navy. He ended his career in
a duel with Commodore Barron in 1820.
WILLIAM DUANE was the successor of Bache (see p. 304)
in the management of the Aurora. He was a native of the north-
ern ])art of New Yoi'k. When a lad of five, he was brought to
Pliiladelpliia by his widowed mother, but soon afterwards taken to
Ireland, where he was educated and apprenticed to a printer.
Coming back to Philadelphia in 179G, he was employed as one of
the editors of the Aurora. After Bache's death, the paper was
known for years as "Duane's paper" and was a powerful instru-
ment in the organization and upbuilding of the Republican, or
Democratic party.
REV. JACOB DUCHE was born in Philadelphia, and graduated
at the college of that city, completing his studies in England. As
rector of Christ Cluirch, he was a man of great influence when the
Revolution commenced. He was chaplain of Congress in 1776,
and gave all his salary for the relief of soldiers' widows and
orphans. But his loyalty to the American cause failed when the
British took possession of Philadelphia. He helped to welcome them,
and wrote a letter to Washington urging him to give up a hopeless
struggle. The letter was laid before Congress, and Duehe fled to
England. He returned some time after the war, but his influence
and position were gone.
JOHN ELDER, one of the first clergymen in the vicinity of
Harrisburg, was a Presbyterian from Ireland, a graduate of the
University of Edinburgh, a scholarly man and of varied ability.
He was pastor of the congregation at Paxtang for nearly sixty
years. During the troublesome times with the Indians, he was
colonel of the Paxtang Rangers. He and the men of his congre-
gation frequently carried their rifles with them to church, so con-
stant was their danger from the savages. The graveyard at Pax-
tang, where Colonel Elder lies buried, and that at Derry Church,
both in Dauphin county, are Meccas for the Scotch-Irish.
OLIVER EVANS was a native of Delaware, but early in life
came to Philadelphia, where he made the first high -pressure
steam engine and the first steam dredging machine used in this
country. This machine was put on wheels and propelled itself to
tlie Schuylkill river, where it was fitted with a steam paddle and
navigated down the Schuylkill and up the Delaware a short dig-
224 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
tanee. It is supposed to have been the first steam carriage on
land in America. He urged the construction of railroads with
rails of wood oi- iron, but had not the means to carry his ideas into
execution.
JAMES EWING was a native of Lancaster county, but early
in life settled in York. He was a lieutenant in Braddock's expedi-
tion, served with distinction through the whole of the Revolution,
and rose to the rank of brigadier-general.
JOHN FENNO was a native of Boston. He established the
Gazette of the United States in New York, when the Government
under the Constitution began, and removed it to Philadelphia the
next year in order to publish it at the capital of the nation.
Fenno's paper became a strong advocate of the Federal party and
bitterly opposed the "French faction" in the United States. He
died of yellow fever in 1798, four days after the death of his
political antagonist Bache, of the Aurora.
WILLIAM FINDLEY, a native of Ireland, came to Pennsyl-
vania in early life, served in the Revolution, and settled in West-
moreland county, where he became active in politics. He was a
member of the Legislature and of the State convention that
adopted the Federal Constitution. This he actively opposed on
the ground of its centralized power. He was eleven times elected
to Congress, serving from 1791 to 1799 and from 1803 to 1817.
He was an ardent supporter of the Jeffersonian party and was a
great power as a speaker.
THOMAS FITZSIMMONS came to Philadelphia from Ire-
land and engaged in the mercantile business. He served in the
Revolution as captain of a company, and his firm subscribed
$20,000 for the support of the army. He was a member of the
Assembly for many years and a delegate in the Continental
Congress from 1782-3. After his services in the Constitutional
Convention in 1787, he served in the Federal Congress from 1789
to 1795.
JOHN WEISS FORNEY was born in Lancaster, in 1817, and
learned the printer's trade. He went to Philadelphia and for a
long time edited The Pennsylvanian. He was clerk of the House
of Representatives at Washington, and while in that position ed-
ited the Union. In 1857 he began the Philadelphia Press, and
continued to be its editor till 1877. Under his management the
paper became a very powerful organ, receiving and inflicting many
heavy blows. It was popularly known as "Forney's Press." In
1878, Colonel Forney established Progress, a weekly literary jour-
nal, modeled after the London World. He died in 1881, widely
known and deeply mourned, having enjoyed the friendship of all
the leading men of the nation during his long career as a journalist.
JOHN FITCH was born in Connecticut, and was a watchmaker
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
225
by trade. He made guns for the Continental Army, and was with
the troops at Valley Forge. Robert Fulton is said to have had
access to his drawings and papers, and it w^as proved by the
courts, in 1817, that his inventions and those of Fitch were in
substance the same. Fitch once said that the day would come
" when some more potent man will get fame and riches from my
invention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do
anything worthy of attention." After his enterprise on the Dela-
ware had failed he went to France, but the French Revolution pre-
vented a renewal of his steam navigation there. He finally went
to Kentucky, w^here he had some land. Becoming involved in
law suits with intruders on his possessions there, he committed
suicide in 1798.
ROBERT FULTON, the successful inventor of the steamboat,
was born at Little Britain, Lancaster county, in 1765. He was
at first a portrait painter, and at the age of
twenty-one went to England. There he
soon became interested in engineering and
inventions. He next lived in France, where
he invented the torpedo and vaiuly tried to
get Napoleon, as well as the British Min-
istry, to adopt it. He returned to America
in 1806, and the next year the Clermont
steamed from New York to Albany. He was
afterwards employed by the Government in
projecting navigation schemes; but owing to
lawsuits over his patents, he never amassed
a fortune from his inventions, though they
brought fortunes to other men. and were of
the greatest importance in developing the interior of the United
States. He died in New York in 1815.
ALBERT GALLATIN, who made a lasting mark on the sur-
face of national politics, was born at Geneva, Switzerland, and
became one of the most illustrious American statesmen. He was
educated in the university of his native city and came to America
in 1780, at the age of nineteen. After varied experiences he
settled in Fayette county, w^iere he founded New Geneva and
established glass-works. He soon entered the Legislature, and
in 1793 was elected United States Senator, but was not admitted
to his seat on account of a question raised about the time, of
his citizenship. After his services as a mediator in the Whisky
Insurrection, he entered Congress and distinguished himself in
financial matters. From 1801 to 1813 he was Secretary of the
Treasury, and made a record as one of the ablest American finan-
ciers. He was one of the commissioners that negotiated the treaty
of Ghent, doing more than anyone else to close the war of 1812.
Madison offered to make him Secretary of the Treasury once more,
but he declined, and accepted the place of Minister to France,
Robert Fulton.
15
226 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
which post he held seven years. In 1826 he was sent as Envoy
Extraordinary to Great Britain. After retiring from political life,
he engaged in banking in New York city, and died at Astoria, on
Long Island, in 1849.
JOSEPH GALLOWAY was Speaker of the Pennsylvania As-
sembly from 1766 to 1774, and he proposed a form of government
in the Provincial Congress favorable to the Crown. When the
Howes issued their proclamation in 1776, granting amnesty to such
Americans as would forsake their revolutionary course, Gallo-
way's courage failed him and he turned Tory, together with the
Aliens, one of the most noted families in the Province.
Galloway has fled and joined the venal Howe;
To prove liis baseness, see him cringe and bow,
A traitor to his country and its laws,
A friend to tyrants and their cnrsed cause," etc.
His estates, with that of other Tones, were confiscated, and he went
to England.
STEPHEN GIRARD was a descendant of a French seafaring
family, living near Bordeaux. When a boy of eight he lost his
right eye and a little later his mother. Doubly unfortunate,
Stephen was anxious to escape from the surroundings of his youth.
Receiving several thousand dollars from his father, he sailed as a
cabin boy to Santo Domingo, made some money and formed a love
for the sea. At the age of twenty-eight he sailed from Bordeaux
as captain, never to return. Two years later, in 1776, he came to
Philadelphia and stocked a small store with a cargo he had brought
from the West Indies. He amassed a large fortune in foreign
trade, his ships making voyages to Europe, India and China. He
was very frugal in private life, but generous in public affairs. He
worked in a hospital for several hours each day during the yellow
fever epidemic, and staked his fortune to assist the country of his
adoption in the war of 1812. He gave large sums to charity, and
founded Girard College, which continually supports and educates
some two thousand orphan boys within its walls.
DAVID M'MURTRIE GREGG was born in Huntingdon in
1833, graduated at West Point, and was assigned to the dragoons.
After serving in several Indian campaigns, he entered the stern
service of actual war in 1861. He began as first lieutenant in the
cavalry and rose to be brevetted major-general of volunteers. He
participated in most of the battles of the Army of the Potomac,
and greatly distinguished himself as a commander of cavalry. His
sterling qualities as a private citizen have been recognized on
several occasions since the war. He was appointed Consul at
Prague, Bohemia, in 1874, and was Auditor-General of the State
from 1892 to 1895. He lives in Reading.
GALUSHA A. GROW came to Pennsylvania from Connecti-
cut in 1847, at the age of twenty-three, and settled in Susque-
hanna county. He represented the " Wilmot district" in Congress
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 227
from 1851 to 1863, occupying the Speaker's chair during the trying
time of 1861 to 1863. He then engaged in extensive business enter-
prises, being president of a railroad and residing for a while in
Texas. He declined a nomination for Congress in 1879, but was
a candidate for United States Senator in 1881, in a long, hard-
contested struggle in the Legislature. He was then out of poli-
tics until 1894, when he was elected Congressman-at-large by the
enormous majority of 188,000. He has been in Congress ever
since — as tall and erect as in the days before the Civil War.
when Keitt, of South Carolina, assaulted him on the floor of the
House and got the worst of the encounter.
WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was born in Montgomery
county in 1824, and graduated from West Point at the age of
twenty. He earned the title of veteran in the Mexican war by
hard and gallant fighting, and held honorable positions in the
regular army until the war of the Union broke out. Then he was
summoned to Washington and made a brigadier- general in the
Army of the Potomac. He was promoted to the rank of major-
general, and by his magnificent bearing he won the soubriquet of
"The Superb." His name was never mentioned as having com-
mitted a blunder in battle for whicii he was responsible. He was
the Democratic candidate for President in 1880, but was defeated
by James A. Garfield. He died in 1886, and is buried at Nor-
ristown.
JOHN HARRIS, the first permanent settler on the Susque-
hanna, was from Yorkshire, England, and came to Philadelphia
some time before 1698. In 1705, he located on the Susquehanna
as an Indian trader licensed by the province. He noticed the
advantage of the location at the point where the Paxtang flows
into the Susquehanna, and in 1725 established himself there per-
manently, buying a large tract of land including the lower part
of the present site of Harrisburg. He acquired a powerful sway
over the Indians by his courage and good judgment. On one
occasion he refused rum to some drunken Indians, and they tied
him to a mulberry tree on the river front and were going to burn
him. He was released by some friendly Indians who came to the
spot just as the others were kindling the fire. When he died,
in 1748, his remains, bj' his own request, were buried at the foot
of that tree. Its decayed trunk stood in Harris Park till 1889.
The grave is enclosed with an iron fence. His son, John Harris,
was the founder of Harrisburg, and a prominent man in the
affairs of the province, especially in the Indian wars. In 1753
he got a charter to run a ferry across the Susquehanna, and the
place became known as Harris' Ferry.
JOHN HAZLEWOOD was an Englishman by birth and came
to Philadelphia as captain in the merchant marine. After he had
been made commodore of the Pennsylvania navy, the Contin( ntal
vessels in the Delaware were also put under his command. While
228 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Lord Howe was with his fleet in Delaware bay, in 1777, he sent
for Commodore Hazlewood and promised him His Majesty's pardon
and kind treatment if he would surrender the Pennsylvania fleet.
His only reply was that he would "defend the fleet to the last."
JOHN HECKEWELDER was born in England, and came to
Pennsylvania with his parents when he was twelve years old.
He became a Moravian missionary, and worked chiefly among the
Delawares after they had been removed to the Ohio. He pub-
lished his observations upon their language, habits and character.
His views, which are very favorable to the Indians, have been
warmly attacked and warmly defended. After laboring forty
years among them, he went to Bethlehem, where he passed the
remainder of his days in retirement.
FRANCIS HOPKINSON was a Philadelphian, a graduate of
the University of Pennsylvania, and a lawyer by profession.
After spending a few years in England, he settled in Bordentown,
New Jersey, which State he represented in Congress when the
Declaration of Independence was signed. He helped to draft the
Articles of Confederation. He was also at the head of the Navy
of the Revolution for a time. By his witty satires and popular
poems and songs, he greatly aided the cause of liberty. He was
Judge of the Admiralty for Pennsylvania from 1779 to 1789, and
afterwards a United States District Judge.
JOSEPH HOPKINSON, son of Francis Hopkinson, of Revo-
lutionary fame, was, like his father, a Philadelphian, a graduate of
the University of Pennsylvania, a lawyer, a Congressman, and a
United States District Judge. He is known in literature by a
single brief production only, the patriotic song of Hail Columbia,
which was encored the first time it was sung, by an audience that
was "mad as the priestess of the Doric God."
THOMAS HOVENDEN was Irish by birth and educated at the
Cork School of Design. When a young man he came to America
and studied art in New York. Later he went to Paris to study,
and when he returned settled in Plymouth township, Montgomery
county. He was a member of numerous art societies in Phila-
delphia and New York. He painted many famous pictures, but
is best known to the world by "Breaking Home Ties." Many a
silent tear was dropped at the World's Fair by the multitudes that
daily stood looking at "Breaking Home Ties." What "Home,
Sweet Home" is in song, "Breaking Home Ties" is on canvas.
Hovenden's negro pictures, notably "The Last Moments of John
Brown," were painted in the studio of an old barn that had once
done service on the underground railway. "The Confederate in a
Pennsylvania Farm House" was his noblest expression of the
domestic incidents of the Union war. Hovenden lost his life while
trying to rescue a child from death under a locomotive, near Nor-
ristown in 1895.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 229
CHARLES HUMPHREYS, brother of Joshua the shipbuilder,
was born at Haverford, now Montgomery county. For many years
he was a successful miller. He was a member of the Assembly in
1764 and again in 1775. In the latter year he became a member of
the Continental Congress ; and, although he opposed the oppres-
sive measures of Great Britain, he voted against the Declaration of
Independence.
SAMUEL HUMPHREYS was a noted shipbuilder of Phila-
delphia. His father, Joshua, had been engaged there in the same
occupation, and had designed and constructed the Constitution,
the Chesapeake, the Congress, the President, and the United
States. After the war of 1812, Samuel was asked to come to
Russia to organize a navy, but declined, sajnng, "Whether my
merit be great or small, I owe it all to tlie flag of my country, and
that is a deV)t I must pay." Because he had designed, drafted,
and constructed most of the ships launched at the port of Phila-
delphia, and thus had helped to make the American navy victori-
ous over England — a victory which France, Spain and Holland
had all failed to achieve — lie was made Chief Naval Constructor of
the United States. He held this distinguished place until he died,
in 1846.
JARED INGERSOLL, born in Connecticut and educated at
Yale, met Benjamin Franklin in Paris, and soon after commenced
the practice of law in Philadelphia, where he rose to distinction.
He was an ardent patriot during the Revolution, member of Con-
gress in 1780-81, and so was well prepared for the great duty of
his life — to help frame the Constitution. He held important State
offices afterwards, and declined the appointment of Chief Justice of
the Federal Court.
WILLIAM IRVINE was born in Ireland, and settled at Carlisle
as a physician when he was twenty-one years old. In 1776 he
raised a regiment and joined tlie army in Canada, where he was
captured at the battle of Three Rivers. After his exchange in
1778, he was put in command of a Pennsylvania brigade at the
battle of Monmouth, and remained its commander until 1781. Ho
was then transferred to Pittsburg to guard the frontier, which was
menaced by the British and Indians. While there he became
interested in the northwestern section of the State, and it was
hirgely through him that the State afterwards purchased "the
triangle." To show its gratitude for his labors, the State donated
him a tract of land on Lake Erie. General Irvine was a member
of the Continental Congress two years and of the third Congress
under the Constitution. His last service in the field was as senior
major-general in command of the troops raised to suppress the
Whisky Insurrection, The close of his life was S])ent in Phila-
delphia, where he held a Federal office. General Irvine had two
brothers in the Revolution and tiiree sons in the War of 1812.
ELISHA KENT KANE was a native of Philadelphia, and a
230 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
graduate in medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He
served on the medical corps of the United States Navy, and thus
cultivated a love for travel, which he gratified by visiting many
parts of the world. He evinced his daring on the Philippine
Islands by descending the crater of a volcano to its very bottom,
charring his boots and becoming insensible from gas. In 1850, he
joined the Arctic expedition sent out in search of Sir John
Franklin. Upon the return of the expedition from its fruitless
voyage, he organized one under his own command and set sail in
1853, taking as surgeon Dr. I. I. Hayes, of Chester county, who
afterwards himself became a noted Arctic explorer. Though
Franklin was not found. Dr. Kane's explorations and scientific
observations were most valuable. He reduced to geographical
certainty more than a thousand miles of coast line in Greenland.
JOHN KELLEY was born in Lancaster county, but became
a frontiersman in Union county. In December, 1776, he joined
Washington's army as major in the Northumberland battalion.
After the battle at Princeton, when Cornwallis was close upon the
heels of Washington's army, the commander-in-chief detached
Kelley with a party of Pennsylvania troops to destroy a bridge on
Stony creek, to prevent the advance of the enemy. Kelley cut the
timbers with his own hand midst a rain of British balls. When the
bridge fell, he went down with it into the floating ice, and made
his way into camp the same night, not alone, but in company with a
British soldier whom he had captured on the way. Kelley died at
Lewisburg, where a monument was erected in his honor.
KIASHUTHA had his home on the broad bottom-lands just
above Sharpsburg, Allegheny county, which still bear his name.
He was one of the active and remarkable Indians of Pennsylvania.
He appears to have been detailed by the Iroquois, as early as 1758,
to watch the Delawares and Shawanese, then living at and near
Fort Duquesne. He lent himself to the schemes of Pontiac
and allied himself with the British in the Revolutionary war.
Later, he again became the
friend of the settlers, visited
General Wayne, and tried to
induce the western Indians to
submit to the Government.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
was born in Amity township,
Berks county, in 1736. tie
was a man of considerable
influence in the General As-
sembly, in the Pennsylvania
convention to ratify the Fed-
eral Constitution, and in the
State convention which framed the Constitution of 1790. He died
at his residence in Exeter township, in 1806. His father was
Home of Mordecai Lincoln.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 231
Mordecai Lincoln, who had come to Berks county from Massa-
chusetts, and died in Amity township in 1735. Mordecai had
much property — some of which was in New Jersey, where he
willed three hundred acres to his son John. This John Lincoln
left New Jersey some years later, established himself in Virginia,
and was the grandfather of the President. The Lincolns were
closely allied to the ancestors of Daniel Boone, also of Berks
county. Squire Boone, the father of Daniel, was one of the ap-
praisers of Mordecai Lincoln's estate, and his "loving friend and
neighbor ;" while Abraham Lincoln, the subject of this sketch,
was married to Anna Boone, a first cousin of Daniel.
LOGAN was the second son of Shikellimy, and was named after
James Logan, the Indian's best friend after Penn had left the
province. Logan lived for a long time near a large spring still
bearing his name in the Kishacoquillas valley, six miles from
Lewistown. Removing to the west in 1771, he located on the Ohio
river some thirty miles above Wheeling. Here his whole family
was murdered by some whites, in a drunken carousal. To avenge
this foul deed, he ordered his chiefs to commit the most frightful
barbarities among the whites. When he was asked to consent to a
treaty of peace, he made a reply that schoolboys might well commit
to memory. It opens with these words: "I appeal to any white
man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave
him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him
not."
ALEXANDER KELLY McCLURE was a native of Sherman's
valley. Perry county. He was a farmer's son, educated in the
village school, and apprenticed to the tanner's trade. But when
he had learned it he established the Juniata Sentinel at Mifflin.
He next took charge of the Chambersburg Repository, and at the
age of twenty-six became a lawyer. Having taken a very active
part in State and National politics, he soon after entered the Legis-
lature, and was chairman of the Senate Committee on Military
Affairs in 18G1-G2. He was a close friend of Curtin and Lincoln, ,
having done yeoman service for the election of both; he played a
prominent part in Pennsylvania and the Nation during the Civil
War. When the Confederates burned Chambersburg, he had
scarcely time to get out of town before the invaders' torch was
applied to all the property he had. In 1S68 he went to Phila-
delphia, and after practicing law there and serving another term
in the State Senate, he estal^lished the Times, in 1875, of which he
has ever since been the editor. His close relations with Lincoln
and other public men of the Civil War enabled him to write a
valuable work, entitled "Lincoln and the Men of War Times."
GEORGE A. M'CALL was born in Philadelphia, graduated at
West Point, and served in the Seminole and Mexican wars.
President Taylor made him Inspector-General of the United States
army, and in 1861 Governor Curtin appointed him major-general
232 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
of the Pennsylvania Reserves. He was with the Army of the
Potomac until the battle of Frazier's Farm, where he was taken
prisoner. After his exchange, his health made it necessary for
him to resign. He died near West Chester in 1868.
GEORGE BRINTON M'CLELLAN was born in Philadelphia
in 1826, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania and at
West Point. He had just finished his military course when the
Mexican war commenced. After it was over the Government sent
him to Europe as an expert, to report the operations of the
Crimean war. Upon his return, he was engaged by the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad as civil engineer, and afterwards became a railroad
president. W^hen the Civil War broke out he was appointed
major-general and placed in command of Western Virginia, where
he greatly distinguished himself. After the disaster at Bull Run,
he was made commander of the Army of the Potomac, and soon
after succeeded General Scott as commander-in-chief. In organ-
izing the Army of the Potomac, he performed a most valuable
service ; but in his campaigns before Richmond, he disappointed
the authorities at Washington, and was relieved of the command.
Pope's disasters restored McClellan for two months, in which time
he fought the battle of Antietam. When he was again removed
and placed on waiting orders, he resigned from the army, in 1864.
The same year he was the Democratic candidate for President, and
received 21 electoral votes. He was Governor of New Jersey,
1878-1881, and died at South Orange, in that State, in 1885.
"Little Mac" was very popular with the Army of the Potomac,
in spite of criticism outside of it.
GEORGE GORDON MEADE was born in Cadiz, Spain, while
his father was United States Consul there. Upon the return of
the family to Philadelphia, George was educated in the public
schools, and afterwards entered as a cadet at West Point. He
served in the Indian war in Florida and in the Mexican war, and
was promoted for brave conduct in battle. In 1861 he was made a
brigadier-general in the Pennsylvania Reserves. The next year
he rose to the rank of major-general, and after the battle of Chan-
cellorsville was assigned to the command of the Army of the
Potomac, which position he held until the close of the war.
General Meade was highly honored by the people for his high
character, his great military ability and the important part he
took in the war of the Union. Philadelphia presented him a
house, and after his death, in 1872, raised a fund of $100,000 for
his family.
WILLIAM M. MEREDITH, who for many years held the fore-
most rank in Pennsylvania as a lawyer, was born in Philadelphia.
He helped to frame the Constitution of 1838 and that of 1873, being
chairman of the convention that framed the latter. He became
Secretary of the Treasury in 1849 and held the office until Presi-
dent Taylor's death. He was Governor Curtin's Attorney -General,
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 233
and was offered the position of counsel for the United States in the
Geneva arbitration of the Alabama question. Pennsylvania has
reason to be proud also of Samuel Meredith. The Merediths are
Welsh. Samuel's father came from Wales and had the honor of
entertaining Washington when the latter first came to Philadel-
phia—a young man unknown to greatness and to fame. The two
accidentally met in a coffee-house, and Meredith made the young
Virginian his guest while remaining in the city. Samuel, the
son was a prominent officer in the Revolution and for a long time
afterwards was Treasurer of the United States. He was a partner
in business with George Clvmer, and the firm contributed liberally
to the cause of liberty. About 1800 they invested largely m lands
in northeastern Pennsylvania. Meredith built himself a mansion
at Belmont, near Pleasant Mount, Wayne county, where he died
in 1817. He lies buried in a neglected grave.
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS came to Pennsylvania in 1778, as a
delegate from New York to the Continental Congress, then in
session at York. He became a citizen of Pennsylvania, and prac-
ticed law in Philadelphia. He was Assistant Superintendent of
Finances under Robert Morris, delegate from Pennsylvania to the
Constitutional Convention, and Minister to France. After his
return from Europe, he again lived in New York, where he died
in 1816.
ROBERT MORRIS, the financier of the Revolution, emigrated
from Liverpool to Philadelphia when he was a boy, and served
as a clerk for the Willings — the rieh merchant firm of which he
was afterwards a member. He rescued Congress repeatedly from
financial crises, by borrowing money on his own and his firm s
credit The $1,500,000 for Washington's campaign against Corn-
wallis was raised bv his exertions and on his own notes. From
1781 to 1784 he was Superintendent of Finance, and on severai
occasions kept the new nation from going into bankruptcy. When
the Constitutional government, whieh he helped to form, went
into effect he was elected United States Senator. He was urged
to become Secretarv of the Treasury, but he refused, and sug-
gested Hamilton. In his later years he was unsuccessful in busi-
ness, lost his fortune, and was at one time imprisoned for debt.
Thus the man who once had owned the most magnificent home m
the city of Pliiladelphia died in comparative poverty.
JOHN MORTON was of Swedish ancestry and was born in
Ridley township, Chester county (now Delaware). His education
was very limited, but his talents were great. He was a siirveyor
Td a farmer until he became engrossed in public business. He was
justice of the peace, sheriff, common pleas and supreme judge
member and Speake^ of the Assembly, delegate to the Stamp Act
CoTgress?to the first Continental Congress and to fe second Hi
last vear in Congress was the most important part of his life, tor
he was called on to decide whether to vote for the Declaration of
234 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Independence or against it. He chose the wiser course and voted
for it. He died in April, 1777, at the age of fifty-four, and lies
buried at St. James church, in Chester. To those who could not
forgive him for his vote in favor of independence, he said in his
dying hour: "Tell them they will live to see the hour when they
shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I ever
rendered to my country."
LUCRETIA MOTT, a native of Massachusetts and the wife of
James Mott, began her career in Pennsylvania as a school teacher
in Philadelphia. Soon after she became a preacher in the Society
of Friends. She made a tour through New England and the Middle
States, preaching and denouncing slavery and intemperance. She
was one of the founders of the American Anti- slavery Society, in
1833. She was a delegate to the World's Anti-slavery convention,
held in London, 1840, but was excluded because she was a woman.
Her exclusion increased the woman's suffrage agitation, in which
she now became a leader. She took part in the first woman's
rights convention, in 1848. She remained active in the cause of
anti-slavery and woman's rights to the end of her long life, in 1880.
HEINRICH MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG was born in Ger-
many in 1711. He was a graduate of Gottingen and a man of great
scholarship and culture. He had intended to become a missionary
in Bengal, but received a call from Pennsylvania to labor among
the destitute Lutheran population, which had been much neglected.
He labored hard in his pastoral charge of Philadelphia, New
Hanover and Providence, and preached in many other places,
making long journeys and gaining a wide acquaintance. He was
also instrumental in bringing other educated ministers from Ger-
many into the province, thus laying a deep and broad foundation
for the Lutheran Church. During the Revolution he was an ardent
patriot, and through his great influence did much for the cause of
liberty. He was so outspoken that his life was often in peril. At
his death, wliich occurred in 1787, there was deep and widespread
sorrow, which found expression in tolling bells, churches draped
in mourning and the preaching of many funeral sermons.
JOHN PETER GABRIEL MUHLENBERG, son of Heinrich
Melchior, was born in Montgomery county, and educated at Halle,
Germany. He studied for the ministry and preached at Wood-
stock, Virginia, when the Revolution broke out. He showed his
partiality for a soldier's life while in Germany, for he ran away
from the university and joined the dragoons. It was not sur-
prising that he told his congregation in Virginia one Sunday that
there was a time to fight and a time to preach. At the close of the
service he tore off his gown, showing himself in full uniform, and
reading his commission as colonel. He invited the men of his
congregation to follow his example, and they did almost to a man.
He did valiant service for the cause of liberty, and retired at the
close of the war with the rank of major-general, having partici-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 235
pated in nearly all the campaigns in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and
Virginia, as well as at Stony Point and Charleston. Soon after he
returned to Pennsylvania, where he was elected to the Executive
Council and both houses of Congress. He closed his public career
as Collector of the Port at Philadelphia. He and Robert Fulton
are Pennsylvania's representatives in Statuary Hall of the National
Capitol.
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, son of Heinrich
Melchior, was born in Montgomery county, educated at Halle, Ger-
many, and preached for a time in New York city. He represented
Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress in 1778 and 1780, and
was president of the convention that ratified the Constitution of
the United States. When the new government was organized in
1789, Frederick A. Muhlenberg was chosen Speaker of the first
House of Representatives. He was also Speaker of the third Con-
gress.
GOTTHILF HEINRICH MUHLENBERG was another son of
Heinrich Melchior. He, too, was educated at the University of
Halle, which he entered at the age of ten and attended for seven
years. Then he traveled in Germany and England. When he
returned to America he was ordained as a minister and assisted his
father in the church in Philadelphia. When the British took pos-
session of the city he retired to the country, where he devoted
himself to his favorite study — botany — and acquired a world-wide
reputation as a botanist.
LINDLEY MURRAY, of Quaker descent, was born on the
Swatara, within the present limits of Dauphin county, in 1745.
He resided in p]ngland the greater part of his life; but his school
books were repu])lished in this country, numerous editions being
brought out in Philadelphia. They soon displaced tlie text-books
of other authors in Pennsylvania, notably those of Noah Webster,
which had been so largely used.
JOHN NEVILLE was a native of Virginia, served with Brad-
dock and through the Revolution. Becoming a citizen of Allegheny
county, he held several important civil offices. In 1791, when the
excise law was passed. President Washington appointed him in-
spector for western Pennsylvania, hoping tliat his great popularity
would allay the opposition to the law in that section.
ISAAC NORRIS was a very influential Quaker of Philadelphia.
Isaac, his father, was likewise a prominent man in the Province,
and lived in great luxury in a mansion at Fair Hill. Isaac, the
son, acquired a large fortune in addition to what he inherited.
He became a member of the Assembly in 1734, and was Speaker of
that body for fifteen years after 1751. Norris proposed the in-
scription "Proclaim liberty througliout the land unto all the in-
habitants thereof," on the State House bell, which was ordered
from England the first year he was Speaker. He was a strict
236 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Quaker, and defended the peace policy of tlie province whenever
wars broke out. His followers, in opposition to the war party,
were called the "Norris party."
THOMAS PAINE, familiarly called Tom Paine, came to Phil-
adelphia from England, where he had been an exciseman and a
political writer. He came here at the opening of the Revolution
and edited the Pennsijlvania Magazine. Besides his Common Sense,
he published the Crisis, which appeared at intervals during the
war. His services as a writer were of great value to the American
cause. After the formation of the State, he was clerk in the Leg-
islature. When the French Revolution broke out, he was first in
France and then in England. Being outlawed by the English on
account of his " Rights of Man," he returned to France, was elected
to the convention, imprisoned by the Jacobins, and wrote his
"Age of Reason." He returned to the United States, and died in
New York in 1809.
FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS, born in Germany in 1651, was
educated in the classical and modern languages and all the science
of his age, and trained in the practice of the law. He arrived in Phil-
adelphia, August, 1683, and in October began to lay out German-
town. He was its first bailiff, a member of the Assembly, and a
signer of the first protest against slavery made in America. This
protest is the subject of Whittier's poem, "The Pennsylvania
Pilgrim." Pastorius taught school in Germantown and Philadel-
phia for many years. He published several works and left others
in manuscript. His Latin prologue to the Germantown book of
records was translated by Whittier in the ode beginning "Hail to
Posterity." He died in Germantown in 1719.
ROBERT PATTERSON came to this country from Ireland
when quite young and entered the employ of a merchant in Phila-
delphia. After going through college, he entered the army in the
War of 1812, and rose to be captain. He then became a promi-
nent manufacturer in Philadelphia. When the Mexican war broke
out, he again buckled on his sword, and was appointed major-
general of United States volunteers. He distinguished himself at
Cerro Gordo, and when the Civil War commenced, the offer of his
services at the first call for volunteers was very welcome. He was
assigned to the command of the department of Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Maryland. Having enlisted only for three months,
and being nearly seventy years old, he was mustered out of ser-
vice after the battle of Bull Run. He engaged again in manu-
facturing, and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-nine.
REMBRANDT PEALE, born in Philadelphia in 1778, was the
son of Charles W. Peale, who was for nearly twenty years the
only portrait painter of note in America, having made the first
likeness of Washington, and the likenesses of nearly all the Revo-
lutionary officers. The son produced a portrait of Washington at
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 237
the age of seventeen. He studied abroad for a number of years,
and when he returned to Philadelphia painted the famous "Court
of Death" and "The Roman Daughter." He made a great effort
to have drawing introduced in the schools, but was not very success-
ful. Both the father and the sou studied under Benjamin West.
Rembrandt died in 1860.
TIMOTHY PICKERING, though a native of Massachusetts
and a resident of that State in the early and late years of his life,
was identified with so much of Pennsylvania's history that he
deserves a place in it. As adjutant-general in Washington's
army, he was at Brandywine and Germantown ; later he served on
the Board of War and was made quartermaster-general. At the
close of the war, he went into business in Philadelphia, but re-
moved to Wilkes -Barre in 1786. He was the leading spirit in the
settlement of the land dispute between Pennsylvania and the
Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming valley. He organized
Luzerne county, and was a delegate from that county in the Penn-
sylvania convention that ratified the Constitution of the United
States. He negoti.ated treaties with the Six Nations, was succes-
sively Postmaster-General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of
State. From the last office he was dismissed by John Adams be-
cause he would not resign. He again settled on his lands in
Pennsylvania; but a number of his friends in Massachusetts
bought them in order to induce him to return to his native State,
which he did, and afterwards served in both houses of Congress.
"MOLLY PITCHER'S" true name was Mollie Hays. Her
husband was an artillery sergeant. She accompanied him to the
war, and after two years of camp life immortalized her name at
the battle of Monmouth by taking his place at his gun when he
was wounded and by carrying water for the wounded after the battle.
The latter act won for her the name of "Molly Pitcher." After
Sergeant Hays died, she married George McCauley. This ex-
plains the inscription on her tombstone in the old Carlisle grave-
yard :
"MOLLIE McCAULEY,
RENOWNED IN HISTORY AS
'MOLLIE PITCHER,'
THE HEROINE OF MONMOUTH.
DIED JANUARY, 1833, AGED 79 [? ] YEARS.
ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, JULY 4, 1876."
DR. WILLIAM PLUNKET was the first resident physician of
Northumberland county. He was a native of Ireland, and on his
arrival in America settled at Carlisle. He was lieutenant and
surgeon in the French and Indian war, and received for his ser-
23S A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
vices several hundred acres on the West Branch. To this he gave
the name of "Soldier's Retreat" and established his residence
there. He took part in the opening scenes of the Revolution, but
became neutral afterwards.
JOSEPH PRIESTLY was an English Unitarian clergyman,
a scientist, and an author. He made many discoveries in chem-
istry, and in 1774 discovered oxygen gas. His theological views
being obnoxious, his church and property were destroyed by a
mob and he came to America in 1794. He resided at North-
umberland and continued his scientific investigations there until
his death, in 1804. In 1874, the scientists of America celebrated
the centennial anniversary of the discovery of oxygen at North-
umberland.
SAMUEL J. RANDALL was born in Philadelphia, in 1828,
and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He entered politics as mem-
ber of the councils. He served in the State Senate, and at the
outbreak of the Rebellion joined the Union army as a private.
In 1863 he was elected to Congress, where he remained until his
death, in 1890. He was Speaker of the House from 1876 to 1881,
and was long the recognized leader of the Democrats in the
House, except in matters pertaining to the tariff, on which ques-
tion he was a protectionist. His national reputation made him a
prominent candidate for the Presidency, and he was brought for-
ward in the Democratic conventions of 1880 and 1884.
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ, the Poet-Painter, was born
in East Brandy wine township, Chester county ; lived in Philadel-
phia and Cincinnati, spent much of his time abroad, and died in
New York, in 1872, shortly after his return from the last sojourn
in Europe. He was not alone a great poet, but an artist, too. His
portrait of " Sheridan and His Horse" has attained almost equal
celebrity with his popular poem on "Sheridan's Ride." "Longfel-
low's Children" is another favorite painting. His reputation as a
poet rests in the short lyrics contained in his "Lays and Ballads."
"Sheridan's Ride" was dashed off by the author at a hotel an
hour or so before attending a reception given to General Sheridan.
JOHN FULTON REYNOLDS was a native of Lancaster and
a West Point graduate. After gallant services in the Mexican
war, he was appointed commander of cadets at the military
academy. He entered the war of the Union as lieutenant-colonel
and rose to the command of a corps. General Meade and the en-
tire Army of the Potomac lost a brave soldier and a noble gentle-
man when Reynolds fell before Gettysburg. He was but forty-
three years old, and had it not been for a sharp-shooter's bullet
he might have won glory on many another battlefield. His re-
mains were buried in the Lancaster cemetery on the Fourth of
July, when Lee's army was in full retreat across Mason and
Dixon's Line.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 239
DAVID RITTENHOUSE was born on a farm near German-
town, in 1732. He showed his mechanical genius at the age of
seven by making a little waterwheel, and ten years later he had
made a clock with liis own hands. Mathematics engaged his mind
while at work on the farm. He used fences and buildings as
blackboards. Before he was of age he had mastered the "method
of fluxions," of which he for a long time supposed himself the sole
discoverer. He constructed the most complete orrery that had
ever been made ; it is now in possession of Princeton University.
Later on he made a still larger one for the University of Penn-
sylvania. Rittenhouse succeeded Franklin as president of the
American Philosophical Society, and was also a prominent man
in the councils of the State and Nation. He helped to form the
first constitution of Pennsylvania, was State Treasurer from 1777-
1789, member of the Board of War, and the first Director of the
United States Mint. He died in 179G, at his home in Philadel-
phia, corner of Seventh and Arch. An eulogium upon his char-
acter was delivered in the presence of Washington, members of
Congress, the State Legislature, and the City Councils.
SAMUEL RHOADS was a wealthy builder in Philadelphia
and repeatedly a member of the Assembly before the Revolution.
He was elected to the first Continental Congress while he was
mayor of the city. He helped to found the Pennsylvania hos-
pital and was an active member of the Philosophical Society.
JOHN ROACH, a native of Ireland, came to this country at
the age of fourteen, and settled in New York as a machinist. He
established a foundry and made the largest engines then in use.
He was very successful, and in 1871 bought the shipyards at
Chester. His plant covered 120 acres and was valued at
$2,000,000. He built sixty-three vessels in twelve years, chiefly
for the United States. On the refusal of the government to ac-
cept the Dolphin, in 1883, he made an assignment and closed his
works; but they were re-opened when the vessel was accepted.
He built more than a hundred iron vessels altogether, and con-
structed the sectional dock at Pensacola, Florida. He died in
1887.
GEORGE ROSS was a native of New Castle, Delaware, and
was classically educated. He settled in Lancaster, 1751, and
practiced law. He served in the Assembly several years and
was prominent in all the movements that led to the Revolution.
His first important service was performed as a delegate to the
Provincial Convention in 1774. The Assembly elected him as one
of the delegates to the first Continental Congress. He next
raised a company of associators, and was president of the Lan-
caster Military Convention, July 4, 1776. He was vice-president
of the convention that framed the first State Constitution, and at
the same time a member of Congress, affixing his name to the
Declaration of Independence, August 2, 1776, in a hand that was
240 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
second only to John Hancock's in strength and boldness. He
died as Judge of the Admiralty Court, in 1779. A memorial pil-
lar was erected in 1897, on the site of his house in Lancaster.
BETSY ROSS was the wife of John Ross, a nephew of George
Ross, the signer. The
house where the flag was
made is now 239 Arch
street', below Third, in
Philadelphia — a small two-
storied and attic tenement,
formerly No. 39. She was
a Quaker lady, engaged in
upholstering. Washington
was a frequent visitor at her
house and knew her skill
with the needle. She em-
broidered his shirt ruffles
and did many other things
for him. He, together with
Robert Morris and George
Ross, her husband's uncle,
called on her, in June, 1776,
and told her they were a
committee of Congress and
wanted her to make the flag
from a rough drawing.
She replied, "I don't know
whether I can, but I'll try."
She suggested that the de-
sign was wrong, the stars
being six-pointed and not , , , ^
five-pointed, as they should be. This and other changes on the
drawing were made 'by General Washington, in her back parlor.
PETER FREDERICK ROTHERMEL was born in Nescopeck,
Luzerne county, 1821. He came to Philadelphia in his childhood,
and commenced life as a surveyor. At the age of twenty-two he
followed the natural bent of his mind, dropped the surveyor s
chain and took up the painter's brush. In 1856 he went to Europe
and studied art three years. On his return he was elected a mem-
ber of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He produced
numerous well-known paintings, some of which are owned abroad.
After the Civil War the Legislature of Pennsylvania commissioned
him to paint the " Battle of Gettysburg." He completed the colossal
work in 1871, and received $25,000 for it. It hung m Memorial
Hall, Philadelphia, until the Executive Building was erected at
Harrisburg, when it was placed on the wall of the Flag Koona.
He died at his home in Linfield, Montgomery county, August,
1895, in the same week with HoVenden.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 241
BENJAMIN RUSH was born in Byberry township, Philadel-
phia county, northeast of the city. He graduated at Princeton
and studied medicine here and abroad. He practiced his profes-
sion in Philadelphia with great devotion and success. During the
yellow fever epidemic of 1793, he stuck to his post when all but
two other physicians had fled. For a whole week, he visited and
prescribed for about 120 patients per day, and many had to leave
his office unaided. He was a professor of medicine in the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, and had numerous office students. To
his fame as a practitioner and teacher of medicine, Dr. Rush
added the distinction of being an eminent author. He was the
first writer on temperance in America. He also mixed in the
councils of the State and Nation, and employed his talents m the
cause of liberty. In July, 1776, he was chosen a member of Con-
gress, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, though not one of the delegates present at the adoption.
CHRISTOPHER SAUR (now Sower) was born in Germany,
graduated at Marburg University, and studied medicine. He
came to Philadelphia in 1724, settled in Lancaster county as a
farmer, but removed to Germantown soon afterwards. Feeling tne
want of books among his countrymen here, especially m the line
of religion, he imported Bibles and other works from Germany.
After he had established his printing house, he issued m the Ger-
man language an almanac — long continued by his descendants, a
magazine — among the first in America, and in 1843, the Bible —
Luther's translation, the largest work yet published m the colonies,
and with the exception of Eliot's Indian Bible, the first Bible
printed in America. Saur is supposed to have invented ciist-iron
stoves; at least he introduced them into general use. He also
practiced his profession and made eight-day "grandfather' clocks.
His son, Christopher, who was likewise a prominent man m the
province, especially in the Tunker Church, continued the publish-
ing business. The house is still known as the Christopher Sower
Publishing Company, after an unbroken existence of one hundred
and fifty years.
MICHAEL SCHLATTER was born in Switzerland and was
sent to America by the Reformed Synod of Amsteo-dam to look
after the German emigrants of that denomination in Pennsylvania.
He was pastor of the churches in Philadelphia and Germantown
and organized congregations in this State and in New Jersey,
Maryland and Virginia. He induced other ministers to come to
America and assisted in organizing the synod of America. Mis
work in behalf of the education of the German settlers was untir-
ing and most laudable. In 1757 he was chaplain of an expedition
to Nova Scotia against the French, and for espousing the cause ot
liberty in the Revolution he was imprisoned when the iJritisn
occupied Philadelphia.
THOMAS A. SCOTT was born in Franklin county, and oq.
16
242 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
account of his father's death was obliged to leave school at the
age of ten years and earn his livelihood. After filling several
clerical positions, he began his railroad career at Columbia, where
he was collector of tolls on the line of the State railroad. He
was promoted to be chief clerk in the collector's office in Phila-
delphia; and in 1850 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as station agent at Duncansville, then the
western terminus of the road. He now rose from one position to
another, becoming vice-president of the company in 1860, and
president in 1874. It was largely owing to Colonel Scott that the
Pennsylvania railroad attained to its high rank among the trunk-
lines of America — a rank that is second to none. It was during
the war of the Rebellion that his great abilities were put to the
severest test. Governor Curtin called him to Harrisburg in 1861
to direct the movement of troops from the North and the West
while en route through the State on their way to Washington.'
When the bridges of the Northern Central railroad had been de-
stroyed, Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, asked Governor Cur-
tin to send Scott to Washington in order to open a new route.
Though he was needed in Harrisburg, the Governor released him
and in a short time the movement of troops below Mason and
Dixon's line was again uninterrupted. When Lincoln heard the
good news, he said, " Thank God ! we are all right again !" Scott was
now mustered into the United States service as colonel and ap-
pointed Assistant Secretary of War. In this position he kept up
an incessant stream of cars, carrying troops and supplies, across
the Potomac and the Ohio into the heart of the Confederacy.
Colonel Scott's useful and well-rounded life ended in 1881.
SHIKELLIMY was of Oneida birth and was probably born in
New York. He first appeared in Pennsylvania about 1728, living
on the West Branch, below Milton. Later on, he established him-
self at Shamokin as the chief of all the Iroquois on the Susque-
hanna. His influence was courted by the provincial authorities,
and he attended nearly all the treaties made in his time. He was
a warm friend of the Moravian missionary, Zeisberger, and of
Weiser. While in Bethlehem the last time he was converted. On
his way home he took sick, and died shortly after his return.
Zeisberger was his spiritual adviser in the last hours, and had him
buried in a cofi&n. Another important and interesting character,
near Shamokin, was Madame Montour, a French Canadian, who
had married Roland Montour, a Seneca brave, and lived on the
Chenasky as early as 1727. In that year she acted as interpreter
in Philadelphia between the Governor and the Five Nations. At
the death of her husband, John and Thomas Penn condoled with
her publicly, in Philadelphia, while she attended a treaty. Her
son Andrew was also a provincial interpreter for a number of
years. He received a grant of land northwest of Carlisle, and was
captain of a company of Indians in the English service. The
French set a nriee of £100 on his head.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 243
WILLIAM SMITH, D.D., was a native of Scotland, educated
at the University of Aberdeen, and of great learning and executive
ability. He came to New York at the age of twenty-four, but was
induced by Franklin to settle in Philadelphia and become the first
Provost or President of the College of Philadelphia, a position he
held until the institution was merged into the University of Penn-
sylvania. He took great interest in political affairs, as well as in
matters of church and education. He sided with the Proprie-
taries, and the Assembly had him arrested at one time and thrown
into jail. But his work as a teacher went on, for his classes met
him in the prison. When the Revolution commenced he was an
ardent supporter of the American cause, preaching loyal sermons
and making patriotic addresses. However, in 1777, he was arrested
for disloyalty, supposedly because he regarded the Declaration of
Independence as premature. He gave his parole and retired to
Maryland, whence he returned in 1789, to receive back what he
always called "My College."
JAMES SMITH was one of the men who signed the Declara-
tion of Independence. When a lad, he came to this country from
Ireland, and settled with his father on the west bank of the Sus-
quehanna. He was educated in the classics to some extent, be-
came a surveyor and a lawyer, practicing these blended professions
first near Shippensburg, then at York. He resided all the rest of
his life in York, and was for a long time the only resident lawyer
there. At the outbreak of the Revolution, he at once took an
active part in behalf of liberty. He raised the first Pennsylvania
company for resistance to Great Britain, was a member of the
Provincial Convention in 1774, and served as a delegate in Con-
gress. He died in 1806.
EDWIN M. STANTON, of Quaker stock, was born in Ohio,
and practiced law there until 1848, when he settled in Pittsburg
and became leader at the bar of Allegheny county. He went into
Buchanan's cabinet as Attorney -General, to fill a vacancy. When
Simon Cameron resigned the portfolio of Secretary of War, Lincoln
selected Stanton to fill the place. His management of the War
Department was noted for vigor and integrity. He became em-
broiled at times with politicians and officers, especially with
McClellan and Sherman. He remained in Johnson's cabinet after
Lincoln's death, but was suspended by the President on account
of serious disagreement. This action brought the quarrel be-
tween the President and Congress to a head. Stanton was re-
stored but again removed, and the President's impeachment fol-
lowed. Congress passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Stanton on his
retirement. He resumed the practice of law, but his long and
arduous labors had undermined his strength, and he died in 1869.
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR came to America as a British soldier, in
1758. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and served under
General Wolfe at Quebec. He established himself in Westmore-
244 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
land county, and took the side of the colonies in the Revolution.
He served through the whole war and rose to the rank of major-
general. He represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Con-
gress from 1785 to 1787, and was president of that body when it
passed the famous Ordinance of 1787, by which the Northwest
Territory was organized. He was Governor of this Territory from
1789 to 1802. He commanded the expedition against the Miami
Indians, which ended so disastrously. He was sick at the time
and gave his orders on a litter; but public opinion obliged him to
resign his command. After his long and distinguished public ser-
vice, he lived poor and neglected on Chestnut Ridge, Westmore-
land county, till he died, in 1818.
THADDEUS STEVENS was born in Vermont. He made
shoes, taught a country school, and graduated at Dartmouth Col-
lege before he came to Pennsylvania, as assistant teacher in the
academy at York. Stepping from teaching to law, he began to
practice at Gettysburg. He rapidly rose to distinction, and was
sent to Harrisburg as a law-maker. He took no prominent part
in the passage of the free school law except to vote for it. But
when its repeal was threatened, he defended it with all his match-
less logic and eloquence, and won the day against determined op-
position. In honor of its author, the speech was beautifully
printed on silk by some free school friends in Reading, and
proudly kept by him until his death. He performed great ser-
vices for the nation later on, but he himself always regarded his
successful defense of free schools in Pennsylvania as the greatest
achievement of his life. In 1841 he removed to Lancaster, where
he was elected to Congress in 1848. He served in that body four-
teen years, dying in Washington in 1868. He was one of the
boldest and ablest statesmen who sustained the Union in its
hour of peril. He was a sincere and consistent friend of the
colored race. He ordered in his will that his body should not be
buried in a cemetery where the color line was drawn. He served
in Congress when he ought to have been at home enjoying the
twilight of his life ; for during his last year he was daily carried
in a chair to his seat.
CHARLES STEWART was born in Philadelphia, and entered
the United States Navy in 1798. He captured three French ships
in 1800, and distinguished himself in the Tripolitan War. In the
summer of 1813 he took command of the Constitution, and captured
three English vessels that year, and two in each of the following
years of the war. He received a vote of thanks, a sword, and a
gold medal, from Congress; a vote of thanks and a sword from the
Pennsylvania Legislature ; and from New York the freedom of the
city. From the people he received the sobriquet of "Old Iron-
sides." He remained in the navy till he died, in 1869, a period of
seventy- one years, and rose to be rear-admiral. He was the
grandfather of Charles Stewart Parnell, the great Irish Home Rule
leader in the British Parliament.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
245
HENRY WILLIAM STIEGEL, the founder of the quaint old
town of Manheim, Lancaster county, emigrated from Manheim,
Germany. He was a very eccentric character. He made frequent
visits to his furnace and always drove a four-in-hand. It is said
that he had a watchman stationed in the cupola of his mansion to
announce his return home by fii'ing a cannon. A band organized
among his employes then proceeded to the cupola and many of the
villagers repaired to his residence to join in the demonstrations.
Among the recorded facts of his eccentric life is this: When he
deeded, the lots upon which the Evangelical Lutheran church was
built, in 1770, the price was to be a red rose, to be paid yearly
upon demand. The red rose is paid to his descendants to this
day. It constitutes a very unique and beautiful observance in the
church, and has attracted much attention in recent years in the
newspapers and magazines. The Baron afterwards became re-
duced in circumstances, and ended his life in a log house at
Womelsdorf, where he taught a village school.
"Baron Stiegel ist der mann,
Der die CEfen gieszen kann."
Baron Stiegel is the man
Who can cast the stoves.
BAYARD TAYLOR (1825-1878) was a native of Kennett
Square, Chester county, and lived there after his many travels by
land and sea, though he died at Berlin, Germany. Before he was
twenty -one, he went to
Europe and made a trip on
foot among the most inter-
esting places. His experi-
ences were recorded in
"Views Afoot, or Europe
Seen with Knapsack and
Staff." This work made him
famous at once, and he was
in a position to write other
books — of travel, poetry and
fiction — and to become pop-
ular as a journalist and lec-
turer. As a novelist, he de-
picted American life, par-
ticularly life in Pennsylva-
nia, as in "Hannah Thurs-
ton" and "The Story of Kennett." In his verse, too, he often
drew material from his own State, as, in " The Pennsylvania
Farmer." The greatest of his poetic efforts is the translation of
"Goethe's Faust." He loved Germany and the German people.
While his father was a descendant of an English immigrant of
1681, his grandmothers on both sides were of German descent. It
was a fitting coincidence, therefore, that he should have died in
the German capital, as the American minister to Germany.
Library of Bayard Taylor at Cedarcrof t.
246 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Bayard Taylor was the greatest literary man Pennsylvania has
produced, and Kennett Square may be proud to be his cradle
and his grave.
GEORGE TAYLOR was an Irishman by birth, the son of a
clergyman, who gave him an education more liberal than most
youths received at that time. On his arrival in America he paid
for his passage by working in the iron works of Durham, Bucks
county. He made money, bought an estate in Northampton
county, and fixed his residence there. He was soon after sent to
the Assembly and served five years in that body. He was active in
the movement which led to the Revolution, and entered Congress
in July, 1776, with Ross, Smith, Rush and Clymer, to take the
places of those who had opposed the Declaration. He was there-
fore one of the members not in Congress on the 2d of July, but on
the 2d of August, when the engrossed document was signed.
Taylor died in Easton in 1781.
TEDYUSCUNG was a frequent visitor to Philadelphia, and
had acquired a free use of English. He was one of the ablest
of Indian chiefs, but was too fond of liquor. At Albany, while
negotiating a treaty, he was so much under its influence that his
wife had to rebuke him publicly. At his earnest request, he was
baptized by the Moravians; but he relapsed into his old ways,
though not without regret. Blamed by his own people for siding
with the English, and envied by the Iroquois for his influence in
the councils of the province, he was between two fires during
most of the French and Indian war. In 1763, he burned to death
in his own house at Wyoming while asleep in bed. Some Iro-
quois Indians put him to sleep with liquor and then set fire to his
house. Tedyuscung was the last chief of the Delawares on the
east side of the Alleghenies.
WILLIAM TENNENT was a native of Ireland, liberally edu-
cated, and while there a clergyman in the Episcopal Church. He
came to America in 1718, and was received as a minister into the
Presbyterian Church. After a brief pastorate in New York, he
came to Bucks county, where he remained to the close of his life.
He preached at Neshaminy; and on land that was given him by
James Logan he erected the "Log College," a name probably
given to the school at first in contempt. About 1840 a part of one
of the logs was found and a cane made from it and given to one of
the professors of Princeton Seminary.
CHARLES THOMSON came to Pennsylvania from Ireland at
the age of eleven. He was a very influential man during the
Revolution, both in the councils of the State and the United
States. He was called "the Sam Adams of Philadelphia." He
was scholarly and true to his principles. The Indians had so
much respect for liira that he was elected a mptnlter of the Dela-
ware tribe. They called him "the man of truth," and it used to
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 247
be a saying — "It is as true as if Charles Thomson's name were
under it." He was Secretary of the Continental Congress during
its entire history from 1774 to 1789. He had made a careful
record of all the proceedings and reduced it to the form of a book ;
but for fear of offending some of the Revolutionary families, he
afterwards burned the manuscript. This was probably the greatest
mistake of his life; for much valuable history is buried in his
grave. He died in 1824.
MOSES VAN CAMPEN was a Dutchman from the Minisink
settlement on the Delaware, but lived near the present site of
Bloomsburg most of his life, and was famous for his daring in the
border warfare on the Susquehanna. He and
a companion once freed themselves at night
from a guard of nine Indians, killing all but
one of them. After this wonderful escape,
he was in great demand to organize bands
against the Indians. In 1782 he was ordered
by the government to clear the West Branch
about Williamsport of Indians. But in this
he failed ; for he was captured, carried to
Niagara, and delivered to the British. When
the Indians learned who he was, they de-
^. , manded him back. The British officer prom-
/^ 1 ised to protect him if he would renounce the
Moses Van Campen. American cause. He replied that he would
die the most cruel death the Indians could in-
flict before he would dishonor the character of an American officer.
His loyalty secured him protection, and he was exchanged when
the war closed. He died in New York State at a very old age.
JOHN WANAMAKER was born in Philadelphia in 1838 and
received a common school education. He became a merchant and
built up the largest retail business in the United States. He was
a member of the Centennial Commission and contributed much to
its success. He has always taken great interest in Christian and
philanthropic work. He is the superintendent of the largest Sun-
day School in the world, and a very prominent member of the
Young Men's Cnristian Association. He was Postmaster- General
in President Harrison's Cabinet, and made many improvements in
the postal service by his business-like methods.
ANTHONY WAYNE was a native of Chester county, and
played the soldier so much in his boyhood that his father made him
choose between the farm and his books. He took the latter and
became a surveyor. In 1774 he was sent to the Provincial Conven-
tion in Philadelphia, then to the Assembly, and the next year was
a member of the Committee of Public Safety. In 1776 he joined
the Northern army as colonel of a regiment. His soldierly quali-
ties secured him promotion first to the rank of brigadier and then
to that of major-general He was wounded at Three Rivers,
248 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
fought at Brandywine, was twice wounded at Germantown, re-
ceived honorable mention for bravery at Monmouth, and a gold
medal from Congress for his capture of Stony Point. The people
expressed their appreciation of his daring by calling him "Mad
Anthony," He was also present at the capture of Cornwallis.
Georgia afterwards gave him a farm for driving the British out of
her borders. In 1791 that State sent him to Congress, but in a
contest for a seat he lost. He then received the command of the
Federal army, and once more distinguished himself by subduing
the Indians of Ohio in the battle of Fallen Timbers. He died in
the old fort at Presque Isle, in 1796, and was buried "at the foot
of the flag-staff," according to his request. In 1809 his remains
were carried to Chester county.
CONRAD W^EISER at the age of fourteen emigrated from
Germany with his parents and a company of Palatines. They
settled in a body in New York. Here young Conrad lived for
eight months with an Indian chief, who took a great fancy to him
and taught him the Indian language, so valuable in his life. In
1723, with many of his German neighbors in New York, he settled
at Tulpehocken, near Reading. He engaged in farming and ac-
quired a large tract of land in Heidelberg township. His knowl-
edge of the Mohawk secured him the position of interpreter for
the province, in 1732. He held this position as long as he could
attend to its duties, and was present at all the treaties made.
His word was held in great respect by the red men. During the
French and Indian war he was commander of all the forces raised
west of the Susquehanna. In his last years he lived in Reading.
He died in 1760, and is buried in the family graveyard, near
Womelsdorf.
BENJAMIN WEST was born in the county of Chester (now
Delaware) in 1738. He was born a Quaker and had a strong de-
sire to become a painter, but received little encouragement be-
cause his sect then were opposed to "likenesses" of all kinds.
However, he overcame all obstacles in his way. He drew his
sister's baby while he watched it, he learned from the Indians
how to prepare some simple colors, and he despoiled the cat's
whiskers to make a brush. A present of a painter's outfit was
sent to Ben one day by a Friend in Philadelphia, who had de-
tested his wonderful talents while on a visit to the Wests. With
it he made a painting that gave evidence of his future greatness.
In 1759, he visited Italy to study under the great artists. Then he
found his way to London, where he was patronized by the King
and became the president of the Royal Academy of Arts. He died
in London in 1820.
GEORGE WESTINGKOUSE was born in New York, and as a
boy became familiar with machinery in his father's agricultural
works at Schenectady. He entered the Union army in 1863, and
after his return became a student at Union College. However, the
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 249
spirit of invention, which had made him most useful in the army,
was too strong to be shut within college walls. Going to Troy one
day, a delay, caused by a collision, suggested to Mr. Westing-
house the idea of a brake under the control of the engineer.
Being invited to Pittsburg, as agent for the introduction of steel
frogs he traveled much among railroad men, and finally got con-
sent to try his air-brake on the "Pan-Handle," between Pittsburg
and Steubenville. A train of four cars and an engine was fitted
out in 1868, and the first application of the brake prevented a
collision with a wagon on the track. The Westinghouse Air-
Brake Company was formed the next year, and since then Mr.
Westino-house has taken out more than 1,000 patents, including
those ot the air-brake, the union switch and signal apparatus,
and electric lighting. In 1891 the Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing Companv was organized for the manufacture ot all
these patents. The works are in East Pittsburg and employ thou-
sands of operatives.
WILLIAM WHITE, of Philadelphia, graduated from the col-
lege there at the age of 17. He completed his theological
studies in 1770, took holy orders in England, and commenced
his career as an Episcopal clergyman in his native city in 1772.
He was a zealous supporter of the Revolution, and fled to Mary-
land when the British occupied Philadelphia. He was chaplain
to Congress from 1787 to 1801. Dr. White was made bishop of
Pennsylvania in 1786— one of the first three in America.
ROBERT WHITEHILL, of Cumberland, but native in Lan-
caster county, resided on a farm two miles west of Harrisburg
He was in public life for a long time, and made a brilliant and
successful record. During a term as Senator of Pennsylvania, he
was Sneaker at the celebrated impeachment of tne Supreme
Court He was elected to Congress in 1805, and served m that
body till his death, in 1813. From 1774, when he served on the
county committee, to the time of his death, he filled almost every
position in the gift of the people.
JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM was born in Chester county,
and began his career as an educator by teaching school at the age
of sixteen. After equipping himself at the Unionville Academy,
he?ook the principalship of the Marietta Academy, m Lancaster
county. He was elected the first superintenden of schools m
Lancaster county. To improve the teachers he held a - Teachers'
Institute" TM^illersville, and thus laid the foundation of the
Norma School at that place -the first in the State-of which he
became the principal. He served in this capacity for ten years,
when Governor Curtin made him State Superintendent of Com-
mon Schools. He now had a wide field of usefulness and he cul-
Svated everv part of it with splendid results during his fourteen
years ot office Before his death, m 1891, he wrote a History o£
250 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Education in Pennsylvania, which is a very valuable contribution
to the history of the State.
THOMAS WILLING was the business partner of Robert
Morris. The firm was of great assistance to the Revolutionary
cause in supplying stores and funds. Mr. Willing was mayor of
Philadelphia, Judge of the Supreme Court, president of the Pro-
vincial Congress of 1774, and became a member of the Conti-
nental Congress in 1775. He voted against the Declaration of
Independence on the ground that it was not the time for such a
step.
DAVID WILMOT, of Bradford county, was born in 1814, and
educated at an academy. He began the practice of law at Wilkes-
Barre but soon afterwards settled in Towauda. He became a
prominent Democratic politician and served in Congress from
1845-51. He was the author of the "Wilmot proviso," providing
that slavery be excluded from territory to be purchased from
Mexico in 1846. It passed the House, but not the Senate. For
several years the "Wilmot proviso" was brought up and debated
when new territories were to be organized. After serving as
president judge in the Bradford district, he became United States
Senator in 1861. Two years later, he was made Judge of the
United States Court of Claims. He died at Towanda in 1868, and
the famous "proviso" is inscribed on his tombstone.
JAMES WILSON was a Scotchman, educated at Glasgow,
St. Andrew's and Edinburgh Universities. He emigrated to
America, and, after practicing law at Reading, appeared in public
life as a delegate from Cumberland county to the convention that
met in Philadelphia to concert measures preparatory to the First
Continental Congress. He retained his residence in Carlisle till
1777, when he removed to Annapolis, Maryland, and the next year
finally settled in Philadelphia. He was prominent in the discus-
sions preceding the Revolution, was several times a delegate in
Congress, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence who also sat in the Constitutional Convention, in 1787.
In 1789 he was appointed one of the first associate justices of
the Supreme Court, and was at the same time a law professor in
the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson's fame rests chiefly in
the fact that of the fifty -five delegates to the Constitutional Con-
vention, he was the best prepared, by his knowledge of history
and the science of government, for the work that was to be done.
None spoke more to the point and none, excepting Gouverneur
Morris and Madison, was so often on his feet. He died in North
Carolina while on his judicial circuit, and was buried there.
ALEXANDER WILSON was a Scotchman, who came to this
country in 1794 with a few borrowed shillings and no acquain-
tances. He worked at first with a copper-plate printer, then with
a weaver, in Philadelphia. He followed teaching next, and, while
he taught a school near Darby, Delaware county (seepage 282),
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 251
became acquainted with the famous naturalist, William Bartram,
who, by his own love of birds, deeply interested the young man
in that branch of nature. Wilson resolved to make a collection
of all the birds of America. He set out on his first expedition
in 1804. He studied drawing and etching, and prevailed upon
a Philadelphia publisher to undertake an American Ornithology,
of which there are nine volumes. He traveled extensively in
the United States, collecting specimens, for nearly a decade.
In his eagerness to get a rare bird, he swam across a river
and caught cold, which ended in his death, at Philadelphia, in
1813. Wilson was also a poet. He gave us a beautiful glimpse
into his life at Darby in his poem — "The Solitary Tutor."
DAVID ZEISBERGER was a Moravian missionary, who emi-
grated to Georgia from Moravia, in the Aiistrian empire. He
came to Pennsylvania to assist in the building of Bethlehem and
Nazareth. He studied the Delaware language at Bethlehem, and
went among the Five Nations to acquire the use of theirs. He
not only did missionary work among Pennsylvania Indians, but
among those of New England and tlie South. When the various
tribes had been driven to Canada and beyond the Ohio, Zeisberger
followed even thither. He died in Goshen, Ohio, a town which
he founded. He published Indian school books of various kinds,
and left a diary extending over the years from 1781 to 1798.
COUNT VON ZINZENDORF, founder of the Moravian colony
at Bethlehem, was born at Dresden, Germany, in 1700, educated at
Halle, and after traveling for a time as a religious reformer, was
appointed a member of the Saxon state council. But political life
was not to his taste, and he became interested in the Moravian
brethren, among whom he was ordained a bishop. When he had
planted the settlements in America and organized a number of
missionary stations among the Indians, he returned to "Herrnhut,"
his estate in Saxony, where he died.
INDEX
Adams county, 170.
Agriculture, Department of, 1S7.
Allegheny, city, 19(); county, 02;
valley, 85.
Allen, William, 210.
Allentown, 38, 40, 109, 102.
Arbor Day, 183.
Armstrong, "Captain Jack," 55, S7,
216; John, 64, 90. 110, 210.
Assembly, First General, 27, 29, 09,
70, 72, 80, 83, 85, 101, 103.
Associators, 84.
Audubon, John James, 217.
Aughwick, 54.
Bache, Benjamin F., 217.
Ballot reform, 186.
Banks, 100, 146, 157, 188.
Bartram, John, 217.
"Battle of the Kegs," 113.
Beaver county, 65.
Beaver, James A., 184, 186, 214.
Bedford county, 120, 154, 176; town,
55
Bellefonte, 142.
Berks county, 102, 137.
Bethlehem, 38, 88, 89, 109.
Bicentennial celebration. 182.
Biddle, Edward, 99, 101, 217; James,
142, 218; Nicholas, 217.
Bigler, William, 155, 210.
Black, Jeremiah S., 218.
Blackwell, John, 72, 202.
Bloomsburg, 53.
Bouquet, Colonel, 92.
Brackenridge, Hugh, 134. 135, 218.
Braddock's campaign, 86-88; grave,
02.
Bradford, William, 218.
Brady, Captain Samuel, 64, 219.
Brandy wine, 107-109.
Bristol, 22.
Brown, Charles B., 219.
Brown's raid, John, 159.
Bryan, George, 205.
Buchanan, James, 159, 219.
Bucks county, 29, 47, 105, 154.
"Buckshot War," 1.50.
Burnt Cabins, 55.
Burrowes, Thomas H., 220.
Butler county, 65.
Butler, Zebuion, 50, 119, 220.
Cadwalader, John, 105, 220.
Cambria county, 05.
Cameron, Simon, 163, 220.
Camp Curtin, 163.
Canals, 133, 144, 145, 146, 149, 156.
Capital, State. 136, 143.
Capitol, State, 80, 143, 188, 190.
Carbon county, 48.
Carlisle, 45, 50, 92. 124, 131, 135
137, 142, 166, 167.
Carnegie, Andrew, 221.
Carpenters' Hall, 100.
Cattle plague, 199.
Cave dwellers, 73.
Centennial Exhibition, 178.
Chambersburg, 56, 159, 105, 100,
168, 173.
Charter, Penn's, 70.
Cherrv Tree, 05.
Chester, county, 29, 42; town, 27, 29.
Chevaux-de-frise, 107, 112. 124.
Christ Church, Philadelphia, 34.
Christiana riots, 155.
Clearfield county, 05.
Clymer, George, 105, 127, 128, 221
Colonial government, 66.
Columbia, 142, 144, 154.
Commerce in the province, 79.
Conemaugh Creek, 185.
Conestoga Indians, 44.
Congress, Continental, First, 99;
Second, 101, 105, 109, 117, 124.
Connecticut, 49, 51.
Connelly, Dr. John, 61.
Conococheague, 55.
Constitution, of 1776, 71; of 1790,
71, 133; of 1838, 71, 149; of 1873,
71, 181; Federal, 126-131.
Conwav Cabal, 1 1 5.
Cooke & Co., Jay, 177, 221.
Corbin, Margaret, 222.
"Cornplanter " Indians, 03.
Countv Act, The Great New, 65.
Coxe, Tench, 222.
Cramp, William, 222.
Crawford county, 65.
Cresap, Thomas, 57.
Croghan, George, 87.
Cumberland countv, 86, 88, 92, 155;
vallev, 42, 167.
Curtin, Andrew G., 160, 101, 102,
163, 167, 174, 211.
Dallas, George M., 222.
Danphin county, 42, 130, 143.
252
INDEX
253
Decatur, Stephen, 142, 222.
Declaration of Independence, 103,
104; signers of, 105.
Delaware, Bay, di.scovery of, 17
county, 20; Indians, 7, 47, 49, 50
River, first settlement on, 17,
state, first settlement in, 18; gets
a separate Assembly, 73.
Denny, William, 204.
Dickinson, John, 90, 99, 101, 103,
104, 125, 206.
Dobbins, Daniel, 141.
Drafts, 164.
Duane, William, 223.
Duch<5, Rev. Jacob, 100, 118, 223.
Dutch, rule, 20; settlements, IS.
Easton. 38, 4(), 47, 109.
Education, pulslic, 145, 146-149.
Elder, Rev. John, 43, 223.
English .settlers, 22, 33.
Ephrata, 39, 109.
Episcopalians, 33.
Erie, county, 65; Indians, 9; riots,
157; town, 63, 140, 154.
Evans, John, 75, 203; Oliver, 223.
Ewing, James, 105, 224.
"Fair Play" men, 53.
Fayette county, 62.
Fenno, John, 224.
Findlav, William, 143, 208.
Findley, William, 135, 224.
"First Defenders," 162.
Fitch, John, 126, 224.
Fitz Simons, Thomas, 127, 128, 224.
Five Nations, 9.
Flags, 84, 107, 174.
"Flat-iron," transferred to Delaware,
59.
Forbes, General, 91.
Forest county, 65.
Forest reservation, 192.
Forney, John W., 159, 224.
Fort, Augusta, 53; Duquesne, 59;
Fortv, 50, 119; Frontier, 89; I.e
Ba>uf, 63; Ligonier, 93; Mifflin, 112;
Presque Isle, 63; Shirley, 90.
Founders" Week in Philadelphia, 199.
Franklin, Benjamin, 34, 61, 83, 84,
86, 89, 101, 103, 105, 117, 126, 127,
131, 204.
Franklin county, 130, 165, 166, 176.
Fries' Rebellion, 137.
Fulton, county, 166, 176; Robert, 225.
Gallatin, Albert, 135, 225.
Galloway, Joseph, 99, 101, 118, 220.
Geary, John W., 176, 212.
Germans, 34-41, 62, 78, 79, 102.
Germantown, battle of, 110; settled,
35.
Gettysburg, battle of, 168-172; na-
tional cemetery, 172.
Girard, Stephen, 226.
Gist, Christopher, 59.
Gookin, Charles, 78, 83, 203.
Gordon, Patrick, 203.
Governors under Penn, 72.
Gray's Ferry, 132.
Great Meadows, 62.
"Great Runaway," 120.
Greencastle, 106.
(Jreensburg, 62.
Gregof, David M., 172, 226.
Grow, Galusha A., 226.
'.'Hail Columbia," 136.
Hamilton, Andrew, 202; James, 85,
204.
Hancock, Winfield S., 169, 170, 172,
227.
Hannastown, 60, 61, 62.
Hanover, 168.
Harris, John, Sr., 52; John, Jr., 52,
136, 143, 227.
Harrisburg, 46, 120, 142, 144, 167.
Hartman, Mrs., 94.
Hartranft, John F., 176, 213.
Hastings, Daniel H., 187, 214.
Hazleton affair, 189.
Hazlewood, John, 227.
Health, public, 194.
Heckewelder, John, 10, 38, 228.
Hendrickson, Captain, 17.
Hiester, Joseph, 144, 208.
Homestead strike, 187.
Hopkinson, PVancis, 228; Joseph, 228.
"Hot Water Rebellion," 137.
Hovenden, Thomas, 228.
Hoyt, Henry M., 181, 213.
Hudson, Henry, 17.
Huguenots, 44.
Humphrevs, Charles, 99, 101, 103,
104, 229; Samuel, 229.
Huntingdon, county, 166; town, 55.
Independence Hall, 81-83, 187.
Indian country, 62.
Indiana county, 65.
Indians, 7-16.
Inniersoll, Jared, 127, 128, 229.
Internal improvements, 125, 133,
139, 143, 144, 145, 146, 149, 156.
Irvme, William, 135, 229.
Jack's Narrows, 55.
Jacobs, Captain, 90.
Johnston, William F.,
Johnstown flood, 1S5.
Judiciary, 188.
Juniata valley, 54.
153, 210.
Kane, Dr., 158. 229.
Keith, Governor, 78, 203.
Kelley, John. 106, 230.
Kingston, 50, 119.
Kiskiminitas, 60.
Kittanning, 55, 64. 90.
Kittatinny valley, 46.
254 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Kyashuta, 62, 230.
Lafayette, 107, 109.
Lancaster, 38, 109, 124, 137, 142;
county, 39, 86, 88, 92; pike, 133.
Laurel Hill, 87.
Law, The Great, 7t).
Lawrence county, 65.
Lebanon, 38, 46.
Legislature, extra sessions of the,
183, 190.
Lehigh, county, 137; valley, 38.
Lewistown, 55, 162.
Liberty Bell, 81, 104, 109, 187.
Lieutenant Governor, 71.
Ligonier valley, 60.
Lincoln, Abraham, 161. 173, 230.
Lloyd, Thomas, 73, 202.
Lock Haven, 53.
Log College, 42.
Logan, James, 74, 7(», 77, 203; the
Mingo Chief, 55,231.
Loyalhanna, 91.
Lutherans, 39.
Lycoming county, 54.
McCall, George A., 231.
McClellan, George B., 232.
McClure, Alexander K., 231.
McConnellsburg, 1()6.
McKean, Thomas, 131, 135, 138, 207.
Mahoning Ci'eek, O.'i.
Marcus Hook, 142.
Markham, William, 26, 27, 66, 201.
Maryland boundary, 56-50.
Mason and Dixon's line, 5S, KKi.
Meade, George G., 168, 169, 171, 172,
232.
Mennonites, 34, 35.
Mercer countv, 65.
Meredith, William M., 232.
Mcv, Captain, 18.
Middletown, 120.
Mifflin Thomas, 99. 101, 127, 128, 131,
133, 135, 136, 138, 207.
Militia, 83, 84, 89, 105, 136.
Miller, Peter, 39.
Minisink Flats, 19, 48, 49.
Muiuit, Peter, 19.
Mischianza, 115.
MoUie Maguires, 180.
Monastery, Wissahickon, 37.
Monroe county, 48.
Montgomery county, 39, 137, 154.
Moore, William, 206.
Moravians, 38, 52, 53, 109.
Morris, Governor, 90, 204; Gouverneur,
12S, 131, 233; Robert, 103, 105,
106, 121, 127, 128, 131, 233.
Morton, John, 99, 101, 103, 105, 233.
Mott, Lucretia, 234.
Mt. Union, 166.
Muhlenberg, Frederick A., 40, 235;
Gotthilf, 40. 235; John P. G., 40,
234; Rev. Henry M., 39, 234.
Muncy, 53.
Murray, Lindley, 235.
Mutiny, of Pennsylvania Line, 123.
National Guard, 181, 186, 187, 189,
190, 191.
N aw, State and Continental, 112, 113.
Nazareth, 38, 88.
Neville, John, 134, 235.
New Gottenberg, 20.
N orris, Issac, 235.
North Pole discovered, 200.
Northampton county, 48, 50, 88, 89,
137.
Northumberland, 53, 142.
Oaths, the taking of, 77, 125.
Office-holders, qualifications of, 70.
Ohio valley, 85.
Packer, William F., 159, 211.
Paine, Thomas, 236.
Palatinate, 37.
Palmer, Anthony, 204.
Pan-American Exposition, 191.
Panics, financial, 157, 177.
Paper money, 80, 114, 121, 123, 124,
139, 149.
Parties, political, 84, 131, 136, 138,
139, 149, 151, 156, 158, 176.
Pastorius, 35, 236.
Patterson, Robert, 236.
Pattison, Robert, 182, 180, 192, 213.
" Paxtang Boys," 43.
Paxtang, township, 120.
Peale, Reml)randt, 236.
Peary, R. E., 200.
Penn, John, 204; Letitia Aubrey, 216;
Richard, 204.
Penn, William, 22-45 (pa.ssim), 201;
his return, final departure, ancl
death, 32, 75, 77; his itleas of
government, (57-68; his per.sonai
rule, 72-78; offers to sell province,
76; his successors, 77, 83; remains
of, 182; sons and granflsons of, 47,
76, 77, 83; widow of, 77, 78, 83.
Pennamite and Yankee war, 50.
Pennsbury, 22.
Pennsylvania, name and extent, 24;
lirst settlers, 22; present county
map, 179; county map of 1800, 64;
northern boundary, (i3; form of
government, 66; charter from the
king, 24; Charter of Privileges, 70;
Frame of Government, ()6; a state,
71; attitude toward British oppres-
sion, 95-99; furnishes riflemen for
Continental Army, 102; votes for
independence, 103; government
moves to Lancaster, 109, and re-
turns; 117; share in the Revolution,
124; ratifies Federal Constitution,
131; sides with France. 136, 139;
feeds Union soldiers, 1()4.
INDEX
255
Pennsylvania Reserves, 163, 172, 174.
Pennvpacker, Samuel W., 192, 19(),
198.
Perry county, 176.
Perry's fleet, 140.
Philadelphia, Indian name, 15; Penn's
name, 30; county formed, 29;
founded, 29-31 ; occupied by British,
110-116; mutinous soldiers in, 124;
riots in, 151; fugitive slaves in, 154;
feeds Union soldiers, 164; buili's
City Hall, 177, 186, 196.
Pickering, Timothy, 237.
Pietists, 36.
Pike county, 48.
Pitcher, Mollie, 117, 237.
Pittsburg, founded, 60; in 1790, 62;
134, 144, 153, 160, 166, 180, ISC-,
187.
Plunkof, Dr. William, 237.
Plymouth, 50.
Pok(jno Mountains, 120.
Police, State, 195.
Pollock, .James, 156, 211.
Pontiacs War, 43, 60, 91-94.
Porter, David R., 149, 209.
Potter comitv, 154.
Priestly, Dr. '.Joseph, 238.
Print z, (lovernor, 20.
Prohibition amendment, 1S4.
Provincial Council, 69.
Qviakers, 23, 27, 32, 33, 34, 41, 43, 73.
75, 77, 118.
Quakertown, 154.
Railroads, 153.
Randall, Samuel J., 238.
Raystown, 5<>, 91 .
Read, I'homas Buchanan, 238.
Reading, 38, 46, 142. 1(;2.
Reilemptioners, 79, 83.
lieed, Joseph. 117, 123, 206.
Reformed, the, 39.
Revere, Paul, 98.
Revnolds, .John F.. 168, 238.
Rhoa.ls, Samuel, 99, 239.
Ritner. Joseph. 148, 209.
Rittenliouse, David, 239.
Roach, John, 239.
Road Improvement, 194.
Rodnev, Ciesar A., 103.
Ross, Betsy, 240; George, 99, 101,
105, 239.
Rothermel, Peter Frederick, 240.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 105, 241.
St. Clair, Arthur, 61, 243.
Saur, Christopher, 37, 241.
"Saw-dust War," 176.
Schlatter, Rev. Michael, 39, 241.
Schools, common, 156, 183; for sol-
diers' orphans, 174.
Schuylkill river, 17, 144; valley, .38,
52.
Schwenkfelders, 38.
Scotch-Irish, 42-44, 46, 54, 62, 78,
134.
Scott, Thomas A., 161, 174, 241.
Scranton, 181 .
Seventh Day Baptists, 39.
Shamokin (n')w Sunbury), 9, 49, 53.
Sherman's valley, 54.
Shikellimy, 9, .52, 242.
"Shinplasters," 139.
Shippen, Edward, 2t)2.
Shippensburg, 46, 56, 92, 166.
Shulze, John A., 145, 208.
Shunk, Francis R., 151, 209.
Sideling Hill, 58.
Sinking Spring, 5(5.
Six Nations, 9, 49, 121.
Skippack Creek, 110.
Slavery, .33, 36, 74, 121, 151.
Slifer, p:ii, Kd.
Smith, James, 105, 243; William. 243
Snyder, Simon, 139, 140, 142, 207.
Sons of Liberty, 9().
Stamp Act, 95"^,
Standing Stone, 55, 64.
Stanton, Edwin M., 161, 166, 243.
Steamboats, 126.
Stevens, Thaddeus, 148, 162, 244.
Stewart, Charles, 142, 244.
Stiegel, Henry William, 245.
Stone, William A., 190, 192, 215.
Strikes, 177, 180, 187, 189, 190.
Stroudsburg, 120.
Stuart, Edwin S., 198.
"Sun Inn," 138.
Sunbury, 9, 49, 53, 120, 142.
Supreme Executive Covmcil, 71.
Susquehanna valley, 52-54.
Swaannendael, 18.
Swedish settlement, 19-22.
Taylor, Bayard, 245; George, 105,
246.
"Tea Party," 97.
Tedyuscung, 246.
Telegraph, 1.53.
Temperance, legislation, 184.
Tennent, William, 246.
Thomas, George, 83, 84, 203.
Thomson, Charles, 24().
Tioga Point, 144.
Tories, 117, 118, 125.
Treaty Elm, 28.
Triangle, the, 63.
Tunkers, 37.
Tuscarora valley, 54.
Underground radroad, 154.
Unrest, the, 17.
Upland, 27.
Valley Forge, 113, 115, 117, 196.
Van Campen, Moses, 53, 247.
Venango coimty, 65.
Virginia, claims of, 60 61.
256 A SHORT HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA
"Walking purclia.se," tlic, 47, S4, 8S.
Waiiaiiiaker, .Jofm, 247.
War, King (Jeorge's, 84; Frencli ami
Indian, 85-91; of tlie Revolution,
101-124; of 1812, 140-142; Mexican,
152; of the Union, 102-173; Spani.'^u,
189.
Warren county, ()5; town, 03.
Washington county, 02, 134.
Washington, Cieorge. 42, 5'J, «7,
102-117 (passim), 128, 132, 135.
Wayne, Anthonv, 108, 109, 111, 123,
247.
Weiser, Conrad, 52, 84, 85, 248.
Welsh, 41.
West, Benjainin, 248.
West, Branch, .53, 144.
West Chester, 154.
Westinghouse, (Jeorge, 248.
Westmorelanci county, 00, 120; town,
51.
Wharton, Thomas, .Jr., 118, 205.
Whigs, 118, 138, 149.
Whisky Insurrection, 134-130.
White Marsh, 113.
White, William, 249.
Whitehall, Robert, 249.
Wicaco, 21.
Wickersham, James Pyle, 249.
Wilkes-Barre, 50, 51, i81.
Williamsport, .54, 170.
Willuig, Thomas, 103, 104, 250.
Wilmot, David, 258.
Wilson, Alexander, 250; .James, 103,
105, 121, 127, 128, 131, 250.
Wolf, Cieorge, 140, 208.
World's Fair, 187.
Wright, .John, .57, 1.54.
Wright's Ferry, 137.
Wright svi He, 107.
Wynne, Dr. 'I'homas, 41.
Wyoming, mas-sacrc, 118; volley, 49-
51.
Yellow fever, 74. 133.
York, county, 57, 80; town, 40, 109
142, 107.
Zeisberger, David, 05, 251.
Zinzendorf, 38, 52, 251.
JOI 22
One copy del. to Cat. Div.
lot 22 0m